Transalp and Alpe d´Huez

Sorry it has been ages since I updated the blog. I left you last time 2 days into the Transalp. The remainder of the race was really good. Matty and I continued to achieve consistent performances to place in the 50’s on most days. The tough days in the middle of the race were made bearable by the spectacular scenery and the well catered feed zones. The only technical problem we had was a broken chain on stage 5 which cost us less than a minute, other than that not even a flat tire. The last day was fairly easy but had a very long technical downhill section that a lot of riders walked. On that day we had our best result of 41^st despite Matty ragging it in the last corner in front of a big crowd. We finished the tour in 53^rd overall. Not too bad i reckon.

My friends Rob, Julie and Meg (Matty´s girlfriend) were there to meet us at the finish in Riva del Garda, Italy. We spent a few well earn days relaxing at a little place near by called Lago de Ledro. It is a beautifully secluded turquoise lake surrounded by mountains. Rob and Jules spoilt us with food and as usual and I probably drank a few too many “Aperol con spritz” (my new favourite summer drink). Rosie and I still trained every day and one day managed a really cool ride up and old roman road that weaved its way along a very steep ridge. We also did a bit of cross training one day when the 6 of us hired a pedal powered boat to explore the lake. Does it still count as training if I just sat on the front of the boat drinking proseco while Meg and Julie pedalled?

From Italy, we smashed the autostrade west back to France, picking up our buddy AJ on the way. Our destination was the famous ski village of Alpe d’Huez, where Cadel lost the tour to Sastre one week ago. We have been here a few days now and have had a lot of fun riding all the trails. Both Alpe d´Huez and neighbouring Les Deux Alpes have heaps of trails dedicated for mountain biking in summer. Today was an easy day so me bought a lift pass and went up the the highest point of the resort, Pic Blanc, at 3330m. From there we rode the entire course of the Megavalanche (famous downhill mtb race) all the way to the valley floor. The XC bikes were not the best choose of machine for this course, but it was fun to get an idea of what this race is about. We had particular trouble with the snow sections finding it almost impossible to stay upright. There was also a section across a glacier, which was surprisingly heaps easier than the snow. I must say that i never thought i would ride on a glacier, i felt like i should be roping up!

Matty and I before the start of the Transalp.

One of the biker camps, we were on centre court.

Relaxing on the pedalo on Lago de Ledro

The top of the Megavalanche, Pic Blanc (Alpe d´Huez)

AJ taking on the snow at the top of the megavalanche.

Me riding the glacier

Transalp (after stage two)

After leaving Livigno, we headed our to Immenstadt in Germany to meet up with Matty Z and stay a night with our German friend, Spunti. On Friday we drove to Fussen and had our first experience of the Transalp, and let me tell you, everything about this race is huge. There are over 1000 riders, big expo areas, heaps of euro trade teams and every little town seems to get right into it.

Stage one was a realively straight forward 80km with 1900m of climbing. It took a little while to get used to the race format with teams of two, which require you to stay together. It was pretty hectic at the start as all the riders rolled away though the village of Fussen. I got a little caught up in the excitment and before i knew it i was jumping up gutters and taking sneaky urban freeride lines to work through the huge field, unfortunately i lost Matty and had to wait - lesson no#1. We regrouped and settled into a tempo, unfortunately it was slightly over Mattys threshhold, and over the top of the days big climb he was doing it tough. Luckily it was mostly downhill to the finish so we got home in a credible 61st place. Overall an enjoyable day, but no single track had me questioning whether or not this was actually a moutnain bike race.

Stage two was a bit tougher, slightly shorter at 78km but 3200m of climbing. Luckily we learned a lot from the first day and we took a much more sustainable approach to this stage, after all, this is a 8 stage race and there are plently of tougher stages to come. We kept an eye on matty's heartrate and tried to limit it to 170bpm. It worked pretty well becasue we cme over the top of the first big 1400m climb with a bit left in the tank, and looking forward to the singletrack sections. The singletracks today were really cool, typical twisty euro-style muddy, rooty and steep. It started off really fun but we got held up for most of it by Euros walking down the track....very frustrating to say the least. We finished the day in 64th, dropping to 64th overall, but we are happy with how its going and think that we have the approach sussed out that will allow us to get throught the big days and hopefully get some places back. ciao

Livigno

The sun finally came out at Livigno and the past 2 days has been beautiful, the fresh snow on the mountains adds a nice touch, but probably not worth the 3 days of crap weather. I did a cool ride yesterday to check out some of the course for the transalp, it was really good. I even stopped at a mountain refuge (also a dairy) for an awesome lunch of beef stew and polenta, nice.

Today i went out on the road with the intention of climbing the Passo Stelvio (2760m). To get there i rode over the Passo d'Eira (2210m) and the Passo Foscagno (2291m), then descended down to Bormio and the base of the Stelvio. From there it is a total of 37 switchbacks, about 20kms and 1500m vertical to the top. I was pretty happy to see the top and meet up with rosie, who brought me some warm clothes for the ride down. she is a good girl, i shouted her a gelati.

So tomorrow it's good bye Italy, and hello Germany. I am meeting up with MattyZ and we are starting the Transalp on Saturday. Should be a tough one, it's an 8 stage mountain bike race accross the alpes. I might not get to update the blog, but if you are super keen, the race website will have results each day: http://www.bike-transalp.de/

Swisspower Cup

The Swisscup was a bit disaster for me. It had been pissing down all day so the track was really muddy, I started from the back and struggled a little with the pace early on. I tried to get into a tempo and i started to overtake people on the downhill and off camber sections, which was quite fun in the muddy conditions, but on the 2nd lap i had a nasty crash. That shook me up a bit but i tried not to panic despite the fact that with a 4.5km lap, i didnt have much time to spare. I started to have mechanical problems because of the mud and i crashed heavily again. Less than a lap later i heard the ominous sound of the lead motorbike, shortly after that, current u23 world champ Nino Schurter came past me so i was out of the race. i think i was 49th and about 4 laps down. i was pretty disspointed to only last 1hr because it wasnt even a good training ride. i guess i did learn some things that i can improve on....keeping the bike upright would be a start. Putting that race behind me, Rosie and i drove over to Livigno in Italy. Im sure it is a nice place but it hasnt stopped raining since Saturday. Last night it snowed nearly all the way down to the village. i have only been able to manage 1 hour training rides because of the rain, i am really not sure how you are supposed to stay warm on the bike in this weather. hopefully the sun comes out soon.

Me and the bike after getting pulled.

During the week I went riding to a place called Crap.

Rosie and i had a crack at climbing Piz Mitgel (3100m).

"Extreme Barnes"

Savognin

Well i've been in Savognin since Monday and i am starting to feel pretty settled. I have been training in the morning and watching the tour de france on TV in the afternoons, not a bad life. It's definately easier than staying up until 2 in the morning like back home.

I have done a few laps of the Savognin XC track. It is interesting to say the least. It pretty much finds the steepest hill and goes straight up that on the road, then down a steep, tight, rooty, muddy descent that is brand new and very far from bedded in. Its a pretty cool section but it just not super long. Then it does a lap around a small lake, with a few more steep hills and a fair bit of dead grass with no path worn in. 4.5km total, and the forecast is for rain.

Anyway, thats all the news for now. ciao

Photos of worlds added

Josh, Lachy and I befre the start.

The result of my crash before the race, the damage to the aussie shorts brings a tear to the eye.
Not having a Navman, I kitted out the Spats with the next best thing.

World Marathon Championships - Villabassa, Italy

After picking up our hire car in Annecy (a Peugeot Partener minivan - cool), we took on the 9hr drive to Villabassa. It was an interesting drive that took us through the Mont Blanc tunnel, and plenty of Italian autostrade's. On friday i met up with the rest of the Aussie team and did a reconaisance of the last 10km track. I guess i got a little excited by the whole thing and managed to have a decent crash. I just layed it down around a fireroad corner at about 30kph, but it was about as good as crashes can be, the day before a big race, i lost a bit of skin off my hip, thigh, side and elbow, and i trashed a fresh set of aussie knicks....ouch. At least it made tyre selection easy, the semi-slicks were out and the Maxxis Monorails were in. I had my first decent look at the course map and it was pretty obvious that we would be for a big day, 120km with 3800m of climbing against a field of 134 riders.

Race day dawned to be perfect weather and i nervously waited for the 12 o'clock start. Me and most of the other Aussie's started down the back and we listen to all the big hitters (like Sauser, Fricshy, Martinez & Gilberto Simoni) getting called up to the line to the sound of bad 80's music and the constant sound of the TV helicopters circling. The pace at the start was one from the gun but before long we hit the first big climb, which was 1000 vertical meters, and the field was strung out. It was about 29 degrees and i was regreting not carrying much water, it's quite different to cooma weather at the time of year. I probably went a little hard up the first hill because i started to suffer through the middle section of the race and had a few problems with cramps. Fortunately i started to come good again on the last big climb and i managed to claw back a few places. I ended up coming in 78th place to be the 3rd Aussie in 5h58m. Definatley a big day, but i had a lot of fun on the downhills and met plently of other riders (including some of Simon Tarb-Jensons team mates from Denmark). The highest place Aussie was Josh Keep in 61st, which is an awesome result for the yougster.

I'm pretty happy with my race considering i only arrived on monday and haven't quite had time to settle in. It is quite a relief to get through without any major dramas and get a solid result at my first big race, hopefully i can build on that. I'm now looking forward to the Swisspower Cup in Savognin. I'm not sure i should have looked at the start list though, it is in alphbetical order and the first name is Absalon...bugger (for those that don't follow cycling, he is really fast).