Sunday classics

Get a van and a group of bikers together, take it in turns to drive, eat lots of bread and cheese and ride more...

It's not always about the trails, it's about the whole day as complete package. Friends new and old for the beginning of the season, a small selection of classic Chamonix trails to descend, a van to use as an uplift vehicle, plenty of food to eat, sunny weather and lame banter.

First two laps were down from the lower Merlet carpark to the bottom of Copeau. A descent not ridden so much under pedal power due to it's "short" nature compared to the Merlet to les Gaillands descent. So why not rip down it twice thanks to van power! Some of the lower corners were so fresh and loamy you could really gamble with high speeds and drifting.

Mael eyeing up the tech steps

Merlet laps back to les Bossons due to tree felling. Fast and fun as ever. Is the right turn variant 2/3 of the way down better? It's a hard decision. But more loamy-ness near the bottom is fun to drift.

Tom H eyeing something up

Tom H high line entry

Comments

What guides do between work in the peak of July

Summer is here, and after fantastic spring riding in Southern France and then all over Valais, Aosta and Haute Savoie with good friends it's been time to get back to summer guiding, taking hikers around the Tour du Mont Blanc circuit. There's much worse things to do, but with three weeks off the bike I was itching to get back on some trails. With a carefully planned week between tours I was excited and made some plans to hit up some classic lines, and some new stuff too. It's mid July now, so in Chamonix valley you have to think carefully about where to go to miss the crowds, and to avoid going on the bike ban trails (July & August). Luckily it's still easy to find quiet trails in nearby resorts, or to simply drop round the back of a hill away from the frontside lifts. It went a little like this: Day 1- La Thuile with Wayne of newly qualified French legal mountain bike guiding service Chamonixmtb.com . Enduro race venue at it's best, rough and raw.

Provence Posing

Early spring road trip with Team NL The Dutchies had work to finish before they'd start the mammoth 14 hour drive from under the sea to herb filled mountainsides. Work for us guys in the Alps is more seasonal & temporary, as it is for some Easyjet pilots which meant that the native English speakers left for 'The South' a day earlier. Digne les Bains was the rendezvous location for Saturday night but this meant going so close to Gap and Lac Serre Poncon. The lure of a trail in the Haute Alpes ( the northern most department in the Provence Alpes Cote d'Azur Region ) was too much. 3 of us wild camped lake side with giddy excitement for what lay ahead. Rob & Ben knew each other from ski touring & paragliding, but had never ridden together, nor had Ben ever met team NL. Rob and I briefed him on the impending fun. In the morning, a classic was called upon to give Ben his first taste of Southern singletrack. Mont Colombus, and a few hours later aft

Servoz storm destruction

Deep in Servoz below the Fiz 75% of trail is ok. But where it is washed away is really bad. Click here for photos What rode was as good as ever for this begining/end of season trail 1hour & half pedal from Serviz village.

Search This Blog