Day 7. Trento, Italy to Arco, Italy.
91km. 2,300m of climbing.
3hr6min. 8th in Masters on the day. 8th in Masters GC for the event. 28th overall in the entire field.
It’s hova. Done and dusted. Finito. Finished.
The two hardest days of these events are Day 1 and Day 7. On the last day, teams are fighting for position, prepared to empty what is left in the tank. We were one of those teams. Excited to get to Arco but wary of what was still to come. Riders take more risks on the last day. The worst crashes I've seen at TransAlps have been on Day 7. Serious at the start line.
We started the day in 8th place in Masters. The Fins in 7th were 9minutes ahead. We weren’t going to catch them. The Czech’s were in 9th and 90seconds behind us, so our position was at risk. Czech's lined up marking us at the start and it was clear they wanted our spot based on how they road.
Very hard start for me. Went straight uphill full gas. At this stage in an event, it takes my body about 30min of effort to get warm. Big effort cold does not feel good. At the 14km mark the course flattened out. We stuck with our group and it was a good thing as the pack was moving very quickly. Big climb was a 1000m of gain over 25km with a flat spot midway.
Ended up and over the big climb with all the usual suspects. Short descent and then a final 3km up before 8km down to the finish. Pulled out our old trick and accelerated away from the Czeck’s on the last climb. Caught the Italian twins and descended safely. Passed a rider who crashed out 2km from the finish.
Great finish in Acro on Lake Riva. Lots of celebration.
Fast bike pack and then a drive to Verona for a nice dinner and flight home the following day.
Not much time to reflect yet, but very happy with the result. Accomplished the objective, despite early hurdles.
A couple turning points that defined the event for me.
1. Day 3 flat at the start of the stage. Watched the entire field ride past as we fixed the wheel. After poor Day 1 and Day 2, thought about parking the competitive ambitions while standing on the side of the road. Instead, motored through the field, eventually passing a bunch of teams ahead of us in the standings. Attacked on the last climb to win the Nations Champ jersey. Big jump in the standings.
2. Day 5. First climb was tough and I wasn’t feeling great early. Was dangling way off the back 2km from the top of a big descent. Missing the group would have meant losing chance at a top 10 spot. Went deep to catch back on right at the very top. Ended up finishing strong that day and put time into the groups we almost missed at the start.
Few shout outs.
Great partner. Never easy to spend 10days 1-1 with anyone, particularly when 7 of those days are under great physical stress. Still friends. If Wilbur had a partner of equal age and strength, he'd be on the Grand Masters podium - probably on top.
Le Domestique Kenny. Good to have friend who’s a great bike man.
Foxy at Bici for loaning the Gopro camera. Awesome guy. Fantastic store.
Joerg, Matt and the entire Magic Places team. Excellent logistics let Wilbur and I focus on the riding.
Short TransAlps video here with better visuals of what we rode.
Until next time.
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