Skibiker Skibike Blog Tour 2014 - Conclusion

So that's the 2014 Skibiker Skibike Blog Tour for 2014 all wrapped up and what a success it proved to be. It didn't kick off till the beginning of February, but from then on it was a roller coaster ride for the best part of eight glorious, action packed and thoroughly exhausting weeks.


Week 1 - Getting back on the horse

The first week was the toughest; in spite of plenty of cycling practice over the winter, it was still testing to switch from a soft office job to riding the mountains for the best part of six hours a day. I spent the first few days hammering myself into shape at my "local" resorts in the Jura mountains, such as La Dole, Le Crozet and La Faucille. It was supposed to be an easy week of warming up and settling in, but the weather made for a tricky time. There was more fresh snow than I would have though possible, it was just a shame that for most part you could only see for a few feet in front of you.

Great snow in February - but poor visibility

Sadly I only managed one day with Carl & Andy in Flaine and that was probably only a couple of hours skibike riding at the most. All too soon they were homeward bound and Mark Bayston had arrived in Morillon.


Week 2 - Anglo French

Mark Bayston rode my black skibike for the week and we had a couple of fun days riding together. It was a better week for him than last year - injury free - well almost, he pulled a muscle in his shoulder walking!
I also managed to get in some solo rides at, Praz de Lys, Combloux and La Dole all of which have remained skibike friendly. I finished the week with a visit to Firem for some website tweaking and a ride at Grand Bornand, including a chance to try out the new VS 614 model.

Firem VS614 - It will put a smile on your face

Week 3 - Riding with Wayne

Wayne Richards returned to France after many year's self imposed exile and together with wife Lucille we got in a good few rides at various places. There was a fun ride with Team Firem VS at Combloux on the Saturday, with Thierry Avrillon on the Sunday comparing three strangely similar skibikes and finally cruising round the Grand Massif on the Monday. There were issues using the Grand Vans chairlift at Flaine, till this is resolved it is Au Revoir to Flaine, my hard earned Euros will be spent skibiking elsewhere.

Wayne Richard skibiking in France - what is the World coming to?

Week 4 - Back to the grindstone

Both refreshed and exhausted, I jumped on a plane for London and spent a few days working on a medical conference, but I did ride my push bike 30 miles a day to stay in shape for the following week's Balkan adventure.


Week 5 - Watch out for the Avalanches

Another plane took me to the spectacular seaside town of Thessaloniki on the edge of the Macedonian highlands where I met up with Team Avalanche. Together we ventured into Bulgaria along with the Real Balkan Spy and I rode Bucephalus at both Bansko and Borovets. We unexpectedly met Clive and Eddie on their SledgeHammer skibikes and made plenty of MacGyver repairs whilst on the slopes. The mountains, weather and the snow were all about as good as you can get and the prices way below normal. But there was something sleazy about Bulgarian resorts that spoiled their potential charm. All too soon it was time to get that flight home and make another quick turn around.

Team Avalanche Downhill Skibikes - I preferred the pink one

 
Week 6 - Three Valleys

Back in Geneva, I re-packed the car for my first visit to the Three Valleys area in two decades and my first time on a skibike there. First I gave my skibikes a shakedown in the Jura mountains before driving down to Brides-les-Bains to establish a base camp and form an expedition advance party. I met up with new boy John Andree and Cédric Sabatte and we found that Courchevel was the place to be. Meribel was a disappointment for many reasons and Val Thorens remained cut off from easy skibike access. 

Ace skibiker John Andree - joined the tour in Courchevel

Week 7 - Skibike Swiss Rolls

Fresh from the Three Valleys and with my salopettes in tatters it was time to pack some fresh clothes and head to Leysin where Carl Day had established a base camp. We braved the technical and icy black run descents from Glacier 3000 and in vain sought out the last fresh powder in Gstaad.

No powder left at Zweisimmen

We further explored Leysin, hot lapping the mountain and gathering some of the best skibike footage of 2014.
There was still time to ride with Kevin Dawson in Avoriaz and the following day skied Morzine in the rain and found the perimeter area where skibikes are allowed.


Week 8 - To The Very Last Drop

I managed an outrageously decadent day trip to BullSkate and rode two of the prototype models for the 2014/15 season. 

BullSkate - prototype models for the 2014/15 season

After much waiting, the NISM skis finally arrived for assessment, just in time for the last few days of the tour. They were put immediately to use on my first visit to Valmorel with "Mr A", it was so good we turned it into a two day trip and since I've been told that we are welcome back next season, yay! We gave the NISM skis a thorough going over and they proved to be the ideal off-piste tool.
On the last riding day we made a back breaking ascent of La Tournette, I had to employ every technique I could use to get both myself and my skibike to the top.


So What Next?

I was sad to reach the end of the tour but also very happy that the even the most hap-hazard of plans all came together so well. Unlike any previous year, so many virtual friends joined in and became real ones and we all got to ride together on the slopes of Europe like no previous season. We had a few new riders jump on and join in the fun too and so many enquiries for information that I had to make a second batch of cards.

A few people and places got missed out, next year I must build in some visits to the skibike friendly resorts in Italy and also those of the Auverne and Vosges mountains in France. We can only hope that mother nature will provide the medium for sliding.

Many, many thanks to all who took part, if you haven't been name checked, it is accidental and not deliberate. If you have read this blog and want to join in next season, don't be shy, all it takes is money to make it happen.

Every season there is one track that you hear played everywhere; in the bars, supermarkets and on the radio constantly. This time it was a cover of Keane's 2004 hit "Somewhere Only We Know" given a pseudo classical makeover by Lily Allen.

Les Trois Vallees Skibike Safari - Birthday Boy

Today was my birthday and I spent it in the best possible way, skibiking of course. It began with a rendezvous with Cedric Sabatte for another jaunt around the Three Valleys. It occurred to me that although I had the chance to ride his SledgeHammer Skibike yesterday, I omitted to pass comment on the ride.

In many ways it reinforced my original impressions when I rode one two years ago. The feel is somewhat soft and squidgy, not so noticeable when standing on the foot pegs, but very apparent when sat down. I am not saying this is a bad thing, it's just different to some other skibikes and might not be what you are expecting.

In spite of the chunky oversized tubing and motocross saddle, the new model is deceptively light, possibly more so than the one it replaces. The foot pegs appear to be regular mountain bike pedals and do an excellent job with plenty of grip. They rotate freely, which seems odd, but works a treat.
The skis fitted look like a bit like the first generation Salomon SnowBlades, for their size and weight they do an excellent job and are notable for their ability to hold an edge on icy snow.

It seems that these skibikes are set up to be drifters; a lot of the steering seems to be done from the rear. Anyone who has driven an "Old Skool" rear wheel drive car like a; Ford Capri, Opel Manta or BMW 3 series would feel right at home.

I find it hard to fault this model, if you are a blisteringly fast rider and want the ultimate performance machine perhaps it won't be your cup of tea; but if you are new to the sport and want a nice light, steady, all round skibike to take on holiday, it has to be top of your wish list.
As it is nearing the end of season, there may be bargains to be had on what is already already one of the best value skibikes on the market.

This morning the blue skies and spring snow trend continued, so we rode some very easy pistes around the Meribel and Courchevel 1850 areas, just enjoying the moment and not trying anything too technical. At lunchtime I had to say goodbye to Cedric, his afternoon was earmarked for skiing with his 6 year old son about to be set free from ski school. At the Rond Point we went our separate ways, I grabbed a quick Panini and chips, what the heck lunch, a rare birthday treat, then headed aloft once more.

I found some very easy runs down into Courchevel 1850, flat with a steady gradient they are the ideal carving runs and I was loving the sensation of rocking my skibike wildly from edge to edge sending snow spraying off in all directions and scaring the marmots.
I had read in my trusty ski guide that the relatively unpopular runs to be found above Courchevel-Moriond 1650 were good, so I headed toward the Roc Mugnier chairlift to find out. I am pleased to report that nothing has changed, the quality of the snow was so much better here and if you waited for a gap in the traffic, you could have the run to yourself.
Eventually I had to drag myself away and head back towards Meribel, but I am certain that when Thierry Avrillon arrives tomorrow, this sector of the three valleys will be top of our list of places to play.

Easy runs down into Courchevel 1850

All rooms were taken at the Hotel Les Gourmands in Brides les Bains, so for tonight I will be staying, in a little Gites (Bed and Breakfast) hotel at Feissons sur Salins. Heading through this tiny and remote high alpine village a weather beaten looking man, wearing a blue boiler suit and a beret, was skinning a rabbit tied to a tree branch, I hope it was dead.
Our eyes briefly met and he matched my sideways glance with a steely expression; as long as the locals don’t start playing banjos (or accordions) I might live till day break.

Les Trois Vallees Skibike Safari - Two Decades On

Brides les Bains looked like I ghost town when I arrived shortly before 10 last night, everything was closed or closing. My main meal of the day was some biscuits and water, yep I'm living the dream dear reader.
My temporary base camp for a couple of nights is the Hotel les Gourmands, a cute little hotel at the start of town. It is exactly the sort of minimalist, but clean, place I prefer; the free wifi works and it is under €45 a night, what's not to like.

Brides les Bains

Brides les Bains made its name during the Victorian era as a thermal spa, I suspect that it is a busy spot in the summer for pampering and preening. It is also an excellent gateway into the the three valleys ski lift network, the Olympic gondola at the top of the town will drop you into the heart of Meribel in around 20 minutes. For convenience sake, I chose to drive up the hill in about the same time and found a parking spot within a few minutes walk of the slopes. Unlike most other places I have visited, this costs €6 a day.

Breakfast on the go - skibiker style

It is the first time I have been to Meribel in nearly two decades. This is the place where my ski obsession started, snowploughing down the green run by the Altiport at what seemed then like warp factor 9. It all seemed so grand and exotic back in the day, today it seemed like any other resort I might visit, only bigger, a whole order of magnitude bigger. It is claimed that the Three Valleys have the largest interlinked lift system in the World; countries such as Austria, Italy and Switzerland may beg to differ though. If you came here for a week and rode the three valleys and the additional fourth valley "Orelle" you could be hard pushed to cover every possible run more than once. But is biggest necessarily best, or perhaps sometimes is it that "Less is more"? All will be revealed over the following days.

I don't care much for "Supermarket skiing" in giant industrialised resorts that, with the efficiency of a conveyor belt, feed fat wallets in one end, extract cash and spit out the owners after their week is over. So the sight of huge crowds of people packing the slopes as I went to buy a lift ticket didn't fill me with joy. However there was no queue at the ticket office and I soon worked out that the worst bottle necks were caused by ski lessons filtering off to the novice areas. I side tracked these and headed for the Saulire Express gondola for a swift ride up to the top of some of the best cruising runs.

Saulire Express gondola - a swift ride to some of the best cruising runs

All those years ago, I was so keen to learn to ski that I habitually hit the very first lifts and skied till the last. I remember those early morning jaunts for the unrelenting hardness of the snow, it amused me that after all the years, nothing has changed. Even the blue and green runs were a challenge on a surface that would be better suited to an ice rink, I did my best foot down carves and made it to the bottom of the 3000 foot descent unscathed.
I wasn't that keen to continue immediately and anyway I was due to make my first rendezvous of the day within half an hour. John Ashlee lives on the West Coast of Scotland, like myself he is self-employed and has started taking extended winter breaks to feed his passion for the mountains. Originally from Scandinavia, he has grown up on skis, snowboards, skiboards, mountain bikes and more recently, SnowScoots. He recently accepted my invitation to try out a mountain bike to skibike conversion; as he has been giving some serious thought to converting his own.

We started off with some gentle runs, ironically at the Altiport, where I spent so much time all those years ago. I soon began to appreciate what a natural he is, so I don't think there was much I could tell him, other than perhaps some skibike survival strategies for coping with difficult conditions. Luckily, the sun had warmed the slopes and we had better grip and could enjoy speed whilst retaining lots of control. I didn't want him to be stressed, so we took it easy to start with, but soon I was having to play catch up.

John Andree - I was having to play catch up

It was then time for the second rendezvous of the day, with Cedric Sabatte, who is the sole agent for SledgeHammer Skibikes in France. He brought with him the new SH5 model, an unusual and unique mix of stylistic cues from the World of motocross, new era skibikes and traditional skibobs. We continued to cruise around some easy and flattering runs, messing around and having fun. The best fun run was the boarder cross circuit, it was only the baby one, but still an epic challenge on a skibike. The worst run was a killer red heading down to Courchevel, all the snow had been scraped bare, so we slewed around on the ice and did our braking wherever the snow lay in mounds.

John Andree - skibikes more stable and much less work that the SnowScoots

We were soon running out of time and had to return to Meribel, John had snowboarded across from St Martin de Belleville, his board was in my car and he had two more lifts to catch before his home run. He really liked the skibikes, he felt they were more stable and much less work that the SnowScoots he had tried. He really enjoyed drifting them around like a speedway rider and hitting bumps to get some air under the skis. Apparently he made his lift with 6 minutes to spare, now that's cutting it fine.

Balkan Skibike Avalanche - Bucephalus

As predicted it snowed a little overnight, this always bodes well for the day. We should have been like race horses at the starting gate, but nothing could be further from the truth. We were all tired and maybe just a tiny bit hung over, furthermore Alex and Manos, both recent fathers and have been working hard to feed hungry young mouths and not sleeping at nights. More importantly poor Manos has been running a fever for many days now and the thermometer checks are as regular as the coffee and cigarette breaks. Should his temperature hit 39 degrees it will be time to find a hospital. Luckily, it remained just below critical and was notably less when he was riding than back at the hotel. I suspect he is putting it in the snow when we are not looking to skew the readings.

In spite of our lethargy, my first ride went really well on the pink skibike, I think I have worked out why. Yesterday, when it was bright and sunny, it was frightened by its own shadow; today in the flat light it does not have this problem. For this reason I shall name it Bucephalus. If you have no idea what I am going on about here's a quick history lesson.

A massive creature with a massive head... his breeding was that of the "best Thessalian strain." Plutarch tells the story of how, in 344 BC, a thirteen-year-old^[3] Alexander won the horse.^[4] A horse dealer named Philonicus the Thessalian offered Bucephalus to King Philip II for the sum of 13 talents, but because no one could tame the animal, Philip was not interested. However, Philip's son Alexander was. He promised to pay for the horse himself should he fail to tame it.
Alexander was given a chance and surprised all by subduing it. He spoke soothingly to the horse and turned it towards the sun so that it could no longer see its own shadow, which had been the cause of its distress. Dropping his fluttering cloak as well, Alexander successfully tamed the horse. Plutarch says that the incident so impressed Philip that he told the boy, "O my son, look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of thyself, for Macedonia is too little for thee."^[4]

On a less lofty note we also met up with two SledgeHammer skibike riders on an outing from neighbouring Romania. Clive, tired of life in the UK, set up a business in Bucharest, his friend and colleague Eddie had joined him to ride. Clive has been riding for a few years now, with an all too familiar history of worn knees forcing him off the mountain, whilst skibikes are providing a solution to his addiction for the white stuff.

SledgeHammer and Avalanche skibikes on the piste

Eddie has quite a fear of heights and it is to his credit that he is facing his nemesis; understandably his style errs on the side of caution and he prefers to take his time with lots of traverses. He was also suffering problems with a broken quick release fitting on the ski mounts. Collectively we engineered a quick MacGyver style repair using a plastic bottle cap; it wasn't ideal but it got him to the bottom of the hill in one piece.
I took time out to show Clive and Eddie some nifty skibike survival tricks and hopefully they will enjoy safer skibiking together in the future.

MacGyver style repair using a plastic bottle cap

Slightly better conditions in the afternoon gave me the chance to get to the top of the mountain for the first time, where the snow park is located. There was some really good riding to be had off piste skirting between the shrubbery; for those with bigger clangers than I, there were also jumps and features to attempt.

My relationship with Bucephalus continued to improve, we're not quite dancing together yet, but I am pulling off the same moves I would do on my own skibike and achieving the same results. There might be hope for us yet.

If you want a bit of total Hollywood historical guff, courtesy of Oliver Stone, here is the taming scene from Alexander complete with American actors putting on terrible comedy Irish accents; everyone knows the ancient Greeks spoke perfect received pronunciation.