Date: 4th July 2010
Riders: Richard, and big group
Swinley Desert
Weather: 22°C

It's hot, dry and dusty as a large group of over 20 riders gather at Swinley Desert (well, it was that dry and dusty it deserves to be renamed this summer).

We split into two unequal size groups with the Muddy Moles going off to do their own thing whilst we followed Warren round his local trails.

We have done this route a number of times now but I still have no idea how Warren strings this all together, it really is a maze in there.

it was good to see Rich (Harvey) return to ride with us again after 12 months and losing circa 15 kilos in weight plus he's been putting in the commuting miles so is much faster and fitter than last year.

Plus my eldest son, Sam rode with us in a last minute attempt to get some fitness and catch up on those off-road skills prior to our trip to Les Arcs in less than two weeks now.

So Warren lead us out of the car park and onto the by now familiar route that he leads us round. I say familiar in that I recognise almost all of the trail sections and the fact that we have ridden them before. However it’s a different thing in knowing where we are actually going.

Warren seems to lead us on a circuitous but flowing route that makes the best of Swinley’s admittedly limited space covering every corner of the forest and every inch of the hidden singletrack

I’m riding the SX as Swinley is very ‘pedally’ and you don’t get the normal sit to climb and stand to descend to give your legs/arse a rest that you do at other places. So I do find that a bit of bounce in the rear helps me even if the SX is total overkill for the trails (it’s my age you know).

The trails at Swinley really are great and apart from the above the only observation I would make is that some of the trails are harder work as they are off-camber presumably for drainage purposes and the newish start to the tank traps trail (built circa 2009 where the small wooden bridge is) has some of the berms too tight. You are forced to slow down or get thrown out the side/over the top of the berm at the midway point. As I said before this is not a criticism, just an observation.

I don’t know how much work those trail pixies put in but it must have been a daunting task when they first looked at the place. Having said that there has been a natural progression over the years and it’s amazing how many of the corners have lovely small berms on them that help you maintain your speed round an otherwise flat corner.

Being such a small area we started to bump into the separate Moles group being led by Dave. That was probably because he was following the same route as us as he too has previously ridden in a group with us being led by Warren. We first spotted them at the Jump Gulley as Dave was psyching himself up for a small drop-in. It was all about the line choice (apparently) and true to Cam McCaul’s lead in Follow Me, Dave had a youth hand sweeping/sculpting the landing for him and offering advice. I think he was a bit spooked when we all turned up and he had an audience of over 25 riders to watch his attempt but all credit to him and he pulled it off successfully. As for me, with the Alps visit in under two weeks I was taking no chances and didn’t even roll down the gulley.

We rode the tank traps trail twice as well as one of the very nice trails that end up at the Reservoir. It’s an existing trail that I rode in the dim and distant past but has been upgraded over the last few years with a hard-packed surface and the aforementioned small berms. Thoroughly enjoyed by all.

Of course we finished with The Labyrinth in the far corner of the forest before heading back towards the car park via a singletrack route and the only bad thing was that as we neared The Lookout we saw an ambulance making it’s way to the Jump Gulley. I read later that not one but two of the crew that hang out at the gulley had hurt themselves and that the air ambulance was also called out. Healing vibes to those guys.

Sam enjoyed himself and although he was definitely flagging along with Suren at then end of the ride it was a good reminder of things to come when we hit Les Arcs. Sam had been planning on playing football on Sunday afternoon but decided to go back to bed for four hours instead. Students eh??!!

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Date: 11th July 2010
Riders: Richard, Robin, Tim, Steve, Sam, Ronnie (briefly), Ed and Jo
Leith Hill
Weather: 21.5°C

The week before the Les Arcs trip and none of want to injure ourselves so we take a leisurely ride around Leith Hill, testing bikes, skills and generally taking it carefully.

I am showing a work colleague and fellow cyclist, part time MTB'er, full time rower and roadie 'Ed' and his wife around the hills too and put them through their paces on the testing singletrack of Leith Hill.

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Date: 16th July to 24th July 2010
Riders: Richard, Dave, Terry, Sam, Robin and Tim
Les Arcs, French Alps
Weather: 28°C

It's finally arrived. The trip I have been waiting for all year and we are out in Les Arcs and riding the mountain trails. Here's a day by day report but you can just jump straight to the picture gallery if you prefer.

Day 1: Saturday 16th July 2010: The journey

Day 2: Sunday 17th July 2010: First night nerves

Day 3: Monday 18th July 2010: Les Arcs 2000 and Red 10

Day 4: Tuesday 19th July 2010:Vernettes trails and Black 8

Day 5: Wednesday 20th July 2010: A 'rest' day on Cachettes DH trail

Day 6: Thursday 21st July 2010: Le Mont Jovet Enduro

Day 7: Friday 22nd July 2010: Some rain and my first big crash of the week

Day 8: Saturday 23rd July 2010: Back to life, back to reality

Day 1: Saturday 16th July 2010

After getting the Eurotunnel almost 3 hours early on the Friday night we drove in a loaded down car for 13 hours and 706 miles through the night arriving at the small village of Moulin, part of the Peisey-Nancroix commune at 6-30 am local time.

Terry had used a tow-bar mounted rack to get all four heavy DH bikes onto the car but it was like a fly graveyard on my frame which had been on another rack above the rear of the car. With the load all at the rear the car was low down on its springs and fuel economy was poor (30 mpg versus the usual 48mpg).

After trying to sleep in the car (or in other places for one of us) until 9 am and a walk into town for a croissant and a coffee (I came off the wagon for one day of my self imposed caffeine ban to take a shot in a bar to try and counter the lack of sleep for 36 hours) we contacted TrailAddiction and being the helpful kinda guys they are we unloaded early and were soon into the chalet with Sophie and Gordy the chalet owners obligingly cleaning, dusting and hovering around us as we collapsed exhausted.

The quixotically named 'Mansell' is the TrailAddiction rep for the Goat Shed came and introduced himself and late afternoon offered to take us out for a quick spin but we were all so wasted with the lack of sleep we declined his kind offer on the basis that we would do more harm than good.

We all fell into bed that evening and even my infamous snoring did little to disturb the others in the room.

Day 2: Sunday 17th July 2010

Sunday morning arrived and there was plenty of faffing as sixteen excited riders made last minute checks of brakes, saddle height, tyre pressures and other important things that you always leave to the last minute. Lesley was our guide for the week and collected us at 9-30 and we set off to the Lobster Pots, the ski lifts handily placed at the end of the village.

The only bad thing about the goat shed location is the climb up through the village to get to the lobster pots and then we had some more faffing as those new to lift assisted riding scrambled to get aboard. A roll down Vallandry High Street and more loading onto the Vallandry lift and we were ready to go.

Lesley leads us onto the fire road for the first descent and straight away the relentless pull of gravity overwhelms you as you try to get used to the speed that everything happens. (After the first few days you get used to it but that first morning is a real wake up call).

My first impressions even though I have been there before are the steepness and then how rocky everything is. There are no smooth trails such as we might find in Surrey, it's a kind of Coed-y-Brenin on steroids.

We stop for a group lunch and a few small changes are made to the riding group. We gained John from another group who is riding a brand new dialled alpine frame that he hasn't even used in anger at home and it's fair to say he struggled. I also get name-checked by one of the guides who turns out to be Rich 45bpm, one of our forum members and who we have guided round the Surrey Hills many times in the past. He came out here last year for a holiday, loved it and undertook his training and is back this year guiding for Trailaddiction and living the dream.

Sam had a sliding crash on another steep section of trail and it looked like he had bent his brake lever but luckily it only required pushing the lever back into the ball joint.

It was a long first day and we arrived back around 5-30pm. Robin was carrying a GPS and couldn't believe that we had done over 16,000 feet (that's over 5,000 metres) of descending and kept checking it, shaking it a bit and checking again but yes, we really did do that much in one day.

That morning there had been some talk about not wearing the armour we had all bought with us because the first day is badged as a ‘gentle introduction’. We all arrived back at the pub for a quick beer glad that we had decided to wear it although with the temperature in the late 20's and early 30's it had been extremely hot and sweaty inside a pressure suit.

We get back to the chalet to hear that one of the three Spanish guys staying at the Goat Shed has broken a collarbone and we spend the evening meal recounting various tales of mates having big crashes and broken bones which is not really something that you want to hear...

Day 3: Monday 18th July 2010

Robin is on a hard tail and the pounding that his body took yesterdy has led to his left ankle swelling up to the size of one of those ‘cankles’ you now see on those burger-fed women who frequent the High Streets of Britain. He had also left the group early yesterday as his front brake was playing up (turns out it had zero fluid in it) and he is finding that the Alps gives both your body your bike a real pounding.

But he's keen to continue and so after popping some ibuprofen we head off today for some more trails under the guidance of Lesley.

John was with us for the day only but today we are joined by Doug, a Canadian who is living in Normandy and who sticks with our group for the rest of the week.

'Only' 13,000 feet of descending today but we rode Grange Hill which is super technical and which I remember from our last visit and was keen to revisit.

The trails all blur into one but I remember riding Red 10 (which isn't as smooth as it looks in the video) plus loads of other stuff, Granny's Garden, Pat's Patio and a bit of what passes for xc around here.

Sam also out rode me. I was struggling to keep up with him on Cachettes and he rode the stream descent on Grange Hill which I didn’t although he later admitted that he only rode it cos he thought everyone else had which just goes to show the power of the mind; if you think you can do it then you can but there was certainly a bit of old bull: young bull moments and I felt I was handing over the reigns to the younger generation.

Day 4: Tuesday 19th July 2010

As well as Doug we are joined by Dan today, an Aussie married to a lass from Guernsey he has been in the Channel Islands and fancied a week's riding. Describing himself as an 'XC' rider he googled the Alps and singletrack and well, like the rest of the riders here he is.

However he proves to be a bit more than an XC rider despite being on a full carbon Ibis frame which he spent an hour last night adding some protection to, he proves to be a great rider and really fast over the technical stuff.

After a trip to Vernettes and the amazing inside of the tiny chapel there we head over to the far side of the resort via Granny's Garden and hit Black 8 for the first time this week and I take the GoPro HD out today now that I have settled into the riding and can think about something else other than just hanging on for dear life!

There is a long hot ride along some cycle path where we stop for lunch at a cafe and then up the funicular in some blazing sunshine and it must be 32 degrees in the valley and I am melting in my armour and full face but once we gain some height I start to cool down again.

Doug has a couple of crashes on Black 8 right in front of me and the GoPro and the second one is already published on vimeo. Watch out for the saddle at the end which comes off the rails and requires a bodge including zip ties and gaffer tape to resolve.

We also rode Petite la varda, GR5, Dutchies and the new 'secret' bit of the Vernettes trail which is the only peaty forest trail you will find out here.

It's Sophie and Gordy's day off this evening and tomorrow and we head off to the local village bar for a surprisingly good and large meal sitting outside on the patio. The Greek fella's with the tattooed skulls are on the table behind us and provide great entertainment for us all as the tackle a 'raclette' which is basically four kilo's of cheese warmed up by a small grille.

There is some real bonding amongst the disparate group tonight which contains as well as us six Brits, three Belgians (Plons, Maartens and Piet), three Spaniards (Santiago, Jesus and the guy who broke his collarbone) , three guys from Hong Kong (two Brit ex-pats Mark and Phil and Hector a Mexican emigre) and the aforementioned Aussie.

Day 5: Wednesday 20th July 2010

Wednesday is the guides day off and after a lazy start Tim, Sam, Robin and I head over to Cachettes. Robin heads back when his swollen ankle starts to play up again but the rest of us have a great assiette burger at the restaurant near the ski-lift before hooking up with the guys from Hong Kong and sessioning the Cachettes DH trail and the North Shore Section.

A heavy rainstorm in the afternoon cuts the session short but we have fun jumping on the free bus (where people are actively moving away from us because we stink so much) and then self-guiding home via a cross-country route.

Day 6: Thursday 21st July 2010

Thursday sees me and Robin join a special trip to undertake the Mont Jovet 'enduro'. At a special reduced price of EUR10 this entails picking up a mini-bus which takes us to 2,000 metres up Mont Jovet before we climb another 500 metres and then have a narrow singletrack descent which has drops on the side where you will actually die if you fall off them (no, I'm not exaggerating).

After descending via a trail which has at least 30 tight switchback corners we hit a bit of fireroad before beginning the enduro part of the ride. This entails a seven mile climb along fireroad that features 17 hairpin corners and takes us from the valley through the clouds in a 1,000 metre vertical ascent to the saddle over the mountain that drops us back down the other side.

The climb takes me an hour and 40 minutes on my 40lb Specialized SX trail and I can feel the 2.7 inch super tacky rear tyre dragging the whole way up.

It's tough, very tough but I am determined to do it and despite 3 short breaks for a breather I manage to ride the whole climb. This is the first time this week Robin has felt he was on the right bike for the job.

After a long lunch break and a chance to gather ourselves we beling a long three hour descent. The first trails are narrow singletrack and fast, very fast and I almost come a cropper as I still have my climbing head on. But I soon settle into it and we are soon into the switchback section.

There are well over 100 switchback corners to ride on the descent and it's a great experience flowing down the mountainside watching riders ahead (below) and behind (above) you as you twist your way down.

We finally hit the bottom but there's more. After a short break we have a five or six mile ride to the pick-up point. I am shattered by this stage and struggle to make it back along the undulating trail. As soon as the trail points upwards I am going backwards but we finally make it back and take the minibus back home to spend the eveing trying to impress the others back in the chalet with various tall tales.

Watch Le Mont Jovet video to get an idea of the day although there's nothing of the climbing in here.

Day 7: Friday 22nd July 2010

The first descent of every day was always nervy and uncomfortable. It took about half an hour to get back into the groove but as the week progressed my late morning/afternoon speed and control improved.

Friday was the final day’s riding opportunity but with a massive thunderstorm the night before and the rain still falling on Friday morning I had gone back to bed after breakfast and at 10-35 am was still there. But a group of riders formed up outside as the promise of drier weather was visible over the mountains and I persuaded them to wait whilst I jumped up and out of bed and padded up.

This was also a chance for Terry and I to stretch ourselves by riding with a different group and different guides than we had during the week. As it turned out, the Belgians and Spaniards had both headed home at the first sign of rain and so we had three guides, Will, Mansell and Rich45bpm. It’s great to know that the riding is such fun that the guides come out to play even when they could be taking a day off.

So we joined Mark, Hector and Phil who had travelled over from Hong Kong in search of some Alpine riding and were enjoying it to the max.

However it was chilly on the Vallandry lift as we gained height and even though I had been uncomfortably hot and sweating the rest of the week I found myself pleading for the sun to come back out. I was wearing my full-facer on the lift just to keep warm and it wasn’t just me and the conversations revolved around what were we doing there.

As already mentioned the first run is always a nervous affair and this was doubled, tripled and perhaps quadrupled by the wet rocks and slick trails that we encountered on the Vernettes run. But as the weather warmed up and we got into the groove we took more and more chances and lowering the tyre pressures helped a great deal too.

However I had my first major ‘off’ of the week, stalling as my front wheel hit a rock and toppling into the bushes at the side of the trail. I was trapped upside down under the bike and couldn’t get my left leg out whilst my right foot was in a small stream that had provided the obstacle.

But I dragged myself out and was back on the bike; thank goodness for the armour and helmet although a nice bruise has now developed on my left thigh where I took the brunt of the fall.

The weather improved and the trails dried surprisingly quicly considering the amount of rain that had fallen and we rode plenty more trails including Granny's Garden with a new entrance and the lovely Nancroix line where I made full use of the GoPro for some rearward facing action and expect another video to make it’s way to you soon.

We knocked off early as the weather again threatened to turn bad and headed back to the chalet to pack our bags and prepare our bikes for the journey home.

Watch the 'Final Friday' video for highlights of the day and notice how changeable the weather was, it would go from bright sun to dark cloud and rain and back to sun in a matter of minutes.

Day 8: Saturday 23rd July 2010

Another long journey in the car was gruelling but overall it was far better than taking the plane in terms of:
Cost (approx half price when you add in extra luggage allowance and airport transfers (both ways)Concern over whether your bike actually makes it to the location (Dozens of Etape riders were let down by Easyjet this year who didn't transport their bikes in time for the event)No need to dismantle your bike at home and re-assemble it when you arrive. You can carry much more in a car, even with four fully grown men, four DH bikes and a weeks kit already on board. Stuff like a laptop to keep you guys updated during the week and additional body armour, a spare wheel and spare tyres.

I'm now back at work and it's fair to say that I have felt terrible this week. A combination of a comedown from a week long adrenaline rush and me falling off the wagon of my self imposed caffeine ban. I had just one small coffee but half a dozen full-fat cokes (I almost never drink coke, even the diet stuff. I’m a grown up!). The reason? Well, you just feel so exhausted you need a little boost at lunch or after a ride to get you feeling okay again.