off to france in 2 weeks,watching the tour for 3 days then chilling,want at least one days decent mountain biking and taking the scared missus….she rides a road bike very handyily and regularly but has not done a lot of mtbing…red route at glentress etc.any great companies/guides etc or routes that we can do and i wont get bored? good views etc i was thinking about a lift as well so shes pretty fresh…

depending on where in the alps i would say 99% of stuff is rollable.. like a GT red loop. the only difference is it’s steeper..

my GF will do red and black comfortably (not the ladder drop at GT but does the logs and northshore) we did most the 7stanes earlier this year and i’m taking her to les arcs and i don’t have any worries about her.

once you adjust to the steepness of the place it’s just a walk in the park, i wouldn’t expect her (your good lady) to adjust in a few hours i expect it will be 2-3 days alps riding until my GF is happy and more comfortable. not worried about her though she will rock

depending on where in the alps i would say 99% of stuff is rollable

Advice fail

Why don’t you let her ride her roadbike? 🙂

Well I’ve been to Les Gets with my wife and another 1 or 2 couples in 2006 and 2007. They loved the chalet we had although we got the best we could afford, weather was great. Good food, wine etc. They barely left the place and we went riding DH every day. My mate and his Mrs reckon they were they best holidays they’ve ever been on.

We’re planning to go back next summer with the kids in tow.

ridden Les gets, morzine, les arcs. there were no big drops on the trails, yes the DH courses had drops and jumps but i don’t remember any of the trails not being rollable.

where have you been in the alps then trailmonkey? any particular places you know or remember that were impassable? any useful advise/experience to add to the post?

where have you been in the alps then trailmonkey

I’ve never been to the alps but I’ve seen some pics in MBR and I wouldn’t take a newbie there.

While I might agree that most stuff is rollable out here, you just can’t discount the steepness that easily. The steepness – which is often combined with exposure – often freaks people out.

We find that with inexperienced or unskilled riders it’s very much down to their attitude – most people quickly rise to the challenge, especially with a bit of coaching input from us. A few just can’t relax and get into their riding – to be honest this is most often people who have described themselves as experienced riders but actually have quite weak bike skills.

The best thing for the OP is probably a guiding company who can split the group and match each of them with a broadly similar set of riders.

We went to Austria, Mrs BigJohn is very much a wheels-on-ground rider, and one day we hired a couple of Kona Scabs (full DH monsters) plus arm & leg protectors and bought a lift pass and spent the day in the bike park at Leogang.

The first hour or so were a bit dull for me as we took it very gently while she built up confidence but then she really got into it.

She came back glowing “best day of the whole holiday – never been so exhilirated” etc.

She did take one nasty tumble (see aftermath, above), but hey, that’s what the protection is for (was her reaction).

Think if you stay clear of the DH race tracks like la Pleny, Mont Chery or Champery she’ll be fine. There are maps freely avalaible with the different graded trails all marked. The signposting can be a little hit and miss but any severe trails/features are usually highlightd so novices don’t get in over their heads by mistake.

Not sure looking at pics in MBR{the home of Gnarr-core} would be the best way to judge these things, but there is a reason thousands of Brits mak this kind of trip year after year. Lift-assisted trails, and loads of them. If you two are fit, there is an excellent {but hard} climb up to Col du Cou, 1000m gain from Morzine but you will be rewarded with some amazing views!

Oh yeah, I’m just back from a wee tour of BC in Canada with my wife. She came away from Whistler Bike Park {like BigJohn’s other half} saying it was the best day of the whole trip – and she’d never previously been off road except a 3 mile flat riverside cycle-path.

trailmonkey

I’ve never been to the alps but I’ve seen some pics in MBR and I wouldn’t take a newbie there.

so your comments and input are based on magazines and what you have read/seen photos of and not your experience with wheels on the ground of the alps. So it’s your advise is FAIL FYI..

she’s a newby yes, she rides GT red, we took a complete XC rider last time with us, first day he was scared but not of the riding or the trails but of the angles of everything. yes the trails are steep but once you adjust your riding you forget the issue. I mean even the fire roads in the alps are fast and scary/loose. but after a day or two that worry is soon gone.

i did say don’t expect her to adjust in a few hours, it will take 2 days or so but she would be ok. Having been in chalets where guys come with wives/GF’s have never ridden and they get bored over the week waiting for hubbys to return they go out and play in the parks/trails having never thrown a leg over a bike or had an interest before. i can point you to a guy we met last year who’s wife had only just learn to ride 4 weeks before, she came off one day and bruised her chin bad but she was out the next day (with lots of makeup) and smiling… she loved it..

get out there and ride it before putting input into a thread where your basing your input on a photo from a magazine.

MussEd – impressive with the good lady. I have seen those photos of whistler and BC and think “noo way could i ride there” but I have spoken to guys who have been there, most say go play in the park and see how you feel it’s not all huge wooden stuff 😉

get out there and ride it before putting input into a thread where your basing your input on a photo from a magazine.

Amen brother!

get out there and ride it before putting input into a thread where your basing your input on a photo from a magazine.

pwned 🙂

Who on earth would believe any advice about mountain biking they read in a mountain bike magazine?

My knowledge is Verbier,but i guess most resorts would be similar to a degree.

There are trails that are insane, but there are also access roads, tracks, etc that are perfectly suitable for anyone. Your the only person who can say what your mrs can ride, but she should be fine on some of it, and the alps are a beautiful place for a holiday.

See if you can find a resort map, both summer and winter, if there are XC ski tracks then there should be easy tracks, if it is all Black runs then it will be steep.

must agree though that Verbier is a lot more than les arc/les gets/morzine.. wouldn’t take a newby there.

the biggest grin i got was over the swiss side of Les gets where we were riding a walker trail.. bells on the bike we dinged as we can up to walkers (the trail was sooo smooth like llamberis walkers climb in snowdon, imagine your local walkers trail but down a big mountain).
the red sock lot spotted us due to bells and got off the trail.
it was here that captured Alps for me..
in the uk you would get grumbling moaning sad red sock wearing cronies, in the alps they were cheering us on “allez, allez, allez, vite, vite!” (go go go fast fast) a wave of the hand and a “merci!” and a big ass grin that even to this day remembering that moment makes me smile.

They thought there was a sheer drop round the next corner, Fozzy

lol, yer!!
“go go go fast fast” (wispers) “over the edge you english pigs!!”

get out there and ride it before putting input into a thread where your basing your input on a photo from a magazine.

I have actually been there. I’ve ridden in the Portes du Soleil and flew back in from Verbier on Saturday. My remark was intentionally ridiculous in response to the equally ridiculous claim that 99% of the alps is rollable by a beginner.
If 99% of the trails that you have ridden were like that, then I suggest you try something a little more challenging next time as there’s no shortage of demanding trails out there and I certainly couldn’t see a newbie riding much of what I rode/walked/crapped myself on in Verbier.

Took my missus to Les Arc for her third time on an MTB (oversized, fully rigid with HS33s), for 3 weeks. She loved it and wanted to go back within a year.

Trailmonkey 1:

I’ve never been to the alps but I’ve seen some pics in MBR and I wouldn’t take a newbie there.

Trailmonkey 2:

I have actually been there. I’ve ridden in the Portes du Soleil and flew back in from Verbier on Saturday

Which one is the troll?

Trailmonkey 3:

Someone will be along in a minute to show us his collection of ladybags

The resorts aren’t daft, they try to cater for a wide range of abilities, so yes there is big scary steep stuff, that is not rollable, but also there are family routes.

Though a 50something chap, in slacks and a hunting jacket, flat soled boating shoes, a rather tatty looking fully rigid supermarket special and whose only concession to riding gear was a cheapo early nineties lid I saw riding down from the glacier in Les Deux Alps last year looked rather out of his depth…

LOL@trailmonkey

😆