Racing the Swiss Epic: Part 1, Bringing a cannon to a gunfight
As I stood waiting on the cold, high altitude start line, I nervously looked around; the town square was awash with a sea of branded Lycra, skinny tubed carbon machines rolled past like prancing ponies, all steep angled and whisper light. We could not have looked more out of place, baggies, EVOC packs, hard hitting all-mountain bikes and unshaven legs (well just me anyway).
We were about to start our epic six day journey from Verbier to Zermatt, one that would take us over 300km of Swiss singletrack, up 8000m of climbing, and down 13,000m of descending (we would use a couple of lifts), and it looked like we were in for a brutal schooling on endurance racing.
After racing some great enduro races this year, I was keen to do something a little different, and by chance I heard about the PERSKINDOL Swiss Epic stage race, 300km of racing over 6 days, with 8000m of climbing and far more descending. This was a marathon style race, with timed climbs as well as descents, and it traversed the mountains from Verbier to Zermatt, two of the most stunning locations in Switzerland, an area I had never visited in the summer. The interesting and most appealing thing about the race was that riders would race in teams of two, never allowed to be more than 2 minutes apart, so it would be much more of a team journey than a head down slog. My partner, Catherine, is a keen rider so it would be an awesome opportunity for us to race as a team for the first time.
As the race would travel through many Alpine villages over the six days, the Swiss Epic team provided hotels as part of the entry price and would transport luggage from hotel to hotel, allowing riders to ride with just race essentials in their backpacks. Racers would be able to enjoy way-marked, day long stages, over some of Switzerland’s finest trails, free from travel concerns, and also enjoy some of the most attractive hotels in the picturesque towns. The stage was set for an epic journey, and we could not wait to try our hand at endurance racing.
While getting prepared, the first question we came to was what bikes to ride, we needed something that could eat up the long days, while being tough enough to handle the tough descents. As this was going to be an epic adventure in the Alps, and the team was UK based, it seemed like the chance to test out a bike I had been keen to try for a while, the new Orange Alpine Five 29er. I had had a couple of short runs on these bikes and it was just the kind of 29er that I liked, engaging, fun and a hoot on steep terrain. Orange were kind enough to oblige and sent us over a white Alpine Five AM and a neon orange Alpine Five RS. With a fresh build kit and a well proven geometry, the bikes looked the part, and with 6 days of all-mountain racing, it would be the perfect test for getting to know the legendary Five, warts and all. To be honest the Orange Segment would have been a more logical choice, and is touted to be a fearsome weapon, but there was a nice symmetry about testing out an Alpine Five in the Alps.
As with every big event I have planned, the original training plan of steadily building power and base fitness through endless hours on the bike and through intense interval training, was replaced with being simply too busy to ride much for 6 weeks, and an epic 3 day transatlantic airport mission to get back for the race. So unfit, jetlagged and feeling like a fish out of water, we found ourselves on the start line, about to take on some of Switzerland’s legendary trails.
We have just finished day two of our adventure, tune in tomorrow to see how the Alpine Fives handled themselves against their anorexic competition.
Words and Photos: Trev Worsey
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