Rock Drops are my New...New Best Freind

OK, call me fickle, call me a fair-weather friend, but rock drops are now my new best friend...followed by berms and then switch backs...yes they have been relegated..well, at least until tomorrow..

Today we had more than six hours of riding, well I say RIDING, some of it was spent standing around talking, eating and watching Elena (Italian Ski Instructor on the course) falling off of her bike....

In her defense she had new clipless pedals so we'll let her off...Egg beaters, not SPD's my love!

So this is getting to sound a bit like a broken record....but today? Even more awesome riding, even more switchbacks (with heaps of berms this time) two massive 1 hour climbs, two 2 hour descents and OTC Pete teaching me how to ride rock drops...which I nailed after several false starts...and screaming like a bit of a girl...

This photo shows me assessing the payoff between an immediate adrenaline rush and the possibility of a visit to a French hospital.

The instant gratification option won out in the end.

This photo is deceiving, the rock isn't that high but the trail beneath it was another 2-3 feet lower than the rock (the landing is off camera) the approach was terrifying...well, to me it was anyway, to the 2 Pete's it was like riding over roadkill...

Once I'd got over the initial fear though I was dropping off of every rock I could find...and on the switchbacks I even managed to clean some rather impressive looking endo turns (although no-one actually saw them) ...

Of course the 2 Pete's continued to make it all look easy...


Even the camera couldn't move fast enough to capture Alpsun Pete in the air....


Tomorrow, we do the 51 switch backs....weather permitting....

So I'm off out now to find a small animal, I reckon the French sun god will appreciate a bit of fresh blood...whew! lucky I remembered to pack my sacrificial robe for this trip!

Switchbacks are my new best friend!

There is a famous trail out here called 51 switchbacks....the link for a review of this ride is here..

However, today I was lucky enough to ride an un-ridden trail with the two Pete's, which seemed to have a few more than 51 switch backs...


I reckon, at a rough estimate there were about....say....4000 of them....most of which had a plummet to certain death if you got them wrong...

We started at about 1600mt (Me and Alpsun Pete drove up, while OTC Pete rode up, after having already been out riding for three hours, yes the man is a machine)

We rode up to 2000mt, almost all on demanding (and sometimes slippery) single-track. Then we descended down to 1100 meters

...the total ride was a total distance of 13km....

I believe the technical term for this goes beyond "bloody steep" to "bloody stupid"

Ive ridden switchbacks before, but not like this: tight, steep, with a high level of exposure...and relentless...



At first I was scared, very scared and even walked the first section (while the 2 Pete's just barreled through) but after a few thousand switch backs you can;t help but get the technique down and they almost became fun...I even attempted a few endo turns on them.

The weather was awful, it rained the whole day which limited the photo opportunities...but in a week of awesome riding, today was probably the best....I'm definitely gonna try and ride it again before I leave...


"A classic" as Alpsun Pete said....and he is the lucky bastard that has these trails on his doorstep...

What's jealous in French?

More of the same....

Dunno about you lot but I'm certainly not getting bored of seeing photo's of my trip to France....


Today I rode this sweet piece of trail...

There was a bit of a climb involved in getting to it though...


The photo below shows the town I am staying in (Les Vigeneuax) and some of the singletrack I had to ride up...


Of course I use the term RIDE loosely, it was more of a push really......

Today was the day that I realised that I am overweight, unfit and can't ride for toffee...

The illusion was nice while it lasted though...

Vive le Giro!

No, The Giro is not something the government gives to people without a job.

The Giro Italia to give its full name is a bike race. It's the Italian equivalent of the Tour de France.

And today, for some reason it passed through Briancon, which is in France....which isn't Italy...but maybe they have a shortage of maps...Hey who cares? the Tour de France starts in England this year...

Briancon is also hosting the Dauphine Libere and Le Tour this year. The town officials are going for the title of Capitale Modiale du Velo 2007. Which means that its the best place in the world to be a cyclist...

Even the graffiti is bike related....


Fortunately your reporter on the ground was taking photo's of the sprint to the finish...




I should mention that these pictures are deceiving. These roads were incredibly steep. I rode up this road before the race....and despite my leg muscles being very similar to this guys...he raced 100 other riders up the hill...where as I had to get off and push...


I reckon its something to do with them all being giants!


I think this bike used to belong to Jan Ulrich

(this is a smug cycling joke that only roadies will understand)

Ho Hum...Another day in Paradise

So today was another difficult day here in paradise...


First of all I had to get up and look out the window to make sure I wasn't dreaming...Yup still here in the Land of "Le Tour"


After breakfast (Saucisse Herb de Provence un Ouef) I had to ride myself up another mountain that boasted perfect single track in a beautiful setting. And then, I had to ride even more of it all the way down again!


I even managed to teach the invisible man how to take a photo....


And to add insult to injury, this monstrosity greeted me at the bottom...


Boy it was a tough day, i hope that you are feeling sorry for me!

I Have Died and Gone to Heaven!

I have just completed my first full day of riding in France!

It was an absolute nightmare to get here...I had to fly later than originally planned because one of the planes was "too small" to carry my bike.

Two days later I finally made the flight, which went...Manila, Guanzhou, Frankfurt, Turin. Once in Turin I got a bus to Turin station and 2 trains to Oulx.

Once in Olux I discovered that I had a 4 hour wait for the bus to take me to Briancon. One quick phone call to Peter (top bloke who owns the place I am staying in) and he very generously picked me up and we drove from Italy to France (a lot easier than it sounds)

So FINALLY, 30 or so hours later I arrive in Les Vigneaux, where I am currently staying with ALPSUN....http://www.alpsun.com/index.htm


But, it was worth it. Today I rode some of the best single-track I have ever ridden in my LIFE!

Even my riding buddy, the invisible man, agrees that we had an amazing day riding...