Meribel Day 6

Lee’s mate Dom, joined us today for another planned epic ride from the top of La Saulire at over 2700m down to Bride Les Bains at 600m.

The Tougnete gondola took us to our familiar mid station, then a slightly different downhill section of single track to pick up the Pas du Lac. This time we stayed on the gondola all the way
to the top, with the fantastic view down in to the Courchevel valley. Pockets of snow could still be seen even at this time of year along with a very nervous, vertigo suffering Darren. Some rocky loose single track took us down past a family marmots and then a section of fast double track down to Courchevel 1850. More tracks took us down to the lake at Bozel.

We then did a bit of climbing on narrow roads through some pretty villages to pick up a narrow single track that ran up above the back of Brides Les Bains. After a mile or so I just lost it on this
narrow track with the steep, wooded drop on one side. I reckon I couldn’t have managed a straight line on a dual carriageway at this point! I came round another bend to find our host Lee having a little lie down, having tried to clear a rocky stream. A little shaken but still in one piece, unfortunately his bike was not so lucky. A bent hangar and rear mech and jammed chain took some fettling. We managed to get Lee rolling again but without the full range of gears. This only lasted for a mile or so before his rear mech got ripped off and jammed in back the wheel. Fortunately it was just a short walk to get a very quick beer and the bus back up to Meribel (see pic for how not to stack bikes in a bus!).

After a bit of lunch and a check on Sicknote, we headed back out for our final riding of the week, with the plan to take a few more pics and some video footage. Going up on the Tougnette 1, Darren convinced me to have another go on black 7, which I struggled on, on day 2. I cleared most sections this time but had a little lie down again at the same point as on day 2, but very minor. I blamed Les for stopping in front of me!

Back up the Tougnette, with a quick decent down the usual new ski slope they are working on. Darren took the right hand line across a muddy stream that crossed the track, only for his front wheel to top dead in about 1ft of cement like mud and throw him off. With his hands and knees stuck in the mud we tried to check he was ok, before bursting out laughing (sorry mate, but that
one would have earned us some money if we had caught it on video).

So down the start of the nice burmy black 5, then cut across to the unofficial track that joins the bottom of the black 4. We had to navigate round a herd of cows that were being milked and their pats. I got carried away on a little rise, peddled a little too hard while leaning over and the bike just slid out from under me, I thought I had got away without any damage, but then found I had broken my rear brake lever. I cycled what I could with just a front brake with some walking, much to the amusement of Les and Darren :-)

Then our final run down the ‘Trout’ to the waiting bar and bike wash.

End of a great weeks riding!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


Route:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1658445
Pics
https://picasaweb.google.com/105844637282308272543/MeribelDay6?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-p7rah-77YkgE#

Posse; Dozer (Canyon ESX), Les (Specialized Pitch), Darren (SC Heckler), Lee (SC Nomad), Dom

Dinner – Chicken castolet.
Weather; Sunny, attempt at rain.
Mechanicals; Lee rear mech and hanger. Dozer broken brake lever.

Meribel Day 5

Lee’s mate, Lee the builder, joined us for the day for what was promised to be a day to remember. A simple warm up ride followed by the ridge and a descent to remember.

Tougnete gondola took us to our familiar first stop where we dropped down to the play park via a short section of sweeping berms. The seesaw and switchbacks prepared us for Pas du Lac 1 gondola to the Black 5 and more cow shit than you could shake a stick at. Black 5’s tight berms and rapid descent merged into Red 2 rocky sweeping fast single-track back to Pas du Lac where the mornings warm up was completed
with a speed run down the Blue 5, nicknamed ‘The Trout’ which mixes berms, north shore and fast sweeping moguls with loose surfaces and play park obstacles and the warm up was complete.

Tougnete 1 led into the chair lift Tougnete 2 and we dropped off at 2434m, 1000m above our start point. Fast flowing rocky double track with a view to die for on both sides quickly changed with the rolling in of a cloud into a cross wind ridge ride to Lee’s nemesis. The loose surface turned rocky and pointed towards a switchback at 2100m with a sheer drop from which you could base jump.

After negotiating a few climbs and earth movers we hit the point at which it was all going to be downhill from here, we dropped our saddles, fed our faces and queued behind Lee our host anticipating what was to come. Technical rocky single track quickly changed to forest switchbacks, with speed and confidence growing the group started burning brakes and hugging the inside edge, pine cones and standing water made the ‘Rooty bits’ more exciting, switchbacks and technical rocky, Rooty descents eventually dropped us back to the road with a short spin
to Brides Les Bain.

The 50 minutes descent left us with burnt brake pads, burning thighs and the biggest grins this side of the Three Valleys. Several local drinks were consumed whilst waiting for the bus back to
Meribel where stories of drops and near misses were traded.

A bike wash and more local drinks rounded the day off, roll on tomorrow.

Route:
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1657271

More Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105844637282308272543/MeribelDay5?authkey=Gv1sRgCK6BhPmX3YynpAE



Posse; Dozer (Canyon ESX), Les (Specialized Pitch), Darren (SC Heckler), Lee (SC Nomad), Justyna (Boardman 120mm), Lee (Lee’s friend, Kona Hardtail)

Dinner – Pork, leeks, white wine and mustard.

Weather; Sunny, attempt at rain.

Mechanicals; Lee’s friend Lee, pinch puncture.

Meribel Day 4

No Sicknote, no host (bikes not very well), so Les, Darren and Dozer off trailblazing. We took the usual lift and route to
Mottaret, then the Pas du Lac1 to pick up our favourite black 5 (lovely single track). Freshly strimmed, hiding the
rocks but still good fun, until we were hassled from behind by a couple of mad Scots men. We managed to stay on the correct track this time round the altiport, but then lost the black 5 signs, picking up the coming weekends Rando VTT signs, for a while. We came out on some very steep 1.5? rocky track, which soon fried my brakes so I bailed out to the side to let them cool. I caught up with Les and Darren but had a little lie down to the side as I stopped and couldn’t unclip. We came out in some ones backyard and then kept on the road for the last ½ mile to ensure we got to the correct place in Les Allues, to get the bus back up. Les thought he had a broken spoke, only to find out his tyre was bulging and about to go bang, luckily it survived the bus journey back.

Back to the apartment to say hi to Sicknote, change tyre, then out again for some local tracks above Mottaret, with Justyna as our guide. We found some nice tracks, but not the ones we planned, probably a mix of cycle routes and accidental footpaths (NB don’t bother doing the double track, pad burning black 4!). Then back up to the 5 and return down to the
apartments.

A quick rest and another hi to Sicknote, before heading out for the final short run of the day, only to find I had a puncture in the garage (not a pinch???). Quick fix, up the lift with a plan to race down the lovely blue ‘trout’. Darren was struggling with fatigue at this point, has Les shot off. Darren had a little lie down and scuffed his knee (having refused the loan of Sicknotes elbow pads :-)).

Another greats days riding, with just a few scuffs and more brake pads to replace in the morning? Ready for our epic 1800m descent plan for tomorrow!

Posse; Dozer (Canyon ESX), Les (Specialized Pitch), Darren (SC Heckler), Justyna (pm only, Boardman 120mm).

Dinner – Lasagne.

Weather; Hot and sunny :-)

No route, sorry I didn’t press record.

Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105844637282308272543/MeribelDay4?authkey=Gv1sRgCML1jfnrkZ7KNA

Mechanicals; Dozer puncture and GPS not well after being dropped on floor outside apartment, Les bulging tyre (on his bike!).

Meribel Day 3

Very tall chair lift into the mist before crapping my pants at 2400m on a ridge. Down we came with broad beems and special mud spattered teeth. Nothing rivals the taste of the piste.

Second.ascent and the mood was.raw, red 8, you bet bring it on. Boring pad burning fire roads left us un impressed. Les raced off with me hot in pursuit fast fire road, where's Dozer and Sicknote? Never leave a fallen soldier, even if it's Dozer and.Sicknote. Turn and face the mountain. Les has gone. Cycle up, Dozer walking around, Sicknote's down. Blooded floor, soldier down. French.interest in the pommes discomfort was unabated. A teenage girl cycle passed, Sicknote realised the error of his ways. A calm descent to a waiting rescue van with Dozer in the lead, we were all safe.

Only beer could save the day, thank god for happy hour.The evening barbeque passed quietly with tails of the days exploits.And then there were 3.

Route (this may include the drive down to A&E in Moutiers)
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1654744

Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105844637282308272543/MeribelDay3?authkey=Gv1sRgCM-St7P2877VPQ

Author - Darren
Posse; Dozer (Canyon ESX), Les (Specialized Pitch), Darren (SC Heckler), Sicknote (Specialized
Pitch)
Dinner – BBQ, we were cooking!
Weather; Sunny after morning mist cleared.
Mechanicals; Someone sabotaged Darren's tyre with a drawing pin just as we were about to set off!

Meribel Day 2

Monday, July 2nd 2012-07-01

Sicknote fixed his RP2 first thing in the morning by inserting a new Schrader valve from his spare inner tube. He borrowed the tool to do this from a local French garage.

High winds have dropped off and the lifts are running today. Yippee! No massive hill climbs. Unfortunately, the mountains have been covered in cloud today so we were unable to see the lovely views on the way up. We all purchased lift passes for the week at 49 Euro each.
In the four hours of fantastic cycling that we were able to fit in before the heavy rain set in, we manage to do several downhill runs. On the first run, we encountered a group of cows and a
protective bull half way down the mountain.... as you can imagine, this slowed us down a bit as none of us wanted to upset them. They are pretty big when you get up close.

On the final descent, our host Lee decided to put us to the test and lead us down an expert run which proved very interesting half way down through a forest. Sicknote managed to get a puncture from a thorn. Apparently, this is a first. Most of the happy bunch managed to
have little lie downs at points on this section. Dozer’s was the most amusing. Luckily no one was really hurt.... just bumps and bruises.

Baby David (Dozer) was really happy becausehe again managed to plot our routes on his GPS which he has loaded to his laptop. It does look pretty impressive when you go through it.

Route

http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1652936

Pics:

https://picasaweb.google.com/105844637282308272543/MeribelDay2?authkey=Gv1sRgCML22Luo3PXqZw

Author - Sicknote
Posse; Dozer (Canyon ESX), Les (Specialized Pitch), Darren (SC Heckler), Sicknote (Specialized
Pitch), Lee – Chalet Host (SC Chameleon, Nomad shock not well), Justyna – Mrs Chalet Host (Boardman 120mm).

Dinner – Salmon on cruet.

Weather; Misty whiteout rain late on.
Mechanicals; Darren swapped break pads prior to expert descent. Host Lee’s
bottom bracket became loose on the final descent. Justyna needed to adjust
handle bars because they moved out of position on her first downhill. As
mentioned before, Sicknote had a puncture in his front wheel from a thorn. He
also needed to top up the air in his RP2 so it is not fully fixed..... but
usable. : )

Meribel Day 1

Sicknote’s RP2 gave up the ghost before we had even set off, so he had to hire a bike for the day. No lifts due to supposed high winds at the top.

Lots of riding on nice blue singletrack runs between Mottaret 1750m and Les Allues 1100.

Lee took us up the mountain in his minibus
after lunch followed by a long grind uphill on fireroads to pick up the top
section of the black 5, which we cut off half way down to head back to the
chalet after an odd but excellent days riding.


Posse; Dozer (Canyon ESX), Les (Specialized Pitch), Darren (SC Heckler),Sicknote (white hire bike), Lee – Chalet Host (SC Nomad)

Dinner – Moroccan Curry followed by sticky toffee pud.

Route
http://www.everytrail.com/view_trip.php?trip_id=1652453

Pics:
https://picasaweb.google.com/105844637282308272543/MeribelDay1?authkey=Gv1sRgCPmKreengPyDJw#

Weather; Sunny/Overcast, bit of rain, but still warm.
Mechanicals; Sicknote RP2, lost all air when we tried to pump it, a problem with the Schrader valve. We are going to try replacing it in the morning with one from a tube, hope that will work.

SUMMIT 65

June 17^th 2012

http://65.summitmtb.co.uk/

A couple of months ago Paul suggested that we ride the Summit 65 as our pre-Alps trip fitness goal. The route as the name suggests is 65 miles (80% off road) and is based in Berks/South Oxfordshire. In simple terms the riding takes in the best the Chilterns has to offer with an abundance of relatively short but steep single track climbs and descents. The area in question has some of my favorite local trails and I new I had to give it a go.

I managed to persuade Nick to ride with us. In has own words he is a ‘diesel engine’. Not necessarily the fastest but he can keep going for mile after mile. Just the sort of person you need around for when the going gets tough to help provide encouragement and inspiration. I’ve ridden 65 miles off road before and I new it would be a tough ride. Paul seemed determined to guarantee a tough ride by attempting it on a single speed (respect!)

The Summit 65 circuit provided for two routes 65k (45m) or 65m. Both consisted of the same 30m outbound route to a feed station at Christmas Common. The 65m route added a 20mile loop on the Ridgeway to Bledlow Ridge and back to the feed station. The final section was 15m back to the start via Ibstone. On closer inspection of the route map it appeared that I’d previously ridden most of the planned route just not altogether or in the intended direct. Total Accent for the 65m route was indicated as 6600ft.

We were blessed with fine weather for the event. Sunshine and cloud and temperatures up to around 18C. After registering at around 8.00am in High Wycombe we started the ride with a group of around 30 rides at around 8.30am. Riders continued to depart until around 10.30am. We were advised that the registration office would stay open until 5.00pm for our completion. Given the length of the ride that provided 8 ½ hours to complete the event.

The first 30 miles to the feed station probably presented the best riding conditions of the day. After the first steep ascent the pack of riders conveniently split and we were left riding with a group size or around 10 riders spaced within a minute of each other. Conditions were surprisingly dry and the riding on offer was fantastic. Manageable climbs and great descent sections. It was a well planned route, every climb rewarded with a great Chiltern descent. We all enjoyed the route immensely. Unexpectedly, the fun was spoilt for me when, at around 27 miles, I was hit by cramp in my legs. It’s not something that I'm used to and it was not pleasant. It took a while and I managed to slowly limp to the feed station. It’s fair to say that I was concerned to be faced with another 35miles when my legs were already demanding that I ease off. Nick and Paul provided great encouragement and we all concluded that my best hope was to consume as much cake and banana as possible before setting off again. For my part I was determined to give it go but realistic enough to conclude that I might have to retire at some point.

Fortunately, the next 10 miles of Ridgeway riding were quite flat and dry. Paul acted as pacemaker and I tried to keep an even pace and not load up my legs enough to set the cramp off. I’m sure the food and fluid I’d taken in helped considerably. We were lucky enough to scale Bledlow ridge on the road. But the resulting and long decent was a complete mud fest and in places we had to push downhill! It was by far the worst section of the ride and we all suffered. Riding or walking just took a lot out of our legs. Latter in the day we established that it had had the same effect on most riders some even being forced to pull out. Not long after the mud Paul also started to suffer from leg cramps. Oddly this came as a relief to me. I no longer felt the odd one out! It became quite amusing as intermittently one of us would yelp, fall off our bike and roll around on the floor cursing until we able to stop the cramp. Paul devised a novel solution which involved walking around in circles. Something akin to a misplaced druid in search of stones!

We made it back to Christmas common feeling tired but optimistic that even if we had to push the remaining hills we could complete the 65mile route. Paul’s single speed performance was immense, Nick was quietly churning out the miles and if anything getting stronger! I was pleased to be there and relieved to be firing on 3 cylinders.

The final 15m to Ibstone and back to Wycombe were no easier then the 50m that had proceeded. A combination of mud and fierce climbs made the going tough. In general Paul and I would ride a hill until cramps made us fall off… we would then push to the top. Nick would hit the granny ring and keep on grinding to the top. All of this resulted in us getting to the top within a minute or so of each other. I’m sure we were all spurred on by the fact that it was the home run although my body failed to respond with the same enthusiasm.

The good news is that we all made it and arrived back at precisely 5.00pm.

Data Taken from my Garmin on the day:

Total distance 65m

Total Accent 6600ft

Average riding speed 9.2mph

Total riding time 7 hours

Total Time to complete 8.5 hours

Highlights of the day:

• Finishing it
• Paul completing it on a single speed (respect!)
• Nick still riding hills with determination and strength after 65m
• Some great Chiltern descents
• Great riding company
• Very well organized and way marked route

Issues on the day:

• Nick loosing his Garmin 800 (ouch)
• Cramp for Rob and Paul (ouch)
• Having to push up some of the accents (slog)

Bikes:

Rob: Cotic Soul with RS revelation.

Paul: Cotic Simple – single speed with carbon fork

Nick: Cannondale Scalpel with funny carbon chain stay and Lefty thing up front.

Alps trip

Just to make clear that Dozer is not the only one to be travelling to Alps this year, R2 and I (no sniggering pls) have booked "the White Room" for a week in Ste Foy nr Val d'Isere first week July. Actually Rob did all the research and booking I just am along for the ride...

Anyway having realised we have 10 weeks until the off I thought I'd better plan a bit...today's question is "what tyres?". Company is recommending Maxxis minion with DH tubes - sounds heavy to me (as well as scary - what have I let myself in for?) - was wondering if others have any views.

Please note (unlike some - no names though) I am not too lardy...

Meribel is booked

Ref : Tuesday, October 11, 2011 - Alps 2012 Part 1

Just an update for you all.
Les, Darren, Sicknote and myself are booked in for the week 30/6 - 7/7.
We got the costs totally wrong, but for the chalet, food, wine and some local guiding (booked locally), it will be around £1200 for the 4 of us (we paid £200 each just for accommodation in Morzine).

The chalet can take up to 6, 7 at a push, so if anyone else is interested let me know. The cost above is more or less fixed so the more the merrier (cheaper).

Cheers.... Dozer

Sh*t mountain bikers say...

This had to be shared - tickled me in all the right places :)