Lets start with this...the Transalp race is by far the hardest sporting endeavour I have attempted. Ironman is a very difficult day and the suffering can be significant. With that said, Ironman ends the same day you start. This Transalp race punishes you for seven straight days. It is unrelenting, it never eases off. Each day offers a whole new level of suffering. Today was the fourth day and the most difficult. Today's route started in San Vigilio, Italy and took us over 5 passes, 11,000 feet and 130kms. The irony is that we are riding in some of the most beautiful scenery imaginable. The Dolimites are incredible mountains and the vistas from high up above are fantastic. Yet, the beauty can get lost in the suffering. One of the things Jeremy and I have done each and every day is take time to marvel at the scenery and chat with the other riders. We have had fun and met some really great people.
Today's stage started with groups of 300 riders being sent off on a 25km downhill start. These downhill starts can be very dangerous as the speed combined with the size of the groups leads to problems. One of the other riders in our group from Vancouver got taken out shortly after the start and suffered a serious concusion. He is OK but is being held over night in hospital. We had two other riders go down today and we had two go down yesterday. All are OK but have the road rash and bruises that come with hitting the pavement. Jim Miller spent 1.5 hours today tending to a rider who got clipped by a passing motorcycle. They had to helicopter the guy off the mountain. Point being that it is not only a extreme test but there are very real dangers each and every day.
Up until today Jeremy and I have been moving up the ranks each day. After the third stage we moved up to 77th place out of 230 Masters teams. We were in 90th after stage one. Unfortunately, today I cracked big time! After three hard days of racing and a hard fast start to today's stage I bonked 3.5 hours into the day. Jeremy being the consumate teammate waited for me after a huge descent to see if I was alive or not. Realizing that I was @#%# we agreed that it best for Jeremy to keep going so that I could try and get myself back out of the abyss of bonkdom! I still had two passes and 3 hours of hard riding to go. Long story short, Jeremy ripped it up and finished strong (despite a little crash going down the fourth pass) and I came in about 35 mins later. After today we now stand 96th in our age group. Hopefully, the pizza and full order of spagetti will put me in good stead tomorrow.
Tomorrow's plan is to let Jeremy attack on his own and go as hard as he can with the hope that I can bounce back and also have a good day. We'll keep ya posted!
Chris H
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Stage 2 Solden to Brixen
Wow another amazing day! Beautiful morning start, sun was out and the forcast for Brixen ( in Itay ) was sun and 27degrees... Chris and I had moved up from group C to group B on yesterdays ride so we are moving in the right direction... Every day your combined time decides what group you start in.. So today started with a 1300 meter climb ride right out of town ...what a great warm up to the day ( kidding ) don't try this a home, we are professionals..... to peeked out at 2509.... We climbed for 25km, near the top we rode in between ice walls that were on either sides of the road, pretty cool... No pun intended! So with a climb like that one deserves a payoff, How about a 27km down hill with switch back after switch back that never seem to end...... Crazy! Unfortunately in the Alps what goes down has to come back up again... Another 22km climb.... Nice! We kept in under control again and enjoyed the day smiling and joking all the way... Brixen is another beautiful town ... There seems to be a theme going on here, maybe that's why the Alps are so popular! We are staying at a hostel tonight, pretty nice, although no air conditioning which would have bin useful on such a hot night! It is had to pathom a harder climbing day then the two passes we went over today but apparently tomorrow is harder...
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Stage 1
Well we are on the road! What a great day! The day started with a great Germany breakfast and a few encouraging words from Joerg our leader! We free wheeled down to the start as our hotel was up in the Wittenwald hills with a amazing view of the valley, so no warm up for us... A few of our group with possiblities for contesting the race did climb back up the hill to warm up a bit.. Pretty amazing to have 1200 riders line up for a start to a race... The race start with Queens "Flat Bottom Girls" always a favourite for cyclists.. After a few km we climbed out of Mittenwald and by the time we finished it we where in Austria.. Chris and I stuck to out plan of taking it easy today and for the most part did a pretty good job of it.. It is hard to let other riders pass you when you are feeling good ... There were some big climbs today... We climbed just over 2600 meters... Most of it on a 22km pass with pitches of 18% for several km's....do you know how to say suffer! well because we are taking it some what easy it wasn't to bad, having said that it is hard not to a little on a hill like that... one near casualty today was Ian when he over cooked a hair pin on the descent and went off the road .... He brushed himself off and continued to the finish ranting about watts or something! The views in Austia are some amazing that it was hard not to stop
and take move of it in...All in all a great day as everyone finished in good spirits and are ready to go again tomorrow!
We need to start saying caio as we ride into Itay tomorrow!
So Caio!
Jeremy
and take move of it in...All in all a great day as everyone finished in good spirits and are ready to go again tomorrow!
We need to start saying caio as we ride into Itay tomorrow!
So Caio!
Jeremy
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Greetings von Deutchland!
It is Friday here in Mittenwald...two days before the start of the big race. All of our group are now here. In addition to the 6 Pentictonites, there are 18 other riders in our group. They are all extremely lean, strong and fast looking...apparently they won't be stopping along the way to take pictures and look at old castles! It is a good group and should make for a fun trip.
This morning we cut Jeremy's cast off. I brought along my "leatherman" multi tool and used the little saw blade to cut off the cast. Jeremy applied some duct tape to keep his thumb in place and off we went for the morning ride. For those that don't know my riding partner Jeremy crashed 4 weeks ago and torn his right thumb ligament off and had to have it surgically repaired. The surgeon told him he should cancel the trip...he obviously didn't know Jeremy very well!
The town of Mittenwald is absolutley beautiful. Our Hotel is situated high above the town nestled between towering Mt peaks. The weather has turned fantastic and looks promising for the seven days of riding. This would be a welcomed bonus to not have to face rain and snow in the passes...we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Being in Germany has been great and the people have been so friendly and helpful...the food however is another thing. It is difficult to find any meal that isn't covered in a rich, heavy sauce or butter or creme or gravy. We have to eat out all the time so it is starting to wear thin on everyone. It would be nice to find just a sandwich....
The jet lag is pretty much gone now...it seems to take me about 3-4 days to get back to "normal"...good decision to come 6 days early.
This morning we cut Jeremy's cast off. I brought along my "leatherman" multi tool and used the little saw blade to cut off the cast. Jeremy applied some duct tape to keep his thumb in place and off we went for the morning ride. For those that don't know my riding partner Jeremy crashed 4 weeks ago and torn his right thumb ligament off and had to have it surgically repaired. The surgeon told him he should cancel the trip...he obviously didn't know Jeremy very well!
The town of Mittenwald is absolutley beautiful. Our Hotel is situated high above the town nestled between towering Mt peaks. The weather has turned fantastic and looks promising for the seven days of riding. This would be a welcomed bonus to not have to face rain and snow in the passes...we'll keep our fingers crossed.
Being in Germany has been great and the people have been so friendly and helpful...the food however is another thing. It is difficult to find any meal that isn't covered in a rich, heavy sauce or butter or creme or gravy. We have to eat out all the time so it is starting to wear thin on everyone. It would be nice to find just a sandwich....
The jet lag is pretty much gone now...it seems to take me about 3-4 days to get back to "normal"...good decision to come 6 days early.
That is all for now.
Chris
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Soccer rules!
It is the start of day three here just outside of Munich. After struggling with jet lag the first two days I discovered that consuming German "Weiss" beer helps to overcome the effects of jet lag. The problem now is that I am hung over so basically I am no further ahead!
Last night Jeremy and I along with our host Joerg went for a nice dinner with the plan to watch Germany play Ghana in the World Cup match. I had visions of being surrounded by a bunch of crazy, drunken Germans chanting soccer songs and going nuts every time a player touched the ball. Well...it didn't quite work out that way. After dinner we go to the smallish bar attached to the restaurant which was full of people yet conspicuously quiet. It turned out there wasn't a German in the house...it was full of Brits and French tourists (and two Canadians!) most of whom weren't even watching the game. After the first half we drove into town and found an outdoor bar with the appropriate amount of face painted, cigarette smoking, potbellied, hammered German soccer fans! Mission accomplished! They do love their soccer here in Europe!
We got the bikes together yesterday and went for a short test ride. I was quite pleased that my bike actually worked given my renowned lack of mechanical ability! We also spent some time in downtown Munich. Jeremy and I took the train into Munich from the little town of Hallgermoos where we are staying. It cost me one Euro to use the washroom in Munich...that seemed like an expensive pee! The weather was great...good for being a tourist.
Today we head off the Mittenwald which is the town of the race start. There we'll hook up with the other "Penticton Transalpers" Gary, Ian Chris and Jim. It will be good to get together with the other lads and put in a few rides before the start.
That is all for now.
Chris
Last night Jeremy and I along with our host Joerg went for a nice dinner with the plan to watch Germany play Ghana in the World Cup match. I had visions of being surrounded by a bunch of crazy, drunken Germans chanting soccer songs and going nuts every time a player touched the ball. Well...it didn't quite work out that way. After dinner we go to the smallish bar attached to the restaurant which was full of people yet conspicuously quiet. It turned out there wasn't a German in the house...it was full of Brits and French tourists (and two Canadians!) most of whom weren't even watching the game. After the first half we drove into town and found an outdoor bar with the appropriate amount of face painted, cigarette smoking, potbellied, hammered German soccer fans! Mission accomplished! They do love their soccer here in Europe!
We got the bikes together yesterday and went for a short test ride. I was quite pleased that my bike actually worked given my renowned lack of mechanical ability! We also spent some time in downtown Munich. Jeremy and I took the train into Munich from the little town of Hallgermoos where we are staying. It cost me one Euro to use the washroom in Munich...that seemed like an expensive pee! The weather was great...good for being a tourist.
Today we head off the Mittenwald which is the town of the race start. There we'll hook up with the other "Penticton Transalpers" Gary, Ian Chris and Jim. It will be good to get together with the other lads and put in a few rides before the start.
That is all for now.
Chris
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Greetings from Immenstadt
Greetings from Immenstadt(somewhere near the Alps and Austria). The sun finally came out. Yesterday we went about 85 k and into Austria. Our guide cheerfully pointed out a1700 m mtn. That appeared to have snow down to about 1200 m or lower. Now as most days appear to take us through passes around 2000 m there was cause for concern.
Mr. Miller and I addressed this concern by attending the local establishment until we forgot what we were there to think about. Certainly java junkies teams 1 and 3 driven by Miller and McAndrews are leading the way beer wise. Not to sure about the whole bike thing, but one should go with ones strengths.
We travel to the start tomorrow after the Germany v. Somebody game tonight. Apparently we are going to be in box seats in some local hall to cheer the national team on. If they win, huge drunken celebration, and if they lose, a huge drunken riot. Either way sounds like fun.
Ian McAndrews
Mr. Miller and I addressed this concern by attending the local establishment until we forgot what we were there to think about. Certainly java junkies teams 1 and 3 driven by Miller and McAndrews are leading the way beer wise. Not to sure about the whole bike thing, but one should go with ones strengths.
We travel to the start tomorrow after the Germany v. Somebody game tonight. Apparently we are going to be in box seats in some local hall to cheer the national team on. If they win, huge drunken celebration, and if they lose, a huge drunken riot. Either way sounds like fun.
Ian McAndrews
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Team Bike Barn/ Java Junkies are on the road.... we hope between the six of us we will be able to post daily updates of our trip and the race..
Who we are:
Chris Hawkins and Jeremy Eden
Gary Denton and Ian McAndrews
Chris Prowse and Jim Miller
What we are doing:
7 day stage race in the Alps, the stages below.
Stage 1: Mittenwald - Sölden - 115,19 km
Stage 2: Sölden - Brixen - 123,86 km
Stage 3: Brixen - St. Vigil - 85,08 km
Stage 4: St. Vigil - Alleghe - 129,84 km
Stage 5: Alleghe - Kaltern - 115, 10 km
Stage 6: Kaltern - Trento - 118,43 km
Stage 7: Trento - Arco - 88,31 km
Total: 775,81 km -
Total climbing: 19,928 altitude meters
Here is the link to the race website http://www.tourtransalp.de/englisch/
Why we are doing it? Good question! We will probably figure that out as the race unfolds..
Hope you will join us on our adventure.....
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