Mountainbike.be

(sorry for writing in English)

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!”

and added, "But from the Dolomites you can't see the sea!"
Northern Italian riders like these are starting to discover Sardinia. Here’s a photo of mine from 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 [url=http://www.mountainbikeogliastra.it[]www.mountainbikeogliastra.it[/url]“

The last guide to mountain bike in Sardinia was published 20 years ago, so another is well overdue. Do people think there’d be a market for an English translation? Would they be interested in coming to a relatively 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 publisher, but your comments would be welcome.

Thanks Peter

Sure! Good charter flights are plenty available. I feel tempted for an October trip. Any pointers on a good GPS track base for the region?

You will be able to download GPS routes for the guide using the 16-digit code inside the front cover and the Italian edition comes with an English translation of the symbols used (see above).
Before we started working on the guide, we have put some GPS files for routes where we live on the Sardinia section of MTB-FORUM.IT, with descriptions in English as well eg http://itinerari.mtb-forum.it/tours/view/2438 which is my regular run from where we live. Here's a video of it
Lots of other videos (often with English subtitles or commentary) of mainly All-Mountain routes that'll be in the guide at on http://www.youtube.com/user/thelemonhouse

cheers Peter

Nice, thanks Peter!

So, would you buy the Italian guide with downloadable GPS routes and English legend card, or would you think there's a market (in B/NL) for an English translation, that's the question ?? cheers Peter

I think generally that an English guide would attract a broader audience (not just B/NL).

I personally don't think I would buy an Italian guide, since then I would not be able to read any of the reviews you write about the routes. If I would buy a guide I would prefer one in English (or even better Dutch , but English would be sufficient).

I don't know what the price of the guide would be.. Maybe you could also publish a 'lite' version in English with only a map and brief description of the routes and the downloadable GPS files.

Can't go wrong with an English version for Benelux (and rest of world)

MNG wrote:Sure! Good charter flights are plenty available. I feel tempted for an October trip. Any pointers on a good GPS track base for the region?

We put some tracks on mtb-forum, including this one used for the cover photo of the guide

The guide will do a lot to raise the profile of Sardinia as a destination. In october this ride, just near where we run a guesthouse for outdoor sports people, would be lovely, with arrival at a deserted beach and the sea still warm...

Personally I would prefer a good website with all the info on it and where you could download the tracks from at a fair price (price per track and reduction for the lot). Why bother to make an expensive ( to produce) printed guide when nowadays everybody uses the internet as a primary information source

You should write to the publishers or to iTunes:-D . The issue you raise is well-known and in fact Versante Sud are working towards pay-per-crag climbing guides and/or an app with the info. On the other hand, €0,50 for a route (the guide will cost about €30 I guess) that takes an author 4 days' work to document it is a pretty good deal. The quality of info on the internet is proportional to what you pay the actors in the production chain (and there are copyright issues for the maps.) Also a major publishing house has a good sales channel, for me as an author it is great to know that thousands of copies will be made and promoted through a good sales network, not because I get rich (the money doesn't even cover the cost of petrol) but because it will help develop MTBing where we live.

You can download the GPS files for the guide, BTW, but they contain only 20% of the info of the description in the guide: star rating, types of surface, difficulty rating...


We (us and Versante Sud) have tried to get Garmin to include the routes on TrekMap but they only include routes "certified" by public bodies to avoid (for Garmin) liability issues if someone hurts themselves.
Peter