Introducing Paul Thomas – he runs Riders Retreat and spends his summer in the Alps riding bikes and hosting riders that are looking for a taste of mtb nirvana.
Paul is going to send us a few stories this summer to make sure we know how great the riding is over there and give us a taste for why we should all get across and visit.
Here’s his first update as the season starts to warm up…
Like any start to the season this one started off at 6am sat in my car that I was to call home for the next 12 hours or so as I made my way from the UK to Morzine. It’s a journey I’ve done countless times and it really is easy going, its just long and boring. The only painful part is filling up – I’m lucky if I eek out 28mpg, which must result in a carbon footprint similar to that of a clown.
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The Riders Retreatmobile is now rocking some ‘phat’ rims
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For some reason known only to the weather gods, arrival was greeted by torrential rain, which didn’t stop for the next seven days. Just cold, damp continuous rain. My brand new Commencal Supreme sat assembled, but untouched in my garage. However, on day seven, the clouds parted, the tracks dried and it was time for some riding!
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Poor weather at the start of the season!
The Commencal Supreme, even more orange than the RRlogo
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So, what’s new? Well, the biggest news is that there’s a new track on Pleney. It’s not completely finished yet, but it looks as though there will now essentially be two new tracks from the top, both using parts of the original track and bits of the new track. The two appear to converge around the point on the track where ’10 percent’ starts and finish as one at the bottom.
Tom riding the original Pleney track
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There are also new tracks and alterations to the Les Gets bike park. Reportedly these aren’t great, but they were closed for maintenance when we headed over, so they may well be tweaking things, so I’ll reserve judgement until they’re finished.
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Paul test riding some of the new section on Pleney
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There have also been numerous little amendments to most of the existing tracks, making them all ride a little better. Dare I say it – Pleney was also riding well and smooth! There seems to be maintenance work being carried out regularly, which I can only hope this continues through the season. With the amount of traffic the current track receives it is almost an impossible task – although the addition of the new track should help that somewhat.
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Tom test riding some of the new section on Pleney
A few famous faces have been spotted pottering about at the moment, presumably making the best of their time between Leogang and the Champery rounds of the World Cup. Sam Blenkinsop is here and is due to be so for most of the season when he’s not off at various races. Cameron Cole is in town and Matt Simmonds and Ruaridh Cunningham have also been seen heading out on the cross country bikes.
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More news once the full area has opened up and I’ve had a chance to do a bit more riding!
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You can also keep up with the latest news from the Riders Retreat camp on their Facebook Page www.facebook.com/ridersretreat
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Additional photos by Mark Smedley – see Morzine through the eyes of a staff member on his blog – www.markinmorzine.blogspot.com
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Written by Paul Thomas – www.riders-retreat.co.uk
Don’t forget you can win a FREE holiday to stay with Riders Retreat exclusively here at Wideopenmag – all you’ve got to do is watch this video and follow the instructions!
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