SkiBike Tour 2014-15 - Avoriaz, Hanging Out With The Skiers
Posted: Tuesday, 7 April 2015 by Mark Kinnon in Labels: 2014-15 Tour, D.I.Y., France, SkiBike
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I really should have already been back in London by now, but a message from Tim and Lesley to say that they were going to make an end of season trip to Morzine, provided a great reason to get in a final group ride of the season.
I last rode a skibike with Tim over 18 months ago at the Bottrop indoor ski centre in Germany, at the time he was testing out a Lenz Brawler that was for sale and hasn't been on a skibike since. I had hoped to get him on my spare skibike for the day, but it turned out he has only recently had an operation on his hand which is taking a long time to heal up. If you have trouble even getting your gloves on, then lugging a skibike on and off sundry chairlifts is probably not a good idea.
In the last few weeks I seem to have spent the majority of my time playing catch up with the other skibikers. But today Lesley got a bit intimidated by the odd mix of ice, slush, grass and rocks found on some runs and took a highly cautious approach; whilst I enjoyed the luxury of being able to jump off my skibike and carry it over the muddy bits and had the rare pleasure of being first down the slope. This of course meant I could take a breather in the hot sun and field curious bystanders' questions.
With slushy conditions predominating from noon onwards I witnessed the build up of a great deal of "saddle envy" whilst making jet ski style progress through all the slush. I left Tim and Lesley to head back to their chalet in Morzine with tired legs, whilst I indulged myself in some solo rides till the last lift closed.
I last rode a skibike with Tim over 18 months ago at the Bottrop indoor ski centre in Germany, at the time he was testing out a Lenz Brawler that was for sale and hasn't been on a skibike since. I had hoped to get him on my spare skibike for the day, but it turned out he has only recently had an operation on his hand which is taking a long time to heal up. If you have trouble even getting your gloves on, then lugging a skibike on and off sundry chairlifts is probably not a good idea.
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| A mix of ice, slush, grass and rocks can be intimidating on skis |
In the last few weeks I seem to have spent the majority of my time playing catch up with the other skibikers. But today Lesley got a bit intimidated by the odd mix of ice, slush, grass and rocks found on some runs and took a highly cautious approach; whilst I enjoyed the luxury of being able to jump off my skibike and carry it over the muddy bits and had the rare pleasure of being first down the slope. This of course meant I could take a breather in the hot sun and field curious bystanders' questions.
With slushy conditions predominating from noon onwards I witnessed the build up of a great deal of "saddle envy" whilst making jet ski style progress through all the slush. I left Tim and Lesley to head back to their chalet in Morzine with tired legs, whilst I indulged myself in some solo rides till the last lift closed.
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| Tim and Leslie - saddle envy from lunchtime on |