The most stunning location in the world to ride a mountain bike?

It's hard to beat Reunion Island in the Indian Ocean when it comes to breathtaking backdrops

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Danny Walter

Published: July 7, 2017 at 2:19 pm

We all have our own personal trail nirvana. Somewhere we’ve ridden that's like no other. Perfect in every way. Be it A-Line in Whistler, Chamonix in the Alps or those hidden woods just outside Chipping Sodbury. But when it comes to jaw-dropping variety of spectacular landscapes, can this place be beaten?

Reunion Island, the location for the Southern Hemisphere’s version of the famous Megavalanche race, lies about 500 miles east of Madagascar in the Indian Ocean, rises up 3,000m and is home to a still-active volcano. We were there right at the turn of the year and were blown away not just by the scenery but also the variety of terrain – from loose and dusty ash beds to jagged mountain descents with barely-distinguishable trail lines and root-infested rainforests.

Is this the most stunning location in the world to ride a mountain bike? What do you reckon?

Riding on the volcanic landscapes of Reunion Island
[image id="107" size="full" align="none" title="ReunionIsland rootfest" alt="Gnarly roots and trees on reunion island" classes=""] There's miles upon miles of gnarly forest singletrack, with plenty of twisty roots and low-hanging branches to avoid
Rainforest style riding on Reunion Island
Threading through the rainforest-like vegetation brings an extra dimension to the riding
Blasting a corner on Reunion Island
Boom! We chucked up plenty of dust as we blasted down the super-dry descents
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Those are some seriously impressive mountains going on there
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German enduro rider Max Schumann lets his rear tyre drift through the super-soft volcanic ash on the barren landscape of the Piton Chisny
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There are plenty of scenic peaks and ridges to ride along here – it's hard to stay focused on the trail ahead when it looks this stunning all around
Riding on a cliff edge at Reunion Island
Not a corner you want to get wrong! A true top- of-the-world feel - is there anywhere better in the world to ride a mountain bike?

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Danny Walter

Danny is the Editor in Chief of Mountain Biking UK Magazine. He has been at the helm for over 10 years and in that time has seen some significant changes in the bikes we ride, the kit we use and the places we go to do it. He's a firm believer that we still all ride bikes for the same reasons we ever did - to have the most amount of fun possible.
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