Castino, Italy rd3 european e-mtb
Saturday morning was practice day, the sun was shining, and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. I was a little confused with the map at first, but started following the signs to Stage 1. The area we started in was at the top of the hill, which was unusual as we’re normally at the bottom, ride up to the top, then race down the track. Turns out Stage 1 was only a five-minute flat pedal to the start.
Riding through the pits, not many people were still at their cars, so I thought, “Shoot, I must be running late.”
I arrived at Stage 1 and sure enough… I wasn’t late — I was FIRST! Haha.
This race being in Italy had a regulation that you were only allowed to run one battery, meaning we couldn’t swap batteries at lunchtime. Being practice day, and now at the front of the pack, I thought I’d get through the first three practice stages as quickly as possible, as they were open from 8:30am till 1pm, with the remaining three stages open from 1pm till 4pm.
I got back to the van just before 11am and put the battery on charge. It was at 28%, and after two hours of charging I was back to 88%, which was awesome. I had some lunch, watched my GoPro footage from the first three stages, and took some notes in my phone ready for race day.
Then I set off to Stage 4 for practice. By this time everyone was heading out, so I had plenty of friends to ride with. Stage 4 had some e-bike-only sections, as this race was also a normal enduro race for analogue bikes. After Stage 4 we had Stage 5, which was the shortest but steepest track of the weekend — and a lot of fun!
Now all the downhill stages were completed for practice, and onto the Power Stage. This is why I wanted to make sure I had plenty of battery left, as it was a long stage — 1.5 to 2 minutes of pure uphill tech. I walked the track, then went and lowered my tyre pressures to 12psi in the front and 10psi in the rear. We do this to gain more traction, and it’s amazing how much more grip you get. If you have an e-bike and want to improve your uphill climbing, give it a try.
Then straight into a practice run. A few mistakes, but overall I was pretty happy with how it went. It was a lot easier than we all first thought after walking it.
It was now 3pm, and I went back to the van to charge the bike and get it ready for racing the Power Stage at 5:30pm. I’m still trying to figure out this whole “finish practice, have a few hours rest, then go race the Power Stage” thing… it’s hard to get back into the zone.
But I finished 5th on the stage, only 13 seconds off first place, so it was shaping up to be a pretty close race heading into Sunday’s five stages.
There was a lot of talk about rain arriving. I wasn’t mad about it, as I love muddy conditions. Having never ridden in this area before, I was unsure what the conditions would actually be like, but based on practice day the trails were super hard-packed. I honestly thought putting a mud tyre on would be a waste of time, as I didn’t think the trails would break down much. So I decided to stick with dry tyres (DHR front and rear) and maximise rolling speed, especially as a couple of the stages had a lot of flat pedalling.
Sunday morning arrived and yes — it was raining, and looked like it had been raining most of the night. Still committing to my decision from the night before, I stuck with the dry tyres.
In enduro we normally have five stickers that we’re required to place on the bike: two on the frame (front triangle and rear triangle), two on either rim, and one on the fork. This is to stop anyone replacing parts, as the spirit of enduro is to manage both rider and machine all the way to the finish. If you do break something, you can speak with an official and ask to swap it out, but this comes with a three-minute penalty.
The only downside is that it would be super cool to have another wheelset with different tyre options that you could throw on last minute.
The rain had caused the morning carnage everyone had anticipated. We have a WhatsApp group, and 20 minutes before I was due to start, messages were coming through:
Stage 1 had been shortened and would start lower down
The transition to Stage 2 was now on the tar-sealed road
Stage 3 would also start lower down, and they had removed a new section in the middle of the track
Stage 4 had some e-bike-specific sections removed
Stage 5 was fully cancelled
We went to the rollout area where they checked our stickers, gave us our start time list, and one by one, every minute, we were welcomed onto the stage for a quick chat before heading off.
Well, Stage 1 was an eye-opener.
It was slick and muddy, the track was completely chewed up, and not at all what I had expected. But I stayed upright and just went with the flow of it. I felt good, but finished 3rd place — 20 seconds off 1st.
I pedalled up to Stage 2, one of the stages with a lot of flat pedalling, so I thought my tyre choice would pay off. But after Stage 1, I had doubts — and sure enough, they were the wrong tyres. I had a couple of “layovers” we’ll call them, as they weren’t full crashes, but they definitely cost me time.
Stage 3 — I started well and had a nice flow until BOOM… big over-the-bars crash. Thankfully I had my full chest protection on, because I slammed the ground hard.
I got up from the tangle I’d got myself into and started riding again. I soon noticed my bars were twisted, which made for an entertaining ride to the bottom.
I also noticed this constant beeping. It wasn’t until I got to the bottom and pulled my phone out that I saw a message from Mum saying, “You algood?”
My Garmin had activated the incident feature and texted Mum back in NZ to let her know. Luckily I was fine, but it’s awesome to know that feature actually works.
After Stage 3 we had the pedal back to the pits. By this point our bikes were absolutely caked in mud, so before going back to the van to charge, I opted to clean most of the mud off — especially around the drivetrain.
With only 45 minutes to charge, I gained 20%, which was enough for one last stage, as Stage 5 had been cancelled.
Stage 4 was fun. At this point in the day I was too far off 3rd place and had a solid gap over 5th, so I just rode my bike and enjoyed myself to finish the day off.
Back up to the pits, checked in, then headed for the bike wash. Got the bike as clean as I could, then back to the van to clean myself up.
I filled up a bucket with water and rinsed every item of riding gear three times before the water was semi-clear. Then I placed the bucket underneath the van’s shower drain hole and had a nice warm shower while the soapy water drained into the bucket too — basically a bit of a pre-wash for the clothes.
After a rough tidy-up in the rain, Buddy was ready to drive off to another campsite for the night before a massive admin Monday.
I hung around to watch prize giving. The top three went on stage, so I just missed out with my 4th-place finish, but €75 prize money was a nice bonus.
E-bike racing is now done for a few months as we shift focus to EDR racing on the analogue bike. However, next week is going to be a fun and exciting one as I finally get my new e-bike out on the trails!
Catch ya all soon 🤙
