Riding here at this time of year is very different from the summer season when the lifts are open - anyone that’s tried it will know there are some very long uphill slogs! So late yesterday afternoon I set off up the road towards Avoriaz on my pink bike. I’ve never been a massive fan of long climbs but yesterday was great. I found a rhythm and felt good. The views were amazing - the different shades of green in the trees and grass, the craggy mountain tops still covered in snow and the flowers springing up all around. It only got better as I cut off the road onto the path winding through the trees and eventually the long descent back down. The rocky rooty descent put a stress on my arms and hands (much tougher on a hardtail than a heckler!) but a smile on my face and I got back down to Morzine wishing I had time to do it all again.
Bring on the summer…..
It’s great to be back in Morzine and out on the bikes again - even if the climbs seem tougher than I remember from the end of last summer 
Yesterday evening I climbed up towards Avoriaz with a friend, but we cut the ride a bit short as a storm came in and got back soaked! Today was a far better sunny ride over in Champery with Petra, who’s running our girls weeks. Starting and ending the ride with coffee and chocolate brownies, we sought out lots of great spots for dirtgirls skills sessions (we’re always after a good excuse to stop for a break!). Petra’s found some great places to practise - lots of short steep rooty chutes of differing difficulties, windy rooty tree lines full of natural obstacles, and some great natural drops, handily positioned in varying heights. With a day or two of clearing and riding to bed it in we can create some prefect practice tracks, and I’m getting very excited about it now.
Going riding on Sunday got me in the mood for thinking about biking again and so inevitably, new riding gear. A quick visit to Minx today and already there are so many things I have to have. The new La Ninas in Earth look great, and my old ones are one of my favourite pairs of riding shorts. Sadly their fantastic quality means that even after two summers of riding and falling they’re in great condition. Can I justify another pair….well they are in a different colour! Tops too, too many to choose from. Last summer’s favourite the minx tech tee is still around so will make it onto the list and maybe a Harlot or Terry tank. So many great clothes, so many great rides to wear them on…..
Girls, if you haven’t been there yet, get onto Minx soon to check out the new range. www.minx-girl.com
Sara Burdon of flowmtb and Petra Wiltshire of the Trek - Extreme Medics Racing Team presented by thecyclejersey.com are organising a girls only pre-ride of the Megavalanche course. Anyone female can join and come along for as much of the day as suits them. The idea is to get a group of girls together to pre-ride the course, have a bit of fun on the way and see it’s not really that scary after all!
Petra has twice ridden the Megavalanche, making the Masters podium both times. Sara rode it for the first time last year, having finally run out of excuses, and found that she loved the experience. They hope to encourage more girls to enter this year and have more friendly faces in the race line up.
Meet at 10am on Thursday 10th July at the bottom of the Grandes Rousses lift.
Anyone interested should let Sara know on sara@flowmtb.com.
Latest news is that there are now nearly 100 girls entered and 100 more places left for girls! Not too many left now for the blokes as it’s filling up fast, but 200 more entries have been added. 58% of entrants so far are British so looks like it’s becoming a firm favourite with the Brits.
With the new max riders the qualifying race raises to 8 groups of 200.
the 50 first go for the MEGAVALANCHE on saturday
from 51th to 95th Mega Promo
From 96th Mega Affinity (you have to take a chip that costs 2€ and stick it on your race plate to be timed and classified with the MEGA promo)
I’ve just got off the phone with the organisers of the Megavalanche. So far 66% of registrations for the Alpe d’Huez Mega come from Brits! It’s set to be an awesome race with a large British contingent. They’re filling up fast so get in quick if you haven’t already registered. There are 50 girls already registered, we want more there this year to get us a good line up, so come on girls get your entry in.
We’re now fully booked for the Megavalanche. We know a lot of you are still emailing us looking for rooms so we’re doing our best to find another suitable chalet and cook. We’ll get back to you all as soon as we’ve sorted something out.
It looks sets to be a great event this year with tons of Brits heading out, and even better lots of ladies! I’m excited already!
So we now have two facebook groups. A dirtgirls group (called flowmtb dirtgirls) started by one of the 2007 dirtgirls and a flowmtb group I registered yesterday. If you’re on facebook go and join up.
You can then use the groups to share photos and keep up with friends you’ve made on holiday with us.
Top Health and Fitness journo, Emma Morris, came out on one of our dirtgirls weeks in July. New to mountain biking, she wanted a quick headstart to see her catching on her bike-mad boyfriend. She wrote up her experience for both What Mountain Bike (Oct issue) and Health & Fitness (Nov issue) magazines. In case you missed it we have a copy of the article.
click to view
We’re offering a comp with SheCycles for girls to win one of our fab new tees. All you need to do is tell them about your favourite trail, so get online and write about all the amazing trails we showed you!
Go to http://www.shecycles.com/news/article/mps/UAN/1942/v/1/.
