MMM....echanics

It's almost a week since the last post, so what has been going on here in the PDS?

Well, it was busy at the start of the week as people stopped by before going on to the Mega. Tuesday was especially busy, and then Wednesday, dead. It was pretty much the same for the rest of the week, with a few more people about at the weekend. Now that the mega is over, it's busy again, as people stop by on their way home! It's good to see people out and about with big smiles on their faces because they are riding bikes.

The weather has thrown a bit of a mixed bag at us. Some days have been gloriously sunny and blue, others a bit cooler and cloudy. The rain had been threatening to fall on the cloudy days but it wasn't until yesterday that it really came down. The lifts stopped for 20 mins or so, due to the risk of thunder, but it soon cleared up and everyone was on their way again. It was well needed as the tracks have been getting super dusty with all the dry weather.

Thursday was a special day for us as it was our first Dirty Girls Ride/MMM.... mechanics course. Amie from DGR asked us to organise some for her club, so we did. This week we covered bike familiarisation and wheels, including how to remove wheels and fix punctures. There was a good turn out of about 8 people, and we think they all learnt at least one thing about bikes! Here are some photos from the class -

Gareth preaching his wisdom.

Please take note.

Cat was having fun, or was she just laughing at Gareths bad jokes?

We'll be hosting another one soon, and I think we may have a few more "pupils" as word spreads around. Contact Amie @ DGR if you are interested (Girls only!).

I was out on the bike again today. I headed over to Chatel bike park to do my favourite run - La Châtellane into La People and then onto La Fluid. It's graded blue all the way down and covers about 600m of vertical descent over roughly 4km. The run is littered with jumps and berms and is great fun. One of the good things the Chatel crew do is mark the jumps with flags. Green flags for a tabletop and Red flags for a double/gap jump. I think it's a great idea as it gives you a heads up on the first run down, allowing you to stop and check things out when needed. It's running as good as ever, and the trail guys were smoothing out the tracks.

After Chatel I did some runs in Lindarets and spotted the Serma crew out with the digger again. They are busy smoothing out one of the red tracks and adding new sections. They've done a good job, re-shaping berms and taking out some of the rocks that were spoiling the tracks. For the final run back home, I headed down Super Morzine and rode Hattock. It's still in pretty good condition after the work, and there are now signposts to lead you in the right direction.

It's been a bit quiet on the interesting photo front but here are some snaps from the week -

Roc d'Enfer on Friday morning.

This is Gareth's dog Maggie, you may see her up in the van or running wild in the Lindarets bowl.

She was interested in the camera!

This is what you get if you leave your bike out in a rain shower.

Stew Monk snapped these next two shots.

He saw this guy riding backwards down the end of the French National track!

It a week ago now and you've probably seen this but I just found it. The official Mountain Style video from Chatel Bike Park - http://vimeo.com/25998426

That's about it for now, happy cycling!