XTERRA France 2008

July 6th, 2008 by Conrad Stoltz

Photo by Jacvan

What an experience. Very different from the usual XTERRA. Swam 3.5 laps (about 1.1km) in a small little lake at 1850m . (used to make snow in winter) There were 3 “Australiens” which in France, means getting out and running. Up a big embankment and down with a huge dive which took you almost to the 1st buoy. We lapped people on the 2nd lap already and as we swam I could see through watery goggles big black clouds coming over the mountains. By the time we were in transition the drops were falling and I knew the bike could get really ugly, as the mud here is tacky and slippery. I came out with the leaders Sylvain Dodet, Dan Hugo and I didnt see who else because I made a bee line for the 1st single track. (Dan says there were 10 guys on my wheel going into the single track) It was slippery and rocky and I made a handsome gap, but unfortunately for me this bike course has very little single track and tons of jeep track climbing. I rode well I thought. The course was really pedally and I tried those new French O’Symetric chain rings. I thought they climb quite well, but its hard to say as this was my 5th race in 5 weeks, which was a challenge in itself.

Nico LeBrun closed the gap slowly and I had about 1 minute on him before the last descend, but of course, I had to put “de la mousse” (CO2 and foam) into a slow leaking front tire midway down the last downhill.

Nico came past with condolences, but I caught him by the end of the bike and on the run we tackled the ropes at the same time. Quite an adventure. Straight down this ravine losing 200m alt in about 100m. The grass was still wet from the rain and I did quite a bit of it on my backside. The rest of the run was murder. 5km of straight up. Almost 1/3rd of it was too steep to run and the easy parts was straight up a ski slope. And then the down hills was straight down the ski slopes. Of course Nico LeBrun loved it and took off. He is a real mountain man. 3rd was way back, and I didnt feel like free falling down a rocky ski slope with USA champs and Worlds coming up, so I coasted in, enjoying the amazing mountain scenery and this quirky race.

Amber did really well, got off the bike 3rd and finished 4th. Now she can pay the mortgage next month and splurge on some French cuisine on our 5 days off before we return to the US for our big move to Bend, OR and BIG training for Maui…

More photos and results later. Off to prize giving now. Here is a taste of the bike course- shot during training. The valley floor is 600m below…

http://xterrafrance.free.fr/