Today was the hardest day so far. We started in Naturn at elv. 540m and climbed up to the Stelvio Pass at 2750m. And that was only less than 2/3 of the climbing to be done. Great views but confused mind. Hot all the time.
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The Rest
Hot day today, already at the start in Ischgl at 9. David and me started from the very back of the D Block and overtook about 300 riders (least it felt like) until the first supply dump at km 67. We stayed together at the first climb to the Reschenpass, covering the remaining portion of Austria, all of Switzerland and the beginning of the Italian stretch. 3 out of 4 countries done.
Beautiful fast descent to Schluderns. Then another long climb over the Vinschgau. On the way done disaster struck: spoke broke on the Ultegra rear wheel. Now waiting for the broom wagoon to pick me up.
Sadly, that will impact our team standing, 187th place goodbye.
Otherwise a beautiful day with nice riding.
Thanks to Stephen for dropping by.
Day Two
A successful day all around.
David and Juliane remain in the "C" starting block. MOB and I crept
up from 189 to 187 place.
The Arlsberg was nicer than I remembered and the Beilerhohe was
spectacular (photos to come once fully back online), though hot on the
lower stretches.
I made it up with just a quick stop at Jerome and Rickard Lindqvist's
secret cooling site — ice cold water from a stream, and another quick
stop to snap a photo and ingest an energy bar. Unlike 2009, I am
actually passing people on the climbs … and like 2009, I am still
passing others on the descents . (We hit 70-75kph on both descents.)
I felt good all day. Can't wait for tomorrow and then, on Wednesday,
the Stelvio.
—
Unexpected Visitor
Arriving in Ischgl today after a long, hot day in the saddle we met old Positivo Espresso Hand Stephen who drove here from Zuerich.
Geschäftsführung der BVL Campus gGmbH: Prof. Dr.-Ing. Josef Decker, Sven Möller, Uwe Peters, Prof. Dr.-Ing. Thomas Wimmer
Day One Flash Update
David and Juliane did well enough in the Mixed classification (5 hrs
05 minutes) to start day 2 in the "C" block, achieving their main goal
for this year's Transalp, and freeing themselves up to go for another
objective — mountain top points or maybe a stage win?
MOB and I were 189 out of 228 in the "Masters" category, at 5 hrs 29
minutes. We started fast and averaged 30kph for the first 2 hours
despite the initial climb and subsequent up and down. But we made
some tactical errors that cost us precious time, and were held back by
heavy traffic on the final descent, but came through in one piece and
are well out of the bottom 10% (so far, out of the bottom 17%) — my
goal for the week.
The winners (Men's and Master's categories) finished in around 3:35.
Tomorrow, the despised Arlberg and the memorable Beilerhohe – first
pass over 2000 meters.
Scenery was spectacular, skies blue and HOT on the big climb of the
Hahntennjoch. Traffic on the Hahtennjoch was worse than tomin-no-mori
— constant motorcycles and a rally of about 100 older sports cars
belching fumes that made the tunnels toxic. The relatively new
Ferrari and a Porsche both bonked on the climb. The Ferrari was off
to the side with some cyclists who had leg cramps. The Porsche had
its hood opened at the pass (1890 meters elev) and its owner/driver
managed to trigger the car alarm as I was waiting across the road
nearby. Ouch.
—
David on the way up to the Hahntenjoch
First day, we all arrived more or less well at the finish in Imst after less than 6 hours of racing. On a hot day the steep approach to the Hahntenjoch was murderous.
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