Wednesday turned out to be a challenging day of back country riding.

As the week progressed the weather dipped a little. From high 20°C’s at the start of our stay we could see Thursday was going to be wet. By Tuesday night, after a hot day there were thunderstorms in the valley and heavy rain overnight.

This overnight weather changed the trails from dusty to damp and on Wednesday morning there was low hanging cloud and light rain as we made our way to the base of the Prorel 1 cable car at the bottom of the town.

The 2.3 mile climb to an altitude of 7,700ft (2350m) is split into separate Prorel 1 and 2 telecabins. While the sun was hiding, at least we kept dry and at the top we were above the rain.

We set off on a four mile descent around the Gargouille (as the mountain is called locally) on what was mainly narrow natural trails interspersed with fast fireroad. The surface was damp but as we recalibrated my bike took it all in its stride. There was sufficient grip despite the damp as we picked our way down the narrow tracks.

Gradually the ground leveled out and we could pick up speed on the fireroads, looping round to the Ratier telecabin in the Serre Chevalier valley to the north.

Halfway up we switched to the Combes chairlift which took us all the way to the top, then started on narrow, exposed traverse to a massive (and massively fast) blue run.

A minor tumble

I came a cropper on the traverse, catching a pedal on one of the many rocks that bordered the path and reaching the balance point of no return as I rebounded to my left.

I really don’t like drops to my left. Mainly because I tend to unclip to my left and when there’s a drop, there’s nothing to stand on!

I tumbled down the steep hillside but my padding and a favourable landing on a carpet of blueberries meant no harm was done despite a couple of somersaults.

The episode still managed to unsettle me for a little while though. The blue run was fine, but after the first half I felt I was getting increasingly quicker as I tired, while the berms – after the overnight rain – were looking a little unpredictable. The others took the Grand Serre chair back up for another go (again! again!) but I sat it out with Lloyd, whose hip was starting to play up.

In hindsight, I could have gone round again but I could feel myself getting a little wayward. The lips and kicks over the table tops were great but at the same time it was all too easy for me to sit back, which risked me being a passenger rather than I pilot on my bike.

After regrouping, we continued down the mountain for lunch at the Cafe Soleil, as on day 1. Once again it was hard to pass up another large lunch!

Off the beaten track

The objective after lunch was a long back country return off the top of Serre Chevalier all the way down to Briancon.

Lloyd decided to call it a day as he could feel he was getting more uncomfortable with his hip rather than less. While he headed back on the fireroad, we took the chair again to the top of the mountain, interspersed with a short blue back to pick up the final chair. During the course of that high speed blue, a kamikaze Marmotte ran out in front of my wheel which gave me quite a surprise. Thankfully I didn’t hit it.

From the top at 8,000ft (2450m) we started on a long loop through the Col du Serre Chevalier and round the back of the mountain across the Ravin Melivrin and the Crete de la Pisse to Les Combes. It was remote country and it felt like only we were on the mountain.

With low hanging cloud obscuring what must have been a superb view otherwise to Briancon, this was the only time during the week that my mojo left me. After the morning’s untimely tumble, riding the tight and very uneven goat track across what seemed a remote moor was not to my taste. On the other hand, the setting was dramatically otherworldly, so I was very conflicted!

The track – soft, a little muddy and very rocky resulted in me repeatedly making pedal strikes. I just couldn’t get a rhythm that let me make progress with confidence.

Even so, I still enjoyed this route more than the bike park pistes. It was challenging, dramatic and very satisfying to work our way down the mountain, dropping from tundra to forest on the way.

In some ways it was one of my favourite routes of the week and as the trail dropped we started to negotiate endless switchbacks, stream crossings, drops and rocks as we headed back to the village. It wasn’t exactly dry – there were plenty of patches of mud and the air was damp, but we didn’t get terribly wet either.

Besides, what are the Muddymoles without mud?

Summary

Lloyd definitely made the right call not to ride that afternoon – it was a long route and quite lively in places. Thankfully for me my mojo re-appeared once past the exposed upper slopes and we finished with 23 miles of actual riding. I always find it nice to leave the valley heading in one direction and return from the opposite side as it feels you’ve actually traveled somewhere.

Overnight, we had more rain, thunder and lightning as expected, but the chalet was a cosy place to sit with tired legs and watch the show.

About the author

Matt is one of the founding Molefathers of the Muddymoles, and is the designer and main administrator of the website.

Having ridden a 2007 Orange Five for many years then a 2016 YT Industries Jeffsy 29er, he now rocks a Bird Aether 9 and a Pace RC-627.

An early On-One Inbred still lurks in the back of the stable as a reminder of how things have moved on. You can even find him on road bikes - currently a 2019 Cannondale Topstone 105 SE, a much-used 2011 Specialized Secteur and very niche belt drive Trek District 1.

If you've ever wondered how we got into mountain biking and how the MuddyMoles started, well wonder no more.