Preparing for Mentok

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Here are some photos of our training session in the Ecrins National Park last weekend (taken by Pierre):

Fun ride in the Aravis

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I've just come back from a cycle touring trip in the Aravis, with a two-fold purpose : climb my 1st "real" pass with a fully loaded tricycle, and test a new tent footprint.

Starting Sunday morning, obviously later than expected ...towards Saint Pierre Faucigny - Petit Bornand. This is the 1st time I have ridden this route in this direction, as I usually ride down coming from Colombière pass. I discover the beautiful Eveaux Gorge to which I had never paid any attention. Lunch break in Entremont at the excellent "Auberge Au Coeur des Monts" run by the friendly Sophie and Jerome (04 50 03 52 48). Arrival in Grand Bornand earlier than planned (despite the late departure and the long lunch break), I decide to go for a ride towards the Boucher Valley. Night at L'Escale just for the sake of a splash in the pool, feels terrific after a good 1st day pedaling.

A late afternoon thunderstorm soaks the tent and turns the ground to mud, so as to give more meaning to the test of the new tent footprint... not very convincing!

I start - for once - a tiny bit less early than expected... Today's goal : ride my 1st real pass with a fully loaded trike, Croix Fry pass (1477m). It climbs gently, I feel good. Final ascent amidst the fir trees before reaching the ski slopes. Riding on a small gravel track up to the restaurant, I have the confirmation that the rear wheel doesn't lose traction when the trike is loaded (2 panniers on the rear rack). Lunch at a table outside : hearty pot-au-feu (beef and vegie stew) so as to get some strength back.


Absolutely fabulous ride down on the Manigod side. The road climbs again a bit up to col du Marai, then gently goes down all the way to Faverges where it merges with the Annecy Lake cycle path. I stop for camping in Doussard. Tent set up under a stormy shower, the night is going to be wet once again... But fortunately, the camping spot by the lake is beatiful, and the sun is back in the morning.

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Quack Quack

On the last day, I once more set off fairly late (after taking some photos of the ducks and swans)! Quick stopover at M5 to say hello. The cycle path is very pleasant as usual (outside weekends of course). Back home after a picnic by the lake.

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Winter Ride

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For lack of time, I haven't put online the results of the first tests of the QNT. But I can already say that my first impressions are more than positive.

Here are some photos of the brillant winter tricycle-touring ride in the Ecrins National Park on February 13-15 (organised by Alain, along with Christine, Gabriel and Anne-Do, Jacques, and me of course) :

Me on the left (I know, not easy to recognize),
Christine and Anne Do in the foreground

Me, Anne Do and Jacques

blablabla...
(Anne Do and Christine in the foreground,
Gabriel and Jacques in the background)

Base camp : Desert in Valjouffrey

Beautiful sunset above the camping spot

Warming up as we can around a camp fire

Everyone has their own technique to take the tricycle back up to the road

We left from Moulin Vieux (just after the Alpe du Grand Serre coming from Sechilienne) for those who know the area), and rode to Desert in Valjouffrey, some 50km way. Hilly roads, but not too hard, on quiet country lanes, clear of snow most of the way. Still a fair climb at the end of the day. Some packed snow on the road and a little bit of ice here and there, but only on flat portions or downhills. No problem of traction (no spinning of the rear wheel) contrary to what i had thought. Probably the weight of the luggage improves the grip. The tricycle behaves brilliantly. Better anticipate braking though, especially before bends, or skidding off the road is garanteed. Stability is amazing (easy racing down around 40 km/h on hard snow/ice). This trip would have been impossible on a 2 wheel-bike without falling off a dozen times.

Camping at a spot called "desert" (just below the last village up the valley). Beautiful sunset. It's bloody cold, but everyone's got good equipment. Alain lights a comforting fire, enabling us to melt the frozen water in our bottles, and warming our hands and feet. Starting the stoves is problematic. My Camping Gaz stove dies. An aging hose on a multifuel snaps with the frost. Fortunately, Alain's Primus works brilliantly, it will be used by the whole group. Lesson learnt : it's better to have a good fuel stove in working order and checked, and a 2nd one for back-up if possible.

Hard to get out of the sleeping bag in the morning. –17°C, it's bloody freezing! After a hefty breakfast and some hot tea, we fill the thermoses and set off. The first long downhill from Valjouffrey feels bitterly cold. Every inch of skin left uncovered is immediately cryogened. My down jacket makes miracles, but I have to ride with my big snow boots on (I kept the inner boot warm in the sleeping bag during the night) because the cycling shoes + overshoes prove insufficient in spite of the supposedly warm Merino socks. I'm gonna have to seriously think about the pb because Western Tibet might be a tiny bit cold (-10/-20°C in October) !!!

The snow we had encountered on some portions on Saturday had completely melted when we passed on Sunday. Good thing as the climb back up to Sievoz would have been a tiny bit tricky had there been snow on the road. Back home at dusk. A jolly good weekend.

No technical pb except a loose roulette wheel on one of the trikes (not mine ;-)) but it had nothing to do with the cold. No frozen cable nor derailleur (though the trikes slept outside in the snow). Only Jacques had a studded rear tyre onhis Challenge.

(Thanks to Alain for his photos, I had unfortunately forgotten the batterie for my camera!).

More update when I find the time…

First ride today!

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First ride : some twenty kms, mainly on a cycle path. I finished mounting the trike on Wednesday but could only try it on the parking lot because there was much snow on the roads. Today, the sky cleared up at last. I finished work at noon and went cycling in the afternoon. Only 20-25 km, but enough to realize I’m not quite ready for climbing any pass! I need to build up some muscles…

First report: as expected, the trike rides fantastic. It is very comfortable and easy to handle. I rode mostly on cycling lanes, flat and smooth, with no particular problem. Some bits were snowed in and impassable, so I had to get off and push a couple of times. Going uphill was definitely hard work (and VERY slow), but this should improve with training.

I rode on the road a bit, found it a bit stressful at the beginning being so low, but only met a few cars that weren’t driving fast anyway. One of them was looking at me instead of the road, and I thought for a second that they were heading for the ditch… I also rode on a small track for a couple hundred meters, the trike behaved much better than I thought it would. Actually, I could hardly feel the bumps and holes. The only thing was that I got stuck twice because it was slippery and the rear wheel wasn't giving any traction.

I will still have some adjustment to make (the rear derailleur was not correctly tuned, the front mudguards moved a bit, and I'm not sure the front boom is perfectly adjusted yet).

Oh yeah, I forgot, my feet did get cold! But there might be another reason than a faulty design on the trike… I’ll try not to forget the overshoes next time I ride in cold weather!

All in all, I ‘m delighted with the QNT !