Registration and Event Village

The Snow Bike Festival is a three day stage cross-country event. Each stage was approximately 30km in length with roughly 800m of climbing per day. “No problem”, I thought to myself. That’s a regular day of trail riding for me, but how would the sub-zero temperatures and fatbike steed affect my ability? I was about to find out.

On Thursday morning I picked up my Big Scott Ed rental bike from the shop in town. Once I had set the seat-height, adjusted the cockpit and lowered the tyre pressure, I was ready to go. Like driving on the left hand side, any country who drives on the right has their bike brakes on the opposite sides. This meant I had to remind myself that my right brake, was my back brake.

The Snow Bike Race Format

PROLOGUE

The four day festival kicked off with a time trial prologue race on the Thursday. This involved three laps of a 2.5km course to allow everyone to get a feel for riding on the snow, and more familiar with the fatbikes. It was a great way to break the ice – pun – and have a taste of what the next few days would have in store.

STAGE ONE

Route: Gstaad – Rougemount – Saanen – Chalberhoni – Eggli – Gstaad
Distance: 29.9km
Height: 786m

Clear blue skies welcomed the masses to the starting line on Friday morning. Over 100 riders took their starting positions with UCI ranked athletes at the front of the peloton, and amateurs like myself, making up the rear.

You can read an in-depth account of the prologue and stage one here

STAGE TWO

Route: Gstaad – Eggli – Gstaad – Gsteig – Gstaad
Distance: 33.5km
Height: 945m

I woke up early on Saturday morning in a lot of pain. My cycling shoes had worn holes into the back of both ankles. They were red, swollen and oozing an alarming colour of puss. In addition to that, my tickling cough had been kicked up a notch and now the wheezing had begun. I felt awful, I needed to find a chemist and I needed to sit the stage out.

Angry and disappointed in myself, I hobbled to the start line to watch everyone set off and I cheered them on as they rode past. Once the race was well under way, I found a pharmacist who provided me with gauze, anti-septic spray and cough sweets. Time to rest.

NIGHT ELIMINATOR

On Saturday evening all the riders were invited to take part in an eliminator race. Under the floodlights of the event village, four riders lined up to battle it out on a short 1km circuit. Riders competed until there was only one remaining.

Bonus treats and Tracy Moseley

“I’ve had so much fun, and I’m pleased I’ve been able to tick this off the list” – Tracy Moseley

Taking part in the Snow Bike Festival was legendary mountain biker, Tracy Moseley. Catching up with Tracy over the course of the event, I learnt that she too was new to fatbikes and snow biking. Taking a step back from racing, Tracy told me that she now has the time to explore other areas of riding that EWS training used to shadow.

When I asked her how she was getting on with the snow, Tracy said: “It’s totally different to any other riding. The snow just carries your bike for you, which takes a lot of concentration and effort to overcome. On stage one’s final descent, my front wheel took me off the side of the piste and I tumbled down. It’s so easy to wipe out in the snow, but it was a soft landing, I was just very cold”.

What made the Snow Bike Festival so great was the wonderful sense of community inspired by the event organisers. Each evening we were welcomed into a large sports hall and supplied with generous portions of the most delicious race food I’ve ever had.

Each night I was sat next to a new face, with a new story and I really felt a part of the festivities. Tired bodies lined the long rows of tables, but everyone still had plenty of energy to socialise and share their their experiences.

Snow-biking is a lot of hard work. It’s takes double the effort to battle the cold, the altitude and the soft powdery terrain. However, it’s one of the most incredible cycling experiences I’ve ever had. The landscapes are fantastic, the riding is challenging enough to be fun and it’s a race I’ll never forget.