Grand Raid

There were 2 reasons I chose to go after the Grand Raid this summer: any endurance race through the Swiss Alps has to be pretty cool, and it was a qualifier for the 2012 marathon world championships.  I originally planned to do a UCI race in Austria the weekend of the Grand Raid, because the Grand Raid looked too long...  125k with 15,000ft of climbing and a winning time of 7:10 in 2010.  I've never even ridden my mountain bike that long, let alone raced that long.  But when I saw the Grand Raid was on the calendar as a qualifier for the 2012 marathon worlds I had a change of heart.  It was a good choice!

The Wednesday before the race I got an idea how cool the race would be when Beth and I went out to preview the middle part of the course.  Permanent course markers on all of the trails and roads, amazing views down into the Sion Valley and later views of the glaciers above Evolene, and a few sections of actual single track!  The course is a super cool point to point starting in the famous ski town (and tour de france mountain top finish) of Verbier.  From there it's up over a pass, down into the town of Nendaz, and a repeating of several more passes and cool Swiss mountain towns.  Each town had a feed zone on the main street and the feeds are fully stocked with bottles, gels, and food hand ups for all riders. 

Race morning dawned with perfect weather and a short 10min warm-up was all that was needed with the long day ahead.  From the gun I felt pretty good, but paced myself a little slower than the week before at Eiger Bike.  I was still riding in the top third of the 100 elite riders at the top of the first 3,000ft climb and rolled pretty comfortably with a small group of riders from there...  A lot goes through the mind during such a long race, but I've really found some joy in trying to just be in the moment and that was my focus for the next several hours.  Not thinking about anything and simply riding in the moment...

A few hours of mountain roads and trails later I made my way down into Evolene for my second and last feed from Beth.  I was riding just inside the top 30 and feeling good, but knew the biggest climb was still ahead.  The section that looked scariest on the profile was also the section I didn't pre-ride.  A climb from 4,000 up to 9,000ft which included at least a little bit of hike of bike at the top...  By now I was a catching a lot of riders doing the shorter version (they start at other towns midway along the long course and go to the same finish) but the other Elites were pretty well spread out.  I got back in the moment and ground out some 10-12% jeep road climbing for I don't know how long, probably a full hour.  I passed one guy and one guy passed me.  Then at some point we were getting above the tree line and came around a bend to see one of the craziest sights I've ever seen in a race.  Way up on a barren ridge ahead there was a line of riders that looked like little ants from where I was, all walking straight up the slope.   A couple minutes later I rolled to the bottom of the ridge and the road we were on ended, with only a hiking trail going on.  It was a very long 30 minutes of pushing my bike up the rocky scree before making it to a huge cheering crowd at the top.  I have no idea how all the swiss families and fans got out there to the middle of nowhere, but they were on the 9,000ft pass cheering us on. 

From there I knew there was a 15k descent to look forward to.  The top 20, which would qualify for worlds, was out of grasp.  But I was loving the moment, my legs still worked, and I pushed as hard as I could on the descent.  The bottom half turned into some fairly technical trail and I was able to blow by a couple elite riders before dropping into the finish where thousands of riders and friends were cheering everyone in.  It was super cool and felt amazing to finish such an amazing day on the bike.  I was blessed that day and definitely felt it.

Only later that evening when Beth and I made it to out hotel was I able to pull up the full results.  Turns out I was riding a couple spots further up in the field than I thought and the guys I passed on the last downhill actually put me into 20th overall on the day.  The dream of going to worlds is alive and well!

RESULTS

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