Racing

Race Report | Bluegrass Enduro Tour Round #2 by Hannah Barnes

18.06.2015
by

We’re always sent race reports from the event organizers, consisting of a nice introduction of how everyone enjoyed themselves, moving onto ‘The Days Racing Consisted of’ and then the results, but fresh from the Bluegrass Enduro Tour, we received this special report from Specialized ambassador, Hannah Barnes and her views on the event.

For the first time in the history of the Bluegrass Enduro Tour, the series was holding a round in the French Pyrenees. The mountain village of Ancizan was a beautiful place to host the event. The nearest airport in Toulouse is only two hours from the race venue, which made it relatively easy for people from further afield to go and experience the Bluegrass Enduro Tour.

For the first time in the Bluegrass Enduro Tour, this race was being held in the Pyrenee's
For the first time in the Bluegrass Enduro Tour, this race was being held in the Pyrenee’s
"The mountain village of Ancizan was a beautiful place to host the event."
“The mountain village of Ancizan was a beautiful place to host the event.”

The French round gave us the opportunity to explore the new mountain bike area MTB Trails 65 during two days of racing. This location is a paradise of mountain trails. We experienced a mix of old trails and also new ones, which were more recently built to extend the trail network.

Day 1

The race registration in the small village of Ancizan was relaxed and everyone was enjoying having a coffee and meeting friends whilst picking up their number boards. The event was sold out, with many locals and quite a few Spanish, as the border to Spain is only 20km away. Bluegrass gave away gloves to the first 125 riders who had registered so everyone was happy and relaxed starting the weekend!

"The first vehicle took the riders to Hourquette d’Ancizan for the start of the race. Above us, were the high peaks of the Pyrenees which were a pretty incredible back drop to start the race with!"
“The first vehicle took the riders to Hourquette d’Ancizan for the start of the race. Above us, were the high peaks of the Pyrenees which were a pretty incredible back drop to start the race with!”
The start
Stage 1 was a long stage to start with, giving Hannah a shock to the system after the first set of tight, slippery corners!

Stage 1 was a long stage to start with, and it felt like a shock to the system to begin the day with ! I soon woke up after the first set of slippery tight corners ! With 800m of descending on technical forest trails, and a few painful climbs thrown in, it set the tone of what to expect for the rest of the race! We were given over two hours for the liaison to Stage 2, which sounded like a long time but we were pleased as it was a long way back up!

Stage 2 started with a flat sprint out into an open field and beautiful views down the valley. There were a few rocky sections which you came in to pretty fast, so it was important to be careful not to puncture. As we moved down into the valley, the trails got tighter, more technical, with tight switchbacks and also a long muddy climb! It definitely kept you thinking and was very physical-great fun!
On the way to Stage 3 there was a much welcomed feed station with everything you feel like eating half way through a race! The third stage was all in the forest, the recent rain made it pretty slippery!

The stage
“he final and shortest stage of the day took us back to the town square in Ancizan. Everyone had a smile of their face when they finished, it had been quite a long day and everyone had a tale to tell of their adventures!”
The top of the hill overlooked the Pyrenee's. How hard would it be to not be distracted by the views?!
The top of the hill overlooked the Pyrenee’s. How hard would it be to not be distracted by the views?!

The organisation had invited everyone for post race drinks, which served also as a briefing for the following day.

Day 2

Stage 5. We started the day by driving up to the Col de Portet, at 2300m altitude. It definitely felt like we were up in the high mountains, with the sound of cow bells and mist swirling around the peaks. This stage was 13km long with 1500m of descending, and quite a bit of climbing and hike a bike in the middle section ! We started off going fast on cow tracks though wide open fields, making our way down and down through tight steep forest trails into the valley.

On the hike a bike section myself and the riders around me helped each other get our bikes up and over the steep rocks, it was great to all have fun and help each other. Stage winner Liam took just over 30 mins on this stage, so it was definitely an epic one! The atmosphere was great, and I really enjoyed riding with such a nice friendly group of people.

"We started the day by driving up to the Col de Portet, at 2300m altitude. It definitely felt like we were up in the high mountains, with the sound of cow bells and mist swirling around the peaks."
“We started the day by driving up to the Col de Portet, at 2300m altitude. It definitely felt like we were up in the high mountains, with the sound of cow bells and mist swirling around the peaks.”
Stage winner Liam took just over 30 mins on this stage, so it was definitely an epic one! The atmosphere was great, and I really enjoyed riding with such a nice friendly group of people.
Stage winner Liam took just over 30 mins on this stage, so it was definitely an epic one! The atmosphere was great, and I really enjoyed riding with such a nice friendly group of people.

The sixth and final stage of the weekend started off the same as Stage 4 the previous day, then branched off onto another trail half way down. The final couple of hundred metres took us through the village and into the town square and the finish. I love this type of finish, racing through the streets and seeing all the people is a great way to end the days riding!

After the race, everyone chilled in the town square until the podium. It was awesome to win some local food and wine specialties to take home to Scotland! Local rider Loic Lacaste won the men’s event,. Being the only female I won the women’s race! I hope to see more girls next year, it is a great race and would be great to share the weekend with some other girls!

Being the only female I won the women's race! I hope to see more girls next year, it is a great race and would be great to share the weekend with some other girls!
Being the only female I won the women’s race! I hope to see more girls next year, it is a great race and would be great to share the weekend with some other girls!

The Bluegrass Enduro Tour is a really relaxed series of events, always hosted in beautiful places off the beaten track. Blind racing gives a really unique and exciting element to these races. This year, the four rounds offer a very exciting mix of terrain and location all over Europe. From the rugged Highlands of Scotland, the high mountains of the Pyrenees, the forests of the Swiss Jura, to the Mediterranean island of Sicily, there is a little bit of everything!

Results:

Men
1st – LACASTE LOIC
2nd – JMOYNIHAN LIAM
3rd – LACASTE CEDRIC

Women
1st – HANNAH BARNES

For more info, visit: bluegrasseagle.com

Words: Hannah Barnes Photos: Joolze Dymond

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