In less
than a month the World Championship Marathon Mountainbike is due. And just like
last year I will participate. Differently than last year it’s at the end of the
season and it will be a very hard race. Not that it wasn’t hard last year, but
than it was a fast race, not too many altitude meters and almost no technical
parts. This year we will ride in the beautiful Dolomites in Italy, 95K with
3400 altitude meters to conquer.
On Friday, a
week after our last competition we left “flat” Belgium to go to our beloved
mountains. Prutz it was, still Austria, but next to Swiss and Italy. Ideal because
at the end of the week we’ll race a monster marathon in Scuol just over the
Swiss border.
Prutz is
part of the SERFAUS-FISS-LADIS area and the famous Kauntertal Glacier next to
the Inn. We arrived on Saturday, as always later than planned due
to traffic jam. But nevertheless after we installed the camper we went for a
little bike ride.
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| Breakfast on the road |
DAY 1:
On Sunday was
our first trainingsday, climbing was the plan, but not to the top yet. We road
a tour of 40K with about an hour of climbing up to the bike
park in Fiss. We found an easy tour on the local bikemap.
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| Our campingspot next to the Inn |
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| Cycling above the Inn |
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| Climbing Peter 🐐 |
DAY 2:
We planned
to ride uphill for about an hour and a half, eat in one of the restaurants on
our way and then there was only some descending left. So far our plan, but plans
don’t always turn out the way you want.
The first
part of the climb we planned was way too dangerous. Loads of traffic on a very narrow
pass, so that was a NO GO. We proceeded our route a “bit” further (about 15K)
in the valley and then struggled to find the right route up, but with a little determination
we found a path where cars are not allowed. A long regular climb ideal for training.
After more
than 30K (of which the first 20 where flat) we arrived back at the bike park in
Fiss, from there we searched for a good trail to Ladis the next village, but
that didn’t really work out. So we proceeded next to the not so busy road. After
about 40k of riding, a lot of searching, a bit of frustration we arrived at the
restaurant. In the meanwhile it was already late afternoon and Peter was starving.
Guess what,
the restaurant is closed on Monday!!! Bummer. So we had to get back to the
camping, luckily it was much closer than we expected! Hoping for a better day
tomorrow.
Good news:
our plan was to ride and climb longer than our first trainingsday and we did.
DAY 3:
Trailday
Today will be more about riding down the hill
than up. Also very important to get your downhill skills on point because riding
marathon stages is not only about climbing. What goes up must come down, we usually
finish at the same point as we start a race. And believe me the downhill can be
at least as demanding as the uphill.
SERFAUS-FISS-LADIS is a ski area so that means a lot of lifts and the good news is you can take
your bike on the lift with you (if you get the right liftcard). We got ourselves
a Trailcard for a day (37 euro p.p), we can take all lifts except the one for the bikepark ☹ . Not cheap, but believe me if you plan your
day well, it is more than worth it.
Beside a lot of
hikingtrails they also have a lot of biketrails. If you want to ride up you’ll
never get to al the good parts. You can also ride parts up or start half way the
climb. But we were going to get the most out of our card today, so not too much
climbing.
We start in
Prutz at the camping. No lifts there so we first need to get to Ladis. Only 3K
away, but only uphill, straight up to be honest. We were just 500m far and
crossed a hiker that was coming down the hill. He wished us luck???
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| Shortcut was a vertical climb! |
We took the
shortcut…Not easy, steep and very technical. About 1000 meter into the path it
became impossible to ride, so we hiked up. Not too fast and good practise for me,
because in competition I suck at this, most riders pass me when we have to hike
up, so I take it as part of my training.
Even with our
hardtail this one is manageable, we even pass some of the riders on the trail.
Honestly the first trail was more fun than the parkride.
Now a little
ride up to Serfaus, here we take the Schönjochbahn to Fisserjoch (2436m). Here
we take the Flüstertrail, the start was a more rough one than the other
trails so far, but after a bit it get super fun with northshore parts and really
nice turning down. We go up to the highest point of
today Zwölferkopf (2596m), it’s getting colder, weather is changing. But we are
getting to the last trails of the day. From here we take
a new trail it’s not finished all the way to
the Fisserjoch yet but it looks promising.
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| Next lift... |
From the
Fisserjoch we take the longest and hardest trail of today Frommestrail, the
first meters go up and then it’s pure fun down. With more rocky parts, you don’t wat a flat in your last descent. Well you never
want a flat actually!
Just before
5PM we reach the camping again and I feel it in my hands and arms!
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| Peter making friends 🐄 🐄 |
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| Lakes above 2000m 💓 |
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| Shredding 👊 |
Day 4:
I started
with a morning run while Peter could sleep in for an extra hour. Today started
clouded, but during the day they promise more sun. Perfect for our planning,
because today we keep it short but powerful. After a relaxed day with a little
walk and chilling at the camper we go for some uphill interval.
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| 3,2,1 GO |
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| Trying to breath 😵 |
Close to
the camping park we are staying Peter found an uphill driveway of a meadow.
After a little warm up we get our selves mentally ready for the suffering.
Because the first one always hurts the most.
Check the
right gear, not to small and not to big, count down and GO! After our interval
session we do a cooldown ride next to the Inn and go for a refreshing
drink.
Day 5:
Yesterday
we got some “bad news”. On Saturday we were about to ride a monster marathon in Scuol, just
over the Swiss border about 40K from here. But the meteo is going to be really
bad, and in the mountains this can be dangerous. So the organisation decided to
shorten the race from 137K to 47K ☹ and most of the course is
downhill….
Day 6:
Moving day
Today we go
to Scuol. My day started with a morningrun… The temperature dropped with almost
10° degrees so my running outfit changed to a ¾ tight and a long sleeve shirt,
but beside some drops it stayed dry.
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| Arrived in Scuol |
After
waking Peter and having breakfast we packed the camper which goes pretty smoothly
as we have a routine.
In a little
over an hour we arrived on our new camping spot in Scuol. When we arrive we
realise we have been here before during one of our Transalp participations.
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| race numbers |
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| Hot chocolate and coffee |
In the afternoon we did a coffeeride to the idyllic village.
Day 7: Race
Day
Nationalpark
Bike Marathon, this race is on my list for a while now. I had seen advertising
during winter a couple of years ago when we were staying in Livigno. And about
two years ago we did a great passage through the National Park during a Transalp
stage. This year it turned out to be a good prep for the Worlds in the
Dolomites.
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| Almost time to start! |
The start line
changed from Scuol to Chanf so we had to take the train at 6:24 AM to the new start
line. In Swiss the trains always run exactly on time, so well on time before the
start was given we arrived.
At 8:30 AM we started at a very high speed. I know it would only take
about 2 hours. From start to finish I raced my hart out and finished in a 6
th
position. This probably was my fastest race ever with an AVG speed of more than
25K/H.
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| Finished |
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| Aprés Bike with bike beer |
Peter
arrived about 5 minutes after me. After a quick bike wash, and a hot shower at the camping we were ready before midday. Ceremony was for the first three and prize money for the first 5 ladies.
So time to go home...
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