270 km, 10000m: Our story from the Transmaurienne Ultra race.
Our plan was to finish within 36 hours (before the second night) meaning we’d ride through the night.
The bike for the challenge: A customised HB.130 (lightweight > 13kg)
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//June 21st
We mull over the idea of racing the Transmaurienne Ultra. Will it be too difficult?
//June 22nd
We are close to agreeing to go for it, but neither of us is brave enough to press the button!
//June 23rd
We agree! (no alcohol was involved) Here we go, we register, we are afraid!
//June 27th
The First long training ride in ages. Bonking after 3 hours. Nerves are building. Will we be ready in 3 weeks?
//June 28th
We thought Hope’s new XCR brakes would be perfect for the event & new boost rear ends for our HB.130’s.
An email to Doddy later and he has the parts despatched!
//July 2nd
Two weeks to go and we both get ill. Not the ideal preparation.
Motivation is still high, and we will do everything we can to get to the end, it may not be as quickly as we hoped but finishing is enough of an achievement.
//July 15th
We aren’t as prepared as we like, but the bikes will be ready!
The new parts arrive: boost rear ends, XCR brakes and new rear wheels. We have a day left to build them up.
The testing will come during the race, knowing Hope, everything will be reliable. They haven’t let us down before!
We even have enough time to lace up our Pro 4 hubs to carbon rims, saving weight and allowing us to test some new parts.
//July 16th
//2200: We’re ready. Bikes assembled. bags packed. Ready to depart Valence.
//2300: Arrive at Crolles the overnight stopover. Nerves are increasing before race day.
//July 17th
//1300: We arrive in Aussois. The weather forecast has improved. Thunderstorms and overnight rain looking less likely. Phew!
A little nap before we finish preparing the bikes: bleed the new brakes, adjust the gears, check everything is tight & finally bed in the new brake pads.
//1730: Time for the briefing. The nerves increase as Ludovic (race organiser) takes all 24 teams through the race info. At least our technical skills are solid, the description of the descents doesn’t worry us, and at worst we can carry our bikes.
//1830: We pack the bags that will be left at the aid station, as we get closer to the start the nerves build. We double check we haven’t forgotten anything.
//2200: An early night is needed before the event.
//July 18th
//0900: We finish packing our bags, and emergency sandwiches are made!
//1000: Mandatory equipment check.
Everything’s in order but our bags are heavier than we would like, considering everything we need to take for the adventure, it doesn’t seem too bad.
//1100: The start! And a routing error after 50m. You can feel the tension in the group. We try to save our strength, but our past as cross-country racers catches up with us, and we go pretty hard.
//1400: 55km in. We are in the lead group with 4 other teams, before the first small resupply.
Two teams leave before us, but we take our time: fill our water reserves properly because the next stop won’t be for a while!
//1530: 70km. Cramp setting in already. We are forced to stop a few times on the climb up to the Mont Cenis Lake!
There we start to doubt we can finish.
We stay focused keep drinking & add electrolytes.
//1634: 79km. Tiredness is creeping in. Our lack of preparation is definitely being felt much earlier than expected. Yet we eat well.
Stopping for longer than planned at the obligatory refuelling station to avoid bonking.
//1740: 88km. After getting lost, we arrive at the first proper aid station at the Petit Mont Cenis refuge.
We fill our “batteries” while the first ebike team recharge their’s (4 hours).
We drink soup, we eat, and pack sandwiches for the next section. Our lights go on and we set off 35 minutes after arriving.
We are 5th, 40 minutes behind the leaders. We dare to think of the podium, but to finish still remains our main goal.
//1913: 105km. We cross the Italian border, unfortunately Seb punctures after the first long descent.
These new XCR brake are so much more powerful than the old ones, especially with them being so light.
//1928: We’re rolling again ready to attack the climb on the Italian side of Mont Cenis Lake.
//2040: 115km. The rain we feared has come, we keep going but eventually stop to put on our rain jackets.
//2130: 123km. It's time to turn on the R4+ lights as the sun’s gone down and we can't see much of the singletrack overlooking the lake of Mont Cenis
//2152: 125km. We cross a road and spot 2 helicopters & 3 fire trucks, a car is below. Our nerves build again.
//2239: 132km. We arrive at the base of the Petit Mont Cenis refuge. Saved by soup & a quick Massage of the legs. The next section is going to be hard so rest for 45 minutes!
//2343: 135km. The downhill is super tough!!! Night time in the rain - it is almost impassable, even on foot we are slipping. We only ride half of it, here is no rest at all. We thank Hope for the lights which light up the way perfectly, it must be said, in ideal conditions, many participants don’t have such good light and such efficient trail bikes.
//July 19th
//0215: 156km. Our pace slows after the last descent, but overall things are not too bad.
On the super steep climb above Bramans we receive a call from Marlène (responsible for ultra Transmo) he says ‘there has been a last minute change.’ so we don’t need to keep climbing. We descend slightly disheartened, and return to the bottom of the valley to follow the new improvised route.
//0337: 170km. We start the climb out of Modane to the station at Valfréjus where the next aid station awaits.
We will definitely be stopping there, as the most physical part of the course is to come with the loop to Bardonecchia in Italy.
//0415: 175km. We arrive at the aid station at base of Valfréjus. Dawn is just around the corner, and we are both pretty tired. The guy at the stop says we are currently 3rd. We have a biggish gap to the team behind, which gives us a some motivation.
3 cups of soup, chips, bread, sausage and a Beaufort later, it starts again. The toughest section: the climb of the col de la Vallée étroite before descending to reach Bardonecchia, then the climb back up 1300m to return to Valfréjus. We doubt we’ll see Valfréjus again before noon.
//0530: 178km. We’re pleased to see the early morning light, so we can turn off our lights. But motivation falls with a steep track and a long section of bike pushing.
//0655: 184km. The col de la Vallée étroite. Hungry, tired, and not enough eaten, close to bonking.
//0805: 200km. Back in the valley after the magnificent but very very technical Vallée étroite descent. No rest at all, contrary to what we thought. Fortunately, our HB.130’s handle it easily! We are once again amazed by the endurance of the XCR brakes on the long technical descents.
Romain isn’t feeling good and can't eat anything.
We worry it could end our race, but after a 20-minute nap and a big spoon of white sugar. He eats a big plate of bolo pasta, and we’re ready to go again. Massive thank you to the Italians who welcomed us like royalty at the checkpoint of Bardonecchia.
//0932: 203km. Ouch! We can see the top of the next climb, we know that it is at 2500m, and we are at the bottom at 1400m…The trail is so steep that we wonder whether pushing our bikes up would be better, instead we force ourselves to ride a little more. (maybe a little too much)
//1145: 212km. The last section of hike a bike before the Col de la Roue. We now know that it will take a mechanical or massive problem to stop us finishing! What we don’t know is that there are still several climbs before the next aid station at Valfréjus, we were only expecting one descent but no!
The start of the descent is scree, making it tough to stay on the bike, but the stablility of the HB.130 keeps us up.
//1312: 225km. The Second pass of the aid station at Valfréjus, and with all the hike a bike it was welcome. We take our time, the team in front are long gone (2h30 ahead), and 4th place is even further back (4h30) so we know that if we continue at our pace we will stay 3rd. We stay focused because the slightest mistake could cause us trouble, especially in our fatigued state.
//1413: 232km. The legs are painful now, won’t even mention our bums, which have difficulty in staying in the saddle. We still have to climb to Aussois, then up to do the last loop above the finish. There is still 1400m+ to go, will we do it?
We overtake a few riders from the stage race, who are on the second stage. It's nice to overtake other riders :D
//1602: 245km. We arrive at the last aid station, which is also the finish. We talk to the winners (who had just finished) It's weird crossing the line, but still with the last loop to go. We thought we should have done the Aussois / Aussois loop at the start.
We nibble on a few bars and fruit, top up the water and it starts again. Running on the last bit of our motivation! We have 800m and 20km left.
//1736: 252km. Seb’s struggling. Another spoonful of sugar and after 5 minutes we get moving again, we will get there in the end!
//1851: 259km. We thought the last part would be easier. Not at all! An impossible descent (the most difficult of the race). It will take us 15 minutes of extreme hike a bike to get back in the saddle, before struggling to stay on the bike along the plan d’aval lake.
//1918: 263km. We can see the finish line. Nothing except a big fall and a helicopter evacuation can stop us. We pay close attention to the singletrack to avoid a silly fall.
//1922: 265km. The long-awaited moment. Crossing the line!!! Big smiles after the difficulties along the way. It took 32h22 to complete. The total downtime is estimated at 4h30, which is both a lot and a little given the energy expenditure.
We barely had time to breathe before we were called to go to the TV set for the program that airs after each evening of the classic stage race.
It's time for a well-deserved rest!
Words & Pictures: Sebastien Roux & Romain Loubet