Rest days. You rarely hear about them but with heavy rain predicted and tired legs it was time to maximise the holiday side of our trip.

Mind you, the Prof was having none of it. He had brought his wet weather gear and he was going to use it! While he headed off Thursday morning to head back up the Prorel telecabins, we kicked back because the weather was awful all morning.

We wandered down to the New Town for a light lunch, hampered only by the worst portion of chips I had all week (note, this pizza pic was from our first meal of the week, showing all five of us).

As the day progressed, the weather improved markedly, so after lunch John and I decided to visit the Old Town at the top of the hill while Elliot contented himself with local bike shops.

Lloyd meanwhile headed to the supermarket for provisions – and wine – for the evening meal he had offered to cook for us.

Briancon is effectively a fortress town, dating to Roman times when it was known as Brigantium. In the 17th century it’s fortifications were expanded by Vauban during the time of Louis XIV. It won’t rehearse too much of it’s history because you can read all about Briancon on Wikipedia.

The Old Town is relatively small with very steep streets and reasonable restaurents – both from the point of view of food and entertainment.

At one point during the week a restaurent owner sang us the God Save the King, at another we got chatting to a British owner who had lived there for many years. And then there was the punk buskers mangling well known tunes from the hit parade (a very old hit parade at that)…

We regrouped in the evening for a fine meal, some fine wine and to celebrate the Prof’s return in one piece.

Bikes. You don’t have to ride them.

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.