Mountain Bike Sardinia guide book released
We’ve added Sardinia to our list of must-visit mountain bike destinations having had a copy of the Mountain Bike Sardinia guide book arrive at Bikemagic.
Published by Versante Sud, the translated English language version contains 70 routes, exploring both the mountainous interior and the southern and central coastline.
Each route is graded by difficulty, with a percentage breakdown of the type of surface ridden, along with information on starting point, highest point, height gain, total distance, time, technical difficulty, physical difficulty, ratio of climbing to descent, availability of commercial maps, water sources and places of interest along the route.
A detailed route description follows, accompanied by maps and pictures. Routes can also be downloaded from Versante Sud’s website to use on a GPS device.
The book is the brainchild of Peter Herold, English-born but Sard by adoption and owner of The Lemon House guesthouse, with collaboration from Italians Amos Cardia and Davide Deidda.
The book costs £28.95 from www.cordee.co.uk. Versante Sud also publish a guidebook to Italy’s Aosta Valley in the Alps.
I can thoroughly recommend The Lemon House for a chilled base from which to explore Sardinia’s excellent beaches, rock climbing and bike routes.
As for the riding don’t expect smooth groomed trail centre type trails or uplift; this is a part of the world that rewards both fitness, technical ability and map reading skills.
The hills are bigger than pretty much anything over here and generally you’ll be riding from sea level, so expect long drags on loose fire roads with some awesome views and mentally technical descents. Although knowing Peter he’ll have put in a real variety to cater for everyone.