The Alps Divide is a 1000 km mixed-terrain route that begins on the Mediterranean coast in Menton and traverses through the Alps to Lake Geneva, featuring multiple 3000 m gravel climbs and hike-a-bike sections, totalling 34,000 m of elevation gain. The route was created by Katie and Lee and was truly amazing.
Before the race, the big question on everyone’s mind was whether to ride a gravel bike or a mountain bike. I decided on my gravel bike but with mountain bike gearing, using a 30T front and 52T rear, along with a Redshift suspension stem. After about 60 km of riding on a long, challenging, uneven broken military road, I began to doubt my choice. But as the route continued, I was happy with my decision.
The weather on the first full day was apocalyptic, as mentioned in the race reports. We faced torrential rain during one of the ride's highlights—the Salt Road—where the supposed amazing views were lost in clouds.
Before CP1 was the Col de la Bonette. Having climbed this on the road before, I kept an eye out for the iconic Bonette road in the distance. The moment I finally spotted it, it was a realisation that there was still a lot of climbing to do as it looks so high up in the distance. The climb took us along a very quiet back road that eventually turned into a gravel track before joining the somewhat busier Bonette road. Gifted with sunshine at the top to finally admire some of the mountain views before descending to CP1.
Another highlight for me was the Col du Sommeiller—a long out-and-back climb where the views kept getting better as I rode up. The weather varied throughout, but when there was blue sky, the peacefulness and serenity were just what I love about ultra riding. Being an out-and-back meant crossing paths with other riders, which was always a nice surprise.
The weather only deteriorated. Just when everything had dried out, we were hit with forecasted 80 km/h winds right as I was submitting the Col de la Rue hike-a-bike section in the dark. The only thing keeping me going was seeing red flashing lights of other riders far up in the distance—there's something about knowing we're all in this together that pushed me onward, even when I struggled to stand against the force of the wind.
After surviving that climb, a gîte magically appeared just as the road turned to gravel, where two other riders stayed. It’s these shared moments with fellow riders that make ultras truly special. The owner of the gîte warned us about more bad weather ahead and mentioned that our next climb would be long.
We woke up to snow blanketing everything and faced a freezing descent where I stocked up on hand warmers at Intersport. As darkness came, I had 15 km of climbing to reach the refuge of CP2. It started snowing while I climbed in all my layers—including my down jacket and hand warmers! Finally making it to the refuge at midnight, I was welcomed by the kindest volunteers who stamped my brevet card. Waking up to a sunrise over snow-covered mountains was one of those "all this craziness is worth it" moments.
After a freezing descent, the sun finally stayed for our last two days through Swiss alpine towns, finishing in Thonon Les Bains after eight days of riding—a truly incredible route despite missing some of the best views due to weather conditions. I will just have to return to the route (maybe with slightly bigger tyres). The organisation of this event by Katie and Lee was truly top-notch; I couldn’t recommend the route or the race enough.
