Somewhere you shouldn't ride, and somewhere you think you shouldn't ride...

French travels afar and much much closer to home

I was in Corsica last week for a holiday. A holiday, but you live where you want to holiday? A friend had been guiding there for the whole of September so I went out to join him for a client free few days of island warmth.

I flew into Ajaccio at 0730, my friend was on his last day guiding, so I took a walk from the beachside town up into the mountains. Think of Finale, just with a bit more French, so good bread to make lunch from & a warmer sea to swim in(though there is an ever real Italian influence all over Corse).

We did one of the best canyon's on the island. And the jumps and abseils into gorge lined pools was great fun. A new sport to add to the list of gear purchases.

After another night eating great local food and chestnut flavoured beer we set out on a pretty big hike. 1500m vertical with a lot of scrambling. We hardly stopped all day and we just beat the guide book time of 7 hours. Two fit guides! Those Corsicans are bloody mental and fast.

The terrain everywhere is really tough. There probably is some good biking somewhere on the island, but I wouldn't bother taking the mountain bike without being really sure. Sturdy hiking boots, canyoning gear and swimming shorts!

Meanwhile back in Haute Savoie...after ticking of some classic rides with mr Humpage and using the last lifts in le Tour we started to explore a little.

I had an idea for a trail I'd walked which I felt would be fun to ride. So me, and two Frenchies left a car in the beautifu l (!)Sallanches Carrefour supermarche carpark and drove the second half way up the hillside towards the Aravis mountain range.

"We can go past this chalet that I went to a wedding at", Mael said. Cool, coffee, and a rest after the very steep, but efficient 4x4 track climb up 550metres. What a place! Classic Savoyard farm/refuge with stunning views back over les Houches and the Mont Blanc Massif.

AND THE DESCENT, MEGA BON! Gentle fun and fast at the top, rooty in the middle, and then narrow singletrack to the valley floor. We finished riding back to the ugly supermarket, a place I never thought would be the finish of a fantastic trail. Savoie Surprises are still out there to be found...

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Aiguille de la Grande Sassiere 3751m

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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. ...

Alta Via dei Monti Liguri

Summit to Sea grande finale for the Provence Posers "The Alta Via dei Monti Liguri is a long-distance waymarked hiking trail in the Italian region of Liguria. In about 440 kilometres and 44 day hikes, it runs through the arc formed by Ligurian Alps and Ligurian Apennines from Ventimiglia to Ceparana" How does high mountain rocky singletrack cut out of the the hillside during World War II which descends into beautiful deciduous forests and ends with dry dusty fast trails above a seaside town sound? The final stage of Alta Via, 45km, 3000 metres of descent, 9 hours & 10 foccaccia's & close to 30 scoops of Gelato. Many thanks to Martial again for joining us and showing us the way. http://www.alpsmountainbike.com/index.html for booking a trip to do the whole thing in one holiday.

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