With my dropper slammed, I’m pushing through my hands and feet, hoping beyond hope that my half-worn semi-slick tyres find a few more edges than I can see in the shadowy dust as I’m skipping down a fall line chute. We’re plunging into a valley from the town of Castelnovo ne’ Monti, jumping between trails hidden in hedgerows and beside steep creek lines, swapping in and out of the early spring sunshine in the Apennine mountains of Italy. On the first stage of six, it is clear that everyone is looking to make their mark and find some clear air. It’s not working for everyone, as I weave around a rider who has come unstuck, and try to gas across the small gap that created as we pop out onto a farm trail. The line of riders is snaking upwards into the forest and I can see the leaders out of the saddle and attacking each other. I may have misjudged this race.
ARRIVING IN ITALY FOR THE APPENNINICA MTB STAGE RACE
Mountain bike stage races are my jam. I’ve done a lot of them over the past two decades, but certainly do far less now. In 2011 I think I even spent more than 10% of the year in a stage race. I’ve always found that a mountain bike stage race is an excellent way to get a lot of time on your bike, see a lot of places, ride lots of new trails and meet some new people as well. I have met many of my close friends through stage races, and that network joins a few corners of the globe. Because of all this, when I first heard of the Appenninica MTB a little over five years ago, I was intrigued.
The event crew are a wide ranging team who work in tourism and hospitality. That might sound like a small detail, but it is anything but. This shapes what they want from the event. They want riders to experience the
