Picked Matt and Graham from the bottom of the road to Alpe d'Huez - we had arranged they come over to check out 2Alpes, and give me a push on Mountain of Hell practice.
Registration was simple, a nice French lady kindly spoke to me in English, and I received my race number (260) and long sleeve t-shirt and a sticker and badge :D
So off to practice - the main idea was to master the black rated run called "Double Black" which I slid down sideways when I tried it on Wednesday.
First run was down good, only came off twice, managed to keep off the brakes a little.
We then went right upto the glacier, and followed the Mountain of Hell route down to the bike park. Here I am locked and loaded ready for the start:
It includes all the black rated routes in 2Alpes :D but much of it isn't on marked trails at all. The top section is basically a random route across massive rocks, then onto shale and sheer faces covered in golf ball sized rocks. Theres also a couple of uphill sections, around 100m of climbing for the whole route. I will be pushing I expect, we'll see. Then of course the Double Black section, 3rd go at this and feeling better each time. Completed the route through the 4x track, and straight to Davids for a Croque Monsieur and a small can of Heineken.
It includes all the black rated routes in 2Alpes :D but much of it isn't on marked trails at all. The top section is basically a random route across massive rocks, then onto shale and sheer faces covered in golf ball sized rocks. Theres also a couple of uphill sections, around 100m of climbing for the whole route. I will be pushing I expect, we'll see. Then of course the Double Black section, 3rd go at this and feeling better each time. Completed the route through the 4x track, and straight to Davids for a Croque Monsieur and a small can of Heineken.Comedy moment of the trip so far:
Fat Downhiller : Do you speak English?
Me: We are English.
Fat Downhiller : Where do you go for good downhilling round here?
Me: up that big mountain there
Fat Downhiller : We went up there it was all fireroad
Me : Try the doublle black, thats good
Fat Downhiller : I don't like lose stuff, it moves under you. I like smooth berms and tabletops like you get in Morzine
Me : F#$£ off to Morzine then!! (I didn't say that actually, we sent then off to Alpe d'Huez)
Anyhow, dropped Matt and Graham off, and checked on my qualifying timeslot for tomorrow. I am in Vague 4 (wave 4) that sets off at 12:30pm, need to be up there at 11am. There are 100 riders per wave. No turning back now! Wish me luck :D
1 comment:
So.. Good Luck! :) a.
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