The Mountain Bike Adventure

Check here for more information about the rides

Cancellation policy

If you cancel more than 48 hours of your scheduled trip departure, you will receive a full refund. If you cancel less than 48 hours or do not show up for your booking you are required to pay the full amount of your reservation.  When you make a reservation this is legally binding contract under Portuguese law between The Mountain Bike Adventure and you for the full amount of your booking.

Trail grading

Green grade – easy trails

  • Green grade trails are suitable for: beginners or novice cyclists.
  • Skills needed: basic bike skills are required for this grade.
  • Trail and surface types: these will be relatively flat and wide. Trail surface might be loose, uneven or muddy at times. Might include short  flowing singletrack-style sections.
  • Gradients and technical trail features: climbs and descents are mostly shallow. No challenging features.
  • Suggested fitness level: suitable for most people in good health.

Blue grade – moderate trails

  • Blue grade trails are suitable for: intermediate cyclists or mountain bikers with basic off-road riding skills.
  • Skills needed: basic off-road riding skills to cope with uneven surfaces and small obstacles.
  • Trail and surface types: as for ‘green’, plus specially constructed singletrack trails. Trail surface might include small obstacles of root and rock.
  • Gradients and technical trail features: most gradients are moderate but might include short steep sections. Includes small technical trail features (such as roots and rock).
  • Suggested fitness level: a good standard of fitness can help.

Red grade – difficult trails

  • Red grade trails are suitable for: proficient mountain bikers with good off-roading skills.
  • Skills needed: good off-roading skills and techniques to cope with technical trail features.
  • Trail and surface types: steeper and tougher, mostly singletrack with technical sections. Expect very variable surface types.
  • Gradients or technical trail features: a wide range of climbs and descents of a challenging nature will be present. Expect large rocks, medium steps, drop-offs, cambers and water crossings.
  • Suggested fitness level: a higher level of fitness and stamina is required.

Black grade – severe trails

  • Black grade trails are suitable for: expert mountain bike users, used to physically demanding routes.
  • Skills needed: advanced level off-roading skills and technical ability.
  • Trail and surface types: as for ‘red’, but with an expectation of greater challenge and continuous difficulty. Can include any useable trail and might include exposed open hill sections.
  • Gradients or technical trail features: expect large, committing and unavoidable technical trail features. Sections will be challenging and variable. Might also have ‘downhill’ style sections.
  • Suggested fitness level: suitable for very active people used to prolonged effort.

What about helmets and SPD pedals?

Our bikes are fitted with high quality flat pedals, we also have Shimano or Crank Brothers spd pedals available. We have a good range of helmet sizes. All of these are included in the price! We don’t have spd shoes though, you will need to bring your own.

What do I need to bring?

All you need is beer money, the clothes you will ride in, beer money, suncream and beer money for the end of the ride. Shorts, sports top and flat trainers are ideal if you don’t have bike specific clothes. Don’t forget the beer money.

What about lunch and drinks?

We provide water in reusable BPA free bottles and we buy you a soft drink at a cafe stop! We also sell our BPA free drinking bottles at cost for 11 euros if you prefer to have your own, they are designed to fit on a bike holder.
We supply lunch on the Summit to Sea ride, we bring bread rolls, cheese, mayonnaise, chips, oranges and a knife. How you assembly your sandwich is up to you! Make sure you let us know before the ride if you have special dietary requirements as we have lunch in a river valleys miles from anywhere!

How do I pay?

You can either pay cash on the day or by card. Cash is a nice tip for the staff, high fives ,fist bumps and hugs also make people happy.

Can I use my own bike on your guided rides?

Yes you can. Please make sure you have spares that you need to keep your bike running, contact us if you need advice about that.
If you are on your own bike for day trips then you get 20% off the price.
If your bike breaks we will offer advice whilst watching you struggle to fix it.

Can I call into your office and talk about the ride options?

Yes, ideally you need to talk to Jim about the rides, he is usually out riding in the mornings so after lunch is ideal if possible. We will still need an email to confirm the booking.

How much notice do you need for a booking?

We do get very busy in our peak period of May to October, we are often fully booked, on the other hand we might still have space the next day so contact us! If the ride is an important part of your holiday we advise getting in contact at least a month before you arrive.

Where are your trails

Everywhere! We have spent years building these routes so we can customise our rides to our guests. We get no support from local councils, organisations, or the government, all of the trail building we do is funded from our own pocket and the only time we get any return is when we are guiding. All of the technical trails we have built in the mountains are on private land, it has taken years of building a relationship with the land owners to get to where we are now.

I want to self guide?

We do supply GXP files for customers who rent bikes from us, these are the routes from Lagos mountain bike centre.

We do not supply the routes we use for guiding or offer a route planning service. If you want to ride the fun single tracks we have built you need to book a guided ride.

Can I hire a bike from you to self guide?

Yes, we have lots of different bikes for hire through Bica Bikes

The ride I want to do isn’t listed?

Contact us about it and we will try to help. If it is for a group booking it is easier. We can’t customise rides for one person in peak season.