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About the
holidays:
The FarmHouse
The Food Other
Activities Getting
Here Insurance
"The
trip was nothing short of superb... There can be no better place!"
- Andy McCandlish in MBR
BikeVillage holidays are a bit
different. For starters, we only take small groups. Each week we
talk to our guests to see what they want to ride (singletrack,
singletrack or singletrack being the main options) and how much/
how fast they want to ride it. Then
the trail leaders draw straws and off we go - everyone riding
exactly what they want at the pace they want. Have a peek at the
singletrack page for more exciting
ride-rant.
We've basically found what we think is the best
technical singletrack mountain biking anywhere in the world.
Around this abundant resource we have spent the last decade
creating a mountainbiking holiday with a uniquely friendly and
informal atmosphere. Maybe that's why last year over two thirds of
our guests had been out with us before or were being brought along
by someone who had, in some cases returning to us for the twelth
time in nine years!
With BikeVillage you come to stay at
our own French farmhouse by Les Arcs, not just a rented ski
chalet, so you really can make yourselves at home. You'll be
enjoying home-cooked and often home-grown food. If you want to
learn how to nail switchbacks, tweek your gears or even build stud
partition walls (grrr!) we'll happily give you some pointers.
What's certain is that by the time you go home you'll have a
totally new concept of what makes a truly great mountain bike
trail and, luckily, some good new riding friends to help ease you
through the post-holiday UK riding blues! top
Landry and the Farmhouse
'BikeVillage
Towers' is a lovely 280 year-old farmhouse in a village called
Landry in the French Alps, nestled in-between the ski mountains of
Les Arcs and La Plagne. Landry is a traditional Savoie village,
complete with a beautiful baroque church, a couple of (in one case
comedy) local bars, a friendly local restaurant and a wide
selection of toothless octogenarians chasing all sorts of farm
animals around the streets with walking sticks. We're still not
sure why they do that. Being at the bottom of the valley is
something you will come to appreciate - it's always downhill at
the end of the day's mountain biking! Bourg St Maurice is just a
pootle along the bikepath if you ever fancy a slightly more
cosmopolitan drinking/eating environment, as is the swimming lake,
a top spot to swim, eat, sunbathe and people/mountain watch after
a ride.
Sitting on the edge of Landry, with our garden
backing onto the singletrack-packed forests below Les Arcs, the
farmhouse is a very nice place indeed. It really does have
everything, from the basement with full workshop, bike storage and
now a new compressor for tubeless time saving to the large open
plan lounge with comfy chairs and an open fire for night-time
loafing.
There
are plenty of bathrooms and the bedrooms are all clean and
comfortable, enabling us to cater for single travellers, groups
and couples alike. Outside you'll find our lovely (and huge) back
garden stretching from the patio, past the ping pong table, to the
lawn and out to the shade of the fruit trees and the veggie patch.
We get a stunning view of the sunset over the mountain peaks each
evening so pull up a deck chair and a cold beer and enjoy...
 The
farmhouse is much more homely than your average chalet and when we
get in from riding you'll have the run of the place. You could
pour a cup of tea, eat some home baked cake and fettle bikes on
the patio in the archetypal post-ride "did you see that bit
where my back wheel kicked out and then this badger appeared out
of nowhere..." fashion or perhaps slink off with a book and
lie in the hammock, under the shade of the cherry tree enjoying a
late afternoon alpen-glow kind of moment. top
The Food
One
of the best things about mountainbiking is the appetite it gives
you! Here at BikeVillage the emphasis is firmly on using local and
home-grown ingredients to create delicious meals tasty enough to
have led many guests to request a BV cook book. If Sam ever picks
up a long-term injury then it might just happen... Our fruit and
veg comes from the market in Bourg St Maurice and our meat comes
from the local village butchers, sourced from their own farm about
1km from the BV farmhouse. It's about as 'organic' as rural France
can get without knowing what the word means!
A
typical day's scoffing at BV might look something like this:
Wake
up to the smell of warm, fresh bread baked in the BV kitchen. Roll
downstairs and chomp as much cereal, porridge (go on, it makes you
strong!) and fresh fruit as you can. Then move onto a boiled egg
and soldiers followed by some still steaming bread and home-made
jam. Wash the whole lot down with plenty of fresh coffee or tea
and some early moring banter as you start to get excited about the
day's riding...
As if
by magic, your lunch is waiting for you to pop into your pack.
Today it might be goats cheese, ham and quince + chilli jelly in a
flute, which is a bigger version of a baguette. There'll also be a
banana and/or some cereal bars, along with the stash of fig rolls,
choccy biccies and madeleine cakes that one of us always carries.
We'll stop twice for lunch, partly 'cos we love eating in
beautiful alpine meadows and also so that our legs don't feel too
heavy when we have to get moving again!
When
we get back from riding we'll pop the kettle on and you can tuck
into a mug of tea or coffee and some home-made cake or flapjack or
whatever has tickled our fancy that day.
By
the time you've showered and had a drink and a post-ride natter in
the garden, dinner will probably be on the go. Tonight it might be
roasted feta and wild mushroom stuffed chicken breast wrapped in
parma ham served up on ratatouille made with courgettes from the
garden and quinoa, a 'miracle grain' from South America that
tastes bloody good and happens to be mightily healthy to boot. The
veggies in the group would see the chook replaced by one of our
favourites – roasted stuffed aubergines a la Bonifaccienne - a
great recipe we picked up on our honeymoon in Corsica. A bit of
rocket, lettuce and pine nut salad in a walnut oil and garlic
vinaigrette and we're almost there...
...All
that remains is the wine! Sam used to work in a nearby wine shop
during the winters and is pretty into the grapey stuff. We still
get our wine from his old boss and the inside knowledge shows –
it's a Vaucluse that we drink which is essentially a Cotes du
Rhone, light enough to quaff every night but with a complexity and
depth of flavour that would put a lot of new world wines to shame.
We're not exactly shy with it either so get stuck in!
Luckily
pud goes into a diffent space to all other food (Sam calls it the
'cheesecake stomach') so there's always room for some! It could be
an oaty crumble made with apples and plums from the garden and
served with a simple dollop of cream or maybe Lyndsey's slightly
famous dark chocolate mousse – it has been known for guests to
check this is on the menu before re-booking!
All
that remains is a tea or coffee to finish things off whilst you
sit back and look at the stars over the moonlit mountains. top
Rest Day Activities:
The
holidays start on a Saturday, and by Wednesday your legs will need
a little rest from the mountain biking, we promise (Tuesday's ride
is usually a whopper!). If you do have legs of iron then you are,
of course, more than welcome to ride. If you are of mortal
constitution, however, you might want to indulge in a b it
of extra-curricular fun. All of these activities are available
locally every day of the week so if you're being dragged out by a
slightly more bike-crazed friend/partner then you can mix and
match riding with other jaunts as you fancy.
Massage
those woes away: Mountainbiking on singletrack every single
day can leave you feeling a mite stiff. That's where Anna from
Massage
Me comes in. A bit of a master in deep tissue
sports massage, Anna strikes the perfect balance between pain and,
well, less pain (should that be 'relaxation'? ;-) Anyhow, she'll
certainly leave you feeling limber for the next singletrack
sortie. She usually pops down to the farmhouse on a wednesday
morning and sets up her table in the garden, under the cherry
tree. We get special BV rates of €30 for half an hour (long
enough to work your legs over), €40 for 45 mins (back and
shoulders too) and €50 for an hour, which gives her time to do
some nice relaxing stuff at the end. Anna can also pop down any
other day after the ride is finished so let us know if you're
feeling sore!
Sploshing
Around: Bourg St Maurice hosted the world kayaking
championships in 2002 and the World Cup kayaking final in 2004 and
is a bit of a white water mecca. Whilst the world championship
rapids may be a bit much for you, you could try a spot of
whitewater rafting on the same Isere river which runs,
conveniently enough, only a couple of minutes walk from the
farmhouse. €45ish for half a day of sploshing around and jumping
off bridges it really is a great laugh. Whitewater swimming is the
same idea but without a raft, just some knee pads in your wetsuit
and a death wish. Whitewater drowning is cheaper still and
dispenses with luxuries such as wet suit, buoyancy aid and
conscious thought...
A little bit more relaxing is the
picturesque swimming lake, just 5 minutes down the bike path. This
is the perfect spot for some still water swimming or just
sunbathing and beer drinking on its banks!
Fly like a
bird!: Quite a few people have tried (and loved)
paragliding,
taking off from the mountain slopes above the house and floating
around on the thermals over the valley. Make sure your insurance
cover includes it, as it is a couple of groups higher than
mountainbiking. At around €80 it is a really amazing experience,
you could even attempt a sneaky landing in the Bikevillage back
garden if the instructor isn't concentrating!
For those who
don't want to get quite so airborne, there are plenty of options.
Sam's favourite is the ridiculously good fun Parcours course,
which features 200m tree to tree zip lines, rope swings onto cargo
nets and even a snowboard ride on cables between trees. It's
basically heaven for anyone who ever liked climbing trees as a
kid, or as an adult...
Hiking
is a bit less scary and still
a lot of fun, be it a romantic wander through the wildflowers of
the alpine meadows or a stomp up to the Lac de Plagne, via the
fantastic ice cream at La Porte du Rosuel and a few beautiful
waterfalls and glaciers.
Road Rash: The road
riding in the Tarentaise Valley is so stunning that we offer
dedicated road
cycling trips . You could just have a dabble on your day off
however. Two Tour de France stages passed us in 2002, another in
2005, one more in 2007 and then in 2009 Bourg had a stage start
AND a stage finish! Every single route out of the valley has been
used in a previous Tour, which means you can ride the same climbs,
albeit a smidge slower than Lance and Co. So if the names Col
de la Madelaine, Col d'Iseran and Courmet de Roseland make your
sphincter pucker, just wait untill you've ridden them, it only
gets worse! So borrow some of our slicks and go hurt yourself!
Just Loaf! Why not grab a massage in the
morning, mooch down the bikepath to the swimming lake for lunch ,
a sun-bathe and a bit of a swim and maybe pedal into Bourg for a
few beers at a cafe as you watch the world go by...
Getting Here:
Landry
lies in the Isere valley, between the ski resorts of La Plagne and
Les Arcs, about 15 miles south (as the lesser-spotted alpine crow
flies) of Mont Blanc. The 1992 winter Olympics at Albertville have
left behind a fantastic transport network, so Landry is a cinch to
get to whichever way you choose to travel.
Flying:
Geneva airport is close by and is very cheap and easy to fly to
thanks to Sleazyjet. Tickets are cheaper the further in advance
you book, so the particularly well organised can find return
flights for as little as £32.50, rising to around £100-150
nearer the time (Easyjet,
tel 0870 6000 000). All of the usual airlines also fly there, so
have a look at Expedia
(0870 050 0806) for a quick comparison of fares as sometimes the
traditional carriers are actually cheaper once you get closer to
the time.
Just make sure you arrive at Geneva on a Saturday
before about 4pm local time and that your return flight departs
after 12.30 and we'll pick you up and drop you off in the
Bikevillage minibus. If you fly outside these times then pickups
can be arranged but will cost an extra €35 per person each way
(min 3 pers/€105) as we have to get someone else to do it,
something to remember before you save 50p booking the 5.30 a.m.
departure!
As for your trusty steed, a bike bag or box is
best. Bags are a good investment if you'll do a few holidays over
the coming years whereas cardboard boxes can always be blagged for
free from bike shops - just ask nicely. See the FAQs page for tips
on bike packing. Once you land at Geneva, the trollies take €2
coins or (don't tell them we told you) good old 2p coins, which
you're probably more likely to have jingling around in your
pockets.
Driving: More and more guests are now
driving out to us in the summer. If there are a couple of people
to split the driving it really can be a good way to avoid the
stress of the airport. Landry/Les Arcs is a steady 10 hours from
the channel ports and this is a good way to travel if there is a
convenient group of you. Autoroute tolls will be about €50 each
way and fuel is a little cheaper than at home. We usually find the
cheapest ferries (and the best fry-ups!) can be found at
Norfolkline.
If
driving from Calais or thereabouts, just aim for Dijon, Lyon,
Chambery, Albertville, Moutiers, Aime and then Landry. It's easy!
Once you get to the village, give us a bell and we'll guide you
in. For those with GPS type action going on, we're at N45 34.167'
E006 44.349' altitude 790m.
Train: With the new
Kings Cross Eurostar terminal up and running, it's never been
easier to get the train here. Just book a Eurostar service to
Paris and then the TGV to Bourg St Maurice. The train actually
stops at Landry, about 2 mins from the BV farmhouse! Train is by
far the most relaxing way to travel. The only complication is
switching between stations in Paris (Gare du Nord to Gare du Lyon)
but if the metro with a bike scares you then it's only a €15 cab
ride. If you are interested in this option then visit
RailEurope. Top
Insurance:
Us mountain bikers do like to crash from time to
time. As such, Insurance is vital, along with your EHIC (new E111)
card. Just make sure the policy covers you for mountainbiking in
the Alps and that you bring out both your policy details and your
EHIC card with you – they're no use at home on the kitchen
worksurface! Two decent companies to try are Dog
Tag insurance (they give you dog tags, yay!) and SportsCover
Direct. If you want to insure your bike then it's probably
best done under your house insurance or via British
Cycling or CTC membership
deals.
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