Post by Mary on September 3, 2020
Well, it’s been a very unusual summer of mountain biking for Ride the Alps this year. We had two groups of riders from the UK who managed to squeeze in between the quarantine restrictions and we are very grateful to them for coming out to ride during an otherwise very lean season. The McBrinn/Smith family rode a week of Alpine Singletrack at the end of July/early August and had 5 brilliant days of riding. Martin (18) and Jake (16) were hitting some big jumps and putting Jamie through his paces riding off the lifts.
As well as riding the best of the trails in our valley they had a stunning day out in Chamonix and finished with the classic big Alpine descent from the Col D’Anterne. They stayed in our self-catering holiday apartment so were able to remain self-contained and Covid-safe.
Jamie was especially pleased that one of our regular groups of riders came out to test-ride our new trip from Chamonix to Briancon.
They can testify that it’s a fantastic route that’s ready to ride. I will be putting it up on our website later on this month. Something to look forward to for 2021 perhaps?
The group had just arrived in Briancon when they heard the quarantine was about to come back into force. They had to hot-foot it back to the UK and arrived with literally minutes to spare.
Jamie has really missed riding with all those of you who have postponed to next year and those of you who were unable to book a holiday this year. However there is more often than not something positive to take away from a disappointment. This summer that has been doing more mountain biking with the family.
The kids have progressed so much with their biking skills this year. Cameron has so much confidence and seems to be able to ride anything. It’s now a good day for me if I ride everything my 8 year old son does! Juliet is riding my old Orange Five – pimped-up by Jamie – and her confidence and ability have taken a big leap forward.
We can now ride the trails Jamie and I want to ride, the trails he would be guiding you down, with our kids. It feels like a very momentous change! It’s been a fantastic summer of mountain biking : they’ve ridden bike parks, our local trails and some big alpine enduro descents.
The next challenge is to build up their endurance for the climbs. In true Ride the Alps style we made them do a bit of this…
But they still mostly prefer to do this….
And this….
Too hungry to wait for cutlery after 3000m of descent in the bike park! Now they’ve gone back to school and the tourists have gone home Jamie and I are hoping to get out for a few big days on the bikes under the glorious September sun. This is usually our busiest month for mountain biking holidays as the trails are quiet and the weather is perfect for biking. Cool, fresh mornings and warm, sunny afternoons with quiet trails. If you want a last minute trip to the Alps, we are still open for business 🙂
We have a few trips postponed from this year in the schedule for 2021 but we are ready to take new bookings whenever you’re ready to make your holiday plans. We realise that there is still a lot of uncertainty around so for the 2021 season we will be guaranteeing the return of your deposit should you need to cancel your trip due to Covid-related restrictions. Email Mary if you’re keen to get something in the diary for next year.
Happy Autumn everyone!