Try Romania. Lots of dirt roads all over the country, esp. the mountain passes are awesome. Hardly any restrictions and very scenic.

And usually the weather is more stable than in Scandinavia ;-)

__________________
Only when we pause to wonder
do we go beyond the limits of our little lives.
(Rod McKuen)

I clearly referred to footpaths, not farm tracks etc. To confuse the two is to move away from the point. A tractor does NOT cause more damage than a bike-the "footprint" is too large. A bike wheel is the most destructive thing on a path, as even a casual glance would show.Those who choose to ride on footpaths should also inform themselves about the effect this has. The damage is immense. Additionally, if a farmer damages his track, then he/she will eventually repair it. Bike riders dont repair - they damage and move on.

I refer you to the HUMMS type tracks - however rough, these have been made for wheeled traffic and are not damaged by bikes. They are fine for riding as intended. But footpaths are seriously damaged by bikes.

Your last sentence needs some explanation. One thing is sure - they were not built for motorbikes. Paths are not for the rider's "livelihood", nor his/her recreational "access."

Do think about what's been said here....ask yourself...can you justify damaging footpaths? I have done long walks in France and Spain (Le Puy-Santiago, Salamanca-Santiago and various others, and I have seen what bikes do. Its not good. Most riders I have seen on paths couldnt care less. A spot of tough EU legislation, fully applied, might stop the destruction of the environment by the few.

Wow, looks like you guys struck it rich with that trip - just checked out the pics link! You're bang on about the GR7, it's sooo more open than the tracks i see walking in the Alps. Nice bikes too - been shortlisting an xt for the trip next year. Surprised about the fire-road thing, mind - but with the trails you highlight i guess there's a greater choice of options out there. Nice one, folks!

Portugal has miles of public graded gravel tracks plus the right to cross private farm land. Also you will almost never see anyone else out whilst riding.

That sounds good, Dave. Ideal for the bike.....

Thanks for that. The ADVRider link is of a group of French riders who rode virtually past our doorstep. My ablum is of the rides we do every weekend. The GR7 is just a small sample of what the tracks are like in our area. We've been through the Montes de Malaga Natural Park today and before anybody gets too upset about that, the Junta de Andalucia actively promote the use of all of these tracks under the 'banner' of rural tourism, for the use of all vehicles, motorised or otherwise. We passed hikers, mountain bikers and cars.

Is there a difference between fire trails/tracks and breakers? The ones that are illegal to ride here are the wide paths cleared in order to act as a fire break. In the past few weekends we've passed 2 areas that have had recent forest fires. They are common at this time of year since everything is tinder dry. The breaks in our area usually run along the peak of a mountain and it would take an experienced rider to go up them anyway.

The XT's have been fantastic bikes. Can't fault them with what we use them for. I also ride a Tricker 250 which is like riding a skateboard.

If anybody is ever in our area and wants to sample any of these tracks, just give us a call. Any excuse to go out riding!! We're taking people on these rides at the Moto Andalucia meet in 4 weeks if anybody wants to join us.

Is this a commercial operation?

I'm happy for anybody to quote me, but DON'T type words into those quotation marks that I haven't written - it's just not cricket.

That said, if you're looking for something along the 'commercial' lines, you're best to Google it - there's lots of companies throughout Spain who run that type of business.

Completely missed that DavePortugal a few posts back (you quoted him) runs a commercial business - Enduro Republic - in Portugal and Spain. Try him -

DavePortugal - Nice website and some great pics - are they of Portugal and Spain?

Well I didnt do that ,so that comment was not required. I dont understand the reference to cricket.

No I would never pay anyone to take me by the hand to do something I could do better myself.

So Im not looking for anything commercial or otherwise. Im commenting on the destruction of footpaths.

Fascinating. Did not know these long distance trails existed. Has anyone managed to get these routes mapped out on MapSource with waypoints? If so where can I get it from? :confused1:

Thanks

__________________
'Darling can a buy another motorcycle? Steve McQueen had over 100.'

The GR's are long distances walking paths passing trough intresting scenery and historical places. While the GR's can be used as a route planning guide, one cannot assume that the complete route is accessible for motor vehicles (due terrain, legal constraints, or just because it would be anti-social).

With sound judgement and respect for the environment (no wheel spin...) you're riding in, there shouldn't be too much obstackles.

And to contribute to the thread:
In southern Belgium it's illegal to ride on unpaved roads and trails that go trough forests (i.e. trees at both sides). As long as there are no trees at both side, you're fine. If you're caught riding trough forests, your vehicle will be seized(there're a few foul hardy loosing their 4x4, quad, motorcycle every year ...)

Last year a group of us did indeed create and ride a TransEuro Trail.

We rode from the North Sea near Groningen (NL) to Tarifa (E) on the Straits of Gibraltar in a trip "novelly" entitled "Long Way South 07".

In total the trip took 4 weeks, covered over 6000km and was about 80% "off tar" - and 99% legal (we believe!) We had to skip parts of our preplanned route and use tar detours as we had over estimated the distances we could each day. Some days we exceeded 14 hours in the saddle.

Bikes used ranged from KTM Adventure through Tenere 3AJs past 525 XC to Harley Davidson 350s (the latter giving a hint to our background!)

We hope to ride the route again this year and fine tune it. I am lucky enough to be off to the Pyrenees next month to develop a part of the route we failed to ride.

Cheers

John

Very interesting John: the conundrum is that if you publicise such information widely, such as on the internet, then it draws wide attention and "new traffic" to the routes involved.
You probably know that the UK trail rider federation (TRF) is not keen on widely spreading information about routes that their members ride routinely/regularly.

__________________
Dave

Quite right, Dave, I quite agree.

I think the important words here are "publicise the information" . The fact we've done it is one thing, the nitty gritty of the route - bar the start and finish - another.

The first perhaps encourages people to think about the possibilities of adventurous overland type travel nearer to their own homes in W Europe, while for the latter, I am not convinced that a widely available TransEuro Trail would not just end up as an overused Cannonball Run hacking off the locals, destroying the environment and the adventure it is - a dual sport overland route through Western Europe.

Like you I have anxieties about widely publicising specific off-tar routes in Europe in a public and uncontrolled medium like this - let people join clubs, TRF etc and share the discovery. It's not being selfish and possessive just suggesting that discovery of routes and the camaraderie of doing so is a big part of the fun as well as fostering a feeling of responsibility for the lanes - if that doesn't sound to fluffy!

Cheers

John