RACING DOWN A GLACIER ON A MOUNTAIN BIKE! The Megavalanche on a Santa Cruz Nomad

Summertime in the big mountains: Load up the van, hit the highway, unload your bike, climb a mountain, hammer it back down, skid onto the patio bar, enjoy a cappuccino, camp out next to the river, get a good night’s sleep under the stars, wake up, cook on the stove, throw the bike back in the van, drive to the bike park and do laps on laps. Hell, you could even rock up to the start line of the world’s wildest races, the Megavalanche.

That’s what Sam Dale did this July aboard his new Nomad.

Sam Dale loaded up his trusty camper, crossed the English Channel and set out for the peaks of the Alps. He started with a visit to La Grave to sample the new Santa Cruz PayDirt funded trail, Les Valloins de la Meije trail. Starting at the top of the historic cable car and descending 5,000ft, it covers all manner of terrain – rocky moonscapes, rutted avalanche paths, romping singletrack and sinewy turns through pine forest nearer the bottom. As Sam says, it was a good way to get back in the groove of the fast, long and rugged trails typical of the French Alps. It was a perfect warm up for the Megavalanche race.

The Megavalanche, possibly the wildest and rawest of mountain bike events. Again, starting at the top of Alp d’Huez – in the snow – and descending for 40 minutes at race pace across glacial rock slab, boulder fields, ski pistes, new school jump trails and well-worn paths. It puts any rider and their equipment to the test.

Sam believes the best way to really take a big bite of the Alps is to do it while camping. This allows you to get closer to the spots, to breathe the air and get into the rhythm of the places you’re visiting. After watching this, you might agree. Sam’s approach on and off the bike is refreshingly down-to-earth and a template for anyone wanting to feel the energy of big mountains.

Enjoy.

Yeah, it’s my favorite mountain bike race. I think it’s the ultimate mountain bike race
just because it’s a bit of everything. [Crowd cheering encouragement] Yeah this trip is the first one abroad for
a while. Left home with Jane, my girlfriend, loaded
the van up got a bunch of bikes in the back. So, yeah, Sam Dale here in the old sprinter
van. Yeah, a bit of a bike rider really. I started off racing cross country when I
was about 12. I did that for a season, then got into downhill. Stuck at that for quite a while. A good full time stint, about 10 years, and
then for various reasons sort of fell out with that. I just fancied a change. I just enjoy riding a bike. Came to La Grave for a little scope
out before the start of the Megavalanche week. Just to get up to speed and get used to riding
the faster style of European trails out here. Yeah, this is a wicked little spot here. Again, high altitude, like 3200 meters a full
rocky like moon-like landscape. Dropping down from that alpine meadowy stuff into some really steep, pretty shaley woodland. It’s got a real good mix of riding. We ended up here because of the Santa Cruz
PayDirt scheme they’ve got going, where each year they get a big lump of money together
and donate it to various bike parks around the world. Awesome riding, really friendly people. The lift is like out of an old James Bond
film. Yeah, wicked spot and great riding. A good variety and good practice for the Mega
really. Yeah, throw a bit of duct tape around the
bar. As it moves a bit with a bit of dust and shit. We call it number board rash. So yeah the Megavalanche is a one-off race. I think maybe two and a half thousand people
enter it. And basically it’s a race from 3300 meters
which is super high up on a glacier and you start on the snow and you race down, I think,
2600 meters Over about 22 kilometers. Yeah, basically it’s from the top of the mountain
to the bottom as fast as possible with loads of other people everywhere. You’ve got the qualifying track which is about
15 minutes long flat out and then the race track which is just over 40 minutes long flat
out. So yeah it’s quite a challenge to learn all
of them as well as trying to conserve energy for the race itself, well, both the races. If it all goes tits up in the race I know
where I’m stopping. So yeah I’m always pretty keen to get to a
venue before everyone else so I get first choice on van parking. The main difference for me is just like the
easiness of being in a van compared to being in a hotel. I can wake up at the race site go practice,
come back, make some lunch, tinker. I don’t have to worry about anything. Literally everything I need is in this vehicle. I’ve got all my bikes, tools, a little fridge,
water, cooker, half a watermelon, some bananas. It’s just biking, eating, sleeping, chilling, You’ve got to get a good qualifying in so
you get a good gate pick for the main event because you do not want to get stuck in one
of them pile-ups. But there is a technique to the start I’ve
picked up over the years… …but this year I couldn’t quite figure out
who was nodding at who so I just went as soon as the tape moves I’m gonna go. Yeah, managed to win my qualifying, fifth
overall in terms of time, so I had fifth gate pick for the main event. Yeah, just a little marker. Keep left of
that. Just direct, you can ride 20 meters less track
than everyone. “Good luck brother, bon chance.” [“ALARMA!” Techno tune blasts] I was a bit cautious at the top because usually it’s full snow for quite a while but this year it was maybe 10 foot wide piece of snow and
it went straight into big boulders. Um, I looked at this big boulder field made
myself a little cairn thing so I knew what to aim for. Yeah, I was up there in the top ten and that
on the snow so just uh try to keep calm. “Oh oi!” “Allez francais. I saw that.” Keep breathing [Crowd cheering encouragement] It’s about 40 minutes long so there’s a lot
of race, a lot of track. “Sorry brother, sorry man, yeah.” I picked some people off, got up into third,
held third for a while and then one of the fire road bits down there this group come
past me. I had a bit of a battle with them, felt like
if I pushed harder I wouldn’t have been able to see, never mind ride down the hill. So yeah, ended up being sixth but we’re all
in the same minute as the winner. Nice to come out of it in one piece because
it’s a ruthless race. I’ve got that thing in me that just always
thinks I could have done this better, could have done that better, so I’m gonna have to
race it next year. What do you think to Sam’s approach to racing? It’s the way to do, it’s the way to do it. Just [bleep] ride and enjoy it. A beer the night before, bit of yoga. Just yeah, he knows what he’s doing. Nice wood actually, a bit of red in it. Hey how are you, just wondering maybe if you
have any info of where Sam was at the climb? [muffled voice on phone] Sixth! Solid, solid result. Wicked.