I’m still on a come down, the Mega...where do I start?
I decided to race the Mega last year, it’s the ultimate of enduro
events and as soon as the tickets went live my finger was on the buzzer.
"I have no idea what I'm getting myself into..."
Got some of the North-East Massive together, and headed over in a convoy of
vans. Steve and me were upfront followed
by Sarah Newman and Helen Gaskell in the ‘Team Weapon’ truck behind, and then
Sara and Paul (‘get in ma belly’) Rennie at the back!
Loading up the trucks....
Convoy...
Got some more good riding in over in Switzerland on the national
track and at Les Crosets - not as flat out as on a downhill bike but sure as
hell as much fun! We found a sweet
rock-strewn mountain-walkers path to ride down called "GasGas" which
lead back to the van by Lac De Montriond – had a quick dip followed by a few
beers and a BBQ! Over the next day we
hit up some cross-country trails on Mont Cherry and Les Gets before moving on
to La Clusaz. Turning into an awesome
road trip.
So, which way....?
Mordor.....
Bombs away chaps....
I think Sarah's hungry....
Best barbie scenery, ever!
Alpine toe nail varnishing....
Et voila....
A big cock....
La Clusaz was a special little place - the guide book said "If
you want some proper riding in the Alps with no Brits, go here!". We parked up by the river but got slightly
distracted for four hours by the Crazy Golf :D (Cue: one happy girl). This was however to be equally balanced out with probably one of the most epic rides yet; a
lung-busting uphill climb to around 2,000 metres before swinging around into a
huge open valley. The ride down was
amazing, not just the trails but the scenery, needless to say we all got lost
many times and ended up at a mountain hut surrounded by vicious cows!
Crazy golf champ....
Prepping....
Unloading....
Mind the vicious cows....
Ruuunnnnnn......
We turned around and climbed back up for another hour, having run
out of food and water by this point in a 35-degree heat with no wind I was
dragging my heels a tad! Soon found the main
track and rode some the sweetest big mountain riding ever! Picture some technical rocky singletrack
leading out onto a plateau of lush green grassy meadows! Awesome... absolutely
awesome! We eventually stumbled on a hut
selling food and got stitched up big time with an omelette for 50 Euros, WHAT?!
Sarah bared her teeth with some pure Scottish grit and got a bit of discount! Phew, still pricey mind you.
Andddd..... PUSH....
When the ice cream cravings start to kick in....
Steve looks chuffed with his new Yeti...
Ooooh, I spy a possible snowball ambush?!
Can you beat this scenery?
Sara and Paul Rennie taking in the views....
Trail side repairs, the bane of our lives....
Top o'the world!
Next day was a rest day! We didn't want to screw our legs up
too much for the following week! Although we did drive to Chamonix and ride a
bit of pump track...would be a shame not to!
Chamonix was a bit on the chilly side, overcast, wet and windy! It didn't stop us though. Sarah declared that
she wanted to smash out a big climb?! Well we sure found her one of those bad
boys did we not? A two-hour non-stop climb
up what seemed to be the world’s steepest road (well, maybe I exaggerate a
little here). Well worth it though as it was followed by a loose pine needle
covered rocky descent with a lovely cliff drop to one side and an amazing view
of Mont Blanc! Good times!
Following the convoy up through the Alps...
Carbo loading, well that's my excuse anyway....
"The hillllsss are alliivveeee.....".....
All too soon we were back on the road to Allemont near Alp D'Huez, where
we remained based for the rest of the week with the Megavalanche.
Base camp.....
The next morning we got up super early, Tracy Moseley was camping
with us so we were pretty lucky to get to ride with her and see some sweet
lines. The top of the Mega at 3,300 metres was EPIC!!! (And that is an understatement!).
Freezing cold, amazing views and we were up there with our bikes about to ride
down a black-rated Ski run, absolutely BUZZING!!
Sarah and Helen feeling the chill......
I didn't have a clue how to ride in the snow so just went for it,
landed on my ass the whole way till Tracy gave us some tips on holding the back
brake only and straddling the bike, I got the hang of it eventually!
After the snow you hit the singletrack and oh my god it was just rad,
just like riding in the Lake District but on a way, way, WAAAYYYYY bigger
scale... cruising down into Alp D'Huez onto a little climb and then pretty much
all downhill the rest of the way through the woods into Allemont.... 24km of
pure downhill adrenaline-fuelled smiles all round!
Next day we hit up the qualifying track, I found this harder than
the Mega track, especially up the top where it was real rocky and loose, the
smaller bikes just aren't as stable. A cool track nonetheless but a bit boring
toward the bottom.
The rest of the week was spent practicing both tracks and perfecting
Slack-Lining in the campsite, having friendly footy matches and eating crepes
in the local cafe's! Life doesn’t get
much better than this!
Sarah, Helen and Steve ...van-life......
Ms Moseley slack lining.....
And then Chris showing everyone how it's done....
Friday was qualifying day, my race run was at 1pm. The girls were last off which was a bit of a
bum-deal as the track ended up being cut up with big rock-cookies strewn all
over it. It was a Le Mans-style mass
start, all 90 girls together, the gun went and we were out and around the first
corner. Anne Caro, Tracy, Sabrina and
the other big dogs were fighting it out up front where I was a being bit more
timid, keeping out of the fight. I've since learned if you want to do well and
not get held up you need to sharpen your elbows and get stuck straight in! I had a clean run but slow, after the start I
just got stuck behind riders who wouldn't get out the (expletives deleted) way,
found it hard to get past them. I qualified 36th out of the 90 odd riders. I
wasn't too disappointed but knew I could have done a load better.
The day after was race day, up at 5am, on the bus at 5.30am, up on
the gondola at 6am and to the top at 7am...and WOW was it cold! All the girls
were huddled up keeping warm in the toilets until it was time to line the bikes
up. Racing started at 9am and by then the music was pumping to get you psyched,
most people were pretty nervous as you can't really predict what's gonna
happen, unlike with a normal downhill race.
And so it begins....
Trying to keep warm in the loo....
How's this for a start line eh?
It wasn't that popular really......quite!
Hell YEAH baby....
Breath taking.....
The gun went and we set off... it had been raining during the night
so the snow was slushy. Instead of being able to ride I had to push through it
until there was enough gradient to pull you through. I went down the steepest
bit and held my line pretty well till a girl took me out sideways hurtling me
upside down and using my helmet as a snow plough, the air was turned blue!
Eventually the snow plateaus off and it was here where I lost my shoe
whilst running across the flat section, stop laughing you lot! Being 3,000 metres up I was finding it hard to
breathe with the air being so thin, having a full-face helmet on and with the
adrenaline pumping away it was quite an experience. You feel like your getting
chased down by a pack of hungry wolves, it’s pretty scary.
Hitting the singletrack further down I was concentrating on
controlling my breathing, I also got stuck behind a couple of girls eventually
getting past I caught some more and got stuck for ages!! Very frustrating! Got passed by a girl on a climb and then got
stuck behind her on the following downhill, argh, however toward the tree lined
section I thought ‘sod it’ and pushed past her, loved the rest of it with
no-one in front of me!
You can't stop to take in the scenery this time....
Single track sections...AMAZING....!!
Just a little pootle down a little hill....ahem!
Battered, scarred and bruised but so worth it!
I finished in 1 hour and 17 mins taking the 34th position. I didn't
feel that tired, wasn't really out of breath and had no arm-pump which I was
expecting...this was my first shot at the event and I learned a lot especially
with riding and taking advice from Tracy.
Next year I really need to get amongst it all up front at the start, the
‘take no prisoners approach’, it’s crucial to doing well there ….and I reckon
you really ought to be shattered after that!
Angela's Mega Photo courtesy of Xavier Grassone
The whole experience was amazing and I wanted do it all again in a
flash! This event is something that I think anyone who rides a bike should have
a crack at!
All over.....
Long live the Mega, see you there next year!
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