Pass'Portes du Soleil - yyeehhaaa

Ride report for a grreeeaaaattttt day out riding trails all over the Portes du Soleil area. 

Papy, Missile and Balls took a sneaky day off work, got up really early (5am) in order to be able to hit the trails nice and early. This what they look like at that time in the morning...

Ouch!!! Not pretty!!!

We got our shi... I mean, stuff together, and got under way at about 8:08. See Papy's photo of his watch!!!

We then hit the trails! First off was a nice technical downhill, with flowing banks and cheeky little jumps, if you were willing to risk it / go for it!!!

Then came some faster fireroad stuff. Basically a liaison between some tracks, and Balls decided to do an OTB and some StoneGrinding work on his forearm!!! NOT A GREAT IDEA!!! Blood points galore!!! I hit the sharp rocks so hard they ripped through my (thick) longsleave shirt and pieced my arm. I collected myself after the fall and only noticed my forearm bleeding (profusely) when it felt wet on the way down the hill. I got down to Missile and Papy, waiting patiently, with a distressed look on my face. :(((

I limped to the closest medic in Morgins and Papy helped me wash and then clean the blood off my arm. 

I eventually got over myself and got a semblence of humour back and we hit the trails once we'd had a little beer to get us going!!!

We ate, we drank, we rode, we laughed, and we (Missile and Papy) shredded the slopes. Balls came down a fraction slower after his StoneGrinding "incident".

A great day had by all. We have to ALL do that again next year. EPIC!!!

We even met a few ladies...

More more more!!!

Points allocation as follows:

1 each for attending: Papy, Missile & Balls

1 for ride initiator: Balls

1 for Papy's medical skills - cleaning blood off Balls's arm

1 for Simon's shredding skills (without a spill)

1 Blood point for Balls - StoneGrinding incident (enough with the spills now!!!)

Pour le mardi 30 Juin RDV à 18h00 à la piste de BMX de Genève.

Sunday Ride - 28 June

Salève or Voirons, spinning or up and down.
To be defined with whoever is ready.
Departure time 9am from Veyrier.

Quizzzz x 2

Where is Labrico?

Who am I, where am I?

Saturday ride, June 27 - Saleve

Claude organizing, but not able to post on the blog.
Meeting at parking de Veyrier at 8H30, depart at 8H45 latest. Plan to ride till noon.
Labrico and Limoncello in.

Aie. Hes tough our Z.A. Friend!!

PassPortes d'Soleil ride: Fri 26 June

I posted an invite a few months ago about the PassPortes ouvert ride this weekend. There are 3 who plan to ride tomorrow: Missile, Papy and me (Balls). 

We look forward to a great day out!!!

Yyeehhaaa!!!

More, more, more!!!

Ring of Fire Ride Report Tuesday June 23, 2015

For once all of us were On Time ! A beautiful evening was starting.
To warm up..a quick bords de l'Arve and a short "climb the wall" in Etrembiere before we hit le Petit Salève and agreed to Boum-Boum's suggestion for an even more steep of a climb...why ?
It was not easy..all were pleased to reach the top. God's country scenery before we hit the well waited for downhill - and then it was just, just, just, great ! We love Le Petit Salève !
p.s. Even if suffering, Papy "enjoyed" the climb without complaining..
More bords de l'Arve at steady speed in winding skinny paths to reach La Tarentella where Master Ref. hidden in its red cover was waiting for us.
Suffice to say the pasta, pizza, beer, wine, dessert, coffee, limoncello were just perfect and the waiter only trying to cool us down as the noise made was disturbing nearby neighbours...
The same waiter warned us about the spicy sauce...yes he did..we did not trust him..hence the title.

Riders: Boum-Boum, Balls, Limoncello, LaBrico, Papy.
Stats: Distance 36 kms, elevation 555m, f****** steepest side of Petit Salève...but great training !
Pointage:
+1    All riders
+1    Papy invite/lead
+0.5 Missile joining for Dine
- 1    Balls for wrong tracking the group dowhill & lousy i-phone camera..
+1    Boum-Boum for mad uphill skills and fantastic downhill lead and mastery.

Ride invite and Pizza Dine - Tuesday June 23, 2015 - Petit Salève

The sun will shine tomorrow - so let's ride while its dry !

Where: Petit Salève, bords de l'Arve and Bout-du-Monde.
When:  Let's meet in parking du Pont de Sierne at 18.30h departing time !!

Those who prefer to start from stade du Bout-du-Monde (BMX) be there at 18.00h

Dine: Pizza in Chêne-Bourg or elsewhere - take some lights to go home safe.

Leisurely Sunday ride

Papy, BoumBoum and Balls took their bikes on a gentle ride through Jussy woods. BoumBoum testing his (soon-to-be-new) fixed frame VTT/road-bike. 

He followed Papy with determination, Papy not making it easy with the pathes he chose... In the end we rolled a decent 30kms through, round and about in the woods. All the while chit-chatting, laughing and enjoying being out on our trusty steeds!!!

BoumBoum then departed (after a big day out with Missile and others yesterday) and Papy and Balls attacked the Voirons.

Collectively we climbed a total of 1,035m, rode 68kms, and then enjoyed a burger (without the fries) at Monniaz music festival. 

Another awesome day out!!!

More more more!!!

God's country at its best today !

To share with you that shot taken nearby Choulex while Lisa ran and I biked...warm up before a nice spin and boost in Woody Jussy ;-))

Sunday 21'st - Crans Montana, Christ-Roi ending in Sion/Sierre

Who is up for this well known one ?

Depart Sierre on the funi at around 9am absolute latest

I confirm actual time based on train time-table arriving in Sierre

Lets riiiiiiide!!!!!

Le Suchet - Saturday 20'th June

Most fantastic single in the area according to Alpine.
With a steep climb to begin with
Timing and itinerary to be finalised but I believe we start in St.Croix
and we should aim to start around 9.am from there

Who has the GPS track (Alpine) please send to me!!

Who is in...?

The Unacceptable Ride Report (Tues 16 June)

I posted a last minute invite to ride from my place on Tues 16 June. Papy was the only one that could make it! So, Papy and Balls set off into the "great unknown" that is the "Grand Bois" in France, again... in order to try and conquer the wild French forest!!!

We did a little climb, up behind Ballaison... Papy pumping his (little) legs to try and stay with me...

Once Papy had caught his breath (approx 10mins later) we rode into the woods on top of the hill for a nice single-track decent!

Mandatory selfie on top of the ridge!

And other photos...

Once we'd finished the single track down, and come off the tarmac (Papy still trying to stick with me). Balls top speed: 60.3km/h, Papy... slower!!! Ha!

Papy came into his own when i tried to lead us throught the Grand Bois (aka "Deliverance Woods"). I had the map out, but it didn't work... We came right back on ourselves (we literally rode in a circle to cycle bsck on the same path in the opposite direction!?!?). ;))) I blame Papy! He'll probably say otherwise!!! Typical!

Once we mastered the Deliverance Woods, and we eventually did! Yeah baby!!! We found a number of new tracks through the forests, almost all the way back home! Yeeehhaaa! We'll show you all soon...

We also found a brand new Pizza spot in Hermance (new resto), where we will definitely be wolfing down more than a few pizzas, followed by copious amounts of Limoncello!!! Yes, Christophe, you have some decent competition there...

Here are the pics to prove it!!!

What a great night out!!! Boys and girls, we have to show you all that ride again soon!

Points as follows:

1 for ride organiser - Balls

1 for each rider - Papy & Balls

1 for Mr GPS (we won't get lost) - Papy

More, more, more!!! ;))))))))))

Ride Tues 16 June: Balls in Grand Bois

Ride from my place, 791b ch du Pont de Crevy, Veigy-Foncenex, 74140, France. 

Time for bums on seats: 18:30

Ride the Grand Bois and Hermance river. 

Bring lights in case it rains, cloud cover and darkness. 

Be there or be square...

Let me know who's in for catering purposes. 

Merci,

JB (aka Duracell)

Points....updated

the ref took liberty to award ride points to those who posted "amusing"  ride reports, even though strictly, they weren't announced nor 3+ people....

KEEP IT UP - thats the club spirit!!!

BALLS keeps his in front by a hair....well actually a whole clump...
Limoncello is being stupendous....fueled by the word and the host
Papy, as usual, is making a slow start but those tree trunk's are pedalling like crazy...

The Two Snails Ride Report - Sunday June14, 2015

To clarify,  the ride report's name has nothing to do with the bikers....we simply crossed our way with two huge Escargots de Bourgogne...we took time to admire nature.
It started an hour late due to Papy's previous evening party....continued with Balls spilling coffee in my kitchen...and had to push him out (talking too much), finally got on the road at 10.00h.
Sun, Rain and Storm were our riding partners, a bit of "shit where are we now" spiced up the ride while trying to find our way by the Menoge river.
Boëge gave us shelter from rain for some well rewarding Reblochon sandwiches before hitting the La Menoge trail.
We returned home far too late as...somebody's Government dark clouds and striking lightings were piling on us..hence we raced and wind drafted to minimize the damages...(we all face that..don't we ?)
Maximum heart rates were overblown..and subsequent resting time was well deserved.

Bikers: Balls alias Duracell and Steady Papy
Where: Top of Les Voirons, Boëge, La Menoge, around Les Voirons
Stats:
Duration: about 4 hours and a half
Pedaling: 3.51 hours
Distance: 62.54 km
Elevation: 1'046 m
Max.speed: 74.8 kmh (Papy) 74.6 kmh (Balls)....draw conclusions...

Pointage: Again we cannot claim...but I would allocate some to Balls...see comment above ; -)

p.s. tilt your head on the right....sorry ! 

 

 

 

Ride report: The Sarkozy Ride

Saturday 13 June 2015

Riders: BoumBoum, Adrien (Bassist - contrebasse) at the Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Limoncello
Ride lead: Boumboum (comme d'hab)

Ride stats: 52 kms, 850m up, 3h10 on the bike (note: I went up the hill before reaching home to pass the 1000m up mark (just for the sake of it). Total time …. well, probably 5h due to some stops, talking, mechanical, drink with a lady who fell in love with the musicians, etc...

A really nice ride: Arve river banks (flat, direction Chamonix) till St Pierre en Faucigny, then up next  on le Mole, via a pretty technical track (rocks, roots) including about 150m portage (in preparation for TdMB?). Then down in direction of Fillinges, to reach the little single by the Ménoge which took us back to the Arve again, about 2 km of the Casino).

Highlights (see pictures in relation to some of the comments):
- The Danny Macaskill pass
- The Arve river banks are beautiful. Its a nature reserve with numerous spots to admire the wildlife
- Meeting Carla and Nicolas Sarkozy (hence the title) and their friends (including Obama)
- Limoncello: mechanical with "le dérailleur de merde". Not sure buying this bike was such a good deal
- Refill stop by a house for Adrian who was running out of water. The lady (no picture available) clearly fell in love with our two musicians, and heavily insisted to invite us (successfully in the end) for a drink in order to get BoumBoum and Adrian's contact details (which they eventually gave). That was supposed to be for his son, who was here and couldn't care less, so I let the readers draw appropriate conclusions.
- Boumboum: tentative for OTB (no succes)
- Almost a hit into a horse who was quietly drinking out of a bucket, right in the middle of a small road (downhill). Lovely apologetical owner (unfortunately, no picture)
- The "Labrico land" road … you need to see the last picture for this one

Points: No points claimed since the ride was not advertised (per the rules). Up to the venerable ref to make exceptions of course.

Pictures:

Come on BoumBoum, Danny Macaskill would do it on the bike with closed eyes

(wooden bridge probably taken off by the water a few weeks ago)

 Wildlife

The Arve near St Pierre en Faucigny

Nice pedestrian bridge over the Arve (near St Pierre en Faucigny) 

The former and future French Presidential Couple 

Sarko, no Banania for us, beers for 3 thirsty MTB riders please! 

The whole family 

Attention les poules (et les poulettes), la prochaine fois, on amène Labrico!