Week in Trentino

Tremola, Sustenpass, Grosse Scheidegg

Back to the bumps on the Tremola

Sustenpass

Steingletscher

Grosse scheidegg

Descent to Grindelwald, with Eiger north face

Engadin Radmarathon

I'd been looking forward to this event with some nervousness, as last year I cycled the two loops of this high alpine event - but on two separate days, so I knew this was going to be a big day on the bike.

Scuol

The hotels around the small town of Zernez are all booked up long in advance, so instead it was good opportunity to visit and stay in Scuol, only 26km away. The additional attraction of Scuol, besides the obligatory ski slopes, mountain views, white water rafting is the large spa complex Bogn Engiadina (Romansch for Bad Engadin) Looks nice in all the photos, especially in the wintertime, so an interesting location to be based for a couple of nights. 

The nervousness woke me up at 4.45 am, in advance of my android phone alarm clock which I realised I had made the same mistake again of not setting the day for the alarm - so annoying when this happens, it should be the default to be the next day!
After the short journey to Zernez, the only decision to be made here was what to wear for the first half of the race. Arm warmers and gilet seemed too much, as they would both have to be carried later, so my light assos wind jacket got the nod. 10 degrees was chilly, especially as there is a small descent after ova spin, then the long tunnel into Italy.
I started in block 3, but there was so little time delay between each block that this made little difference. However, as its uphill right from the start up Ova spin which is enough to sort out the riders very early, the road was packed and I found myself riding along the gutters and at one point bouncing a pedal off the stone wall as I fought through the field.
The tunnel to Italy is well lit, so no need for bike lights here. Its slightly uphill inside the tunnel as well, so I found myself going off the front of one group and chasing down the next bunch ahead of me, in the cool air. Once through into the open, I was in a bunch of 40-50 riders all going at pace the whole length of the Livigno valley.
Still cool, but the climb out of the valley up to Forcola pass was a warmup, and stunning scenery all the way. The road drops 300m or so once back in Switzerland, many cars on this section and getting down safely was the main priority here, as the road very quickly goes up again to the Berninapass before making the long, long descent back to Zernez. A large peloton formed here, mostly around the rail crossing on with the magnificent view to the Morteratsch glacier, either a train had just passed or there was some other traffic incident here but the marshals had stopped a large bunch of riders. Just enough to time take  swig of water, then we were off.
I had been wondering about the colour of our number plates, I had yellow, many of those around me had blue, so I assumed these guys were only going halfway and that was the reason they were doing so much work driving the peloton down to Zernez. Yet, when only 1 or 2 turned right to the finish line, I realised the colour of plates was random. For those who finished here, it was only 10:10am, far too early to be finishing a Sunday ride!
For die lange strecke riders, Susch is where it gets serious, at the start of the Fluella pass over to Davos. I checked my computer, 100km done. So only another 111km to go, with the majority of the climbing ahead of us!

Ice melt at top of Fluelapass

There was a fair amount of traffic on the Fluella, as expected the summer circus of motorbikers, rally cars, sports cars and all were enjoying the great weather and alpine scenery, but all passed by without incident or aggravation. Descending through Davos is where more cars are turning, slowing down etc but once passed the town its down, down down when you know this means the next climb is going to be up up and more up.
The Albula pass is one of the nicest around for cycling, very little traffic, without needing to say awesome scenery, but at the cost of being much steeper. At times you get glimpses of the trainline as it ascends in circles from one side of the valley to the other.
The climb is massive, and once at the top I drank much coke, water, ate orange segments, cakes, bananas and prepared for the fast descent to the finish. Our small number swelled through the valley until about 10 of us were working together, knowing that this was the final effort and we could push it all the way to the finish line.

Well organised with showers, pasta party, food and water at the finish. Seems this year the trend is for events to give away arm warmers, so at least I will have very warm arms next winter.

Which left me with one more mission for the day - Scuol baths! Not a patch on the Japanese onsen, more a large jacuzzi outdoors, but it was a nice way to spend the post-radmarathon recovery.

Official time 7hr 30min, 113 out of 612 finishers

Black Forest Ultra MTB Marathon, Kirchzarten

Birgit, icon of the Black Forest brewery on my number plate

Its been a few years since my last mountain bike marathon, in the Lake District 2010, so I was looking forward to getting back on the trails with fat tyres and the full suspension after all the adventures on asphalt. My main memories of the lakes and Yorkshire events were of bike/hike across unrideable boggy moors, often very long sections of hiking which did not allow for continuous effort. (Selkirk not in this category)
Here, the course is mostly fast firetrack which would be comfortable for cross bikes, apart from several short sections of fast descent where the suspension was a clear bonus. A few cross bikes were spotted on the course, one rider said he wouldn't do that again on the ultra circuit but the marathon route is smoother. Only one super steep section which I was forced to dismount, after making it almost to the top.
The event was great, well over 5000 riders on the day taking part in various distances from short 43km. speed 52km, power 77km, marathon 89km to ultra 117km distance, as well as a childrens event.
What made this a fun event was the number of spectators around the course, ringing cowbells and giving general encouragement. Often marshalls in the middle of the forest would have their stereos playing, or just cheering us on. The highlight would be the "Alpe de Fidlebrugg", a steep road out of the village of Aftersteg, just beyond Todtnau. The road was colourfully painted with names, encouragement and lined on both sides with noisy spectators, so loud with cowbells and horns, it was like cycling up between the crowds on a Tour de France mountain stage!

Initially I had the worry that my single bottle cage would not be enough, but with cool conditions and 7 feed stations there was never any danger of dehydration today. It would even be possible to start this event with no water bottles, as they were handing out new water bottles at the feed stations, which would save weight on the first climb if you really wanted to. At some of the stations, it wasn't necessary to stop, as the helpful volunteers would feed you as cycled slowly along, very helpful.
Several of the stations had bike repair facilities as well, which I had to make use of midway as I found a section of teeth on my large chainring had almost given up, and caused a severe wobble in the chain. Easy to explain the problem and the mechanic just used the pliers to bend the wheel back into shape, and apply a generous amount of lube to the chain, the bike was smoother than when I started.


So many photographers as well on this course, on the early descents there were many professional setups with automatic flashlights in the forest, so at least one of them had to be decent!

Official time 6hr 8min 5sec, 291st out of 925 finishers, average speed 18,9kph


!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Unfortunately, this was the last Kirchzarten Ultra Bike Marathon! It no longer has the support of the local community, and the organiser is moving away from the area. Sehr schade!

http://www.swr.de/landesschau-bw/-/id=122182/did=11671966/pv=video/nid=122182/1ravox5/index.html

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Luzern - Ibergeregg - Flumserberg

Descent to Schwyz

More good weather, although as its suddenly become sunny I'm not as conditioned to the sun as I should be by this time of year, so still redness is the issue from yesterday and on the mind today. Keeping covered all the way to the foot of Ibergeregg, then massive amount of sweating before applying more sun block at the top did the trick.
Another day of awesome views, from the start around the shores of Lake Luzerne to Zug, the climb to Aegerisee, descending to stunning Schwyz then the almighty climb up the climb I still can't pronounce but Ibergeregg is a beast starting from Schwyz. Many cyclists heading the opposite direction, again another day I'll try the reverse here, but descending to Schwyz would be too much on the brakes for me.
Another excuse to explore more of Switzerland was the final stage of the Tour de Suisse was finishing with a mountain time trial to the ski resort of Flumserberg. It's a long way from here, but a great day, and of course great scenery so the kms tick by and soon enough I arrive at the foot of the ascent. There was an option to take a gondola up the backside of the mountain from Quart, but how to get home from there? Instead I pressed on, and after asking locals exactly what time events were taking place, I found my bike carrying me upwards towards Flumserberg. I had made it a moderate way up before many motorbikes, cars, and all the cyclists descended so I'd better stop right where I was. They'd all been up the mountain for a test ride, warming up, then heading back to the start. Soon enough a small caravan of sponsors drove up the mountain, throwing sweets and gifts at waving fans, then an air of calm between the caravan and the first riders. Time to think, should I climb further? Not much time to realise, I was in the perfect spot, on the apex of a steep hairpin with long views down to approaching riders, with shade, and several other supporters. If only there was a beer stall on hand this would have been perfect!

Andy Schleck

Glaubenberg - Glaubenbielen

Mini heatwave in central Europe now, after the snow, the flooding, what next? Well, major thunderstorms on the way Wednesday and Thursday, so while its sunny and warm its time to take to the mountains. The high mountain passes are still closed by snow, but I've had these two mid mountain passes in mind for a long time now, so it was time to take an early train a very short distance to Sursee for the start of a really awesome ride.
I skirted the banks of Sursee by a few meters, but those few meters were enough for dense trees and hedging to only allow glimpses of the glorious early morning view across the lake to Pilatus. But this was merely the start, beyond this the scenery was astounding all the way to Thun.
The Glaubenberg is perhaps the easiest 1543m ascent I've made. A series of glacial steps, allowing rest and recovery made the north-south climb a joy. The pass is unremarkable, but once around the corner the views down to Sarnersee and the mountains beyond were breathtaking. The descent was clearly steeper and without breaks than the side I'd climbed, so for sure I will need to do this trip in reverse this summer. Down in Sarnen, yet another picturesque Swiss town, I stopped to refill water bottles at the town square which was being used for the day by some kind of eco-food market. One guy offered me many slices of banana and mango, which I took and tasted so sweet, but unfortunately not the kind of goods I want to carry with me today.
After enjoying the flats around Sarnersee, it was time for the major climb of the day, Glaubenbielen, or Glaubenbühl. At the foot of the climb, the red sign warned of the steep ascent over then next 12km - 1120m! Certainly the biggest climb of the year so far for me.
Great climb, great views and helped a local rider down the gentle northern slopes to Shüpfheim where I turned left and covered the never ending fantasy roads to Thun.

Certainly back for more on this route, highly recommend!

Les Trois Ballons

This was a completely new course to last year, new start and finish so no painful finish up to la Planche des Belles Filles, but 14km further and with 4300m ascent this was just as tough if not tougher than previous editions.
There seems to be a strong correlation between gradient of slopes and the distance west from the route des cretes. Although the Grand Ballon was painfully long on this day, it was the final section after Servance around "little Finland" which held the steepest and most painful climbs of the day. One was 18%, and there were certainly other long sections of what must be 14% or more, just enough to have me wondering if I should get off and rest. Somehow I crawled up them all, in the end swerving from side to side and longing for what was supposed to be a run in the finish.
Lost a few kilograms on this ride, seriously lacking any hot weather training so far this year.

8 h 15m 26s, 498 out of 2583.

Getting closer to the start

Rare sighting of a rider not from Belgium or Holland