Tuesday (day 3). Moved over from Vaujany to Alpe d’ Huez yesterday afternoon. The short drive over was beautiful with road cyclists making their way all along the route. I wished I had brought a road bike along but then again one can only drag so many bikes along. Glad I chose to book my week through Flow MTB as I no longer had to point at different cheeses at the bakery when ordering as the package included breakfast and great evening dinners. I found the hotel full of Brits and Australians all engrossed in some cycling related topic ranging from the best line down the qualifying run to wet weather tyre choice. This was going to be great and I wouldn’t even have to be worried about boring people with constant bike babble.
As I walked into the bike storage room I spotted a bike with a South African flag on it. What was the chance of booking into the same hotel? It seemed as though different nationalities were teaming up for rides, almost as if they were on their way to support their national team a rugby world cup. Artho van der Westhuizen and I decided to team up for the day (not that I’m a massive rugby supported but I did find me ‘expressing’ myself in my mother tongue, Afrikaans, after crash number four or five).
Artho had been riding around for two days before I arrived but he felt I should be thrown into the deep end by tackling the black qualifying course. First berm and he drops captain slow. It takes me some time to get used to my DH bike, flat pedals and the Leatt neck brace. Bit of a struggle to look around with the neck brace but by the end of the day things are much more natural. Really glad I brought the DH bike along as the stuff is super steep (well for me anyway). I find myself praying a lot on the first run as I’m just hanging on for dear life wondering what I got myself into. Make it through without any crashes on the first run which is bit of a morale boost. Get to the bottom and Artho decided the queue is too long and we should ride up from Huez to Alpe d’ Huez. Distance wise it doesn’t sound to far but it does include six of the Tour de France switchbacks and riding a DH bike uphill is not much fun with your knees coming past your ears. By the time we got to the top my nose was bleeding and I must have lost 2 litres of fluid from sweating. Both of us decided that it was probably not the best idea. In the afternoon we decided to do the bottom half of the Mega Avalanche course – fast, steep and dusty with a lot of braking bumps that got worse as the week progressed.
Wednesday and it seems like every morning I wake up there is another part of my body that is sore and stiff. Seems like I’m in an abusive relationship (with my bike) as there are a couple of extra bruises. I need a shower to warm up the muscles and after about half an hour I’m ready to take on breakfast. Don’t know how these DH boys and girls do it – respect.
Registration has opened and after signing and taking my race number I know there is no more backing out. After registration it is up the mountain again. The queues for the gondola up to the start of the Mega course at the top of Pic Blanc at 3300m are crazy long. We decided to do the top bit of the qualify run and then drop into the bottom half of the Mega course that runs all the way down to Allemonte. This is great fun once again without any crashes. A bus shuttle, two ski lifts and one gondola later we find ourselves at the top of Pic Blanc. It is really cold with a frozen lake and some snow cover. Poor Artho being South African really struggled in the cold. ‘Brave’ man didn’t pack a jacket and he decided on day two that he is riding better without gloves – crazy. ‘Riding’ downhill on the snow is a bit tricky so I end up running most of the way. Artho tries to ride and crashes and manages to break his gear shifter. After 4 cable ties we are able to fix it and we are back on our way. By now his hands have turned blue and he decides gloves are perhaps a good idea. Parts of the course are really icy – even the snow cat working on the course was sliding all over the place.
The snow and ice field is followed by a really rocky and technical (or at least for me) stretch of singletrack. Artho rides all of it but I end up running down some of it. He is on his 160mm bike compared to my 140mm but still he is a much better rider than me. One of the rocky sections I try and ride results in me coming off the bike. I find myself bouncing of the boulders like a rag doll (or so it felt). Thank goodness I’m wearing a full face helmet as I use my head to stop my forward momentum. Somehow I manage to smash my pinky again. It is now truly messed up and painful when I try and grip something. Riding through all the rocks and braking bumps aren’t that much fun after the crash. One or two more falls after this but luckily no injuries. Perhaps a good thing I have all the falls today as it stops me from being over confident. Complete the full Mega course in over two hours but it does include a few stops along the way.
We are the last two bikes onto the bus back up to Oz where I have an argument with the French lady at the café when I try and explain to her that I’m vegetarian and don’t want anything with ham on it. I end up hungry – French lady 1, Werner 0. Grumpy Werner and stuffed Artho do one more run of the qualifying course and end up cycling from Huez to Alp d’ Heuz but luckily I’m on the all mountain bike this time. Long day in the saddle but went to bed with a huge smile.
Thursday involves more lifts and bombing down the runs. Only real news of the day was a small crash on the qualifying course. Ten minutes into the run the quicker line is over a drop-off of about half a meter. I’ve done it before with no issues. This time I land with the front wheel not completely straight and down I go skidding down the trail on my side. Luckily the shoulder pad takes most of the impact. Artho said he just saw feet disappear down the trail as he came over the rock. Turns out the tyre that I mounted tubeless came off the rim as I landed. No more running non-tubeless tyres tubeless. I must have hit a rock in the process as there is a nice ding in the rim which I have to smooth out so that it won’t cut the tyre. When we get back to the hotel at the end of the day everybody is working on their bikes as tomorrow is qualifying. Must be the least time I have ever spend on getting my bike ready – basically just oiled the chain and checked that most bolts are still tight. I argue that if the back wheel falls off I have an excuse for a poor performance tomorrow.
Friday – qualifying day. Qualifying consists of 10 groups of 200 people hurtling themselves down the qualifying track every 20 minutes. Top 36 from each group will race in the main race on Sunday; 37 to 71 will race on Saturday in the Challenger (B) race; 72 to 109 will race Sunday in the Amateur (C) race with the rest split between Affinity 1 and 2 but it won’t be a mass start for them.
Today starts really early for me. I was lucky/unlucky enough to draw 44 as race number. It means that I’ll be in the first group of 200 people to race the qualifying course. I had to catch the ski lift at 7:30 so the plan was to get up at 6:00 and leave the hotel at 7:00 but I’m awake by 5:30 and cannot fall asleep again. Nerves, and that after I only fell asleep well after 12:00. Reminds me of how I felt about my first XC race more than 6 years ago. Luckily I’ve never had any issue with my appetite so after two bowls of muesli I head off to the lift on the DH bill. There is already a queue forming at the lift this early in the morning. Strange but it is relatively quiet with nobody in the mood for banter. This is serious stuff and the pressure is starting to mount. I’ve got no idea what to expect and I’m not worried about positions, my only wish is to get down the mountain in one piece.
After the first lift we have to cycle over to the gondola which helps a bit to warm up. This is followed by another wait for the gondola to open up. Next thing I find myself on the second row with the French organiser walking around with the 10 minute board. Cannot really remember what happened between getting of the gondola and seeing the 10 minute board. Remember popping a couple of Ibuprofens for my sore finger and a few nervous pees but the rest is a blank. It is a bit chilly up on the mountain but I’m sure my shaking is more from nerves than from the cold.
5 minute board. 1 minute to go and the music starts. Tape lifts. All hell breaks loose. Being a marathon racer I struggle to get the DH bike up to speed and by the second corner I see a guy with a 150 number from few rows back pass me. As soon as we hit the first snowy patch I jump off the bike and run for it. Back on the bike and back off again for some rocky sections. One guy screams at me that I should get out of the way if I’m not riding but I’m more focussed on getting down the rocks without breaking my neck. Not sure what happened to him but if he didn’t crash in the rocks I’m sure I took him on the open fire road section. We hit the first steep section of singletrack and berms and now we are all basically stuck in a queue. Some people try and cut the corners but most of them end up crashing hard. My passing technique is basically to stay upright till the guy in front of me over-cooks it and crashes giving me a passing gap. This technique actually pays off twice.
We get to the technical ladder sections and the bottle neck has already started. The guy in front of m decides to run down the ladder but slips and slides down it on his back. Doesn’t look like fun so I decided to try and go around it on the right. There is a small 30cm gap that I have to get the bike over but I have forgotten how heavy a DH bike is so I find myself standing there for a minute or two trying to figure how to throw the bike over. All the time people are passing by and I cannot get back on the track to run down the ladder. At last I’m over and back on my bike. I Manage to pass a few guys by taking one of the alternative lines I spotted the previous day. The course flattens out when we get close to Alpe’ d Huez and I’m able to pass another few guys. Through the town and we are back on singletrack leading down to Huez. No passing here and it is just a case of not making any mistakes till the finish line. I’m 79th over the line which mean I’ll be racing in the Amateur (C) race on Sunday. Artho is 80th in his qualifying group which means that he will be in the row just behind me in the proper race Sunday.