RUST magazine: RUST Tref Special

olling in the clover - DAY 3
DAY THREE
I Don’t mInD admitting that, after the amount of rain we’d seen the
day before, I was quietly dreading day three. I had visions of hideously
cut-up trails, unscaleable climbs and hours spent picking the Yam out
of the undergrowth.
With the start order reversed, another early start put me out way
ahead of Warren and Pedro, and it was another climb up the hillside
behind parc ferme. Unlike day two, the course led straight onto muddy
singletrack, slick yet nowhere near as bad as I’d expected. things
looked good right until the cold-blooded Yamaha cough-stalled on a
bank and pitched me straight into a pile of brush, upside down. number
555, Vincent Jouanen, found me floundering beneath the trail and
rather than laugh at my pratfall he helped me back to my feet and we
hauled the WR upright. merci, Vincent!
the track emerged from the trees onto a wider dirt trail. It was
almost bone dry. Across to the left was a breathtaking view into a
valley, with low cloud hanging over the trees beneath us. the course
would take us west, across to the 600m deep Gorges du tarn, before
looping back to mende.
the first special test came early in the day and proved to be the only
point-to-point (or ‘en ligne’) test of the event. there was no way to
bypass it, so I might as well enjoy it. And, oh boy, did I!? one line for
much of its length, the test constantly jinked, wound and climbed its
way through a small section of forestry with absolutely no let-up.
Straights were short and gaps between the trees were often little
wider than the handlebars. It wasn’t natural 450 terrain but I loved it!
the two-and-a-half hours of riding to the first service check were as
varied as I’d come to expect. narrow dirt tracks led across open grassland,
diving into forestry for fast blasts on stony trails. Glance left and
there was a towering cliff-face. two minutes later you’d be looking out
across meadows stretching far into the distance. there were more goat
trails on wooded hills. more stony paths through dense, dark, beech
woods, and all with the barest minimum of road work.
Gorgeous Gorges
the check was in the pretty town centre of La Canourge – another
stunning refueling point – and the road out was a sinewy stretch of
tarmac almost as enjoyable as the dirt.