Marknotinmorzine

Joe the show getting loose on the lower section of the Chaux Fleurie track

So the PDS opened its doors today and I ventured over to Chatel. It was good to get out into the bigger mountains to ride. It's the Passportes du Soleil this weekend, I'll get some photos and words together over the weekend.

New bits? Well there's a few. Over in Chatel the trails are nice and smooth, but that won't last long. There are a couple of landslips on People so go steady on a couple of the corners! They've re-built and added some big old berms, and there's a few new lines I hadn't seen before. The Chatel Mountain Style course (the competition upon it is in a couple of weeks) is getting a full overhaul. They've removed the giant ladder drop and built the biggest step down I've ever seen.

Over in Lindarets there has been a bit of work, just tidying up. The runs need a bit of bedding in as they're a little overgrown at the moment, and the left hand red trail has a tree across it. The blue has a new top section that hopefully will bed in as it's a bit of a speed killer at the moment. However, as a beginner track it works excellently as the speed doesn't get away from you, but there are some tight switchbacks and good berms. Hopefully the braking bumps will be kept at bay. The Chaux Fleurie track was also dusty and loose and fun, hopefully this track won't get as beat up as it has done in the past.

The trails under the Zore lift have had some work too, though I didn't ride them so only saw some bits from the lift. There appears to be a new road gap near the top, some tables on one of the straights and some of the corners have been touched up.

As for riding today, it was good to get into the steep black runs in Chatel. I'm by no means the best rider out there but was feeling confident on them and managed to stay on pretty well! I couldn't be convinced to hit one of the mega ladder drops on Air Voltage, but we'll see how the season pans out...

RRRR 2012

Lapierre Spicy, sleek matte silver, fox 36 up front, a mudguard that isn't a Marsh Guard (tut tut) blue formula brakes that could stop a freight train by the feel of them. He's running custom prototype pedals from WrongWayRound components and his shifter is made of platinum, it's that good

Elka stage 5, the thing that really brings this bike alive. Joe definitely didn't blow it up today though.

A bit of a mixture of blue and green anodizing (warranty replacement frame) but it still manages to look pretty spc

Like OMG, I'm bringing back the alliteration allstar (I don't know if that one counts) that is Riders Retreat's Rad Rides. So here's the first installment.

Joe the Show/Factory Joe/Joe Winston's Lapierre

Pleney still not running...

...so I guess I'm stuck with Les Gets until the weekend. Yesterday was very wet, so bits through the woods were greasy today but the forecast for the next 5 days is looking good! As requested, I got a couple of pics of new features. There really aren't very many though. I don't think there's anything new in the bike park, I'm aiming to head up Mont Chery tomorrow to see what's going on there, but again, nothing new I don't think. Reports are that there isn't much new in Chatel bike park either, but there are a few new jumps and the like. I'll find out when I get over there.

This table near the top has been rebuilt. But it's about the same... Kaiser Wilhelm whipping

The corners leading up to it have had a bit of work with some line choices.

3 lines here. The lower two kill your speed a little.

The new tables in the mini jump park. Guy Hewitt throwing shapes

The wallride is different too

The double near the top has also been re-done. It looks fairly alright if you can pin the corner before, but naturally this is rough as hell!

Not as forgiving if you come up short

Wet or Dry?

There seems to be a lot of panic amongst the forums about the weather. Fret not! You don't need to pack your arm bands or life jackets, the trails are dry and dusty! The forecast is fairly good for this week, and has been good other than the storm. So no need to worry for now.

Pleney is still closed, with reports of Wednesday being the earliest it is likely to be fixed, but lest we forget, we are in France. I've got out on the bike again, and the arm and shoulder feel alright, not quite 100% but not too bad.

For now, here's a little clip of bandaged up little me riding the new 'mini jump park', nothing too exciting (see - dry!).

Mega Rain

Mega rain in Morzine on Pinkbike

Big old Alpine storm came through today, never seen rain like it! The gutters overflowed and water was pouring down past the balcony.

In other news, I tried riding today, painful. See how tomorrow goes. The Pleney lift has also been closed and the gondolas taken off, though they've been using the service lift next to it to take people up. The queue is slow moving.... However, fingers crossed it will be open tomorrow.

Day Off

Still fairly hurty today so I took a walk up Pleney to get some snaps and videos. Unfortunately there was hardly anyone on track though! Instead, I've taken a few photos of a couple of 'features' one might happen upon on the Pleney mainline. So here's a bit of a photo reel...

Some line choice in places, flat run or huck over the roots!

One of the many rough berms near the bottom

You'll find many of these. At the moment they're not too bad, and maintenance is being done to dig out the worst ones

This place usually looks more like a cattle market (but with bikers, not cows) as everyone takes a pause here at the junction between black and green. Both lines are equally fun!

No braking bumps here!

Although labelled as green, this section can take some skills. Line choice and roots, with a huck over the roots at the end if you're feeling up to it.

Diving into the last section through the trees. After the little drainage ditch there's a big G-out which can boot you a long way. Alternatively there is a tight hip on the right.

A few roots and some flow through these corners, before the last section then out into the open!

These corners are where I binned it. Stupid!

I questioned whether this was a good idea for 2 and a bit Euros. But it turned out they were bloody tasty!

Pain (not the bread kind)

Had a big crash in a stupid place today. The last few corners before the bridge at the bottom of Pleney, really rough, really rocky and really fast. Something just slung me off. Bit cut up, bit bashed up, but hopefully will be back on it in a day or two.

Interestingly I've seen a good start to track maintenance in both Morzine and Les Gets. When I say a good start, I mean, they are doing some. In the bike park in Les Gets they were digging out some braking bumps on the entrances to corners, and on Pleney main line, some of the biggest holes had been removed, which really helped after all the wet weather. It's unlikely it will stay like that for long, but hopefully track maintenance will continue. I also hear reports of lots of new tracks and jumps over at Chatel bike park, I will get over there with a camera as soon as possible.

For now though, here's a couple of snaps from the sunshine...

Fine Weather at Last!

 I woke today to clear skies - at last! I went up early to get some photos, there's quite a lot of snow around so it was worthwhile. The trails were still really wet, sloppy mud now though. This of course means the onslaught of braking bumps have begun to appear. They were also tidying up the edges of the tracks with a strimmer - wet grass cuttings make for an interesting piece of detritus to get on your goggles. The runs are probably drier by now, and tomorrow with the nice weather set to continue, I plan to ride a lot more. For now though, the chalet needs preparing as guests will be arriving at the weekend!

Rain and More Rain

So it's been almost non-stop rain and thunder storms for a few days now. Not so much fun. I did go out for a few runs yesterday, it was thoroughly horrid! So wet, and so muddy. Pleney itself was fairly grippy though, being fairly open any mud had been washed away. A couple of the lines through the trees were a little slippy on the roots though. 10% was closed (as I think technically the rest of the track was...), possibly to avoid the house-sized braking bumps from forming?

There's also quite a lot of fresh snow on Ressachaux and Nyon, not low enough to affect any riding but goes to show how cold and miserable the weather is right now! The forecast from tomorrow though is for sunshine, so I'll be back out on the bike then! First guests are in on Saturday too, by which time Les Gets will also be open. Bring it on!

Lifts are open!

Les Gets lifts were open this weekend, and Pleney is now open for the season, so riding is under way! We rode a few lines in Les Gets, hit some nice gaps in the 'bikepark' and spent a bit of time on Chavannes side. The small jump area before the 4X has had an overhaul and for once has a nice string of tabletops. There are also a couple of new bits on the Pleney main run, some new corners and a new fly-off onto the piste. Is it any better? Well.....

Also, I have a new banner at the top, how exciting? This one is just temporary until I can get a suitable photo from this year!

Super M digging

So here is something for the forum powered rumour mill. Is that a dual slalom track on Super Morzine? Could be eh? And there's a big old hip/jump/sender now up there. The top bit of the track could be a bit wet, the rest so far is looking good. Just watch out for the ants nest and electric fence!

No lifts yet

 

So with no lifts open until the weekend, we've been doing a bit of chalet preparation, and since the rain has subsided, I went for a long walk today. From the top of Lac de Montriond, I went up via the the Cascades d'ardent and the old mines. I was convinced to crawl through right to the back and I'm glad I did, the walls shimmer a metallic bronze colour, I'm presuming copper (as a geologist, is that something I ought to know for sure?).

It was pretty spectacular. I went up past Les Lindarets, there's still a lot of snow up on the mountains up there though I'm sure it won't last long. Hopefully over the next few days we will be doing some digging on the new track under the Super Morzine lift that has been desperately needed for many years!