David McQuillen

K1 finishes the climb above Davos with Roman. A very rocky, high-speed free fall is about to ensue.

The K1C Crew

Eccentric Arosa Personality and part time “IT Guy,” Bert-Jan “K1″ Van Essen organised the K1 Classic this weekend. Building on the already successful K1 Base Camp for snowboarders, which has run for several years, the K1 Classic was a three-day sufferfest of mountain biking high above Arosa, Switzerland.

Founding riders of the K1C included Jens, Roman (Base Camp veteran), Chopper, Dana, Bert-Jan and myself. The three days turned to two days, as the Friday got snowed out (yes, in August). Saturday and Sunday, however, made for excellent riding, as the weather was cool, the company chilled and the efforts extreme.

Jens and I were the only hardtail guys, while the rest were full-suspension. After more than 10 hours of riding in those two days, I returned home sore, sunburnt and exhausted. And, after careful consideration, I make the following awards:

• Best crash – Jens and Roman tie with their subtle, low speed, over the handlebars tumble. Jens probably edges ahead since he actually ended up on the ground and didn’t move for awhile
• Best almost-crash – I’ll have to award that to myself for my 40kph incident where, while sprinting, the chain came off, I slammed down on the top tube, both feet came off the pedals, landed on the street and I skidded, bike still between my legs, down the street with sparks flying behind me from the SPD plates on my shoes. Whew.
• Best idea – K1s suggestion to have a grappa after dinner.
• Worst idea – Trying to follow Chopper, who clearly had the best technical skills, down the Medregen descent.
• Most improved rider – Dana, not least because he got up the climb to Medregen in one piece.
• Loudest – That would go to Zoe, poor thing, who decided that screaming at 3am was the best way to tell her parents that she really wasn’t happy and they should do something about it.
• Thing that will never be lived down – GGW