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Classic Enduro-ing

Somewhere between La Plagne and Bozel is one of the best trails in the world!

With a bit of enduro style van assistance we made a great start onto Spider Pig for what felt nearly endless tight switchbacks.

 Then it was time for the big climb, at midday, in the bright sunshine fuelled by tasty cake and some egg mayo baguette.  We all took our pads off and supped on our bladders to try and get motivated to start the ascent.  Too begin with everyone was full of enthusiasm, making jokes, chatting rubbish and ringing our enduro styled bells.  It only took a few switchbacks before we were all a little more subdued and beginning to get into a rhythm for the hour long climb.
Climbing up with the Vanoise National Parc in the background
We were nearly at the top when one of the group suffered a near ride ending mechanical breaking his pedal body away from the spindle.  At the top many zip tie's were used to try and hold the pedal back onto the cranks.  It ended up lasting about 200 metres before falling off again at which point a gear cable was used to lash it all together.  It meant no pedalling, but we all got down. I hope your luck get's better this season "buddy"!

Trumpet Gentians. Always learning flowers for my test later this summer 
And what a descent it was to be!  I'd been here before when working on the Trans Savoie last year and had had a great vantage point as start marshal.  See some photo's here.
Ribbon and a view
Since last year it seems a few other people have been exploring this part of region outside of winter months and found this same perfect ribbon of singletrack.  We saw many people coming down when we climbed up.  The trail however seems to be holding up very well and hopefully it won't get to cut up by too many biker's skidding round tight turns or cutting corners. After the last of our egg mayo baguettes we dropped our seat posts and dropped into this amazing first section of the trail.
tA enduro team
My new enduro goggle set-up. Thanks Morray for photo.
Enduro tuck



After the sublime top section of open single track you drop into the tree line for loamy 'Sam Hill' corners.  It flows well and is not too stop-start as some alpine trails are with tight corners.  There are some natural berms you can catch in or out of some corners, but don't let this fool you into forgetting about the constant roots and rocks all over the place.  Lower down after cutting through a village the trail gets more technical as it follows the side of a river.  There are some really tight, steep switchbacks to test your skills and confidence with exposure.  The Beaufort 2 made it through clean, but Morray tried it and almost made it. With a fixed back brake perhaps he could have done it...
Nearly round
Picking up the peices

In Bozel we were not quite done with riding, but we had to stop at the local patisserie to sample the goods before the last pedally section down towards the suicide capital of Europe**, Moutiers.
Mrytille and pistachio biscuit

** - a popular ski bum rumour

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