The first day of the festival will challenge walkers to the 20km Bonniconlon Loop taking in the Ox Mountains and surrounding lakes. After a long day of walking participants can look forward to the festival banquet, followed by “craic agus ceol” at an award winning restaurant in Ballina. Sunday will be another action packed day. The itinerary will be split between a morning and afternoon session at Lough Muck and Lough Callow near Foxford.

The price for the weekend is €195 pps and includes two nights accommodation, breakfast each morning, three guided walks, a slap up meal at the festival banquet, two lunches and transport to and from the walks each day.

For more information please see www.trekwesttours.ie or call 087 2540334.

Coming in a variety of sizes to suit trips from weekends away to extended breaks, these handy folders come with a board and folding instructions, so your shirts, trousers, sweaters, blouses, sport coats can emerge from your bag almost as if you’d just ironed them.

With a stain and water repellent lining, your good gear should also be kept clean even in the event of wash bag spillages and the like.

The other bonus with these folders is that they act as compression bags. For example, the smallest 15-inch folder would fit, two shirts, a pair of pants, two undershirts, underwear and socks and slip into many computer bags.

Eagle Creek products are available from the Great Outdoors, Dublin and Costwold Outdoors, Belfast.

If prevention is better than cure, then use Eagle Creek’s Under Cover Leg stash (€15 approx) if you are out and about with your valuables.

Rather than being secured around your waist, where skilled pickpockets can access and will be looking, this hidden pocket fastens around your leg with comfortable and adjustable elasticised Velcro straps. The Softseam construction means this ‘money belt’ is soft and comfy against your skin and the micro-weave knit CoolMax backing fabric is highly absorbent so won’t leave you feeling sweaty. But most importantly, your important items will be safe and sound.

Eagle Creek products are available from the Great Outdoors, Dublin and Costwold Outdoors, Belfast.

These are technical seamless socks so perfect for blister free hiking. But better still, they are impregnated with Healthguard Vital Protection, a long-lasting insect repellent that will keep the biters at bay. The socks have been shown to reduce bites by 80-90 per cent.

The socks also use Coolmax fibres which means moisture is transported away from the skin to the outer layer of the sock, where it can evaporate quickly. This will help your feet blister and smell free, regardless of the heat. Bamboo yarns, which have a natural anti-bacterial effect, will also allow your feet to remains clean and fresh.

Care Plus Bugsox Adventure are available via www.worldwidenets.co.uk or contact www.tropicare.eu.

I am loath to admit that I do occasionally take a look at magazines other than Outsider, but I do. And recently I was reading about 10 places where you must go biking before you die. Moab (tick), British Colombia (tick), trail centres in the UK (tick)…you get the idea.

Gran Canaria Map

I had ridden in several of the locations mentioned, scanning for one spot in particular, but to my surprise it wasn’t there. Gran Canaria – one of the most exciting and challenging places I have ever been on a bike.

This Spanish territory is a well-known destination for package holidays and there are numerous beaches and bars to cater for all tastes. So should you have a family in tow you could kill two birds with one stone.

If you are on the bike though, it is when you get a little bit away from the coast and into the volcanic mountains that the island transforms into something of a different dimension. Red rock and steep twisty hairpin roads are what wait in the heart of the island. White washed houses and shops are dotted throughout the hills. Tiny churches that belong in spaghetti westerns are also common up above the valleys. Stopping for a coffee with a view across the entire island is definitely worth the effort on the climbs!

The trails that crisscross the island are truly amazing, old tracks that would have been used to get around the island before the roads arrived. Some of these seem to cling impossibly to the side of mountains. These routes are all well worn and this makes then all the better for biking. Loose rock, sand, hard coarse volcanic formations and smooth glass-like rock are all in a day’s riding. Some of the trails seem to spiral into nothingness only to lead impossibly to a new valley or crest another isolated peak.

There are so many options as to how you tackle the trails it is nearly impossible to know where to start. You can bike straight from your accommodation climbing up from the coast into the hills. You can drive to one of the many picturesque little towns like San Bartolome and take in the trails in a loop and the cruise back in air-conditioned comfort. Even the driving is something of an adventure; on some of the roads you are nearly safer on the bike than in the car.

Head for the hills

With such a vast network of trails, it is possible to traverse the island from one side to the other off road. Last year we rode from Mas Palomas in the south of the island to Agate in the north-west with no more of a plan than a hotel booking in Agate and flipflops and swimming trunks brought with us.

The island abounds with possibility and every ride can be an adventure. Some tourist attractions like Roque Nublo (a huge free-standing rock) are accessible by walking trails that can easily be ridden on. The highest point on the island is also worth checking out; unlike the car drivers you won’t have to turn around and go back down the road you came up but can head off on a ridiculous descent off-road descent all the way back down to sea level.

Local knowledge or a guidebook and a sense of adventure are essential to make the most of Gran Canaria. Trails like ‘Lord of the Rings’, ‘Super G’, ‘Sand Man’, ‘Gordon’s Folley’ and ‘Pipe Dream’ are well known by the Irish riders that frequent this island. Alas these trails have different names with the locals! If you are on a first trip the best thing to do is get some guiding and even rent a bike as yours will take a thrashing.

Mas Palomas is a good place to base yourself as there are plenty of options along the coast and you can head for Mogan easily enough. Other good options are the areas of Fataga, Cruz Grande, Artenera and Tajeda. Google Maps will really show the potential of the island and some trails can be clearly seen. A bit of research and some local knowledge will get you a long way.

The facts

If you’re after a guiding or rental, local company Free Motion is a good place to start. They run MTB and Road weeks which include five days guided riding, rental of a Cannondale Rush 6 or other for six days, bike storage, tour profiles, Powerbar energy pack for the week, drinks bottle, bike wash facilities with mechanic support and seven nights half board at a three-star hotel (€549). They also offer a range of packages such as a 2008 Cannondale Rush 6 for €89.50 for five days and tours which focus on the central/eastern areas of the island. Most excursions have shuttle transport from Playa del Ingles to the trailheads and include food, water, mechanic support and local hotel transfer. For more details, contact: Free Motion, Avda. de Alfereces Provisionales s/n, Hotel Sandy Beach local 9, E-35100 Playa del Ingles, Gran Canaria (Spain); tel. (+34) 928-777479; e-mail: info@free-motion.net

A good time to go is between November and February when the weather here is pretty grim in Ireland and flights and accommodation are reasonable. Flights are usually midweek and Iberia or Aer Lingus will get you there. It’s best to book early online and include your ‘surfboard’ in the booking as bikes are still not on the sports equipment list.

I stayed in the Vista Oasis Bungalows (Cl Einstein 6, Maspalomas, Gran Canaria, Spain) and they were perfect. They offered enough facilities to make breakfast and a post-ride lunch but eating out in the evenings is really the only option. The bungalows sleep three comfortably and have a decent balcony for bikes and bike bags. If you have a family in tow, somewhere closer to the beach might be a better bet. Cheap and cheerful have usually been my criteria!

It’s worth nothing that bikes and bodies will take a bashing – it’s not a place for your carbon race bike. Rocks bounce around the trails and the ding of rock on bike frame is an all too familiar sound. New tyres will also just about last a week. Check out the Decathlon Super Store if you are stuck for bike bits when you’re out there, it’s like the Tesco of sports stores. If you have one, bring a full suss bike, if not you will be king of the climbs and will be able to boast after the descents.

Last November, we competed against 29 other teams from 20 countries in the Isles Guadeloupe Adventure Race (IGWA). This was a staged race over five days that introduced us to the adventures, history and tastes of this archipelago of islands.

When we weren’t battling our way through sugar plantations, kayaking through mangrove swamp or climbing up to Guadeloupe’s active volcano, we sampled the local Ti-Punch cocktail, made with Guadeloupe’s own Vieux Rum, and soaked up the sound of the islands’ La Biguine music.

The Isles Guadeloupe consist mainly of Grand Terre, Basse Terre, Marie Galant, Les Saintes and Les Desirades. Grand and Basse Terre are the main islands, prettily forming the shape of a butterfly. Named The Island of Beautiful Waters by its native Carib Indians, Guadeloupe is surrounded by the Caribbean sea and Atlantic Ocean. It was discovered by Christopher Columbus in 1493, colonised by the French in 1635 and coveted by the English and Spanish. It became a French Overseas Region in 1974.

Inevitably, the flavour of Guadeloupe is French. French is the official language and the island’s currency is the Euro. But the Creole patois spoken by many islanders and the style of architecture also seem to lend laid-back Guadeloupe a New Orleans like feel. The food is a mix of European, African, Creole and Indian, a culinary legacy of the Indians who were brought to work on the island’s plantations in the 19^th century.

However, adventure, rather than food, was on our minds and menus as we prepared to run through jungle, across mountains and along coastal routes, swim, paddle, mountain bike and discover Guadeloupe over five days. Situated in the Lesser Antilles, close to the Eastern Caribbean islands of Montserrat, the islands’ tropical climate tempered by the prevailing trade winds and lush scenery offered a welcoming backdrop for adventure, while the islands’ turquoise waters, white sandy beaches and cocktails helped our post-adventure relaxation process.

Once outside the island’s main population centres, the Caribbean pace of life is instantly obvious and the Creole hospitality greets you with open arms. With younger islanders exploring education and career opportunities on the French mainland, the older island population will remind you somewhat of the old way of life in the west of Ireland.

A basic level of French is enough to get by on when it comes to chatting with the locals but many still use Creole as their first language. A mix of local traditions, costumes, crafts and adventure make Guadeloupe more than the average sun-kissed Caribbean holiday island, while hiking along paths used by smugglers or enjoying an adventure on terrain that might have been a 17^th century slave labour sugar plantation adds an intriguing historical twist.

The IGWA race was far from run of the mill, including activities (golf!) that might not be typical AR style but which introduced us to many sides of island life and can be enjoyed by adventure-seeking visitors.

Volcano trekking:

The highest peak in Guadeloupe is La Soufriere on Basse Terre, at 1467m above sea level. What makes the trek to the peak of this still-active volcano unique is the fact that you pass through several different ecosystems on the climb. While many trekkers begin the route at the coast, we started at an elevation of about 900m a few kms outside of the local market town of St Claude. Our route took in two other peaks of La Citerne and L’Echelle and the accumulated climb was close to 1000m via well-marked trails that were steep and slippery in places. We passed through tropical rainforest, then mountain savannah, before emerging onto an unexpected lunar-like landscape devoid of any vegetation. Locally, the volcano is fondly known as ‘The Old Lady’.

At the peak of La Soufriere, the pungent smell of sulphur hits the senses as gases emit from cracks in the crater. However, the views are more than worth the momentary sensory discomfort, with azure seas as far as the eyes can see. While the beaches on Grand Terre are white, it’s La Soufriere that gives western Basse Terre its black sandy beaches. Basse Terre is also home to 66 square miles of tropical forest and Guadeloupe’s national park, and is the best place for hiking.

During the IGWA, a team of fast Russian racers managed the route round La Soufriere in less than 2 ½ hours so a full day’s trekking would be assured for most hikers. Their reward is to bathe in a thermal pool at the end of the trek, to an entertaining background crescendo of jungle creatures.

Surfing:

For those of us who have endured Ireland’s winter waves, Guadeloupe offers a pleasant all-year-round surfing paradise. With average daytime temperatures between 20 and 30 degrees, there’s no need for wetsuits and there are at least 35 recognised surfing spots dotted around the islands. While it may not match Hawaii’s giant wave potential or the exhilaration of Ireland’s Aileens, what it does offer is guaranteed waves in un-crowded locations, beautiful beaches and cocktails at sunset.

While you can surf all year round, the main season is between October and May, with waves breaking on coral, lava or rock reefs. Trade winds are more intense in spring/summer, which means bigger waves on the islands’ Atlantic coast. Big thrill seekers could opt to surf in September and October when the hurricane season guarantees exceptional swell (usually before or after a hurricane). To sample some of Guadeloupe’s best surfing, head for the beaches at Saint Anne or Saint Francois on south Grand-Terre.

Windsurfing:

One stage of the IGWA race took us windsurfing on a triangular course near the town of St Francois on Grand Terre. While temperatures in the Guad islands seldom dip below 30 degrees, there are generally pleasant breezes to accompany the sunshine-filled days. This makes Guadeloupe an ideal windsurfing location. Beginners can avail of reasonably-priced equipment hire and tuition at one of the island’s established schools. With sea temperatures ranging between 25 and 28 degrees and beautiful surroundings, the only thing you need to worry about is the applying a suitable waterproof sun lotion at the start of the day.

Snorkelling.

One of the most unusual stages of the race was snorkelling, where teams were given 40 minutes to identify up to fifteen different kinds of fish and animal life in the clear waters off the Plage des Raisons Clair on Grand Terre. While the islands have several suitable PADI dive centres for diving enthusiasts, there’s plenty to be seen and enjoyed just by investing in a snorkel and mask and walking in off the from the beach at your hotel. An abundance of coral in 3 to 10 metre deep areas just off Guadeloupe’s sandy beaches offers a more relaxed means of exploring sea life if you’re not keen to scuba dive. It’s hassle-free, inexpensive and you get to indulge in your favourite cocktail at the beach bar in between excursions. Also worth visiting are the beaches of Bouillante and Grand Anse on the west coast of Basse Terre while Guadeloupe is also home to a number of nudist beaches if that takes your fancy.

Canyoneering;

Basse Terre’s lush rivers, massive trees and tumultuous rivers make it the ideal spot for canyoneering, with at least eight guiding companies on this island. While the tropical climate dictates that rainfall and river flows will vary significantly, the nature of the steep rocky canyons set amongst the high tropical jungle should get the adrenalin pumping with a mix of abseiling, rock-climbing and jumping into natural pools. If there isn’t enough water to go canyoneering, console yourself with a visit to Guad’s famous Les Chutes de Carbet waterfalls instead.

Guadeloupe facts:

*Peak tourism season is February to April.

*Along with humid tropical rainforest, an active volcano and sub-tropical vegation, Guad is also home to mangrove swamps and banana plantations.

*The islands are a mix of laid-back fishing communities and larger, more modern towns.

*There are two seasons: a dry season between February and June and a wet season between July and January.

*Getting there: fly via Paris Orly with Air France, Air Caraibe Paris or Corsair. Flying time from Paris is eight hours.

*For further info on Guadeloupe, go to www.lesislesdeguadeloupe.com or visit www.franceguide.com .