Race report by: Paul Mackie

Megavalanche 2006, Alpe D’Huez: been there, done that, and got the (free) t-shirt!

The South of France is a long way to drive for a race, and it was by far the hardest mountain bike race any of us had taken part in – but the sense of achievement of completing the longest downhill race in the world was worth it…….right guys?!

Brommers, myself (Mackie) were accompanied by two guest riders for the Rapidracers assault on the Megavalance 2006, in the form of Rob Turner (aka ‘Monkey Hands’), and Steven Webster (formerly know as ‘Punctureboy’).

Paul 'Skinny boy' Mackie

With Gummy recently competing at the European Championships in Italy, Aiden planning to race in the world Masters championship in Canada later this year, and Phil Mowatt being based in Whistler for the last 12 months, the Rapidracers have acquired a very international feel of late. Maybe Team Manager Brommers should buy us a team Winabago for our intercontinental jaunts?

Paul

For those not familiar with the Megavalanche race, some explanation is required because it is unlike any other mountain bike race in the world! The race starts on the top of Pic Blanc, Alpe D’Huez, some 3320m above sea level. In fact, the race actually starts on a glacier! Over 1,500 riders are split into categories, according to their time in the qualification run the day before. At separate intervals, the riders descend 2800m into the valley, negotiating mega tight single track, rock sections, snow, and even frequent uphill sections. An average time of 1hour 30 minutes was a respectable time to achieve.

Craig 'Crash Master' Bromley

Usually, riders are riding against the clock in a downhill race and set off at timed intervals. Not the Mega though. 100’s of riders set off at one time, making this a gigantic free-for-all! Now, at this point I think it’s worth mentioning that our European cousins don’t quite get the well-mannered concept of queuing! In a supermache for instance, you can be queuing to pay for your baguette and escargot in a very polite, British manner, then you only have to lose your concentration for a split second and Johnny Foreigner has slipped in front of you! No apologies, or explanation as to why they’ve committed this heinous act – it’s just the done thing on the continent. So, you can imagine, in a race situation that Piere Von Quepusher isn’t going to be a well-mannered beast. So, when in France do as the French, Germans, Austrians and Italians do – use you elbows and knock anyone within 1m of your bike out of the way!

Anyway, we weren’t in France for the Megavalanche alone, we were also having a holiday (I think!?). Having been to other popular French mountain bike resorts, Whistler in Canada, and Colorado USA, Alpe D’Huez was an unknown quantity for us - but it did not disappoint! Strangely there are no British Mountain Bike tour operators in this region, which is bizarre considering the quality of the trails, bike shops, lifts, majestic scenery and general good attitude to cycling found here.

Rob 'Monkey Hands' Turner

The ‘holiday’ started at 2am in Bristol with the Vectra estate packed to the rafters (literally) as we set off on the 16 hour road trip into uncertainty. Chalet Martine in the Village of Huez provided our base, and it could not have been any better (maybe a Jacuzzi – but that’s pushing it!!). Our French hosts were magnificent, and the son-in-law of the owner (Jean-Claude) provided invaluable local information on the Mega-race as well as lifts, car parking, aperitifs, etc. A special thanks should go out to Anja, Jean-Claude and everyone at Chalet Martine for making our stay in Huez very pleasant.

As with any mountain bike holiday, self-preservation is the main priority! For our first ride of the week we thought we’d go the whole hog and go to the very top of the Megacourse – was that a good idea? First decent: on snow! This was a totally new experience and adjustments in technique were required – namely let go of the brakes and close your eyes! No sooner had we gone 100m than our first mechanical was upon us. Webster’s shock had stuck in full travel on his brand new Intense 6.6. Not ideal. His only option was to walk to the bottom of the Mega-course – a feat in itself. Rob, Brommers and myself would descend to the bottom of the mountain and be sipping a cool beer by the time Webster reached us…or so we thought! Two broken mechs, three punctures, a few tumbles, and Webster was still in front of us. I can’t remember a time when a group of riders had so many mechanicals in such a short period of time. Webster was pipped at the last as we cruised past his blistered feet. So, not an ideal start to the riding holiday, the terrain was rough and your bike takes a beating over the rocks and drops seemingly designed to destroy your kit.

Steve 'Punctureboy' Webster

The bikes were prepped in the evening with spare shocks, replacement mechs, new rubber and some GT85 – all problems out of the way, or so we thought… Bromley’s ‘girl hands’ were giving him severe hand cramps and arm pump, meaning that for a change he actually had a valid excuse for straight lining corners as his crippled hands couldn’t brake! Blisters were also appearing on Webster’s paws and I was also suffering from hand pump (I didn’t cry about it like Brommers though!). Rob ‘Monkey Hands’ Turner had no such problems being a carpenter by trade. He took great delight in telling us he had no idea what this ‘hand pump’ sensation was that we were all suffering from. This was 2 days into the holiday, and some of us were questioning whether we would actually be able to complete the 1hr 30minutes of the Megavalanche given the pain being suffered on just short bursts. Rob continued to suffer no ill effects from the constant braking and vibrations leaving us all thinking that maybe that would be the defining quality that got you down the fastest. His love of snapping spokes however is not a quality directly associated to good results so we would have to wait and see.

Thankfully with the assistance of the local shops and an emergency dispatch from team sponsor chainreactioncycles.com our mechanical problems were overcome. The problem of hand pump was also managed – mainly letting of the brakes whenever possible (not often) and giving them a bit of a shake, sure it looked gay but it was the only way to manage to pain.

Brommers

The weather was bang on for this week. In fact it couldn’t have been much better. Sunshine and clear blue skies everyday. When the course got a little (correction: ‘very’) dusty, the rain gods would dampen the earth to make hustling your mate in front a real possibility.

It’s worth mentioning that the riding in Alpe D’Huez was exceptional. There are some pretty lengthy descents here and the lift network was also pretty decent. The scenery is second to none, with the panoramic view from Pic Blanc being nothing short of breathtaking. Sometimes its good to take a break from the narrow focus of your goggles as you concentrate on the trail in front, step back and admire the scenery. Britain has some amazing countryside, but the 'mountains’ in Wales were certainly eclipsed by the MOUNTAINS of the Alpe's! The harmony of rider, the countryside, and machine is what makes mountain biking special to me – and none more so than in the French Alps – magnifique!

Anyway, back to the race. With 6 days of solid riding under our belts, it was time for the Megavalanche qualification on the Saturday. This was effectively a series of mini-avalanche races of 200 riders on a shortened course (still 30-40mins worth!). A good qualification race was all-important to gaining a good grid position for the main event on Sunday, as getting caught in a procession of riders on the singletrack was not an option if you wanted a reasonable finish. With 2-300 british riders making the trip over the pace was always going to be frantic.

Steve

I managed to bustle my way to finish 25th in my qualifier, putting me on row G of the race and in the top 170. Pretty pleased with that. Webster and Turner also qualified for the first ‘wave’ of the Megavalanche, on rows N and O respectively with very few issues, maybe Steve's conservative riding was going to play a part as since his shock went he's had no mechanicals or punctures all week. Brommers didn’t fair so well and missed the cut for the first ‘wave’ of the Mega on Sunday down in row Q. His M3 downhill bike was faultless all week with no mechanicals, that was until qualifying where he had his first, the mayhem of the flying rocks at the start left him with his chain wrapped around his cranks, not to mention that the M3 is just that little bit too heavy for the uphill's of the qualifying course. We all agreed that an ‘all-mountain’ style of bike was the weapon of choice for the Mega, a full-on downhill rig was just to cumbersome on the uphill and tight singletrack. Brommers would start in the ‘special needs ’ category on Sunday, behind the women (there are some benefits!) Still, at least we weren’t riding a plastic bike like Neil Arnold, yes he took a carbon fibre bike with the very latest Hope FR brakes to the roughest riding in France, we were all shocked to hear he had snapped it?! Craig tried many sorties into the night to try and steel his prototype brakes to ease his hand cramps, however all were unsuccessful.

So, to the main race. A 6:30am start on the top of the glacier was not ideal for our battered bodies, but the early morning view was sensational. Nerves mounted as the riders lined up on the start. 6 rows in front of me I could see Nico Voulouz, Gee Atherton, Neil Donaghue, Mikel Pascal and a host of other famous riders. The TV helicopters hovered nearby as the seconds counted down, and then we were off! No sooner had the tape been lifted than all my good work in qualifying was undone as I hit the icy deck after about 5m! struggling to get back up with another rider sat between my legs, Webster and Turner actually passed me! So, I was left to pick my way through the field on the tight singletrack lower down.

I’ve been told many times before that the secret to the Mega is getting out in front, and staying there, avoiding the train like processions on the technical sections. This was so true, and something that Bromley capitalised on. With his usual ‘balls out style’ he actually took the lead in his race on the snow and ice sections. Letting go of the brakes and straight lining it on the glacier (easier said than done) paid him back in full for his poor qualifying result. Then came the singletrack and some uphill's and normal service was resumed with brommers sweating through his eyeballs!

Mackie

The race was a lung buster. Without going into too much detail about all the sections, the course winds its way down the mountain, through towns and villages, in and out of woods and eventually ending in a town in the bottom of the valley. It’s hard not only on your hands, but also on your concentration levels which are stretched to the limit. It’s pretty frustrating too as so often some lycra clad weirdo will pass you on the uphill's only to hold you up on the descents: ‘Allez, au droit, au gaut, passé, passé, get out of the f**cking way’!!! I was amazed at just how many uphill's there were on the course, but this made the event unique and a massive physical challenge, without this element, you would never get the immense feeling of achievement from completing this race whatever your position.

Alas being the skinniest and fittest I managed to get down the hill first out of our group with a finishing position of 209th (1hr 20minutes). I was on the massage table when Rob Turner next came in, in a position of 301st (1hr 31minutes). Webster closely followed Rob, coming in with a time of 1hr 35minutes, 308th position. Miraculously Webster and myself had few mechanicals or falls, but Rob was not so lucky. His brand new rear wheel recently flown in as an emergency looked like a retro snowflake (remember them?) with only 7 spokes remaining on the driveside! He’d had to stop and bend the broken spokes back into the wheel with his hydraulic monkey like hands so that he could carry on riding. Without that mechanical, what might have been…

Crash Master

And so to Brommers. Where was he? We all waited at the bottom. The top woman had already come through (Anne Caro taking time to overtake Webster on the decent!), but where was Bromley. All of a sudden a forlorn figure came into view on the finishing straight, clearly out of breath! No sooner had he crossed the line than he collapsed in a heap of exhaustion. I actually thought about calling for a medic, but instead just squirted water on his head and laughed! After some 45 minutes of recovery, Bromley regained the power of speech (how we all regretted that) only to find out that he had actually finished with a very respectable time of 1hr 20minutes (41st – in the Joey Deacon category) equaling my fastest time in our group, bugger!

Now, those of you that know Craig know that when he does well, he's not shy about sharing it! Did we hear the end of this fantastic time….no! Despite our best effort to hit back with arguments like reminding him that his category had fewer riders holding him up down the course, nothing would wash, credit where credit is due I guess. After all he's the most unfit and equaled the fastest time in our group....it's all about the minerals....you've either got them when it matters and the chips are down or you don't!!!! We were all pretty chuffed in our own way that we’d completed the most grueling, yet satisfying mountain bike race in the world and have a new found respect for any man or women wearing the Megavalanche jersey....RESPECT.

A shout must go out to the organisers of the Megavalanche. The races always started on time, and were (apart from lifts) extremely well organised with a great atmosphere. For 71 Euros (£48), we each got a lift pass for the week, a free jersey, race entry, two buffet lunches, and free massages – not bad value compared to racing in the UK!!?

All in all, a very successful sortie over to France, with the Megavalanche race being a fitting end to the week and a lasting mountain biking memory. Same again next year lads………?

Final standings

Paul Mackie 209 M30 61 1 hour 20 mins 5 seconds

Craig Bromley 41 M30 16 1 hour 20 mins 51 seconds

Rob Turner 301 M30 30 1 hour 31 mins 11 seconds

Steve Webster 308 SEN 133 1 hour 35 mins 7 seconds