Carnia Classic: Raindance

TOLMEZZO - Two weeks after the Dreiländergiro I hopped back on the racebike in Italy to assist Rebecca at the Carnia Classic in the rugged region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia. Two weeks of resting and worrying: would the knee recover? Can I still pursue my German Cycling Cup ambitions? Should I rest even longer? The mediofondo race of 107km (1970Hm) would answer many questions.

The Carnia Classic was part of the famous Prestigio series in Italy this year. It showed in the total number of participants, which quadrupled to over 2000. The granfondo course offered the ultimate challenge of course, the ascent of the fearsome Monte Zoncolan, 10km at an average of 12.1%. No fewer than 1182 athletes conquered the climb, showing a lot of dedication, not in the least given the apocalyptic weather conditions on the day! Antonio Corradini proved to be the best climber once again, one week after grabbing a slick victory in La Marmotte as well.

Our event did not feature the Zoncolan, but nevertheless offered close to 2000 Hm, thanks to the long (24km) and irregular climb of Sella di Razzo and the ascent to Ravascletto. For Rebecca an interesting testcase, following her good result in the Chiba AlpenCup event in Zernez the previous weekend. In Switzerland, after a forced break from cycling due to exams, she arrived easily within the first third of 107 women in a race that covered the awesome Bernina pass. Zernez and Tolmezzo were her first ever experiences in alpine cycling races.

As if scheduled, the rain began to fall as the start was given at 8 a.m. And what kind of rain it was! The biggest drops I've ever seen! I immediately pulled the brakes and put on my raincoat. It didn't prevent me from getting soaked to the bone, but at least it kept me a bit warm. Rebecca - without rainjacket - had a good pace uphill straightaway. As we were entering a major thunderstorm many people took shelter under any roof they could find. It kept raining hard for the largest part of the Razzo climb. Meanwhile, I was paying the price for the nerve-wrecking car drive through traffic-overloaded Austria the previous day (we left Munich at 10:30 a.m., we arrived in Tolmezzo at 19.15). Terribly bad legs, half asleep and happy to find a ristoro halfway up the climb and take a breather. But Rebecca kept going strongly. Even the 19% section 1km from the top posed no problem for her. Down we went through dense fog initially, and then through forests on often damaged roads. Yet, the descent went smoothly and we settled in a good group. The Enervit bars and drinks seemed to work for me. I gradually got some punch back and started pulling the group to the climb of Ravascletto. We hit a bridge, turn right for Monte Zoncolan, turn left for Ravascletto. Next time I'll turn right is what went through my mind, but right then I was more than happy enough to be riding without any kneepain.

It started raining again on the climb, which wasn't too difficult. But the final stretch to the finish, about 15km from Ravascletto, turned into a genuine waterfest. The skies opened big time and we just got drenched again. It got increasingly treacherous to take corners due to aquaplaning. And then it happened in the penultimate corner. I was leading a group of about 12 riders with Rebecca in my wheel. As I turned right, Rebecca couldn't make the corner and went straight on. There was no danger as there was no oncoming traffic, but the traffic guard basically slammed Rebecca off her bike in a reflex. Luckily, she was sliding and didn't really hurt herself and after a minute or so we proceeded and crossed the finish line in 4:32:52 (avs 23.53 km/h). That translated in rank 20 out of 66 finishing women (AK 10). A solid performance by all means, also considering our travel companion Elin Amundsen - an experienced racer with several wins on the German jedermann circuit - was 8th in 4:01:33. Lorenzo Borghini, also with us on the trip, finished in 4:53. He did shelter during the thunderstorm, though, not wanting to risk anything with a triathlon goal only a week away.

In the afternoon the sun returned to Tolmezzo and Friuli, and so we were able to spend a relaxing evening in Udine, the capital of the province and toast to the end of a fruitful first part of the 2008 cyclo season. Time for a break!

Links:

GF Carnia Classic

Dreiländergiro: torture on the Stelvio

NAUDERS - After a full week of ignoring the bike, I had hoped my right knee would have recovered sufficiently to go for a strong result in the Dreiländergiro, held in Nauders, Austria. An easy-paced ride with my companion Guus van Domburg and the sunny weather on Saturday had in any case given me some morale. Unfortunately, I underestimated the difficulty of the Passo Stelvio (2757m) and halfway up the very long (24,6 km) and steep climb my knee felt like it was being stabbed.

I was riding comfortably in the top 10 of the leading group at that point, but had to let go. The final 6, 7 kilometres of the Stelvio were probably the most painful of my cycling career and I could only still use force with my left leg. I remembered from my participation in 2006 that there's a big Verpflegungstelle with medical assistance in a Swiss valley town following the descent of the Stelvio. Better to retire there than do a U-turn to Nauders, which would have meant going up another climb at the Austrian/Italian border. To my astonishment the two medical assistants at that post could not offer me anything but a massage and a plaster! An ambulance was no option and they also couldn't organise any transport back to Nauders. Amazingly, there was also no "besemwagen" - a bus following the race to pick up those who give up. A bit strange for a mountainous event with 3000 participants. So, my choice was: either continue on the bike for another 100km or hitchhike. Wunderbar.

I got back on the bike and pedalled slowly towards the Ofenpass, avoiding to apply any pressure on the knee. At the foot of the climb I got caught by a group of 15 riders and was able to attach my waggon. I discovered that when I pedalled on souplesse and at a constant rhythm I could still develop a certain speed. As long as the gradient wasn't too steep, of course. This way, I managed to stay with the best riders of this group. After the Ofenpass, there's a descent to Zernez where we had to halt twice for red traffic lights. That cost a few minutes. Then, it was 40 km saliscendi towards the Swiss/Austrain border and the Reschenpass, which would bring us back into Nauders. I got dropped once on a steep bit where some guys accelerated, but apart from that moment I surprisingly had no problem keeping up with the constant high pace. On the 5.5 km long but fluent Reschenpass I somehow had no pain whatsoever and dropped all 20+ riders of my group and came in 63rd at the finish in 5:51, only a fraction slower than 2006 - despite everything.

Classic ueberlastung is what I was told afterwards. Rest and some good local massages would be the key to recover. I could forget about my two main goals of the season, La Marmotte and the Granfondo Zoncolan (Carnia Classic).

Link to Dreilaendergiro

Berchtesgadener Land Radmarathon: Pain & Glory

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.

Links:

CHIBA Alpen Cup

Les 3 Ballons: Surprising myself

LA PLANCHE DES BELLES FILLES - I'll remember my fourth participation in the classic French cyclo Les 3 Ballons for a long time. In fact, it was probably my best ride ever in a granfondo or long-distance event of this kind. After 205km and 4300Hm I crossed the finish line as 32nd in 6:58:06, an improvement of 41 minutes compared to 2005!

As it happened, I actually lost 13 places in the final 4 kilometres climbing up to La Planche des Belles Filles, a steep climb that ends the very scenic tour through the Vosges mountains. Defenceless, no juice left in the legs. That didn't really surprise me after pure racing for 200km, given the German races are basically at most 130 km long. What did surprise me was that I was still there up front at the end. I know now for sure that this is what I will focus on increasingly more as of next season.

I positioned myself towards the front of the pack on the way to the Ballon de Servance. As usual the pace was high on the first difficulty of the day. After the dangerous descent there were a few playful attempts by some of the circa 30 riders in the leading group. When we hit the Col d'Oderen I pedalled away from the group together with a French rider. To be honest it did feel good to be leading the 3 Ballons race after already having done the Ballon de Servance :-) A while later I would actually lead the group to the summit of that climb. Next was the Col du Bramont, which led us via le Markstein eventually to the famous Route des Crêtes. Race favourites Jens Volkmann and Michel Snel set the pace with myself in their wheel. After a short descent, the road went further up towards le Markstein. Snel accelerated and rode slowly away with six other riders. Their pace was slightly too fast for me and I had to let them go. I settled in a second group with seven others and the eight of us would race together for the next 60km until the Ballon d'Alsace.

On that climb I was initially able to ride away from the group, but just over halfway I suddenly got a knock of the hammer. The final 2 kilometres were just endless! I took another gel and drank my bidon empty, hoping I would regain some strength. Six guys of my group were gone, but one I caught back in the descent. Being just two in the 40km rollercoaster back to Champagney and the foot of La Planche is not enough, and we were caught by four riders who were pushing hard. I was in total survival mode but could hang on until 5 km before Champagney. There I had to make a brief stop to refill my bidon, which cost about a minute, and then I rode the 12 km to the foot of the mountain by myself. The first kilometre is the steepest, with a stretch of 17%, and as I was struggling my way up, a group of over a dozen riders caught up with me. For the remainder of the climb, I was overtaken by several and had to settle for 32nd spot.

Hanging over my handlebar, I could not remember the last time I had been so dead after a race. But the experience of racing inside the top 20 for as long as 200km gave me a big psychological boost. My first goal for the 2009 season is therefore set: staying in there for 205 km !

Jens Volkmann edged out Snel for the win in 6:28:24. Number 10 had a time of 6:50, number 20 - a known Belgian cyclo rider from Bruges - had 6:56.

Rebecca enjoyed a great introduction to this type of racing, finishing 11th out of 47 women in 4:55:37 on the 109km distance.

There were over 2000 participants in this year's edition of Les 3 Ballons, with 1031 completing the granfondo.

Links:

Sportcommunication