Hopefully you've all read Simon's race report by now, here is my view of events and there will be more to come from the rest of the team once some subtle reminders have been sent.
First off - thanks to everyone who generously donated money to our charity, we have surpassed the original target and the money is still coming in which is fantastic. Second off - thanks to those people who supported us - Epic Cycles (esp. Chris Lines) for the water bottles, servicing and advice, Skate Hut (esp. Ross) for our race tyres and helmet cam, Jaguar Land Rover for the vehicles, Dave Lee for recommending the accommodation (http://www.paracia.it/ for fantastic views and value for money) and transporting two of our bikes, Dr. Garry Palmer at Sportstest (http://www.sportstest.co.uk/) for his invaluable training advice, and last but definitely not least a personal thank you to my wife for supporting my training.
The journey from Warwick to the Dolomites will be the subject of a later post which will detail the misadventures and revelations of a group of men on an overseas expedition....
Back to my race - the final training ride took place on the Friday we arrived in La Villa (the start village), as Simon mentioned I was at the front of the group during our ride up the first (and fifth) climb of the Maratona, the Passo Campolongo, which started in the finish town of Corvara. It was steep at the bottom but that soon gave way to a steadier gradient, I was riding recovery but I slowed up after half way as I realised some of the rest of the team were beasting themselves to keep up. We were chatting with some Dutch cyclists after that point who had ridden the Maratona previously, they passed on some hints for the race and we spoke about how inappropriate our respective home countries were for preparing to ride in this kind of terrain!
What goes up must come down, panting faces were turned into insane grins as the descent back down the Campolongo was jolly good fun.
Saturday consisted of real rest, the World's Best Cappuccino in the morning to wash down a slab of Sacher chocolate cake, a sporty drive to collect Manuel from Brixen train station, a huge smorgasbord of delicious cold meats, bread and salad, followed by another coffee in the afternoon (just to confirm the earlier findings), then calzone for dinner then sleep. The sleep was tricky - not nerves, just the heat and Mark pratting about stretching and showering and flapping!
Alarm went off at 04:30 so we could get to the start line for 05:30, to aid the slower members of the team I came up with a competition - there was a prize for the last one to be ready, they would be carrying the apartment key. I was first out followed by Alan, Chris and Simon leaving the usual suspects to battle it out for the prize. Gav tried to claim that he was keeping Mark company but he still managed to get down about two minutes before Mark.
The start area was already quite full by the time we had ridden the short distance to get there. Garry and Manuel had arrived there earlier so were placed further to the front then we were. The start wasn't until 06:30 so there was plenty of time to implement some weight loss procedures. The TV helicopters were buzzing around overhead which added to the building anticipation of a great day's riding. Dramatic music was being broadcast from loud speakers in the run up to the start which culminated in a brief respite as the start of the lead pen was announced. Our pen started to inch forward and soon we were on our way, although the number of riders made it impossible to ride your own pace, this continued up the Camplongo which helped me to not use my usual starting style - 'the arse on fire approach'. The rider traffic started to ease a little half way to the top so I was able to start weaving my way through to try and get some space for the impending descent to Arabba.
The traffic was still a little heavy for my liking on the way down but I managed to make decent progress past the less confident descenders in time for the immediate ascent of the Passo Pordoi, it was starting to get warm at this point (still only 07:15!). My legs took a minute or two to get back into climbing mode and I soon found a comfortable rhythm which had me moving quicker than the riders around me. Halfway up I spotted a Lowroaders top in the distance I thought 'bloody hell Al's going well!' but as I got closer it turned out to be Manuel (our newest recruit) who looked to be enjoying himself, I gave a brief hello on the way past to leave him to continuing tapping away at his own pace. A few minutes later I passed Dave Lee, who also looked to be enjoying himself, then a bit further on a disembodied voice shouted 'keep going Steve, you're looking good', I waved randomly in the general direction of the voice which I assumed belonged to Garry.
The climbing soon turned to flat-out descending which was thoroughly enjoyable on closed roads with the other riders not providing too much of an obstacle. This descent then turned immediately into a climb up the Passo Sella. I looked up to see magnificent rock formations towering over the road which further made the ride an true epic adventure. The first feed station come up and was passed straight by as I had a full water bottle still. The road was then bordered by a band of crazed Tyrollian musicians that were beating the hell out of an assortment of gigantic cow bells and Stone Age Glockenspiels to create a 'unique cacophony' which brought a smile to my face. The Sella climb steepened nearer to the top but it was soon over and more descending then turned into the climb up the Passo Gardena. This was my first stop to fill both water bottles and I was soon on my way again over the Gardena and down a fantastic descent back into Corvara to complete the first loop known as the Sella Ronda. This was where the short course riders would finish their travails for the day, the rest of us were funnelled past to tackle the Campolongo for the second time which was a lot less busy than the first time up. I was feeling fresh at this point and a little concerned that I had gone off too slow but I reminded myself that the Giau was yet to come. The descent off the Campolongo was more enjoyable the second time around (less traffic) and I got got myself into a decent sized group for the short flat blast across to the foothills of the Giau. I couldn't just sit in the group not doing my bit so I moved up to the front, had a couple of turns before the road started going up again and looked round to find the group had shrunk from twenty five to four. The four then parted company as we hit the Belvedere, a short climb before the Giau, where I decided to risk not stopping at the feed station there and instead use my remaining two thirds of a bottle to get me to the top of the Giau (location of the next feed station). It was a gamble but I figured that the weight of a full bladder and 500ml of water would weigh less than an empty bladder and 1500ml of water.
I hit the foot of Giau at 10:20 and it was hot at that point, after the first 300m of climbing I felt a pang of guilt as I knew that the rest of the guys would suffer on this gradient and in the steadily increasing heat. Those thoughts were quickly replaced with the business of climbing the Giau, I felt every percent gradient of that climb, I was riding in whatever shade was available, although the longest shade was provided by a cruel stretch in an arrow straight tunnel that pointed disgustingly up to the sky. The climb opened out into the glare of the sun at the top and I was counting down the metres to the top and the feed station. The gamble with the water bottles paid off and I managed to get to the feed station at the top as I drained the last drop. Two full water bottles, half a banana and a 'convenience stop' later I was ready to descend off the Giau, or so I thought.
The second bend came up a little quicker than expected as I was still in climbing mode after an hour of tapping it out, the view of the descent using the straightest method possible snapped my brain back into descending mode before I left the road. This descent was more technical than it's predecessors but I was soon fluidly carving my way down the mountain, this was nearly interrupted by a rider crashing on a bend just behind me but I managed to get clear to look back to see he was still in one piece, although perhaps a little lighter than he was before the bend.
The Giau soon turned into the final climb of the day, the Passo Falzarego that turned into the Passo Valparola near the top (the significance of this was soon to be revealed). The climb started off sedately enough, the figures stated a 11.5km climb at average of 5.8%, and after 3km there was a flat section. I was soon up to my normal riding speed and enjoying the change from constant climbing and descending. Something caught my attention behind me and I looked around to find that I'd won a fan club of about fifteen riders who were all enjoying my draft, none of them offered to help ride at the front so I didn't feel bad when I dropped them when the Falzarego started to head upwards again. The climb started to drag and at 3.5km to go to the top the mountain had only achieved 1900m in altitude which meant there was still 300m of height to be gained equating to ~9% average gradient yet to come which truly manifested itself as I crested the Falzarego to then spot the final cruel piece of road to the top of the Passo Valparola. This didn't dampen my spirits that much as I knew that the final descent was in sight. The final descent was smooth and fast into La Villa leaving a shallow ascent back to Corvara. There were distance markers counting us down to the finish, at 200 meters to go an Italian in bright green cycling kit got a bit carried away with the cheering crowds and extravagantly sprinted past me after enjoying my draft for a bit. I let him get away as I could see the sharp left hander coming up that marked 100 meters to go, I took the corner wide then stamped on the pedals a bit to overtake the aforementioned Italian sprinter 10 metres before the line, childish I know but I couldn't resist it.
After crossing the line in 6 hours and 25 minutes (6 hours 20 ride time) I was presented with an unusual choice - a disgusting cap or 10 euros in cash. After a brief moment to check I wasn't suffering from heat induced hallucinations I accepted the money and went to get my finisher medal and much needed drink.
Gav arrived shortly after and we then gathered the team together over the next couple of hours to ensure that everyone was fed, watered and surgically separated from their machine.
I think I paced the race correctly as I managed to gain places all the way through the ride and only experienced some fleeting cramp towards the end of the last climb. Regardless of that the ride was thoroughly enjoyable and worth all the effort. My placings throughout the race are below -
split times
place day time race time place overall
Gardena 9:04.20,0 2:24.24,6174. 1060.
Corvara 9:16.07,8 2:36.12,4168. 1017.
Campolongo 9:39.20,2 2:59.24,8167. 969.
Selva Cadore10:25.26,5 3:45.31,1142. 804.
Passo Giau 11:23.43,6 4:43.48,2140. 755.
Falzarego 12:27.15,6 5:47.20,2135. 757.
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