Category Archives: Chamonix ride

Loriaz

Posted on 1st October 2012

It’s inter-season now in Chamonix, which means as well as the lifts closing, the shops are starting to cut back their opening hours, and town empties as everyone heads off on holiday. Wanting to get a classic ride in before packing the bike up for my holidays, I thought the Loriaz chalets loop would do the job nicely.

It’s one of the absolute best non-lift accessed loops in and around Chamonix, but being a little out of the valley doesn’t see quite as much traffic as some of the other non-lift accessed loops.

Most years the train can make life … [Read full post]

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Tricot treat

Posted on 17th September 2012

There’s definitely an autumn feeling in the air. Meeting in town at 09.30 we were all wearing jackets and looking for the sun. Our ride for the day was more of an autumn objective too, less about maximum vertical on the lifts and more about getting out into them thar hills. As Jan said, it felt more like going ski touring than biking. After a tip off from Tom that the trail down from the Col de Tricot was every bit as good, if not better, than the map suggested, we thought we’d give it a go before the weather … [Read full post]

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A bit of peace & quiet

Posted on 7th September 2012

September has started and Chamonix has emptied! Overnight the population of the valley has halved and, conveniently, the weather has stopped thinking it’s winter and moved on to cool mornings, low 20’s during the day, blue sky and bright sunshine. All in all perfect bike weather.

This week is probably the best of the year to visit Chamonix to ride the classic steep & technical trails that it’s famous for as the lifts are still open, the bike ban is over and you don’t have to stop all the time for walkers. After a week off the bike, I wanted … [Read full post]

Also posted in Trail conditions , tagged , ,

Tour du Mont Blanc day 1

Posted on 16th August 2012

With nothing much to write about in Chamonix this week (the weather is hot, sunny and err hot, and both the town and trails are hoaching; Les Houches, Le Tour and GM trails are all holding up well, if a bit dusty; Flegere is OK but really needs the loose stones swept off it; rained a bit today which should improve grip, but the forecast is scorchio for the next week), I thought I’d put up a wee write up on the Tour du Mont Blanc which legendary (or at least infamous) Scottish biker Sanny & I did in September … [Read full post]

Also posted in Road trip , tagged , ,

Tour du Mont Blanc day 2

Posted on 16th August 2012

….. Day two – the tortoise and the hare. On the climb out of the Refuge des Mottets we’d been swapping stories and jokes with an Andorran trail-runner, out for a gentle jaunt around Mont Blanc. As he was on foot and we were mostly carrying our bikes it was only to be expected that he would say his farewells and trot off into the distance, on the flat and descents we would easily be quicker.

Sure enough, we met him again as we dropped into Italy, the descent at first on open foot worn tracks with natural berms … [Read full post]

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Tour du Mont Blanc day 3

Posted on 16th August 2012

……It was a proper lightbulb moment! I don’t know what inspired it, the amazing breakfast or the surreal sculptures of the “walk of the mushrooms”  but suddenly a chain of thought occurred to me – the freehub’s knackered & I don’t want to walk back to Chamonix, high torque will only make it worse, straining up a hill in the granny ring is high torque. Therefore, I can get off and push up the hills and it’s not because the hill has defeated me, I am being a mature, reasoned rider- Get in!

The breakfast was quite likely the cause … [Read full post]

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2 shades of grey

Posted on 28th July 2012

There’s a few techniques used locally to deal with the bike ban. You can ignore it, you can give up on the mountain bike, you can stick to the man-made trails and you can go elsewhere. You can also have a look at the Arrete du Maire, try and find a loophole, and hope for the best.

The arrete lists 12 exceptions to the July & August bike ban, most of which are listed in the official Chamonix bike map (which you can also get a paper copy from the tourist info and bike shops around town) but there’s 2 … [Read full post]

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Escape from the valley

Posted on 24th June 2012

The trails straight above Chamonix are amazing, but generally steep and tech, with roots and rocks abounding. After some pretty wet weather had passed through it seemed a better idea to ride some more flowing singletrack whilst the rocks and roots dried out. We headed down the valley past Vaudagne and out to Servoz to start the long road climb up to the Lac Vert car park. The views help take your mind off the legs and the promise of a rest at the fountain in the middle of the road at Le Mont keeps you going. Alas, the fountain … [Read full post]

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