The last week or so in Morzine has one overriding theme – rain! Most of the Brits have braved the elements and strapped on a pair and got on with it, which is pretty impressive to see. The main downhill tracks, such as Pleney, have been holding up well through the rain and according to some, even more fun in the wet if you’ve got a decent set of spikes on.
Morzine has a habit of doing very random things with little or no warning. The other day on my weekly Saturday run about town (changeover day) I found out the town centre had been shut off for an impromptu super car show. Two of  my highlights were  an original Ford GT 40 and this rather nice Lamborghini Diablo – stuff of childhood posters!
It has also been the Harley Davidson festival – lots of guys with a fair bit of cash – middle manager types, riding around pretending their tough and in ‘chapters’ competing for the most looks. Bit cringe worthy really. As part of the festival Status Quo were playing. It made for a pretty amusing night and it was great to see Morzine town centre busier than I have ever seen it. The area around the tourist office could easily have been mistaken for a festival site.
The Chatel Mountain Style has also been and gone. It was a great course and had a lot of preparation in the run up to the event, and when a rider did come down it was great to watch them launching off 40 foot drops, Â doing huge backflips off the jumps and the like.
However, there were quite a lot of delays as they kept waiting for the wind to subside and to get the cameras and helicopter in location – it seemed to be laid on more for the the video footage rather than for the spectator. It would be great to see an event like this where one rider went after another rather than 15mins or so between action. You can see the finished product here – http://video.mpora.com/watch/SWJpagyKo/
The rain has made some of the tracks in the trees a bit hard going, but it is drying out quickly as it always does and the trail maintenance crews and diggers have been spotted out and about, so hopefully things will be patched up soon.
Morgins is good as ever, if you’re heading out here, make sure you get over there at least once during your stay. This video is of the Toboggan run in Morgins, filmed by our very own William Elliott.
- Hope Top Crown – not sure about the GOLD, but it works really well, very positive
Here’s hoping that the weather holds out and we can go back to having sunny, dusty days again!
For more from Riders Retreat log on to www.riders–retreat.co.uk and for a chance to win a holiday with them hit up https://wideopenmountainbike.com/win
