NICK RPM90 ON THE 'X'
Words and Photos by Nick Miles
Morzine is famous French Ski resort which has become a ‘go to’ summer travel destination for Downhill Mountain Bikers and Col hungry Road Cyclists. I first lived there in 1998 at a time when riding XC Mountain bikes on the vast network of paths and 4x4 trails was also very much the thing to do. I returned to the UK in 2004 and have since hosted plenty of Road Cycling trips around the area and have always had the maps sitting in my office marked with off road trails and possible spots for an overnight sleep out.
Having a free weekend in the diary and the possibility to ride the new Kinesis X seemed like the perfect opportunity to re-visit some of those mountain Trails and also check out some bike packing style routes too.
I spent two days loaded up with some lightweight overnight kit and then ditched the bags for a last day of lightweight hardtail exploring. The trails were dry and the skies were as blue, I was a lucky chap and could not have had better conditions to check out the new X. I was able to take on some long, steep and rocky Alpine climbs, fast, technical and gravely mountain descents and even some of the inevitable hike a bike that comes from checking out adventurous new routes. The whole set up of this X felt great, extremely well planted and responsive to my every move even with the bags on.
Back at my basecamp, I stripped the bike back to its bare self and headed out for a faster 60km loop that would include a 14km off road climb , a big 4x4 track decent, a 13km tarmac climb and a section of Downhill MTB tracks to get back to Morzine. The X climbs so well and it was nice to hang in there too with some of the roadies who were out! Big cheesy grins were had on the downhill trails and then a few healthy screams were had riding the burmed switchbacks and tabletops back to my Morzine Base. A new 'Super Loop’ nicely added to my list of Morzine rides.
So i definitely managed to X it all up a bit and had a great trip down memory lane. I look forward to trying this bike out with other front end bar/fork set ups for my next trip to Finland. This is a great bike from Kinesis that can take you perfectly into the world of some adventurous trail riding and bike packing with the option of adapting to other set ups depending on what's taking your trail riding fancy.
High above the village of St Jean D’ Aulps looking towards Mont Blanc
Passing through the Col de Golese
Crossing the River Dranse
The excellent trail from the Col de Corbier to Col de L'Ecuelle
Descending the Col de Cou from Switzerland after a night sleeping out