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.

With some horrendous weather in the days leading up to the race including snow and 60 kmph winds for those practicing stage 1 early on Thursday, this was looking to be another epic EWS challenge. Luckily the weather improved and practice was so awesome I had to drag myself off the trails each day to conserve energy for racing.

Day 1

Stage one was the longest of anything in the EWS so far, starting up in the clouds and patchy snow at 2600m and descending all the way down to the village. The top was full of big, sharp, slightly greasy rocks. After that came a loooong flat out fast slightly downhill trail across rough grass, which required a lot of pedaling and taking your heart rate up to high levels. This dropped into a tough section of narrow singletrack which required full concentration. At first fast and dry with some rocks and switchbacks but becoming boggy, mixed in with some technical rocky sections just as your tyres got covered in water and mud. Up to this point I was going well, made it fairly cleanly through the tricky boggy bits and caught the girl ahead as the trail kicked up into a horrendous steep fireroad climb. Going into this after already 15mins descending, my heart was thumping, legs burning and arms screaming but seeing someone ahead I gave absolutely everything to get to the top ahead. Dropping into a muddy narrow singletrack I was going cross eyed and so full of lactic I could barely hold onto the bike and soon after had a minor crash, catching the handlebars on a bank at the side of the trail and twisting them round at almost 90 degrees. Arrrgh panic! I desperately tried to straighten them but they were totally stuck and in the end I had to dig out a multitool to get them straight, whilst all the time riders were passing me and the clock was ticking. I was stopped for a good couple of minutes and they were still slightly off center as struggled to get back into the flow riding the seemingly never-ending last section of switchbacks through the forest to the end of the stage. Gutted.

After that was a long pedal and hike-a-bike up the other side of the valley to stage two. I was excited about this one, such an awesome trail full of loamy fast switchbacks through the trees – the kind of trail you could ride non stop all day long. As we set off the forecast rain began to fall meaning sections of the track got pretty greasy and other more sheltered bits were still dusty so it was hard to judge what speed to ride. I was still not back in the flow after stage 1′s disaster and messed up at what seemed like every moment possible, missing lines, hitting little climbs in the wrong gear and generally making a meal of it. Was not happy, I loved this in practice and went into it feeling confident.

Stage 3. By this time the rain was well underway and the temperature had dropped so that despite lots of extra clothes by the time we got to the top of the chairlift we were all absolutely freezing and all I wanted to do was be at the bottom in a hot shower. The top section dropped down two steep rocky sections which were fine in practice but had now become greasy and muddy. I slid out towards the bottom and got tangled up in the tape but quickly back on track. Then came a fast, fun grassy section with a few big corners. Coming into in there was deep muddy puddle which I’d been coming into at speed and jumping over in practice. I did the same thing but the bloody mud had got longer and I landed smack into it and the bike wiped out underneath me. Slapped my elbow and knee off the ground at high speed and twisted my saddle so that every time I tried to lean the bike into a corner after that the saddle was sticking into my leg. F**cksake! After that things got better and I got into a good flow. The trail was awesome and the rain damped down the dust making it even more fun to ride. Loamy corners, roots, high speeds and the finish down a short bike park trail into the middle of the village.

Day 2

Having had too many stupid time wasting crashes on day one I was keen to improve things on the second day. Rain over night meant the trails were wetter and more mud filled than the day before. Stage 4 was a repeat of the monstrously long stage 1. I didn’t start well having a small crash on a muddy section high up (wrong tyre choice!) and later on wasted more time getting my bag tangled up on the saddle as I tried to let someone pass from behind.

Stage 5. This was another awesome stage, the same start as stage 3 yesterday before turning off into more endless loamy corners in the woods. Rode better. By stage 6, another long one, I was beginning to feel the exertions of the past 3 days, mostly in the form of arm pump. The trail was so good and I rode the top 2/3rds well, telling myself to stay loose and relaxed through the rocky and sometime muddy singletracks. Towards the bottom the corners got steeper and my arms just gave up, I couldn’t hold my speed because my fingers weren’t able to pull the brakes anymore! had to take it mega steady. Towards the end the trail flattened out for some pedaling before turning uphill onto a fireroad climb. This was a major sufferfest and it was only the sight of a couple of girls ahead that kept me going at full gas before we dropped into a few berms and a short sprint to the finish. At the finish line there were people everywhere lying on the ground or hung doubled over there bikes gasping for breath for a good five minutes after we finished. Awesome!

La Thuile is seriously one of the best places I’ve ever ridden and I’m dying to get back. The format was great, the race was a challenge but manageable and the people fun to hang out with. Having gone into it confident of being able to ride the trails well I was disappointed with how I rode but you can always learn from mistakes!

Prologue

The race began on Saturday evening with a flat out 40 second sprint as fast as your nerves would let you down a short trail, around a steep berm, through a few concrete corners and finishing with a mad sprint up the main street of the village. Pure adrenaline, a party atmosphere and great spectating with lots of crashes.

4 x timed stages, 2 x chairlifts, 2 x 550m climbs 

After a chairlift and a 20 minute climb we began the race proper surrounded by Alpine mountains still covered in snow not far above us. A nice singletrack lead to a short climb and some very fast sections through meadows and bogs where you had to be flat out stomping on the pedals before hitting a  fun bermed pump track style bike park down to the town. I entirely messed up one section and lost a good 40 seconds, not warmed up properly or not in the zone, either way I need to find out how to start these things better!

From there we had a good hour of hot climbing up to stage 2. Not pleasant on a bouncy bike lugging loads of body armour and a full-face helmet along but the views and the banter made it bearable. The sociable relaxed atmosphere at these races and the chance to meet like minded people from all over the world makes it great fun. The second stage was a monster, beginning with off-camber trails cut through grassy pastures it dropped into the forest into endless root covered rutted singletrack that was all perfectly rideable and great fun be to go fast was utter body destruction. Standing on the pedals the whole time, legs burning trying to pump the bike over bumps and around corners, arms screaming reluctant to pull the brakes and brain struggling to stay focused to pick a line and remember what was coming up. It was a relief to get into another bike park section towards the bottom with some fun drops, jumps and swooping berms.

Stage 3 and 4 were a repeat of the first 2 stages – something we thought a bit boring at first but actually a great idea and chance to do justice to the mistakes of the first time. Stage 3 I rode much better and moved up the rankings. The climb to stage 4 seemed longer and steeper. Stage 4 itself was torture by the end, my body had given up. I was shouting to myself ‘get of the brakes, get off the brakes’ but if I did that I could barely hold the bars and my legs were quivering standing up! savage stuff.

I finished 11th against a some strong international riders so happy enough. An amazing weekend, brilliant trails and really tough racing. Lots to improve on, each race I learn more about what not to do than anything else. Now time to hit the gym!

Full report of the women’s race over on Devil in a Dress

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!

The mountains rise up steeply from the shores of the lake and are covered in a network of hiking trails but its hard to tell what is actually rideable. There are often sections that are tough to walk so scrambling up with a bike is hard work but risks bring rewards and I found some amazing descents. The terrain higher up is very rocky and covered in Mediterranean type herb bushes whereas lower down there are lots of woodland singletracks ending in pretty villages with amazing coffee.





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Rifugio Menaggio ride – a long nasty road climb, a technical singletrack climb, a bit of hike-a-bike and then an amazing switchbacking rocky descent followed by flowing woodland singletrack all the way back down to the lake. Brill.




This was an amazing ride at B’tto di Nava, a real adventure expedition. A tough hour of climbing nearly went to waste because of terrible Italian signposting and when I found the path I spent a lot of time questioning if it was the right one because it was so crazy looking. Standing at the top on a narrow singletrack with a vertical drop off the edge, you can only see as far as the next switchbacks and then the trail several hundred meters below. The connection between the two involved and insane narrow track with 30 or 40 tight, loose, rocky switchbacks and a few steep drops and steps thrown in for good measure. Risks once again bringing rewards, like Italy!

The riding was amazing, undulating roads swoop around the shores of the lake passing through old stone tunnels and pretty villages. Cars beep encouragement rather than running you off the road. As soon as you turn off the lake you are into proper mountains with long, steep climbs and fast fun descents. We made a detour up a steep 8km climb up to the impressive Madonna del Ghisallo a church for the Italian patron of cycling filled with the bikes and jerseys of some of the biggest names in cycling.

It’s not clever to eat icecream at the bottom of a big hill…