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Setting up his own mountain biking tour company was a dream come true for Doug McDonald. Originally from Dornoch in the Highlands of Scotlands (famous mostly for the castle where Madonna married Guy Ritchie), Doug has been a serious mountain biker for twelve years and had long thought about setting up a tour company like Basque MTB.

"It was hard to find an original angle in Scotland as there are several tour companies already doing similar things," he says, adding that one of his main aims was to attract clients that are keen cyclists.

For Doug, diversity is one of MTB''s key selling points and what makes the Basque Country the perfect destination for this kind of holiday. In terms of cycling, the region offers natural variety. "When I was planning the trips and thinking about how to divide things up it all fell naturally into three categories: Mountain, forest and coastline," he explains.

Otherwise, MTB is keen to offer the fullest experience possible of the Basque Country: "We encourage people to try other things. There aren''t many places where you can go cycling through a forest in the morning, down to the beach for a spot of surfing in the afternoon and then head to a cool city like San Sebastian for dinner."

Though Doug himself is serious about his biking, he insists his customers don''t have to be in order to get the most out of his tours: "We cater for everyone," he says. For less experienced cyclists and children, for example, Doug will often take the clients with their bikes out in the van to avoid those tougher gradients and rough terrains: "We aim for people to have fun, that''s the main thing."

Aside from ensuring a fun time, Doug''s key objectives are twofold: "I aim to improve people''s biking if they''re at a level for making improvements. Usually starting with easier trails and building it up.

"I get a big kick out of that and so do the clients when they manage a trail they previously wouldn''t have done," says Doug.

The Scot describes his own input as ''hints and tips''. In June, however, he is offering a special coaching week for which he is bringing over a special coach, Ed Oxley who runs the company Great Rock in the north of England.

Business at Basque MTB is already gathering momentum and Doug has a steady flow of clients mostly from England - "people are going back and spreading the word" - but also from his native Scotland, Germany, Scandinavia and even the States, from where five groups will be coming this year.

"I get a lot of people repeating which to me is a measure of success," says Doug. "I think it''s because the trips are quite personal as it''s just me."

On a personal level, a move to the Basque Country has worked out perfectly for Doug, as it gave him the impulse he needed to pursue his goal.

"It had always been a dream but it''s difficult sometimes to make that final push. When I had to set up the business out of necessity there was no more decision-making to be done - it was taken out of my hands."

Doug and his Basque girlfriend Amaia had been living together in Edinburgh for a few years before she proposed the move while they were at a wedding on the Scottish island of Iona.

He has never looked back.