14eme Raid de la Vallee de la Vie, Aizenay, France
After we booked our holidays in France earlier this year, I decided to do a bit of ‘googling’ and discovered that there was an mtb event on in the local town the weekend we arrived. Bonus!
So all roads let to the 14eme Raid de la Vallee de la Vie – a ‘randonnee’ or ‘raid’ around the valley of the River Vie on the 19th July. These events are very popular in France and are basically an mtb version of our road ‘sportives’ – mass start events, (supposedly) non-competitve and with no finishing times recorded. On offer in this event were 100km, 85km, 60km, 45km and 20km routes. I decided to opt for the 85km – 1300m of climbing so seemed do-able (even though i hadn’t spent that long on an mtb since the marathon champs last year). Rudolf told me that it would be ok as there would be plenty of food and wine stops!!
A couple of days beforehand I did a local recce, and found some arrows which I reckoned were part of the course. Off I went down farmyards, across fields, basically a nice meander through the countyside. This’ll do!
So an early start on Sunday. 7.00am sign on for a 7.30am start. Off I went to the local hall – a great set up, everything well signed. Up I marched to the friendly ladies armed with my ‘Pardon, je parlez en peu Francais’ (my key phrase for the day
. A tenner to sign on – a t-shirt and a shot of coffee and cake before the start, what more could you ask for. As I looked around I didn’t see too many fellow baggy shorts wearers – lots of skinny lads in lycra. And lots of fancy bikes. The briefing was short, although I did get the bit that said something like ‘a quarante km, c’est un descent tres difficile et dangereuse’!!The whistle went and off we went, the 100k and 85k group together. About 150 riders. Non competitive ,my ar$e as the front lads set off at a furious pace. We were led through the town by a motorcycle and then into the countryside. I wasn’t really expecting much singletrack, so was pleasantly surprised when we headed quickly into some woodland. It was quite sloppy as it had rained heavily the day before – typical Irish conditions. Rudolf had told me of his experience in a similar event last year where a lot of people were walking down what would for us be perfectly rideable singletrack. Same here, the first few sections were a lot of walking. But as always that sorted itself out after the first few sections and after 15k or so it was all good.
The course was great, lots of farm track, gravel road, through fields, but with deadly sections of singletrack to keep it interesting. The singletrack was mostly in deciduous wood,some fast and flowy, some steep down and up in places. A lot of the singletrack was descending to the river then climbing back up. At various times we were in a quarry, equestrian centre, motocross/enduro course (I was in my element in the ruts), around a lake, an army training place - so there was lots of variety. I had my ‘piece de resistance’ in one of the singletrack sections. There was a group in front of me entering some woods and there was a ‘dangereuse’ sign up. I looked down and could see the boyos pushing the bikes down and a few standing around studying what looked like a fairly ordinary drop over a rock. I says to myself, no way I’m walking down here, so with a shout of ‘Attention Monsieurs!’ showed them how it was done (think I lost a few teeth off the big ring though). I’m sure I heard a few muttering as I went by (incredible!, terrifique! impressif! Le expert Irlandaise!)
There were 3 food stops or ‘ravitos’ as they are called. These were amazing – lots of drinks, bananas, dried fruit, chocolate, cake, jellies etc.. All for a tenner! At the first one there was lots of chat, less so at the second and none at the third – everyone was more interested in getting fuel on board and getting going before seizing up.
Up to about 70km everything was going grand. My main worry was mechanical as it was quite muddy and there was lots of grinding going on. I was wary of a chain break, but thankfully it didn;t happen. The many river crossings helped in keeping everything moving though. I was on my hardtail, which was ok, but definitely not as comfortable as the full sus. I was keeping HR at about 80% average which was grand for this sort of distance. Problem, as always, with mtb is that you have short intense efforts, usually getting up to 90+%, which as the kms go on become more exhausting. So after a particularly nasty climb after 73km it was time for the little red can to make an appearance. I think me and Barry are the main proponents of this particular form of energy boost and boy does it work. The key is to get it into you at the right time, near the end when it can give a big psychological and physical boost. The last 10km or so were hard going, into a headwind on the open ground and the singletrack is difficult when the power isn;t in the legs.
After 85km then I rolled back into the finish. The stats said 86.5km, ave 81%HR, 5:45 moving time, 3,600 Kcal. To say I was beat is an understatement. Looking around I was pleased to see I was well up the field – I knew I had made up lots of places in the singletrack. Then more free food – the hardy bucks were tucking into the beer...I had a chicken and ham paste baguette – one of the most delicious things I ever tasted. Really.
This was a fantastic event – probably the most enjoyable 6 hrs I have spent on an mtb. The course was a great mix – great variety and the time whizzed by because you never knew what to expect around the next corner. Also the climbing was all concentrated in short sharp steep singletrack climbs – no Heinous Climb of the Two Gates here! I thought it might be a little lonely (I like to talk you know) but because it was so varied it wasn’t. And talk about value for money!
It has put me thinking, why aren;t we doing these type of events in Ireland? Watch this space....I have an idea..
So if you are heading to France, check out the area you are going and see if there are any randonnees on – I would definitely recommend as a great day out.
Thanks to my gang for allowing me half a day out of our holliers for my mtb indulgence.
Au revoir mes amis !
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