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Hi, we are heading to france this summer and wondered if anyone can recommend any places for cross country mountain biking (don't mind using some lifts but not too many) we have 2 kids who can manage red routes. A friend has told us about Morzine ..... any other particular favs out there? (We went to Semnoz at Annecy last year and route finding proved quite tricky.)
Cheers!
It's a big country, where are you planning on going and we can tell you what's nearby. IMO Morzine and the PdS are more downhill than xc
https://www.utagawavtt.com is not bad, mostly xc stuff really
Thanks for the link, have booked a campsite in Taninges just down from Les Gets so we can rock climb as well.So we will be looking to bike around that area. Is there any xc away from the main town? prefer quiet to crowds... if thats possible in the alps? 😀
One thing to look out for that caught us out - XC trails tend to be graded on the length and steepness of the climbs - not on the technicality of the descents or so we found in Northern France a few years ago
[quote> https://www.utagawavtt.com is not bad, mostly xc stuff really
If I finally get around to taking the bikes to France, this link is perfect - thanks 🙂
Lots of biking around the area, you are about halfway between Les Gets and Samoens. Have a search on here as there have been a few threads recently about trails suitable for kids in Les Gets / Morzine. STW Stoner knows the area well as he has an apartment in St Jean d'Alps. The xc / family trails won't be busy. A rumble around Cirque du Fer a Cheval will be nice (fairly short ride but very scenic)
Recent thread here, a few rides you can do without lifts at all - eg along rive between Morzine and St Jean d'Alps. IMHO its worth a drive up to Lac Joux Plan on a clear day for an ice cream and view on Mont Blanc. Routes around Mont Chery in Les Gets have nice high level view and mostly easy riding maybe not worth a lift pass in themselves. You can ride along the river from Samoens, old town centre has a nice feel with bars and restaurants. Big free car park at Telecabine a shortish pedal away
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/family-friendly-mountain-biking-portes-du-soleil
In the 90's I was a regular climber/mountaineer in the Alps, but we always took our MTBs with us for bad weather days/weeks. There were always loads of lower level VTT routes in France, Switz and Italy. Never found an English MTB guide for the Italian side of the alps, so that was always a challenge (ie a bit of a laugh following a foreign language guidebook, rose tinted glasses). Certainly there were English language guidebooks for low level MTB in France Alps back then, but maybe not printed anymore due to everyone now heading to the usual lift assisted honeypots and the internet. Shirley there are English language resources on the internet these days?.
Agreed that, back then at least, following VTT signs and keeping on route was difficult and sometimes impossible. I recall following VTT markers (rather than the guidebook) and nearly riding off a cliff. I presumed a very bad joke of the local equiv of our red sock brigade.
Cheers everyone, will get my maps out and check out your suggestions... have also purchased guides to mountain biking in france in the past (not surprisingly written in french) and had some interesting rides into the unknown!! It all makes the adventure more memorable, I think!
Start here
and think of locations you want to explore, then find the route maps for the area. Most Tourist offices will have maps or guides for local routes.
I enjoy the VTT in the Aude around Quillan for example.
https://www.vtt-pyrenees.com/
https://www.vtt-pyrenees.com/espace-vtt/carte-des-circuits/
Morzine is great (and, yes, Im off out to my flat in Montriond next week, not St J d'Aulps, but not far away 🙂 ), and there are "XC" routes but they're frustrating in that they are either along flat valley bottoms or you have to climb (by lift or grunt) a few thousand metres. There's nothing very "welsh" or "Scottish" red/blue ish.
Pyrenees foothills are great because there are more contouring options without having to heft up high.
also this may be of interest
http://singletrackmag.com/forum/topic/route-guideride-report-france-tarn-cevennes-big-post-pic-heavy