UKC

Sardinia is bigger than Wales and has higher mountains, and I and two colleagues are just finishing documenting for Italy’s main mountain sports publisher Versante Sud 70-odd mountain bike routes in central and southern Sardinia (where the mountains are, BTW) with a mix of XC and technical “Alpine” singletrack, often by the Mediterranean’s best coast. The guide, one of a series which includes Ticino, Valle d’Aosta and Lecco and Bergamo (all in Alps) will be published around Xmas 2011 IN ITALIAN.

I am trying to work out whether there’s a market for an ENGLISH translation.

Many people (including Italians) know Sardinia only for its beaches. The two riders from N Italy who I took to Punta La Marmora, the island’s highest point 1834 m on Sunday exclaimed, “Wow, it’s just like the Dolomites here!” while Roland, an award-winning Dutch journalist who we took on the first stage of the 6-day Rally di Sardegna mountainbike,
said, “This place is the next Majorca, they just need to develop the infrastructure”.

Northern Italian riders are starting to discover Sardinia. I had a photo published in June’s MB Action Italian edition and the text says, “Sardinia has a thriving MTB scene which’ll soon be revealed to the world with the publication of new guides. This photo is a first taste of the mountains which rise to over 1000 m within 20 km of the coast and where you can ride in winter! [The weather conditions in N Italy are not too different from those in UK]. In the photo Davide rides the muletrack of the Codula Sa Mela Urzulei Supramonte. Photo Peter www.mountainbikeogliastra.it “

The last guide to mountain bike in Sardinia was published 20 years ago, so another is well-over due.

Do people think there’d be a market for an English translation? Would they be interested in coming to a relatively/very (compared to southern Spain, no fish & chips here…) undeveloped destination where they can combine XC and AM riding on natural trails with a beach holiday?

I don’t decide, it’s up to the published, but your comments would be welcome.

Thanks Peter

In reply to Peter Herold:

Every time I've been to Sardinia for a climbing trip I've thought how brilliant it would be on a mountain bike. I would definitely buy a guide!

In reply to Peter Herold:

Peter, if you look at what Rockfax did for Rjukan, it is quite possible that an english translation guidebook will make Sardinia a popular MTB destination. The main problem for us is taking bikes on a cheap holiday flight. Even a basic translation will be good enough. Personally, I prefer quiet places with a strong local scene but no over the top tourist crap.

In reply to G Graham:

Agreed, and that would, IMO, spoil it! What I'd love to happen is for there to be a reasonable set of maps/topos and a local hire shop. A huge part of Sardinia's charm, for me, was that the crags and even the beaches were pretty deserted when we went, so there was a huge amount of interaction with local people despite the language barrier. Magic.

The Italian guide comes with legend card in English, each route has a map/profile and downloadable GPS routes (you enter 16-digit code into Versante Sud web site), so you can get a good idea of what routes are like, look at photos and follow GPS trail even with the guide in Italian. There's a complete list of routes at the back with grades, styles etc

WOULD THAT BE ENOUGH, D'YOU THINK, PERHAPS FOR PEOPLE WHO'VE ALREADY BEEN TO SARDINIA CLIMBING, AND KNOW THEIR WAY AROUND A BIT?

I don't think that Sardinia will ever be overrun: as you say, you have to pay £62 Easyjet one bike and one hold bag, but this also applies to other "sun MTB" destinations. Where we live you can hire good hardtail bikes, though we tell people who are more interested in AM rides on full-suspended bikes to bring their own bikes (and they prefer their own bikes). Near Cagliari you can also hire full-suspended bikes.

thanks for the feedback

Peter

In reply to Peter Herold:

It would be enough for me, as I have fluent French and a smattering of Spanish, so can work out Italian after a fashion! Plus I like the puzzle aspect of foreign-language guidebooks. The only climbing guides I have for Sardinia are the old Italian ones, and I managed pretty well.

Thanks for all the feedback, I sent off the DVD with 56/70 routes today...before the guide comes out I'll talk to the puiblished about having a short English section. cheers Peter