HEAVY - HANDLE WITH CARE!

Nino Schurter isn’t only the reigning cross-country world champ, he’s perhaps the greatest XC racer of all time. The Swiss star is also one of the most skilful riders ever, and as a result has hardly ever bitten the dust – until just recently…

“Let me knock on wood before saying this... In all my years of racing and riding I’ve had many close calls, but thankfully I’ve never had a severe crash or seriously injured myself. I’ve never even broken a bone – road rash and bruises are the worst I’ve walked away with. Lucky me! But the last close call I had really did shake me up.

“Together with Claudio Caluori, I took part in the Neveresting competition for Pump for Peace [see last issue’s Pro’s Life column], raising money to give kids around the world access to cycling facilities. We were aiming to complete 10,000 vertical meters of climbing and do 25 downhill runs on Switzerland’s Lenzerheide World Cup track, on our e-bikes. While getting ready for this event, I went out to practise on my new Scott Patron eRIDE.

“The Lenzerheide track isn’t new to me, and I know which jumps and gaps I can manage and which I can’t. But, approaching the landing of the first big (12m) step-down, I learned that clearing jumps on an e-bike is a different story to doing it on the lighter Scott Gambler I normally use for trail rides. The extra weight meant I came up short. I bottomed-out the suspension and took such a hard hit that my chest smashed into my bar-mounted Garmin and broke it off. It almost knocked the wind right out of me.

“Luckily, I was able to keep the bike straight and saved it, but the adrenaline was pumping. It was a real wake-up call for me to keep things safe during the Neveresting competition. We ended up riding for more than six hours without a break, managing the full 10,000m of climbing. At this stage, fatigue starts to play a big role. Thankfully I managed to handle everything, without a crash. Maybe this was because of the close call I’d had earlier.”

APPROACHING THE LANDING OF THE FIRST BIG STEP - DOWN, I LEARNED THAT CLEARING JUMPS ON AN E-BIKE IS A DIFFERENT STORY TO DOING IT ON THE SCOTT GAMBLER I NORMALLY RIDE. THE EXTRA WEIGHT MEANT I CAME UP SHOT...