Riding advice

for the Mountains

If you haven’t ridden in the mountains before there’s some useful tips below to help you make your first rides as enjoyable as possible!

The first thing to bear in mind is that you’ll spend the majority of the time riding fairly slowly uphill using a lot of energy and with not much airflow. You’ll then be riding down the other side having got fairly sweaty with minimal effort and a lot of windchill. That changes slightly the clothing, gearing and nutrition choices we make from a flatter ride.

To help plan a trip our monthly averages for Morzine weather are listed and you can check the current weather forecast to plan your rides.

Riding in the Mountains.

The fitter and stronger you are before you come out here to ride the more you are going to enjoy the riding once you are here. Riding in the mountains is tough on body and mind at times, so some pre trip preparation will go a long way. Similarly for those that live in the mountains, some preseason prep will make those first climbs of the year slightly less painful. Remember you are riding uphill, it doesn’t get easy you just get faster.

BeFit Apps have developed a bike training/conditioning app thats easy to follow and doesn’t need masses of time. The most efficient way to ride up a hill is to stay seated so we’ll need to get our big muscles and core strong so that you can comfortably work your way up that climb. You can check their programs out here.

Rules of the Road.

French rules of the road have a few main points…

Don't drive too close to the shoulder, to avoid ruts or gravel.
When cornering, keep to the right as cars only see you at the last minute.
Be particularly careful when passing a truck: the air draft may unbalance you.
If you are riding in a group, ride two abreast or in single file. At night, if overtaken by a vehicle or when the circumstances require it (narrow road, etc.), position yourself systematically in single file.
If your group has more than ten people, split up.

Bike specific French road signs you’ll see.

Clothing.

You’ll need to be able to strip off quite a lot to avoid overheating en route up and then have layers to insulate and keep the wind out on the descent. This is where arm warmers and a thin wind gilet or jacket are invaluable. Early and late season knee warmers are also very handy, as are base layers, full finger gloves and a buff/headband to avoid brain/ear freeze.

Jerseys should have a full length zipper so that you can undo it all the way, trust us once you are hot on a climb the self consciousness will go out the window!

Fuel for the ride…

Nutrition.

Bonking halfway up the climb to get home is never fun and there are some simple solutions. Having said that it is a bit of an alpine riding right of passage and it will probably happen at some point… If aren’t used to doing longer day rides back to back by day three you will be starving so remember that you need to fuel yourself for your whole trip not just the day.

Fuel before each climb so that your body isn’t trying to process food when it needs its energy to get you to the top. You effectively have a rest on the descent so a good rule of thumb is to always eat something at the top, even if you don’t feel like it at the time.

Bars and gels have their place but you also need proper food when riding here. A 100 km or mile ride in the mountains is not equivalent to one on flatter or rolling terrain and your body will need salts and other minerals sweated out during those steady uphill efforts. Part of the joy of riding in France is the Boulangeries and being able to stop at them to test their wares, so make use of the numbers options!

Opening hours in France often catch people out as a lot of shops close at 12 for lunch, reopening anywhere between 2 30 and 4pm. There’s some notable exceptions listed below -

Boulangerie Tiffanie Chatillon sur Cluses - open all day

Boulangerie Lullin - open until 1pm

Boulangerie La Mie Calin - Thonon Les Bains, open all day

Other places will stop serving lunch between 1 30 and 2pm so don’t get caught out. Keep a decent snack in reserve in your pocket!

Gearing/Bike setup.

We get asked what gears to bring to the Alps a lot and there is no hard and fast rule. Think about what you ideal most efficient cadence is and then you’ll need gears to be able to aim for that whilst going up a 7-8% gradient seated. Its always good to have a choice and be able to spin out the legs sometimes, so we’d recommend erring on the side of adding one more and a minimum of a compact with 11-28 on the rear. 30 or 32 is ideal but remember it is down to personal preference.

Remember that the heart muscle recovers fast so being out of breath from a higher cadence is short lived. Once you have tired your legs by grinding a lower cadence they’ll be done for the day.

Aero bikes and Deep section rim wheels, whilst good for the short valley sections between climbs, aren’t necessarily very good for the climbs and descents. You need to be able to stay in a comfortable seated position and get a lot of oxygen in your lungs. Deep rim wheels can be quite challenging to handle on hairpins and if there is any wind so we would recommend a lighter normal set of wheels.

Disc Brakes are much more responsive than rim brakes and also save your rims - which if you have carbon wheels is a very good thing. Despite manufacturers assurances we see carbon wheels written off every summer through over heating on long descents.

Unusual Spares - If you have anything custom or any unusual kit on your bike then bring a spare with you as sourcing UK specific bike parts here isn’t fast or efficient. If a rear hangar goes at the start of your week you won’t get a new once before the end of your week. We speak from experience! This includes aero spokes.

Morzine Weather

Morzine’s typical summer temperatures for trip planning. We think of the riding season as early June to the end of September. Note the low temperatures for arm/leg warmers. Also a big one to remember is that the sun is strong in the mountains and it will feel hotter than the air temperature when riding up a mountain col on black tarmac in the sunshine!