[Heavy C]

Anyone going down to Peru for the race March 26/27.

Starting at 15K feet.

Check it out.


www.megavalancheperu.com/english

Few of us from Squamish will be heading to Peru next weekend.

Super excited!!

 

[ride_fast]

Seems like a crazy race. All i remember is in earthed 3 when that poor guys bike goes flying like 500 yards, that was bad! I would like to do a race like that someday though.

 

[blt2ride]

Seems like a crazy race. All i remember is in earthed 3 when that poor guys bike goes flying like 500 yards, that was bad! I would like to do a race like that someday though.

The footage in Earthed 3 was insane! It was hard to watch that poor guy's bike flying off the side of the mountain...

I think a race like this would be a lot fun...

 

[Heavy C]

The E3 footage was from Alp'Duez France. Look for fresh footage of the Peru version in MTB Films latest offering 'My Back Yard'.

Big Red Ted will be down covering the event.

 

[wysiwyg]

megavalanche = whole new world of pain

 

[vitox]

im not going this year but i was there last year, its a beautiful place, very cheap and you dont need to book the whole packet if you want to save some money and not feel like youre living in a bubble.
course i think should be improved from last year, its for the most part very nice but it had lots of small paved stretches which i though was a bummer.

lemme know if you need any more info

 

[Eurotrash]

megavalanche = whole new world of pain

That is so true! In 5 years of XC, I never suffred as much as in the mega avalanche

 

[vitox]

That is so true! In 5 years of XC, I never suffred as much as in the mega avalanche

hmm, this one doesnt have the uphills i have seen in the euro avalanche courses, its more downhill and not as long, winning time was 23minutes last year. actually they had 2 runs and a points system last year, which i thought was rather dumb as it removed the whole "fist man across the finish line wins" element.

what will have you suffering is the altitude and the pushing you have to do to get to the finish line. hot tip here is to stash some coins in your jersey pockets and get the local kids to push your bike up to the start line so you actually have some energy left to pedal.

 

[wysiwyg]

ha hah..paying the yokels, i like it.

 

[stiksandstones]

I know LoPants is going, he has been doing 3-4 runs on San Juan trail a week to prepare (its a 40 minute DH-ish run by our house). Sounds like its going to be wicked awesome.

 

[360]

hmm, this one doesnt have the uphills i have seen in the euro avalanche courses, its more downhill and not as long, winning time was 23minutes last year

I dont think theres a climb for the first 23minutes of the alp d'huez megavalanche...

Im supprised its that short i'd thought with the size of the hills down there it'd be alot longer than that. even the maxi avalanches are longer

 

[Full Trucker]

...LoPants...

Awesome...

 

[SuspectDevice]

Gracia and Peaty are both rumored to be on the star list as well. A bunch of the Sinister crew is heading out, and I'm jealous.

 

[stiksandstones]

Gracia and Peaty are both rumored to be on the star list as well. A bunch of the Sinister crew is heading out, and I'm jealous.

Have not spoke with Gracia, but Peaty told me he is for sure going to the race.

 

[vitox]

I dont think theres a climb for the first 23minutes of the alp d'huez megavalanche...

Im supprised its that short i'd thought with the size of the hills down there it'd be alot longer than that. even the maxi avalanches are longer

theres tons of longer trails in peru, my impression is that this one was chosen for having an incredibly nice (compared to any place that high) access road and for having lots of available euro-compatible accomodations nearby. my peruvian friends have told me they have a race on a substantially longer track and here in chile there are also places where you can easily get twice the vert the megavalanche course has, i spoke to the guy that runs the thing and they had tried to change it for this year but it didnt become a reality.
anyways, i dont think anyone that attends it will be anything but thrilled by the place.
a good tip if you want to get closer to the whole place is to not stay at the official resort but to go and stay at guest houses that are DIRT CHEAP in ollantantaytambo, the village closest to the course, then you just have to specify you want the shuttle buses to pick you up there and youll be staying at an absolutely gorgeous place and wake up with huge inca ruins surrounding you.

 

[Heavy C]

Vitox,

Pay the local kids, I like it.

Which bike would you recomend I take down IH MkIII or 7Pt7?
I have been told a 5x5 trail bike will suffice. Do you agree?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Heavy C]

Any other epic rides in the area you would recommend?

 

[vitox]

Vitox,

Pay the local kids, I like it.

Which bike would you recomend I take down IH MkIII or 7Pt7?
I have been told a 5x5 trail bike will suffice. Do you agree?

Thanks in advance!

both are good choices, but i think the 7point is better, the frenchies from the commencal team were on bikes similar to the hollowpoint last year, and the guy who won used a 5inch scott with a pike on, gracia was on a fr gemini but had an 888 on, but id think the fun factor would be higher on the 7point. if your number one goal is to place then the bike choice boils down to wether you want to be able to do straight lines and elbow your way through the pack at the top, or if you want to be able to sprint like hell on the lower flatter parts.
if you bring the mk3 be sure to check for tire clearance as the top section is quite rocky, and people like barel that was on a coiler were having problems with wheels and tires.

anyway, the course last year had a few small jumps and no big stuff so really any bike will be ok

 

[vitox]

Any other epic rides in the area you would recommend?

naw i wouldnt really know more than to recommed you to try and hook up with the guys from the LBSs in cuzco (atrokz at hotmail dot com) or to see if you can get in touch with local dhers at groups.yahoo.com/dhperuano

 

[SuspectDevice]

Santiago from Atlantic Bicycle in Miami apparently has some local info on other rides, including some massive shuttles. www.freerideperu.com

 

[vitox]

Santiago from Atlantic Bicycle in Miami apparently has some local info on other rides, including some massive shuttles. www.freerideperu.com

good stuff

time to get to know the andean meaning of shuttling!


tip: dont overdo the pedalling at the top of the courses!!