The hub for marathon mountain biking
So, right when Mike and I got comfortable with winning, here we are out of the race. Pulling out of a stage and the race was interesting in itself, and really brought home to us what’s great about the Perskindol Swiss Epic, and our partnership. I want to tell the story of what went on, […]
Nothing hurts quite the same as watching a race from the sidelines. But the truth is that watching a race on the 5th day from the sidelines is a pretty sombre affair anyway. Despite the excellent trails, and the great accommodation and food, there were a lot of tired people in the start block today. […]
The 4th day of a six day stage race, is well and truly the hump day. Starting in Leukerbad, the Perskindol Swiss Epic was set to descend down to the Rhone Valley, travel upstream towards Visp, and then ascend towards Grachen, via Visperterminen along a seemingly never ending climb, followed by a never ending descent […]
Whenever we get in a group of fast riders, challenging us, I always tell Mike that we have to ‘ride the wave, as long as we can’. We were feeling a little battle-worn when we finally turned out the lights last night. We’d had a very tough day: things had gone wrong, we’d both dipped […]
Today the real racing started with a climb up to the iconic Croix de Coeur pass from Verbier, similar to the first ascent of the famous Grand Raid marathon race, but taken on some smaller and steeper roads. Mike and I enjoyed a call up to the front row, although we had to be beckoned […]
Stage races come and stage races go. Each promises something different: the Croc Trophy takes you to the wildest Australian outback. Transalp over the most magnificent passes. The Cape Epic offers the ultimate physical challenge. The Perskindol Swiss Epic has a lot going for it, but its point of difference, I’ve quickly realised, is quality. Everything, […]
There isn’t much that hasn’t been written or said about the altitude training haven of Livigno. Sitting high in the Italian Alps, Livigno has become one of the most desired high altitude training locations in Europe. A desire built upon high alpine passes, flowing backcountry and bike park singletrack and, of course, Italian coffee! After […]
Do you need data just to get you out of bed? Do you lose count of how many times a day you check Strava? Do you think about power, training load, and ramp rate more than most people would find ‘normal’? If you answered yes to any of these, but need a bit more convincing, […]
The small alpine community of Courmayeur is situated beneath the monolithic Monte Bianco peak on the Italian side of the French-Italian border. Towering at some 4810m Monte Bianco, or otherwise known by its less melodic name Mont Blanc, is Europe’s tallest mountain. A suitable location to hold a mountain bike race! Being a ski town, […]
After five weeks, Chapter 1 of my European racing trip has come to an end. And just like a good book it went exceedingly fast. From Germany to Austria to the Czech Republic and back to Germany, each country and race has thrown up its fair share of challenges. Four back-to-back top level XC races […]
