Welcome Information Packs > High Pyrenees Welcome Pack

General Information

1. Here you have all the information you need about your High Pyrenees mountain bike holiday.
2. Click here for Contact Information.
3. Keep the stoke high for your adventure! Follow us on Instagram.

Payment Terms and Conditions

1. Deposits are fully refundable for two weeks after booking. Deposits are non-refundable, however if you give us enough time to fill your space on the trip then we can carry your deposits over to a new trip.
2. A booking is not confirmed until we have sent you a full receipt. Please do not book any travel prior to receiving the receipt. It is the clients responsibility to ensure that the details on the receipt matches their requirements. We organize everything according to the receipt and cannot accept responsibility for anything which is not noted on the receipt.
3. Balance is payable 2 months prior to your trip.
4. All payments are non-refundable in the event of a cancellation by the client. We highly recommend that you take out travel insurance when you book which protects you if you need to cancel for any reason.
5. Full conditions are available here.

Insurance and Emergency Details.

1. It is essential that you organise your own insurance to cover yourselves and your personal belongings. This should specifically cover mountain biking. We need you to pass us a copy of the insurance for all members of your group. No insurance means no ride.
2. We recommend that your insurance should cover:
   • Trip cancellation. We will not refund deposits and payments outside our terms and will ask people to claim on their insurance instead of passing the cost onto us.
   • Your bike for theft and damage. We don’t have insurance for guests bikes because it’s not possible to insure so many bikes for us.
   • Cover for your luggage.
   • Emergency medical cover. (The EU health card gives basic cover but insurance opens up the possibility of private hospitals which can make things a lot easier).
   • Rescue, including helicopter.
   • Getting you back home if needed. This is a big one, if you have a broken leg for example you might not be allowed on a commercial flight.
   • We will be riding marked trails, with a guide, the Pyrenees trips get up to almost 3000m and the Basque Coast 2000m.
3. If you live within the EU then you need an up-to-date EHIC (NHS/European Health Insurance Card).
4. We need an contact in case of emergencies and also a note of any relevant medical conditions and medication you may be taking. Can you please put this into an email and send it to doug@basquemtb.com.
5. No insurance means no ride. This is a legal requirement here in Spain. If you turn up without insurance we will organise the basic insurance for you and charge you. The cost is €100 a week, (0r €75 if you tell us the week before). This will only cover rescue and medical expenses, not your bags, bikes and cancellation.

Travel and Transfer Information.

We will be in touch the week before your trip, usually the Wednesday, with detailed transfer information. The reason we leave this so late is that we like to give you an idea about the expected weather for the week ahead.

1. Arrival day is the 1st Saturday. Departure day is the 2nd Saturday.
2. For this trip we pick people up in San Sebastian bus / train station, Biarritz airport or San Sebastian airport. We will pick everyone up in San Sebastian and leave from there. We have a drive ahead of us so we ask that people arrive in Bilbao before 2pm to let us arrive at our destination in time for dinner.
3. Getting to San Sebastian bus station is really easy, you fly to Bilbao and there is a very easy transfer bus. Click here for instructions.
4. The timing for return flights isn ́t important, we can arrange transfers for any flights after around 10am.
5. Space in the van is slightly limited. People should take one bag with their clothes in it, a cycling rucksack and their bike bag. Don’t go crazy when you are packing!
6. Please have lunch before pickup. Once you are picked up you will come to our base, build your bikes and then we will head to the first location, arriving in time for dinner.

Travel / Check-In Check Out / Driving Directions

1. If you are making your own way to our base then you need to contact us and we will provide detailed driving instructions.
2. There is a place to park your car there.

Accommodation Facilities

We will stay in a few different locations during this trip. In general most places will have the following facilities.

1. WiFi will be available.
2. There is a laundry next to the hotel on the Monday. Other than that there are no clothes washing facilities.
3. Bike wash facilities are available most, but not all nights. Sometimes this will be in a petrol station. Normally we don ́t have to wash the bikes though!
4. Secure bike storage. This will be common for the other guests in the house so some people may prefer to bring their own locks, however we have never felt this to be necessary.
5. Bed sheets, linen, towels etc are all provided. This should be obvious from the quality of the accommodation we use! ☺
6. All rooms are shared. You might be lucky if you are travelling solo and get a single room but we will aim to partner you with someone. To have a guaranteed single room please let us know and there is a charge for this.

The riding / Number of Uplifts

1. We hope that you haven ́t got this far without having a good idea of the riding. If so then drop us an email and we can explain it all.
2. We usually include one trail where we need to push, carry and ride the bikes for around two hours. We ask that people prepare themselves for this. Trust us, it ́s worth it. If you want more information about how to prepare yourself then please get in touch.

Rental Bikes

1. We have a small fleet of hire bikes. These are available on a first come, first serve basis. If you damage your bike irreparably then we will try to offer you a hire bike if one is available.
2. For all hire bikes you are responsible for theft and any damage which occurs, other than wear and tear. This means that if you break a derailleur, brake lever, rip tyres etc. then you will need to pay replace these.
3. The guides will try to help you with any problems on the hire bikes however you need to ride in a manner which ensures your bike makes it to the end of the week. “Ride it like a rental” is a sure fire way to end up missing days riding.
4. You should be prepared to adjust things on the bike as you would on your bike at home. The guides will help but it ́s sometimes not possible for us to fix everything and you shouldn ́t think of the guides as your personal mechanics throughout the week. You will be expected to fix flat tyres and tweak the gears as needed.
5. We reserve the right to take the hire bikes away from people who aren ́t respecting them. We have seen examples of people riding well outside their ability levels and “riding it like a rental” and causing excessive damage to the bikes. This isn ́t acceptable as we often need to use the bikes the following week as well. We will give one warning and then the bike will be removed and you won’t have a bike for the rest of your trip.

Equipment Needed and Recommended

1. Bikes: There are lots of different levels of trails and we will have had a discussion about the level of the week so bring a bike that suits that level. A full on DH bike is never suitable as even our most uplifted holidays still have some climbing.
2. Tyres: Tubeless tyres with sealant are really essential and will save lots of punctures. You need tyres with a decent sidewall, such as Maxxis DD or DH casing. Even EXO+ tyres here will suffer unless you are a light rider. Trust us, you will have a better time with good, tubeless tyres.
3. Brakes: Disc brakes with a reasonable size of rotor are going to be best with the long descents we have. Please get your disc brakes serviced if they are old, you would be amazed how many people have issues! We recommend getting them serviced 3 or 4 weeks prior to your holiday so you have time to test them out before you come. Bring spare break pads.
4. Pedals: A lot of guests tell us that that they wish they had brought flat pedals with them due to the fact that many of the trails are technical. We recommend bringing what you are used to and if you do want to bring flat pedals then spend some time riding them before you come on holiday!
5. Protection: It is a personal choice and although we very strongly recommend knee pads as a minimum. Many people use elbow guards. We don’t make pads compulsory but if you are struggling to make your mind up give us a call and we can tell you about the people who missed lots of riding with a banged up knee. Full body armour is probably not a good idea as we will be doing some pedalling but it is up to you.
6. Helmets: A helmet is essential, no helmet means we can ́t take you riding. We use open face helmets but many people feel more comfortable with a full face enduro-style helmet. We will climb on the bikes and you should be wearing a helmet for the climbs too, so bear that in mind if you take a full face helmet.
7. Clothing: Temperatures can vary from cool to very hot and there is always the chance of some rain. We are going to be riding high in the mountains so weather can change very quickly and there is even the chance of some snow. The mornings are sometimes cold, around 0degC but during the day we will likely be riding in shorts and a t-shirt. We recommend a waterproof, a few base layers of different thicknesses, maybe a set of thermal leggings or long trousers, long fingered gloves and normal riding shorts and t-shirts. You should have enough clothing to prepare for difficult conditions at up to 2500m.
8. Amount of Clothing: You will be able to wash and dry clothes on the Monday night so you need enough clothes for 3-4 days of riding without washing.
9. Pack: You will need enough water for a full half day. You will also need to carry some spares and possibly a jacket with you during the day. On some days we will have to carry our lunches and maybe a spare layer of clothing if we are going to do a big mountain day. Your pack needs to be big enough for this.
10. Hydration: Often water won ́t be enough, you may need to carry some hydration powder on longer rides to make sure you stay hydrated and able to perform.
11. Spares For On the Bike: On the bike you will need to carry a pump, two inner tubes and a spare derailleur hanger. We really recommend that you carry spare links for your chain and brake pads.
12. Spares For Off the bike: On our Basque Coast week we can usually get most parts, albeit at a premium compared to internet prices. On our Backcountry Pyrenees week we won ́t be near many bike shops and you will need to be more self-sufficient.

This entry was posted Friday, December 8th, 2000 at 1:01 pm and is classified as Welcome Information Packs.