Pizarra near Málaga: Back-Country Trails, 8 Days

Travel in via Málaga airport and on to Pizarra and the Finca Limon. There you meet the group, take over your KTM rental machine and round the evening off with a first Andalusian dinner, before the training starts the next morning.

On the finca's own practice ground the fundamentals are drilled: balance, measured braking and clutch control on loose surfaces. The first guided stage into the nearby back country follows, relaxed and without time pressure, so everyone settles into machine and terrain.

The first full trail stage runs over dusty tracks through olive groves and past limestone ridges. A stop at a village bar is part of it, before the group rolls unhurried back to the Finca Limon in the afternoon.

Today narrow tracks climb to hill villages with wide views across the valleys. The pace stays moderate, with enough breaks for photographs and an unhurried lunch somewhere along the way, before other trails lead back to the finca in the afternoon.

The guide sets today's stage a little harder, while keeping it well within reach. Through mountain valleys and over longer trail sections the way leads to places hardly anyone else reaches, with breaks for photos and food.

After four active days the sixth stays free. Look back over the stages so far, rest at the finca or explore the surroundings on foot, whichever suits you. There is no riding today, and the next morning starts all the fresher for it.

The final stage pulls together the finest sections of the week and leads back to the Finca Limon. A shared stop at one of the bars that stuck in the memory along the way rounds off the last day of riding before the machines go back.

After breakfast you hand the machine back and the week comes to an end. Around 600 kilometres lie behind you, roughly 85 per cent of them on trails, before the way runs back to Málaga airport and onward home.