Formerly known as Freeride Espana (link to Freeride Espana»)link this fledgling MTB outfit is run by the unlikely combo of Michael and Finn who hail from Canada and Devon respectively. A quick trail check revealed they had ridden all over the UK (including intimate knowledge of our own local North Downs trails) and indeed many worldwide locations. Both feel that the rocky technical trails that litter the Sierra Nevada National Park provide the best all round mountain biking available. Switchbacks was born after it was felt Freeride, originally set up several summers back, was giving the wrong impression (there is little opportunity to huck around or launch off the mountainside). The website switch-backs.com/ belies the size of the company and provides virtually all you need to know, though it would be nice if they personalised it bit more. Essentially a 2 man band Switchbacks caters for smaller groups than the one that lunged drunkenly towards them a few weeks ago at Malaga airport in the early hours of Sat morning, but business is business and it’s been a slow winter so with 15 tired chaps safely stowed in vans the show was on the road to mountain bike paradise. Transfer time is around 3hrs but once you hit the winding mountain road that ascends to Orgiva and beyond there was little hope of shuteye. At 5am the village of Bubion snuck into view, the troops were marshalled to 3 villas and much needed sleep was had. We awoke to a picture postcard panorama snow capped peaks on one side and plunging valleys on the other and all this from our own terrace in a village which felt like it might just slide away quietly down the mountainside. True to their word our hosts had stocked up with food and booze for our stay and after a quick build up and lunch our guides pointed us up the winding road towards the top of the mountain.
The opening long mainly tarmac climb in the afternoon heat proved too much for some of the lads on full DH rigs and soon the group split up with Michael leading us to the first rocky singletrack of the day. But the pain of climbing soo
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melted away as each new twist and turn fired us up. The trails here are dotted with thorn bushes and the ever-present rocks are particularly sharp. Punctures are likely and tyres with Kevlar walls are recommended although Switchbacks will sell you Kevlar tyre liners if you puncture too frequently and also have a stash of Continental Verticals from their sponsors. Protection also needs to be worn by the riders: we were all persuaded that we should wear knee and elbow armour and after 1 day we were convinced that it was an absolute necessity- even the guides wore it. The company has spare kit but bring your own if you have them as they got real sweaty (yum).
The trails we rode over the next four days took us up to 2150m before swooping back down to around 900m. There appeared to be a never-ending supply of reasonably steep technical downhills (mainly footpaths) liberally covered in boulders and guarded by a myriad of switchback turns. By the end of 4 days we had figured out to ride these with some degree of confidence which was just as well because not making the turn in some spots would have resulted in a very steep rocky tumble to oblivion¦you’ve heard the phrase “look where you want your wheel to go”, well I found myself muttering this constantly as we descended an unfeasibly steep slope on a narrow switchback path and only looked up from my path when I was safely at the bottom.
Suddenly the odd dab means the difference between progressing reasonably smoothly and
stacking on the high altar of sharp rocks. There was some nice trail variation with faster swooping sections through trees and less rocky trails but no big drops and I didn’t see a log to jump in over 20hrs of riding in 4days. Singletrack and rocks predominate and while there was no particular section of trail that was mega steep the general consensus was that a lowered seat post was recommended to enjoy descending without worrying about your tackle too much. Some of the more fancied trails as mentioned on the website were still inaccessible due to snow but with summer just about kicking in these should now be ready to ride.
Stacks? Did we have some stacks or what! Just about everyone came off at some point but thankfully the injuries were on the whole minimal mainly due to the protective pads. There were a couple of notable exceptions. Pete F. managed to avoid doing up his quick release on Day2 and while descending a rock trail (Porqueira gorge or something similar) found himself riding unicycle. When he woke up he found a few of the back markers posing next to him for photos with his snapped bars smashed helmet and sunglasses protruding from a gash 1-2cm above his right eye. It took me 20mins to climb the rocky trail in carbon race shoes to pronounce him unfit to ride the rest of the day¦.and that was the most tired I got all weekend almost. The hard nut was back next morning complete with new bar smashed lid and sporting a black eye. On day 3 Barry (he of Barry Knows Best fame) decided that the best route down is to ride like Superman. Needless to say he did not ride the next day. Hope those Voltarol did the trick mate. Switchbacks say they will guide just about anyone but target the seasoned rider who wants to improve their technique and whilst you can’t fail to become a better rider I would definitely not recommend these trails to anyone who is a beginner or who wants gentle riding.
Bubion itself is a sleepy mountain village with a handful of bars and restaurants which will serve you as much Rioja as you can drink and 3 course meal for less than £15 a head. The next village up (reportedly a 10 min stroll) has a larger choice of eateries and something which passes as a club -beware a fair amount of inbreeding looks to have taken place in this isolated spot over the centuries. The villages were ideal for swapping stories and relaxing your weary pumped up arms and sore backs after 5hours in the saddle although some members of our group did stay out drinking all night on the first night and then climbed a 40ft wall to our balcony to break in and serenade us with drums at 3am one morning. I think Finn was happy the weekend was over. Can’t wait to get back out there!
PS Good luck to Mike who is due to be a father this summer¦.you’ll have to take it easy now mate.
Marc Ravetto
date: 05/10/2005
