We now have details of our 2009 dirtgirls weeks. We will be running two weeks, a beginners week in June and a more experienced rider’s week in August. More details are here.
All rides on the beginner’s week will be lead by Ulrika Tamanini. She’ll plan some great rides with amazing views and throw in lots of skills sessions along the way. Sara will tag along with the excuse of taking photos, and the ulterior motive of gaining some extra hints and tips herself!
For the rider’s week we once again have Petra Wiltshire, the ex masters DH World Champ along as a coach! Jo Pauly, who guides for us regularly throughout the summer, will be with Petra leading those rides each day. Ulrika will also be along for the week, leading rides each day with Sara joining that group. This week will have two groups of dirtgirls (split as closely as possible along experience levels) so you get to spend some of your time doing skills (and of course lots of riding) with Petra and Jo and some on long day rides with Ulrika and Sara.
Get in touch with Sara to find out more on sara@flowmtb.com or 020 8123 5654.
Late on Saturday night after a few Mutzigs and far too much wine a plan was hatched for riding on Sunday. Somehow the initial idea of going mountain biking turned into driving to Evian, getting the boat to Lausanne and cycling back round the lake to Evian - around 65km mostly on road, with some cycle tracks. Getting up at 7am the next morning it suddenly seemed a less good idea. The feeling grew as we drove down under a grey sky. However once the boat set off we realised we were heading in the direction of the sun.
Up riding on quite paths through the vineyards was fantastic, and with a mix of these paths, quiet roads and some busier ones we found ourselves in Montreux before long where we had to stop for kebabs and falafel for lunch. Fuelled up we pedalled out of the town and before too long were on quiet cycle paths with only walkers and dogs to avoid. This was probably my favourite part - no traffic to avoid, a nice steady pace chatting as we went and friendly families going by. plus some great views around us. The final section felt like a long way as my legs started to feel the efforts of keeping up with three far stronger riders than me so I was fairly relieved when we reached Evian and the car.
Another great road ride!
On Saturday a group of us headed out for a road ride near Morzine. We drove down to le Jotty (by the Gorges du Pont du Diable) and set off from there. The aim was for a nice steady ride - it was Dan’s first go on a bike in a while and I’ve only actually ridden my road bike a few times. It was great riding though, steady climbs and flatter fast sections, plus of course a few exciting descents! A coffee stop gave us energy before the longest climb up the Col du Cou which saw us managing to rise out above the clouds, then followed a short but tough climb up the Col d’Arces before a quick run to a fantastic bakery and cafe for much needed food.
It was cold, but the great views more than made up for the chilly feet, and the climbs soon had us heating up. And i was left keen to get on my road bike more.
We’re just back from an amazing couple of days over the border in Cervinia, Italy. We were staying at the Dragon Hotel, where we’ll be running trips from next summer. The hotel is a fantastic base, with large comfy ensuite bedrooms, a great pub downstairs and is run by a family of friendly mountain bikers. Plus the view from the terrace and balcony of the surrounding mountains is superb.
We managed to get out skiing in the morning and then biking a bit lower down for the afternoon. They showed us some superb trails - high up on a snow covered track we got awesome views of the mountains before dropping down on fun singletrack, at times fast and flowing, and slightly steep and more technical in places. Definitely top class riding and we’ll be back for more once the snow clears.
The lift company are keen to get more mountain bikers to the area and are busy working on new trails to build to improve the already good offering. There’s also a Maxiavalanche run in august. If you like the Mega, then this should definitely be on your to do list.
Check out details here.
We’re very excited about our new chalet for summer 2009. Just round the corner from flowmtb HQ Chalet la Musardiere is Chalet Coralie. So it’s slap bang in the centre of town and kitted out with everything a biker needs.
Coralie is available as B&B or with meals and on a more budget scale than la Musardiere. The rooms are spacious and comfortable, but more basic than in our luxury chalet. The chalet is comfy and clean, with an open plan lounge with large sofas and a couple of beanbags to relax on, and the chalet even boasts a sauna.
The garden is large, with an area for cleaning bikes, and plenty of space for relaxing in. There’s also a large balcony off the lounge with great views of the mountains.
There’ll be the same great flowmtb service but at a slightly lower price!
Find out more here.
Thanks to the over 700 people who responded to our survey about biking in Morzine. We’re really chuffed so many of you took the time to fill it out.
With over 700 respondents this survey is a reliable source of information on what British bikers think of riding in Morzine. Almost everyone responding had been to Morzine and 90% intend to come back. We’re very happy to have you come stay with us! The lift passes were voted to be very good value by 90% of respondents and the lift service got a great score.
Just over 100 respondents wanted to see better signage and maps. The Tourist Office are aware of this and following the early results we gave them have already employed a bike company to improve signage and maps. They are working to engage the other Portes du Soleil resorts to work with them to improve signage of the area as a whole. We’ll still be doing our route guides, marked maps and having GPS’s available, but this should make it much easier to find your way round.
By far the biggest issue was trail maintenance, with 350 respondents saying more is needed. Nothing is concrete yet but the lift company and tourst office are looking at employing more people to maintain the trails, and using professional trail builders to improve existing trails and build new ones. There is also a working group being formed to look at this and other issues to improve mountain biking in Morzine.
The improvements will be part-financed by a small raise in lift pass prices. A one day pass will go up from 16 to 20 euros, so still great value: as many uplifts as you like on 24 different chairlifts for about 15 pounds! Expect a 6 day pass to work out to about 10 pounds a day.
It’s still early days so expect to hear more from us soon. The great news though is that they are listening to everyone who has responded. There is a real willingness to move forward and try to improve on the already great mountain biking that’s on offer in Morzine and the Portes du Soleil.
The exciting news is the recent opening of a Japanese restaurant in town - just up from Bar Robinsons. Great news for those of you coming out next summer looking for a change from the usual savoyard fare of melted cheese and meat on the un-catered night! We’ve already been to check it out for you (aren’t we good!) and can confirm that the food is great and pretty good value too. A three course set lunch was 16 euros and they even packed up all the left over sushi (portions are still as generous as the other restaurants!) for us to take home.
There are even a couple more new restaurants yet to open before the winter….
We’ve put a few photos from riding the Cli-MachX trail in Machnylleth here.
Unfortunately none of the final descent as we were having too much fun to stop and take pics!
The planned route for the Tour de France 2009 has been released and it’ll be coming pretty close to Morzine.
Stage 17 on the 22nd July will be Bourg St Maurice to Le Grand Bornand, passing through Sallanches and Cluses, just half an hour from central Morzine. Head to Cluses or to the Col de la Colommbiere which is just 37 km from Morzine and the final climb of the day! With 56 cols it’ll be a tough stage for all the riders and a particularly gruelling finish. And a good day’s ride for us to go and watch!
Stage 18 on the 23rd July is the time trail at Annecy. At just over an hour’s drive from Morzine, it’s a perfect day trip and the town itself is well worth a visit. The 40k time trial loop around the lake will be exciting to watch, and well worth riding yourselves.
We’re getting excited already.
We’d been looking forward to getting to the UK Bike Park so were a bit disappointed by the heavy rain throughout the night and the next morning. Still we got there, as had plenty of other riders, undeterred by the rain and mud. The guys were running an uplift day, and while turnout was a bit lower than expected, given the pretty awful weather it was very good indeed. The trailor was full of bikes every time it reached the car park and the cafe and area were full of muddy riders loving the trails. Ben from Torico, a local shop that supports the park, took us to walk the trail and show all the work that’s gone into it. And mighty impressive it was. Massive north shore sections, a great 4X track and many top notch DH courses. We’ll definitely be back with more time (and big bikes!) to ride sometime soon.
The guys running the park are inspirational - all fitting the work there around full time jobs and doing it purely for the love of biking. And the locally made hot dogs and ‘mum’s’ homemade cake are top quality riding fuel and very popular by the look of the long queue forming over lunch time.
