Nick Varley - Mega Trip of an Average Rider

I first rode at the Megavalanche a few years ago on a borrowed bike with no training, needless to say it didn't go that well.

I had the opportunity to try again this year and signed up as soon as the entries opened. This time I had my own bike and had spent a couple of months riding and my fitness up to a decent standard.

The guys at The Mountain Bike Chalet were good enough to give me a few days off from guiding so on Wednesday I chucked some riding gear and camping kit in my car, strapped my Santa Cruz Nomad C on the back and headed for Alpe D'Huez.

The drive was brilliant, over the Col de le Madeleine and then the Col de Gladon. The Tour de France had taken the same route a week before so the villages looked immaculate and the roads were covered in encouraging messages for the riders, very encouraging and great to start getting in the mood for the inevitable suffering that will occur during the mega.

Several people were doubtful of the engineering masterpiece that is my bike rack, but it proved solid and I maintained a good pace along the twisty roads, arriving at the campsite in Allemont in time for Hana to cook some pasta while I put my tent up. We then went across the road to the Dutch bar for more food and a beer with friends that were also about to partake.

Several people were doubtful of the engineering masterpiece that is my bike rack, but it proved solid and I maintained a good pace along the twisty roads"

Thursday morning was cloudless, I spent an hour or so checking my bike, getting ready and eating croissants. Allemont is great place to stay for the mega, theres a bakery and a couple of bars, there are free buses to take you and your bike to the lifts in Oz and it's where the main race finishes so it's easy to crawl back to your tent once you've finished.

After a few chocolate croissants I got the bus up to oz then a gondola over to alpe d'huez. The track into town was relentless braking bumps, even on flat sections miles from corners, this would prove to be a theme for the weekend.

I picked up my lift pass and race number and headed up to the top of pic blanc for a run down the top half of the mega track. I got up there by about 11.30 and the snow was soft and rutted. Riding down was tricky but not as impossible as many people made it look.

After the snow is a long traverse with small climbs and technical sections, eventually coming around above the town, here the Mega and qualifying tracks cross so I rode the bottom half of the qualifying track. It was fun with jumps, sprints through the towns and then a load of steep dusty berms finishing in Huez village. I headed back up to Alpe D'Huez for a burger then rode the top half of the qualifying track. This section was wide loose fire roads, snow sections, technical rock drops and pedally traverses. Fun. Then I rode the bottom half of the mega track which was a lot of switchbacks, dust and more braking bumps.

Back in Allemont I had a load more food, checked my bike then had an early night. Friday morning was cloudy and grey but that soon burnt off and out came the sun.

I got to the start of the qualifying in time to see the group before me set off, it was just as manic and dusty as I remembered. I downed a complimentary red bull and took my place on the third row. The euro dance tunes started blaring, people had a bit of a dance while sat on their bikes, a helicopter hovered by the first corner, then the tapes went up and 200 riders charged into the first corner.

I got a good start and stayed up, pedalled as much as possible, survived a couple of inventive lines and by the end of the fire road section I had made up quite a few places. Coming into the town a girl was shouting positions as you passed, she said either 25 or 35, the top 35 from each heat went through to the final. I passed a few people on the sprints through the town and held my position down the steep dusty berms. I relaxed going into the next section and my front wheel washed out over a drop, I went over the bars and rolled about in the dust. When I got back on my bike I'd lost about 4 places. I caught the riders up but there wasn't much chance of passing anyone on the few hundred metres to the finish. I crossed the line panting like a dog and coughing from all the dust but it had been a fun race. I rolled down the road, collected my lunch bag then sat on a wall to sort myself out. I must have looked tired because a friendly Frenchman gave me an extra sandwich. I'd finished in 26th. Result. This meant that I was racing the Megavalanche with the big boys and Pro riders.

I took the chairlift back up to town for a coffee then back to the camp for a shower, food and a well earned beer.

Saturday started with a sleep-in til 9, followed by pizza, croissant and apple tart while watching the girls' mega finish. Ann caro won convincingly, Tracy Moseley was second, Hana Beer coming in 43rd.

The rest of Saturday was spent resting. A trip up to Alpe D'Huez for a few cheeseburgers then a nap, dinner and bed…

Woke up at 5.30, got dressed then walked over the road to get the bus up to Oz, ate some croissants on the lift up, got onto the glacier at 7.30

It was chilly at 3330m but the sun was out and it wasn't windy. The free cup of tea was tea was nice, I declined the chartreuse. A few people tried to warm up in the toilets but the smell from all the nervous stomachs made the bathrooms unbearable. The snow was freshly groomed and frozen hard. With the start 5 minutes away I took of my down coat and stuffed it in my bag, shook hands with the guys either side of me then the music started.

If you ever turn down the travel on your forks for a climb remember to reset it before heading downhill, I forgot and went over the bars on a rooty switchback.

The tapes went in the air and 350 people pedalled frantically to get the holeshot into the first corner. Somewhere near the front there was a crash and everyone further back had little possibility of slowing or turning on the icy snow. A few hundred people were tangled up and sliding about. I got up and untangled my bike and set off, almost immediately the guy in front of me crashed, I slid into him and more riders slid into the back of me. This happened twice more before I got off the snow and on to the rocky traverse. I could see a string of a few hundred riders snaking along the trail in front of me. The pace of the riding was good, as it should be with the quality of the riders who had competed for these prestigious places, with only minor jams at climbs and drops. There were inverted bikes all along the trail with flat tyres, riders frantically changing tubes as we rode past.

I'd hoped to make up some places on the fire road climbs but it appeared most other people had similar plans. I got past quite a few people but several got past me too.

If you ever turn down the travel on your forks for a climb remember to reset it before heading downhill, I forgot and went over the bars on a rooty switchback. The endless braking bumps were taking a toll on my arms and the dust kicked up by a couple of hundred riders made seeing lines tricky. A few minutes further down the track I went into a corner too fast and slid down the banking on the exit costing me another couple of places. With only a minute or so left to ride I took a high line through a bus stop section and missed the track when I came back down, another couple of places lost and a load more dust stuck to my face.

I crossed the line in 1 hour 5 minutes, 253rd place, a few places up from where I'd started on the glacier. I was tired, dirty and sore but happy to have finished intact.

Overall a fantastic event that everybody should experience at least once. The bike was fantastic. No mechanicals what so ever. Tubeless tyres are the way forward for a race like this…and who said that carbon bikes wouldn't hold up to this sort of riding. It was stiff, strong and still in one piece. Brilliant.

Overall a fantastic event that everybody
should experience at least once.

Credit: www.themountainbikechalet.com

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