Trans Provence - Days 2 - 3

Trans Provence 

Day 2 - Clamensane to Digne-les-Bains, 53 km

2012 - meters UP

2740 – meters Down

 

Photo Irmo Keizer

Day 2 dawned a blue bird day. Breakfast was had early at 6 a.m as this would be one of the biggest days of the week. The first shuttle headed out a bit late but still a reasonable 7:30, shuttle 2, us slated for 8, hit the road at 8:30 a.m.

Shuttling is a pleasant way to start a ride and in fact does mimic how we often get to our favorite trail locations. Our buses here are filled with other singletrack hounds and bike aficionado’s, this means we had no shortage of chit chat and even at such an early hour there is always someone cracking jokes.

Today would be another true all-mountain ride, four timed sections and some monster elevation gain. It all began in such a benign way, riding up a gentle gravel road shooting the breeze and rubbing shoulders with heavy hitters; Nico Vouillez, Fabien Barrel, Jerome Clemenz and Mark Weir. Based on yesterdays actions these were also the top three and main contenders – also Matt Ryan sitting in 4^th and 4^th at the Whistler Enduro should be watched carefully, another ninja on the bike.

Photo Andreas Hestler

Rounding a corner after just 3 km’s the trees melted away to grass that ran in abundance all the way up to the jagged peaks above us – we had hit the alpine and it was stupendous. Everyone whipped out their camera’ and started clicking, this event truly does create an environment of enjoyment and camaraderie, yet the Trans Provence does not shirk from flow core ‘action’.

Flowcore: we believe this to mean ‘hard core flow’ or wicked fun singletrack. It was an adjective used in a SP segment description.

With a little dilly-dally and some more photo’s we milked the alpine into a wonderful morning activity, but I was worried that we had made so little a dent in the big itinerary of this day that we were not going to make it home before dark.

SP1 began at the top of the alpine and snaked down a ridge crossing a river a number of times – here were boulder fields mining the trail, thin gravel lines etched into loose sandy slopes with plenty of consequence at every wrong turn. And at the top of the section we sat discussing the entry, the turns, the style of each rider as they dropped in. Here we sat with Mark Beaumont, Nico, Jerome, Weir, Barrel and any other number of honch riders assessing the lines. Another delay to the day as the queu sorted itself out and the numbers on the top finally thinned.

It was a short jaunt through a deserted farm over to SP2, nothing like what we had just ridden; this was in fact the antitheses. From boulder fields, rock gardens and choose your own adventure to the nicest most defined piece of singletrack we had switched gears completely. Without hesitation this time people dropped in and ripped the trail.  Flat out for a minute across the ridge then diving into the forest to find wonderful natural berms and perfect turns, such a variety of trail, terrain and experience.

Photo Irmo Keizer

Food was next on the list and a long lias to SP3. After that we knew there was the final monster climb to SP4 and what was rumored to be – one of the best trails of the week ‘ Donkey Darko’, but first we had to pick up the speed or we would be out in the sun in southern France, all day.

I’m not sure at this point whether to mention the amazing transfers and how vast the mountains, views and feelings are. This area seems to be a recreational mecca; trails abound, but we saw few users, the views are forever, but we see no cities and no end to the possibilities, this is in short a well kept secret. I doubt you would be able to carve out the experience we are having without the wisdom and experience of a good local ‘Trail Boss’. The south of France has now been exposed and the way to experience it is the Trans Provence.

SP3 flew by, we heard rumor later that Ben Cruz and Mark Weir had topped 40 miles per hour, it was fasssst! What came next was the ‘monster climb’ we all knew though that this would lead to the rumored sweetest singletrack of the day.

Up, up and away, the sun baking our backs and no wind to cool us at all, this was truly earning our turns. It’s always less than one thinks to make the climb, but there is still a price to pay, our weight in salt and sweat and it’s always right at the edge of snapping when the trailhead appears. Sitting up at the top of the world were the cameramen, the videographer and the card swiping machine that would lead us to the promised land.

Photo Irmo Keizer

‘Donkey Darko’ so called for the night it was pioneered and the asses that appeared to confirm the designation. Nobody knows what goes into naming a trail, but once named- always appropriate. Shralping down the trail, over alpine grass and through small rock gardens into tight switchbacks and long ribbons of trail beside an edge hovering just above the precipice of the river valley below – down, down, down till the hands and feet let me know that this was an ‘epic’ and still there was more. Finally reaching the river, we crossed over and the singletrack snaked alongside the dry gulch. It continued to turn and undulate, with natural river rock corners, slightly banked and unbelievably bike friendly – how had this not been created purposely for mountain bikers. And finally the end arrived, hoots hollers and high fives all around.

The camp is buzzing with the excitement, but there is an underlying fatigue as day 2 comes to a close. What will tomorrow bring, can it be as good, we don’t worry too much as already we have exceeded 90% of all of our expectations.

 


Day 3—Digne-les-Bains to Villars-Colmars—48.5 kilometers
1428 meters UP
1339 meters DOWN

Photo Andreas Hestler

 Holy smokes! These guys are fast and these hills are big! It’s a bit wild to be sitting around talking DH strategy with a bunch of world champions and enduro super-dudes. While I have a strong passion for vertically inclined slopes and gnarly roots, I am seeing that I chose wisely when I headed into XC, these guys are just a little crazy and more than a little calculating.

What was most evident in today’s post event discussion, besides the obvious- Wow, this area is beautiful and amazing was the recognized style difference between the riders; Weir and Nico have been doing split timing on each other and recognize the corner vrs high speed difference, Fabien and Matt Ryan are discussing the meters up per SP section and Jerome Clementz smiles in the corner as we all believe he is likely to smash everyone everywhere and come out on top. The rest of us quaff beers and share war stories, talk about Mark Beaumont’s birthday hangover on Day Two and generally love the entire tourism aspect of this adventure.

Photo Andreas Hestler

Today began with the usual shuttle up through some amazing geography—I am pretty sure I’m not in Kansas anymore. We pedaled, we hiked and we peaked out at a very high point on a very big ridge, which meant SP1 (Ed. Note: SP stands for special stage, a mid-stage timed portion) was a wicked-long singletrack descent. Again, so sustained that the arms are reaching ‘pump’, the calves and legs are on the verge of ‘cramp’, but somehow it all stays together and me and my trusty Rocky Slayer reach the bottom.

Photo Andreas Hestler

Photo Andreas Hestler

 Tires for most people here are, Lust, double-ply or Tubeless 2.35 (beefed up side walls). Last night I changed my rear tire from a single-ply Minion Front 2.35 to an EXO Minion 2.5. The terrain here is generally rocky, fast, and line of sight is covered by bushes and tight corners, so flatting is a distinct possibility, but, so to is careening off the trail into a deep crevasse. This sort of exposure is talked about in each nightly briefing and the organizers are not exaggerating. If not for absolute fear and concentration, the view over the bars could be very, very troublesome—keep your eyes on the trail.

Our liaisons (Ed. Note: mid-stage portions that are aren’t timed) are amazing as we pass over gentle rolling hills, past vineyards and lonely old churches. This is the Europe I came to see and Trans-Provence is in fact exceeding my expectations.

SP2 is a mid-week hurdle with 120+ meters of climbing located in the very middle of the section, that roughly equates to a 6 minute threshold effort on a 30-pound bike, ouch! But this is where I make my time back, it’s a raw scramble for every second and I am generally loosing ground. Let me once again reiterate the quality of the riders here—impressive!

Fatigue is definitely rearing it’s ugly head and there are many tired bodies littered about the course today, mine included. It’s just a general malaise, nothing specific, but the reactions are slow, the motivation to ‘charge’ is absent and the climbing prowess is non-existent, but if that is what I am feeling, my only hope is that it is much, much worse for my competitors.

We wind down the valley through a number of small villages, looking to the left and right we see tight alleys and brick buildings, some windows are closed with shutters that seem to have been around since the turn of the century. There are no stores, no gas stations and nowhere to stop but the town squares and their amazingly unique fountains, this is not North America or one of the more modern parts of Europe, we are deep in the old school and it is awesome.

Creaking up towards the final special stage of the day, we are all baked; from the sun, from the distance and from the elevation and this is only Day Three. I drop into the smooth singletrack trail that carves around the side of the valley, gingerly skirting some exposure, the line plummets into the forest, shimmies around a few trees and along a barbed wire fence—fun, but scary. Life is wonderful and suddenly there is a hill—did I see this on the profile? Oh damn! It looks short, but I dig deep to find the summit and hammer on. The blood pumps and the legs do what they are trained to do – ‘Go Hard’ and take me home to the end of the section. Two more climbs, one demands 20 feet of running, but I push on to the end and gasping for breath, swipe my card for the last SP of the day, whew!

It’s 2 kilometers down the road to base camp and we’re finished the third leg of the Trans Provence, I think, but I’m not sure – this will be one hell of an adventure.

Day Three Results
1. Mark Weir 0:26:50
2. Ben Cruz 0:26:55
3. Jerome Clementz 0:27:05
4. Matt Ryan 0:27:40
5. Nicolas Vouilloz 0:27:47
6. Fabien Barel 0:28:08
7. Andreas Hestler 0:30:02
8. Rowan Sorrell 0:30:46
9. James Richard 0:30:58
10. Iain Matthews 0:31:01