2009 Trans Alps 8-day mountain bike race - from Mittenwald in Germany to Riva Del Garda in Italy
Dave Robinson (rider 553A) & Stefano Fratesi (Rider 553B)
I've been looking back at the photographs Stef & I took (and some the professional took) and it's amazing how quickly I've forgotten what was on view during this ride. The Austrian Tyrol views, Alpine villagers collecting hay by hand and the stunning Dolomite mountain range.
Below is my account of the ride, as best I can recall. There may be the odd mistake where I mix up the day's trails, but it gives a flavour of what to expect if you ever fancy giving this one a go.
First day cancelled! Our hotel was outside Mittenwald and we left deliberately late (not wanting to queue up in the drizzle - that had been coming down all night). So we got to the start to find confusion - riders wandering aimlessly about and the start being dismantled. Yes it was true - for the first time in 12 years a stage of the Trans Alp race was cancelled. Bikes to parc ferme (security lock-up) please and find a seat on a bus to Reith im Alpbachtal (our next stop). At the evening pasta party the race director explained that the rain we had at low level fell as snow on the mountaintops and the safety crew were not confident about rescue. The other news was that the following day would be cut short as 40cm of snow was lying on the final planned 2200m peak. We would be race timed for 55km and then ride a cycle path for another 34km to the stage village of Mayrhofen.
The race director also said he didn't want to see any bare legs on the start and that we should be suitably dressed for cold conditions and expect some snow on the 1700m peak we were riding over.
The race started very slowly with a huge pack of 1100 riders going uphill on a double width forest track. The ride was what I had expected plenty of long hills and exciting gravel descents. My real problem was being overdressed as the sun came out and the promised snow and cool conditions were nowhere to be seen. Stef & I finished 25 out of 29 riders in our grand master category.
Day 3 had everything back to plan - 95km and 2100m of climbing. The catch is that the pretty much all of the ascent is concentrated into one single peak at 2100m taking over 3 hours to reach! The last section of this climb was a narrow rocky path that we had to share with walkers. That wasn't too bad as most of us were walking too. Snow was on the ground here, but none on the trail itself. The ride down was quick on loose gravel that I wasn't too happy with. Short photo stop at the Austria/Italy border and then continue down to Brixen for the nights stop. Our finishing position was 24 out of 24. What happened to the other 5 teams?
Day 4 promised to be a big one - 84km distance and 3660m of climbing over 4 peaks the highest at 2200m and another one at 2000m only 9km from the end. The start was easy enough through the town on flat roads leading to a bottleneck crossing a footbridge 5km out of town. The initial climb was also OK. I kept to granny ring and deliberately stuck behind other riders who I judged to be doing my speed. The second hill was tough and I thought I was doing quite well until we rounded a corner and could see stretched out in front a sight that had me a touch concerned. The trail rears up on a zigzag narrow path that was filled (as far as my eyes could see) with people pushing their bikes. I guess it was only about another 2km, but it took a long time for me to finally get to the top to find a rested Stef, who said he had managed to ride a fair amount, only walking when it got too crowded. I had a long rest and energy bar before really noticing that the terrain has changed, from sparse rock to grassy alpine meadows. We than had a short compulsory walk (nature park rule) before a scary, fast drop on a mix of gravel and tarmac. Not too fast for me - it's feather the brakes all the way down). Two more peaks then the promised technical drop that we had been warned about the night before. The only way down is to keep the weight back and hope the brakes don't fade. It was very loose dry crumbly soil with some gravel mixed in. It went on a fair way and my arms got very tired, but it was too steep to remount if I did stop, so just had to hope the trail would finish before I did. Both Stef and I had brake fade problems that day. We finished in St Christina 21st out of 28 after 8-1/2 hours in the saddle.
Day 5 looked on the profile map a bit easier than yesterday with just two peaks, and as we were starting at 1400m the first peak didn't involve too much climbing. But we were warned that they had put a new long climb in for this year and today we would find it. On closer inspection of the map there was a drop down to 400m and a peak after that at 2100m in under 20km distance between the two. The saving grace (in theory) was that much of this climb was on smooth tarmac. The first food station came after some really good grassy woodland trails that had me smiling. Then downhill on dreaded gravel, where I saw a 'unfall' warning sign - rider down with medics attending. This did nothing for my confidence, although some of the tarmac had levelled off slightly and I could ease off the brakes a bit more. Lots of riders came passing by with warning calls in a mix of English and German. I didn't always understand but it seemed right to stay on the line I had until they passed by. We eventually got down in to the town where the local police (Carabinieri) held up the traffic and let us sweep through. By then it was the hottest part of the day and here comes that promised tough climb. The sun cooks my brain, and soon saps my will to ride. Sweat is pouring down my face and hurting my eyes. I occasionally give in and walk/push, having a short rest, then back on the bike. I get the odd "are you OK" from some Brits I've passed some time before. What to answer? With no technical challenge to keep me occupied and no end in sight I come to hate this tarmac climbing. The locals were out with garden hoses to cool us down but even so it was the worst riding for me of the whole race. Stef was fine and he again had a long wait near the water station before I finally got there. The tarmac climb was now over but we were not at the peak top and had to climb some more on rough trails to reach the true summit. This I didn't mind so much, after plenty to drink and a refreshing melon slice or two. The rest of the day is a bit of a blur, although I do seem to recall some brilliant singletrack alongside a river, and some technical narrow trail tree-rooty riding before getting to Sarnthein for the nights stop. Another 8-hour day, finishing 19th out of 23.
Day 6 had some of my favourite riding. The day started off as usual uphill that didn't seem too steep (compared to yesterday - or am I getting fitter?). Once over the top we were onto grassy meadows with some brilliant singletrack along with rocky chutes and dusty rooty trails, all the time high up with outstanding views all around. This is more like it. There is a bit more like this after the water stop, but soon we are back to steep downhill on the dreaded gravel, dropping down to under 400m once more. I had by now adopted a new braking technique of using the front and rear brakes alternately to stop them overheating. Now the only way is up! It's not too high, but it is quite steep on tarmac. This time Stef tries to ride alongside me and is very encouraging, but even with an improvised sweat band I soon overheat (it's the hottest part of the day again). I'm sad to say that I once again get off and walk - my will to ride has gone! Stef kindly comes back down and offers to push my bike for me. Garden hoses are out again and I take any advantage I can, riding on the wrong side of the road to get some shade. Zigzagging across the road to reduce the steepness. Once again the water stop is located where the tarmac ends - not the hill. The rest of the ride was OK I think - my brain had shut down and I just wanted to get to the day's end at Kaltern. This day took 8-1/2hrs and our position was 18 out of 22.
Day 7 dawned much cooler than the previous two and with a reasonably gentle start out of the town. But not for long as we started at 400m and had to reach 1700m in 20km distance. The only way I could do this was to keep my speed real slow and keep the heart rate right down, I would again try and avoid overtaking anyone, as I found if I did that my speed (and heart rate) would gradually creep up - (just like it does when overtaking on motorway driving). This strategy was OK although I'm not very good at steering when riding deliberately slowly and would weave from side to side, narrowly missing fellow riders. Once over the summit, it's back to steep, sketchy gravel, with over-cooking brakes and some sharp corners. The valley sides here are filled with row after row of small apple trees. I've never seen so many. We pass by the occasional sprinkler that gives us a welcome spray on towards the final 'short' climb before the days end. This is in shade and 'not' on tarmac so I can't complain. Some of the track is rough concrete - not nice to fall on! This was our shortest day since Monday at 7 hrs and best finishing position at 16th out of 21, ending in Andalo.
Day 8 was the final day and it looked like I'm was going to complete the ride (never in doubt - honest). The map showed that the technical riding would finish just after halfway, with gentle cycle track after that. We were warned about a scary descent near the end of the technical stuff, but first we had a hill to climb. The real shame was that at the top of the first hill there was some lovely woodland singletrack, but it came too early in the ride and was just too crowded to ride along. I tried waiting for it to clear and get on the bike, but in the end I had to admit defeat and walk with everyone else. The highest peak today was at 1700m and had the last scenic views before descending. They told me I should be able to see Lake Garda from here but I'm not sure that I did. Now we came to the promised scary drop. It started out just fine, but then very quickly became too steep to ride sensibly without hitting the big boulders, straggly bushes or other riders. By the time I got to this section it was crowded and some were happy to walk the narrow trail and some were very impatient to ride - not a good mix. I had a small sideways tumble into the main track and brought another rider down - I think he was trying to go by me. This held up some others who were muttering and wanting to get by. Once down the bottom and after the very last water stop Stef and I rode alongside each other to the finish. A marshal with his hand indicated one mishap we saw. A fallen rider was wrapped in a space blanket. He was also completely unconscious and on his way to hospital - and less than 20km to go. The terrain where he had fallen was hard unforgiving concrete, which I was taking it very easy on. The end seemed a long way off with the cycle path through built-up areas and apple orchards before entering the town proper. We had done it - got to Riva Del Garda (near Lake Garda), finishing 17th out of 20 finishers.
I'm certainly glad I went and have some good memories of the whole event, but overall I don't think I was fully prepared and didn't appreciate how hard some of the riding would be. I would take a lot of persuading to enter again. I just wish I had done something like this at least 10 years ago when I was fitter (and younger).
I had three aims - to complete, not get injured and not to finish last. All these were met.
Stef I'm sure would like me to mention that the race was started each day with AC/DC singing 'Highway to hell' played really loud. Not a song I want to hear again for a long time!