Ulrika leading the way
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Nikki joined the Dirtgirls camp for the first time this week and is enjoying the Alpine trails so much she's extended her stay for another week! During the Dirtgirls week she'll be bringing us the gossip from each day as part of her regular blog.
Day 3 saw some our Dirtgirls getting slightly weary, with a couple of casualties due to over-enthusiasm from earlier in the week. But still nine of us ventured up the Super Morzine lift along with Sara from Dirtgirls, DH racer Emily Horridge and the excellent mtb guide Ulrika (who incidently looks exactly how you
would expect a mountain biker called Ulrika to look - tall, blond and very tanned..).
We were all now familiar with the traverse and descent to Linderet so we made it
in record time, switchbacks, rocks, roots and all. Our only casualty was Sara who forgot she was on a hardtail for the day and slipped out on a rocky section.
After more descending Emily lead a master class in riding rocks, a useful lesson surrounded by rocky trails. The main things to remember are:
Ride in the neutral position so you're prepared for everything
Cover your brakes, and use them gently if you need them, this stops you bucking
your bike
Look up and ahead, focussing several meters down the trail so you can assess the
obstacles well in advance
Relax! Make your arms and legs loose to let your bike move underneath you.
Following our expert instruction we were happily floating over the trail like a
flock of Dirtgirls butterflies. Descending further with lunch firmly at the
forefront of our minds we were aghast to find a landslide blocking our way. A
nice Frenchman manning a JCB was repairing the damage, and Ulrika worked her
charms and he let us through safely. Lunch at the lake was followed with a spot of sunbathing, then off we went again
for the afternoon.
The morning's floating had taken a lot out of us, so the moderate post-lunch
climb was transformed into our own mini Everest. Finally we all made it to the
top, and were rewarded with some swoopy smooth singletrack before our final lift
of the day up to Avoriaz. Topped off with 14 kilometeres descent on lovely smooth tarmac all the way back to Morzine. Wheeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!
Visit www.flowmtb.com for full details on the Dirtgirls skills week
Gayle Hammond
