Tom: The youth behind Basque MTB.

Tom has spent 3 weeks in Spain with us on holiday. Tom impressed us with his sensible head and fun attitude and when he visited us him and Doug started disappearing for solo adventures on the mountains. Tom is young, at 19, but really impressed us with his responsible and caring attitude. This year Tom got into university to study medicine and happened to mention that he was looking for a summer job. It took Doug about 1 second to offer him a job! Tom will be a huge asset to our team and we are all very excited to have him on board. Tom rides a bike very well indeed, fast and smooth, and is happy to spend time helping people progress their skills a bit.

The addition of Tom to our team won’t mean we take any larger groups, that isn’t where we want to go. Instead we will split the groups some days and on other days Tom will be in charge of driving the van so that we can offer more uplift.

When not biking Tom can be found… erm biking. Probably with Doug!

 

Carlos: The beard behind Basque MTB.

Carlos came into our lives shortly after moving back to the Basque Country. After a hard day exploring Doug was cycling home along the road when someone started shouting at him. It turns out that someone was Carlos, a San Sebastian local, who wanted to know why Doug was riding on the road when there was nice singletrack next to it.

Carlos has been biking all over Spain, he could guide you in any part of the country. His local knowledge is matched only by Doug’s and together they spent all their free time finding new trails, and drinking Sidra but mostly finding new trails. Carlos rides a green Cove G-Spot as well and rides it very quickly indeed. He is always happy to wait for people and takes huge pleasure in telling you all about the Basque Country. Carlos isn’t full time at BasqueMTB, he has a normal job too, but he helps out a lot, either guiding, trail finding or driving our van.

When not biking Carlos can be found hanging around Yorkshire’s coffee bars shouting “Frappachino my ass”.

 

Amaia: The brains behind Basque MTB.

Amaia is a local Basque girl who grew up in San Sebastian. After studying business in San Sebastian she visited Scotland, planning to stay a few months to improve her English. She stayed for several years! Amaia is our advisor for all things cultural, including eating, drinking and partying. We are told that she has a good head for figures and is the brains behind the business side of our holiday operation. Amaia isn’t directly involved in the day to day biking holidays but helps organising accommodation, day trips and dining where her local knowledge and connections mean that we get the best advice possible. Amaia is the main guide when we head to the towns in search of the best pintxos or sidra and helps out on the Basque coastal tour weeks as well.

Amaia can often be found hanging around the beach bars telling anyone who will listen that Basque vegetables are the best vegetables in the world.

 

Doug: The legs behind Basque MTB.

Doug has been biking for as long as he can remember and has been helpless as the addiction has taken over his life. Doug met Amaia in a seedy club in Edinburgh and fell for her Basque charms.

Doug is the main guide for BasqueMTB and he holds a SMBLA mountain bike leader guiding qualification and has been riding XC and DH around Scotland for years so will ensure that no matter what your level you are properly looked after and kept excited!  He can also offer some coaching to help you get the most out of the challenging local terrain. Doug rides a white G-Spot but will often bring his white STD out for the DH trails and big mountain adventures.

When not biking he can often be found hanging around the beach bars telling anyone who will listen that the surf is too small for him to get his board out and that he’s waiting for the 100 year wave!

 

I guess BasqueMTB really started it’s journey when Doug met Amaia in a bar in Edinburgh. Then in 2006 Doug came to visit Amaia’s family in the Basque country and saw the lush green mountains and the wild atlantic sea. The next summer was spent visiting Spain and exploring the local mountains on bike with the help of some local friends and family. It quickly became clear that this was an area with a very special wild beauty and some fantastic mountain biking. Late in 2008 we both moved here and set up the business while developing our extensive trail network and in 2009 we started offering holidays.

In addition to Doug and Amaia, BasqueMTB has been helped in its journey by some other people along the way. These are people who help us with guiding, trail finding and van driving. Depending on when you come on holiday you might just meet some of them.

If you’d like to know more about us then check out our (slightly tongue in cheek) profiles!