Feb 22 2013

The Best Backcountry Biking Trails In The French Alps

Alpine riding - Amit

License: Creative Commons image source

The French Alps have some of the best spots for mountain biking anywhere in Europe. The combination of easy and challenging trails means that the area has something to offer for both beginners and experienced riders. In addition to the trails, there is stunning scenery to be enjoyed while riding, making this an ideal place for mountain biking.

Popular areas

A very popular area for mountain biking is Morzine. Located in Haute-Savoie, this area has stunning panoramic views and is considered by some to be the best area for mountain biking in the world. The resort of Les Gets is situated in this area, which hosts several mountain biking events. Morzine is one of the largest biking areas in Europe, with approximately 1000km of trails.

The area of Chamonix is also popular with mountain bikers. There are biking trails which are suitable for all abilities, as well as a downhill run which is exclusively for bikers. There are approximately 20 trails in this area, which pass through villages such as Chamonix Mont-Blanc and Vallorcine. There are lifts and shuttle buses available here, so the trails can be easily accessed.

Untitled

License: Creative Commons image source

A relatively undiscovered area for mountain biking is Les Carroz. This location is part of the Grand Massif area, which is a large ski resort. The trails in Les Carroz cover more than 600km in total, with beautiful alpine scenery. This area may be less crowded than the more well known biking destinations, but it is only a short distance from Morzine and Chamonix. For a challenging ride, there is route from Les Carroz to Chamonix, which normally takes 8 days to complete.

Events

Mountain biking events that are held at Les Gets include the Big Mountain Battle. This is a team event which is open to all abilities, with the choice of taking the easy course or the advanced course. Les Gets also hosts La pass’portes du Soleil VTT (vélo tout-terrain), which is a mountain biking trek completed over one day. Further information on the mountain biking events can be found at www.lesgets.com, the official website for the Les Gets resort.

There is an annual VTT event hosted in Les Carroz, usually in July or August. This is a competitive biking event that often attracts more than 2000 riders. The website www.lescarroz.com has further information on the event and how to register.

Chatel, which is located in the Haute-Savoie area, has held biking events such as the downhill European cup and the Chatel Mountain Style contest. The Mountain Style event is currently being developed with a possible change of format being considered. Updates can be found at chatelmountainstyle.com, the official website for the event.

The trails

The French Alps are considered to be one of the best areas in the world for mountain biking. New mountain biking routes are being opened each year, due to the increasing popularity of the sport. The lift systems allow bikers to explore a variety of different terrains, with a mixture of downhill and cross country trails. The marked trails are also colour graded according to difficulty.

It is possible to explore the backcountry trails with an experienced guide. This option may be an ideal solution for those who want to explore the trails that are less well known. For those who wish to explore alone, maps and route cards are available.

The vast choice of trails in the French Alps means that there is something to suit all experience levels and abilities.

John is a feature writer working in France.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2013/02/22/the-best-backcountry-biking-trails-in-the-french-alps/

Feb 20 2013

ARK Trail in Mississippi

Mississippi Nature Trail

interpretive trail sign

informative sign w/ extra L

Today’s featured Trailsnet Trail is the Arkabutla Lake Education and Nature Center Trail in Mississippi. Just added this week, the ARK Trail falls into the “short but sweet” category. Located on a wildlife sanctuary just west of Hernando, MS. Although only two miles long, the trail and surrounding area features interpretive signs listing area wildlife, tree identification markers and an outdoor amphitheater for group gatherings.

This Mississippi hiking trail is open year-round and is great for lake viewing, swamp scenery, forest study, fall-foliage tours and wildlife spotting.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2013/02/20/ark-trail-in-mississippi/

Feb 18 2013

Welcome Back Trailsnet Subscribers

Trailsnet JetPack Subscriber Process Up and Running

trail sign

Subscribe over there, please!

Awhile back, I found out that Trailsnet subscribers were no longer receiving blog-post notifications. in fact, I found out that this hadn’t been happening for quite some time. And a quick look at Google Analytics told me that it was making a fairly significant impact on the Trailsnet website traffic.

A while back, I started using JetPack as a major part of the Trailsnet WordPress blog & website development. I just assumed that everything would easily transfer from the old system to the JetPack system. Well, I used to lecture my students about what happens when you ass-u-me anything. But thanks to Jeremy of the WordPress forums and Steve from the Great Plains Trail Alliance, I think things should be running fine once again.

I hope those of you who were loyal Trailsnet subscribers will sign up once again. Sorry for the additional hassle, but it’s really quite easy. And just like before, your email address is completely safe and will not be loaned, sold or secretly betrothed to a third party. It’s just so we know that you’re a real human being and not some silly spammer.

So please subscribe (aka follow) to the Trailsnet blog once again by typing your email address in the subscribe box over there on the right hand side of the page. If you ever change your mind, unsubscribing is even easier and can be accomplished with the click of a button/link. Of course, who would ever want to unsubscribe from Trailsnet though?

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2013/02/18/welcome-back-trailsnet-subscribers/

Feb 15 2013

Help Needed Again from Trailsnet Posse

Steve… Barry… anyone out there?   (-:

As I chronicled a few days ago, my JetPack plugin didn’t seem to be sending emails to Trailsnet subscribers to notify them when there were new posts. I just disconnected from JetPack, then reconnected. A WordPress helper told me that that may resolve the issue.

That’s where I need your assistance. Please notify me via comments below (preferred), email or the Trailsnet contact button up on the horizontal header toolbar above to let me know if you received an email notification about this post.

Thanks, and I am anxiously awaiting your update.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2013/02/15/help-needed-again-from-trailsnet-posse/

Feb 12 2013

Colorado Bicycle Summit 2013

logo for colorado bicycle summit

CO Bike Summit

Economic Impact of Cycling

The Colorado Bicycle Summit is turning into quite the success story. Last year’s attendance was terrific. This year’s was even better. Once again, Governor John Hickenlooper was one of the Keynote speakers. Governor Hickenlooper is an avid supporter of bicycling and the rights of bicyclists. He, and many others, spoke of the huge, positive impact that cycling has on the economy of Colorado.

Bikers: The Other 60%

One of the themes of the conference was the need to reach out to the biggest, yet most underserved, segments of the biking population. According to statistics presented at the conference, about 1% of bike riders are the ones who would ride at all costs. They are the ones who are completely fearless (or senseless, depending on your point of view) and will ride their bikes in any condition, no matter what. These are the bikers we hear the most about, for good or bad. They are also the competitive bicycle riders. The next group is the “enthusiastic & confident” bike riders. This group makes up about 15% of the potential bike market/bike industry. This is the most visible group on the roads (usually) and trails (sometimes). This group is also the one represented the most in the bicycle industry. This group is the one that the bicycle apparel, bike accessories and bike manufacturing industry caters to the most. We’ll skip the most important group for a bit and quickly cover the 24% of the population who has absolutely no interest in biking. For whatever reason, these people do not currently nor will they ever probably have much impact on biking infrastructure or the bike industry. Then there’s the biggest group of all, and that is the “interested but concerned” group. This group is by far the biggest and makes up 60% of the entire population. This group is not made up of daredevils, racers or “bike nuts.” This group has mostly fair weather bikers who value comfort, safety & convenience. You will not see this group on the roads very often because they value their lives more than they value biking for the sake of biking.

Reaching the 60% of (Potential) Bikers

The vast majority of the potential biking market may or may not even own a bike. In fact, they may hardly ever get out biking. It’s not because they don’t want to. It’s because they don’t want to bike unless it is safe, convenient & accessible. And, even though this group is the biggest of all, they are the group that is ignored by the entire biking world, from bike clubs to bicycle companies. And the reason for this is simple human nature. Most people who own bicycle manufacturing corporations, run bicycle clothing companies or lead bicycle groups and bike clubs are cycling aficionados. So they can’t relate to folks who want to bike just for fun: not for competition, not for thrills and not to become buff. If riding bikes is dangerous, they don’t want to do it. If bicycle riding is uncomfortable, then count them out. If it’s overly expensive, then forget about it.

Copenhagen Bicycle Culture

So how do we reach the “interested but concerned” bikers? It can be done, because other cities & countries have done it. A good example is the bike culture that has been established in Portland, Oregon and Copenhagen. And the Colorado Bicycle Summit provided guest speakers to discuss the biking infrastructure in both of those communities. So we’ll talk about that in a future Trailsnet blog post.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2013/02/12/colorado-bicycle-summit-2013/

Feb 10 2013

Trailsnet Subscriber Help Needed

Mystery of the Missing Trailsnet Blog-post Notifications

Alert Trailsnet subscriber Steve, of Great Plains Trail Alliance, pointed out to me that he hasn’t gotten a Trailsnet blog update in a long while. Upon hearing this, I realized that a lot of my normal commenters haven’t commented for a while. So I’m wondering if there’s something wrong w/ the RSS Feed that is supposed to be sending notifications to subscribers when I publish a blog post.

Please Contact Me If You Got a Notification

mail box

Are you getting emails?

I would greatly appreciate if you could send me a real brief message either in the comments below or by visiting the Trailsnet contact page & sending me a quick note.

Thanks to Steve and all of you who help me figure out if I’m missing a plug-in or something.

Permanent link to this article: https://trailsnet.com/2013/02/10/trailsnet-subscriber-help-needed/