Go forth and ride, then bring back pics

[beaterdit]

Yeah, the kids were super psyched on that trail. It's pretty much the most epic location for a green flow trail I've come across. Didn't hurt that at the end of the ride, I left the kids with mom and got a 5,500' descent back to town. Re: flying bikes. I have no tricks other than to cram bikes into a bike bag and hope the airlines don't fold it in half. And thoroughly check the airline's rules for bikes. We flew westjet out of Canada, and they allow bike bags to weigh up to 100 lbs (!). That made things easier. Sent from my SM-S931U1 using Tapatalk

Damn that's awesome. I have a hard time keeping our bike bags under 50, especially mine. You buy a bag and think, sweet, I can put my helmet and other stuff here, inreality I'm packing a lot of components to make weight.

[hick]

Damn that's awesome. I have a hard time keeping our bike bags under 50, especially mine. You buy a bag and think, sweet, I can put my helmet and other stuff here, inreality I'm packing a lot of components to make weight.

We recently did an Aosta Valley trip and getting our bike bags under 70 was tough. 50 was downright impossible with my XL Sentinel. We paid out the nose coming back on Swiss Air, but I'd do it all over again. The alps for riding are so fucking epic. If I could post pics I'd post some stoke up, but I can't remember my password to sign in to tapatalk (palm to face), and the reset password doesn't work on the forums.

[Dantheman]

Damn that's awesome. I have a hard time keeping our bike bags under 50, especially mine. You buy a bag and think, sweet, I can put my helmet and other stuff here, inreality I'm packing a lot of components to make weight.

Just like ski bags. Packing for my BC trip two pairs of skis and the bag was 47 lbs.

[beaterdit]

We recently did an Aosta Valley trip and getting our bike bags under 70 was tough. 50 was downright impossible with my XL Sentinel. We paid out the nose coming back on Swiss Air, but I'd do it all over again. The alps for riding are so fucking epic. If I could post pics I'd post some stoke up, but I can't remember my password to sign in to tapatalk (palm to face), and the reset password doesn't work on the forums.

I'm literally removing and packing my rear shock, derailleuer, and chain in my carryon. Customs does not like the coil shock either. But yes, worth it. Also yes, posting pics here is arduous to impossible for me. Took tapatalk off my phone at some point becasue it sucked and now can't get into it anymore. Last time I could I had to crop every single pic so it woldn't turn it sideways. Really sucks the stoke of the place.

Just like ski bags. Packing for my BC trip two pairs of skis and the bag was 47 lbs.

Dude same, was expecting to get a lot more into it especially with just one set of skis. I feel like two would be a challenge.

[plugboots]

Great pics toast. Somehow my fireweed and narrow gravel shots don’t seem quite as cool anymore.

[hick]

^^ Hogwash! Finding the beauty in every ride (or day for that matter!), is what makes it great! Keep the gravel porn coming Plugboots!

[plugboots]

[toast2266]

Super cool one today. Caught a bus up to Col du Petit St. Bernard.

Climbing up from the pass. A fort and LA Rossier ski area up on the ridge. Heading up there.


The fort



Looking back. Col du Petit St Bernard down below in the background.



A couple miles of pleasant traverse.



And now the fun starts. About 1200' of brutal hike a bike to the top of the ridge.



At the top. Time for a sandwich.



Looking back at the start of the descent. Super cool terrain and was mostly rideable.



A little more hike a bike to get to the actual top of the descent.



Looking back at the trail. It comes through some pretty sporty terrain, but it was surprisingly rideable. And of course, another little hike a bike because why not.



Took a traverse option in the trees that looked like it linked over to a fun trail. Which it did, but not before one more tricky little hike a bike.



Le Miroir. I love French mountain villages with their little alley ways.



L'etape du Tour was today. For those mostly unfamiliar (like myself), it's an amateur event where they ride one of the stages of the tour de France, a few days before the actual race goes through. It just so happens that the stage they're doing it on this year is the one that goes past the apartment we're staying in. Something like 16,000 people do it. I watched a bit of it while eating gelato.



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[hick]

Fuck ya Toast. Keep it coming! Love the Europe stroke!

[singlesline]

Jesus, this trip looks so cool.

[toast2266]

Big sidecountry ride today. Maybe 2k of uphill pedaling and around 16k descending. Pretty much all of it outside the bike park.













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[Huskier]

Gorgeous

[Full Trucker]

Maybe 2k of uphill pedaling and around 16k descending.

Your ideas intrigue me and I'd like to subscribe to your newsletter.

[Full Trucker]

I'm just shy of 12 weeks out from a total hip replacement, I've been on and off the gravel bike since the start of the third week and got a few local, short mountain bike rides in a couple weeks ago. But this weekend was the first proper ride in three months. Teh Spousal Unit™ and I and a big group of friends, including one of my oldest friends who flew in from Atlanta, invaded Summit County for the weekend. We caught the band Cake at the Dillon Amphitheater on Friday night then just camped and drank and pedaled for a couple days. On Saturday our big ass group pedaled up A-Basin and tried out the new to me Beavers Loop to Wheels Up trails. I've ridden up A-Basin more than a few times to ride Lenawee trail off the backside, but the trails on the ski hill itself are new enough I just hadn't ridden them, nor had anyone else in our group of a baker's dozen.

Holy shit, do I love gettin' high.

That ride was what my soul needed. Also, they did a great job with all the newer trails. The climbing trail on the upper half of the mountain is SO much better than grunting/cursing/walking up the service road. I'm out of shape and my buddy from Atlanta was pedaling at an elevation two miles higher than where he normally sleeps, but we all got there in due time. And the descent exceeded everyone's expectations, by quite a lot. I'd characterize it as "alpine flow"—you could tell it was purpose built for bikes, but in a really good way. Overall the tread was much closer in width to singletrack than machine built, and while there are berms and man-made features it still kept a high alpine vibe. The turns were well laid out and not super tight, just enough berm to keep your speed. The overall pitch was perfect for hauling ass, but not so steep you were always on the brakes looking to slow down. A few nice little gap humps and rock hucks here and there, plus some rocky features that just rolled. Super engaging, you had to pay attention. But nothing was stressful. Pure type 1 fun, the whole way down. I'd say our group ranged from solid advanced level riders up to high level expert (fitness and skills) and every dingle one of us had a freaking blast.

10/10 would bang again.

No pictures on the way down, and the only pics Teh Spousal Unit™ and I got on the way up were of my buddy from Atlanta and another friend of ours. My wife was awesome as hell hanging out with those of us in the back of the crew for the climb, making sure we were all good. My fitness is garbage from being more off the bike than on the last three months, but this ride has motivated me in a big way. Okay, here's the "bring back pics" part of the post.