Morzine France / Santa Cruz Trip
Last year Santa Cruz Bicycles invited us to a get away weekend to Downieville California for some good time bike rides in the former mining town. This year was a little bit of a step up, flying me the French Alps to the town of Morzine for a couple of days riding in the mountains. A few days leading up to the Morzine trip I saw this Instagram post by Gary Perkin which was a warning of what was to come… I had heard the weather there had been wet and the trails were to be a little on the muddy side, but I had no idea as I showed up with my light weight shorts and short sleeve jersey.
Morzine is a commune in the Haute-Savoie department and Rhône-Alpes region of eastern France.
A traditional market town in the heart of the Portes du Soleil, Morzine is dominated by chalets spread across a river gorge, bordered by partially wooded slopes allowing skiing in poor weather conditions. Situated at an altitude of 1000 m, it is one of the most northerly of the French Alpine resorts, and weatherwise benefits from the Mont Blanc microclimate. The locality enjoys panoramic mountain views and modern ski facilities, as well as hotels and restaurants in the town itself. The ski resort of Avoriaz is located on the territory of the commune.
We stayed at “Le Cottage” which is the place to be in Morzine.
Gary Perkin zip ties on a Morsh Guard, critical for the muddy conditions we were experiencing
Day 1- I had the luck to get a V-10 for the day as my demo bike for the bike park.
Riding with the one and only Cedric Gracia was a treat. Cedric was tough to ride with for more than the first corner, but luckily when we’d re-group he would give us all tips and tricks on how to get just a little bit faster through some of the features on the trails.
As it turned out Cedric has figured out how to drink a beer through his DH lid which made us all laugh.
The bikes took on some mud from the days riding…
At the start of Day 2, Gary Perkin’s bike was clean as a whistle. Gary was not only the company photographer, he also guided us around the Alps on the best trails we could sink our tires into.
We stopped at a church nestled deep in the mountains that was originally built in 1313. So much interesting history here! If only the walls could talk. I’d love to know what was going on here a few hundred years ago.
A rare sight to see Seb Kemp in goggles and a half lid. Even though Seb was there for a month he was pumped on every ride. You can never wipe the smile off this guy!
On the last day we went into town and enjoyed a cheese fondu and craft beer. It was a good thing as we hadn’t had enough rich food and delicious beer, haha! Amazing trip, thank you Santa Cruz!
