Back Home

Ok so I'm home, after a long and depressing drive, that was topped off by a wonderful slow moving stint on the M25.

I'm pretty sad to have left, but in some ways it's nice to be home. I don't know what it is that I'm missing, the mountains, the space, the riding, amazing people? I guess it's a combination of them all, or maybe it's one more than the others - I don't know.

It's ok though, I've had an amazing summer, nothing I've ever done before even comes close. Cheers to Paul at Riders Retreat, cheers to all the guests, cheers to the alps for being amazing mountains for riding bikes down, cheers to the amazing people I've met, but most of all, cheers to life, for just being great.

To 'finish off' the blog, here are some pictures of some guests' packing of their bikes for the aeroplane, which deserves some sort of award I think.

Better weather and BBQs

The weather decided to stop mucking me about on wednesday, and after some dampness on tuesday, lead to rather favourable trail conditions. The wet weather lately has meant there is some added roughness to most of the tracks though.

It was possibly that roughness that lead to a few failures on my bike - spokes, mech, chain and probably other faults. Trying to jump into a few corners that I'd usually hop in and out of lead to some pretty harsh bottom outs and some hairy moments where there are now just giant holes. But nevermind, the Morzine Mountainbike Mechanics sorted me out once again!

So I've spent a bit of hard earned and ordered myself some new rims and a straight chainring to make my bike look prettier when I get home. Talking of which, I have just over a week left here. It rained today, and tomorrow looks to be rainy too. Next week looks set to be cold. Nevermind.

We also took a trip up to Lac de Montriond for a BBQ and a big fire which was good, if a little cold, and our BBQing skills leave something to be desired. Paul's lighting skills however, were spot on.

Also, bit of a plug here, but girls, ride your bikes!

Lindarets Air Bag

I stopped off whilst the weather was glorious to catch some people hitting the Lindarets airbag jump. I was pretty impressed by the xc riders hitting it (I didn't!) though their style - see pic - varied slightly from the downhillers and dirt jumpers.

Also, look out in the video for Neil from the Morzine Mountainbike Mechanics hitting it for the first time on his full sus, after a full run of one of the downhills! It seems bike repair wizardry isn't his only game.

On that topic, although the lifts over that side will be closed from this weekend, next week and after, the MMMs will still be around if you need help with your bike. They told me they'll carry their mobiles on them, so if you're stuck with a broken bike, give them a shout.

Chamonix

The weather is still fairly poor, which is beginning to get annoying. So when there was a slight window in the weather, we decided to try Chamonix. I've been with my family a couple of times before, but the weather has always been awful.

This time was no different, except the clouds were marginally higher. Most of the Boisson Glacier was visible, and a little bit of snow, but you could see the cable cars climbing into the clouds. One day I'll get up there on a glorious day.

My niece enjoyed it though, possibly not because of the incredible scenery and geography all around, but more because of the petit train which had her in giggles, and the pigeons which kept her entertained (for a short while...) at lunch time.

Not much to say...

Pretty much as the title says, it's been raining loads and I haven't been riding today. Spent the day with my family instead, hiding from the rain.

It's a shame, especially for the guests that have just arrived, it means they've muddied their kit straight away and it might not get dry for the rest of the week now. It does however mean they're braver than me as they went riding.

Dry riding?

Bit sparse on the blog entries lately, but I've been riding so much! It's dried out now, though the weather looks set to turn tomorrow.

The past few days we've ridden a lot more runs off Pleney, just searching for new stuff and found some gems, wonderful rooty mayhem, which of course I can deal with in the dry...

We also made a trip to Morgins, driving round this time to get a full day there, which was well worth it. Despite some mechanical woes for one party member, we got in many runs, faster each time, finding some great lines.

My parents, sister, her friend and my niece have also come out to visit me now, as well as my brother's fiancée, her friend, and my other niece! (look out for two cool babies round town in AC/DC t shirts by the way). Hopefully I'll be able to show them just how wonderful the PDS is.

Also, check out those MarkinMorzine inspired photos down there! (extra photos from Ross Darch)

More wet riding

Thursday was wetter than a duck's undercarriage, so we hid indoors from the rain (though a trip to the shops got me an unbelievably nice slice of chocolate cake). Friday the weather was bright, but naturally the tracks were soaked still, which saw the boys changing to their wet tyres.

I don't have any wet tyres, so a pressure change was needed. I went from 'kinda hard' to 'a bit softer', and didn't really have an issue with grip. We did some exploring on Pleney, which lead us down some good tracks, and some that were, well... Different.

ATM was good, not too steep but loads of wet root labyrinths, which caused the taking of some 'pro lines' (round the outside) and some uh-oh moments. We also tried to tackle the Celine Gros line, which was steep to say the least. That wasn't what made it difficult though. It was the foot deep, 6 inches wide rut the whole way down, which lead to even more pro lines where possible.

The main track itself was grippy as anything, and the braking bumps were being dug out throughout the day, as well as 10% getting a make-over (see pics) which actually made for a rare enjoyable run down. We also explored some other rooty lines near the top, before losing Ross. When we eventually found him, his tube had done an escaping act.

What a fantastic day though, my wet riding phobia is coming under control, but then again, I'm sat looking at a rather good weather forecast, so who cares?

Arrival of Alex and the Boys

My Brother has arrived for 2 weeks now with the Bournemouth crew, which means lots of riding and fun times. Yesterday we had a fairly dry day, although Pleney and Chavannes, even though we barely rode the main tracks, were pretty brutal on the hands.

Today the rain came down, on top of all the rain we had last night. It wasn't really enough to make the tracks in Les Lindarets really muddy, just super super slidey, with a greasy layer over the hardpack. That, plus the boardwalks that lack chicken-wire, was lethal. So sliding about in zero visibility was the order of the day.

Not So Sunny

Yesterday brought us several thunderstorms, one of which I had the luxury of driving through, pretty monstrous! So naturally I couldn't be bothered to drown so didn't ride, but today I got out in the mud over at Lindarets for some sliding about.

The weather wasn't quite what the forecasters had promised (Clear? No...) but at least it didn't rain on me very much. I took a few moments to get some snaps as well as saying hello to Rich from Aston Hill. Get booked in for the next race on 5th of September!

I also got a new headset from hope, fitted masterfully by Gareth from the Morzine Mountainbike mechanics. Another top job.

Riders Retreat's Rad Rides: Part 2

The second RRRR is Jonny's Intense 951. In pimp blue, with pimp blue hubs and rotor spiders, pimp CCDB and pimp boxxers, it's a pretty pimp bike. It's just a shame he went and smashed the E.thirteen before I could get a photo.

Mamma's

Mamma's is a glorious pizza place in the centre of Morzine (just up the road from Bar Rob), that also does pastas and a giant fish, sausage and chips (see pic). If you haven't been there already, then get yourself there now!

The Pizzas are each named after a different ski resort, with loads of topping combinations to choose from. The tagliatelle carbonara was delicious (ask for no mushrooms if you don't like them, you get loads!) and well, like I said, the fish was giant.

Champery World Cup: Finals

I only just got to Champery in time to watch the top 18 riders come down, and because of my late arrival, didn't have such an amazing point to watch from. I could just about see the last few big jumps though, and was close to the track so could scream encouragement right into the riders ears.

I was pretty disappointed to miss CG throw down the style, but was in time to see Danny Hart and Brendan get sideways. Peaty was pretty much the only rider to go round the jumps, what's that all about? Anyway, it was brilliant to see the riders hit such huge jumps in the soaking wet.

It was also pretty cool to be around the pros in the pits, with all the posh kit to check out. I even bagged myself a fork pimping kit from the SRAM tent. We hung around to see the podium - team CRC still top team, and Manon Carpenter's cheeky smile, as well as the top 5 men and women - then jumped back in the car to escape before the traffic went bananas.

Champery World Cup - Qualifying

Today I got totally soaked through and covered in mud, and I was only watching! The track at Champery is the most ridiculous thing I've ever seen, especially in the wet today. Huge deep ruts, mixed with the plethora of roots, all laid down on the steepest route down a mountain you could think of.

I tried to get a few photos and videos but the rain was so heavy I gave up. But anyway as I'm sure the interweb could tell you, Blinky qualified first, Gee in third and Brendan fourth. Some surprise names came up, Spagnolo in 2nd, Wyn Masters in 5th Danny Hart in 7th! Peaty appeared to be back on form with 6th, and he looked flying on the section we saw him through.

Forrest Gump

Obviously I won't be telling you where this track is, but if you find it, you're lucky. It's fantastic.

A lot of work has clearly gone into it, with a large step-down that must have taken ages to build, not to mention the bridge across the river. It features some steeper sections, plenty of roots, with some tricky lines that you need to take to keep the momentum, and it finishes with a nice wide and fast section with a thousand line choices.

Me and Dave took a run down to grab some pictures, finding a new jump along the way which has a magnificent corner into it. After seeing some slower riders come down it, we concluded it's probably not one for the easily scared, though it's far from the gnarliest track in the area.

Riders Retreat's Rad Rides

Hopefully I'll get a few RRRR's, unfortunately I forgot to get a photo of Will's TR450, kitted out with BOS and DeeMax shiny parts, so that one you'll have to imagine.

Here is Dave's Intense M3, anodised black with pimp green anaodized everything - linkage, brakes, stem, seat clamp, drop outs, with matching green hoses and chainring. Pretty Beasty.

Dave looks after it well too, he's been here 2 days and is planning on stripping his forks tomorrow, and has already taken everything apart to clean and regrease. If you want the pimp treatment from Dave, get on over to Formby Cycles.

Back To Riding

It feels good to be back on the bike. Although I still have a fairly painful shoulder, I can cope with it so I'm happy again. After scaring myself in Morgins yesterday, a quick crash on the road down from Avoriaz made it pretty painful for today again though. If you've ever crashed on that road, then you're an absolute idiot - just like me.

Today has been good, despite being a little annoyed about feeling out of my comfort zone on the black runs in Chatel bike park and being afraid of mud. There are some new gaps on one of the red runs in Les Lindarets, check out the clip to see a couple of them. Keep an eye on WideOpen for Paul's next blog entry for more details on the changes.

The weather is still glorious pretty much every day here, I'm hoping it stays this way, chasing Tom's dust trail down Super Morzine at the end of the day was fantastic. Keep an eye out around the PDS for some snazzy looking folk in Riders Retreat jerseys from SixMotion too!

New Gaps in Les Lindarets from Riders Retreat on Vimeo.

Crashing...

Yesterday the Swiss national track attacked me for no reason again, I was simply riding at warp speed when the ground just got closer and collided with my shoulder very hard. So now I'm in a lot of pain, don't think anything is broken as I still have full movement. Plus me being me, no hint of bruising so I have nothing to show for it, except for an even more grazed bum.

Anyway, it's Bastille day today, and we had some wonderful fireworks to watch last night (not sure if they were connected - we'll see if there is more tonight) and the hot tub might sort out my shoulder. For now though, some rest until the next guests arrive.

Tour de France and more

So on Sunday the Tour arrived in Morzine, so a few of us went up towards Avoriaz to watch them do the formidable climb. I'm not sure what I was expecting, I think I was a little disappointed, but it certainly was an experience, and we got some tasty (free) cheesey crackers.

Today we rode some steep and rooty tracks over in Les Gets, one of which which got the better of me with an over the bars, then I really enjoyed the uphill finish on 'your mum'. Then a short stop at the Nyon waterfall made a nice finish to the day. I also finally gave in to the bullying and changed my rear tyre, I still think it was fine...

Chatel River Gap

Here's a quick clip of Riders Retreat guests Dave and Matt, and Morzine Mountain bike mechanic Gareth hitting the big old river gap on the track 'People' in Chatel bike park. I was pretty impressed, the gap is well over 20 feet with no margin for error.

First proper crash...

So I've finally had a good crash. A rocky section on the Swiss national got the better of me and I had a tumble, grazed my arms and elbows, as well as my hip, leg and arse. Also hurt the ribs a bit, and something obviously went for my nose as that was leaking blood when I got up.

Nevermind though, we ended up in Chatel where we were fairly flying down some steep rooty tracks, as well as hitting a fair sized ladder drop on the Chatel Blackshore. On the way back from Switzerland we also took a scenic route and encountered some snow to play in. Marvellous

Chatel Mountain Style: Sunday Finals

Well the finals were pretty insane. Typically, it started at 1, when it was scheduled to start at 9am, which mean the riders only got 1 run. The ending was timed well though, with the rain coming literally a few minutes after the last rider came down.

To be perfectly honest, I don't know who won, we spent most of the time watching at the top, too far away from the speakers, so understanding the announcer was difficult. I did manage to get several videos which I put together in this edit. The song reflects the madness of the event, but as a warning, you might want to lower your volume slightly...

Chatel Mountain Style: Friday Practise

I headed over to the Chatel Mountain Style course ('the face') to watch the riders practise for the weekend's events. Managed to see quite a few pros - Semenuk, Bearclaw, Zink, Kinrade, and others. They all seemed quite pleased with how insane the course has become.

No one hit the biggest drop at the top, perhaps because it was slightly windy, or perhaps because it is so enormous, but plenty hit the old drop, which lead into a huge step up. I saw some guy (clipped in!) case it big time. Straight away there was an even bigger casualty, a french rider got bucked over a double, leading to what I presume was a broken collar bone. Damn.

I'm looking forward to Sunday's finals, just hopefully the weather won't do what it did today, the ride back from Chatel through a worsening thunderstorm was less than pleasant.