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Geetrings all - thought I would pen a bit of an update to let you know what you are missing.

Yesterday
Glorious sunshine and a warm up bermy run followed by the botom half of the avalanche (which I thought was the bottom half of the qualifyer). Then sessioning the top of the quali - which is pretty tech by UK standards and with people on it it will be carnage. 3 offs in total mostly embarresing wash outs in berms so hey ho.

Today
Got a sneaky pass to the very top before it shut due to cloud and ran the top section of the Mega which is epic and not much snow about (so they are bulldozing more onto the course!!) then pushed to the very top opf the qualifyer and ran the top sections. First big off - over the bars in the tech section of the quali but all limbs working!!

Riding is seriously loose - rocky or dry and dusty and getting used to a very loose back tire!!

All good fun - when I work out how to put video on here I will let the footage do the talking!!

Nigel

Wicked update dude - sounds awesome. Hows the nomad working out on that terrain? Good luck for the rest of the week.

Schweeeet!!!!!

Nomad is perfect John, spent the day on the downhill bike yesterday for a break but will run the Nomad from now on.

need to manage my expectations as my number is 1579 which means I go in the 8th wave of qualifiers so the track will be destroyed by then. Also means that to get in the fast group I would need to overtake 141 people in my wave of 200 which having ridden the course is not going to happen!

Sounds awesome, i'd love to go, but i dont think i'd have the balls to race? i really enjoy the video's so get them up ASAP

Respect due for doing it and good luck...



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So end of Thursday and a bit of a half day really.

A few of us got fed up talking lines and racing and went out on the beer instead, Alp D'Huez is not the best destination for night life!!.

In a state of further rebellion I rejected my body armour and went out in a Tshirt, shorts, knees and elbow pads. Best days riding of the trip, the course is wrecked but still pretty flowy. Gambled with lett a bit of air out of tyres (from the previous days 40) and got away with it but there were people flatting all over the place.

Back on the Nomad and felt a lot faster with more traction which may have been due to letting 20 psi out of my front fork (they were at Herts pressure). This trip has realy put me off down hill bikes - mine is a heavy plough and the Nomad is so much more nimble and enjoyable to ride.

Today is the first day it has got really really busy.

Qualifying tomorrow and am just keen to have a good run that i enjoy - I am conciously rejecting any thoughts of placing or lines - I suspect that path will just lead to frustration.

Nigel

Don't suppress the thoughts dude!!!!

That's visualisation and your brain learning what you've done!!!!

Chill out, enjoy the visualisation and then tomorrow you'll have more muscle memory

Such a good write up, cant wait for the video

Quik update today as I have to be up at 5.30am tomorrow

Wow, qualifying, one of the most amazing experiences I have ever had on bike!

Absolutely full on and flat out knackering. Was completely spent by half way but just ignored it all.

Not entirely sure how but starting at the very back of my wave, I managed to finish 53 with a time of 28.22. I managed to overtake 126 people in the process!!

The leaders were getting 21/22 mins which is insane. As we watched Nico blast through in an earlier heat one guy described him as in a state of new constant controlled collision, which I thought was pretty accurate.

Race day for us "challengers" ( not superfast category) tomorrow so further update then.

Nigel

Mint! Phaps u will have to change the name not to Nomad Nigel but to MEGA

Goodluck chief and let us know how u did once the hangover clears.

Nice swan bruvva!!!! Well done!!! Good luck!!!

Look forward to riding with you at some point!

High5 nige

Well it's done, 242nd in my wave with a time of 1 hour 16 mins. Definitely not fit enough to be competitive in the challenger class i was in. Was an amazing experience and reassuringly the pace was a bit slow to start with but the hills killed me ( I walked most of them)

Gonna get up early tomorrow to watch the fast guys start.

Home soon, will miss the epic long descents the alps offers.

Nigel

Awesome! So you gonna do it again next year!