Roc round TWO!
So whats it like racing a World Cup?
Well firstly its surprisingly very similar to every other race you will probably do and I must admit in many respects a lot less dramatic than many races that form part of your normal marathon season. Reason being the UCI Marathon Series sort of latches onto successful races that currently exist, there is nothing manufactured purely for or from the UCI, so if the general feeling of the race is helicopters and fireworks then yep, helicopters and fireworks it is, if its slightly more understated, then blam there you go, a course, a crowd of faithful supporters and off you go.
But there is one notable difference, the level. Oh bruised ego, should you make a mistake in a World Cup, you are punished, calmly and coldly, anywhere from 10 to 20 riders will shirk off your misfortune with less drama than a sneeze and fill in the gaps you just left.
Unrelenting pressure, you stop for a chain check, one rider, two riders, five riders aaaaarg. You misjudge a drop off, oof on your butt, and mysteriously six riders, who were trailing unbeknown to you, in your wake, are now showing you how to do it properly. Frustration!
Panic is just a wasted emotion because the punishment will simply not stop until you are Stone Cold Steve Austin last or actually quivering in a medical blanket at the finish, the race marches on like a termite mound evacuation, too weak? Goodbye, too slow, see you later!
Roc Laissagais fell into the realms of understated, understated with a hint of menace that is! We had experienced this course last year. A triumph if you were simply out riding your mountain bike but a real beast if you are attempting to race it!
For once Iʼm actually prepared for my crack at a World Cup, Iʼve got loads of miles in the legs and in general the health is good, green lights, happy! But as with most Spies misadventures there is always a story…
Friday
*Much swearing* Iʼve dropped my dear partners bike off for a service, Iʼm stuck in traffic and my bike box is still empty.
A panic, a pack, a high speed race through terminals Iʼm frazzeled but finally fully made my full transformation from Corporate Nerd to BIKE RACER MAN, now all I need to do is pick up car, drive from Toulouse for 2.5 hours and find my race base.
5 hours of steering wheel crushing, useless map reading, and dashboard headbutting its 3am and Iʼm asleep OUTSIDE the chateau, in the hire car…oh the high life.
Saturday
All is forgiven, Chateau owner Louis has practically tucked me into bed at 6am and Iʼm recovering from a less than brilliant pre-race journey. Finally my team mates arrive!
Completely un-fussed a battle hardened post Epic Rachel Fenton with her man Chris Pedder are there to get my mojo back, ʻdonʼt worry guys Iʼm sure the snow will stopʼ.
Bikes are built, pre race ride canned and we are somewhat ready, whatever that means.
Sunday
Oh hell, oh hell, oh HELL….
World champion Ilias Periklis is here, nervous laugh, 1 times Bull Stefan Sahm is here but hey look at that there are 4 non starters 2 of which being from Full Dynamix, Iʼve made up 4 spots before Iʼve even begun, awesome!
Waving off Rach and the lovely Cath Williamson as the ladies start their battle, I realise that we have some unsung heros in this sport.
Now it’s us, Chris has a gridding whaheeey too close to the front, Iʼm feeling happier in row 12, thats ok. The start gun fires and I actually feel brilliant. We surge through the town, fight our way into the first jeep track and Iʼm sitting pretty on the tail end of the significant lead bunch, legs are being saved no doubt.
Oh here we go, ratchet the rear mech and drill it into the first lungbuster mudslick climb, my tongue is literally tasting the top tube, its eyeballs out and pedals down. Settle the heart rate and start the work.
Time goes wonky, I feel like Iʼve been in the saddle for days but its been 20km, Roc has so much packed into it that you soon go from ʻenjoyably interestingʼ to ʻaah, is it all like this?ʼ. Any fire road respite is like a double punch you start taking stock, ʻWOW its cold, 2degs, mmm gears arenʼt great, please hold, crap my saddles too low Iʼm sure of it, is my right knee twingeing, yep defo, Iʼm doomedʼ why do we always do this?!
Ironically the singletrack becomes the real respite, too much to do to think, you are reacting to a rutted sticking goo that coats the surface of everything so every out of saddle moment the bike will skip and slide and require man handling. Taming your steed means energy is going in all the wrong places, if you have miraculously found a gear to set tempo to then its only for a moment as you are soon enough either walking or smashing it flowing mud slide.
The terrain seemed alive on Sunday, it felt like the floor underneath us was a living breathing entity, granting you leniency then toying with your emotions. I snapped at 30km to go, well that is my cable snapped. All that ratcheting was enough, something in my lever gave way and I was down to a dual speed, dreams of a point or two are gone and its time to simply grit it out. Having had so much encouragement when I saw Chris and eventually Rachel before her course took her parallel to ours I was now making a total an utter meal out of everything!
Walking, grinding, swearing.
I rolled in, broken beyond broken, totally gutted, 110% effort and no reward, what a waste. Then a sanity check, our MountainTrax buddies suffered their own two halves, Ben Thomas qualifiying for Worlds with a stunning 17th, Tim Dunford going from last to 46th suffering a puncture and broken seatpin. For MarathonMTB.com we had Rachel qualifying for Worlds in her first ride back from Epic while her man Chris deserves a massive thanks for putting the humour back in my crushed demeanor.
Standing packing our bikes in the car park I sort of wondered what the hell this weekend would be packaged as, a failure, a test, a race?
Sometimes it really can feel like you are bashing your head against a brick wall, but your sacrifices are simply echoed by those around you, we may be all mad, but at least weʼre happy. The feeling of community always reigns supreme at these races where we chatted to second placed lady Cath Williamson and her folks as if weʼd all just finished the local club run.
Big thanks to Roc Organisation, MarathonMTB, Chris, Rach, Will, Tim, Ben, Cath and Caths folks, see you lot in Spain, Iʼll be a changed rider…or better equipped!!
Full race results are available here.