|
More sunny weather these last few days and I’m the last one you’d have caught complaining apart that is from today when as predicted the heavens opened with a dust damping deluge! Fortunately the sun is forecast to reappear tomorrow to put the smiles back in place.
At least we had the sense of timing to cram in a decent ride before the downpour otherwise is would have been proper sulk-ville. Yesterday we headed up the Super Morzine and Zore lifts to access some mint trails over Plaine Dranse and Chatel way. From the top of the Zore lift, you need to follow your nose to the so called Swiss super highway and from there head to the bottom of the Mossettes telesiege. Continue down into Linderets or alternatively end up in the same place by taking the bottom half of the French cup downhill. We opted for the latter but nevertheless made it safe and sound to the Chaux-Fleurie express chair. Basically this lift takes you up to the Col du Bassachaux from where you can drop into, by numerous routes, the Chatel bike park. Not sure why its called the Chatel bike park as according to the map it is Plaine Dranse, Chatel being much further down the valley – must be marketing speak or some such! Whatever, this is a great area where the organisers have gone to considerable trouble to designate the severity of the trails in a similar way to that which winter holiday makers would be familiar with, i.e. blue, red and black runs indicating the severity/technical difficulty. We opted for a warm up on the blue followed by the red run including the well known Chatel road jump. Again marketing speak has slipped in there but I guess a four wheel drive track is a road and that’s what you have to clear before engaging rubber with dirt. As ever with these things the technical difficulty is low but the big balls (lady equivalent???) factor is high. Get you take off speed correct, and it is not much by the way, and you’ll land with a powder puff off dirt barely noticing the number of metres you were in the air. However get it wrong and its high jinks with the medical insurance people – you have got some right, forget E111?!?!
After a few runs over the road gap jump, we studiously ignored the new river crossing jump a little further down the trail (think speed is your friend here), we made moves to head for home. It was not so exciting on the way back to Morzine, more of a means to an end. Apart that is from my gravel hugging experience half way own the GR5. There is a lesson to be learned there, clearly for me but maybe for others too. Just because you’ve spent the day nailing everything like the riding god you’d like to think you are, does not mean you cannot very quickly come to grief on an innocuous part of the trail. And so it became as I found myself sliding face first down the trail as my bike deposited itself the wrong side of a berm just at the point I was eyeballing the next trail obstacle. Moral being, I’m not as hot shot as I’d like to think and more basically, finish the trail feature your currently negotiating before contemplating the next in line!
The forecast is back to normal tomorrow and for the weekend ahead, blazing sunshine. So, despite the temperatures not quite being so high the trails will dry super quickly. Back to dust and more dust this weekend – nice!
Bon Ride!
|
