I’ve had a go at lot of dangerous sports in my time. Scuba Diving, Parachuting, Surfing, Climbing, Skiing and Paragliding to name but a few. All of those have their own particular risks of death and injury, but without doubt the most dangerous sport I’ve ever done in terms of risk of catastrophic impact injury and broken bones is downhill Mountain Biking. I’ve blogged a bit about the kind of body armor we use, but you can’t protect every inch of yourself.

After Sunday’s outing in Les Houches I have got one of the largest bruises I’ve ever had in my life. My more experienced biking partner Fred convinced me to try jumping my bike over a couple of fallen tree trunks on the steep single track we were descending. I failed spectacularly to do this, instead crashing the bike and wrecking my unprotected thighs on the pedals and rocky ground.

A couple of days later and the best bruise is looking like this. Doesn’t hurt though. Further proving what a double ‘ard bastard I am :)

Mountain Biking Bruise

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An interview with Alex Diamond of Diamond Diving. We join Alex on the easydive Antibes dive boat where on a beautiful June day in early season we learn what kind of marine life we can expect to see in Antibes, what level of diver you have to be, and why diving in the med is all about where you dive. The Cote d’Azur is in fact: a world class dive spot.

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Diving with Diamond diving was a pleasure this weekend, but as Alex himself says: “c’est normale”. The weather wasn’t the best for our 2 days in St Raphael, but the hotel was nice and I didn’t really mind the rain on the second day as the wind on the first. The Ile du Lion de Mer was pretty choppy with wind gusting up to about force 4 at times. But here’s what the site has to offer.

“The southern side of the island has a stunning drop off that is rich in gorgonian coral growth carpeting the crevices and cracks to a depth of 40 metres. In one area (La Grotte du Corail – the Coral Cave) there is a great concentration of red coral, lobsters and nudibranches.”

The second dive on Sunday was in a calm, rainy sea off the Ile D’Or was stunning. The water was still 16deg, but being the hardy UK diver I am, I had a proper drysuit with enough padding underneath to keep me warm. The highlight of the dive was seeing a couple of jeuvenive barracuda hanging around looking meanacing.

I’m glad to have caught up with Alex. The great Diamond Diving news is that they’re taking delivery of a new diving RIB this week, which should open up a whole new area of Antibes to any qualifyed diver. The cote d’azur actually is a world class dive site and I’m going to be going back there this year for sure.

Here are some photos from last year’s trip to Antibes. The weather wasn’t really great for photography this trip.

Meanwhile – back in Chamonix. Winter has reared it’s head again and there’s new snow. And it’s still snowing. I think I might well follow a couple of days diving with a couple of days skiing. Perhaps the garden can wait. Damn snow killed my berlotti bean seedlings anyway.

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There’s no point denying it – the ski season is over. The snow has melted and even if the lifts are still running, it’s just not much fun.

So we’re off for a short break on the south coast before whatever comes next. Saint Raphael in fact. I’ve got a couple of dives booked with my mate Alex from Diamond Diving. A couple of days in a nice hotel with some sun and seafood feels like just the ticket right now.

So we’re heading off in the morning, driving south through France. Grenoble, Gap, Grasse. We’ll drive till we find somewhere nice to stop and camp for a night & arrive in St Raph in the morning. I’m diving that afternoon and the next and then we’ll make our way back the other way – through Italy. Camp again, perhaps in Finali or somewhere like that.

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