BAD REICHENHALL - A crazy idea, yes exactly. The day after my intense ride in Les 3 Ballons I was again on the bike 600km further west in Bavaria, close to Salzburg. Objective was two-fold: 1) assist my teammate Annika Grueber in her attempt to take the overall lead in the Chiba Alpencup ranking and 2) check out for myself whether these Chiba events are worth focussing on in 2009.
After the battle in the Vosges I actually felt quite okay at the breakfast table with Annika, Achim and Rebecca, who did a double too with the 100km event in Bavaria. Once in the starting block, Annika pointed out the girl to watch, the Swiss Ylenia Polti - winner of the Amade Radmarathon by nine minutes in May. We wouldn't see her again all race.
The first 100km of the race are by far the toughest, with two major climbs to conquer. The second part of the 201km (3400Hm) long course is a rollercoaster. When we hit the first climb after hardly 10km I started fearing the worst for my day as my chain rolled off. That meant I was doomed to chase Annika down straightaway and she was not particularly slow! In fact she had a very good day and was basically unchallenged by the other female contestants. She would win the race by over 14 minutes and grab the lead in the Chiba ranking.
Unfortunately, my ride got a bit spoilt after 130km when my right knee suddenly began to hurt on the outside. Ueberbelastung. I might have been slightly too enthusiastic, after all, doing two 200km events back-to-back. Anyhow, 20km later every acceleration on the bumpy course gave me a sting in the knee and I considered it wise to slow down. Annika was safe anyway, so I dropped myself off the little group we were in and cruised the remaining 50km home at my own pace, even taking a little picnic at the last verpflegungsstelle.
Annika's report on the race can be read on the Agapedia website.
My knee issue would keep me sidelined for a whole week until the Dreilaendergiro a week later. The report of that event is coming up soon. Rebecca rode backwards for the first hour, as she explained herself, and by the time she got into a good rhythm the race was over. Still, 40th place out of 97 women is surely not bad for her second hilly race of the weekend! Rebecca's report can be read on the TuS Griesheim website.
Concerning the second objective, we both felt that Sportcommunication did a down-to-earth but ultimately better job in the Vosges, and on the basis of Bad Reichenhall we were not too keen on turning the Alpencup into a goal for next season. The venue, atmosphere, local enthusiasm and verpflegung were all excellent, but several crossroads were left dangerously unguarded, there was Gegenverkehr on the road right after the start (a novelty for me), some signs were dubiously located or simply lacking, and the descent of the Rossfeld climb is absolutely horrific under racing conditions and almost begging for accidents. Then again, this was just our first introduction to the Chiba events. Meanwhile, we've been in Zernez for the Engadin Radmarathon and that organisation was immaculate.
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