HAIL TO THE KING

THE INAUGURAL STONE KING RALLY WAS A GRUELLING TRANS-ALP ENDURO STAGE RACE. OUR TECH ED-IN-CHIEF LIVED TO TELL THE TALE

- ROB WEAVER

I GLANCE DOWN AT THE GARMIN UNIT ON MY HANDLEBAR. THE FIGURE ON THE SCREEN ONLY CONFIRMS WHAT I'M FEELING. MY HEART RATE IS CLOSE TO MAXING OUT AND I'VE NOT EVEN STARTED THE FIRST TIMED STAGE. WHAT'S EVEN MORE WORRYING IS THAT I'M OFF THE BIKE, PUSHING IT. SLOWLY. IT'S DAY ONE AND WE'RE ALREADY ABOVE 2,000M AND ONLY GETTING HIGHER. HOW THE HELL AM I GOING TO SURVIVE THIS?! IN FACT, SHOULD I EVEN BE HERE AT ALL?

Ever since I first heard about the Trans-Provence, I wanted to race it. The multi-day enduro sounded like it packed just about everything in, from epic trails and incredible scenery to masses of bike time with like-minded people. What rider wouldn't want that? The event ran for 10 years, yet, despite coming very close, I never managed to make it to the start line. And, when Ash Smith and Melissa Munro (the head honchos behind the Trans-Provence) declared that the 2019 edition would be the final one, I was gutted. Perhaps I needed to add something different to my bike-riding bucket list. But what?

It wasn't until two years later, as we emerged from the pandemic restrictions and things began to open up again, that I heard rumblings about a new race with a similar format, organised by the same team. Late in 2021, the Stone King Rally Vol.1 was announced. Like the Trans-Provence, it sounded epic. Six days of blind (not blindfolded, just riding on unfamiliar trails!) racing, starting in France and ending in Italy, covering 260km with 24 timed stages, over 8,000m of climbing and 20,000m of descent. It sounded immense in every sense of the word, and I wanted in. Thanks to SRAM, I managed to secure a place, which just left the small matter of preparing for the event itself. I set about getting my body, bike and kit ready for what might just be the racing experience of a lifetime.

Camp zero