Fanylion Mountain Bike Team
Official site of the Fanylion Mountain Bike Team. Includes mountain bike ride guides, gear reviews, bike maintenance, team reports and rider profiles of the Fanylion Racing Team.
Morzine
June 12, 2004, French Alps
Shack designed a website and brochure for a company called Ride the Alps. Jamie Carr, the owner of the company, was so pleased with the fruits of Shack’s labours that he invited Team FanyLion out to Morzine for a pre-season weekends riding. Little did we know we would all be taking steps into a different World, and we would leave England as XC jeyboys and return as fully fledged downhill Warriors.
We were greeted at Geneva airport by a hugely grinning Jamie, who was swamped with everyone’s names (Christian names and Team Names, just to confuse matters). We loaded into his battered old minibus and drove to Morzine. The chalet was superb, very large and spacious and as it was by now past midnight we headed to bed so as to be in tip-top shape for the morning.
We awoke early and built our bikes, Jamie arrived and we headed off into town to buy croissants, pains au chocolat and a cable car day pass. This morning we would be riding Le Pleney, which I believe is the Avalanche Cup Downhill Course, a 3.5km course with a vertical drop of 500m, and obviously graded a Black route (why would we waste our time riding anything else?).
As we stood at the top of the course near the little wooden hut where the Pro riders start their timed runs, I have to admit I was nervous about what was to come. Jamie described several little jumps and drops and said that after a few runs we would get to know the course better and we would be getting air and nailing the turns with ease. He obviously had great faith in our abilities. He said we would ride the open top section of the course, then leave the downhill course to ride a section of natural singletrack so he could assess our abilities and see if we were capable of tackling the course proper.
After riding the first section of the course (full course description to follow later) we regroup at the top of a ski piste, and it starts to rain. Jamie says this will make things ‘interesting’. We set off down the piste, bouncing over some small kicker jumps that have been built, enjoying getting a bit of air. The track then heads off the piste and onto a narrow trail 6inches wide, three inches deep, with wet, slippy grass either side. As we get faster and faster my front wheel gets jammed in the groove and I fall over sideways, sliding for a good 25 feet on the wet grass on my back before coming to a stop. As I look up, there is carnage all around. Jamie and Shorts are getting to know one another better and are lying tangled up in a fence together; Techno is sliding towards me and Kona is about to hit the deck. The wet conditions are proving very sketchy, but we have obviously impressed Jamie with our synchronised stacking skills and we set off into the singletrack.
A washed out gully section sees another synchronised stack from myself and Techno, and whilst riding through long grass Ben decides to take a detour and heads off into the waist high foliage, hunting for marmots. Jamie seems to think we are now suitably familiarised with the gradient of the mountain, the speeds associated and the results when we get it wrong: it is time to do the full downhill course.
Back at the wooden hut, Jamie takes the lead again, Downhill Maniac lines up in second and I am in third…
Out of the start gate, across a rocky and slightly off camber open section, honking on the pedals to get up to full attack speed, into a wide open flat left hand turn followed by a tight right hander, slightly bermed, then whoaaaaaaaaaa……lipped take-off flings you into the air and you land 12ft away, drop the back wheel and on the gas, flat rocky left hander dropping away leads to a slight kicker where you get 2-3inches of air which suddenly turns into a foot or two as the trail drops away below you and you are now into the course proper. A large bermed left hander dropping into a very tight bermed right hander, trail dropping all the time, get on the brakes, back end skittering on braking ruts and head into the trees. Blinking in the darkness, get your weight back as you drop down roots into a heavily rutted and wet turn then pop out into the daylight down a floating drop and onto a wide open ski piste, very wide off camber right turn that tightens and narrows. Missed this corner the first two runs due to too much speed, pop over a small jump then get as much air as possible off another little jump then over a lip and back into the trees. Very technical steep rooty section with arse right out the back, narrow gully then a choice of lines; straight down the contours or easier way right of a tree, then head for wooden log ramp and get 3-4ft of air
(feeling like much more as the trail drops away below you fast)
and land,
braking hard and trying to control the bike as you drop down into a wet rutted left-right-left and drop out of the trees, right, back into the trees, more roots, then you look out of the trees and just see sky: the trail is near vertical below for a 12ft drop! Push the bars down and drop, glide across the fire road picking up speed for the fastest section of the course, over the fire road and BOOYAKKA……….off the lip and catch only about 6inches of air, but as the trail falls away you fly parallel to it and you feel like you are flying for miles, land straight into a fast bermed right hander, left, right, trying to keep off the brakes (you want to but you can’t, you just go so bloody fast) looking for the smoothest parts of the track as the corners are loose. Back into the trees briefly, then left, out and off camber and rocky across the piste to a choice: Helter Skelter or The Chute. The Helter Skelter is a tight, steep switchback section more akin to the steep trails of Cham, arse out the back, handlebars down below you somewhere, rear tyre tread buzzing your ringpiece. The Chute looks vertical, a fast 60-degree drop into a very fast and loose bermed left then right, spitting you out at the bottom of the Helter Skelter. Short straight then a mini table top getting 2ft of air but 15-20ft of distance before fast drop left then right and a ridge flicking you onto a high bermed left hander under a concrete culvert, off a lip and down down down, left and right in a wet muddy section, then drier and shallower and on the pedals. Expert route then drops steeper, very rutted and narrow, try to jump doubles in the trees, then hard right and drop very fast through the trees, lots of braking ruts, rising left hander and tight fast gully drop with left-right switchbacks and onto fire road below and the course is almost ended. Flat out stonk along flatish fire road and into last two open off camber turns in full view of village and ski lifts so go as fast as you can to look good, jump raised manhole cover and over the wooden bridge to finish. Wipe tears of joy from eyes, snot from nose, spunk from shorts, clear mud and grit from teeth and repeat as necessary.
And for the entire morning that’s all we did, riding the same course again and again, getting to know each and every little root, gully, smooth section for grip, loose section that would throw you off course, every jump, drop and turn, sometimes doing The Chute for speed, sometimes going technical on the Helter Skelter, but getting faster and faster and more confident with every run. Oh God, this was beautiful.
The highlight of the morning was without doubt 10-Ton Kona’s first attempt at the wooden log huck, which though the drop was only 3ft, due to the severe gradient of the landing felt like much more. Al rode the drop first time, with the rest of us watching from below, and nailed the jump well, though upon landing everything went Pete. Al sort if wobbled and skidded, coming off the back of the bike but still hanging on like Superman, then fell down the next drop and landed in a heap, laid on his bike. Al was a little shaken and had given his thigh a good whack, but compared to his bike, he was unscathed. His handlebar stem had snapped mid shaft and peeled open like a sardine can, his handlebars were bent, and later inspection also revealed he had bent his large chainring and frame headtube. The huck had cost him dearly, but he had nailed it. For the rest of the weekend Al hired a Scott Nitrous, a hulking great behemoth of a bike that must have weight almost 40lbs, but probably more suited to the trails we were now tackling.
Lunch saw us recounting various choice snippets of Team FanyLion’s history; how everyone was christened with their Team names; how we all met; what sorts of furry mammals we preferred and so on. Jamie seemed amused/bemused/confused, but smiled and nodded in all the right places and after lunch we had another couple of runs of Le Pleney before setting off over the tops for Les Gets. A scenic fire road hack (including the joys of a short steep climb nicknamed Oxygen Alley, which saw Kona breathing out of his ar5e as he hauled his new downhill monster machine up the steep incline: we renamed him ‘50-Ton Scott’ for the day) and we arrived at the top of Les Gets 1. After spending about 20 seconds listening to a terrible Country and Western rendition of Ronan Keating’s ‘When you say nothing at all’, we set off, Jamie in the lead, Pottsy proving once and for all that he truly is a Downhill Maniac in second and me in my standard Morzine downhill position of third.
Despite being very fast with bermed corners and a couple of jumps, the course did not require much in the way of technical input and we all agreed it was pretty boring. Hanging on the brakes we couldn’t really do the full on balls out course justice and we hankered for jumps, drops, rocks and roots. Immediately at the bottom of Les Gets 1 however was the 4x course, and this was awesome…
Set off on shallow gradient fire road from Les Gets 1, shallow right hander, stonking on the pedals, getting up to full warp speed as you enter the course, small kicker in front and WHOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGH!!…..FECKING HELL!!………the track drops away to leave you flying 6ft in the air! Keep the bike straight and extend legs to plant the back wheel and off you go: the twisty course consisted of high berms, table tops and doubles that were great fun, but nothing as amazing as that first drop, which was stupendous.
Jamie then took us to the Singletrack Gully Descent. This was as technical as Les Gets 1 was smooth, the big woolly 70’s bush to Les Gets 1’s shaven haven; this was rooty, rocky, tight, narrow, steep in places and fun, fun, fun. Despite an over-the-bars tumble on the first rooty section, I loved this trail. We only rode it twice, but the second time I felt much faster then the first as I became more familiar and knew what was around the next corner. Can’t wait to ride it again and wreak my revenge on those pesky roots.
As a finale to the day, Jamie then lead us on a natural singletrack trail that seemed to go on forever. This was exactly the stuff we had been hankering for, steep, technical and demanding, rocks, roots and switchbacks giving us and our bikes a real workout. It was on this section that I discovered Slimed inner tubes cannot cope with snakebite punctures: don’t waste your money on them. A 40mph road section finished off the route as we arrived at the minibus and returned to the Chalet for a great BBQ put on by Jamie’s friends Chris & Ali who had just moved to Morzine from Leeds: it was a Yorkshire reunion!
That evening we headed into town for a few beers, though for some Team members this turned into ‘a lot of beers, plus loads of vodka’, Pottsy, Ben and Jamie returning at 4am in a state, hence when I knocked on Pottsy’s door at 8.30am as agreed, he didn’t have a clue where he was/who I was/who’s round it was. He looked and smelled terrible. Jamie didn’t look much better, and the constantly grinning, jovial chappie of yesterday had been replaced with a forlorn looking man with his chin on his chest and pallid complexion, looking like he could puke/fall asleep/drop dead at any minute.
Kona and I had baled early the previous night and feeling fine and dandy headed off to the cable car with Jamie in tow, still looking very rough. By the time we had completed the first descent the rest of the Team were starting to surface, in various states of disarray. Last night had certainly taken it’s toll, especially with Downhill Maniac, who declared he had crashed on the first turn of the downhill due to being so drunk he couldn’t steer his bike. Jamie looked like he wished he was still in bed.
After a couple more circuits of Le Pleney we took a downhill route over to Les Gets. This route was super technical in places, becoming so washed out it was like riding down a river bed. Well cool. After loosing Cliff Diver for half an hour we had a pizza lunch then headed up on the cable car to heaven. At least that is where I though we were. We eventually arrived at the top of Mont Chéry, a 3.8km downhill course with a vertical drop of 620m, a truly amazing few minutes would be had by all, and believe me , they were…
Open mountaintop section to start, very dusty with high bermed corners and numerous tabletops and doubles to get you warmed up, blinking to see through the dust of the rider in front, getting up to speed as you head into the trees getting faster and faster, then the fun really starts, as a hugely rooted section gives options of several lines and the combat begins with riders taking different lines and trying to get in front, elbows touching, obscenities being shouted and people getting cut up 4x style: awesome. Then the trail steepens and gets faster and faster with more loose bermed corners, roots and washed out gullies before leading to the final descent, a steep, loose bermed finale that allowed you to go as fast as your smoking brakes and soiled chamois would let you. As we all skidded to the finish hangovers were forgotten: “That descent was awesome!” “You cut me up in the trees you b*****d!” “I knew you were right behind me and tried to shake you off, then I stacked it…” “I took the wrong line and let you in you tw*t…” We were absolutely buzzing. Jamie’s huge grin had returned, and it was confession time. Downhill Maniac asked Jamie if he had enjoyed last night. Jamie replied he had whilst he had been drinking beer, but the vodka and cokes had really done him some damage. “No wonder,” replied Downhill “each time I got a round in I got us singles and you doubles, in an attempt to slow you down today.” Jamie rolled his eyes and realised he had been well and truly FanyLioned. Don’t think we actually did slow him down much, but it was good to see him back to his normal self again after a somewhat subdued morning.
We rode Mont Chéry one more time, getting faster and more confident as we got to know the course and I think this was Team FanyLion’s favourite route of the weekend; it was just so varied and so long, it seemed to be never ending. Cliff Diver found out just how long and steep it was as he came in to the finish area, sliding out of control, one foot on the floor out behind his saddle, brake levers to the bars and smoking with no response, Hope Mini’s too hot to cope with the alpine descent. Dan managed to stop his bike somehow and said he had ridden the last section without any brakes at all. rspKt.
And so it was time to leave the man-made trails behind and embark on a natural singletrack excursion back to the chalet. The trail we rode was unused and rather overgrown in places, very narrow and so steep to be unrideable (almost unwalkable) but we soldiered on, eventually coming to the most technically demanding fireroad section in the world, huge drainage ditches dug out and rocks stacked up trying to rip your wheels off. Wicked.
We then lost the trail completely as it criss-crossed a riverbed and the line between the river and the trail became more and more blurred. Eventually we found the trail, and the two stream crossings which followed saw only one victim, our Mighty Leader Jamie, who managed to go completely over the bars on both of them! He is obviously made of FanyLion stuff.
And that was that. We returned to the chalet and packed our bikes with heavy hearts, knowing that in 12hrs time we would be sat back at our desks, day dreaming of fast downhill descents, sweeping berms, roots, rocks and drops all to the backdrop of a grinning Yorkshireman on an Orange Sub 5. We had had a truly amazing weekend, too short for everyone’s liking, and we all vowed to return. In fact Shack is returning first, in 6 weeks’ time, the lucky bleeder.
A big, nay, HUGE Thank You to Jamie for letting us have a cheap weekend away; thanks to Chris & Ali for a superb BBQ (hope your chalet business takes off); thanks to the bike shop in Morzine for fast repairs to Kona’s Marin (unfortunately to no avail: RIP); and thanks to easyJet for not wrecking my bike!
Next ride will be Saab Salomon 24hr Mountain Mayhem, as different to Morzine as it is possible to get without putting on drop handlebars and slick tyres. Now, where are those lights…
Riders present
Team Downhill Maniac
Team 10 Ton Kona
Team Shack
Team Cliff Diver
Team Hodgson
Team Shorts in Winter
Team Techno
Enjoyment level
Mountainous!!*