16. Lost: My cycling mojo - a dispatch from Alpe D'Huez 🏔🇫🇷

07/04/24 • 17 min

Today’s episode is a little Bonus update from me on what’s been happening in my world and what’s coming up. Maybe you can relate, maybe you can’t, but I hope some people will find it helpful.

And my next race - as noted - is:

🇸🇦 The NEOM Titan Desert Race KSA

🚲 380 KM

⛰️ 2800m

🗓️ Nov 17-23 - 5 days of racing including the Prologue

📍 NEOM, Saudi Arabia

🔗 https://titandesertksa.com/en/

🇫🇷 Recorded on top of Alpe D’Huez, I did make it out downhill mountain biking and please find below some resources in case you wanted to do the same:

🚲 Where I rented my DH MTB Altitude Sports: https://www.altitudesports-alpedhuez.fr

💶 Cost with insurance and all the gear was approx: 105 Euros

🚵🏻‍♀️ Gear included body armor (mandatory apparently), helmet, knee pads, jersey and gloves, bring your own googles or glasses

🚠 The lift (right across from the store) was about 26 Euros

🟢 Green trails were very easy and flowy

🔵 Blue trails were only slightly more difficult

❌ I was riding alone so didn’t attempt red or black trails this time around

An Episodes from The Mettleset Podcast you may like

🎙️ Bikepacking on the 4 rivers trail in South Korea

If you liked this episode, please tap subscribe wherever you are listening. Please also leave a review - 5 ⭐ only. Check out The Mettleset Podcast and follow @JustBikesThePodcast and @themettleset on Instagram, YouTube and LinkedIn.

x Dawn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is a little Bonus update from me on what’s been happening in my world and what’s coming up. Maybe you can relate, maybe you can’t, but I hope some people will find it helpful.

And my next race - as noted - is:

🇸🇦 The NEOM Titan Desert Race KSA

🚲 380 KM

⛰️ 2800m

🗓️ Nov 17-23 - 5 days of racing including the Prologue

📍 NEOM, Saudi Arabia

🔗 https://titandesertksa.com/en/

🇫🇷 Recorded on top of Alpe D’Huez, I did make it out downhill mountain biking and please find below some resources in case you wanted to do the same:

🚲 Where I rented my DH MTB Altitude Sports: https://www.altitudesports-alpedhuez.fr

💶 Cost with insurance and all the gear was approx: 105 Euros

🚵🏻‍♀️ Gear included body armor (mandatory apparently), helmet, knee pads, jersey and gloves, bring your own googles or glasses

🚠 The lift (right across from the store) was about 26 Euros

🟢 Green trails were very easy and flowy

🔵 Blue trails were only slightly more difficult

❌ I was riding alone so didn’t attempt red or black trails this time around

An Episodes from The Mettleset Podcast you may like

🎙️ Bikepacking on the 4 rivers trail in South Korea

x Dawn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Previous Episode

15. 🇷🇼 Komera 💛 Rwandan cyclist Violette Neza’s mission to share the joy of cycling

Happy World Bicycle Day!

Earlier this year, I spent a week chasing - and sharing the stories of the cyclists competing in the Race Around Rwanda, a 1000km self-supported bikepacking race with 18,000m of elevation and 40% offroad. I detailed the stories from the road of beautiful and brutal race this year in episodes 6 through 10 as well as episode 14 so go back and check those episodes out.

This is a story from Rwanda but it's not just about the race. This is about the impact of one woman, Violette Neza, a champion Rwandan ultra-cyclist and coach and I couldn’t think of anyone more worthy to feature - and spotlight on World Bicycle Day.

In this episode, you’ll hear Violette’s own story of learning to ride a bike. What cycling means to her and why she wants to share the joy of cycling with other girls and young women, who otherwise may never have the opportunity to experience what we all do regularly, how wonderful and freeing it is to ride your bike.

I recorded this back in February in Kigali so to get up to date with Viollete and her team, please follow:

Komera Cycling Team: @komeranewct

Violette: @nezaviolette

I hope you enjoy the episode!

Dawn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Next Episode

17. 🇿🇦 Sani 2 C's Farmer Glen Haw on 20 Years of Adventure & Impact

Hi all,

In April, I finished Sani2C, a three day, point to point stage mountain bike race in KZN, South Africa.

The race was 272 km with 4000m of elevation gain on some of the most beautiful mountain bike trails in the world with various terrains including single track through farmlands, nature reserves, sugar cane fields, forests, down the infamous Umko drop and along the stunning uMkhomazi River.

My race report, much of which recorded day by day on the race, will go live later this week but today, I’m sharing a chat I had with the brains & heart behind Sani2C Farmer Glenn Haw, who along with his family and wider community, have been hosting this event for 20 years now.

In this Episode, Farmer Glen and I chat about:

His experience at Comrades - a 90km ultra-marathon that he just returned from at the time of recording in early June
Farmer Glen’s philosophy on life & adventure and how the race is a family affair
The Format of the race including an e-bike category and a non-stop category - which has since taken place since we recorded this
The impact of the race on the communities it travels through
What funny things have happened on the race, including what happened to me
What advice her would give to any aspiring race organizers

Registration is now open for the 2025 edition: https://sani2c.co.za

**Reminder, if you’re a big group, Farmer Glen did mention that there are special rates available so do email the team. All the contact details are available on their website.

Find Farmer Glen on IG: @farmer_glen

Find Sani2C on IG: @_sani2c

My race report will follow this week and I’ll also include some useful info and tips for travel logistics as well based on my experience.

x Dawn

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.