The philosophy of Ultra at Gravel Fever 400, with Guillaume Mathis

Suffering from hallucinations caused by profound fatigue and probably hypoglycemia, Guillaume Mathis abandons the Gravel Fever in its Ultra version after 15 hours of effort. But, the question we wanted to ask him is to know What is the point of riding for so many hours, suffering so much and getting into such states? ? Besides, I don't think there was a single participant in the Gravel Fever 400 who didn't ask themselves this question during this unusual event this weekend of October 20-21, 2023. 

By Jean-François Tatard – Photos: DR

At first glance, it is true that one cannot say that this kind of challenge has any fundamental practical utility or positive impact on the rest of humanity. But the individual to whom I posed this question has had time to come to his senses since his abandonment in the latter part of the night. And this is the opportunity for us to tell youtagand the incredible parallel that could be made Guillaume Mathis with what we experience in real life. Because yes, ultimately life itself is an Ultra...

A changed perception of time 

Familiar with the effort, even in his years of first category cycling (route), Guillaume Mathis had never been physically active for so long in one go. The ordeal is long. 400 km by bike is already a lot, but at the speed of a Gravel in the forest when it has been raining for a week and the temperature is so cold, it is not long. It's extremely long. The race is so long that some of the brave ultras even spend part of the second night there. And in this context, the Garmin indications and the usual time markers lose their relevance. You find yourself in a state where you have to manage your efforts while avoiding focusing on the time that passes. You have to manage as a priority your pain, sometimes extreme, fatigue, energy that is running out, food that is getting poorer but also the rain, mechanical problems, the environment and the bumpy parts of the course. You have to stay connected to the present,” precise Guillaume Mathis. In short, we should not worry about the before or the after. Questions like " why am i here? " or "we How much longer do I have to ride? are to be avoided. We must not let ourselves be overwhelmed by the scale of the mess we have found ourselves in.. There is a kind of time dilation compared to a normal everyday situation. This is the first time that Guillaume lived that. When you're this bad, time seems endless.". Besides, exhausted after a sleepless night and worn out by fatigue, Guillaume experienced for the first time the famous symptoms of hallucinations that ultra adventurers sometimes experience. A situation that could have put him in even more danger. On a descent, I saw stones moving and I also thought I was being attacked by creatures. I saw people. I thought they were going to help me when in fact they were trees.

A total immersion

However, Guillaume Mathis experienced the event coordinated by Jean-Christophe Savignoni as a real space-time bubble. However, it was effectively supervised by an organization that included security, assistance and supplies, but the experience is radical. We are in direct contact with emotions. From joy to anger, through fear, sadness, disgust and surprise, on this precisely defined path between Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines and Châtellerault, Guillaume has experienced it all. And in an amplified way. And by confronting nature, time, extreme fatigue and pain, it is ultimately deep within himself and in the manner of a Mike Horn, what he had come to seek. This intensity is difficult to describe. he reported to us quite immediately. And it is this moment outside of time that this manager of a large electric bicycle store came to seek.

At work, for example, do you also send emails that no one answers? What impact do your actions or those of your company have? Have you ever asked yourself this question? Maybe your company is depleting natural resources without really improving society? And you, maybe you are running everywhere but your tasks are still piling up? Our era is like a mad race. It is a constant race against time. Everything is always going faster: work, school, the media, communication, consumption. The acceleration phenomenon affects all areas, to the point that we feel disconnected from our own lives. There are rare moments when we are both actors and receivers and in perfect harmony with our environment. What are some recent occasions when you have actually reasoned? Take a break! Take your Friday off and reconnect with yourself!

This is what happened Guillaume between the afternoon of Friday October 20 and that of Saturday 21. A dynamic, reciprocal and emotional relationship with the environment. During this event, every pedal stroke, every rut, every hill, every descent, every cobblestone, was perceived by Guillaume as a way of se reconto connect and feel alive. More than the feeling of inhabiting one's body, the impression of inhabiting (finally!) one's life. An opportunity for intense awareness. An opportunity to reinvent oneself, to deepen one's understanding of oneself a little more and to reconnect with the feeling of feeling alive.

Every Sunday evening since I was a teenager, I have a strange habit of summarizing my week with a quote that I borrow here and there. Never the same one. Well this time, I waited until Guillaume rides 270 of the 400 km of the Ultra Gravel Fever (408 to be precise) so he can give me this one: « At night in the middle of the forest, nothing matters more than the next kilometer I will do".

In a challenge like this, our frame of reference is completely disrupted. It's very extreme. Guillaume experienced a real break with his limits and as a gift: he comes out of it with a new version of himself. Indeed, faced with the demands that this requires, we transform ourselves. It is also fascinating to see how in practice we are able to adapt so much. It is not only physical. It is above all mental. It is a precious experience and the only way to acquire it was therefore to go and get it…

It's still early to talk about it but I believe that for Guillaume Mathis, his relationship with the world, with others, and with himself will change a little after that. This experience will probably change his priorities again.. I don't know how long it will last, but during those fifteen extreme hours, his emotions have manifested themselves with an intensity rarely equaled in his daily routine.

In endurance sports, this kind of ultra event can, I think, be a unique opportunity to face an emotional intensity that reflects the complexity of human nature. Every hitch, every complication, every danger, every difficulty, every embarrassment, every impediment, every hindrance, every hindrance, every opposition, every stone, every root, every rut, every climb, every descent, every mud puddle, every obstacle, every resistance of any kind, can symbolize the reality of real life and its challenges.

Finally, avoid friction, seek comfort, do not put yourself in danger. It seems rational but it looks furiously like death. So by confronting in this way his amplified emotions with this extreme effort, this ultra biker has curiously experienced a rare form of freedom. The opportunity also to regain control of oneself and of what is truly most important to him.

Mind you, I didn't say that sport was the most important thing to him. And even less sport pushed to such an extreme. But life is short, and this event was just a great tool and a fabulous way to Guillaume to remind us how urgent it is to enjoy every minute and the little joys of life. Because real life is precisely in the moment, and not in nostalgia for the past or in fear of the future. 

=> Gravel Fever : The results

And after that, even if he missed the final accomplishment of reaching the Manu of Châtellerault, we still wanted to thank and congratulate Guillaume Mathis for the philosophical and existential message he sent us this weekend of October 21, 2023. And we also wanted to congratulate all the participants and all the organizers as well as all the volunteers of the Gravel Fever Festival for the good idea they had to contribute to making this event so magical.

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