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"You
wont find better alpine trails anywhere in Europe..." What
Mountainbike.
Epic
rides on the most incredible technical singletrack in the world -
that's what makes us tick. Big days out - the chairlifts can lend
a hand during July and August but even then they serve primarily
as a means of extending our singletrack adventures. We'll still be
climbing as much as people want to in order to reach the best
riding, the best views and the best picnic spots around.
'Backcountry' has become the term for it, we just call it
mountainbiking!

The
singletrack around BikeVillage is ridiculously good - so many
trails we could ride from our door and do something different
every day for two months. There's the high level (2000m+) super
flowing singletrack above the tree line, with amazing views onto
Mt Blanc and all the other surrounding peaks. Then there's the
tighter, cheekier singletrack down in the woods below, with more
switchbacks than you ever dreamt existed. Cross to the other side
of the valley and it's a more open, almost mediterrainean feel to
the singletrack, with more rock slabs and faster flowing trails.
Best of all, the relatively 'undiscovered' nature of the area
means that we get the trails to ourselves.
Indeed,
we have reopened many of the trails with our own fair hands (never
leave home without a pruning saw and a trenching tool!) and nobody
else really knows how to access them, tee, hee hee.
We've
been riding the area six days a week for eight years solid and we
still find new trails all the time - that's part of the reason so
many BikeVillage guests come back again and again, to mix some old
favourites with our latest singletrack offerings – see the
what's new
page for the latest updates.
And it's not just the trails
that set us apart from other biking outfits. Along with our
passion for the riding comes our dedication to tailoring the
experience to each rider. With no more than 12 guests spread
between 2 trail leaders (3 if we're all healthy simultaneously!)
our ride ideas are completely flexible. We can split up and have
an 'easier' and 'harder' ride, whether it's the trails' cheekiness
(technicality) or the ride length that makes the difference.
We
can ride different trails in the morning and then meet up for
lunch and all ride together in the afternoon. We can all do the
same ride with a few cheeky options thrown in for the brave. We
can offer extra loops at the end of the day for those still
craving more or even (gasp) head home earlyish and stick the
kettle on if you're having a bad hair day.
If you want to
practice some skills we can spend time on a particular trail until
you're hopping round tight switchbaks and riding over roots like a
Jedi. If you've got a big race/event coming up we can head to the
hills and get you prepared BikeVillage style - with an ear to ear
grin and a litre or two of sweat marking your route. Indeed,
bright orange BV riders have been spotted at about every UK enduro
ever and Sam loves to take a hammering in the epic marathon events
found in the area – just ask him about the World Cup course at
Bourg d'Oisans and see him smile!
For a real battle, we
also offer our 'Everest Challenge' during June and September. The
aim is to climb and descend 8848m of trails during the week - by
no means unfeasible but definately a bit painful! If you fancy a
go then just email us - we need about 6 riders in total to run the
challenge so a bit of warning is needed. See the full feature on
the Everest Challenge in the Oct '05 issue of MBR.
“Just
do it. You know it makes sense!” Andy McCandlish in MBR
If you have any
questions about the riding then please do give us a call/email -
it's a subject we are more than happy to chat about at great
length!
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