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We're going to France with family this summer, near Limoges.
This gives me the opportunity to do some riding in the alps for a few days before we get there - however my wife will be with me and she's a) not a fan of the uphills b) not much of an MTB rider. I like a flowy/swoopy trail more than the nadgery technical rocky/rooty stuff.
I'd like some info/advice on:
Area: Ideally we'd like to be not too far south and not too far east, so Morzine/Les Gets looks favourite. Open to suggestions...
Trails: If we pick that area, are there "lift assisted" gravel / easy rides back down that will be enjoyable for both of us? I've seen the trail maps (here and here) - how "enduro (tm)" is the PdS Enduro Tour?
We'll be taking gravel bikes for the rest of the holiday, so will probably hire something for the 1 or 2 days we'd be doing uplifts.
Morzine is well served for uplifts. There are quite a few easier trails and miles of fireroad style tracks. A couple of really good, flowy green trails. The blues are easy enough if it's dry, can get a bit slippy in the wet. The pds route is ok for non tech riders. It's has a few bits of climbing but nothing too crazy given the length of the route. Another nice gravel route is from the top of mossettes to morgins, then back via the pds route either way.
ebikes are readily available in morz too so the Mrs can always have that back up for the inevitable climbs if you go more XC and less gnarr.
Les Gets for flowy stuff - Morzine was mostly either the Pleney (fast and open with some biggish stuff in it) or wet, techy and steepish reds - the blues there aren't blues either, they are more like UK reds.
Les Gets had a lot more manicured trails, although I didn't spend much time on the supermorzine side to get a feel for that but that did have some more flow style trails - before last summer the last time I went was 12 years ago!
pds route
Heh, either I got sidetracked or the PDS descent from the supermorzine lift back down into Morzine was one of the most technical descents I've done outside of Champery. (again, that might have just been because it was muddy I guess)
Morzine was one of the most technical descents I’ve done outside of Champery. (again, that might have just been because it was muddy I guess
If it's the same one we did it was bloody hard yes, along with being long and steep...
I didn’t spend much time on the supermorzine side to get a feel for that
Then you missed about 90% or more of the riding available. Did you just stick under the Zores lift and not go much further? Once you get out of the Linderettes valley there is a massive range of riding options and there's some lovely runs in the valley including a couple of nice blues.
Heh, either I got sidetracked or the PDS descent from the supermorzine lift back down into Morzine was one of the most technical descents I’ve done outside of Champery.
Sounds like the old route more or less under the lift. There's an easier route more towards Montriond, one rooty bit that is super easy on a big bike but tricky on an XC but the rest is fireroad and walking trails. The other option is down through goat village via the steep piste (easy enough but a lot of work on the brakes) or on the road for a bit before following the river. That's the way we take kids and beginners.
Then you missed about 90% or more of the riding available. Did you just stick under the Zores lift and not go much further? Once you get out of the Linderettes valley there is a massive range of riding options and there’s some lovely runs in the valley including a couple of nice blues.
I wandered off in the direction of Les Gets most of the days, I spent one day over at supermorzine.
Bearing in mind I only had a week out there with the missus, so 4.5 days of riding between doing more touristy things.
It also pissed it down and thundered every day so I wasn't in the mood to get stuck somewhere with the lifts down. 🙁
This year I might go in July instead of August because of that.
Having said that, the descent I did from supermorzine - in the pouring rain was one of the most memorable days I've had on a bike. Mud, steep most of the way down, rocky sections that were like streams - it was great. I had a real sense of accomplishment getting down that in that weather without nailing myself. Like UK riding but on steroids and longer!