My Indian adventure and end of season racing in Spain soon eroded my off season and before I realized it was already November and I had not really stopped. I am not complaining though as the adventures were all so much fun, but I now really needed a break from riding but I also wanted to start training again for next season.

Tracy and boyfriend James Richards at the British Cycling Gala Dinner

I must admit that one of my big faults in my training is not being able to rest. I always like to be busy and I love riding my bike so taking time off is never easy. However this time I really felt as though I needed to. The Indian trip had taken its toll.

Two weeks off the bike flew by pretty quickly with unpacking bags and starting to plan for next season taking up most of my time. I also had an invite to the British Cycling Gala Dinner. It’s a dinner held every four years to mark the success of that year’s Olympics but also the past four years of international success and my World Champs title in 2010 secured my invite.

I have to say it was an honour to be part of this special occasion especially with such a year of success for British sport and in particular cycling and to be among what are now household sporting names such as Bradley Wiggins and Chris Hoy.

An evening of good food, some great video reviews of the year and some very funny interviews on stage with the big names made for a very enjoyable evening. For me it was also a very inspiring occasion that instilled such a sense of pride and even more desire to get out there and be as successful as I can be in the future.

Social training

From there I then went to the other end of the spectrum to start my training. It was the time of year again for our annual girls weekend get together. A social group of 20+ girls that have been meeting for over 10 years for a fun weekend of eating, laughing and some biking.

Tracy (far right) and the not-at-all monstrous regiment

It’s always so nice to catch up with people I haven’t seen for 12 months and also great to just get out and ride for some fun, with no expectation, pressure or purpose. We just blast around the trails and scare any poor guys that come across our path. The bad taste dress I don’t think helps our intimidating nature either, but its just a fun weekend where we are all brought together by the one common theme, having fun on our bikes.

That was the perfect set up for my winter’s training and I enjoyed getting back into some structure. I also wanted to be able to use the winter months to work on some other aspects of my fitness and signed up for an indoor climbing course to bring some regular climbing into my training. It’s great for upper body strength and mobility and also something different and enjoyable to do during the dark winter months.

I also joined a couple of Pilates classes to really work on my flexibility and core strength. It’s amazing as cyclists how tight you get in certain areas always using your muscles in the same direction, so hopefully a winter of Pilates will help even me out a little.

The Olympians

With my plans to focus on enduro entirely next year with hopefully a few cross-country races along the way too, I need to start getting some good rides and work on my fitness for next year. I started off my campaign in the hardest possible way by meeting up with both our Olympic cross-country racers.

Annie Last has had a much deserved break from her training after this season. She was only just getting back into her training so I thought it would be the perfect time to try and keep her in my sights on a ride. Well I did manage to hang on but I definitely worked a lot harder than I would have done on my own.

It was great to catch up with Annie, and we had great fun blasting around the trails at Cannock Chase. It’s great to see that our top female mountain biker really is a great bike handler. It will keep all those people who think cross-country riders can’t ride downhill very quiet if they ever went for a ride with her.

I also met up with Liam Killeen who suffered a nasty break to his ankle at the Olympic games in August and has been hard at work recovering and getting back on his bike. It was good to see him out on the bike and making really good progress, and once again I got a great work out on one of his easy rides.

I have been so lucky to get the opportunity to ride and travel with these guys during 2012 and it has really given me a good insight into what it takes to be successful at cross-country. The dedication and level of fitness they have is incredible.

I have no excuse now, to get my head down and get dragged around on some more rides with them over the winter and increase my fitness ready to take on the Enduro World Series in 2013.

Going out to the Alps to race enduros in the summer I thought would spoil the fun I had been having at the UK races and I really expected to come back home and find the races a bit of a disappointment without chairlifts and 10-minute-plus descents, but I didn’t.

On the way to the win in Wales.

The UK Gravity Enduro Series has been a huge success for me and I think for the sport in the UK. It hasn’t been without a few problems along the way but I am confident as the years progress and the format of racing takes shape it will become a bigger and better series.

Each race this year has tested your skills and fitness differently; some requiring really good fitness, some more technical skill and the final round at Dyfi Forest in North Wales would be different again. It was a long loop, close to 40km, that took around four hours to complete.

Each stage was entirely natural, varying from rutted loose slate rock, to sets of whoops created by motorbikes, to open grass fields. It was also a really scenic loop with views across to the Cader Idris mountain on the long climb up to stage two.

There’s a line down there somewhere.

Once again we were lucky with the weather and another dry sunny weekend made the long loop very enjoyable. With each stage being fast and with very little line choice or technical sections it was going to be hard to make up time against other riders. It was just about who was brave enough to let go of the brakes the most.

I definitely felt the affects of having had a few weeks without good cross-country training, firstly because of my ribs and then while focusing on downhill for worlds. The long loop was tough and I didn’t have the strength on the pedalling sections that I had felt earlier in the year.

I just tried to carry good speed and push as hard as I could on the flat sections and I managed to avoid any punctures which was a huge advantage. I think half of the girls’ field were repairing punctures after stage two so I was really pleased to get around the loop without any mechanical problems.

On the top step of the podium

It was a great test for the protoytype Bontrager tyres I have been using all year and gave me a lot of confidence in the new casings they have been working on. I finished the day ahead of Helen Gaskell which not only gave me the win on the day and 27th place overall but also the series win which I was really pleased with.

To win the UK series in my first year of enduro racing was a great finish to the year and the perfect start for my career in enduro races.

I am really looking forward to not only the UK series next year but also the possibility of a world series. I now have a much greater understanding of both the physical requirements and the demands on the equipment for enduro races so I feel that I can really prepare well this winter for next season of racing around the world.

Passing on the skills

Over the next few years alongside enduro racing I also want to start doing more skills camps and encourage more women to get into the sport and improve their skills. At present I have not had much time to run many courses as I have been focused on my racing, but earlier in the year friends of mine who run a holiday company out in Switzerland managed to pin me down to keep a week free in September to run a girls all mountain riding skills weeks in Verbier.

Lucy and Phil who run Bike Verbier have become friends and a regular stopping point for me when out in the Alps during the summer. They have introduced me to some of the most amazing natural trail riding and convinced me that the pain of carrying your bike uphill on your back is worth it when you get to ride down some of the most amazing trails for hours on end.

I was excited to combine teaching skills to the girls and also getting the opportunity to take them out onto trails in the mountains and put those skills into practice. I had six pupils all keen to improve their riding and for many of them it was their first trip to ride in the Swiss Alps so there was so much new terrain to encounter as well.

We spent the first two days looking at basic body position and movements and then moved on to basic skills including braking, cornering, front and rear wheel lifts etc and the most useful skill of all for this week, riding switchbacks. It was so good to see so much improvement in all of the girls over the week from learning to ride around cones on the fireroad to tackling some pretty exposed switchbacks high up in the mountains later in the week.

“And this is how we do it again for the camera…”

I really enjoyed challenging myself in teaching people and analysing what they were doing right and wrong and getting the opportunity to share some of the amazing riding that is out there with the girls was also really rewarding. Hopefully this week will become a regular date in the diary alongside some other skills days in the UK which I hope to organise over the coming year.

Teaching mountain biking is a tough assignment.

Jen crosses the moors in the mist. Image: Murray Lambden

The Manx End2End has a reputation as one of the hardest events in the UK. As the slightly masochistic rider I heard about it from told me, it’s an awesome event, and sufficiently ball-breaking that even he would enjoy it: 70km across the mountains of the Isle of Man, north to south, with 1,700m of climbing in between. At the time, I didn’t give it much more thought.

Come race day, I was still trying not to give it too much thought, as I lined up with 1200 other competitors to take part in the 2012 Sleepwell Hotels Manx End2End. The event attracts riders from weekend cyclists to elite, sponsored athletes as well as a huge number of spectators.

I’d been gearing up for it, in my own low-key way, all summer. Now I just wanted to get going. There’s nothing worse than waiting, adrenaline pumping, and stewing over the course and challenges ahead. The video of the 2011 race that the organisers showed at signing-on, the day before hadn’t helped. It was full of drama and crashes.

At 10am, the commentator announced the start, and we began to move, en masse toward the starting mat, nervously muttering to one another and wishing each other luck. My knees trembled as I clipped into my pedals. But already, my dread was turning to excitement.

I was lucky enough to be part of the Dirt Divas team, led by Jacqueline Easton, two-times female winner of the End2End, and so had been treated to a superb briefing the day before. On paper, I knew what was to come. In reality, there was going to be a surprise around every corner and over every hill.

The road start gives everyone a chance to stretch their legs. Image: Dave Kneen

The first ten miles was along narrow lanes, lined with cheering locals. My training had involved a fair amount of road cycling, so I was looking forward to the road element; happy in a tightly packed group and clinging to the wheel of the man in front. Jacque had briefed us on drafting and I made it my mission to find a chubby man, travelling fast and ideally in some garish cycling top, so I could keep an eye on him. Man in green, thank you. I was the pesky girl latched on to your wheel.

Those ten miles were the perfect warm up, and my legs felt great as we approached the mountains. The cheers and clapping from the roadside also did wonders.

This summer had been the wettest on record on the Isle of Man, so the route had to be changed slightly to allow for the dodgy conditions. What, in previous years, had been a half-hour slog uphill for the fastest riders, now became an hour of grinding up loose, rocky tracks. As the misty summit of Slieau Dhoo came into view, I looked across to the man on my left for reassurance. His bloody face and cut legs did not fill me with confidence.

On we slogged, up on to the grassy tops, only to be met by a howling headwind and the feeling that we were cycling on Velcro. None of us were going anywhere fast, but I knew we would soon have a bit of downhill singletrack before the first checkpoint at Brandywell Road.

Narrow, steep descents through the heather mean falls are common. Image: Dave Kneen

Any thoughts of a smooth flowing whizz through the pine woods soon vanished, as hundreds of us converged on a narrow, slippery and rooty section with most riders unclipping and getting along it any way they could. It certainly wasn’t textbook handling of tricky singletrack, but the number of riders queuing through the woods left few alternatives. Take note, the cocky pair of northerners, who were mouthing off at the back.

After our briefing the day before, my aim was to use the checkpoints as a reminder to eat something, rather than actually stopping. As it happened, the extra half an hour and 150m of climbing, early on, meant I was tucking into my gels way before the first checkpoint. But, it was still a fantastic sight and, as Jacque had said, the hardest work was now behind us.

Before I left for the Isle of Man, I’d reassured my Mum that this was a low-risk ride, and that the main challenge was the distance and uphill slogs. I hadn’t bargained on rocky stream beds, both up and down, deeply grooved moorland, with hidden rocks, and slippery meadows, which caught a few people out on the corners. It wasn’t so much about if you fell off, as when you fell off.

There’s camaraderie in suffering. Image: Dave Kneen

My most stylish dismount was arse-first into a gorse bush, and I still have the marks to remind me of it. Other than that I got away – for a change – with just a few bruises and relatively few falls.

One thing that was a massive help, was that I had borrowed a snazzy bike. Until the week before the End2End, all my mountain biking had been on my old Specialized Stumpjumper M2. A retro classic, but hard work nonetheless. For the E2E, I was on a Scott Spark 20, and, jeez, the difference was mind-blowing. It made all those years of slogging around on my Old Faithful seem worthwhile.

I’d pumped up my tyres nice and hard and was running Panaracer summer tyres. Couple this with full suspension for all those hideous rocky stream beds, and full lock-out for the roads and tracks, and we were flying. As test rides go, it was a baptism of fire, but it certainly put a smile on my face.

We took the ups and downs of the ridge in our stride, avoided getting any pinch-punctures on the rocky descents – with drainage pipes to jump off, if you wanted a bit of air – and soon we were past the second checkpoint at St John’s. This is where a lot of people decide to call it a day. A marshall called out: “This way for the half-way finish point!” Err, no thanks. Couldn’t they see how much fun I was having?

As the miles mounted up, I started to see people crippled with cramp. The hills kept on coming, and those who maybe hadn’t done too many long-distance training sessions, started to pay. I have short legs and am carrying a few extra pounds, but I trust my legs to keep on going, as long as I keep on eating. That said, I’ve never done a mountain bike ride of this length, so I felt lucky not to get cramp. The only time I thought my legs were going to let me down was when they turned to jelly on a long, bumpy descent. A new one on me.

All this time I was just chipping away, going at my own pace, and had no idea of my position in the race. I don’t have a watch and had decided against taking my bike computer. When a spectator told me I was the seventh woman through, I couldn’t believe it. My competitive side kicked in.

There was a female rider up ahead of me, and I pushed my bike past her on the hill. Not the most dramatic overtaking manoeuvre, but it worked. After that I put a little extra effort in, to keep my position, and felt buoyed up that I was near the front of the field.

The last checkpoint came and went, and I knew it was mostly downhill, in a good way, from there. A lovely local guy who had encouraged me to get back on my bike earlier, pedalled alongside me and warned me not to take the downhill moorland too fast. “It catches a lot of people out,” he said. Sure enough, the narrow groove, through the heather, with occasional rocks, had people flying off left right and centre.

It’s bit hilly, the Manx End2End. Image: Dave Kneen

Including me. An indignant guy, with whom I was tangled on the ground, asked if I could please remove my handlebar from his spokes. “I am trying!” I said. He didn’t seem to get that it wasn’t a very favourable position for me either.

And so, on to the finish, down through the slippery meadows, and on to the last bit of road section. Never has smooth Tarmac felt so good. I knew there was an ascent to the finish and a horrible kick of 25 percent for about 500m, just before the line, but I didn’t care.

Down into the granny ring, and up I went, sneaking past another local who had given me a tip-off about the hill to come. I crossed the line, knackered, mud-splattered but thrilled to have finished. Finding out I’d come second in my class was just the cherry on the cake.

For more information see the Manx End2End website.

Relaxing after the finish. Image: Jennifer Stuart-Smith

Downhill World Cup, Val d’Isere, July 29, 2012

With a solid six weeks of enduro racing done it was now time to take part in my second downhill World Cup race of the season in Val d’Isere, France. I had been keeping an eye on the World Cup series and had been really impressed with the girls. The standard of the girls really does seem to increase year on year and the top five have been pushing each other all season long.

Tracy takes the air at Val d’Isere. Sadly, a crash in qualifying put her out of contention.
Image: Hoshi Yoshida/www.whyex.com

I was pretty excited to get back on the downhill bike as I felt a lot more prepared for this World Cup than I did forFortWilliam! I had just spent six weeks racing down 20-minute tracks at the enduro races so I knew my upper body strength and downhill fitness would be good.

Val d’Isere was a new venue for the World Cup. Although it had been used for a couple of French nationals, it was not a permanent track and the grass had to be cut to reveal a vague goat track which was to be our race course. It was a pretty unique course with some flat drops and a lot of high speed, narrow traverses linked up by some awkward tight corners.

It definitely took me a while to get into the course and get used to my downhill bike again but I was enjoying it.

The Val d’Isere course featured a lot of fast traverses cut into the hillside.
Image: Hoshi Yoshida/www.whyex.com

I also took the opportunity to do a run with my career-long rival, Sabrina Jonnier. Only a few weeks ago Sabrina announced her retirement from World Cup Downhill racing and it was nice to ride with her at what would be her last World Cup race. I have had a great career racing with Sabrina and she has been a true champion of our sport and has pushed me all the way to every win I have had.

Sadly however, my second World Cup of the year did not go to plan as a crash in my qualification race left me with some very sore ribs and no place in the final.

I was disappointed not to make the final but I was really uncomfortable with my ribs, so trying to race at my best would have been impossible. I did take some satisfaction away in knowing that I was sixth at the first split before I crashed so I was still within shout of a podium finish.

Fortunately my ribs will heal and my fifth place atFortWilliamhas given me a place to ride at the World Championships in Leogang in September which will now be my focus for the next five weeks.

UK Gravity Enduro Series, Eastridge, August 4-5

Just before I could fully focus on the World Championships I had the fourth round of the UK Gravity Enduro race to contest. I was unable to ride all week because of my sore ribs, so I was not sure how I would fare trying to race. I managed to do the minimum of practice – just enough to learn the trails – and then just tried to rest as much as possible.

At Eastridge, Tracy got to fly down the same trails where she’d made her downhill début in 1994.
Image: Turnip Towers

Having been racing out in Europe for six weeks I really did think it would be a massive let down coming back to racing in the UK on such short tracks with no chairlifts, but I am pleased to say I really enjoyed the weekend.

Flying through the woods at Eastridge.

Eastridge was also a great place to return to, as I have so many great memories from racing my first ever National Champs there back in 1994! It was a great trip down memory lane to ride those trails again on bikes with so much more travel! Once again there was a great turnout for enduro racing and it’s exciting to see the enthusiasm for these races.

There were five stages spread out throughout the forest and the time schedule set out by organiser Steve Parr meant that on race day we all had our work cut out to make the transition between stages on time. A couple of them were pretty tight and it really did not give you much time to recover between stages, so fitness would be important for this race.

The on and off showers over the weekend had just damped the scattered rocks in the soil at Eastridge and I felt very out of control all day just sliding on the surface of the trails.

I managed to make very few major mistakes, made all the transitions on time and had no mechanical issues over the three hours out on the trails, so a successful day at an enduro race! I finished with a time of 15 minutes 15 seconds for my six timed stages, good enough to take the win by 55 seconds ahead of Helen Gaskell, Sarah Newman and Aimee Dix who were all within a few seconds of each other. It’s now given me the series lead with just one round to go in September.

Mike Jenner, manager and mechanic of the Moda-Bikemagic team will be looking after Magura equipment on a trio of top riders’ bikes at the Olympics

“I only got the call from Magura yesterday,” says Mike on the line from Moda-Bikemagic team HQ in Derbyshire. “They had realised that SRAM, Specialized and Shimano were coming to support their riders so they asked me if I’d look after the Magura-sponsored riders too.”

That means Mike will be responsible for the forks and brakes of two of the biggest names in mountain biking, defending Olympic champion Sabine Spitz and top French woman Julie Bresset plus her countryman Stephane Tempier.

Is he excited? “Just a little!” he says, laughing. “It’s also good recognition. Magura has seen what a good job we do at the races and it helps that I already know the riders.”

Mike hands up a water bottle

It’s a very specific role. Mike will be looking after the Magura gear on the trio’s bikes up until the race starts. Then he gets to relax, albeit with a bit of nervousness that everything he’s fettled lasts the distance.

“Those three are getting some new trick bits from Magura,” Mike says, “like a prototype 650B fork for Spitz and an enhanced version of the MT8 brake.

“Magura wants me to make sure it’s all working before the race then their usual mechanics will take over.

“I’ll do everything I can before the race and then I get to watch it!”

Speaking of that proto Magura 650B fork, Mike says that 650B wheels, roughly in between 26-inch and 29-inch in size, really look like the coming thing in cross-country racing.

“Look at the rock garden at Val d’Isere last weekend. 29ers cruised it, 26ers bogged down but Nino Schurter on 650B also flew through it. That made people take notice.”

For a team of four women like Moda-Bikemagic, the intermediate size also makes sense.

Mike says: “People are finding that 29 is just too big. You end up with inverted stems on small bikes and the handling can get twitchy. 650B fills the gap and works really well for World Cup courses.”

The Olympic cross-country mountain bike races take place at 12:30 Saturday August 11 for the women’s race and 13:00 Sunday August 12 for the men’s. The venue for both is Hadleigh Country Park, Essex.

Mike looking after the Moda-Bikemagic team before a race.

Derbyshire’s Annie Last is a medal chance in the Olympic cross-country after two years of relentless hard work to qualify GB for a place.

The 21-year-old from Bakewell, Derbyshire finished third at the final round of the cross-country World Cup in Val d’Isere at the weekend.

In an article on British Cycling’s website, Olympic mountain bike coach Phil Dixon said: “I think she’s really pleased and happy with her consistency, she’s finding her legs.”

Last is the first British woman to qualify for the Olympics since Caroline Alexander and Louise Robinson in 2000.

According to Dixon, it was a bit of a slog. “The qualification process that Annie went through was horrendous really,” he said.

Despite her youth, Last has raced in the Elite women’s World Cup category for two years in order to have a chance at an Olympic berth, rather than the under-23 category.

And where other countries had several women racing qualifying events, Last has been out on her own.

“Instead of being able to pick some races that I want to train for, I’ve had to just race lots,” she told the BBC.

Phil Dixon said: “She was still a development rider and had the pressure of qualifying an Olympic place which she dealt with really well and along the way she got two world championship medals.”

“I think she has shown great character and she is really excited for the Games and is looking forward to getting out there.”

Last took second place in the under-23 category at the last two world championships. Coming to peak fitness for the year’s biggest race has been a standard part of her season cycle.

“Part of the plan in the last couple of years is a June build, it has always shown in August and September in world championship results. It’s really coming through now and it’s exciting in this Olympic Games to see what she can achieve.”

Rwandan aiming for top 20

If Annie Last showed great character to qualify both Great Britain and herself for the Olympics, what can you say about Rwanda’s opening ceremony flag-bearer Adrien Niyonshuti?

Eighteen years ago, the young Niyonshuti had to hide in holes in the ground to escape the genocide that killed six of his brothers.

Now 25, he hopes that his taking part in the Olympics will make people think of more than that tragedy when they think of Rwanda, even though he admits he is only hoping to finish “in the top 20.″

“I would like — as a result of these Olympic Games – that people think of my country in terms of sport and cycling in particular, even as simply a great nation,” Niyonshuti told AFP.

“The first thing people think of at the moment is the genocide, but that was 18 years ago. I want people to concentrate on the positive aspects of my country.”

The Olympics, he said is “great for me and for my country because it’s the first time we qualified for mountain biking.”

Afterwards he intends to follow in the footsteps of former mountain bikers like cadel Evans and Ryder Hesjedel and conquer the road.

He told Reuters: “I will focus more on training and getting strong because then the real focus will be on being the first African team to compete in the Tour de France.

“After the Olympics I’m going to do more road bike and then I can pick up speed and the technical skills and work together with my team in South Africa and I hope that next year or the year after I will be going for the Tour de France.”

The women’s mountain bike race starts at 12:30 Saturday, August 11 at Hadleigh Farm, Essex.

The men’s mountain bike race starts at 13:30 Sunday, August 12 at Hadleigh Farm, Essex.

The events are supported by Specialized and are designed for cyclists and non-cyclists. “Whether you’re just getting started, preparing for a cycle event or looking for tips to make your cycling more enjoyable, these evenings are for you,” says Cycle Surgery.

Each event will focus on a particular branch or type of cycling. The first one, at Cycle Surgey’s Spitalfields branch, will home in on mountain biking essentials.

Cycle Surgery will be providing refreshments including LOLA’s cupcakes and there’s a free goody bag for the first 50 to attend each event. There will also be competitions to win the latest kit, and an in-store shopping discount.

Places are limited, so nip over to the Cycle Surgery website and reserve your spot now.

Each event runs 6pm to 8pm at:

Wednesday, 1st August at Cycle Surgery Spitalfields Special Focus: Mountain biking essentials.
Thursday, 16th August at Cycle Surgery Victoria Special Focus: Commuting & beyond.
Tuesday, 21st August at Cycle Surgery Holborn Special Focus: Riding in the city.
Tuesday, 4th September at Specialized Concept Store Covent Garden Special Focus: Road riding & charity events.

Tracy gets in some snow practice at the Maxiavalanche in Cervinia

Cervinia was the host of the second round of the Maxiavalanche Series, 30km up a narrow valley from the Aosta valley in the shadows of the Matterhorn. I have driven past it many times but never realised it was there and wow what a stunning resort it is! The amazing peaks of the mountains sadly only showed themselves on one day as the rest of the time we clouded over with some fairly persistent rain.

It was quite bizarre queuing up for the gondola, hustling for space amongst skiers and snowboarders. We were definitely the ones in the wrong; as soon as we got to the top they all just slid off gracefully and I skidded, one leg out with very little control and grace!

It was a pretty long section of snow and luckily the conditions were cold enough that it was possible to ride most of it. I have just not spent enough time on the snow to feel confident and let go. I can’t tell whether or not I am about to sink into the snow and get spat over the bars!

I think my caution was justified as I watched my boyfriend catapult into the air, execute a high speed sprawl across some ice and rocks and slide to a halt holding his shoulder. That was the day over as we then spent the rest of the day in Aosta hospital to find out he had broken his collar bone. Pretty lucky actually considering the crash!

I missed qualifying but with only five girls on the start sheet it was not going to make much difference to our start.

Cervinia sits close to the Matterhorn in spectacular scenery

Sunday morning we were greeted with some pretty heavy rain and the organisers decided not to to start on the glacier but to use the alternative course that had already been marked out in preparation. Fortunately the rain subsided by the time racing began but it left some pretty slippery conditions.

I made a good start in both my races and led from the start to the finish. It was a big shame not to have had more girls for this race and for me it was a big shame that we couldn’t start on the snow as I didn’t really get the mass start or the snow practice I came for. However I still did get some more great training on 15-minute downhill tracks, something I would struggle to do back at home.

A clear day – pity it was wet and cloudy most of the time.

With the Megavalanche only two weeks away and having raced every weekend for the last two months or more I decided to take a weekend off. It was a tough decision as the Mountain of Hell and Crankworx Europe was taking place in Les Deux Alpes but I stuck to my plan and had some good days of training and some good recovery time too.

Going Mega

The Megavalanche is the original mass start enduro downhill race and this was the eighteenth edition. It’s a classic race, a real must-do for every mountain biker.

The women’s field waits for the start. 30 seconds to go!

There were close to 2,000 entrants this year from 29 different countries. The Brits are definitely big fans of the Megavalanche with over 700 entrants from GB!

I have completed the Mega only once before, finishing fifth after having to stop to repair my twisted chain, so I knew what to expect. I knew that it is all about getting a good start on the snow so I got up super early to get the first lift to practice the snow.

I experienced every snow condition I thought possible from perfect rideable piste, to ice, to pretty soft slushy snow. I was feeling better on the snow and definitely a lot more confident but even with all this practice I still had not done enough to prepare myself for the conditions we had on race day.

It was great to see the biggest women’s field I have ever seen at a gravity event, close to 100 girls battling it out. For me it was a great opportunity to race against a full field and the first chance I have had for some time to race against the legendary Anne-Caroline Chausson.

Anne-Caroline retired from World Cup downhill just as I started to win a few races and since then she has gone on to become the first ever BMX Olympic champion. She still races enduros as well as coaching the French BMX squad. I knew it was going to be a tough challenge but I felt as though I was now the most ready for it as I had ever been.

I qualified in second, right behind her and had spent most of the run just following her. I could see she was not pushing hard as we were both out in front of the rest of the field and there was no need to use up any unnecessary energy.

The main race was going to be a lot different as we had to get off the snow first. Anne-Caro once set a world speed record on a bike on snow and grew up skiing so she definitely is a little more at home on the stuff than me. Sadly the weather conditions for our race were not great, it was far too warm and the snow was soft.

With the snow conditions so poor the organisers had decided to divert the course a little which added to the sense of unknown. I decided to take a completely different start to Anne-Caro. As she set off on the snow I chose to start on the off camber rock and although it was a little slower initially I soon got up into second place as we turned the first corner onto the first flat snow section.

Anne-Caro probably had around a 30m lead by this point and soon extended that lead as she somehow managed to pedal across the snow. I quickly looked up and saw her and thought, “right I need to try riding too!” I tried it and straight away just sank into the snow!

I was off and trying to scoot and then trying to run and by this stage Anne was about to turn down the first steep bank. Gutted I had already lost touch and all my flailing about meant that I was now getting passed.

I managed to ride the next steep chute and on to the gravel road. I quickly looked up and could see Anne-Caro running knee deep in snow across what looked to be no man’s land. I had the great idea that I would run across to the piste in the hope it would be hard enough to ride and then I would just ride along and catch her up!

Poor judgment on my part, it just meant that I ran an extra two sides to the triangle to her one and still ended up sinking in the snow and having to run.

By this stage I was now back in 6th place and had some work to do. Another couple of poor line choices later and we were finally off the snow.

I slowly managed to pass the girls ahead of me and got back up into second spot by the first climb and the traverse above Alpe d’Huez but by this time Anne-Caro was no where to be seen.

I pushed as hard as I could but with no gauge of anyone in front or behind I felt a bit in limbo just riding my own race. I had some amazing support along the way, though; the main climb was like being in the Tour, cow bells, chainsaws and even a ‘Go T-MO’ banner – very cool!

However all the support was not enough and I eventually finished 3min 50sec behind Anne-Caro. It was a little disappointing not to have had a chance to give her a race but I guess finishing second to such a great rider and a further four minutes ahead of the rest of the 100-girl field is still a great achievement in only my first year of enduro’s and my second Mega.

The Megavalanche women’s podium. From left to right: Ines Thoma, Anka Martin, Anne-Caroline Chausson, Tracy Moseley, Rosara Joseph

Anka Martin, my Cape Epic partner from last year, put in a great ride to take third spot, so I’m happy for her. I certainly learnt a lot from this race and I feel I could come back next year much more prepared and ready to have another go at taking a win at the Mega.

In the UK, gravity enduro racing is quite a new idea, but out in Europe they have been racing the format for years with the famous Megavalanche having been around for 15+ years, as have many other enduro events, and the one I took part in at the weekend was celebrating its tenth edition.

Not only have they been racing enduro for a lot longer, but they also have a very different format compared to the UK, due to the fact that they have access to the ski lift systems taking away the need to always get yourself to the top of each stage! You would think that must be a much easier format, not much pedalling and using the lifts – but you would be mistaken! I have just experienced two of the toughest weekends of racing!

I really thought that this year had already given me some pretty amazing experiences and some pain and great character building moments, but it seems like that theme is just going to continue as I try my hand at yet more different mountain bike races!

After a 12-hour drive we arrived to the small mountain village of Sameons for the first round of the French Enduro Series. Sameons is just over the Col de Joux Plane from the biking metropolis of Morzine, Les Gets etc. Samoens is a much quieter village with as much great riding it seems.

One thing that is very different about these races is, having arrived on the Friday lunchtime, you would not think there was going to be a race at the weekend. The place was deserted all for one campervan with some bikes and a pile of barriers by the lift station. The concept of enduro over here is one where there is no practice allowed, you just ride the courses blind! You can walk the courses but with six or more different stages and over 8,000m of descending there is no way you could walk all the courses.

So there was very little need to arrive before 6pm when registration begins. Registration goes on until 11pm so gradually the place filled up and began to look like a race. At registration you pick up your number, timing chip to be placed on your ankle, a voucher for dinner on Saturday night and some other goodies from the local area. It’s then time to get to bed as you need to be at the lift for 7.30am the next morning!

During the journey down through France we drove through some very heavy rain and at the queue for registration we noticed the majority of people had front spikes on so we went with that theme and put on the full-on DH spike tyre on the front and am I glad we did! The first stage, which we did twice, was pretty full-on, raw terrain; open meadow at the start then into the forest, into steep muddy chutes for the first part – and just getting down a few sections was a success ! There was one short, sharp, steep climb and a few other flat pedalling sections but otherwise it was pretty much downhill
all the way to the lift station again.

Having completed the stage you then had enough time to wash your bike, grab some snacks from the food station which had been put on by the town and head back to the top. We did two runs on stage one and then two runs on a different stage. It was amazing how much shorter the stages seemed on the second run when you had some idea of what was
coming up next. I still seemed to overshoot the same corners though even though I had ridden it once!

Stage three was a 20 minute pedal across and down from the lift station to the top of the next village, Morillon. The liaison stage would have been worthy of a downhill race as one section we had to ride down a pretty gnarly dry riverbed full of boulders, and having a full front spike tyre made it even more of a challenge. Once at Morillon we then had a shorter but fun stage down to the village through the piste and woodland, finishing at the valley bottom. Day one completed and a great spread of local cheese and meat awaited you! After having some good food we then had to ride about five kilometres along the river back to Samoens. From a 7:30am start we finally got back to the campsite around 5pm. A pretty good day out in your full face helmet and knee pads and nearly one of timed stages.

Dinner was also put on by the town and we had polenta and sausages with red wine. It was pretty cool to get everyone together in the evening; it really does bring the event together and create such a good atmosphere. However, there was no late night socialising as we had another 7:30am start on Sunday morning!

We had three runs to do on another new stage, but this time we had a 20-minute uphill ride to get to the start. Fred the organiser did say that he likes to make day two more physical and by that I have found out he means with more pedalling! So Sunday’s stage started with a short climb and then had some brand new track that had been cut out down a steep ridge with loads of loamy bowls that you would drop into then have to climb out of. It was a really tough stage as you had to work the bike the whole time.

The bottom half was much faster and flatter but it was still a long stage, around 21/22 minutes for me. Doing the same run three times was hard as, although you knew what to expect, the fatigue was really starting to build up after the two days and the last run was really tough, and my whole body, hands, arms, and feet were really hurting after two hours of racing downhill!

It was a great two days of riding, I really felt I had been challenged in all aspects of my riding and my fitness. I managed to stay on my bike and had no mechanical issues which in itself is an achievement. I also managed to have ridden fast enough to take the win ahead of a good girls field. Second place went to Anais Pajot, junior down world champion in 2007, and Estelle Veuillman, a very experienced enduro racer, so I was really happy to get my first European enduro victory ahead of these girls.

We then had a week to travel south to the next round the following weekend. I had time to ride up the Col de Joux Plane, do a few hours in Chamonix, ride some great trails in Les Arcs and also meet up with some friends from home who were riding the Route Grand Alp from Geneva to Nice on the road. We also took in some amazing mountain passes which in the campervan were sometimes a little smaller than I would have liked! However we safely arrived in the Val D’Allos valley which is around 140km north of Nice, close to the Verdon Gorge. It was actually an area we passed through
on the Transprovence race last autumn and I remember Jerome Clementz telling me that there was enduro race in this valley! So eight months later I was there about to take part in the tenth edition of the Tribe 10,000.

It’s a race that has been going for ten years and you descend 10,000 metres over the two days! In contrast to last week we had moved south to a much drier region of France and the place looked really dry and dusty. Again no course walking was allowed so you just had to listen to the locals and to the people who had ridden here before to know what tyres to use for your first run. The choice for day one seemed to be downhill tyres as there was not much pedalling.

We took two chairlifts to reach the start which was perched on a beautiful ridgeline. It really did feel like we were about to drop into some crazy freeride race off the side of the ridge, but luckily there was a trail! It was absolutely flat out from the start, you were up to 40+kmh in less than five seconds - it was nuts! I set off first having won last weekend and with 20 second gaps between riders you were able to see the person in front of you for some of the trail.

I definitely had a shock to the system on stage one as it was still only 8:30am and I was not happy going so fast into a trail I did not know. The grass was really high and the trail so narrow it was really hard to see far ahead and anticipate where the trail went. I was definitely riding pretty steady but I was still surprised to hear someone behind me and I had been caught by Anais, who set off 20 seconds behind me! Oops I needed to wake up fast!

I let her pass and then followed her down to the finish to make sure it was no more than 20 seconds that I lost! That was enough to wake me up and I also made a tyre change to a faster rolling Bontrager G4 tyre as I felt that it was not necessary to have a downhill tyre front and rear. I could save some weight and hopefully not get passed on the next stage.

I really attacked the next race which was easier as I then knew the stage, I managed to stay ahead of Anais and this time go over one minute quicker. I really don’t know what I was doing on the first run! We then had two more stages to race, twice on each stage.

So every time the first run was a bit of an exploratory run then you could go faster on the second run. I managed to maintain my speed and ended up finishing the day in just under one hour, which was one minute and 50 seconds ahead of Anais.

Again we had a great meal put on by the local village, this time a huge paella that had been cooking all afternoon in the finish area over a huge fire. It was like a French ski station scrum to get your food though, they really do not know how to queue politely like us Brits! We even had a jazz band playing in the field too, pretty bizarre but made for a good evening.

Again the theme for a tougher Sunday continued here and the first stage was a new track with a pretty long undulating singletrack where we traversed the mountain before dropping down and finishing alongside the river about three kilometres up the valley. Again it was really hard to navigate as the trails were freshly cut and the grass was so long it was hard to see where the trail went. I realised how much I rely on my vision to be able to go fast and as soon as I can’t see far enough ahead I just can’t go fast! This was a tough start to the day, a 15 minute stage which was much more physical than
the previous day.

The next stage, however, was the one everyone had been talking about: the 20-minute-plus stage with some big climbs! Luckily Jerome gave myself and Anka Martin some little pointers about the climb and told us not to attack it at the start as it goes on for a long time. This was a really helpful insight as that first climb did go on for a long time. Even when you crested the top it just kept going along the flat. It was a tough stage because as soon as you finished the climb you
dropped in to some of the most off-camber technical terrain which you just don’t ride well when you are gasping for air!

It was a long stage, too, just over 20 minutes for me. It was long enough for me to contemplate once again what have I got myself into this year. This was meant to be fun but it was nothing but painful! Also knowing you had to do it all over again was not a nice thought! Luckily though, it seemed so much quicker on the second run, although I really was beginning to feel the last few weeks of racing. I just had nothing left to push hard on the climbs and certainly felt like a passenger at times! I managed to go a little quicker and again stay ahead of Anais.

We still had one more stage to do to complete the weekend and thankfully this was back to the front side of the mountain and the more downhill terrain. It was still a nine minute track which, when you were as tired as I was, felt like forever!

With the weekend complete, it really did feel like a massive achievement to have completed the Tribe 10,000 at Allos. Another great weekend and another win ahead of Anais Pajot. By the end of the weekend I had managed a gap of just over four mins after two hours and nine minutes of racing, and a 43rd place finish overall. A great weekend of training which can only help in my preparation for the Mega in three weeks time!

It was good to be back on the downhill circuit and nice to catch up with all the faces you see every year at the races and in some ways I didn’t feel as though I had stopped DH racing, it just felt as though I had just had a longer winter break from racing. However I soon realised that it wasn’t just a long winter break. I felt pretty good on my bike but after 3 runs of practice on Friday my hands had already had enough. I was missing the specific time on the bike and the specific strength that it brings with it.

Alongside the world cup race I had also been asked to do another very exciting task, to carry the Olympic Torch down part of the downhill track! I was very honoured to have been asked and what an experience it turned out to be. I had not been told that much about it and as far as I knew I was not going to be an official torch bearer, it was just going to be a mini version of the torch that was coming to Nevis Range.

I sorted out all the non branded kit I needed to satisfy the stringent rules of the IOC thanks to my clothing sponsor Endura making some plain kit, so I thought I was all set. I stepped out of the gondola at the top of the mountain and was quickly surrounded by the London 2012 grey and white track suited people. Straight away I realised that this was more than just a mini torch relay. I was ushered down to a section of the track where the photographers had chosen for the view and I was followed by a huge crowd of Fort William WC fans.

They obviously knew more than I did as when I got down to the track I was asked to put on the official top and asked if I would like to keep/buy the torch. It really was going to the be the real thing as out of a bag came the Olympic torch… wow, I would not only get the opportunity to ride with the torch but also the opportunity to keep one.

It all happened pretty quickly as once the torch is lit it only burns for 8 minutes but for those 8 minutes I held the Olympic flame very proudly high up on the Fort William downhill track. An amazing moment in a great location and I hope a small opportunity for our sport to be seen and get some recognition across the globe. It made it to the national news so that was a start.

I had to quickly switch kit and mind set to racing as qualifying was about to start and not having raced any world cups this year I was not inside the top 10 and therefore not guaranteed a place in the final, I had to qualify. It was a long time since I had the pressure of having to make the final so I approached qualifying with a small sense of caution, just to get down the hill without any incidents crossing the line into 7th place. I was happy with that and could now concentrate on Sunday’s race.

After such a long dry spell and a dry track on Saturday night the rain started and the fog came down! The rain definitely made some of the course a lot better and grippier, but other sections became pretty tough. I think for most people the visibility was the hardest thing to cope with and I got through a large amount of tear offs in my race run, just trying to keep my vision clear. I was really pleased with how I rode the top section of the track, 3rd at split one, but I started to make mistakes and lose my focus as the race went on. Getting into last new section of track I thought I had a puncture and really backed off but I now realise that it was just the new section of track that was so soft it felt like you had punctured.

I ended up in 5th place, a result I was very satisfied with. Getting the chance to stand on the World Cup podium at Fort William after very little preparation was a good achievement.

From Fort William it was time to head to Ireland for the start of my summer of international enduro racing. On the way to the ferry I found time to do some filming for Endura and also ride at a couple of the 7 Stanes trail centres. Kirroughtree I have to stay is still my favourite trail, so much flowing fast singletrack it almost feels natural.

Enduro racing really is appealing to the masses as thanks to Niall Davis with the support of Trek in Ireland the Gravity Enduro Ireland series started this year. Before arriving I was really impressed with the series, the website and Niall’s organisation was also impressive and the reports from Round 1 back in April were all good.

This was the second round of the series and took place in the Dublin Mountains overlooking the city of Dublin. A stunning location you would think but sadly with the rain and cloud set in for most of the weekend we could have been anywhere. It was only on Sunday morning that I finally caught a glimpse of Dublin and the sea.

The trails at Ticknock Forest have been used for mountain biking for years and it seems many of Ireland’s successful racers have all raced and ridden at this forest at some point. There were trails everywhere and the race provided a good mix of manmade and natural terrain. The wet June weather that most of Europe seems to have been having certainly didn’t miss Ireland as there were waterfalls just appearing out of the banks at regular intervals. A lap of the course was nothing other than survival.

I have not ridden in such wet, muddy and tricky conditions for a long time. Just keeping speed and keeping both feet on the pedals was the key to putting in a good time. As soon as you made a mistake it was so hard to get going again. After 350 riders had all done a practice lap the condition of the trails by Sunday certainly deteriorated a little and with the rain finally stopping for race day the mud started to thicken up and slow you down a little more.

I started out early and with no stage start times you could take as long as you liked to get around the loop, but I chose to keep moving as once I was wet and muddy I wanted to keep moving and stay warm. I got better as the day progressed I think getting used to the conditions a little and I managed to stay upright all day however I never really felt as though I was racing, it felt a little more like just riding the trails. I think that feeling was the same for everyone and I was happy to finish up in one piece with decent time, good enough to win the women’s category and 16th overall.

Massive thanks to Niall and all the Gravity Enduro Ireland crew for a great weekend. To put on such a slick event in conditions like this is testament to a very well run event. The timing system was impressive as an instant print out of your times popped out as soon as you handed in your chip. A great event and hopefully I will not take so long to make my second trip over the water for another round later in the year.

www.tracymoseley.com