Enduro du Beaufortain

Slop fest in one of the quietest corners of the Rhone Alps

With no guiding work in Beaufort this summer a plan was made for the some of the previous years guides to meet up for an early season blast on some of favourite trails.

For the Beaufortain Enduro the lift in Areches was open for the whole weekend and there were two bus uplift options to help gain some height to the downhill stages (not timed).

June had been a pretty poor month for weather with storms rolling in and out and only a few dry days. I decided to put a bigger tyre on the front of my bike to try and gain some more grip in the impending mud of the Beaufortain forests. It did help a little, but really it was a slip and slide approach to riding for the whole weekend. For those of us that knew the lines it made life a little easier, but sometimes due to wet roots you couldn't get to where you wanted to and you had hope you could slow down and make the next corner. Everyone was still grinning, and despite there being 300 riders, it never felt busy anywhere.

Our last trail on the Sunday was a new triple black rated trail that was new to us all. We were excited to check it out. The top was freshly cut and like a pump track, the bottom, well the bottom was so steep it took several hours to get down with body's strewn all over the place. In the dry the mega steep roll-ins would be ok as you could get grip for the exit's, on this day it was surfing and knowing when to get off the bike. Great fun still.

Everything was really well organised for the whole weekend with a constant flow of uplift buses, plenty of snacks at the lunch stop and a nice evening meal and dj set on Saturday night. I would highly recommend the event!

Luckily the sun came out for course marking and marshalling at the enduro2 mountain bike race:

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Aosta-venturing

Everything a good day should have: Thanks to Mael for most of the photo's Not too early a start Bread (French) Coffee (Italian) Road climb to gain some height efficiently Trail riding in a super scenic valley Hike a bike Lunch stop with a view Snow crossing River crossing A high altitude hamlet Alpine flowers bursting with colour Near death, non riding related A Virgin Mary statue A puncture with jizzing tyre sealant (not a good day for 27.5 PLUS tyres) Incredibly tight switchbacks Pine needle smooth singletrack (One of the best sections I've ever ridden this year!) A snake on the trail Sitting in a beautiful old town square by an old church Gelato More coffee More tasty snacks Cold beer Supermarket shop for local goodies A German lady expressing her desire for queuing efficiency at the Mont Blanc Tunnel Can you spot team green?

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