Tell me your sign and I’ll show you your bike…

This weekend, the otherwise quaint village just outside of Bolzano in the Italian Dolomites, is overrun with mountain bikers from 26 nations ready to take on the Merlene Sunshine Race .  The race is on Sunday, but Saturday the loudspeaker is already pumping out the beats of the latest European house and techno hits as the racers look to memorize every root and rock on the 5km course.  After looking over the course, we share our experiences trying to figure out if it was better to stay 20 centimeters to the left or right on the most technical descents and what tires will give the biggest advantage.  Here on Focus XC Italay Team, with half the team on the Raven 29er and half the team on Raven 26” we compare where each bike had an advantage.

Studying the best way down the drop

Here in Europe, despite the more tecnical nature of the race courses with respect to their North American counterparts, full-suspension bikes are almost unheard of.  Unlike in America, where 29ers are the vast majority of bikes ridden by top riders, here there are still many who prefer 26” hardtails.  I hope that nobody revokes my American citizenship for admitting that I too am one of  those who has chosen a 26” hardtail to tackle the many tight switchbacks here at the Merlene Sunshine Race.  My countrymen might say its old school or Eurotrash, but I really like the way I can play around with the smaller wheels, jumping over rocks and roots, changing direction on a dime and (legs willing) accellerating hard out of corners.

Freder, the team's mechanic explains the benefits of the Raven 29er to the press

A good friend of mine, as well as an ex Italian national team member has said on a number of occasions that if he knows someone’s zodiac sign, he can tell them if they should opt for a 26” or 29er due to the inherent charteristcs  associated with the various astrological signs .  I am still trying to figure out if he is joking or not, but I have to say that he is at least partially right… on the side of a personaly determining how one rides his or her bike.  Whether or not a personality is determined habythe alignment of the stars is another issue entirely.

It's all a playground to Andrea Righettini

Someone like my teammate Fabian Rabensteiner, who is very methodical in his training rides his Raven 29er with great effect powering through technical sections of the course like a freight train.  Beltain Schmid and Andrea Righettini on the other hand look at race courses like elemenatary school kids look at a playground, everything seems to be laid out for their amusment as they hop and jump over lines that I never would have otherwise seen.  They play around on their Raven 26” frames, popping wheelies and doing endos just for kicks and giggles.  Perhaps it is my notorious disorganized nature that runs contrary to the well-thought out methodology of Rabensteiner, but I seem to fall more on the side of Righettini and Schmid and therefore 26.  Even if I don’t (or can’t) play around as much as my two younger teammates, I like to shoot from the hip a bit seeing what the course is like on the go, and the Raven 26” is perfect for that, ready for anything anytime.  Some could also say that I choose the Raven 26” because I’m old school. (that may or may not be a metaphor for just plain old – in cycling terms) or that I’m trying too hard to hide my colonial roots and fit in with everyone else here on “the continent” and they wouldn’t be too far off either.  Whatever the reason may be, I can definitely say that the course at the Merline Sunshine Race is one of the most fun courses I’ve ever ridden- on any type of bike. 

The odd couple... the disorganized one (Me, Left) and the methodical one (Rabensteiner, Right)

Welcome to the Big Leagues

What does it feel like to get your teeth kicked in at a race for which you been preparing for months?  Well, as I found out first hand at my first ever Bundesliga mountainbike race in Bad Sackingen, Germany on Monday, it is certainly not fun, but it isn’t nearly as bad as I had imagined it would be… after I wrapped my head around the fact that I got my butt kicked by some of the best mountain bike riders in world on an extremely technically demanding course.  It was so demanding that a year ago I wouldn’t have even considered going for a Sunday ride on it, much less race full gas over the rocks, roots, jumps and drops on the southern edge of the Black Forest.

 Racing down one of the many rock drops on the course

I’ve often heard neo-road pros talking about the beating that they take in their first high-level international races.  Even in the face of not finishing a race they often have a glint in their eye that hints at a certain nostalgia for the suffering they endured, and even have wry a sense of humor about the whole endeavor.  I never understood this attitude until now, as a neo moutain bike pro, why they were so keen to talk openly about their experiences. Now that I too have been through this painful and humbling initiation, I feel more of a strange sense of relief mixed with a dash of pride than the shameful feeling I had imagined it to be.  Sure, as a racer there are few worse feelings than when a 200 pound German race official blocks the race course, yells “HALT!!!” and then proceeds to rip your race number off  your bike and jersey to end your race, but it is all part of the initiation.  In not making the cut, you understand what it takes to do so, opening a window that gives a view of what it takes to make it.

The non-chicken line saves time, but doesn't leave much room for error

We as humans tend to fear the unknown, whether it be an extremely technical course, a star-studded field, or a lack of experience in dealing with both at the same time.  The initial blow, though extremely humbling, brings a sense of pride in having taken punches from the best in the world and having walked away from it eager to get back in the ring again.  You really can’t wait to get out and race again.  You realize that international level racing is an unforgiving and often cruel game to play, but it’s where you want to be- amongst the world’s best. You might get your teeth kicked in now and again, but that’s all part of the game at this level.  Though this game is ofeten humbling, it sure is fun to play.  I can’t wait for the next one!

In the course recon this section looked impossible... at full gas, it's hardly noticeable