PERSKINDOL SWISS EPIC 2016: THE FINAL STAGE - 5

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BY: Melanie Alexander

Published: 19th September, 2016

The cold, wet weather that came in during yesterday's stage remained for the final stage today. With concerns of it being too cold and the possibility of snow at the top of the mountains the route was changed so that we wouldn't climb so high and therefore reduced from 48kms to 39kms.

On the bike I have been feeling fatigued but sometimes it is hard to understand if it is normal level of fatigue from the build up of the stages or if more fatigue than would normally be felt, so I was really pleased the stage had been reduced in distance. We had just done enough the day before to move back into the front pen so we got there early to ensure we had a good starting position. Off the bike I was feeling fine in the morning and I was determined to have a strong last day and try and get a top 5 finish.

Up the first climb it was very clear I did not have it in me to be competitive, my legs were too weak. It was great to see Sophie (Hemming) on fire up this climb on a mission, her and Matt (Page) have had a brilliant race and getting two top threes the previous two days was cool to see and taken some tough racing to get.

Too quickly we dropped further and further back until spat out the back and in no man's land again. Mark has been desperate to race this week and been trying to get me moving faster but today he just told me to settle down (my breathing was slightly chesty and I was trying so hard but not getting anywhere, there was very little strength left in me) and enjoy the descents. And enjoy the descents we did. 

The stage started with a 12km climb, we spent most of the day in the mist and as we climbed the thicker this got. This was followed by an 8km descent then another climb before a final descent. The last descent was particularly good fun as we re-rode the prologue singletrack descent from last year and this is an amazing trail. On the bonus side I felt I was descending well today and I rode this trail so much smoother and faster than in the prologue last year.

We crossed the line way down in 11^th. Not hugely disappointed because we had already accepted this was the circumstance and at the time just to finish was feeling tough enough.

Overall verdict of the Swiss Epic

It is a tough race, the climbs seem steeper and longer than the Trans Alp. The descent are just a joy to race down. We raced on our hardtails again this year with dropper seat posts which is do-able but I would recommend a full suspension just because the descents are quite battering with plenty of braking bumps on some and long.

Although not the race we hoped for, putting aside the feeling of being disappointed with my performance it has still been a fantastic race, really well organised with great trails. We met some really nice people and it was great to catch up with some who we met last year and at other races.

I would definitely like to return – but with better legs again. I wouldn't want to try and race it feeling under the weather again. It has some of the best trails I have raced on and makes you want to come back for more. I leave with the feeling of wanting to get out on all our best trails when back at home (but without the climbing) it gives you the buzz.