Perskindol Swiss Epic excitment.

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BY: Melanie Alexander

Published: 7th September, 2015

I love stage racing and equally I love riding in the Swiss mountains therefore I am very excited to be heading to Switzerland next weekend for the 2nd edition of the Perskindol Swiss Epic. (http://swissepic.com/en/)

I heard great things about the organisation and the route of the race which embeds lots of amazing Swiss Alpine singletrack. Words used to describe the single track include flowing, technically challenging in places and hugely varied. The profile shows that we will either be climbing or descending and all at altitude. It’s certainly going to be a tough and rewarding race

Annika Langvard and Ariane Kleinhans are returning to defend their title.

After only one year the race has already gained UCI's highest ranking (HC) and is classified as a race of international importance. The race has attracted racers from 23 nations across 5 continents. World Class racers, ambitious racers, and non licensed mountain bikers all get to race and be challenged on the same course which promises to be fantastic with its outstanding panoramic alpine views around the Matterhorn. Looking at the start list many riders are returning to race the Perskindol Swiss Epic for a second time and I am sure they will not be disappointed as the organisers have changed 70 percent of the course, how cool is that!.

Format of Perskindol Swiss Epic

Perskindol Swiss Epic is a 6 day mountain bike stage race from Verbier to Zermatt via Leukerbad and Grachen. It kicks of with a 15km Prologue to and from Verbier. This is followed by 5 stages which are 60kms to 95kms in length. In total we will cover 15,000 meters of elevation in 400kms. Looking at the description of each stage and having previously ridden a little in Verbier and Zermatt I am particularly excited to ride the network of single track which will join these dream mountain bike resorts together.

Alongside the Perskindol Swiss Epic runs a separate race which also sounds fun with its very different format, the Perskindol Epic flow. This is also a 6 day stage race and focuses more on the descending. The Epic flow covers 300kms, has 8,000meters of elevation and 19,000 meters of descending. Shuttle buses will be used to assist with parts of the climbs

Team Work

I will be racing in the mixed category with my husband, Mark Spratt (Bike Soup Test team). We have previously raced three stage races together (Beskidy mountain bike challenge 2011, Andalucia Bike Race 2013 and Cape Epic in 2005) and 8 stage races in total for Mark and 9 for me. Mark is a great race partner and although a fair bit quicker than me is good at helping set a pace that encourages me to keep pushing hard. As long as he does not put any sudden accelerations in we find we can work out a good pace where he is motivating me to go faster but not destroying my legs. On the descents we can be much the same if I am having a good day, on the flat I tuck in and on the climbs I have always tried to hold his wheel though after chatting to more experienced stage racers it has been recommended that the weaker rider rides in front so they can set the pace. This is something we will definitely experiment with. As I am a tall and fairly heavy race partner we have never taken to towing, only occasionally Mark might shove me over the top of a brow or into a fast group. The main objective for us is to enjoy the trails, be in the mountains and work out the best way to get from A to B as quickly as we can as a team.

Me and Mark after a muddy stage of Andalucía Bike Race 2013

Preparation

I have known I will be racing the Swiss Epic for most of the season and when I decided to ride it with Mark I said my aim is to have fun. Now it is coming closer my aim is still to have fun and to embrace the challenge both technically and mentally though I am aware I am a very competitive person and I will put myself in pain every day.

How I feel: Apart from excited I feel that despite it having been a long session of both Marathon and XC racing I am still going OK. My training is planned by fitinnotime and he has helped make sure I have not burnt myself out and been able to compete throughout the season. This year in general I have targeted more endurance events as well as continuing with the national XC. The main difference has been fewer regional XC races and more marathon events. I have enjoyed the Scott Marathon Series for training and the experience of my first World Marathon Champs. Two weeks ago I raced the Grand Raid and was really pleased with my race time and finishing 7th. I was expecting that in the lead up to Swiss Epic I would squeeze a few more longer rides in but in fact my legs have needed time to recover from the 9 hour Grand raid. This week in the run up to the race I have 1 to 2 hour rides with short intervals. Mark is going very well at the moment both technically and on the climbs and I expect at present the gap between us is a bit broader than normal, but in the interests of a happy marriage he’ll adapt to my riding ability!

Bikes: Because of the more technical nature of the trail the ideal bike would be a full suspension Scott Spark for me, I am really keen to test one out and was hoping to borrow one though unluckily this was not possible this year so both me and Mark will be racing on our hardtails (Scott Scale 900 and Niner Air9 RDO) with Dropper seat posts. I have just had my forks serviced by Loco tuning which is feeling smooth and responsive, so let’s see how the hardtails hold up to the challenge. I will be using Sram 1x11 with a 32 tooth front ring (taking a 30 tooth) and Mark is on a double.

I plan to update you daily with more information on each individual stage and to keep you updated on our race experience and how the front of the race is playing out.

Thanks to team sponsors, Scott Sport UK, Syncros, Sram Torq, Schwalbe, Fibrax and to Fitinnotime