Great stuff guys, liking the sound of the ride tomorrow.
I’ll just be going for elbow/knee pads, undecided on FF or Trail lid just yet.
I’ll be happy with whatever. I’ll probably pick a couple of red options if they are familiar from the trip last year, but I’ll be taking it easy really.

I’m up for this if you don’t mind another tag along.

Everyone welcome. There’s no interview or pre-registration required. Not even a “P”. We’re all as rubbish as the next man or woman.

Stoner..low to middle aged is good..I hate climbing but I’ll suffer in silence..are you ok to take another 4 under your wing with a possible 5th..( female )..

Photo’s please, of course

Yawn. Its early!

No problem Tymbian. If numbers at lifts get a bit much there’s places to split into two groups and regroup later. See you at the trough if you read this in time.

What a great idea. Have a good time folks.

Weeksy we’re glad that was posted 3 hours ago and not 1 hour ago!

I’m here

Good lad weeksy. I’ve just had my porridge and starting my second coffee. Will be at the trough at 9

Ive marked up a piste map with the route and rendezvous points in case we need to split into two groups

Looking forward to this…5 of us to see you all at 9. I’ll be on a black/ blue E29

Just got here, have I missed you guys?

Safely back in burgundy. Many thanks for a top day lads

I told you it was a good spot for a drink 🙂

Anyway- top day folks, many thanks. We are here for another ten days or so and still up for a Bourgoisie (Sp?) ride. I can fit three people and bikes into the Go Go Berlingo! for the shuttle. Looking at the map, if we ride from Les Gets there is a some amount of climbing that is unavoidable. If we don’t shuttle/ taxi there is a whole lot more!

Morzine is one of them special places, with an instant sense of occasion. Even when approaching it as you climb the twisty mountain road it builds the anticipation inside you. Each town you pass gets more and more like a picture perfect snow type town. Morzine is the epicenter of this.
Even at 8am when 99% are still sleeping from a night drinking Mutzig there’s still a bustle.

Climbing on the Super Morzine lift up you begin to grasp the scale of things, higher higher, then onto the Zore lift up and you’re on the ridge between France and Switzerland.

In some ways the riding can be an anticlimactic aspect of it. They don’t really do the manicured Rowan Sorrel type sweepy swoopy trails and that immediately puts you outside of your comfort zone. Throw in the bike being something you’ve never ridden either and its a struggle to start with.
But what it does give you is rocky, rooty, fast descents, traversing ridges and insane reds. They’re so so so demanding.
We did the Swiss world cup downhill and the French world cup, they’re just hang on and try not to die type of hard trails. But the sort if you did them more you’d know what you can’t and can’t launch off, but as a novice to it, you’re just fighting your mind, your fear and trying to accept the bike is way better than you, if you can hang onto it, it will get you down.

Your legs are hurting, you hands are burning and your breathing is pounding in your head, but finally you reach the end and its over, well, for 10 mins until the lift takes you up and you hit the next trail.

You then end up at a beautiful little place on the side of a mountain where you sink a large beer flavoured glass of courage and do it again and again.

It was ace riding with a few lads who are head and shoulders above me in speed and ability, you try and pick up tips and lines, well, until they’re out of sight that is.

The one standout from the day is that mountain biking wipes the floor with motorbikes for me. The adrenaline, excitement and fear factor, I just can’t do that on a motorbike, sure, I enjoy riding my KTM, but not like I enjoy mountain bikes. I just can’t push boundaries, limits and drive myself in the same way.

Met up with 9 random people from the www and had an epic day!

Massive thanks to Stoner and Ambrose for showing us stuff.

Massive thanks to the superstars for talking me into stuff and making sure I ended up safe!

Glad it worked out so well, dissapointed I couldn’t make it. Weeksy good to hear you are back safely. IME my riding improves massively over a few days in the Alps, not surprising as I do more descending in a day than in many months at home and on much more challenging terrain.

I should be there before the end of the week and would definitely do Bourgesoie. There is the pedal in from the lake over a rutted cow path which is steadily up and a bit of a road climb in the middle. I am very unfit and I will manage. Ambrose if we could drop your car in Samoens that’s perfect (so take two cars there and then return in one), either leave it overnight or take it round in the morning. We can decide on an exact plan but we could ride Samoens lift a bit too. There is a large free car park by the lift. Happy to ride together all day (fav trails in Les Gets and maybe “Stoner’s col” above Ecrenanz) or just meet for that ride. As you are driving back you can ride it at the end of the day.

Will confirm travel plans shortly.

Thanks everyone for a cracking day out. Great to meet you all.

Mcbain I am so very sorry we missed you. I think I counted up to ten and then just rounded up. If you’re around the while longer we might tray and catch up at the end of the week.

I will try and post some photos soon but got tied up with some work and am now en route to Italy. Back by Saturday evening so should be good for a bourgeoise ride. We have transport options.

Stoner we’ll co-ordinate so you can join. I have flex on dates.

FYI will try and do my “usual” mini tour taking in Chamonix and Verbier. If anyone wanted to do a day in Chamonix its an hours drive although I think Brevent amd Flegre aren’t taking bikes this August which is a pity. Les Houches has some good riding (eg Hughes Way, Pipeline, some vtt trails) if folk wanted to try somewhere different.

Thanks guys, great day out was had by all I think.
Thanks mr stoner for being our guide and making a good route that had something for everyone.
After going down the Swiss and French National DH tracks, I reckon the Frenchies have more extreme tastes!

Good work Weeksy for getting down them steep red runs, not too many things in the UK harder than that!

Thanks to Dean for keeping me on my toes! To think you had that injury 2 months ago that was some tricky stuff we barrelled down!

Oh and I’ve got a couple of pictures, I’ll try and get them on here later

Oh and I’ve got a couple of pictures, I’ll try and get them on here later

I’m now debating this thanks to you lot

http://www.fishfacecycles.com/ourshop/prod_4222701-Commencal-Meta-AM-V3-Origin-650b-2016-Mountain-Bike.html

🙂

Nukeproof Mega too ? Got to get yourself over to Surrey Hills as its the best chance of getting any practice in anywhere locally. That plus negotiating a trip out in 2017, long weekend or full week, guided or not ? Time to start reading the “which companies” threads and “liming” their facebook pages

No worries Stoner, it was my own fault for being late!

@mcbain when do you leave ?

We had a late start today after driving to Les Linderets and finding that we were ‘sans une casque’. Les Linderets to Morzine return trip, via a lot of goats is enough to remove an hour of your life and make me grumpy. Anyway, off to Chatel we did ride, via the forest tracks and then up into town. Overheard gossip about the Super Chatel being closed due to storms then made us return (via the navette, phew) to the bike park for some riding.

Thursday’s forecast is looking wet so we are off to explore the St Jean D’Aulps/ Graydon area because it seems that the lift may actually be open.

Does the Grande Terche take bikes – is that the one you are taking about ? The ridge to Joranloup always looked intereting on the map and I think an offpiste ride write up I read went there. Can get there via Col Ecrenanz/Basse les bois noir / turn left early to keep some height I believe

Thursday the grand terche is open. No idea if for bikes though.

There’s a small restaurant on the plateau, v nice, open too. It’s also open on Sundays but accessible only by foot or 4×4 then.

Yes, you can ride around from bois noir via plan criou then up the road via bovis, graydon, and finishing with a nasty push (short) up on to the grande terche plateau. Not sure where you would want to ride from there as the Ridge to la grande terche summit is boring and steep.

I put some photos in mrsmith thread on walking the area.

Jambalaya: I’m sat on the ferry home now unfortunately 🙁

@mcb okee dokey 😐 at least its a rubbishy cloudy day

@stoner yes thats what I was looking at Bois Noir / Criou then round into Graydon, then to Joranloup and pick a way down, some look pretty steep eg direct to Plan du Chevacul or round to Riandet and on to S-JdA ? I spend far too long looking a maps 🙂 must try and dig out the blog route I read as I am sure you’d recognise it

The lift was open and it takes bikes but beware, they are not gentle with them. The bubbles are not permanently equipped with hooks so the operator drops the bracket thing into the ski holder and places the bike onto that- all well and good until you notice that it is a plain metal hook, no plastic covers 🙁

Anyway, at the top of the Grande Terches lift, at Sur Les Tetes, it is an easy gravel road to Graydon. Work is currently in progress to improve the track for vehicles. We nipped out to Joranloup, there is a VTT interdit sign there. It was a lovely spot, nobody else around. A steep drop down to the valley through the woods looks like techy rooty fun in the dry.

At Graydon we visited the cafe/ bar. It’s a really great place, similar in ways to Mt Caly and well worth a visit. You can drive there in a normal car via a wholly tarmac road from Essert Romand. It is signposted.

After Graydon, down the lane to Les Place and a grassy track on the right up into the woods. This section is really cool- beech woods, narrow bits, big drops in places, rock sections and stuff. All in all really great to ride down but we ended up riding up it. It is about a 500 foot climb, all pedalable. Beware of constant false summits. The fire road at the top soon gets to Le Plan de Criou and then down a steep, loose rocky 4×4 track back to Essert Romand. The track has armco waterbars that are a bit super slippy in the wet.

VTT interdit 😐

Thanks for the research. Hope to see you next week

Friday’s plan is to head from Morzine to Morzine, via Torvassieres. Returning via Chatel bike Park.

Nice loop. Dont forget your can catch a bus from the square in châtel to the foot of pierre longue under the châtel bike park with bikes. They have proper bike pens on the bus. Saves a boring slog

Guys, what say thee to bourgeoise on Sunday?

I have Van and rack to get me +2 back from Samoens. I’m hoping to extend an invitation to Zeb of chalet Montana fame to join us on his new Process. So if we can get another vehicle we can get a few bodies down there.

Is there a preference to go from Morzine via pleney, chavannes and a pedal up to the joux plan or to get dropped off by our respective lifts at joux plan and just drop in like the middle aged idle bastards we are?

Sunday too soon for me I think, I saw your earlier post and thought you where not returning till Sunday. However please go ahead if its suits all of you. Still in Paris.

The pedal round from the top of Les Gets/Chavannes is fairly straightforward, only the really lazy need to dropped off at the lake 😉

Jambalaya, we can probably sneak in our own 2 up later in the week. We’re on our way back to blighty on Thursday.

I’m up for this on Sunday but cannot do the ride after that because we have friends visiting from Monday onwards. I need to be back in good time for the evening, we are out for food in Morzine.

I can fit three people and their bikes in my BlingO.