Surviving a season:
It's hard work getting you and your bike thorugh a summer of abuse. We've put together a bit of information from our years of experience to help you prepare for your summer. This information is aimed at riders looking to live in the Portes du Soliel/Morzine for the season, however, a lot of this will be relevant to any plans you have for a European MTB season and much of it applies even if you are just coming out for a weeks holiday. This should grow over time as more things are added, but if I've missed anything glaringly obvious let me know.....
Quick links:
Man Down! Your first trip to A&E
Watching the pennies:
A mountainbike season is expensive. It's not like the winter where your equipment should get you through the season and there are jobs aplenty. Jobs are in demand, your bike will break at somepoint and you could get badly hurt. You'll get pissed off, bloody, broken and penniless yet none of it will matter when you are drifting in a cloud of dust through a seemingly endless chain of mountains.......
Most seasonaires seem to fall in to two categories, those who've saved up over winter so they don't have to work and those who have a job in the resort. Some just turn up and wing it and get by day to day but I suppose it depends on the individual and how secure they want to be! These are the main things you need to budget for:
Accommodation: everyone's requirements vary, some people are happy in a cardboard box all summer, for others 5 stars aren't enough! It's hard to give good advice on finding accomodation, in a lot of cases if you don't have somewhere to live with your job its easier to just roll in to town and ask around....
Travel: flight/ferry, fuel (for the drive down and for any travelling you've planned once your here).
Riding expenses: liftpass, insurance, spares & repairs, eating during the day etc.
Living Expenses: food, communication (ie. internet access/telephone).
Jobs are available but most don't pay much (enough to live on but don't expect to save much over the summer) and there are few in the bike industry. If you have any bike fixing qualifications then you could work as a mechanic, unfortunately for you most shops have a steady crew that return year after year, however sell yourself right and it could be an option.
Other popular jobs are transfer driving and chalet staff. For these you will have to get in early and start getting in touch with the operators as soon as you can. Any kind of hospitality or catering qualifications will no doubt be an advantage here. Working in a Chalet or Hotel is a good option as you will normally get accommodation as part of the deal. Your work is normally in the mornings and evenings so you will have a good few hours a day free to ride. Bar work is a good choice too if you want plenty of time to ride but hard to find as a lot of places rely on locals and hangers-on from the winter season to get them through the summer.
Cash in hand labouring work is there if you ask around, a lot of building work goes on in the summer. This is a good option if you've got a bit of cash saved up and just need to top it up every now and again as its not the most reliable form of employment. Cash in hand work is known as 'black' in France.
If you are a student it may be an option to work a placement/summer internship for a company in Geneva. Obviously you can only expect to have your weekends on the bike but it's just over an hours drive to the PDS from Geneva centre so not an unrealistic option if you can't really spare a whole summer away from uni commitments.
If you haven't found anything before the season then get out here as early as you can and start trawling around the hotels, chalets and bike shops. Speaking to people in the 'english' bars is a good way of picking up work.
Either way you will need to watch your money all summer. The humble pint of beer seems to be the barometer that us brits use to judge how expensive a place is. Well in the mountains you are looking at between 5 and 7 euros a pint, which is steep! Going out drinking every night is a surefire way of depleting your funds. Drinking in pubs is expensive anywhere in the Alps and this gets taken to ridiculous levels in nightclubs where you will be relieved of upwards of 8€ a beer! Eating & drinking in mountain cafe's is also expensive, if you time your lunch breaks around the supermarkets you can eat cheaply without carrying a pack full of baguettes around all day. One example: can of coke in supermarket: 1€, the same in a mountain cafe 3€!
Sharing anything you can saves you money. Cook with friends if you can, its cheaper to buy larger packs of meat for BBQ's, catering size packs of food etc and split the costs between a group than cook for yourself. The BBQ will feature heavily in your social life, its a great alternative to proper night out! Head up to one of the lakes for a swim and a grill after riding. The barbie at the Sherpa Bar is one to remember, most riders are there every wednesday for the free-salad-if-you-bring-your-own-meat deal. As such wednesdays tend to turn into the big night out. Other places such as Le Rhodos are doing BBQ's for around 10€ on certain nights of the week with meat and a drink included.
Keep a bit in reserve for the unexpected. You never know when you might break something on the bike, its damn depressing to have to sit out the first sunny day in weeks because you broke your bike and spent your last few euros! Build up a relationship with the staff in the bike shops, most will help out seasonaires. The notice boards in the shops, supermarkets, bars and scattered around town are a good source of second-hand parts and bikes if the only fix is a replacement!
If your here for several months then a French pay as you go SIM card is worth buying, they are around 30€. If you need to unlock your phone it's probably easier to buy a phone and SIM pack from the supermarket, the cheapest are less than 50€, no hassles with plug adaptors for the charger either.
What to bring:
A bike. Sounds obvious, but have a good think about whether or not your current bike is up to the job. Make sure everything is in good shape before you start your season, if things are falling off now it will only cause you trouble and cost you money.
Setting up your bike for a trouble free season is always a bit of a lottery. It's nice to have an individual bike covered in spangly kit but its a pain when your obscure rear shock pukes its guts up and you have to spend ages and a small fortune tracking down parts. So although you may swear by your weirdo retro-cool forks get rid of them before the season and get some Boxxers/40's/888's simply because the parts are so much easier to come by and apply the same logic to the rest of your bike.
It's
a
good idea to track down a spare set of bearings for linkages and hubs
before the season, the price of bearings in resort is horrendous, a
couple of mech hangers are a good idea too along with any consumable
parts specific to your bike. Keep a stock of spokes (that fit!) and gear cables. Parts trading between
seasonaires/locals is always going on, so if something major breaks its
normally pretty easy to source a replacement if it's a standard size.
Tyres are another thing worth stocking up on before you come out. Prices in town will be considerably more than in the UK so a few sets are a good investment. As I don't do a lot of racing if any any more, I run tyres that last rather than offer ultimate performance. I find Maxxis High-Rollers fine in pretty much any conditions, super tacky up front and a hard wearing 60a at the back with spikes in reserve in case the rain is particularly persistent. Tyres are personal however and so is the rate you go through them so just stock up on a your favourites, if you've got too many you can always sell them on.
A couple of sets of riding gear is a bonus, one can be in the wash while you wear the other. This may seem an extravagance but when you think that you'll spend more time in these clothes than any other over the season it makes sense.
How much other stuff you bring will depend on whether you fly or drive out.
A car is awesome if you want to explore the rest of the Alps while your here. Liftpasses are cheap at most resorts so if you can split petrol costs with fellow riders its easy to do a little roadtrip and take in a few new places over a couple of days. Check your insurance policy and make sure you are covered for the total time you spend in Europe, most policies are limited to 90 days overseas travel so double check. European breakdown cover is a good idea too. The other advantage of driving is that you can bring more than one bike. There is some classic road routes that start in Morzine and several BMX tracks reasonably close by.
Other than your normal riding gear a few other things are worth packing if you have them:
A laptop will be a great advantage if you need to keep in touch with people at home, several bars and the tourist office all have internet access if your accommodation doesn't. They are also good for watching DVD's and just shutting the world out for a little while. Remember to bring at least one plug adaptor with you for your UK electrical gear (they can be bought in the supermarkets here too).
A basic first aid kit is pretty essential as you will take a tumble at somepoint, so some antiseptic wipes and bandages are good thing.
Although the supermarkets stock a good selection of UK foodstuffs that can't normally be found (like marmite, baked beans etc) they are way overpriced, so if you can't live without something bring it with you. Personally we recommend you leave it behind and sample some of the local delicacies!
Bring a bit of French with you. There are a lot of English in Morzine and most places will speak English but it goes down well if you try and speak French. Along with your French remember to bring your manners, you might be here to have the time of your life but remember people live here and have to get up for work in the morning! The Brits have a terrible reputation abroad so try and change a few peoples perceptions!
Day to Day Riding in the Alps:
There's no escaping the fact that riding a season in the Alps will put you and your bike through the ringer.
The standing record for the most number of runs down Pleney in a day is 38 (Glenn Hayden), although you won't be doing that everyday you can guarantee that you will do a lot more riding per day at a higher speed and over bigger terrain than you will in a weekend of UK riding. During the course of a season you will get used to alpine riding but after your first week or two you will feel like you've been through a war.
Your fitness will improve throughout the season (if you stay off the burgers and out the pub!) and you will learn the techniques for alpine downhilling. Break yourself in gently, it's too easy to go banana's in your first week, trash your bike and stick yourself in hospital. It's no fun sitting around in plaster while your mates are out shredding. You'll soon find a routine that suits you and if you stick to it on riding days everything goes smoothly.
Having a vague plan of what you intend to do in a day is a good start. It's easy to roll up to the lift and go off to the furthest reaches of the PDS on the spur of the moment but it will become a struggle when you have a puncture in the ass end of nowhere and don't even have a patch to fix it let alone a pump. That said, the spur of the moment stuff is always the best and other riders will always help someone stranded if they can but its always better to be prepared! Don't ride on your own if your going to do anything out the way (your chances of being stumbled upon are pretty slim on some of the hidden singletracks) and always carry a mobile (118/112 is the emergency in Europe) if you do go out on a solo mission.
To give you an idea this is my typical morning and evening routine:
Morning: Wake up. Shower (have a good stretch while your in there). Get riding gear on and have a substantial brekky of muesli with dried fruit and banana, toast and a cuppa tea. This is normally enough to keep me going till lunchtime. Gather my gear together and make sure it's all there: helmet, goggles and gloves, pads, a bit of dinner money and lift pass! I cannot stress how much of a twat you will look if you forget the lift pass when you meet your mates! I normally throw a few glasses of water down me on the way out the door.
Evening: Normally finish riding and hose the bike off at one of the bike wash points even if its just dust. Have a coffee/beer with the crew and swap some stories/gossip. Head home and if its been sunny just give the bike a once over, a thorough wipe-down with a rag, lube, bolt check and fix any problems. I try to check the weather forecast and dig out waterproofs, stick on mud flaps and mud tyres as well if it looks like rain in the morning. Eat a good meal (carbs for the next day and protien to fix the damage from this one!) and get some more water in you, maybe chill out for a while. If your heading out most of the pubs don't get going until ten-ish so there's plenty of time to get yourself sorted for the following day. If it's been raining then its up to you how much of your gear you clean up and how much you enjoy putting on muddy kit in the morning!
Everyone wants to ride as much as possible but its a good idea to have rest days, if you keep an eye on the weather forecast you can rest up on the wet days and make the most of the sunshine. It's easy to burn out over a season and this is when accidents happen so take resting seriously and listen to your body.
As you adapt to the riding style here you'll soon be smoking the tourists but keep a check on your ego, it's easy to think your the next Steve Peat until you run out of talent! Use your best trail etiquette at all times but especially when its busy, buzzing someones tyre all the way down a run (unless its your mate...!) and then pulling some dangerous overtake move is not cool, just pull over and wait a bit for some clear track, you've got all summer...
Talk to as many people as you can while your out riding, share a lift with a stranger, most people are chatty and you'll find new riding buddy's and hear about more of the stuff thats going on around town.
Bike Maintenance:
Regular
bike maintenance is essential, I learnt this the hard and expensive
way. You can't just throw your bike in the corner, put your feet
up and expect it to keep working! Little things soon become major
problems so go over your bike every night and fix things straight
away. Keeping your bike as clean as you can is a great help, it's a
lot easier to work on a clean bike and the process of cleaning it
gives you the chance to look at it closely. Be aware of known
problems with your bike and its components, if a bike is notorious
for cracking in a certain place keep an eye on it every time you
clean it. Regular and thorough bolt checking is important, losing a crank bolt in the middle of nowhere is not funny.
I start on the bar controls and work down and back to the
rear axle pinch-bolts, check every bolt! Try and fix stuff
that night, an extra hour tinkering is worth it when you want to get up
early and head
out.
In the unlikely event that none of the shops in Morzine have the parts or services you need try these, Google for exact locations:
Zero G : Chamonix. Specialized main dealer with a massive stock of spares (including most fork cartridges) and clothing. A good source for cheap snow kit during the summer too if you're into your snowsports. English speaking.
Hotpoint: Geneva. Serge the mechanic speaks great english, has world champs experience and can get anything up an running again! Good stock of all the essentials.
Suspension Centre: Bern, Switzerland. It's a few hours away but probably the only place you will be able to walk in the door with broken suspension and they will have the parts in stock and fix it there and then. If you need a fork or shock fixing yesterday hop in the car and go see these guys.
There are also good local bike shops in Cluses and Sallanches both a short drive away.
Man Down! Your first trip to A&E:
You'll be lucky to get through the whole summer without falling off at least once so here's what to do when you take a tumble and the Savlon and a plaster don't seem enough....
In this section we're only going to cover the walking wounded, if your down and staying down then its up to your mates first aid skills and more importantly the Pompiers (the paramedics) to drag you off the hill and pack you off to hospital. Call 118 or 112 to request an ambulance and paramedics. If your on a marked trail use the marker posts to explain your position.
Anyway, you're a bit knocked about and think that you need to see a doctor. Your first port of call is a Cabinet Medical in Morzine, there's a couple in the town centre. These are a bit like the a GP and Accident and Emergency under one roof, if you can get yourself in the door they can normally fix you up! Go home and wash the dirt off first and try and get out of your riding gear, they'll only send you back there anyway if you walk in covered in crap! Take any insurance documents and your E111 card with you. They will stitch you up on the spot normally and most have x-ray facilities on site so will be able to tell you if your broken and how bad it is. Depending on your insurance cover you will either have to sign a load of forms and walk out the door or pay up on the spot for treatment and claim it back after wards. Make sure you have insurance, hurting yourself is not cheap! 170 € for 11 stitches in my experience....! A chopper ride off the mountain is around 4000 €....
Depending on the Cabinet Medical's diagnosis you will either need to stay off the bike for a bit or you will be referred to a hospital for further treatment. You will either be referred to A&E in Cluses or Thonon les Bains (unless you've done something particularly obscure), both are roughly forty minutes drive from Morzine. The drill will be the same so take all your documentation with you. Obviously how long you're there for depends on the severity of your injury.
Medical care is superb in France and most of the doc's and nurses speak English but the injections seem less painful if you give the French a go! If you are referred elsewhere make sure you get someone to go with you (or take a taxi/ambulance) as you will more than likely be shot full of morphine which will make getting home pretty difficult!
Everyone expects different things from their time in the mountains and the above is one persons experience and opinions but it should get you started. The only other thing is that once you're here, don't take it all too seriously! Have fun, we're just riding bicycles down hills......!
Nick
Seasonaire essentials?
We ask a few experienced alpine riders and pro racers for their essential tips to get through the season!