Bikevillage Microbrewery

Addie and Sam get the first batch of BVMB Christmas beer bottled. Christmas should be very merry in the BV household this year!

Sweet new trail!

Holy shit! We've got a new trail and it's my favourite in the valley jusy now! 12 years riding and somehow this little gem had escaped our exploring. Dubbed Maximator, after a high class local lager preferred by the more discerning local tramps (and some of this weeks guests), this trail truly was hiding in plain sight. The steepest looking of three lines from a nearby peak, we'd ignored it because the other two 'mellower' lines were 20% and 70% rideable respectively. How were we to know that the steepest line was actually a 100% (on a very, very good day) goer that flows so nicely it's just nudged into 'best ride of the season' territory. The downside? Alright, there is the small question of a 500+m hike-a-bike to get up there. Still, you're pretty unlikely to meet anyone on it as a result! I think this grin is going to last a few days...

NEW BV KIT!

Finally our brand new Tshirts have arrived with an awesome new design by our lovely friend & ex-BV guest Amy Cooper. Recognise all the trail names? Straying away from our usual penchant for orange we have gone for this rather lovely khaki colour & they are also available in a very fetching shade of sky blue - very on trend or so my sources say.... Pictures to follow of them being modelled once we find some willing volunteers.   They cost a mere 20€ / £15 & they'll be available at BV Towers. If you've not got a visit planned, send us your address & Tshirt request along with a bank transfer of £20(including postage) per Tshirt & we'll get one sent out to you. They're unisex & available in S, M, L and XL.

Beer Garden.

BikeVillage Summer season kicked off last Saturday with the official turning on ceremony of the beer fridge. Local celebrity, Oliver 'horny pirate' Jones esq washed a winter's worth of dust from it, crammed four packs of beer inside & then emptied it within about 72 hours.
If you'd like to come and have a beer or two & ride some sweet trails with us here in the Alps then we still have a (very) few spaces free from the 16-23 June, 23-30 June and then from the 25th August until the end of the season on the 22nd September.
Here's to another awesome Summer!

BoatVillage?

What's going on at BV? We're pretty used to the garden being covered in bikes in various states of disrepair, but this week we've got a change of scene. The German kayak squad have set up home here while they prepare for the world champs in June.

You might think that boats would be more reliable than bikes, given they have no moving parts at all. It turns out however that paddlers are even worse at avoiding rocks than bikers are, and punctured boats ruin a paddle worse than a punctured tube...

Mountain Bike Leader training with BikeVillage in May

Want to lead groups of mountain bikers? Like riding in the Alps? We are running a Trail Cycle Leader (TCL) training and assessment and a Mountain Bike Leader (MBL) training course from May 22nd-27th. These are the two levels of the Mountain Bike Leadership Award scheme (MBLA) sanctioned by British Cycling.
 Whether you want to develop your skills for taking mates out riding, work with local authorities in the UK taking out youth groups or even land a spot with a holiday company, this is the award you'll be expected to carry. We're teaming up with Chris Ford from Cycle Active to offer the course. With Sam, they bring almost 30 years of guiding experience to the party, so you'll be benefitting from the best advice and training that there is.
We're offering half-board accommodation at just €55/night for the course (or there's the campsite opposite the BV house) and will run an airport pickup on the evening of Monday 21st May, returning to Geneva for the early evening of Sunday 27th.
If interested just fire us an email here at BikeVillage.

Inspired by the fact that Paris-Nice started at the weekend, we decided to attempt our first bike ride as a family of 5 today. I made a picnic whilst Sam dug out the bike trailer and packed up the Bongo... no mean feat for the first trip of the spring!

With glorious blue skies above us, off we set to Ugine. Not usually a destination of choice, but our starting point today for a little pootle along the (snow free) bike path towards Annecy. Rowan started off on Addie's old Islabike Rohan - she's doing really well, but after a few hundres metres Addie became unimpressed by her moderate speed, so she was soon in the trailer with Théa.
Picnic stop at a little lake to watch a few paragliders land,  feed a lone duck and eat some chocolate eggs (thanks Stuart - the kids ate at least half, honest) and then back the way we came to our trusty van.
All in all a lovely day - vive le printemps!

pimp my (kid's) ride...

Why wasn't my Dad into mountain biking? Compare a rugby ball and some advice in a broad Aussie accent about not trying hard enough unless your nose was bleeding to this: 20" wheels on a custom singlespeed conversion of an Islabikes Beinn. A proper bomber of a bike that'll do bikepaths too.
Happy 5th birthday to Addie! He was well pleased with it, insisting on an inaugural  ride even though it's still a bit icy outside.
Dad was pretty happy about having whipped the gears off too since the young 'un keeps forgetting to look where he's going often enough as it is! It also gave me the chance to fit a pimp half link chain and a Gusset bachelor chain device to a kid's bike. What isn't good about that?! Not that the jammy wee dodger even noticed. Probably thinks the moon is made out of cheese too!

Frozen Stiff(ee)

Nowt to report from planet BV, just a couple of nice images of the (snapped) Cove Stiffee frame that forms the gate into the BV garden covered in frost. Happy New Year to all and give us a shout if you fancy a ski this winter as there is more snow than we can remember for many a long year!

Snow, man!

It's been a while coming, but we finally have a covering of white over them thar mountains. A pretty decent covering at that -Sam was even caught online searching for telemarking tips in preparation. Les Arcs opens this Saturday so it couldn't have come soon enough!
I'm even looking forward to a bit of skiing this winter although I have to admit I'm slightly apprehensive with 2 dicky knees and a lot of pregnancy relaxin still floating about in my ligaments. I'm more into the coffee/vin chaud at the top of the mountain type of skiing anyway, so fingers crossed my body can cope with that! We've still got plenty space at the Snowinn this winter if you fancy a bit of skiing or boarding action this winter.
As you can see from the photo there were 2 mini Morrises who were very happy to see the snow too. Rowan had a tantrum when we made her come back in. And yes, the snowman is a Jambo. (Sam is making me point out that a Jambo is a supporter of Hearts FC, - jam tarts, therefore jambo. My dad's fault).
The snow does however, put a full stop on Sam's mountain biking and trail exploring for the time being. 3 days ago he could have done sketchy dismount & today you can't even go along the bike path to Bourg St Maurice!