It turns out this year there was no need for psyching myself up for embracing snow sports in order to survive a freezing cold snowy Swiss winter, winter has been cancelled. Before Christmas it was cold and snowy but since then its been mostly above freezing with hardly any snow in Zurich. Suits me, lots of muddy biking! the problem is one day of snow can can stick around a week or two and on the trails quickly turns to unrideable sheet ice so sometimes the road bike is a better option but thats nice too when you’re surrounded by snow.

Pictures below from a crazy January adventure in the Alps where we had to go to 1200m to find snow and after a short mega avalanche style snow descent we were riding dry sunny trails all day. Awesome.

The nights are slowly getting lighter, the race season is fast approaching – exciting times ahead!

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!

Next up 3 weekends in a row of racing…

The Jura is a mountain range running through France and Switzerland towards the Alps and although the mountains are relatively low level, they can be very steep. The area is mostly covered in forest with lots of limestone rocks underneath so the mountain biking is pretty technical. The race was a 30km loop with 1200m climbing, one bus uplift and 7 timed stages of 3-10 minutes.

The terrain took some getting used to, its unusual to have such a combination of forest trails with roots as well as sharp greasy rocks. The stages somewhat blur into one by the end of the race but there were a few that stood out. Stage two was fairly horrible beginning with a pedally descent before coming into a really technical rocky climb/traverse that seemed to go on forever. I normally love technical climbing but this was aweful, I’d say unrideable! The slippy uneven rock slabs ran along a ridge so that if you slipped there were big consequences and everyone I talked to had to run sections. When I finally came to the descent section my flow and rhythm was gone and ended up running down some of the steep rocky switchbacks there too. Not fun, was glad when it was over.

After that it got a bit better, everything was rideable and I was getting used to the terrain. Then stage 6 came along. The first few minutes were xc style in the forest (good xc though, hard pedaling with lots of rocks and roots!) before a short climb dropped us into an incredible long descent through the forest. This was insane, so much fun that my tired brain suddenly found the energy to focus and ride properly. The ground was damp and the slightly greasy mud full of small stones, the trail was as steep as the horrible one in stage two and if I’d have stopped I might not have ridden it but the momentum was there and it just got better and better. Super tight steep switchbacks one after the other with occasional rock drops took us down the hill, each time I wondered if I could get around the corner, it was a case of weight as far off the back as possible, turn the bars and slide hoping not to land on the next bit of trail 3m below. Each time the corner was perfectly built to catch you as you slid around. Brilliant.

Stage 7 was a slightly downhill flat out 2.5 min sprint back to the starting area with two racers starting alongside each other – a chance to satisfy the rider on rider competition that I miss with Enduros. I lined up against race winner Lorraine Truong (Norco World Enduro Team) and she got the hole shot as we sprinted absolutely flat out across a field before going into the woods. I was on her wheel through a twisty rooty singletrack before we hit a big swampy puddle and I got stuck! I lost 50m there but clawed back to almost close the gap before we finished with exploding lungs and pumped full of adrenaline.

The Race was based at a farm with showers and bike wash provided, and afterwards an evening meal and beer on tap served in a big wooden barn surrounded by hay bales. Its really cool to go to a fairly small local event and see so many passionate people getting involved to put on a cool event. I finished 2nd and am looking forward to another race in the area in a few weeks where I intend to sleep more beforehand!

cool video of the race here.

Enduro mountain biking in Davos

Mountain bike adventure at the Walensee - 2500m climb and straight back down

Klausenpass – 29km road climb up to 1900m

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

Incredibly rocky paths switchback through the olive groves eventually leading down to the sea and beautiful cove at Deia. The rock gardens are serious ones that would be at home on a downhill course, often steep and lasting several hundred meters, they are littered with huge unavoidable boulders and half meter high drop offs. The old men standing around picking olives and gossiping barely batted an eyelid as I went clattering past in a cloud of dust.

It was absolutely amazing riding but I was certainly glad of the full-suspension bike, you can ride so much more aggressively. Throwing the bike into the corners, launching off the drops and straight lining over the rock gardens. Awesome.

Roadies you are missing out!