Klausen freipass

Not a sportive, but traffic free mountain passes are worth more than a lot of the entry fees you pay for some events these days.
Starting from Schwyz, we first made the Pragel pass and soon realised that the added reason to have the freipass this weekend was so that the farmers could bring their cows and sheep down from higher ground.
This felt a real privilege to be on these high passes, perfect weather and shared only with other cyclists.
It would be worthwhile to start in Fluella, ride the Klausen over to the Klausen ranch for lunch, or even further down the east side, then head back again to make the most of the motor free day. Pragel is always worth it, a stunning ride, but on a day like this it would be worth avoiding the Glarus section and just keep it motor free all day.

 

Triathlon XL - Gerardmer

The finish straight!

Early in the year I couldn't decide whether to register or not, then the event sold out, but they ran a "Plan B" lottery for places which might become available later due to cancellation, and it was via Plan B that I got my place.
Very nice to return to Gerardmer, and the weather was much nicer this year (not that the cool conditions were bad last year) - should be all ready for a good day.

The swim went as well as last year, so much space you are quite safe to pick your own free water in this lake. Now its obvious that the panic attacks can take place anytime on a swim, its not to do with the arms and legs in the face, or the waves catching your breath away. Instead, the idea of being in open water, with the constriction of the wetsuit around the chest is enough to raise the breathing rate and necessitate a session of breast stroke before calming down and continuing with crawl to the finish.

The bike was great again, climbed well and descended well, noting that some did not and one had gone over the barriers off the back of the cold du Grosse Pierre, and ambulance was on the way up to him. I had suspicions all was not well on the bike, but when starting the run it was clear the abdominal pains were here to stay for this run. The only way they would stop would be to stop running, so this became the main focus to get to the finish line!

Shame the run did not go as planned, but still a great day and still the best tri around.

Swim: 45:49; 1422nd
T1:  5:51
Bike: 1:00:47; 1:03:36; 1:06:17; 3:10:31 465th
T2: 4:00
Run: 2:04:01
Total: 6:10:14 +1:46:22; 486th, 69th V1H

Swiss National Park Bike Marathon

I'd been looking forward to this event all year, and in some ways for a few years as its on the same weekend as AlpenBrevet, or before that Haute Route so this is the first time I'd put it first in the calendar of events.
This was so different to the Eiger bike challenge. Its 40km further, but the same ascent, so that extra stretch makes the whole course more enjoyable as the climbs are all rideable (well, with one major exception) and all the descents fast and not on tarmac which can feel such a waste on a mountain bike. Also not having to walk down any sections was a major plus.
Some excellent flowing single trail, the whole course up to Livigno was excellent. Using up nearly all the tarmac on the course, the start took us up towards S-Charl, gradually and in steps with breathers, a world away from the tedious Grosse & Klein Scheidegg climbs.
The best section has to be between Fuldera and Livigno , yes all 36km are stunning and rideable.
Seems strange to have to keep mentioning "rideable", and yes, after Livigno when we turn right up towards the high point of the day at Piz Chaschauna , the never ending trail of walking bikers pushing their bikes up and up beyond view we were back to whats the point of all this. In truth, the climb was possible if only for the pros, and in sections I could ride a little, but as soon as you're going walking pace, its better to walk.
I'd heard it could be a walk down the otherside as well, but I found this to be completely fine. I just hung right off the back of the bike, as it was very steep, but its mostly loose dust, not a rocky descent, so take it with care and you should be fine. I had to slow to let several guys past, but one rider about the same level as me over cooked a hairpin and landed up in the dust, hurt more by the burning disk brake on his leg than anything else.
It is a long way back from S-Chanf to Scuol, and there are still 1000m to climb in this section, most of which is the climb up to Guarda. But nice to pass through these classic Engadin villages like Lavin, Guarda, above Ardez and Ftan as they all have great water fountains, perfect for dunking the head and body in these hot temperatures - this really helps a lot, I cannot recommend it enough.
Lovely downhill on the final section of what would be ski slopes in the winter to Scuol, and over the high wooden bridge to the finish area by the ice rink, the first mountain bike marathon this year I could finish with a smile on my face!

Finish time 8hr 25m 23s

Eiger Bike Challenge

 

This profile tells enough of the tale of the Eiger bike challenge, but I should have paid more attention to it before hand. In my mind, this event was about the two ascents of Gross Scheidegg and Klein Scheidegg, with some connection lumps in between. Yes, I had seen Feld on the profile, but totally overlooked Bort - this is a super steep tarmac ascent for 3km, at which there are large crowds and an anouncement that the bergpreis is over, except that the track continues steeply up for a considerable distance more on concrete mesh surface, which eventually requires a dismount and push.
It took 5 hours to get to the turning point for the Klein Scheidegg bonus loop, a further 2.5 hours from there.
The course is a lot of tarmac climbs, and also some steep tarmac descents which end up with cooked brakes. There are short sections of single trail, but these are often stepped, or large rocks, so as they are so short they were not worth taking any risks and short walking downhill was also required. The rest was gravel tracks, often I felt unsteady when descending on such tracks as the wheels can slip at any moment. The final joke was approaching the summit of Klein Scheidegg, where we took a left turn up a steep field, wasn't crazy long push like the Sella Ronda Hero, but the final push for the day then its almost all downhill from here.
In all, it still reinforced my experience of Grindelwald being tedious long tarmac descents followed by brake pad burning descents and with virtually no flowing singletrail to enjoy.
This was a tough event, 4000m ascent over 88km, a little bruised as well as tired after this one.

7hr 25m 30s

Granfondo San Gottardo

It felt like unfinished business with my first attempt at the Granfondo San Gottardo, now somehow 5 years ago, which saw so much snow the Furka and Nufennen were closed. This time the temperature was warm, all jackets removed before the first timing mat in Airolo, and not all were put back on for the descents.

Instead, the format of this event with only the ascents being timed proved to be a very gentlemanly affair, with riders pushing hard up the climbs, then regrouping at the summit for food, rest and photos before sailing on to the next climb.

Today Gav and Darren from Roche had brought a friend along, who had little cycling experience but was a 5km running expert,  oh and won Chester triathlon a few weeks ago. He did well on the cobbled Tremola, better than expected, but proved to be more than a match on the next climbs as he powered away never to be seen until the summits were reached. Really expected him to fade, but very impressive riding from the 5km specialist, pro athlete all the way. Chapeau.


San Gottardo     0:55:12     12,94 Km/h
Furka     0:51:11    13,36 Km/h
Neufenen     1:06:30    11,37 Km/h
Total 2hr 52m 51s

Engadin Radmarathon

Could be my single day sportive event, the Engadine mixes massive alpine ascents and descents with

the long valleys of Livigno and Engadine. Its these connecting sections, and the long, shallow descent of Bernina and also down through Davos where you group up and speed through the scenery. Events which are up down, up down limit the benefits of group cycling, you can mostly do these events on your own.
Beside the stunning scenery, this event has less traffic, less motorbikes than the central Grimsel/Susten/Furka passes. On top of that, this was perfect weather for a mountain ride!
If you organised it perfectly, you'd drop off whatever jacket you have at the end of the first lap passing through Zernez, as you won't need it again. Was worth having arm warmers and gillet still at the top of the Bernina, but only a short while, then its down, down , down to the start of the massive Albula pass.



All for a piece of Birnenbrot!

7hr 43m 58s

Aletsch Halbmarathon

Was hoping this would be a highlight event of the year, running close to the Aletsch glacier, one of the top images of the Swiss alps. However, when the clouds are low, you don't see much except the feet of the person half a meter in front of you! Could only hear the cowbells ringing through the dense cloud, and only remember the advertising leaflets with their photos of clear days over the Aletsch.
Apart from that, the conditions were probably optimal for running - cool to warm, no burning sunlight, and dry. Very comfortable for running. With so many runners, the trails are soon clogged and you're running along in single file. No room to pass, but this did not stop some, a little dangerous in some places.
 I was expecting the course to be tougher, the profile appears to rise sharply for the final 3km and drink stations at every km from 18km onwards. Instead, there were breathers between the steep bits, and only the final 1km was a hike, but still it was the final stretch so worth a speedy ascent between the remaining walls of snow.

A great event, well organised and recommended.

2hr 29m 25s

Sellaronda Bike Day

After pushing the bike up and down mud fest of the Sellaronda Hero, today the smooth roads of the
Sellaronda bike day were so welcome. Huge numbers of cyclists, unicyclists, tandems, all starting as early as possible to ride around the closed roads of the Sellaronda before the certain heavy rain returns in the afternoon.

Sellaronda Hero

I'd been looking forward to revisiting the Dolomites for a long time, since the registration for this

event had to be early, as its a sellout event. Impressive advertising, the Hero dominates the town of Val Gardena, with nearly almost all the hotels draping banners.
Overnght sees a fierce thunderstorm, and torrential rain - can only be bad news for over 4000 mountainbikers on the Sunday.
Soon realise this is all about going uphill, as the roll from the start block 13 to the start line gets the heart beating faster, even before reaching the start line! Then its steep steep steep. I did well, riding every inch of the steep climb up to the first col of Dantercepies Pass, as many were walking halfway up and there were some steeper sections with loose surface, so pleased I had made a big effort here.
Still pleased with this effort, I could look forward to sweeping singletrack down to Corvara - well, thats what I hoped, but when there are over 4000 riders all on the same singletrack, there are some major jams. Very frustrating, standing around for a long time, many took to riding direct shortcuts, but this only caused more jams lower down. Took half an hour to ride a 6km descent!
Very frustrated at this slow progress.
Mud was now starting to add to the downhill misery, the steep rocks to Arabba meant walking down a large section here. More rain fell, then no more for the rest of the day, but again with so many riders and more rain, the mud fest was about to go into overdrive.
The 3rd ascent was a joke. Far too steep for all around, we walked and pushed our bikes so far, I just don't like courses which involve so much bike pushing.
Then cold in the snow/hail, and a ridiculous comedy show of jammed riders carrying bikes down a mud chute somewhere off the Pass Pardoi. Was too stupid, but too annoyed to try to take a comedy video of this procession. Roadies have it so easy. 

When you see that after 75km of riding, 4600m ascent is achieved, you see how steep this course is. Unless you're a pro, its unrideable up and frustrating slow descending. Plus, caked in mud, this felt like hero to zero today I'm afraid.

9hrs 18min 14s to do 86km. In the mud.