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3.10 is the magic number

And why is it the magic number? Because that’s when the last tram leaves Le Fayet for Bellevue, but I’m getting ahead of myself, back to the start.

Every spring I start with the intention of riding all 10 bike friendly lifts on the Chamonix lift pass in a day, and every autumn arrives without me having done so. It’s a trickier challenge to complete than it first appears as the window to get it done is pretty small. Most of the good riding from the lifts is on trails off limits during the July & August bike ban, and with a challenge like this, you DO want to do it on good trails….

All 10 lifts are only open at the same time for a few days either side of the bike ban, so by the time you factor in work, weather, injuries, visiting friends and in the case of this year, broken lifts and winter not finishing until part way through summer, you can see how easy it is for things not to happen.With the window missed yet again this year, I still felt like having a bit of a challenge, so what the heck, lets try the 7 lifts still running, and just to make it more interesting, we’ll do it by the techiest trails off each one. One further, crucial, complication. The last tram back from Le Fayet is now at 1510, not 1740.

Let the games commence.

An early start was vital to our plans. I don’t do early starts and Lorne had to go to the post office so we were fairly impressed that we were only 30 minutes behind schedule and 1st ‘bin at Le Tour. The meteo had said that the overnight rain would clear early and the clouds would part giving a good sunny day, which combined with a moderate to strong wind we hoped would dry off the trails nicely leaving hero traction in the dirt and great backdrops of the Chamonix Aiguilles with fresh autumn snow. Unfortunately the weather was also a bit behind schedule and we ascended in the cloud to the top of Le Tour.

Traversing to the Col du Posettes the weather failed to lift and I’ll be honest, stoke was low and we were pretty chilly. The descent from the Aiguillette des Posettes is back in season again though and we hoped that by the time we’d knocked off the climb we’d be a bit warmer and the sun would have come out.

One out of 2 would have to do. As is the rule when it’s damp and cloudy, I then got a puncture. If anyone’s interested, tubeless sealant in a slightly leaky tyre with an inner tube still gets punctured more easily than a full tubeless set up. Whilst I was busy sorting that out, Lorne had time to have his first crash of the day resulting in some fairly impressive cuts to the arms, shoulders and back.

As the trail dropped into the trees there was less wet rock to contend with, but rather more wet roots. This seemed most amusing to all the French walkers we passed who without fail would stop to see how badly it could go wrong…

We survived with no further damage to bikes, bodies or egos and cruised down the hill towards Argentiere. The original plan had been to continue on Petite Balcon Sud (Grand Montets having closed a few days earlier) however to try and get back on schedule we battered on down the promenade des Arve trails instead and rolled into the Flegere lift station at about 1130.

All my favourite Flegere tracks head back east towards La Joux. For our purposes today though, we needed to keep going west. Fortunately second best is still pretty good at Flegere, so we dropped into the initial section of the old “Elfe Secret” DH trail (which is holding up just, with 1 of the 2 north shore sections having been repaired by the trail elfs, the other now missing completely) before joining the root covered switchback-fest of the trail down to the Floria buvette. I’d run this trail a little over a week before as the final stage of the CCC, and it was amazing to see how much damage the weekends rain had done to it since then. Still an awesome wee descent though.

We pushed the bikes through the grounds of the buvette, then headed down on fireroad towards our next lift. Brevent.

By not faffing with mechanicals or photos on the last stage we’d made up plenty time and got on the first stage of the gondola a little after midday. Not everyone was on message though, and the second stage of the lift didn’t share our urgency, it was almost 1245 by the time we got out. Still quicker than riding up mind.

The initial descent from the Brevent towards the Aiguilette des Houches can only really be described as rocky. Or perhaps tech and rocky, but you’d really struggle to communicate the nature of the riding without using the word “rocky”. I quite like riding rocks, but ain’t such a fan of falling on them. Lorne seems of a similar mind so we took it fairly slowly on the way across. Still a whole lot of fun, and we provided the usual levels of entertainment to the walkers.

After the photogenic fun of the descent came the short push up to the Aiguilette des Houches itself. From the 2285m peak you get an amazing view of the ridge line, the drop down to Servoz and, for us, the full height of the descent to Le Fayet station at 580m. 1705m of descending without any real ups!

There can’t be many trails that look better than the start of the ridgeline, it’s an absolute classic alpine MTB shot. Shame that the trail doesn’t ride as well as it looks, not that it’s a bad trail, just compared to other stuff about here it lacks flow and some of the sections of trail suddenly get overgrown in low scrub & heather.

Somewhere near the tree line Lorne decided to get a closer view of aforementioned scrub. He’d already stubbed his toe earlier in the day, but this crash seemed to have done something a bit more serious. Walking was pretty painful but fortunately he seemed to be able to stand on the pedals without too much problem, so with what later turns out to probably be a broken big toe, we keep going.

The trail never really relents until you get to Montvauthier (or at least, not on the line we took) and conscious of the ticking clock, our riding was getting more and more speed based, carrying over trialsy sections of the trail when on a more relaxed day we might have stopped, scoped out a line, then probably carried over the trialsy section of trail. With 30 minutes till the last tram left, we slid down the last steep section onto the Montvauthier road.

Of course we could have called it a day here and just got the train from Servoz, but where would the fun be in that? From here the trails are fast and open all the way to Le Fayet, we might just still make it.

And we probably would have, but less than a kilometre from the station we start seeing diversion signs. Normally not something you need to worry about on a bike, but even pedestrians were diverted from the straight line around the houses, Arve, railway line and back again. At 1512 we stopped at the tramway station.

There was still plan b fortunately, the 1606 train back into town. The game was over for another season but we’d given it a pretty good go, just under 50km of riding and just under 5000m descended in just under 6hrs, if just not quite enough under 6hrs…..time for a coffee.

13/09/2013
Who’s way?

Five weeks is a loooong time to be off your bike in a Chamonix summer! In the past bikes have given me plenty of broken bones (which did generally heal) and scars (that chicks were disappointingly uninterested in) that have kept me away from sports for longer, but 5 weeks with what is basically a sore thumb has been pretty annoying. Still, thanks to the excellent work of the consultants and surgeons at Chamonix & Annemasse’s hospitals, and the brilliant physio from Neil at Clinique du Sport (what percentage of Chamonix residents go through their doors every year?) I can ride again.

Every cloud has a silver lining. recently that’s been that as trail running is the only sport I’ve been able to do, I’ve had a chance to explore lots of trails I’ve seen on maps and in photos and wondered if they’d work out for the bike, without the worry of having to carry a bike for a vertical km back up a hill if they don’t.

Previously Hugh’s way from the top of the Prarion lift to St Gervais has been our agreed best way down off the back of Les Houches, but from my running I now had a new idea, and despite having been on exploratory rides with me before, Lorne & Robbie thought they’d come along for the ride too….

The lifts are starting to close around the alps just now, but the Prarion’s running for another week yet, and the Tramway du Mont-Blanc is going until the end of the month. Of some concern to the hordes of DH riders milling about the base of the lift was the news that the new DH tracks are currently closed, though no information was forthcoming on why or how seriously the closure is being taken. Not an issue for us though as, following a scenic pee stop, we were dropping down towards Le Fayet.

After not being eaten alive by the dogs that guard the livestock around this area of the hill, we took the hidden entrance to the singletrack. I’m going to be really irritating and not tell you where it is, or give you any GPS traces (though it tells me we started riding at 1842m and finished at 587m, with 61m of climbing along the way), but if you look at a map (IGN or Google), and have a wee think, you should be able to work out where it is. And it IS worth the effort having a look.

The trail starts off not too steep and a really nice mix of loamy ground, roots and rocks. Unfortunately the roots and rocks were still a bit slick from last night’s rain, and Robbie took a wee tumble. With two 1^st aid kits between 3 of us though, his main danger was overtreatment rather than bleeding to death.

After the initial warm up, you get a brief respite traversing north on a fire road trail before diving off into the woods again on a very easy to miss bit of singletrack. I’ve not ridden in BC, but I’m pretty sure it’s similar to this next section. Wet but grippy, vibrant greens and deep brown hues all around and flowing singletrack but with drops and root gaps that you need fluent body English to negotiate without losing momentum.

Again, this eventually comes to an end and you have another short fireroad section. Good to give the mind a rest and a chance for a chat though, it’s not a race.

The final section came from Tom of Chamonix Bike Book fame. Leaving Montfort you turn right off the main track on to an uninspiring looking track through a field. Very quickly you’re back in the trees though, and for the next 450 vertical meters or so you’re transported back to the best trails from the UK. Steep and fast singletrack though dead leaves and natural berms, with enough root sections to snap one of Lorne’s spokes and knock the chain out of his chain device.

Before you know it you’re on the main road between Le Fayet and St Gervais. We could have just headed down on the tarmac for a fast burn back to the tramway station, or pedalled up the road to St Gervais and then taken pipeline back to Le Fayet. Instead we took the 650b choice and pedalled 5 minutes up the hill to join a trail down to Le Fayet by the tramway tracks. It’s not the highlight of the day and with more time I’d pedal for 10 minutes more and hit pipeline, but it’s still fairly nice riding and got us into Le Fayet with 5 minutes to spare before the tram departed, so pretty much perfect really.

As ever with the tramway, the days riding’s not over with the trundle back up as you still have about 700m to drop from the Bellevue station back down to Les Houches. With the old DH trails from the Bellevue lift station now had over 2 years without maintenance, they’re getting harder and harder to ride, so we opted for our usual choice of starting on the old DH track then leaving it after the berm section to join what is allegedly Cedric Gracia’s favourite Chamonix trail back to the centre of Les Houches.

It’s good to be back.

07/09/2013
Pila, Near Perfect

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 and Nina only once or twice. Parking is easiest in Aosta town then access to the main bike trails is by a long gondola, with day passes costing €18 plus €5 refundable deposit for the lift pass card. The cafes up the hill are reportedly pretty good, but being cheapskates we brought sandwiches which we left in the car so that we could just split one backpack between us and make a run down to the car at lunchtime which worked out pretty well.

Things didn’t start off well with Spence somehow coating his rear disc in lube while tending to his chain, but luckily the mechanics at midstation were pretty friendly and gave him free-reign of the tool station to change his pads while coke and window cleaner got the disc cleaned nicely.

Up the main chairlift, we quickly realised what’s so special about this place. Imagine Morzine with less bumps, less crowds, more interesting trails and far more variations on the way down. There was a bit of everything to ride, from tall tight berms, singletrack, gaps, drops, northshore, the works. Rider’s left of the lift line and directly underneath it were pretty manicured trails, while far rider’s right had a much more natural feel but built up just enough to ride smoothly and the odd kicker scattered around and any bigger features very well marked with JUMP or DROP.

The photo of the map above shows the upper mountain trails, but if it included every little variation there would be twice as many lines marked (especially rider’s right), but with everything leading back to the chairlift it was really fun to find our own variations and regroup when the trails merged. We had one run down the IXS Downhill run which is all rideable for mere mortals such as ourselves, but it’s pretty scary to think that racers ride the whole very technical course flat-out without a break!

Laps off the top lift took us about 35-45 minutes depending on which variations we took, so we did 3 run up there before riding down to town for lunch which is an 18km run of not overly built-up trail with a lot of different variations through the wooded sections, excellent stuff. Staying left near the end on Nina’s recommendation gave us the best exit back to town then a 10 minute ride on the road back to the car – best to ride this with someone who knows the way to avoid getting lost.

After lunch, pretty much the same again finding new variations up high and getting to know some sections better so riding them much faster. The first few minutes of the trails rider’s right before everything started splitting were definitely my favourite; technical but flowy, exactly what I like.

So, definitely some of my favourite riding I’ve ever had. A very different feel to La Thuile, possibly overall better but unfortunately we didn’t make it to La Thuile this year so it’s hard to compare them directly.

Some sections were quite loose and dusty despite 36 hours of rain finishing two days before we were there, so best to ride Pila in moist conditions if possible with fresh tyres.

It’s pretty amazing that Pila isn’t talked about more or isn’t more popular with tourists – we only had to pass a few people all day and never got overtaken, but it was still easy to watch riders from the lifts including some very good locals. It’s definitely not a beginner-friendly resort though, and I wouldn’t take a hardtail anywhere near it. Some sections had quite bad brake bumps but Nina and I got on fine with 150mm all-mountain bikes; in early-season this wouldn’t be an issue at all.

Unfortunately Pila’s lifts stop running next weekend (8th September) so we might just have to take a return trip next Thursday!

30/08/2013
Last minute panic lift riding/local races for local people

“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: 8^th Sept

PRARION: 15th Sept

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

FLEGERE: 15^th Sept

LE TOUR GONDOLA & CHAIRLIFT: 22nd Sept

BELLEVUE: Never really opened…

TRAMWAY DU MONT BLANC: 29th Sept

Nearby

Grand Massif, started closing on the 25th, all done by 31^st Aug

La Thuile, 1st Sept

Portes du Mont Blanc, 8th Sept

Tignes / val d’isere 1st Sept (still FREE up till then!)

Pila, 8^th Sept

Portes du Soliel starts closing the weekend of 1st September and is mostly closed by the 9^th, except Champery which keeps going to 6^th Oct

Verbier, 27th Oct (if weather’s ok, and sometimes only at weekends)

And have a google for

St Luc, Dorinaz, La Saleve, Aosta Valley Freeride….

The eagle eyed amongst you may have noticed that the pictures here have absolutely nothing to do with lift accessed riding. This is because I stretched the ulnar collateral ligament of metacarpophalangeal joint (or hurt my thumb as I previously knew it) a few weeks ago and am in a cast for another few weeks yet. So instead of riding my bike, I helped out Chamonix Bike Rentals in the latest of their Tuesday evening mates races.

The courses are generally downhill oriented XC in style, though I’m hoping to be back on the bike for a pump track challenge evening, and your 5 euro entry gets you a beer in the Pub afterwards and a random chance to win a prize for the shops shelves, Nukeproof bars, grips, energy gels and body armour all featuring in the after-race giveaway. Give Spencer a shout in the shop or visit the website for more, contrary to the post title, you don’t need 6 toes on each foot to enter. Congratulations also to Nina from the shop who took part in her first “real” race at the weekend there, the Les Menuires Enduro, and came second!

21/08/2013
Works components thick/thin chainring review (and 1×10 mutterings)

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 more reliable than shifters, that it looks more gnar. Which is all true, but for my old bike, I wasn’t convinced. Someone then got a XX1 equipped Intense and the silence and efficiency had me sold straight away. I was going 1×10 with no chain device.

Enter the Works Components 32 tooth thick/thin chainring.

For a full and fair test (and absolutely nothing to do with the bike arriving before the chainring and me wanting to sell the front mech and rings as unused…) I had a few days “control testing” on the bike using an old Shimano 32 tooth middle ring, complete with all the fancy ramps and filed teeth to aid the chain falling off (or ‘shifting’ as it used to be called), and nothing other than a Shimano XT clutch mech to hold the chain on. This worked surprisingly well. Quiet and efficient on the ups and, riding an assortment of Chamonix and the Grand Massif’s smooth/rough/rocky/dusty/treelined/alpine trails, I only dropped the chain occasionally plus it’s really not much effort to pop it back on. Certainly not much compared to digging the chain out on the, admittedly infrequent, occasions it’s got stuck in a chain device.

Once the very nicely machined and finished7075 aluminium thick/thin chainring arrived, the old one was off and out the workshop door like a ninja throwing star and the new one bolted on. The chain needs to be lined up correctly with the appropriate thick or thin bit of the chainring, but beyond this there’s no difference to fitting a “standard” chainring. I also fitted a Blackspire bash guard which may slightly help keep the chain on, but most helps me not destroy chains & chainrings on the tech rocky trails we’re forced to ride around here.

Once I had the chain & chainring lined up, the chain dropped into place sweetly and hasn’t left the chainring since. Over 3 weeks of Chamonix riding, flat out on DH runs at Le Tour and Les Houches, 6 foot + park drops, braking bumps, rock gardens, 1300m+ descents. Not a single dropped chain. Even with the clutch mech switched off, there was not even an indication the chain was going to derail. I even tried back pedalling over extended root sections and all I managed was to get smacked by the saddle.

Throughout all this the pedals spun smoothly without any of the friction you notice, even from a single device below the ring to complement the derailleur as I used to run. And above all, it’s completely silent, no rumble or squeaks at all.

As I really need to provide some negatives for a review I would say that Works Components didn’t reply to an email asking to check they had the correct delivery address, as following paypal payment my delivery address synced with my billing address (it was delivered to the right address though). And it did take a couple of weeks to arrive but then that was made completely clear before I placed the order, and I even received a discount code for a future purchase as compensation, so no complaints there. The ring is £35, which is cheap compared to the other after market rings, and virtually free compared to the SRAM original!

So I can summarise that the thick/thin concept in general, and the Works Components chainring in particular, is good. Very good. What of 1×10?

I’m convinced (but I should put in my usual caveat of riding mostly around Chamonix, mostly on very steep trails). As my friends tried telling me, when coupled with a light pedalable bike the 32-34 ratio is low enough to get up most climbs, and those I can’t are quicker and easier (though not as satisfying) if I just get off and push. Talking of light, I weighed the assorted parts before swapping, just to see how much weight really is saved by 1×10, so from the kitchens gramme accurate baking scales we have:

Works Components 32 tooth Thick/Thin ring: 40g

1×10 total: 40g

Shimano XT LH shifter unit (& cables): 168g

Shimano SLX direct mount front deurallieur : 123g

Raceface Turbine 36 tooth ring: 63g

Raceface Turbine 24 tooth ring: 21g

Assorted bolts etc for 24 tooth ring: 19g

2×10 total: 394g

Which is a total saving of 354g. Not a massive amount, but you’d be spending plenty £ to knock that off most components, so to save it AND for it to be cheaper, all good. Just for comparisons sake, the old Shimano 32 tooth ring I fitted weighed in at 42g, so the Works Components ring seems a reasonable weight, not too light, not too heavy.

I do wonder if it would be possible to run a thick thin chainring in conjunction with a 24 or so tooth granny ring, and just have to either manually move the chain at the start of a climb (don’t look so horrified, remember when you had to use a QR to change saddle height…), or accept much slower shifting. It would give you a chaindevice esque hold for the across and downs, with the option of a sit down and winch gear for the up. This’ll be something I’ll try in the future, and I’ll report back complete with longer term review in the autumn.

10/08/2013