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Morzine Activity Review: 15th June 2012

Sunshine and bikes in Morzine

featured in Activity reviews Author Phil Smith, Updated

The weather is picking up nicely today and for the coming weekend and is forecast to stay warm and sunny into next week – happy days. The Pleney telecabine is now up and running and Les Gets is open this weekend and will stay open during the week for the rest of the season.

Last weekend the Criterium du Dauphine road bike race came to town via the excruciating climb of the Col du Joux Plane. Bradley Wiggins did the business with an overall win firmly cementing himself as big favourite for the Tour de France. Watching the finish of the race is great, you can see the guys climbing towards town on the big screen and then line up by the barriers to see the winner. But I like the stage start better. You get to wander around town in amongst all the big coaches in team livery. The support vehicles are all lined up with all the spare bikes on the top. The riders mill around with no barriers to keep things separate – easy for autograph hunters!

Mountain bike wise things have been quiet for me personally this week. The weather hasn’t been great the last few days so I’ve been avoiding getting muddy! Some mountain biker eh! The predominantly hot dry summer conditions we have has turned me into a fair weather biker.

In lieu of less mountain biking I’ve been hammering the road biking of late. Myself and many others by the looks of it as there have been plenty of spandex warriors riding round town in big groups. Why not, if it’s good enough for the Dauphine and/or Tour de France most years then it’s more than good enough for everyone else. I think the word is slowly getting out just how good the road bike scene is based out of Morzine.

This coming weekend is the Morzine Vallee d’Aulps cyclo sportive. The event attracts up to 500 riders on a sunny day competing over a 165km course culminating in the Col du Joux Plane as per the Dauphine. There is a shorter event of around 90km if that seems a little excessive. I’ll be lining up again this year so check out next weeks report for a feel of what that is all about.

I’ve just had a little walk through town and things are gearing up. All the hire bikes are in front of the shop and the number of riders around town is increasing by the day.

Bon route!