TransAlps 2010: Day 7

Day 7: Trento to Arco

Haas and Wilf pre-start line looking "tip-top" as per usual. These guys had great energy each day of this event - both are a solid 12 out of 10.

Here's Mike. He killed Day 7. Finished with the pros. If he came back and rode with a partner his vintage, Mike would podium the Grand Masters category.

The final pre-race stage.

Very fitting background tunes to start the day.

Net result for TransAlps 2010: 25th in Masters (78th within entire field).

Great experience. Lots learned. Home on Monday.

TransAlps 2010: Day 5, 6

Day 5: Alleghe to Kaltern

As the pain increases, the photos are slowing down. Here's the start.

I felt great when this image was taken at the start of Day 5. Not sure I'll feel that way again until after I've returned home and have taken a good break from the bike.

This is Tutti post clearing his name with the race organizer. He was falsely accused of some irreverent behavior towards another rider.

The day started well. In theory, was supposed to be one the easier days with 3 climbs. My wheels feel off on the third climb. At the finish line I was achy all over and a bit shaky. Couldn't eat or drink anything of substance that evening or the following morning. My blow up caused a drop in our placing.

Net result was 36th for the stage and 14th overall in Masters Category (58th overall within entire field).

Day 6: Kaltern to Trento

No photos. Hardest day on the bike. Hit the start line dehydrated and with an empty stomach. Was woozy and losing balance in the start staging area. Had to get through the 2nd hardest stage of the race.

Knowing a tough day was ahead, I unleashed my race partner, Mike. He rode like a total champ today and finished top 20 overall. At 56, Mike is a beast. He's gained strength each day of this race.

Two massive climbs out of the gate. I hung in on the first. Bonked bad on the second. Emptied what was left in my stomach at the top of the second climb. Still had 65Km to go. Nursed my way to the finish line. Was 1 hour behind Mike.

Here's to a better day tomorrow. Really want to finish strong.

Net result was 72nd for the stage and 23rd overall in Masters Category (78th overall within entire field).

#1 Fan

Shout out to my #1 fan. Miss you. Thanks for being so supportive and putting up with my craziness as I prepared for this race.

This picture was taken last September at the Palace of Versailles. Sara regularly reminds me that she was able to out accelerate me on the rental bikes. She's damn fast.

Happy Canada Day.

TransAlps 2010: Day 2 - 4

No internet in our hotels in Northern Italy until today.

Day 2: Solden (Austria) to Brixen (Italy)

Here's the start.

Here's the finish. In between, 124KM and 3,000M of climbing over two passes that were 25KM and 20KM, respectively. In retrospect, my toughest day so far.

Post race routine includes cold water on the legs, preferable glacial river. In this case we used the fountain in Brixen's main square. Hot day with temperatures consistently over 30 degrees.

Net result was 14th for the stage and 16th overall in Masters category (64th in the entire field).

Day 3: Brixen to St. Vigil

Here's the start.

Here's the finish. In between, 90KM and 3,000M of climbing. The steepest terrain I have ever ridden. I felt great at the end of the day.

This is a scenic of St. Vigil.

Net result was 12th for the stage, 13th in our category and 60th in the entire field.

Day 4: St. Vigil to Alleghe

Tough day. Hump day and our longest distance in addition to our biggest vertical. Only a couple photos care of team TNA/Shape I (Haas and Wilf).

With 130KM and 3,500M of climb over 5 mountain passes, I didn't savour the view of the Dolomites as much as I would have liked.

Lots of crashes today. Tutti, an experienced rider who last night proclaimed, "I have never crashed my road bike" went down not once, but twice. I definitely underestimated the challenge of the descents here. Every morning more and more road rash shows up at the start line. My motto continues to be "rubber down". Today one German rider was helicoptered off the mountain and a Canadian is currently in hospital (concussion).

Net result was 10th for the stage, 12th overall in category and 56th within the entire field.

TransAlps 2010: Day 1

Great start for Day 1. 1100 riders lined up in Mittenwald.

My race savvy veteran partner ensured we caught on with the right group of riders. Though this event is all about the elevation gain, first challenge was a fast descent (steep, narrow, hairpin, drop off). I was cautious (slow) which meant that I had to work hard to catch back on to the group when we hit the valley.

Two big climbs followed. Mike and I rode strong while ensuring we saved bullets for the next 6 days.

Lots of heat (30 degrees). Post race ritual included an ice bath.

However, it did not include this.
Mike and I finished Day 1, 22nd in the Masters Category (combined age of 80), the largest field in the TransAlps. We're 76th overall and start with the A group tomorrow.

Sleeping With The Enemy

Mike (my race partner) is on the right and Haas is on the left. Despite all of Haas' sandbagging, the real race is inter-squad - hence my disapproval of this "friendliness".

Tomorrow Is Race Day

Met up yesterday with a couple other guys I know who are doing TransAlps. Graham Tutti and Paul Player are a great addition to the fun factor over here. Here's Graham making friends with the locals. Graham speaks great German and was quite eager to gain some local fashion advice.We did an easy ride today covering the first section of tomorrow's Day 1 course. Beautiful scenery through this valley. Paul's at the back of the bus putting on a great gun show.7AM breakfast. 8:30AM at the start line. 9AM we're off. If everything goes as planned, will be done Day 1 by 2AM Pacific Time (Sunday morning).

Rubber down.

Mike Has Arrived

My race partner, Mike Ryan, arrived late last night. This morning we took the tram up the peak directly above Mittenwald (see cable just to the right of the church). The Germans did not approve of our footwear (flip flops).

Turns out their disapproval was justified. Painful hike back to the tram.
This was our first team ride. Mike Ryan is first in the frame, followed by Haas then Wilf. Registration is tomorrow. 1 more easy ride. Sunday we start.

Lastly, more photos found here: http://gallery.me.com/geoffduyker/100311

1st Warm Up Ride In Europe

Started a little shaky. Just before setting out for the first ride on European soil I managed to break off a stem bolt when making a minor (and unnecessary) adjustment. Visited the local bike shop and was given free reign in the shop. 45 minutes, two broken drill bits and one bloody finger later, problem fixed.

Today called for a 2 hour easy ride. We covered the first 30 km of the Day 1 course and then returned to Mittenwald. The ride started with an easy 15 minute climb. That was followed by 30 minutes of relatively flat riding across a raised valley before dropping 600 meters via a switchback decent into another valley. Roads were narrow throughout. Based on today's reconnaissance, we figure the race organizers will neutralize (control the speed and prevent passing) all 1100 riders along this entire stretch to start the race. There's no selection (course challenge that will break up the pack) to spread out the group and 1100 racers all fired up on Day 1 trying to scream down a steep decent is risky. Interested to see if we are right.

The Alps - Spotted

This afternoon we drove from Munich to Mittendwald. Mittenwald is where the race begins. We get 3 days to acclimatize before Sunday's start. Saw the German Alps for the first time during our drive. The scenery thus far already exceeds expectations. I'm told it gets even better.


Really hope the food gets better. Last night's schnitzel left a little to be desired. Tonight I asked for the healthiest item on the menu. This is what arrived - turkey steak garnished with canned pineapple and maraschino cherries. Will need to learn the German word for vegetables.


Lastly, some beautiful Bavarian architecture as found throughout Mittenwald. Expect that I will run into Hansel and Gretel tomorrow.

Soccer

Though we're here for a bike race, turns out last night there was a soccer match being played that's pretty important to Germans. Wilf and I took the train into downtown Munich to catch the action with Haas and his German friends at a beer house. Saw this guy in the train station. Great look. Though the pants are killer, it's the built-in beer bottle holder that impressed me most.

Arrived In Munich

Uneventful travel to Munich. Joerg picked us up at the airport and transferred us to the hotel where we'll stay tonight until we make our way to Mittenwald (start town) tomorrow. Assembled the bikes.

Germany plays a World Cup match tonight. We're going to catch the action in downtown Munich.

Weather

Haas' brother-in-law took this photo last Saturday (3 days ago). It's Passo San Pellegrino and part of our route. Not prepared for snow. Let's hope it warms up over the next week.

Haasome + Wilf

Picture of Haas and Wilf waiting to board our flight. Haas brought a bag of chocolate to bribe for an upgrade but is sitting here too chicken to ask.

10,000 KM

Almost exactly 1-year ago I determined TransAlps was the goal. At the same time I bought my first heart rate monitor/training computer. Garmin to be precise. The data above summarizes my cycling output since last summer. I was a little surprised at the 10,000KM.

Departure Day

Found this quote/image on a mate's blog. Thought it was quite fitting. Leave for Germany today. Haas, Wilf and I fly YVR-Frankfurt-Munich on Lufthansa. Mike meets us there on Thursday. Took a final spin around Point Grey tonight. No heart rate monitor, no speed sensor, no distance measurement, nor any time calculation - just an easy roll. Unfortunately no water bottle either. Don't want to make that mistake come race day.

2010 TNA Westside Classic

For the past 11 months I have done most of my riding with the TNA/Shape team. A few weeks ago I was made official and received "the kit". Our team's sponsors also sponsor the TNA Westside Classic, one of the highlights of the BC road racing calender. Though our team tactics didn't work out as planned, we took 2nd in Cat 4 and had a strong showing in the Masters category. The TransAlps stages will be much different than this 80KM circuit course, but racing is racing - harder, faster and considerably more dangerous than any training ride.

Kits to Whistler

My training volume peaked around the May Long Weekend. The plan included a ride to Whistler (and back the following day) during a stretch of 5 consecutive days of hard riding. It was a bit of a sneak peek as to what to expect for the Whistler GranFondo. The GranFondo will probably be a bit faster and easier in September if we're able to avoid the torrential rain, flat tire and dead legs experienced during this ride.

Riding In The Dark

Competing schedules necessitated riding at night and in the dark during March and April. I captured this video in mid-April, prior to an interval workout out to Iona (next to YVR). Nice sunset during my first effort out to the turnaround.

Salt Mine

When riding outdoors, one benefits from moving air to help cool and reduce sweat. The ideal indoor riding setup includes fans to replicate this effect. I went without fans when riding inside. Net result was lots of sweat. This is what the floor looked like after a 90 minute ride in the garage.

Indoors

Planned and focussed training started in November. This photo was taken November 12 and was of one of my first ever indoor rides. I did 2 to 3 of these indoor rides per week in November, December, January, February and March. Surprisingly, riding the trainer inside was not as mind numbing as I anticipated. Key ingredients were music and TV. Lots of sweat and noise meant that I ended doing most of my indoor work in the garage.