Very fortunate to be able to head over to Europe for 3 weeks of racing this summer. My first stop was the Italian coast to try out my first marathon World Cup. This would be a new challenge for me. The race was in one of Europe's top MTB destinations, Finale Ligure. It is located west of Genoa on the Liguarian Sea. Riding here was easy to see why it is so popular. The trails feature ALL riding styles within close proximity. Within a matter of minutes you can be on loamers to bike park to open exposed California style loose over hard. The trail systems really have something for everyone! This is all located in mountains right next to spectacular beaches. I highly recommend riding here if you ever get the chance.
The course for this one was grueling. 100 kilometres and over 3700 meters of climbing (and descending). It made for a long day on the bike. My strategy going in was to be as conservative as possible. I knew it would be a long day out and the climbs would be brutal towards the back end of the race. To start the day off there was a 1100 meter road climb. In my head, this would be very important to stay conservative on. I road my pace but admittedly went a little harder than i wanted to. For the first 60 minutes of the race i averaged 299W and had a NP of 325 (5 watts per kg). This was good for around 85th up the first climb. Once I made it to the top, there were 15 minutes of traversing single track before the first descent. I quickly realized that there were some technically ungifted riders where I was in the field and made a point to take the front on the remaining DH sections of the course. I was now 24km and 75 minutes into the race, with just over 1100m climbed and a NP of 304W. What next? Another 20-minute climb. I made sure to keep my power to 300 watts as I knew there were a number of difficult climbs remaining. I rode steady and found myself with a couple of strong riders moving forward in the field. Unfortunately, there was almost no draft effect due to the straight-up or straight-down nature of the course. I continued strong until the first feed zone about 45 km into the course. I made a quick stop and received 2 bottles from my girlfriend who braved the day on the mountaintop (this is a story for another day) and continued on with the group of 3 riders. For the next hour or so the group continued pushing and picking through the field. At my best, I had worked my way into position 65-70th. At kilometer 50 there was a 600-meter descent. I took the lead and put some time into the group I was in. This was a prime example of the diversity of the trails, starting in the forested loamers, mixing in some bike park and finishing with some STEEP ass shoots (1.1km at -18 percent average according to Strava!) I popped out of the single track close to sea level and the only way to go was up. This was where my dad started to get difficult. The next climb was 900 meters long at 16 percent on loose gravel. It was a just get up it sort of climb, no pacing just max pain. This was the first of many climbs of this sty;e. The next one came around 18 minutes later and was even more challenging. 2 Km at 13% on super loose terrain in the sun really slowed me down. I found myself redlining to get over these climbs. A number of riders opted to walk, I didn't but it may have been smarter to avoid maxing out with so much racing still to go. The heat and near-maximal efforts really took a lot out of me and I found myself out of water 16km and around 800 meters of climbing away from the feed zone. I knew once I made it to that feed zone at kilometer 85 it was mostly downhill and I could make it to the finish without losing too much time but I needed to get there. The next hour was hard for me. I suffered on the descents, totally empty (the view was super pretty descending along the ridge overlooking the sea) and suffered even more up the climbs. I made it to the feed zone and got as much water and calories in as possible. To the finish were some amazing descents as well as one final road climb (2.5km at 8.6%, 260W at 164 bpm was all I could muster). Descending through beautiful villages and gnarly single track back to sea level. I finished the 100km in 5hrs 38 minutes in 83rd place, about 45 minutes back from the leaders!
Reflecting back on the race, I was very proud of how I rode for the first 3.5 hours. I was stronger than expected over this duration. I feel that with some small adjustments to my nutrition, I could have maintained the pace for that extra 1 hour I needed and finished a lot stronger on the day. It was challenging logistically to get the fueling strategy correct due to there being 4 different feed zone locations.
My fuelling was as follows:
Hr 1: 600ml, 100g CHO
Hr 2 600ml 100g CHO
Hr 2-3.5 1200ml 200g CHO
Hr 3.5-4.5 500ml, 50g CHO (this is where i ran out of my bottles and took a neutral feed)
Hr 4.5 to finish 750ml, 150g CHO
Total 600g CHO - 2400 calories
3.65L of fluid
In total, I burned 4962 calories, averaged 221 watts and NP271 over the 5hrs 34 minutes with an average hr of 166 and a max of 188. A few peaks on the day, 299 average for 1 hr, 365 for 5 minutes, 331 for 20 minutes, 286 for 90 minutes, 245 average and 286np for 3:48. May have to try another one of these at some point.
The following weekend i jumped back into regular XCO racing in Lenzerhiede Switzerland. It is located in the Swiss Alps and is a small ski town in the southeast portion of the country. It is famously Nino Schurter's home course! The track is technically demanding as it is covered in a blanket of rough roots. It challenges riders as there is nowhere to recover. An additional challenge is that it is just above 1500m of elevation. This amount of altitude is just enough to make athletes notice the lack of O2. I have attended this world cup once before and really enjoyed the track. I felt it was my strongest world cup of the 2022 season and hoped I could have another successful ride.
My lead in week was recovery focused. Metabolically, I felt pretty good but my musculature was exhausted from the hours of stress the marathon demanded. I had 3 easy days this week along with 1 activation workout as well as my usual pre-race routine 2 days before the event. The weather all week was dry making the course fast and grippy (this place gets slippery quickly in the rain due to all the roots). I went into race day feeling rested and ready.
I don’t have a great call-up for these races. With 115 starters jamming down the start straight things often get very hectic. I go in with the mindset of conservative aggression. If a lane opens I am ready to burn a match however I find it is not possible to force passes with such a massive field. I was unfortunate and got caught behind a pile-up in the start straight keeping me deep in the field through the first few kilometres (nothing worse than standing still mid-race knowing the front is charging minutes ahead). I found myself almost 3 minutes down after the start loop. My race didn't get a whole lot better from here. I pushed as hard as I could but turned out lap times much slower than I expect of myself. I struggled to find my top pace despite riding technically well. I was a very disappointing 3 laps down. My best guess is I was unable to fully recover from the previous weekend's effort. My NP was the same for 1 hour as I was able to manage for 5.5 the weekend before. Off to the next one.
Leogang Austria. About a 5-hour drive through the Alps to a town just East of Innsbruck, West of Vienna. In my opinion, these are the most beautiful mountain I have been able to experience. 360 panoramas everywhere you look with beautiful valleys and small towns in each. The course in Leogang is extremely difficult, and a pure climbers course. The climbs are steep and the descents are steeper. If it rains, things get bad. The descents turn into mudshoots where the only way down is to point and shoot.
With a disappointing ride last weekend, I doubled down on the recovery focus this week. I was still able to enjoy some beautiful riding in the Alps, completing an awesome 3-hour ride through some small villages before ascending up and over one of the local passes. In true Austrian fashion, there was a restaurant located at the mountain peak serving beer, coffee and stroodle.
I spent lots of time on the course familiarizing my self with the steep descents and brutal climbs. My hot lap on the course went well and I went into the weekend confident. I exercised the same strategy off the start with extra caution as going out too hard on this course will cost you in the end. I found myself near the back off the start. My legs were decent on the day and I felt I was riding strong. The heat was relentless, with 28-degree temperatures making the course that extra little bit more challenging. I fought hard and rolled in for 100th place. The weekend was better than the last, so I take the positives I can from this and hope to build on it for the rest of the season. I have been struggling to find my pace this year but hope to create some momentum in the back half of the season. It is only June and the last world cups are in October so I still have some time to pull things together.
Travel back to Canada. My flight was out of Innsbruck on Monday afternoon. Living at the base of such a nice mountain meant I had to get out for one good hike before I left. Tyler and I set the alarms for 545 and ran out the front door. We made it about 6km and 10000m of vertical out before we had to turn back to pack up the Airbnb. The views from the mountain were beautiful. We were able to look through the valley, over the course and could see the higher ranges behind the course. The most notable peak in the area is the Glossglockner, which we were able to have a crack at in 2022. A quick Haribo break and an hour's run down the mountain had me off to the airport with ample time to spare.
Innsbruck to Frankfurt was delayed over an hour causing me to miss my connection by minutes. With no more flights leaving Frankfurt to Toronto until the next morning, I was staying the night in Germany. They put me up in an airport hotel with a meal ticket. Tuesday morning I woke up to some very sore legs at 430am Euro time (1030 est time) and ventured to the airport. Frankfurt to Dublin, Dublin to Toronto and Toronto to home made for a long day. I squeezed in a 40-minute spin and a hot tub to massage my legs back to life and got to bed a 9pm for some much-needed sleep. The travel did a number on my back, so a quick appointment with Heather at North Durham Physio has me back and ready to train. I have had just under 2 weeks at home to prep for a few Canada Cups and nationals on the east coast. Stay tuned for more.
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