Author Archives: chamonixbikeblog

Pila, Near Perfect

Posted on 30th August 2013
Spence: Making good use of the built features on the more natural trails

Well, Graham is out of action for now with a thumb injury and currently 72km into his 100km ultra marathon (yeah, sounds no fun to me either), so he asked me (Lorne Cameron) to do a spot of guest blogging of any big biking days for the time being.  I’m not as good with the biking words as Graham, but here we go anyway for yesterday’s roadtrip to Pila in the Italy’s Aosta Valley, just 45 minutes’ drive from Chamonix through the Mont Blanc Tunnel.

A few friends here rave about Pila, but Spence and I had never been before … [Read full post]

Posted in Road trip , tagged , , ,

Last minute panic lift riding/local races for local people

Posted on 21st August 2013
Winners podium. Cham-style

“The nights are fair drawing in” I’ve heard no-one say recently, but it doesn’t change that at the end of the month, most of the alps’ lift operators start to stop putting the 50 centime pieces in the chairlift machines and going down needs you to consider getting up first.

Here’s a list of the closing dates for our nearby lifts, along with a couple of beacons of hope for us:

Chamonix

VALLORCINE: 1st Sept

GRANDS MONTETS: 8th Sept

PRARION: 15th Sept

BREVENT: 15th Sept (then Oct 19th to Nov 3rd)

FLEGERE: 15th Sept

LE TOUR … [Read full post]

Posted in Chamonix ride, Trail conditions , tagged , ,

Works components thick/thin chainring review (and 1×10 mutterings)

Posted on 10th August 2013
thick thin thick thin thick thin thick thin thick. You get the idea.

During the winter I fell in love with a new bike. Over several months I worked on the arguments and rational that I actually NEEDED, not merely wanted, said new bike. Finally, after the application of considerable amount of man-math to reduce the purchase price to something only very large, I bought the bike. And it’s amazing in every way, not needing anything changed, except to go from 2×10 to 1×10.

Why? Last summer several of my riding mates went 1×10, arguing that if you’re in the granny then you might as well walk, that chain devices are lighter and … [Read full post]

Posted in Review , tagged ,

Awesome. Le Tour and more.

Posted on 2nd August 2013
See that trail, that'll be the way down. Aye, awesome.

I like tea me. There are few things in life better than a cup of tea, but even better are those 10% of cups of tea that just push up to the next level of tea. Awesome.

I like riding bikes me. There are few things…. And this ride was one of those 10%. It’s not as if the average ever drops that low about here, but that combination of some of the best of a good crop of trails, perfect weather, dry ground but only a couple days after a good soaking and a bunch of mates to share … [Read full post]

Posted in Chamonix ride , tagged , ,

Proper planning prevents (long climbs). Grand Massif

Posted on 30th July 2013
Could we have a barrier please?

Half way between Chamonix and the Portes du Soleill sits the Grand Massif ski area, and it’s sort of ½ and ½ PDS & Chamonix in the riding too, with Chamonix’s queues and busyness combined with the PDS’s rolling terrain and bike friendly attitude.

After scratching the surface there last year I was keen to return and explore more, with the descent from the top of the Flaine lifts at 2480m down to Sixt at about 750m being top of the to do list. Arriving in Les Carroz a quick look in the direction of Flaine was enough to guess … [Read full post]

Posted in Road trip , tagged , ,

Les Houches, So hot right now…

Posted on 16th July 2013
and loam. The track has REALLY good loam.

 

You might have noticed a bit of a love/hate relationship between residents of the Chamonix valley and the Compagnie du Mont-Blanc. When it involves bikes and the trails for them, then it’s often not their fault, CdMB is just the entity with a name that can be blamed for the myriad land owners barring access for tracks and other interested parties wanting to sell more of their “VTT interdit” signs.

Other times, they could probably try harder.

Well, today CdMB is in my good books. And why is that? Well readers, it’s because the long awaited replacement bike trails … [Read full post]

Posted in Chamonix ride , tagged

Les Gets. Fast food riding

Posted on 14th July 2013

I’ve got a bit of an embarrassing admission to make. I first raced MTB’s 20 years ago, I’ve ridden them on 3 continents, hit some of the finest areas and trails on earth. I’ve never been to Les Gets. Or Morzine. Or any of the other Portes du Soleil resorts.

And it’s not that I’ve had any eliteist hangups about going there, I’ve ridden at Glentress out of choice before and everything.

Anyway, a roadtrip out of town was needed and as the braking bumps were only going to get worse, we thought we’d eschew the draw of Italian coffee … [Read full post]

Posted in Road trip , tagged , ,

To the ends of the valley

Posted on 9th July 2013
But why be picky when you have trails like this

OK, it can get a bit insular here in Chamonix. The steep valley walls cut off any sight of the outside world and, as long as you’re only paying attention to mountain sports, then everything you want is on your doorstep.  It’s a bit of a change to look out of the valley occasional and be reminded that the outside world exists, but to do it twice in less than a week, madness.

To cut a long intro short, the bike ban’s started, so most natural trails are now out of bounds thanks to Arrête Municipale (n° 124/2004) which prohibits … [Read full post]

Posted in Chamonix ride, Trail conditions , tagged , ,

2013 Nukeproof Mega AM review

Posted on 3rd July 2013

I didn’t start this blog with the intention of writing any kit reviews, but it’s been pointed out that riding 5 or so days a week in the alps for half the year gives you a pretty good chance of finding any issues with gear, and that testing gear’s a good way to blag free stuff, so with this in mind here’s some text and pictures on the 2013 Nukeproof Mega AM…

The first thing to note is that this review was done in the Chamonix and with riding in the alps, particularly Chamonix, in mind. The bike that works … [Read full post]

Posted in Review , tagged

This ‘n’ that

Posted on 27th June 2013

After a spring of moaning about the cold and snow, the sun’s come out and it’s got dry and hot. So instead now everyone’s moaning about it being too hot and dry. On the plus side, the +30 degree temps, blazing sunshine and a bit of warm rain has put a fair dent in the snowpack and things are starting to get a bit easier to ride up high.

Conveniently most of the valley’s lifts have opened for the summer season now, which has saved us from having to actually exercise in the heat, instead we can just enjoy a … [Read full post]

Posted in Trail conditions , tagged , ,