We’ve been busy at flow MTB HQ taking your bookings, to such an extent that we have a few full weeks and limited availability on others. June and July are already very busy, some weeks are full and others have just a few spaces left. The July dirtgirls week is full, August has just two places left and our Mega Avalanche week has only 3 spaces.
If you’re thinking about coming out on any of those weeks don’t hang around too long!
On Thursday Guy and I went for a bike ride. Now it’s kind of expected that we should be skiing at the moment, but after two weeks straight of sunshine, and snow forecast for next week, we thought we’d take advantage of the nice weather and go riding. A short drive down the Valley to Marignier and we were off. My new bike was looking beautiful and rode pretty well too! I was impressed at how much easier the smoother road and fireroad climbs were, but it also coped well with some more technical ascents and descents. I definitely enjoyed riding it. The route was great fun, with a good mix of dry rocky and rooty singletrack weaving across the hill and down (as well as up unfortunately!), and we even warranted some ‘Ooh La Las’ when we came across two elderlyish women on a rocky descent. In true french style, they decided not to tell us off for going too fast or just generally being on a bike, but simply stood out of the way and congratulated us on getting down the rocky patch. With mostly dry dusty trails, and bright sunshine meaning we could ride in shorts and t-shirts it was a pretty good afternoon all round.
Roll on summer.
We’ve just heard from one of our august dirtgirls that her boyfriend propsed on her recent trip out to visit him in Whistler. They’re hoping to marry in summer 2008 and have a big MTB honeymoon. He was staying in Chatel while she was out last summer and they looked pretty happy together!
Congratulations Jenni and Kevin and hope we see you at some point on your long honeymoon!
Went to see the doctor yesterday - took most of the day, but by the time I left I could walk almost normally! With the aid of a paperclip (apparently it’s the best tool for the job) and flame, he made a couple of holes in my toenail and out spurted all the blood - and a fair amount there was too. With the pressure relieved it feels so much better, still a bit sore, but I reckon I’ll be skiing again in the next couple of days, and riding will be fine as long as i don’t fall on it 
Moral of the story - be very careful in kitchens, especially around furniture, and go to the doctor sooner rather than later.
Why can the silliest little things end up hurting the most? Last night while cooking in a chalet I pulled a high stool over onto my toe - the top edge landed squarely on the middle of my big toe. Didn’t feel too bad at the time and I carried on doing dinner, but by the end of service I was in a fair bit of pain and not really able to walk properly, so Guy gallantly drove over to pick me up, got me home, and my leg raised and iced. Don’t think it’s anything serious, just a lot of blood under the toenail, and after a lot of painkillers and a glass of wine it didn’t feel sooo bad! However I can’t put any pressure on it so I think snowboarding and skiing are both out for a few days - doubly annoying as our mates Hannah and John arrive tonight so I wanted to ski with them. We were also planning a trip to Barcelona to check out the biking there next week - that may have to be delayed to april now. Not only putting off some great biking but the chance to properly test my lovely new pink bike 
It’s a dangerous job cooking…might have to stick to biking!
So… here we are - it’s March, it’s rainy (boo!) and not all that cold.
So what is there to do except devise some new stuff for flowmtb to get up to over the next 9 months?
Take a look at the all new biking section of the site and you’ll see what we mean. We’ve got some new stuff do to this summer and some new stuff to do this autumn.
First up - the summer stuff: We’ve been busy working out new ways to have fun on bikes and have lined up some cracking days out for you guys to look forward to. We’re doing not one, not even two, but three different trips! Firstly there’s our favorite day trip to Chamonix. We did this a couple of times last year and will be expanding it further for this year with two offerings - a freeride assult, and a big XC day out.
Then there’s Switzerland - oh yes, we’re going truly international! The first trip, the “Swiss Commute” is over to the Chablais valley - you’ve got two choices - either ride the trains out of Montreaux or from Bex. Either way it’s a far more civilised way of getting up hill than the chairlifts or, heaven forbid, actually climbing up them! But don’t worry - those of you who like climbing (yeah you - sick sick people - oh, that’d be me as well then….) we’ve got our new “Swiss Cabin Fever” trip for you! How does spending the night up at 2000m grab you? There’s plenty of climbing involved to get those endorphins going - and plenty of downhill action for the adrenal glands to get a hold of as well.
Secondly… we have prices and proper plans for our Autumn tours now. We’ve teamed up with some great people to offer you some truly stunning trips once the lifties have started to collect their state benefits when Morzine shuts down in September. We’re off to Gap, Provence, Catalonia (details coming soon), some laid back riding in Andalucia, and a Moroccan exploration.
And if that lot doesn’t excite you, I think you may as well eBay your bike and take up knitting instead.
