RR: Central France

bomba said:

So, back from a couple of weeks in Central France in which, despite the washout of the first week,
I managed to fit in a load of biking. RR's of all my rides would take up too much time and bore you
to tears, so some highlights, some info and a few piccies.

I took the girlfriend out for her first attempt at mountain biking in the Forêt de Chénérailles
which was just round the corner from her parents place. Although very easy, her aversion to
anything vaguely involving more effort than sitting in the sun, meant that her overwhelming memory
will probably be of whinging any time we came to anything vaguely approaching an uphill slope.
Still, she said she enjoyed it, so maybe there's hope for the future.

For myself, I found Les Monts de Guéret. A chance trip to an Office de Tourisme showed that there
was a network of nearly 500km of mtb trails 30km from where I was staying. If this is the way that
trails are done throughout France, then this is some sort of mecca. For 5.50 Eur I got details of
all the trails on laminated cards (don't dissolve in a sweaty pocket - top idea) with maps,
topogrohpy charts, details of the routes and highlights of the surrounding area.

The trails are all graded on a ski-type classification: green, blue, red and black runs indicating
the level of the trail.

I managed to take in all the black runs, bar one. In general they weren't too harsh with only a
couple of really technical sections. For the most part though, they were plenty of fun, especially
as on a couple of routes you could detour for the final descent and take in one of the two downhill
courses. I have never finished mtb rides with such a huge grin on my face.

Les Monts de Guéret: ot-gueret.frot-gueret.frOpen ↗ - click on Espace VTT-FFC and then 'Les Circuits'

Some pics from some of the rides: Chénérailles: j-harris.netcheneraillesOpen ↗ Courtille:
j-harris.netcourtilleOpen ↗ St Vaury: j-harris.netst vauryOpen ↗ St-Victor-en-Marche:
j-harris.netst victorOpen ↗ Puy de Chiroux: j-harris.netchirouxOpen ↗

Alas, most of the best bits weren't captured on film, because I was too busy riding them 🙂

After that, time to kick back with a nice beer: j-harris.netbeer.jpgOpen ↗

OK, OK, you're caught up now! Thanks for posting your pics....nice shots, nice locale, for a bunch
of surrender monkies!

Dave

bomba <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

So, back from a couple of weeks in Central France in which, despite the washout of the first week,
I managed to fit in a load of biking. RR's of all my rides would take up too much time and bore
you to tears, so some highlights, some info and a few piccies.

I took the girlfriend out for her first attempt at mountain biking in the Forêt de Chénérailles
which was just round the corner from her parents place. Although very easy, her aversion to
anything vaguely involving more effort than sitting in the sun, meant that her overwhelming memory
will probably be of whinging any time we came to anything vaguely approaching an uphill slope.

The [censored]!

Quoted message said:

Still, she said she enjoyed it, so maybe there's hope for the future.

The lying [censored]!

<spip>

Quoted message said:

I managed to take in all the black runs, bar one. In general they weren't too harsh with only a
couple of really technical sections. For the most part though, they were plenty of fun, especially
as on a couple of routes you could detour for the final descent and take in one of the two
downhill courses. I have never finished mtb rides with such a huge grin on my face.

Les Monts de Guéret: ot-gueret.frot-gueret.frOpen ↗ - click on Espace VTT-FFC and then 'Les Circuits'

Some pics from some of the rides: Chénérailles: j-harris.netcheneraillesOpen ↗ Courtille:
j-harris.netcourtilleOpen ↗ St Vaury: j-harris.netst vauryOpen ↗
St-Victor-en-Marche: j-harris.netst victorOpen ↗ Puy de Chiroux:
j-harris.netchirouxOpen ↗

Alas, most of the best bits weren't captured on film, because I was too busy riding them 🙂

After that, time to kick back with a nice beer: j-harris.netbeer.jpgOpen ↗

Good stuff dude - glad you had a top time ',;~}~

Shaun aRe

In article <[email hidden]>, myarse247 @hotmail.com says...

Quoted message said:

So, back from a couple of weeks in Central France in which, despite the washout of the first week,
I managed to fit in a load of biking. RR's of all my rides would take up too much time and bore
you to tears, so some highlights, some info and a few piccies.

Nice pics. Weather was probably pretty good to. I was further southeast around the same time. It
seemed like the "official" VTT trails I was on were mainly gravel roads with very small stretches of
single track thrown in. Of course, the non-VTT marked trails were great.

I like this one: j-harris.net11.jpgOpen ↗.

nk

notaknob said:

Nice pics. Weather was probably pretty good to. I was further southeast around the same time. It
seemed like the "official" VTT trails I was on were mainly gravel roads with very small stretches
of single track thrown in. Of course, the non-VTT marked trails were great.

I like this one: j-harris.net11.jpgOpen ↗.

That's the start of the downhill courses 🙂

--
a.m-b FAQ: t-online.deambfaq.htmOpen ↗

b.bmx FAQ: t-online.debmx faq.htmOpen ↗