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Words: Andy Lund || Photo: Boris Beyer
I’m Andy Lund, head technician, road manager and man-on-the-ground for Trek Factory Racing (Enduro) Gravity and personal mechanic to Hattie Harnden.
The beat-your-number-board game was back on in 2023 after having finished third in the elite women’s category overall in 2022 – we wanted to do even better in the first year of the UCI Mountain Bike Enduro World Cup.
Fast forward several months, and we have just finished the penultimate round of the 2023 season in Loudenvielle, France. Back into third in the overall – we wouldn’t give up the number three plate without a fight.
We travelled 905km from Loudenvielle to Châtel for the final round of the series, a double event week alongside the Cross Country Marathon World Cup. The first Enduro World Cup within the Portes du Soleil area was highly anticipated. A popular holiday and riding destination, the venue contained it all. The stages ranged from finely sculpted, awkwardly taped bike park trails, creating a struggle to find flow, to the classic alpine meadow and fresh-scented forest singletrack.
Arriving in Châtel, we settled into a race week routine: setting up the bike on Tuesday, locating our pit space and prepping it for the week. Some of the views out of the office are better than others. Looking at thousand-metre-plus majestic mountains while working is something I do not take for granted. However, a distinct sense of autumn’s imminent arrival in the Alps made for cool mornings and the requirement for a woolly hat.
An extra week from the previous race gave us time for further preparation, including a full bike strip down and rebuild. Double-checking through every component is a must before the first practice day. For racing, preparation is vital and proper preparation prevents piss-poor performance – there are variations of this saying, but this is our favourite.
Suspension: a refresh from the ever-helpful guys at SRAM kept things running smoothly – fork pressure 70psi and shock 180psi.
Wheels: we went with a minimum of three sets. Identical setups, lacing, spoke tension, and tyres was our first practice option. The third set was a wet or intermediate option. We were racing in mid-September in the Alps, after all.
Tyre pressure: 21psi front and 23psi rear.
Brakes: we bled them and set the levers to a 55mm reach, adjusting the pad contact point for the full range and putting in sintered pads and new discs – brake bite: 33mm.
Transmission: we put on a new chain, charged AXS batteries and ran through all gears – shifting was good; no issues. Newly charged batteries went on the derailleur and seat post, with a spare battery in the tool roll – chainring size: 32tooth.
Practice was split into two days on the Thursday and Saturday before the race, a slightly different format to what we are used to, but the ability to adapt and overcome is a good thing. Practice went well. But overnight rain made Thursday’s conditions slithery under tyre, spreading slick dirt onto rocks and creating low grip – braking points were key.
With one run per stage, finding lines and building speed was crucial. Feedback from Hattie: ‘Everything was all good.’
Coffee was first on the agenda from the busiest café in town on Saturday. A who’s one of the enduro world spent time at Wood Cafe during the week. Good coffee and pain au chocolat go us going.
Up on the gondola and straight into the mix of the stages, we made no changes to the bike settings and pressures. Consistency and predictability were a high priority for Hattie, with such varied terrain and long days in the saddle – saddle height 73.3mm.
Often, I will ride practice to provide support on-stage, looking at and riding lines and having an identical bike for spare parts. Practice day was complete, with a minor hiccup creating extra work before Sunday’s race. A thorough check was needed for the bike. I’d seated fresh tyres on race wheels since the start of the week and replaced discs (front and rear) for use with the sintered pads. I keep discs and race wheels separate for racing.
Arranging the pit set-up started early morning on race day. Working with Sam, our soigneur, food, water, and spare pieces of kit were on the tables – chocolate milk for the finish.
Final bolt check: done. Frame and wheel stickers: applied. Tyre pressure: set. Fork and shock settings: counted along with air pressure. Roll-out time: 10:23:30. Seven stages awaited and the final one started at 17:00:30 – over six hours of bike time were coming.
I spend most of a race day glued to my phone. My screen time goes through the roof, hitting refresh and watching the live timing. I can only provide support at an allocated time at the tech assistance zone if Hattie is not self-sufficient.
Hattie kept in touch throughout the day. Her stage times were good, maintaining that consistency, accruing stage points and riding smartly. Dropping into the last stage, she sat third on the day, a seven-second gap to fourth. Then, as she crossed the line, her time held. Happy days, with 2,333 points to secure a consecutive third in the season overall.
by Andy Lund, spanner turner for Trek Factory Enduro Team and Dee Valley Bicycle Workshop.
If you enjoy reading this, you should check out The World Stage. It’s got many features like it, plus round-by-round accounts of the UCI Enduro World Cup and pore over hundreds of the best images of the season in The World Stage Book 2023 yearbooks are available now.
