Beginners ride, the pics

Epic Ride Report

Heros: Missile, Alpine, BeauJoLais
Distance: 77km
Elevation Pedalled: 1950m
Elevation Total: 2450m
Hours on the Bike: 5:59minutes
Bars Eaten: countless
Mud Transported: kilos
Descents Done in the near dark - 10km  worth

Route
Bretaye-Col De LA Croix-Diablerets-Isenau-Col Des Anderets-Arnensee-Feutersouey-Gsteig-Col Du Pillon-Diablerets-Col de la croix-Bretaye par lac Chamosson-Villars-Mines De Sel-Bex

Host Points - Missile +1
OTB's - 1/2 for Alpine +0.25 pnts
Alpine monster climb mostly cycled all the way by Alpine and BeauJo Lais + 1pt
Walking Dead Award - Missile for walking most of it.. -1 point
Bonks - 1 each at varying times - no score
Mechanicals - chain issues for Missile and Alpine -0.25 each
Flats - Beau Jo Lais 1 flat = -0.5
The 'coronado' award - Beaujolais for having his brake set-up like a migros bike -0.5
The 'mr fixit award' - Alpine for helping un-coronado BJL's bike +0.25

That's about it - just an amazing day out having fun for countless hours.

The "discover Romans area food" ride report

The "discover Romans area food" ride report (Romans is our home town and food and wine came from the region).

Riders (12): Papy, Balls, Tanya, Beau-Jo-Lais, Nascar, Number5, Weasel, Labrico, Newbees Dion and Nicolas, Limoncello, and Missile as "I am a poor lonesome rider"
Dinner attendance: all riders but Tanya who couldn't make it, plus Christèle and Thomas.
Ride details: Thanks to Labrico's estimate (his GPS record includes the Le Coin-Veyrier trip), we biked for about 1h45, 25 kms, and with 560m elevation on the Petit Salève.

Highlights:
Pretty nice ride along the arve river before we hit the Petit-Salève. Usual good downhill. The place to ride in the Geneva area
Quite a big group: 11 riders + 1 another one chasing or preceeding the group, or may be he got lost along the arve river and never found the Salève, who knows.
Despite the size of the group, departure almost on time.
Quote of the day: "Regardes pas en bas" (Papy) to Nicolas as we were about to cross the west side of the mountain.
Mechanical: broken chain (Nicolas), worn out break pads (Tanya)
OTB: Balls, ending up with no arm but a broken rear brake handle (riding a trotinette, I can't tease you on getting a real bike, but others will I guess)
OTB with style: Labrico (see below)
Dinner: caillettes + saucisses d'herbe + saucisses de viande + ravioles + Côtes du Rhône (all from hometown area), followed by homemade apple/apricot pie and the famous homemade limoncello.
The "bucheron" award: Labrico, trying to clear up the trail "head first" from a low hanging branch (diameter about 12-15 cm, get BoumBoum to saw it instead). Landing in the only muddy patch of the ride. Well done Claude!

The "brocanteur" award: Nicolas, for coming back with his old and dusty Decathlon bike without even putting some oil on the chain after 2 years or so of no use.

The "lack of planning" award: all riders with no lights. Guys, we are in September, must be part of the standard package now!

The "more beer for me please" award: Missile; for being home at 8h30 well ahead of the others

The "detox riders" award: Beau-Jo-Laid, Missile and Dion, for a good ride after dinner to get the fluid cleaned up.

The "I'll be back award": Number 5, for escaping the flat Peoria area for some good uphill

The "don't drink all my limoncello" award: Thomas, who had planned to drink it with his university mates. Too bad Son!

The "decibel" awards: Balls (1st) and Missile (2nd): prices given by Tiphaine, who was trying to sleep upstairs prior to her first day back to school

The "I am so lucky to be Limoncello's wife" award: Christèle, for "helping" me out to feed the team ... she basically did most of it, thanks Honey!

 

Points Points Points:

• All riders: 1 point for attendance
• Missile: 0.5 point, knowing he could not make it on time, but still showing up and trying to catch up chasing the group
• Limoncello: 2 points for organizing and hosting
• Extra points related to attendance???
• Balls and Labrico: 1 point for OTB
• Labrico: 0.5 point: no blood, but nice try!
• Nicolas: -0.5 point for lack of care on his so-called bike (il y a des soldes à Véloland!!)
• Dion: 0.5 point for mechanical assistance to Nicolas (chain link)
• Labrico: 0.5 point for break pad check-up on Tanya's bike

 

Any other suggestion ... shout!

Thanks to all for a great ride and evening,

Christophe and family

 

 

Labrico demonstrating his mechanical skills, prior to demonstrating his "flying skills"

 

 

 

You boys will you bring your lights!

 

Will you stop talking and poor the juice in MY glass please .... Hum, I love this!

 

 

CHEERS !!!

 

 

Alpine Strikes Gold!!!

What a day it was yesterday!

35km,1000 m and 10,000 calories!!
Riders: Tanya, Missile, Alpine

Avoided cows on the road on the way up....
9.00 am Les Diablerets - Alpine ready and waiting to go!!
"Discuss" with the telecabine attendant (Alpine) two weekends in a row!!
Smile impishly (Alpine)
Climb Climb Climb - everyone - what a rude start, but NO SNOW this time!
Swear Swear Swear - Missile's bike is making 'derailleur out of adjustment' noises
Adjust Adjust Adjust - missile scores the first -ve of the day...cable issues! Grrr!!
Arrive at the col des Anderets - Awesome view of the Arnese lake and 'suisee toto' (Kanton Bern!!)
Very technical single track follows - missile and alpine go by foot some of the way, Tanya beginning to think 'oh sh!t'
Fantastic technical and flowy(ish) singletrack down to the lake.
Alpine rips his side wall, missile provides patch!! -ve to Alpine +to missile
Tanya really thinking....oh sh!t!! But doing very well!! No OTB's...YET
No one is watching - into the no entry for bikes path...oh well, had to be done
Climb climb climb (a bit)
Down down down, loads of whoops, yeee haaa
Marsh Marsh Marsh - Tanya and Missile get wet feet, Alpine stays dry
Woo hoo woo hoo....fantastic single track, loads of stairs, tricky, fast, FUN !!
Hello Feutersoey!! The green pastures of Nern follow
Fields paved with terrace flag stones (see the picture) !!! Only in Bern?!
Stupendously tough climb to col du pillon - everything rideable but only just!
All are DEAD at the top. Horseflies abound.
Quick coke in col du pillon, then up to lad de renaud, er retaud!!
ROSTI. Beer. Salad for the lady!
Awesome downhill (Tany thinking....aaaaahhhh).
Alpine flats again (but nor really so only 1/2 of -0.5 !!
Roaring waterfalls have to be seen to be appreciated - amazing.
Then the cherry on the cake for the boys and Tanya's nemesis...
Flowing, technical, fast, rocky, rooty, wonderful single track all the way down to diableret.
Tanya wins 2.5 OTB points FOR 5 OTB's
Bruised she started, even more bruised she finished, and...bleeding too +0.5 blood points
She also earns an extra Bonus of +1 for keeping a brave face in adversity, not moaning at all and even still smiling after such a trial !! One tough lady.

Alpine +2 bonus for amazing ride - really one for the best rides in the area for its combination of amazing views, technical descents, flowy tracks, steep climbs, and overall challenging terrain: a real ***** ride

One word: GRAND!!

Rochers de Nayes and Eua Froide (via roadie outing)

Starring: Dopey, Missile, Alpine, Nameless, BeauJoLais, Serge

Cat MTB weekend - update # 3 - Destination: Zermatt!

It's done! Decided! The doodle is closed, and the Jo's have spoken. This year, the Cat MTB weekend will take place on August 3, 4, and 5 in Zermatt.

This is the result of the doodle:

So we will be 9 people in total. I still hope some of the other Jo's will be able to rearrange their calendars to join us. The next step will be to secure accommodation, so we'll start making calls.

Please block your calendars and order the parts you need NOW so the bikes will be in perfect shape for the ride.

In terms of organization:

Balls: thanks a lot for your offer to help! I'll take you up on your offer in the coming days, to help us make calls to the potential bike-friendly hotels.

BoumBoum: should we find a time to go over your list of hotels over a beer? Do you have some time next weekend?

Dopey: can we count on your help to recommend the trails? Do you already have a place in mind for the Friday DH?

Missile: can you confirm your presence to the Friday DH, and to the rest of the weekend? Your answer on the doodle said you needed to double-check with your vacation plans.

All other Jo's: anybody else want to join for the downhill on friday Aug 3rd?

Papy: will give you a call to discuss Caterpillar-specific issues.

Labrico: you now have about 2 months to find a gonzesse in Zermatt...should be plenty of time for you.

3Decis: are you really not coming?!

Nascar: any suggestions for trails are welcome, the sooner we start the discussions, the better.

Alpine: you won't become a real Jo until you join the Cat MTB weekend...

BeauJoeLais: I'm counting you in for the hotel, we will not let you sleep in your car...mainly because we might need it if Simon has a bad snoring night.

Limoncello: we're still waiting to hear from you!

Husky: anybody out there?  Any chance you will join?

Tanya: should you come to realize that this weekend is (a lot) more fun than a triathlon, we'll be delighted to have you with us! Might even warrant a name...

I hope you're all as excited as I am about this weekend...we're going to ride in a truly spectacular place!

Last but not least, I've heard that the Goat is in Zurich so no excuse not to join us. Zulu, if you want to win the most km. traveled award, you'll need to fly in again this year! Bring Honeybadger with you if you do!

That's all for now, folks. To be continued!

Nameless.

Les Diablerets...snow fun!

UPDATE Saturday May 26 - Col du Pillon to Gstaad

Joe's the cable car in Dorenaz is under revision, there is a bus instead but it does not take bikes. In collaboration with Joe Alpine I like to offer you to ride Col du Pillon to Gstaad instead.

Place: Parking Glacier 3000
Time: 08h30...you snooze you loose!
Ride: Page 150 Singletrails in den Schweizer Alpen - 4 hours
What to bring: demi-tarif for train, enough bars (& coca cola)
The weather: at Col du Pillon.

We will be riding at 2.000 meters and we can expect some snow. Bring warm clothes and your smile.

We meet at the Glacier 3000 parking.

Nascar, if you have a map of the area could you bring it please?

Finale the pictures...!