After a while darkness, grey skies, millions of layers of clothing, rides where meter deep snow meant more time spent going over the bars than going forward, and the novelty of variety began to wear off and all I wanted to do was ride a bike properly. So at the end of February we drove 5 hours south to Finale Ligure for a weekend to ride in the dust, swim in the sea and eat icecream. A solution that solves all problems. Since then the benefit of a few years Swiss riding experience has paid off and learning to hunt out the south facing slopes has meant getting a good bit of riding done on real trails, sometimes even up in the Alps.

Day 1 – 4 Stages, 50km, lots of rocks 

The first day was definitely the more technical, beginning with stage one being one of the hardest to ride smoothly. There was nothing particularly scary but the trail was full of really tight, steep and rocky corners that were really hard to ride let alone race at high speed. It was a fun track though, some high speed sections through the trees full of rocky drops and layers of thick dust which had built up with hundreds of riders training on the course. I felt I rode ok, got cleanly down one tricky steep section where I’d headbutted a tree the day before and had plenty of ragged wheel drifting moments that I managed to hold on to. I messed up an easy corner though and lost a good 10 seconds getting going again.

Normally at the bottom of the stage there is time to exchange stories with other riders, have a drink or a bit to eat etc but this time we charged out of the stage gasping for breath and it was straight into a nasty hot hairpin road climb up to stage 2. I normally have no problem with transitions even when others struggle but this time I arrived with 7 minutes to spare, just time to catch my breath, change helmets, neck a gel. Stage 2 was more flowy, fast and rocky up the top with a couple of short climbs before dropping into some fun swoopy switchbacks.

From there it was another hot road climb followed by a technical singletrack up to stage 3, my favourite of the day. The start was fast, full of jumps and drops before the trail turned up with a short cyclocross style running section and a small amount of pedaling. After that it was extremely physical with nothing but rocks. Some tricky tight switchbacks, some big rock gardens and at the end a high speed blast down a very rough ancient cobbled path to the finish at an old farmhouse where the owner was busy decanting his wine and cutting the grass, ignoring the chaos that was going on around him.

The climb to stage 4 was a killer. Luckily i’d done it before so had an idea of how far I had to go but the time we had was very tight and the blazing sun made it even harder. I had to stop part of the way up as my legs started to cramp and once again had only a few minutes to recover at the top. This felt like marathon racing and enduro bikes are not made for that stuff!

I was somewhat apprehensive about stage 4, it began flowy, fast and fun before dropping into the loosest trail I’ve ever ridden. It was steep and full of lines, ruts and loose corners, which required full commitment and concentration to ride and got scarier the faster you went. The views of the sea were stunning but I hadn’t managed to ride the steep section in one go in practice and was hoping that adrenaline would get me down on the day. It did but only just! Halfway down the most sketchy part my legs started to cramp up and unable to control the bike properly I had to slow down. That was easier said than down, my arms where so tired I could barely hold the bars and arm pump made breaking painful. I started shouting at myself “look ahead, stay loose, ride it you bender” to try and stay focused. I was an absolute mess and the noisy supporters lining the track must have thought I was nuts but I got to the bottom in one piece and without any crashes. Delighted!

It wasn’t over though, there was a flat 10km pedal back into town. One the way the cramps came back and I literally couldn’t pedal, couldn’t get off the bike and was screaming with pain. I stopped to stretch it out but could only afford two minutes or I’d have missed the cut off time. I managed to get going and ride along screaming with pain and fighting tears as every so often my legs went into further spasms. I just made it back where there was finally chance to chat to the other girls and it turns out half of us were suffering similar problems. Hot weather, hard fast riding and not enough salts were the problem so I spent the evening necking electrolytes and eating bananas to try and recover for the next day.

Day 2 – 2 Stages, 45km, 20km/1200m wakeup climb

Today started with a 20km road climb with the poor enduro bikes protesting all the way up. Luckily the times were more generous today so there was time for a chat and a laugh on the way up and a break at the top where it was a lot cooler. Stage 5 was a short one full of wide open swoopy corners through the beach forest. Somehow my brain had forgotten about the many short leg snapping climbs in between though and there seemed to be a lack of connection between my brain which was saying go fast and my legs which refused to respond. The whole thing felt sluggish but it turned out to be one of my fastest stages.

After another climb and hikeabike there was only stage 6 to go but it was a monster. Almost 20 minutes of absolute flat out trails that at times felt more like xc than enduro. The top section was open and fast and lower down became rocky at times but nowhere near as much as yesterday. It seemed as if the climbs had doubled in length since practice, after every fun section of descent there was an eyeballs out pedal before you dropped straight into more switchbacking corners that required full composure. Luckily my legs woke up a bit after the first stage and I rediscovered some xc style enjoyment of self punishment to get my best stage time. It was high 5s and whoops of delight all around at the bottom as everyone was visibly delighted to survive the weekend’s challenge and we blasted back to Finale for sea swimming, pasta and gelato.

Overall a brilliant experience and a challenge I’m happy to have got through in one piece, finishing 26th on the day and 27th in the EWS overall (results here). The trails were amazing fun and at times very difficult to race, the transition times on day one were a bit too much but I guess it is the World Series and the top riders have to be challenged. With hot sun, warm sea, good food and amazing coffee, Finale is the ultimate place for an end of season race.

Now time for a break, I don’t want to look at a bike for a while but motivation will be easy to find this winter – the next time the EWS is in Europe it will be in Ireland!!! wahoooo.

What a weekend! Autumn sunshine, dry dusty super technical trails, a rare chance to swim in the sea, awesome food and coffee – Finale Ligure is a close as you can get to paradise so to have the chance to spend 4 days riding and racing against the best riders in the world was amazing.

Day 1 covered 47km with 1500m of climbing to access the 3 timed stages on a stunning route through the mountains behind Finale often overlooking the sea (unfortunately the 4th stage was cancelled due to a bad crash). The first stage was the shortest of the race and despite being the least technical it included a couple of steep drops and plenty of rocky sections to keep the enthusiastic Italian crowds entertained. I need to learn to chill out at the start of races, rode like a nervous idiot, ignored all the nice lines I’d picked out in practice and generally made things hard for myself.

As I flicked my seatpost up to tackle the long technical climb up to stage 2 my seatpost cable snapped – disaster! I decided to get to the top and try to fix it there when I knew how much time I had. I couldn’t get the snapped cable out to replace it but with seconds to spare I managed to get the seat down so that at least I could ride the technical stage somewhat safely. The stage was quite flowy in the beginning before turning into a steep rocky climb requiring concentration and power. I had to stand up because of the saddle and half way up my legs were exploding and I had to hop off and run – bummer, was planning to use xc skills to my advantage and instead lost time here! After that the course dropped into a long and extremely technical downhill with several rock gardens, drops and sharp steep switchbacks. It took full focus and concentration to remember what was coming up and which line to take. I rode it all, got down cleanly and caught a couple of girls en route but next year I have to make myself take some of the shortcut racing lines for extra speed (big loose drops, head said no!).

After passing back through the town with a chance to stop in at the pit area where Specialized came to the rescue and fixed my seatpost, we had to tackle another long and at times even more technical climb up to Mani, where stunning sea views awaited. Stage 3 began fast, turned into a very short flat out climb and then descended from the top of the mountain down to the sea. The track got steeper and more rocky towards the bottom with some extremely tight switchbacks followed by a few flights of stairs which popped out in the village square in Noli. Rode ok, problem free and lots of fun.

Sunday began with a steady 14km road climb up to the first stage of the day where we arrived half an hour early. After sitting round chatting I picked up my bike with 2 minutes to go and realised I had a flat tyre – major panic, just got it inflated and legged it to the start. This one started out fast, all downhill but with some chances to pedal before the trail got more technical taking in some big rock gardens, switchbacks and loose drifty corners. Lost some time getting stuck behind some of the girls in front but amazing stage, so much fun to ride.

Having survived that all that was left was another uphill road slog to the top of stage 6, a repeat of the 2nd stage from Saturday. After another deflated tyre and pre-start panic (tubeless not sealed properly!) I hammered the climb this time and caught 2 girls before the top so that I could have a clear run at the descent. I had my lines dialled by this stage and rode it all perfectly until 50m from the end when there was nothing left to do I somehow wiped out and lost time getting tangled up in my bike. Doh. I was not happy with myself but quickly got over it after a short pedal back into the paddock in the centre of town where there was time for swimming in the sea and freshly made pasta. The party afterwards was another story in itself and I’m still feeling wrecked from it!

I finished 23rd overall, happy enough for a first EWS. My times were getting comparatively faster each stage and to survive the course without walking stuff or having an major incidents was a good start. Thanks to Fox for the fork service after Saturday, the difference a bit of suspension makes is amazing.

Can’t wait for next year!

Finale Ligure is possibly as close as you can get to paradise for mountain bikers. Good weather almost year round, hundreds of mountain bike trails leading down to the sea, great coffee, icecream and lots of really good fresh Italian food.

Close to the town the trails are exposed, rocky and technical passing through herb plants, pretty flowers and traditional Italian Villages with a stunning backdrop of the Mediterranean Sea.

You can climb (or take the shuttle!) for 15km to the top of the mountain above the town to see views of the snow covered Alps on one side and Corsica on the other followed by amazing singletrack descents through beach forests, rocky mountain tracks, pine woods and open mountains all the way back down to the sea. We had to drag ourselves home every day and couldn’t wait to get up in the mornings to go again.

After 8 days straight of riding dragging my bouncy bike up 10,000m of climbing and down even more I am pretty destroyed but extremely happy! highly recommended…

Despite the reputation for sunshine we timed it wrong and had torrential rain nearly every day. The locals said they wouldn’t bother riding – it’s muddy, the rocks are really slippy and dangerous, it won’t be fun they advised. Of course we ignored them and found some amazing riding despite the mud and rivers running down the trails. They were right about the greasy rocks though, wet limestone would make road biking on sheet ice seem grippy! The trails are tough but incredible, long climbs followed by physical technical descents full of tight switchbacks, loose stones and rocky drops. Luckily I was on-board my new Specialized Stumpjumper Evo, the most fun bike you can ever imagine, it gets up the hills no bother and skips playfully back down taking anything you throw at it. Time to see what the fuss is about and try some enduro racing I think!

A monster 9 hour train ride later and I arrived back in Zurich to find spring has arrived, temperatures have gone up 10 degrees and the snow has melted – wahoooooo!