So, the 3rd time Iâve been to the Roc and definitely the best for a whole load of reasons. First off, the weather was perfect; sunny and warm but not too warm :-). The trails were dry and dusty and the organisation was as good as ever â registration, bib collection etc. were hassle free. Overall, the Roc is a great event and has plenty of races ranging from 23km upwards. There really is something for everyone here from the racers to those who just want to get out and enjoy the trails in the sunshine. If you do a regular Saturday spin you would be well able for most of the races... you can pre-register here for next year: https://fs22.formsite.com/AmaurySpor...0fr/index.html
If you do go, check your tyres before you go, get your tyres set up tubeless, make sure you have plenty of sealant in and watch out for thorns at the start (in particular). The number of people that I saw within the first five kms putting tubes in was astonishing.
I did three races, the Roc Light on Thursday (21km with 450 meters of climbing), the Marathon on Friday (84km with 2500 meters of climbing) and the Roc Dâazur and Sunday (53Km with 1300 meters of climbing.
The Roc light
I treated this as a warm up for the following dayâs race but having being off the bike for three days beforehand I pushed it to get the legs ready for the marathon. I had a good fast start and moved up to the leading group and kept up a fast average pace from there â whilst holding back for the Marathon the following day. The race covers the first climb and the final descent and course back to the finish used in all of the races â so it is a straight forward up and down and a good way to get to know these sections at race pace. I finished in 1hr 9mins, 23rd overall and 5th in M40s.
The Marathon
This is a great endurance race and I did it twice before so I had a good idea of what was in store â basically, itâs long, requires good focus and a good mental game.
I had set an objective of 5hr 30mins for the race the evening beforehand and I was nicely nervous. I was off in the first wave this year at 7.30am which was great but it did mean a very early start! I got down to the gridding area in plenty of time but found that they had already lined up on the start so I was close to the back of the pack of 300-350(?) riders. I pushed hard out of the start and made my way up to the top half of the group and settled in for a steady day. Being in the first wave meant that there were no delays on the first key descent and this was brilliant (in past years this descent acted as a choke point and you can end up walking the bike down the hill in places if you get stuck behind a few riders that bail off!). A quick stop to refill the bottle at feed station 1 and then off for another climb â this one having some of the steepest sections of the day on it â hovering around 25-30%. The race had not settled at this stage and there were people charging forward and others dropping back but it was early days. The decent off the top was class even if you have to ride in procession. I made the second feed station (around the 30km mark) after a few more climbs and descents in less than 2hrs and knew that I was having a good day. From the second to the 4th feed stations are two climbs, one short and steep and one long and steady. It was interesting experiencing the ebb and flow of the race here. People would pass by, seemingly flying up the hill, and then I would catch and fly by them at a later stage â not sure why! Having had little other than gels by the time I got to the 4th feed station I got off the bike for the first time, refilled the bottle, drank, refilled, had a banana and grabbed another gel â the legs were tired but ok. Turns out I spent 3 minutes here which was longer than I thought.
The guys who went out too hard really begin to suffer from here on â mainly because they know itâs the half-way point and they have another 40km to go. There is a nice technical descent after feed station 4 and then a sequence of smaller climbs (<200 meters each, a couple of them on single track) but by this stage the back of the day is broken. I refilled the bottle again at feed station 5 and then it was off to the Col de Bourgone which has lots of spectators to cheer you on. The Col is short and steep but there is a fire road section afterwards to recover on before a few steep ups and downs. At this point most people are knackered and prone to making mistakes â a came across one guy picking himself and the bike up who had no clue what had happened.
Finally, I got to what I call the concrete ramp section (a short steep ramp up to a trail that marks the last serious climb of the day) and it was time to push a little harder on the pedals and pick off a few riders. The section afterwards is all single-track with some steep little climbs. Despite the aching legs and back it is really enjoyable. The final descent is a straight line blast â most people follow the procession down a line on the right but the left line is fast and allows you to carry as much speed as you dare.
After this, itâs a 8km sequence of roads, flat trails, beach, and road back to the finish. I kept the head up and pushed all the way to the line picking off the last few riders.
I came in in 5hr26min and was happy out â even if I could not sit down for 15 minutes. Overall place 281 and 77th in M40.
The Roc DâAzur
This is the one most people go to do. 51km, 1350meters of climbing. So basically, if you go out on a regular Saturday spin, this is the one for you. You will see big groups of friends / clubs riding this one together and having the craic at all the feed stations. Then there are people like me and Doris...
The race follows a lot of the same tracks as the Marathon but cuts out the harder climbs and loses some of the nice descents. Being shorter and âflatterâ it is faster (the winner averaged 27kph! And finished in 2hr07min). After the Marathon, this feels really short! I set an objective of an average speed of 17kph for this one.
I was off in wave 2 with Doris (the pros, elites, UCI marathon series riders and the Roc Trophy racers go in wave 1). A nice fast start set the tone for the day and we were soon picking off Roc Trophy guys (to be fair, it was their 5th consecutive day of racing and they had already done 200km and 5000m). Up the first climb with a huge number of other riders meaning you have to keep the head up to avoid getting boxed in with slower riders. Down the first descent and off into the hills. Tara was cheering us on at this stage and was able to tell us that Pauline Ferrand-Prevot was there cheering on everyone as well. The middle third of the course is mainly fire-road climbs and descents before you get to the good stuff which basically follows the last 20km of the Marathon course (after the 5th feed station on the marathon). The Col was packed and the atmosphere was fantastic. I could hear it from 1Km out which gave me a chance to loosen up and get ready... I was with a group of three or four at this stage and when the first guy came around me I went with him and waited till it got steeper before spinning a bit faster and pulling away from the group, used the fireroad to recover and upped the speed to pass people everywhere I could from then on.
I finished in a time of 2hrs59mins which was just under the 3hr objective I set myself! I was 419th overall and 95th in my category.
If you do go, check your tyres before you go, get your tyres set up tubeless, make sure you have plenty of sealant in and watch out for thorns at the start (in particular). The number of people that I saw within the first five kms putting tubes in was astonishing.
I did three races, the Roc Light on Thursday (21km with 450 meters of climbing), the Marathon on Friday (84km with 2500 meters of climbing) and the Roc Dâazur and Sunday (53Km with 1300 meters of climbing.
The Roc light
I treated this as a warm up for the following dayâs race but having being off the bike for three days beforehand I pushed it to get the legs ready for the marathon. I had a good fast start and moved up to the leading group and kept up a fast average pace from there â whilst holding back for the Marathon the following day. The race covers the first climb and the final descent and course back to the finish used in all of the races â so it is a straight forward up and down and a good way to get to know these sections at race pace. I finished in 1hr 9mins, 23rd overall and 5th in M40s.
The Marathon
This is a great endurance race and I did it twice before so I had a good idea of what was in store â basically, itâs long, requires good focus and a good mental game.
I had set an objective of 5hr 30mins for the race the evening beforehand and I was nicely nervous. I was off in the first wave this year at 7.30am which was great but it did mean a very early start! I got down to the gridding area in plenty of time but found that they had already lined up on the start so I was close to the back of the pack of 300-350(?) riders. I pushed hard out of the start and made my way up to the top half of the group and settled in for a steady day. Being in the first wave meant that there were no delays on the first key descent and this was brilliant (in past years this descent acted as a choke point and you can end up walking the bike down the hill in places if you get stuck behind a few riders that bail off!). A quick stop to refill the bottle at feed station 1 and then off for another climb â this one having some of the steepest sections of the day on it â hovering around 25-30%. The race had not settled at this stage and there were people charging forward and others dropping back but it was early days. The decent off the top was class even if you have to ride in procession. I made the second feed station (around the 30km mark) after a few more climbs and descents in less than 2hrs and knew that I was having a good day. From the second to the 4th feed stations are two climbs, one short and steep and one long and steady. It was interesting experiencing the ebb and flow of the race here. People would pass by, seemingly flying up the hill, and then I would catch and fly by them at a later stage â not sure why! Having had little other than gels by the time I got to the 4th feed station I got off the bike for the first time, refilled the bottle, drank, refilled, had a banana and grabbed another gel â the legs were tired but ok. Turns out I spent 3 minutes here which was longer than I thought.
The guys who went out too hard really begin to suffer from here on â mainly because they know itâs the half-way point and they have another 40km to go. There is a nice technical descent after feed station 4 and then a sequence of smaller climbs (<200 meters each, a couple of them on single track) but by this stage the back of the day is broken. I refilled the bottle again at feed station 5 and then it was off to the Col de Bourgone which has lots of spectators to cheer you on. The Col is short and steep but there is a fire road section afterwards to recover on before a few steep ups and downs. At this point most people are knackered and prone to making mistakes â a came across one guy picking himself and the bike up who had no clue what had happened.
Finally, I got to what I call the concrete ramp section (a short steep ramp up to a trail that marks the last serious climb of the day) and it was time to push a little harder on the pedals and pick off a few riders. The section afterwards is all single-track with some steep little climbs. Despite the aching legs and back it is really enjoyable. The final descent is a straight line blast â most people follow the procession down a line on the right but the left line is fast and allows you to carry as much speed as you dare.
After this, itâs a 8km sequence of roads, flat trails, beach, and road back to the finish. I kept the head up and pushed all the way to the line picking off the last few riders.
I came in in 5hr26min and was happy out â even if I could not sit down for 15 minutes. Overall place 281 and 77th in M40.
The Roc DâAzur
This is the one most people go to do. 51km, 1350meters of climbing. So basically, if you go out on a regular Saturday spin, this is the one for you. You will see big groups of friends / clubs riding this one together and having the craic at all the feed stations. Then there are people like me and Doris...
The race follows a lot of the same tracks as the Marathon but cuts out the harder climbs and loses some of the nice descents. Being shorter and âflatterâ it is faster (the winner averaged 27kph! And finished in 2hr07min). After the Marathon, this feels really short! I set an objective of an average speed of 17kph for this one.
I was off in wave 2 with Doris (the pros, elites, UCI marathon series riders and the Roc Trophy racers go in wave 1). A nice fast start set the tone for the day and we were soon picking off Roc Trophy guys (to be fair, it was their 5th consecutive day of racing and they had already done 200km and 5000m). Up the first climb with a huge number of other riders meaning you have to keep the head up to avoid getting boxed in with slower riders. Down the first descent and off into the hills. Tara was cheering us on at this stage and was able to tell us that Pauline Ferrand-Prevot was there cheering on everyone as well. The middle third of the course is mainly fire-road climbs and descents before you get to the good stuff which basically follows the last 20km of the Marathon course (after the 5th feed station on the marathon). The Col was packed and the atmosphere was fantastic. I could hear it from 1Km out which gave me a chance to loosen up and get ready... I was with a group of three or four at this stage and when the first guy came around me I went with him and waited till it got steeper before spinning a bit faster and pulling away from the group, used the fireroad to recover and upped the speed to pass people everywhere I could from then on.
I finished in a time of 2hrs59mins which was just under the 3hr objective I set myself! I was 419th overall and 95th in my category.