Frame: Carbon, Medium.

Rear Shock: Custom FOX Float

Fork: RockShox Pike 29, Solo Air , 160mm travel

Drivetrain: Sram 1 x 11

Wheels: Specialized Roval 29, tubeless ready

Tyres: Maxxis High Roller, Specialized Butcher (plus a few used spares and several spare tubes)

Brakes: Avid Trail 7 , new brake pads

Seatpost: Specialized Commandpost

Prologue

This was a short sub 2 minute sprint around the race centre which I rode blind but it seemed most people had practiced it (although you technically weren’t supposed to). A fast downhill fireroad pedal came into a tight gravelly corner, a short rooty singletrack, super tight switchback, short rocky rooty trail and then a flat out pedal through an underground carpark, short lung-busting uphill and a grassy drop to the finish with an awkward corner to catch you out at speed. Good fun, barely long enough to notice but practice would have been a big advantage!

Race Day – 5 Stages, 850m climbing, 1900m descent

After a short climb from the gondola the race started with a long, technical stage from high up the mountain. Full of big sharp rocky and tuffy grass there were line everywhere and it was really hard to see the best way to go through. In the middle section lot of really tight switchbacks required perfect line choice to get around and rain overnight had added an extra layer of grease making the trail tougher. I always seem to struggle to get into the flow starting the first trail cold had one crash trying to change line and generally felt I rode like a bag of potatoes down this.

Stage two was shorter, I rode most of it blind and still struggled to get into the flow. Lower down it was a mix of roots and rocks through the trees. Stage three was very short but awesome fun. I tried to force my head to get into gear before we set off but took it a bit too far, going into overdrive and riding like a hyperactive kid. A fast grassy section turned sharply into the woods and I got carried away totally overshooting the corner and getting tangled up in my bike. After that I calmed down and rode better as the trail was full of roots and fun loamy corners finishing on a short flat out sprint.

A longish climb took us up to stage four, a long man-made trail down to Flims town (the Runca Trail), which I rode half of blind. I’m not normally a fan of these trails but racing it flat out was fun, not so technical so you could almost switch off, get into the flow and ride flat out. The upper section has lot of bermy corners, tabletop jumps and pumping sections before coming into a loooong fast pedal across the grass. I whacked my saddle up and got on the pedals giving it all when suddenly out of nowhere there was a  half meter drop that I nosed dived off and somehow just got enough weight behind the saddle to keep the bike upright but it was properly sketchy! the second half of the trail was down north-shore type wood at high speed which was kind of fun but a crash would have had high consequences. Good fun.

Stage 5 I hadn’t practiced at all but it was fairly short. A narrow rough grassy trail traversed along a ridgeline with a steep drop off one side. After that was a flat fireroad pedal, a fast downhill and some loose drifty corners down to the finish in the race village.

Overall a great race with a nice mixture of trails and a good format that meant stage start times were relaxed so you could ride around at your own pace with a group without stressing about being in a certain place at a certain time. I finished 12th, a bit disappointed to be honest (results). Arriving tired from a tough week at work and missing most of practice didn’t help but enough excuses, I need to sort my head out at the start of these races and get the balance right between being focused and being relaxed. It was nice to race with mates from Zürich close to home and fun meeting up again with Irish rider Michelle Muldoon who had a great ride to finish 8th. 

Next up, EWS in La Thuile!

Day One – 3 timed runs on two stages + 2 practice runs

Taking the gondola up I was full of anticipation and maybe a slight be of apprehension about what would be in store for us coming down. The first stage was huge, over 1000m descent over 7km, but after practice revealed there was nothing majorly scary, I was excited to race. The women set off first with the fastest ranked riders starting last and only 15 seconds time gaps between each person. This led to a bit of chaos when racing with both faster and slower riders losing time with passing leading to people getting frustrated (luckily the organisers changed this around for day two). The top section was rough and full of the kind of sharp pointy rocks that are keen to puncture your tyres so riding smooth was key. After that speeds increased as the trail dopped through meadows, some freshly cut grassy turns, a massive slightly uphill pedaling section, switchbacks through the woods and a flat out fast ski piste finish. I rode ok-ish but got passed on the top section and then stuck behind people on the pedaling bit.

Stage 2 which we raced twice was a full on monster. 8.5km and over 20 minutes of racing starting up on what felt like the top of the world, traversing across a rough rocky mountain above the vegetation line. The first obstacle was a small but very deep and rutted snow patch where it seems most people had an OTB at some stage after which was a nasty uphill and a very physical rocky descent. As the trail dropped down it became more and more dusty with occasional short pedaling sections, lots of eyeballs out as high speed as you dare sections, some switchbacks and finally a steep lung-busting climb from hell just to finish you off as your arms and legs were screaming to stop. The Stage was extremely tough and physical but the sheer length of it was insane, double the length of the longest stage I’ve ridden before so maintaining fully focused concentration was a real challenge . Although the passing (or being passed!) was really frustrating at times, it was great to be close to other riders all the time, to have people in your sights to aim for, to learn where your strengths and weaknesses are and to see just how fast the fast girls are. Awesome day.

Day 2 – 3 timed runs, 2 stages, 2 practice runs and a transition stage that involved more braking than my body could handle

The first stage of day two started high up another mountain with stunning views down a freshly cut trail full covered in tuffty grass with pointy rocks hidden underneath, some rock gardens and lower down some fun rooty corners through the trees to the finish. Big Enduro 29er wheels were a saving grace when hitting rough sections full of hidden holes and rocks at high speed! Although slightly shorter than saturday’s stages the distance was still tough with arms and legs sore from the day before and quickly filling with lactic acid. The killer of day 2 was a downhill singletrack transition to get between two gondolas, which we had to ride 5 times. Normally this would be far better than an uphill fireroad but the extent of the arm pump from racing meant that any braking was a painful experience and this was the final nail in the coffin!

The 2nd stage was another tough one starting across a rough rock filled trail with a few loose high speed ski piste sections in between. Keeping the flow and ride smoothly to avoid mechanicals was key with lots DNFs due to mechanicals and crashes. Loads of dusty switchbacks and some physical forest sections filled up any remaining space in your body with lactic and shot your pulse up through the roof. Then it was time for the climbing. Several short, punchy full gas climbs followed one after the other with sections of technical singletrack in between so that as your heart and lungs felt like they were going to burst out of your body you had to be fully calm and composed to clear the downhill section. I take some kind of sick enjoyment from this, in xc you are always holding something back on climbs and descents but here its flat out every time which is awesome!

So overall 13,000m descending over the two days (usually it might be 3-4,000 over two days!). I finished 26th, an improvement on last time but still have lots to learn. Brilliant weekend meeting and hanging out with lots of cool people from all over the world. The trails themselves were good although probably not the best I’ve ridden in the Alps, but as a race event it worked very well. It was sickening to leave the circus to be back at work on Monday morning when it seemed everyone else was heading off in a van for several weeks of playing in the Alps. Bring on La Thuile!

Thanks to Velo Elsener for making sure my bike was in tip top condition!

Fork unlocked, shock unlocked, gears shifted, saddle down, full face on. Ready. 3, 2, 1, Go! Pedal, look ahead, arghh whats that i cant look up, shit forgot to put goggles on and they’re in the way behind my head, should i stop? faff faff loosing time, ok stop and sort it, panic panic 30 seconds wasted, right forget about it, back on it, focus, corner, on the brakes, look ahead, shit thats steep wasn’t expecting that, yeaow this is fun, drop, watch out for the rocks, off the brakes, more steep corners, legs burning, wheels drifting wow these tyres are amazing thought i was a gonner, flat bit – saddle up, pedal…!

Read at high speed and you have an idea of stage one of the Bluegrass Enduro in Rombach at the weekend.  Another trip to a random little village in the depths of the forest covered hills of Alsace in France and another fun enduro race on awesome trails with cool people. The trail builders in this area have a very definite building style, the courses are always full of tight steep loamy switchbacks and bus stop features. In Rombach the trails were steeper and more technical than Dabo, one section we rode twice finished in the centre of the village with the track switchbacking down what looked like a cliff face when you looked at it from below. In the race there was no time to consider how steep it was you just have to get on and do it, and riding it in a downpour the second time made it even more fun.

The stages were long, 2 of them around 11 minutes and when you’re trying to be 100% focused its a long time to concentrate and also an absolute killer on your legs since you’re standing on the pedals the whole time. I still haven’t get my head around blind racing, I felt like I rode large parts of the race well but lost far too much time making stupid mistakes and finished 6th. Overall a great event, plenty of chance to chat to other riders on the liasons and it was cool to see loads of girls from all over Europe there this time.

Nice video of the race here. Thanks to Bilger Lionel for the photos. 

The next round is in Ireland with a separate race for the girls, will be savage – do it!!

Even managed a cheeky stop off in Finale on the way home for a couple of descents and a beer on the beech. Rad.

I am excited to be representing Zurich bike shop Velo Elsener  this season on board a Specialized Enduro 29er offroad and occasionally a Specialized Tarmac on the road. I cannot imagine a faster or more fun bike to ride and am grateful for the mechanical assistance from Zurich’s most reliable bike workshop

Check out the team webpage here.  Updates there to follow will be a test of my German skills…!