Last weekend was the first round of the Bluegrass Enduro Tour in Dabo, a small village in the Alsace region of France. Having done some of this series last year I was keen to go back, the races are great fun and well organised but also offer a cultural experience and chance to get an inside view of rural France. The course was a 35km loop with 6 timed stages and 1900m descending. As with all of the Bluegrass series it was raced blind so no practicing or checking out the trails the day before.
The area is a biking paradise with a rabbit warren of biking trails running through the forests. Most of the course was through loamy pine trees with plenty of roots, switchbacks and the perfect spring sunshine on race day even bringing some dust. The organisers had put in a huge amount of trail building work and some of the freshly cut sections switchbacking through deep, soft pine needles and moss were amazing fun to ride. Other sections were more rocky and although in general the trails were more high speed than technical, there was plenty of variety to keep you on your toes.
The transitions between the stages were also great to ride, often passing through tiny villages or farm areas with views of the surrounding hills and lots of little singletrack climbs. Infact there were some positively adventurous sections, we had to do some via ferrata style rock climbing carrying bikes at one point! The time limits were generous so there was plenty of time to chat and enjoy the relaxed friendly atmosphere. After the race oven cooked pizzas were served beside a lake for all the competitors – love the French attitude to making these events so sociable and fun!
I was really looking forward to getting underway with racing and putting the new Enduro 29er to the test but didn’t have the greatest of races. Not a total disaster, I finished 5th, but can do better! I can’t exactly say why, it was just a frustrating day where things didn’t come together and I got to the end of each stage thinking I should have been much faster. Brakes not fully functioning, terrain I’m not used to, a minor crash, head not in high speed gear – all excuses, will ride faster next time!
Race video here – I’m worse at interviews than I am at riding bikes.
