Want to ride your bike in the biggest Mountain Biking area in the world? 2.0

[Guest Omega Man]

My bad. Autocorrect must have added the "bikini" bit to the post. Sorry dude!

 

What I meant to say was... Is she wearing a pair of the the SAAA hotpants?

You guys are pigs. She's a child. She's like 21.

[Peach.]

Not sure if this has been posted yet and not that I got to ride any of it last time but it looks like fun.

 

http://www.mtbmorzin...nt#.Uy6sTfRDt1U

 

 

Edited March 23, 2014 by Peach.

[Guest Omega Man]

That's the Zore Blue line. Suuper duper fun.

[Iwan Kemp]

Looks like I'll be there the week before you guys and girls. That's if you're still going on the 6th?

[patches]

Peach has just reminded me that it's 127 days before we depart for Morzine.

 

Now applying the Six Week Rule (a rule whereby one des not try anything that they are not comfortable on within the 6 weeks preceeding the Morzine trip, in case they need to heal a broken bone)... that leaves me with approx 85 days (less than 3 months) to upskill and conquer some PDS-preparation demons.

 

So far the list stands as:

• Dr Evil (PMB World Cup track)
  
• Pallet Jump (Karkloof DH track)
  
• The Two Big Doubles (Karkloof DH track)
  
• Juggs' Big One (PMB World cup track)... and CHECK! Nailed that this past weekend!
  
• The Boss (139 DH track)... need to man up and lay off the brakes to get that last bike length.
  

[NicoBoshoff]

Yeah I nearly went off into a 10m rivine at Welvanpas on Saturday thinking I'm Jerome Clementz, so I realised it's time to make peace with whatever improvement I attain from now till Morzine will have to be restricted to doing what I can already do, just better and more consistently.

 

Patches, your list has me convinced that I'll be doing a lot of watching and far less "doing" on this trip. Blue trails for me.

 

Anyhoo, I wanted to also find out to what extent you guys are planning a "Ride or rest" approach to this trip? I've never been to Europe so I am most likely also going to play a bit of "Tommie die Toeris" and go see some towns by bike. You know, cruise around, have a beer, laugh at weird French people...

 

Gonna be good!

[Guest Omega Man]

I had the scariest fastest crash I've ever had on Saturday. It probably wasn't a great idea riding with the flu cos my reactions were way off.

 

I still can't believe nothing broke cos i hit the deck at about 55kmh. Anyways I am applying the 3 month rule as of today.

[hayleyearth]

I used a tree for the 1st time on Saturday to stop.

Well I thought it was just a 'soft-ish' bush as I was approaching it, but it had a thick stump in there.

 

I did a little log drop onto an off-camber section which had no traction after the rains that went through Cascades last week. Apparently I was also coming in to fast (never thought that would have even been said to me by anyone). It was either to go for the bush or to continue down the mountain - which meant I would have to push all the way back up again....using the tree seemed like the 'lazy' way out

 

Oh, I have a stupid and FRUSTRATING mental block going on at this moment!

I feel comfy going into rocky corners, off camber sections, rock gardens and surprisingly do small drops on the trails as long as I have not seen them and is 'in the flow' of the trails (there's a couple on the main DH track in Cascades after the A-frame)..........BUT oh boy as soon as there is like a small gap where I know I have to keep my front wheel up I slam brakes. Worst is I have done gaps of that size. Even small drops this weekend became an issue again. I SERIOUSLY need to get over this asap!

[beanz]

Yeah I nearly went off into a 10m rivine at Welvanpas on Saturday thinking I'm Jerome Clementz, so I realised it's time to make peace with whatever improvement I attain from now till Morzine will have to be restricted to doing what I can already do, just better and more consistently.

 

Patches, your list has me convinced that I'll be doing a lot of watching and far less "doing" on this trip. Blue trails for me.

 

Anyhoo, I wanted to also find out to what extent you guys are planning a "Ride or rest" approach to this trip? I've never been to Europe so I am most likely also going to play a bit of "Tommie die Toeris" and go see some towns by bike. You know, cruise around, have a beer, laugh at weird French people...

 

Gonna be good!

 

With you on the blues Nico. They look steep enough for me. At my age injuries seem to take a while to heal as I'm currently finding out with a broken pinkie finger.

As for going around to see a few towns by bike, there's the Portes de Soleil MTB tour.

http://en.portesdusoleil.com/portes-du-soleil-mtb-tour.htm

Though I wouldn't exactly describe this as a rest day, 90km long with 1000m climbing and 7000m descent!

I don't get the impression that rest days are big on most peoples agenda.

[Guest Omega Man]

I SERIOUSLY need to get over this asap!

 

I hate to be dishing out advice on an internet forum cos most of the monkeys who hand out advice on these forums only know how to ride keyboards. But this is specific to your France trip.Don't put pressure on yourself to reach a certain level of riding skill before you go. You will only end up frustrating or injuring yourself (just ask my mates Richard and Marc) and it will make almost no difference to your enjoyment of the trip.Last year my mate Marc put loads of pressure on himself to become an overnight pinner and ended up breaking his wrist just 4 weeks before we went. He still came and rode but had to severely curtail his riding due to the pain in his wrist.Whatever you attempt now will make almost no difference to your skill by the time you go. Rather start looking at bike setup and strengthening your hands and arms.Just a thought.

Edited March 24, 2014 by Omega Man

[NicoBoshoff]

I used a tree for the 1st time on Saturday to stop.

Well I thought it was just a 'soft-ish' bush as I was approaching it, but it had a thick stump in there.

 

I did a little log drop onto an off-camber section which had no traction after the rains that went through Cascades last week. Apparently I was also coming in to fast (never thought that would have even been said to me by anyone). It was either to go for the bush or to continue down the mountain - which meant I would have to push all the way back up again....using the tree seemed like the 'lazy' way out

 

Oh, I have a stupid and FRUSTRATING mental block going on at this moment!

I feel comfy going into rocky corners, off camber sections, rock gardens and surprisingly do small drops on the trails as long as I have not seen them and is 'in the flow' of the trails (there's a couple on the main DH track in Cascades after the A-frame)..........BUT oh boy as soon as there is like a small gap where I know I have to keep my front wheel up I slam brakes. Worst is I have done gaps of that size. Even small drops this weekend became an issue again. I SERIOUSLY need to get over this asap!

 

I went through this a while ago. Funny enough I just went back to basics for a month or so. Just worked on speed and natural riding ability and then one day I was at a gap jump I always rode passed and just felt positive about it. Nailed it and since then I've learnt not to force things that feel off. You know when you're comfortable hitting stuff, and eventually I just learned not to care about skipping some things.

[Guest Omega Man]

With you on the blues Nico. They look steep enough for me. At my age injuries seem to take a while to heal as I'm currently finding out with a broken pinkie finger.

As for going around to see a few towns by bike, there's the Portes de Soleil MTB tour.

http://en.portesduso...il-mtb-tour.htm

Though I wouldn't exactly describe this as a rest day, 90km long with 1000m climbing and 7000m descent!

I don't get the impression that rest days are big on most peoples agenda.

 

You won't be able to rest. You might plan a rest day but when you see those little white cable cars going up the mountain you will be like a heroin junkie ready to kill for your next fix.

[NicoBoshoff]

You won't be able to rest. You might plan a rest day but when you see those little white cable cars going up the mountain you will be like a heroin junkie ready to kill for your next fix.

 

Ja but I reckon a morning session followed by some sights will be on the cards for me here and there

[Guest Omega Man]

The only touristy thing I plan on doing is the Craft Brewery in Morzine..... Multiple Times. Oh. If you want to swim in the public pool you have to wear a speedo. Yes.

[Guest Omega Man]

So who's taking what tire? I'm taking Muddy Mary's. I reckon they'll be a good all rounder. I've always takeon Minions and never bothered with wets before

[NicoBoshoff]

The only touristy thing I plan on doing is the Craft Brewery in Morzine..... Multiple Times. Oh. If you want to swim in the public pool you have to wear a speedo. Yes.

 

I can do that