XC Racer Blog Post

World Gravity Enduro Series, Val D'Isere AKA Scaring myself for the weekend!

Share on Facebook  Share on Twitter

BY: Maxine Filby

Published: 3rd September, 2013



I find myself sitting in Geneva airport reflecting on a rather surreal weekend. Always one to push myself beyond my limits I signed up to round 6 of the World Enduro Series held in Val D'Isere, France. I raced the xco World Cup there last year and loved it so I was very excited to be going back.  Unfortunately Velocite don't make a full suspension bike yet so I was on my Orange Five a bike that was meant for me to have fun on during the winter the intention was never to race it. This meant a few last minute modifications, a dropper post and some sturdy Schwalbe  Hans Dampf Super Gravity tyres sent out to me in record time. I'm very lucky to have such supportive sponsors. So I jumped on a plane and headed into the unknown.

The format for this round was a track walk on the Friday, no bikes allowed, then two stages on Saturday, one practice run and two timed runs down each. Riding without a few practice laps made me rather nervous, I like to see what I'm riding off rather than just take the plunge. I was very lucky to be able to tag along with Tracy Mosely (current World Series leader) and her boyfriend James (who is awesomely fast too!)  for the weekend. Their knowledge and kindness made the whole trip a lot more enjoyable and stopped me totally stressing out! We headed out on Friday to walk a little of the stages, walking all of it would've been impossible as it was too far so this would give us an idea of the terrain.  Getting out of the lift we were greeted by a huge climb up to the start, quickly deciding we'd probably leave that bit until we raced it and not quite believing we'd have to push the bikes up it. It was a complete mix of riding, loose steep sections, flat out grassy descents, lots of rocks and a narrow traverse across the mountain. Just to put in a little bit of pain on the final stage there was a long grass energy sapping climb in the middle. I knew I would be tested to the max but I'm not quite sure I realised at that point just how much it would take, which was just as well really as I would've been really stressed then. Part of Enduro is that you complete the whole race on the same bike frame, suspension and wheels this meant as you signed on you took your bike and got it stickerd up to prevent any cheating. Everyone was super friendly especially the girls and I was soon chatting away feeling very welcome.
Photo courtesy of Matt Wragg
The weather on this stage was so cold I had to put on every layer I had, hence not quite team kit!

After a great nights sleep in my gorgeous B&B I set off for my first taste of a proper an Gravity Enduro. I was beginning to feel rather nervous but so excited by the challenge that I just kept giggling to myself not quite believing what I was doing. I met up with Tracy and Anka Martin and headed for the lift. Getting out we looked up and there was a trail of riders pushing up bikes to the very top of the mountain. I hate walking at the best of times but fully padded up with a full face helmet on pushing a reasonably heavy bike at altitude left me in bits and that was just getting to the start! The view at the top was breathtaking and worth the slog up. I tip toed out on to the course, the first 50m were enough to send me into a sweat. You dropped off a rock onto a very narrow path into a tight right handed corner. I had never ridden anything that quite made me that scared, if you got it wrong it was going to end very badly. Oh well, I wanted technical riding and I was definitely going to get just that. I set off on my practice run already shaking from the adrenaline. The first section was twisty and made me feel desperately slow but soon I got into a rhythm and began to enjoy it. I came to a rocky off camber section and was far too indecisive on my line and ended up on floor, the first crash of many. Riding sections without seeing them really tested me especially as they were ones I'd normal ponder over in an XC race. I just kept telling myself how much good it was doing my riding. Finally at the end of the stage I realised I still had a massive grin, I might be scaring myself stupid but I was loving every minute. My two timed runs each contained a crash or two which cost me a huge chunk of time but having realised what a challenge this was going to be I was aiming to complete rather than be worrying about my placing. The next stage I hadn't walked at all so was going to be even more challenging, with the weather closing in it was also obvious it was going to be testing conditions. My practice run wasn't too bad and felt far happier with the stage then the storm hit. We were at the top of the mountain covered in fog, you could only just see about ten metres ahead of you. I set off and it immediately struck me I seemed very alone, no rider in front and no one behind, I thought I must just be extra slow. Then I heard the familiar voice of Katy Winton, 'I went the wrong way!' as she zoomed past me, while I managed to stay on the right path over half the girls took the wrong course losing huge amounts of time and even two not finding the finish so getting disqualified. It was turning into an eventful day. The last timed run was cancelled due to the weather, I was rather glad as I was aching all over and had picked up a few cuts and bruises. I headed back to the B&B, muddy and rather sore. The riding was so intense that my whole body ached.

A bit of a nerve wracking section as we traversed the mountain on stage one and three. No looking down here! 

As Sunday dawned the weather didn't look much better, it had rained all night. We were to do one timed run down the second stage then complete two timed runs on the third stage afterwards. In the end we just did the timed run down the second stage, a practice run down the third with one timed run.  My body felt very battered and bruised so my aim for the day was to stay upright and finish the race. This I did, I wasn't particularly fast but I completed the whole race which around ten girls didn't. I finished 19th which I'm pretty happy with. I know what I need to work on and I'm confident that next year I can be a proper contender. It seems Great Britain are pretty good at this Enduro thing, Tracy Mosely is the first ever World Enduro Champion and the Great Britain team (Tracy, Katy Winton and Emily Horridge) finished second in the Enduro des Nations. The intensity and toughness of this event really surprised me, I found it so much harder than XC physically as well as mentally. As I sit here I feel totally drained, I ache in places I didn't know possible yet each time I think of what I've done I feel very proud and a great big grin breaks out. I reckon I'm pretty hooked on this Enduro thing, bring on the next one!

As always as huge thank you to my sponsors for enabling me to do such crazy things; XCracer.com, Schwalbe UK, Mavic, Sponsor UK, Firecrest MTB, MB Coaching, Velocite UK, Whackjob Jim, Ana Nichoola and Working Bodies. Also a big thank you to Tracy Mosely, James Richards and Trek for putting up with my stupid questions all weekend!





Blogger Info:


Maxine
 

Maxine Filby

XCRacer team rider

Read More By Maxine
Disclaimer:

This blog post was written by a third party and their views do not necessarily reflect the views of XCRacer.com

Advertise your business/event here »