THE lifts are closed so the winter season is officially over…it’s been an insane season for snow, it seemed to be dumping every week this year. Already been riding the bike for over 2 weeks now and it feels very good to back on the trails 
Been doing weekly running too (6-10km) for a month now so feeling pretty fit and been doing the superfood, protein shakes and salads since the end of last year so feeling extremely healthy and full of energy so it’s shaping up to be a good summer
But there’s a few hurdles I’ve put in the way that will push me to my limits – well that’s the idea anyway…
May : Vélo Vert Festival, Villard de Lans
Velo Vert Festival, Villard de Lans
Signed up to the Enduro race for this weekend of mountain biking. It’s a couple of hours drive from Serre Chevalier and I’m hoping it’s gonna be a pretty easy race - it’ll be the first Enduro event I’ve taken part in so we’ll see…still not sure what bike I’m gonna need to bring for this one as ideally a 140-160mm AM bike is what’s required…I don’t have one…yet 
So it’s either the 12kg, 120mm hardtail or a 16.7kg 200mm full-on DH race bike. I’m inclined to go with the hardtail as anything more that a short, gentle climb (not many of these in The Alps) on the DH bike and I’ll be out of the saddle and probably pushing it on foot but if there’s any bigger hits, jumps or drops I could find myself way out-of-depth (and maybe over-the-bars) on the hardtail. Gotta couple of weeks to give that some thought
June : Tough Mudder, Winchester, UK
Tough Mudder
“Tough Mudder events are hardcore 10-12 mile obstacle courses designed by British Special Forces to test your all around strength, stamina, mental grit, and camaraderie” – not sure about this, I guess it will be a good laugh and definitely worth doing but it just looks like absolute carnage!
July : Megavalanche, Alp d’Huez
Talking of carnage – take a look at the video above. This was the start of the 2012 race! If I get any further than that I’ve got an hours worth of extremely gnarly DH trail with a bit of a nasty climb thrown in for good measure. They call this a (the biggest) Downhill race but it’s definitely an Enduro event if you ask me.
“starting on the glaciated summit of the Pic Blanc (3,300m above sea-level) and descending to the lush meadows of the valley bottom at Allemont (720m), after some 2000 metres down and 30 km along” this is a test of bike, body and mind…if anyone of those three things fails…I’m farked!
August : Looking for a full-on Downhill race to enter in August. Italy would be nice. So if anyone know’s of an event in the area then let me know in the comments at the bottom of the page. Cheers
September : Les Tenailles, Névache
The only trailside spectators at Les Tenailles have big f.off horns!
My nemesis and a killer of an event!…I signed up to the Long race last year and there’s no way I was completing it. At 40km of backcountry trails and 2,600m of positive altitude gain (that’s three big mountain climbs in one day!) it’s no mean feat and it was more that I could handle. I changed less than half way ’round and do the Short race instead which was hard enough and pushed me to the very edge of my physical and mental limits at 24km and only 1,700m of climbing (2 big mountain climbs). But I’m not one to lie down so I’m coming back for more this year – as Daft Punk would say Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger and basically more determined than before…bring it! - tbh, my legs hurt just thinking about it :/
