GRAVITY SCHOOL RACING - FINDING SPEED EPISODE 7

The Megavalanche is a bucket list mountain bike race for many, and it’s clear as to why when you visit Alpe D’Huez and see the scale of the event for the first time. Towering high above the village, is Pic Blanc at 3330m, where the race starts on the glacier, and hiding deep in the valley bottom far below the village, is the finish at Allemond at 713m. The sheer scale of the course that the riders have to master is incredible, descending over 2500m for 13 miles. For 2024 there was talk of a record amount of snow up on the mountain, so there was a real buzz about the pits, as riders prepared to ascend the mountain for their first practice runs. After the huge crash in 2023, Jack was very nervous returning to the event!

During practice the athletes were treated to some of the best snow conditions in many years up on the glacier. There was full coverage all of the way down the glacier, and the clear night skies and cold temperatures meant the snow was firm and crisp, so riders could generate incredibly high speeds and get some great control. This settled Jack’s nerves a little bit heading into the race.

Early in the week, Jack raced his first ever Dual Slalom event which was a lot of fun, finishing 2 ^nd , and backed up his 2023 win by finishing 1 ^st  in the “No Chain” race. The qualifying heats for the Megavalanche are a really important part of the week for the athletes, as a strong performance is needed to guarantee a top 3 finish in the heat, and a front row spot for the main event. Jack was in a heat with fellow SR Suntour rider Liam Moynihan who is a really strong rider, and he managed to battle the rest to finish 2 ^nd  behind Liam and earn that front row spot. At this point we should mention that not only did Jack come into the race week with a common cold virus, but also having done no endurance training whatsoever, and had maybe ridden an enduro bike 3 times in 2024 altogether. Fitness levels in terms of “sustained efforts” were not high, and this was not going to be pretty on race day!

Although there was a lot of snow on the glacier, the weather forecast from Friday evening onwards was for rain, wind and even some storms. This meant there was uncertainty about where the main event would start. If starting from the glacier was not an option, the back-up plan was to start at the top of the qualifying track, and then race all the way to Allemond from here. This would still be a long race and be very challenging, but not quite the same as racing from the glacier. The decision was made on Friday evening, to run with this back-up plan for the EBike race and challenger race on Saturday, and riders would be told at 6pm on Saturday evening what would happen with the main event on Sunday. It was a nervous wait for everyone, but with the weather forecast being so bad, everyone had a good idea what would happen.

As feared, the news arrived that the race would start from the alternate starting point, and race the qualifying track to where it crosses the main Mega track just before the big climb, and would then continue on the Mega track to Allemond. As it had rained a lot, the track conditions were going to be traitorous and riders were facing a big challenge. Jack was actually pretty happy about this, because it removed the long XC section in the middle of the race, making the race ever so slightly more suited to his strength of riding downhill fast. Jack started the race well, and was running 5 ^th  into the first corner, and after battling the top two snow patches hit the first flat fire road in the top 10. Unfortunately, he dropped his chain and lost 5 positions while stopping to put it back on. He then lost 7 places on the main climb, as the strong XC riders blasted past him as his lungs, “fell out of his ***”! He battled back through the pack in the lower downhill sections to secure a top 20 finish with 17 ^th  place. His RAAW Madonna V3 performed incredibly all week, it’s just a shame he didn’t have the legs to pedal it faster… Maybe some form of training ahead of next years event!

The race was incredible, with riders battling both each other and the conditions from the start to the finish. Two fellow SR Suntour riders made the podium, Hugo Pigeon winning the race and Jack’s mate Stefan Peter finished in 5 ^th  place once again, making that four Megavalanche podium finishes in as many years, which at such a crazy event with so many variables, is extremely impressive. What a week and Jack was very happy to get home to his downhill bike this week! His cold did become sinusitis off the back of the “effort” of the race, and he is currently on antibiotics to get back to full health ahead of Whistler Crankworx starting this coming week.

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Words: Jack Reading

Video: Loamlifemedia