Michael Collins rides the epic Grand Raid CristAlp Mountain Bike Challenge

Verbier – Grimentz 131 kilometres 5 major mountains passes and a few undulations in between!

VS cycles race squad member Mick and his riding companion Wyn Evans decided after last year’s charity ride from Lands End to John o’ Groats that they needed a more serious challenge. So a look through the calendar of events for serious mountain bikers brought their attention to the Grand Raid CristAlp. August 20^th was the date for this year’s Grand Raid CristAlp mountain bike race held in the beautiful Swiss mountains around Verbier. A mass participation race with over 4000 competitors covering some of the highest peaks and valleys in this most spectacular of mountain areas normally reserved for the skiing enthusiasts.

The pair arrived in Verbier a few days before the event, which allowed for a few training rides to try acclimatise to the altitude. This involved taking the cable car to the mid-station on the mountain and then riding to the top.

Mick said, “This basically made you feel ill with double vision, headache and a nauseating feeling in your mouth but the blast back down was brilliant.”

On race day we were up at 4.45 am to fuel up on a breakfast of cereal, bread and pasta made slightly more palatable by drizzling it in olive oil! After re-fitting the mudguards due to the not so glorious sheet rain it was time to ride to the start. We weren’t to know then but those few training rides really proved invaluable as we managed to cover the first 30 km of the race route, which involved the first small mountain pass of the race in a little under 45 minutes.

Mick said “As there are 4000 competitors the riders are split in to groups and we were starting in the third group fifteen minutes behind the first, we took the first hill steady trying to avoid going out too hard too soon and risk blowing up. Whilst doing this we managed to pass most of the group we were in and catch hundreds of others on the way to the top. Seeing this and passing riders so effortlessly was a good morale booster, if these guys can finish why not us.”

After clearing this first summit, dropping down the other side was a simple affair, just a matter of trying to avoid some of the infamously dreadful European descenders. In fact in the entire race not one person overtook Wyn or myself on a descent! After this the race entered the only undulating part, it was about 13 km of ups and downs before the second mountain which was relatively short at 8 km long. After this was a brilliant little descent which managed to raise massive cheers from the crowd as Wyn and myself seemed to be the only guys to get down on the bikes. It was the bottom of a ski run on wet grass at a 45° angle with bodies and bikes strewn the whole way down!

The third major climb passed by without mishap so much so I can’t really remember any of it nor the descent after. However the forth hill was the mother of all climbs, 22 km long and 1000 metres in height gained it seemed to go on forever and ever. Having said that it was relatively simple and we managed to climb the whole thing sat down in the middle chain ring. Once at the top it took on another painful twist, possibly the worst point of the whole race, two and a half miles of ankle deep mud churned up by the passage of hundreds of bikes before us. It was an immense effort just to keep the bike moving through this and keep the feet clipped into the pedals. With only the odd dab to clear rocks and streams we were really feeling the strength begin to sap away and were mighty glad to get onto the descent.

The descent was a brilliant but the freezing rain that had started to fall yet again halfway up that climb froze fingers and body on the way down as most of the descent was on super fast fire roads so the wind-chill was incredible. When we reached the technical single track near the bottom it felt as though your ankles and elbows were snapping as they were jolted back to life.

It was a relief to start climbing again just to re-warm, however that feeling was short lived when we asked a Frenchman how far it was to the finish.

His reply being “Only 42 km” but added “But it will take you two and half hours to reach the top of the next climb” with a sly grin on his face.

How right that Frenchman had been, as the climb did take two and a half-hours as we were told and it was the hardest climb of our lives. The climb itself was “only” 19 km long but the last 45 minutes of it was up a 45 degree slope which we had to push, pull, throw, and tantrum the bikes to the top.

Luckily before this climb we had taken our only stop of the entire race to drink and refuel, all other times we had just grabbed a bottle or energy bar from the feed station helpers and carried straight on with the ride. A vital two minutes as it turned out as without extra food and drink on board we would have struggled to finish this race.

At the top we were greeted with a tiny descent then another ridiculously steep hill tackled in the granny ring. Finally the end of the climbing and one of the best signs I have ever seen, '15 km.' A simple sign but when you know its all downhill what a relief!

The descent was awesome, taken at full speed with all caution left behind at the top. A few hairy moments over the rocks on some fantastic single track which was possibly the best of the entire race and I was through the finishing line to the cheers of a great welcoming crowd.

I finished the race in 124^th place out of over 4000 starters and was the second British rider home in a time of 8 hrs 58 mins just over 2 hrs behind the winner, Wyn finished in 9 hrs 20 mins in 176th.

Of the 4000 starters just less than half completed the event mainly due to riders not making the stringent cut off times because of the weather.

Mick said, “Having both done Lands End John O'Groats last year I was hoping the training for that and all the subsequent miles since would have enabled us to complete the route without much trouble. How wrong could you be, the appalling weather conditions and strict time limits set for completing each section meant we had to press on at racing pace.”

Mick said “this was one of the most difficult and intense events I have ever done, the feeling of completing it was unbelievable both physically from the pain in my legs and body from the effort. To the exhilaration running through my mind at what had been achieved in the awful conditions.

Would I do it again, not sure, perhaps my feelings for doing it again are tainted by the transfer back to the hotel, 3 hours in a bus sat in wet kit with no food or drink, the worst headache, painful legs and numb feet I have ever experienced. What I would say is for those that like the ultimate challenge the ChristAlp has got to be right up there, so who knows!

For more information on the ChrisAlp mountain bike challenge visit www.grand-raid-cristalp.ch

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