Good Fighters

And so to the final round of the European Xterra Tour.

The village of Prangins sits about 25 kilometres east of Geneva airport, an easy 30 minute drive. The XTERRA course starts and ends directly on fabulous Lac Leman, the huge body of water that stretches from Geneva to the west for nearly 90 kilometres. In the morning, before the clouds settle in you can see Mont Blanc, all snow covered even in late summer, in the distance.

The swim was 2 laps of 750m in the clear waters just away the transition zone. Nothing unusual, a bit chilly so wetsuits were the order of the day.

The bike course was unusual to say the least. Each lap was 17km with no big long climbs as you might expect in Switzerland. There were however many short steep climbs and many different surfaces to deal with. Pavement, crushed stone, single track, lots of grass, jeep trail – throw in 5 water crossings, some you could ride, some you could not, and it made for a fast on the rivet ride. Fortunately the water levels had dropped since a film was made of the course and the deepest sections were only waist deep, plenty of practice for a cyclocross style carry.

The run was also relatively flat with only one modest long climb. Some beautiful kilometres in a wonderful forest with the sun dappling through the tall trees. Lots of running alongside farmer’s fields where you had to watch your step as the terrain was very uneven. The run, like the swim and bike, was two laps finishing in the last 100m with 3 huge hay bales that every competitor had to negotiate with varying styles and levels of success.

The day started sunny and warm and progressed to 23 degrees come race start, quite nice considering the weather we have been having at home.

More than 325 lined up to compete in the full Championship race which started at 2pm.

I had a good swim exiting mid bunch in 28mins, straight off with the wetsuit as it was a long run to transition and out on the bike. The first lap seemed to take ages, but this was because it was all new to me. I did however seem to be able to pass quite a few riders on the faster sections of the course. The second lap flowed better and I came into transition feeling good in a time of 1:52. On with my running shoes and time to start hunting down some victims! I always seem to run well off the bike and by the end of lap 2 and 10.4km several more scalps had fallen. My time for the run was 48mins.

I finished 16th in my age group missing age group points by just one minute and one place! Finish time was 3:08:35

My final Xterra European Tour ranking was 9th

With Xterra Germany cancelled due to severe flooding, it was time to look elsewhere for an event to fill the gap. I decided on and took part in the Brighton Big Dog MTB Enduro on Saturday 14th Aug. The event was open to solo, pairs and teams of 3 who raced over an 8 mile circuit in the picturesque Stanmer Park. Each lap contained 1100ft of ascent and descent and included both technical singletrack and fire roads. The idea is to complete as many laps as possible within the six hour time limit, finish your last lap one second over the six hours and that lap was a waisted effort.

Rain had lashed the course all week but from the gun the ground seemed to have help up really well and was sticky but firm. The forecast was for heavy rain though and with the technical parts of the course strewn with roots and fallen trees it was always going to get more interesting. I had chosen Schwalbe rocket ron tyres as they have a good all round grip but also shed mud well when things get filthy. Sure enough at the start of lap two the heavens opened and it became a different race, as lap times shot up from 40-50mins to over an hour. The steep uphill sections became a cyclocross carry and the downhillls a rollercoaster on the edge of control sometimes bouncing off trees with my shoulder to keep the bike going in the right direction. This was only lap two and two hours in, what would nearly 600 sets of tyres do to the course?

Things didn’t really improve they just changed from wet and slippery to thick and claggy mud that was also slippery and made your bike weigh twice as much. I eventually crossed the line in 5:27:25 having completed 5 laps to finish 8th solo vet. This was my first long distance enduro event and a very enjoyable if tough one at that. Thanks to all my sponsors and especially to Cannondale, I was amazed by how well my Flash performed under about 20lb of mud.

XTERRA FRANCE 11th July

I raced the third round of the Xterra European Tour at the weekend in Xonrupt on the French German Border. The area which is a ski resort in winter certainly lived up to its billing as a tough course.

I had looked at the course profile on the event website http://xterrafrance.free.fr/2010/ang/xonrupt.php but I hadn’t paid close attention to the figures of height gain. I knew it was going to be hilly (understatement!) but arrived feeling confident. 

Friday morning dawned and it was time to get dressed and head out on the bike course for a practice lap….. the first climb took 40mins and then the lap undulated to the top of the 17km course where skills of a different kind were required for a blistering 4km decent back to the start of the lap. On closer inspection of the figures it turned out that the 2 lap 34km bike course in fact had nearly 4,500ft (1500m) of ascent. The run course was very similar in style with a long 300m climb followed by an undulating section through river beds and forest followed by a fast technical decent, this was also a two lap course. The swim was a single 1500m lap of the most beautiful alpine lake, only to be spoilt by the close proximity of some 500 other wetsuit clad athletes on race day.

I spent all day on Saturday trying to decide on race strategy, as with the toughness of the course an error in nutrition or going off too fast would spell disaster. 

Sunday afternoon 2pm was race start, I had hydrated well the day before and it felt good to be finally on the start line. The temperature had cooled from the 37 degree heat of Saturday to a ‘pleasant’ 32. I had a steady swim and kept out of trouble on what everyone agreed was a long 1500m. Out of transition and on to the climb, I had decided to take the first lap steady and push on lap 2 as the field thinned out. There were some scary drops to the side of technical single track and so taking risks on lap 1 were pointless. Into the undulating section and a fast rocky decent, I was picking my way between riders when a French rider decided to swap from one side to the other with no warning, we tangled handle bars and over the bars I went. I jumped back on the bike with only minor scratches and bumps and tried to put it out of my mind. The downhill to the start of lap two was fantastic and incredibly fast, some sections loose and rocky and others twisting through woods and a fast steep shoot where you could really pin your ears back. By the end of the decent the fatigue had transfered to my forearms but it was now time to give the legs and lungs more abuse as it started all over again. Lap 2 was uneventful and I felt my strategy was paying off, this was to be confirmed as I started the run feeling strong. As I entered the woods for the steep climb I was confronted by people in various states of agony and cramp, I switched into mountain marathon mode and dug deep. Coming out of lap 1 on the fast decent I passed a fellow brit Brian MacPherson, he commented later that I came past him like a rocket and he felt like he was standing still. The course certainly played to my strength as a runner and I picked several more people off on the way to a sprint finish, I was on the edge of blowing all the way round lap 2 but kept pushing until I collapsed in a heap after the line.

It is certainly the hardest Xterra I have ever done and one of the toughest races ever, but I really enjoyed the challenge. I finished 15th in Age Group which adds points to my to my position in the European Standings, I am currently 9th so it should push me back up into the top 5.

Xterra Germany is next on Aug 14th so lets hope for more points there. As they say in Xterra ‘LIVE MORE!’

First race of the European Tour

I have been here since Wednesday, weather is very changeable with rain and strong winds. Race consists of 2 lap 1500m river estuary swim, 34km mountain bike and 10k beach run. Have practiced the course and am looking forward to tomorrows 2pm start time. Lets see if all the hard work has paid off.

Lots of Brit Pro/Elite racers here, all super nice, so I am picking up as much advice as I can get.

Pic is of Renata Bucher Xterra Womens Pro Racer while we were practicing the bike course.

Took part in the Milton Keynes Half Marathon at the weekend, part of my run training but also as a build up to the London Marathon.