Day 51: 4X and the Val di Sole Bike Park
20 Aug 2011
Day 51: World Cup XC and 4X action and the future of the bike park. It was time for the main XC action today, followed by the 4X this evening. You’re much better off getting the results direct from the UCI page though so I won’t go through them here. We did get some pictures of the 4X into the evening though so we do have some action to show you. It was nowhere near the scale of Fort Bill, but still a cool relaxed atmosphere and a great way to spend an evening, sat on the grass chilling with a beer watching the riders battle it out.
Earlier in the day I met up with Sergio Battistini to discuss what riding is available for those visiting throughout the summer. Sergio is the president of the ‘Out of Gravity’ bike shop, and of Mountain and Bike, the guiding and tuition school at Commezzadura. Both are at the same location underneath the main gondola station. They are in their second year of operation and are experiencing a rapid rise. The Val di Sole area has always excelled in staging events (e.g. the UCI World Cups) but has not really concentrated on developing dedicated trails for a full season of biking. Until now. Along with his colleagues Christian and Gianni, Sergio has been instrumental in developing what will be known as the Val di Sole Bike Park from the beginning of the 2012 summer season. So this means marked, maintained trails just for mountain bikers. And this will of course include the DH and 4X courses that are being thrashed this weekend so you will be able to ride what is being widely acknowledged as the most gnarly DH track on this years World Cup circuit! The school offers packages for all levels of age and ability and has 14 instructors to cater for this with English and German speakers among them. They have a great emphasis on encouraging people new to mountain biking to take up the sport in a safe and controlled environment – they have put over 120 kids through dedicated courses so far this summer! And their motto for this mission… ‘the most dangerous thing that will happen to you is buying your own DH bike’!
Tomorrow I’ll head out on the bike with Sergio in the morning to explore some of the trails that are in the development phase. And we’ll be back in time to watch the pros in the main event on the DH track in the afternoon. Not a bad day at all. We’ll leave you with a few pics from this evening’s 4X action…
Comments