Alittlebitoutoffocus

Alittlebitoutoffocus

The Grand Raid is a mountain bike marathon, of 125 km and over 5,000 metres of ascent, which starts in Verbier and finishes in Grimentz.  For lesser mortals there are 3 shorter routes, though even the shortest, which starts in Evolène, is 37 km long and has 1,845 metres of ascent.  Quite frankly, it doesn’t bear thinking about, as it must be torture !

My friend Kevin decided to come over and tackle the short route, while his wife Cristina and I, after seeing him off, set out on a more sedate walk. The walk took us up the Grand Raid route into Evolène before we headed further up to Lac d’Arbey and then along the valley to Les Haudères.  As you can see from the photos, the weather was beautiful and, if you are interested, Kevin finished in 3h 51 minutes and was 86th out of the 251 male starters. Congratulations Kevin !  Next year the Hérémence start ?

It was a cool start to the morning, but I bet these competitors soon warmed up.
New arrivals in the pastures above Evolène.
There were several of these butterflies fluttering around the flowers near the buvette, but I’m not sure if they are Large Coppers or something else.
The Dent Blanche gleams in the background.
A competitor, Valerie, kindly steps aside to let one the élite group pass by.
A fabulous place to stop for refreshment !
Maybe he was having second thoughts…?
Several riders had beer cans on their heads, in celebration of the Valais being 200 years old, but I think he’s letting the side down a bit !
These little frogs were only about 1 centimetre long.

4 responses

  1. Maxine Dodd, artist Avatar
    Maxine Dodd, artist

    What a gorgeous route? This looks like a lovely event, but I bet the legs are screaming at the end of it… so many climbs and descents! Super post, Mike 🙂

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    1. Mike Hawtree Avatar
      Mike Hawtree

      Thanks Maxine. I once did the route from Héremence to Evolène on one day, then the section up to the Pas de Lona, like Kevin, on another day and I was absolutely shattered ! So I can confirm that the full route from Verbier to Grimentz must be a real test of strength and stamina! Almost unbelievably the winners take just over 6 hours to complete the 125km route and this year only 30 seconds separated the first 3. So it must have been an exciting and hair-raising finish.

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      1. Maxine Dodd, artist Avatar
        Maxine Dodd, artist

        Absolutely! Perhaps I’ll be able to see it for myself one day! 🙂

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  2. Grand Raid BCVS Mountain Bike Race, 2018 | Alittlebitoutoffocus Avatar
    Grand Raid BCVS Mountain Bike Race, 2018 | Alittlebitoutoffocus

    […] and good friend of mine, Kevin, had successfully completed the ‘short course’ three years ago and he’d recently been in touch to say that this year he was doing the full distance, from […]

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