If you haven't been to Madeira, this Portuguese archipelago in Atlantic Ocean lies 580 km west from Morocco, Africa. The Island is surprisingly mountainous with peaks of 1,860 meters; over 6,100 feet high! Fortunately for the tourists, volcanic activity stopped about 6,500 years ago. This activity has endowed the island with a fertile landscape where much of the island was, until comparatively recently covered in ancient subtropical rainforest. Indeed this is the reason for the name of the island, ‘Madeira’ meaning ‘wood’ in Portuguese. Parts of the laurel forest still remain, mainly on the northern slopes and have become a UNESCO World Heritage Site, but the superb blooms for which the island has become famous may be found in abundance all year round.
If you decide on going there, we recommend to get in touch with Freeride Madeira, professional mountain guides who know the are the best. The crew takes you from the highest mountains (1818m) to sea level and also Cross-country and All-Mountain trails with approximately 50km of length each. What is important though, for this company, Mountain Biking is also way of life. Part of their concept is to unite all participants as a tribe and together explore mountains in search of the perfect flow for a perfect trail, building and maintaining them, always respecting and taking special care of nature.
The average annual temperature in this location is pretty stable, around 20 °C (68 °F). Not too hot, not too cold, perfect for riding a bike.
Sounds like a good place to be. There is plenty of flights from Europe to get there. Every year the Island is a home of numerous bike events like "Avalanche" Downhill, Enduro Challenge, or Summer Water Jump to name a few. Bike productions like to visit to shoot some of the finest bike movies out there, especially MADproduction seem to take fancy of this location. But enough words, check the below video from the location to see what the land has to offer.
For more information check: www.freeridemadeira.com
Source: www.freeridemadeira.com and their FB. Thanks to Marcos França. All images are courtesy of Freeriede Madeira. Copyrights applied.
