"Enduro was made for you"

Riding with mates old and new

On the afternoon I returned to Chamonix from my final trip guiding the Tour du Mont Blanc I met with an old friend from my Cardiff Uni days. He's visited me a few times over the years in various styles. And this trip for Dave was no different. As I crossed the Col de Balme on foot in wet conditions with clients, he crossed the Cormet de Roseland and Col des Saisses on his road bike with kit strapped to every free tube on the bike possible.

My mate was planning to cycle from Geneva to Nice, via 2 days in Les Arcs mountain biking, and a day in la Thuile with me and a Chamonix friend, bivi-ing along the way.

The lure of Aosta of course played high on our minds and we made plans to ride an Enduro World Series trail in La Thuile on mountain bikes, before leaving Dave to continue on his road bike towards the Mediterranean via some bloody horrendous Col's.

Road climb with Monte Bianco poking through

We were climbing and talking shit between the 3 of us like we'd all been hanging out throughout the summer. The road climb was rewarded with finding a bar open for cappuccino's at the Col.

Fueled up Italian style we hit a lovely long gentle off road climb up to the start of the descent. We paused for a bite of baguette over looking both the Cervinio (Matterhorn in Aostan) and Monte Bianco. A site rarely enjoyable in the Alps, but of course for an old mate, the views came out!

The worst part about the descent was not the EWS, but the recent 4 day rain storm that had hit the northern Alps. Too much front brake on the open descent and the front wheel would drift as much as the back. Luckily loose rock turned down into larch forest and classical Aosta flow through the forest back to the carpark.

"Enduro was made for you" Dave said to me. He's right, even in the old days of South Wales riding, we'd slog up big hills for big descents and big smiles.

And like every descent, time with an old friend was over all too quickly. We all headed off to different parts of France with big smiles and more tales to tell in years to come...

And introducing the savoyard stem saucisson:

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. ...

Aiguille de la Grande Sassiere 3751m

One of those pure adventure days *warning mega photo post* Ali-venturing as it's been known by over the summer. When Ali from trailAddiction gets grand idea's in his head it always leads to hike-a-bike. Read here on DIRT Mag about a previous mission, its the highest rideable peak in the alps! A special team was organised: A top ten finishing team from the Bivouac Enduro, Mael and Max, Ali, myself and Fred the mountain bike mechanic from Mavic. All keen, all stupid? And then my alarm went off at 04:30. Time to eat and drink as much as possible. I hadn't been up this early since ski touring in refuges last winter. In my tired state I did subconsciously know how to load the bikes onto the trailer, it's easy after doing it everyday all summer. We drove up towards Val d'Isere, then turned left up a singletrack road. It was around 6am, and it was still pitch black. Slowly the sun began to rise: Tignes...

My new favourite place- Part 3

It is possible to beat what you thought was a world class trail when in Gap Read Part 1 and Part 2 . I woke after a warm nights sleep. The wind had died down too as I ate my breakfast and took my time to pack everything away. I was in no rush today. It was very mild even at 8am & the scenery was stunning. View under the road bridge near my campspot From my research I decided to bolt on an extra descent onto a circular loop ride near where I had ridden yesterday. The climb would be long, beginning on a very minor backroad, and then slogging up a fire road. Over 2 hours later I was nearing the top. The first part of the descent felt familiar, like Saleve or Servoz. Within beech and pine tree terrain, roots, switchbacks, fast and fun. Again, part way down I stopped to take in the views when it cleared momentarily. Lower down things opened a little and began to feel like the southern alps should. Dry du...

Search This Blog