THE AVALANCHE CUP, OZ EN OISANS AND MEGA AVALANCH, ALP D'HUEZ

After a couple of weekends at home it was road trip time again and this time I was off to Alp D’Huez to take part in a week of riding and a race that I have always wanted to do – the Mega Avalanche. Having done a mega avalanche in the Reunion Island a few years ago I have always wanted to do the one at Alp D’Huez as it’s a mass start just the same but this one starts on the glacier !! Racing down the snow was going to be quite an experience!

Crazy mountain weather was going to be a recurring theme on this trip as we drove through some of the most torrential rain I have ever seen for at least 2 hours on our way to Alp D’Huez. Fortunately the next morning we woke up to a few drizzles, but the sunshine soon came out and we went out exploring, trying to piece together the trails we would be riding this weekend. I was fortunate to be using the new Kona Coilair Deluxe bike which I think is the perfect bike for this kind of riding. With up to 7” of travel but it still climbs really well.

PAIR TEAMS WICKS/SNEDDON AND SIMMS/THIBAULT WRAP UP THE BC BIKE RACE WITH OVERALL WINS

The second installment of the B.C. Bike race concluded today in Whistler, British Columbia and Team Kona once again rose to the occasion to protect the leads in their respective categories. All the racers today faced a technical, demanding course which featured such epic trails as See Colors and Puke, River Runs Through It and Cut Your Bars.

Kona Factory riders Kris Sneddon and Barry Wicks took third place on the day but won the overall title in the Open Men’s category. Times for all teams are accumulated over seven days to calculate overall rankings. Earlier in the week, Wicks and Sneddon won the fourth stage. Wicks completed the entire event on his Kula Deluxe 2-9.