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| The cliffs above Ornans |
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| Loue river & Ornans town centre |
I have had a fun week in Ornans
so far. The course is great and I can’t
wait to race it on Sunday, plus it is such a nice village that I would not have
known about had it not been for this race and now being on a taper, I have a
bit more time to enjoy it. The Village
sits in the Loue valley, which features the beautifully clear river of the same
name as well as dramatic limestone cliffs and some really nice old chateaux and
buildings. I’ve been staying in in an old “moulin” (millhouse) on the river
Loue, which as I recently discovered, came complete with a hidden trapdoor
under the kitchen that accesses a ladder that goes down to and old turbine
shaft that sits idle under the house.
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| Hans discovering the secret trap door |
I had an experience the other day
that kind of sums up the way of life here. I was at the local epicerie (corner
store), chatting to the owner (who incidentally knew where I was staying and
what country my hire car was registered in) and I asked if he had any fresh
milk. When he said no, I asked why not, and he preceded to explain that they just
go directly to the local dairy farm to buy it and he then gave me directions out
of town and down a dirt track to a little farm house where I could take an
empty container to get filled with milk. At first I thought he was taking the
piss out of a gullible tourist, but not having anything better to do I thought
I’d try and find it. Sure enough, I found the “laiterie” and the friendly farmer
filled my container with 1 litre of fresh, warm, unpasteurised milk, straight
out of the udder….all for the bargain price of 60 cents!
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| Monsieur le fermier |
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| The "laiterie" |
Anyway, I didn’t come here to
drink milk. The race is now less than 2 days away so needless to say, I have
been giving it a bit of thought. The weather and track conditions have been the
talk of the town, and despite 24hrs of rain yesterday, the final days leading
up to the race are forecast to be dry. However
around here, at this time of year, things don’t dry very quickly so I am still
going into the race knowing it will be a very slippery and tough day. I have a few things that I will do to help me
and my bike cope with the conditions that I thought I would share with you:
- Tyres:
I will race on 29 x 2.0” Maxxis Beaver tyres. These are a kind of semi-mud tyre
that have a deeper tread without being as slow as a full mud tyre (e.g., a
Medusa) which are spaced out enough to allow the mud a better chance of
clearing. Being 2.0” wide, compared to
the 2.2” I usually prefer to run (at home), will give me more clearance between
the tyre and my frame to reduce the clogging of mud, particularly around the
bottom bracket. The narrower width comes at a cost of tyre pressure or risk of
flatting; I have been running as low as 20psi (much lower than at home) this
week to help let the tyres deform and grip to the slippery roots, but with the
2.0 I will have to up that a little to minimise the risk of bottoming out the
rim on a rock or root.
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| Tyre choice |
- Studs:
There are a number of hike-a-bike sections up steep and greasy climbs. Normally
grip in MTB shoes isn’t a huge concern for the infrequent nature of the
dismounts, but I have literally been struggling to walk up these climbs and
after a bit of traffic this will only get worse. When I was packing for this
trip I actually couldn’t find a set of studs in my garage so I reluctantly left
home without them. Then during my first ride on the course I realised I would
them need some….typical! Annoyed at
having to buy something I already have, I went into the bike shop and I
explained in French (not knowing the word for studs) that I wanted the little
things that go into the bottom of your shoes to help you avoid slipping, and
the mechanic replied: “Vous avez besoins des Crampons?” Then when he
pulled them out I understood why the French word for stud is crampon, they were
the gnarliest spikes I have ever seen. He
then smiled and said something like: “Vous pouvez grimper les mures avec ca”
(you could climb walls with these things). Quality!
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| Les crampons....oui! |
- Extra
water: Keeping the bike rolling and the vision clear is super important in
muddy conditions. I will ask my feeder to pass up extra bidons of plain water
that I can use to hose my drivetrain in an attempt to remove any accumulating
mud before it becomes a problem. I will also use it to squirt my glasses to
clean any mud off; I find it best to never try to clean or remove my glasses
during a race, Adidas eyewear is anti-fog and spraying them with water is
enough to remove any mud or sweat and restore good vision.
- No
mud guards: I don’t mind using a mud guard for really wet races but assuming it
is not actually raining on Sunday, the mud will be very claggy so I will sacrifice
a bit of spatter on the eyewear in return for the lower weight and better
reliability of a bike that isn’t caked with mud and grass matted together.
- Fresh
drivetrain: It seems a waste to put on a new drivetrain for a muddy race but
for the best reliability I have put a new chain, chain rings, cassette, bottom
bracket and brake pads for race day. Having
had to travel light I needed to sweet talk that local bike shop into letting me
use their workshop. I was there for a
couple of hours and was chatting to the owner for ages. We eventually worked
out that we raced each other as juniors in the World Cup finals in Annecy back
in 1997. We both started laughing, which was broken only by us asking in unison:
“what did you get?!?!” Turns out he was 19th and I was 25th…..small
world.
Other than that, I am expecting
this to be a very hard and potentially long race. Should be good.
ciao
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| Chateau Cleron on the Loue |
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| The view from my balcony |
