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.