We want you to get the most out of your trip and enjoy the challenges of the mountains, both climbing and descending. A little preparation and tweaking of your stead in advance of your visit will ensure that you do not suffer unduly because of a bad bike set-up. Read our tips on gear and tyre choices to ensure your trip doesn't end in tears.

The standard 39/ 53 tooth chainring with 11-23 cassette is great for racing or where hills last no more than a few minutes. In the mountains, where climbs can be 15km long with percentages hovering around 10% (approximately 90 minutes worth of cycling), you should consider swapping either the chainset, cassette or both for a lower gear ratio.

You can find out what your gear ratio is of your current set-up using an online gear ratio calculator. You can speculate and compare this ratio to other sized chainrings or cassettes.

For the average club rider or age group athlete (especially those who do long distance), we would recommend one of the following:

• Compact Chainset 36/50T with 12-25T or 12-27T cassette
• Standard Chainset 39/53T with 12-27T or 12-29T cassette
• Triple Chainset 30/42/52T with 11-23 or 12-25 cassette

The most cost effective and easiest change to improve the ratio for climbing would be to buy a 11-27 or 29T cassette. However, everyone is different with different existing set-ups as a starting point and you must consider what ratio is best for you.

Rolling on to the subject of tyres, we would recommend durable, puncture-resistant good quality tyres, for example, Continental Ultra Gatorskin, GP 4000 or UltraSport with folding kevlar beads which we stock in our workshop.

Keep your lightweight or racing tyres at home as from our experience a number of our guests have ruptured or punctured using these types of tyres, despite road surfaces being generally very good and debris free.

A little forward planning and maintenance on your bike before you arrive can make all the difference between having an enjoyable and exhilarating experience in the mountains or each ride ending in tears.

Let's face it, we've all been there, standing helplessly by the huge glass windows of the departure gate, watching in horror at the way in which our precious bikes are picked up and hurled on to the plane. We then spend the entire journey wondering what damage has been done to our pride and joy. On arrival at our destination, we tentatively open our bike box anticipating the worst.

A little care taken packing your bike could be the difference between riding your bike or driving to local bike shops in search of that elusive part kindly broken by baggage handlers. Follow our handy hints below to minimise the chances of your bike being damaged in transit.

1. Remove the rear derailleur from the frame so that this otherwise proud component does not bend or snap either the frame or derailleur hanger when hit. Either wrap and tape the loose hanging derailleur or place it in a recycled padded envelope to prevent it from damaging the frame.

2. Plumbing pipe insulation from any DIY store is a cheap, light and easy way to protect the tubes of the frame from impacts or moving parts.

3. Don't forget to deflate your tyres - you can leave some pressure in. We have track pumps and C02 cartridges available in our workshop.

4. Having removed the wheels, you can use a plastic or homemade wooden fork dropout wedge to prevent the forks from being squashed. Lightly inserting the quick release into the fork or frame dropouts with the wheels removed can do the same job.

5. Having removed pedals, wheels, handlebars and saddle (or lower the saddle into the frame), insert the bike into the bike bag/ box upside down so it rests on the saddle and stem rather than the more delicate and easily bendable chainring or rear derailleur hanger.

Hardcase v Softcase

Softcase bike bags are very affordable and lightweight. A softcase bike bag (especially those with square corners) can be easily reinforced by lining it with a cardboard bike box of a similar size, obtained from your local bike shop who normally throw these away.

Hardcase bike boxes are more robust and durable than softcase bike bags, the downside is the weight which can sometimes equal that of the bike itself. This is a rising problem with the changing baggage weight restrictions imposed by airlines.

An innovative alternative, although not cheap is the Crateworks bike boxes. These are lightweight corrugated plastic boxes with wheels. Crateworks will honour a 10% discount off all their bike boxes to guests visiting Velo Pyrenees.

Some bike shops will hire bike boxes on a daily or weekly basis for a reasonable fee, taking away the need to invest in, or provide storage for, an occasionally used bike box.

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