Our mini trip out to see Chris and take some shots was, quite frankly, awesome!
Our flight out was early and after several hours packing up my new ride the night before, I was impressed with just how tidily Jon had managed to pack his - Marzocchi fork bag helps here, no doubt.
Anyway, bleary eyed, we took off giving me that early morning adrenaline kick, as I'm becoming a worse flyer... Touch down was sweet and soon I was embarrassing us by getting the trolley stuck in the arrivals door exit whilst people openly laughed at me, great what a start. We were sped up the hill by Skiidy Gonzales transfers, nice, and soon rebuilding our bikes at the chalet garage at Chalet Claire Matin (Chris and Kate's awesome chalet - www.mountainspaces.com)
We got straight into it and not knowing exactly what was open in terms of lifts, got straight up Pleney and rode down it a few times!
After a few runs and a bit of thought, we popped over to Les Gets, knowing that its down hill on the road, if Chevannes wasn't open, but it was, so a quick introductory before cruising home on the crappy inter resort trail and into Monty's for a beer, before C&K arrived early, from work.
The next few days saw a bit if rain and then scorchio sun, so we had the full range of trail conditions from sopping and greasy to dusty on the last two days. Chris was able to get out every day in the mornings and we had all of Tuesday riding and Kate made an appearance too!
Mt Chery, Pleney and Chevannes were all that were running , but that really didn't hinder things as we had an absolute blast and would have to say, rode reasonably quickly, not being overtaken by anyone. How Chris manages to ride his hardtail with dj forks and still be reasonably quick is beyond me, he's going to have arthritis.
Dave about to use up the suspension on Mt Chery.
Jon and Chris on the 4x.
Little wall ride on the green run back into Les Gets.
The trails were excellent this year and didn't suffer too badly from braking bumps, due to the early season, which was great! Some really nice additions to the Chevannes run made it the most fun for me, whilst Jon was digging the steep shoots of Mt Chery and riding them fast - I couldn't keep up and was permanently in his dust cloud...
We stopped off a few times for some filming and photos and generally had an excellent time. The only problem was that I kept on destroying bits to do with my rear mech and really noticed how vulnerable the long cage version that came fitted to the Remedy is - new short cage will be fitted. Apart from that, the odd puncture and breaking a spoke on a particularly large step down, we were pretty good and the Remedy proved that its not only light but a real propper all mountain bike.
Chris in the park on Chevannes.
This hip would be awesome if it had a lip...
Sunset over St Jean d"Aulpes.
www.mountainspaces.comcatered and self catered holidays in the french alps
