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!

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 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.

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.

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.

There are even a couple more new restaurants yet to open before the winter….

Unfortunately none of the final descent as we were having too much fun to stop and take pics!

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.

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.

We’d opted to do Whites Level as we didn’t have too long. I surprised myself by really enjoying the climb. It’s fantastically planned out, there’s enough to think about that you can (almost) forget how hard it is and yet somehow make it up. There was a great atmosphere too, with plenty of friendly bikers to chat to on the way up. As we reached the top of the climb a couple of guys we’d been chatting to on the way suggested we add on the new black graded loop and we were glad we met them! A fantastic descent, fast swoopy berms followed by a steep rocky descent. Well worth the climb back up on the fireroad.

I’d forgotten just how great the descent to come was. Perfect swoopy singletrack interspersed with more technical sections. ‘Darkside’, the final descent is without a doubt the best riding we’ve done this week. Oh and the cafe has the best welsh rarebit and soup!

A quick call into Cwmcarn to see the busy uplift day and back again to my uncle and Aunt’s for curry. My cousin Natasha tried to teach me her moves from that day’s ballet class but I sadly lacked her grace and co-ordination Think I’ll stick to Mountain biking.