(I started writing this at the end of June, but then for lack of time it got shelved and I only recently returned to finish it. But, hopefully it’s still of interest.
The delay had one advantage - it allowed me time to discover the web video links I include!)
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At 10 to 3 in the morning, as I left home, it was throwing it down. A few miles away, and 10 mins later, I picked up my passenger and his bike as arranged, and shortly afterwards drove on to the motorway, hoping the rain would cease. I wanted it to stop not just for the long journey ahead, but also for the next few days and most importantly for Sunday, when we were taking part in a cyclosportive at Lienz in Austria.
My wish about the rain didn’t come true until we were well into Austria, but when it did, it was absolutely and completely fulfilled. Crossing the Thurn Pass between Kitzbühel and Mittersill early on Thursday morning, we entered a totally different climate zone – dry, blue sky, sunshine, and warmer by 10+ degrees C. And fortunately, it stayed so for the next 5 days, on Saturday and Sunday being even hotter.
My local cycling club folded about 4 years ago. What had been a club with over 40 members when I joined about 16 years ago, not long after moving here, had disintegrated to about 10 people by 2004, half of them inactive. Of the other 30, some had moved away, some had married or had (more) children, others had simply decided they preferred tennis or running to cycling, this last lot even including the longstanding club chairman.
Since then I’ve ‘flirted’ with other nearby clubs, training occasionally with them or joining them on trips, like to a cyclosportive in Switzerland with one club, for 10 days cycling through the Pyrenees with a second. This time I was going on a trip with yet another club, to take part in the ‘Dolomiten Rundfahrt’. It was to be my 19th mass-start, timed, continental cyclosportive (7 in France, 6 in Austria, 3 in Germany, 2 in Switzerland, 1 in Italy), but my first time in this event.
The Dolomiten Rundfahrt ('Ride round the Dolomites') has existed for 22 years, having been inaugurated the same year, in fact even a few weeks before, the more famous ‘Maratona des Dolomiti’ at Corvara. It's called the Dolomiten Rundfahrt because it circles the Lienz Dolomites, a part of the Alps just over the Italy-Austria border, NE of the more famous Dolomites area in Italy, but geologically related.
The Dolomiten Rundfahrt route map
The event is listed on the UK Cyclosport website, however the link is incorrect and the stated distance of 187 km is wrong too*. The Dolomiten Rundfahrt used to have 112 and 187 km routes, but after a decade of being relatively popular, during the late-90s fewer and fewer participants chose to ride the 187 km route. This may have been because the divide point was only 20 km from the start, meaning that riders, who were uncertain how good they were feeling that day or how the weather might develop, opted for the less risky route. The result was that the 187 km route was eventually stopped 5-6 years ago.
(* This isn’t the only mistake on the UK Cyclosport website with respect to continental cyclosportives, e.g. another is that the website still lists the Nivolet cyclosportive, in which I took part in 2003. However, this event ceased to exist about 2006.)
Instead, in the last few years, the routes offered on the Dolomiten Rundfahrt have been 112 and 123 km, the divide point being at 81 km. This might not sound much difference in distance but it is more than made up for the difference in climbing between the routes. By the divide point, the 112 Km route has done all its 1850 m climbing, while the remaining 42 km on the longer route adds a stiff 850 m to make its total about 2700 m.
(The last 31 km on the shorter route from the divide point were included in the 2009 Giro d'Italia, as part of stage 6 from Bressanone to Mayrhofen, but they would have presented neither problem nor opportunity to the profis, just descending about 300 m over that distance. The last 42 km on the longer route from the divide point, with their stiff climbs, were included in stages of the 1994 and 2007 Giros.)
Profile of the shorter route (shown in orange above)
The club I was travelling with had been regularly taking part in the Dolomiten Rundfahrt for the previous 9 years, although there was only one rider on this trip for whom it would be the 10th consecutive participation, the club chairman. He had a long association with Lienz, 15-20 years ago having taken part in the Dolomitenmann* race as the paraglider. When he couldn’t paraglide any longer following injury, he turned to this cyclosportive as his reason to continue to visit Lienz each summer.
(* The Dolomitenmann is a 4-man team event where the 1st team member runs up a mountain (1700 m difference in elevation), the 2nd paraglides back down to the valley (including an obligatory stop at a set point halfway down), the 3rd kayaks a marked-out slalom course for over 1 km along a river (upstream too), and the 4th rides a mountain bike 12 km along a rough track (climbing 1300 m over that distance) – so quite some event!)
This time there were 11 of us taking part in the Dolomiten Rundfahrt, all but one with racing bikes (the odd one out, on a mountain bike, being my passenger on the journey down). Four wives also travelled down, two of them bringing trekking bikes to more leisurely ride the paved off-road cycle routes in the valleys over the long weekend. The 15 people and 13 bikes were spread between 7 cars, mine being one.
Accommodation had been arranged in the same hotel as the club had used every year previously, on a hillside 1 km NE of Lienz, just near a gondel lift used in the skiing season (thus near a large parking lot) and comprised overnights with half board. All rooms had WC/shower facilities and the meals were generous (huge buffet breakfasts and good 4-to-5 course evening meals), while cost was only 32 Euro, about £28, per person per night, so very good value indeed!
Our hotel on a hillside just outside Lienz
Everybody arrived at the hotel on Thursday between 10 am and 1 pm, according to when they’d set off and how intensively they’d driven, and after unpacking and settling in, we split into 4 groups to do some training. The best 5 riders decided to ride the whole 112 km of the shorter cyclosportive route, the same route which 3 of them were to race on Sunday. Four men decided to ride more casually along the valley cycle paths with the two women with bikes, while I and another rider decided to do the last 42 km of the longer cyclosportive route but in reverse, then, on reaching the divide point in the event, return to Lienz via the last 31 km of the shorter route, making 73 km total.
Although I knew it would be difficult, I was still surprised by the 42 km in reverse direction. In this relatively short distance, we climbed about 1150 m, and descended 850 m. Most of the climbing was in three main ascents and it wasn’t so much the amount of climbing which made it hard, but the steepness. My lowest ratio is 39/26 and so I was pretty pushed when the slope was over 14%, in stretches even 18%, which it seemed to be for a good portion of the 5.5 km of the first ascent and also the middle 500 m of the second ascent.
The descents were equally steep in places, and gave me a good idea what to expect towards the end of the cyclosportive when I’d have to climb, not descend, them.
About halfway up the first ascent, just ahead of me and at an S-bend, a woman about 30 years old in hiking boots and with a small rucksack came out of a footpath through the woods and started heading up the road. I overtook the woman and not long afterwards I pulled in to the side - ostensibly to admire the view, but really because I needed a break. The woman soon appeared and we greeted each other friendlily as she strode by.
The view I 'ostensibly' admired, looking into valley SW of Lienz
I started off again, but only to find I needed another break about 1 km farther on. And soon after, the woman was there again. As she passed this time, she jokingly said “It’ll be interesting to see which of us gets to the top first” and gave me a smile. I smiled back and answered something like ‘Yes indeed’, while trying to jokily suggest it could well be a narrow decision. For me, however, it wasn’t just a joke, I knew if I stopped again it would affect my morale for the cyclosportive, so this time when I got going I made sure I didn’t stop until over the top. I waved as I went by the ‘hiking girl’.
This knowledge of the first ascent was to prove useful in the cyclosportive, when it would be the last descent.
On Friday, 9 of us did 70 km, covering the first 35 km of the cyclosportive, out and back, which was hard on the return because of a strong headwind from the west in the Drau Valley – Lienz is on the river Drau and although not daily, the strong winds in the valley, sometimes from the east other times from the west, are infamous.
The front of our group heading eastwards along the Drau valley on Friday
Later that day, we all strolled through the pedestrianised old town where there was a street market and street musicians. Half-a-dozen of us closed the evening by going to the bar on the opposite side of the square from the hotel, an apres-ski bar in winter, to enjoy a live band and good beer.
On Saturday after breakfast, a group photo was taken. Everyone dressed in the club jersey and since I didn't have one, I was loaned a jersey just for the photo. (The photo was later used in an article published in the regional newspaper back home which reported on the club's participation in the event.)
The obligatory group photo, taken at parking lot at side of hotel, with the most showy two bikes - if I remember correctly, Trek Madone and Look 595
For the rest of the day, most of us took it easy, driving up a mountain just north of Lienz and then having a casual 2-hour hike across the Alpine meadows, including a snack on the terrace of a rustic mountain hut at about 1750 m elevation.
View from the mountain hut. At the beginning, the route took us from Lienz (hidden by the trees bottom right) along the valley heading eastwards (i.e towards the left)
In the late afternoon, we then returned to Lienz and went to the registration hall to collect our start numbers, transponders, and event cycling jerseys. The jerseys were included in the entry fee of 40 Euro (£35), which is commonly the case in Austrian cyclosportives, very good value I think*. The club captain was also given, for free, a second jersey, black with the letters ‘VIP’ on the upper right front side. This was a reward of sorts, in honour of him about to do the Dolomiten Rundfahrt for the 10th time.
(* I now have 6 Austrian cyclosportive cycling jerseys, as well as 2 from Swiss cyclosportives and one from a German one. From other cyclosportives I have 3 towels, a toilet bag (full equipped when I received it), 3 T-shirts, 2 musettes, a sturdy bicycle rucksack of the type used by bicycle couriers, a beer mug with pewter lid, a wallet, and an Opinel folding knife. In addition, I have one T-shirt from the one UK sportive I’ve done.
I also have a Marmotte polo shirt, but that wasn’t included in what you received for your Marmotte entry fee; I had to buy that at the finish!)
The event jersey in the middle of a row of other jerseys acquired at different cyclosportives
Close-up of one of the VIP jerseys
My Opinel folding knife - not the sort of thing one would ever get nowadays as memento in the UK! (The pound coin indicates the knife's size)
On Saturday evening at the hotel, not only did we get the 4-course meal which every other guest received (soup, hors d’oeuvre, main course, dessert) but also the hotel provided free additional pasta dishes for us, two separate types of pasta with two different sauces. I and most others had two plates full. I also drank a 1½ litre of mineral water at the meal as my liquid pre-loading. Afterwards I felt so bursting with carbs and so fully hydrated, I had to go for an hour’s walk before ever thinking of going to bed!
On race day, as far as I was concerned, the day got off to a great start, because it was already 25 deg C by 8.30 am - not conditions that every rider might like, but they really suit me. Even so, despite the fact we’d obviously need to drink more today, it didn’t prevent one of our group being forgetful and riding to the start, in the plaza in front of the railway station in the centre of Lienz, without any water bottles. Fortunately he had time to race back to the hotel and get them. And just as well, because the temperature went on to reach over 30 deg C during the afternoon in the valley, even if for we cyclists reaching higher altitudes on the ride, it remained about 25 deg C all day.
There were three start blocks, one for the Elite and VIPs, one for those entering the Dolomiten Rundfahrt as part of a series of 4 events (like the Marmotte is one of several events in a series called La Grande Trophee), and one for the ‘rest’. The first two blocks each had 120-150 riders them, the ‘rest’ had over 1000.
In amongst the Elite, and introduced to everyone over the loudspeakers before the race, was Gerrit Glomser, Austrian profi, who once rode for the Swiss Postal, Saeco and Lampre teams, and had moderately successful placings in stages of the TdF and Vuelta, and greater success in smaller races in Switzerland and Austria (today he was to finish 12th).
Allowed into the Elite were those who finished high up last year (including one of our group, because he’d finished 20th in the short route), and also the VIPs (so including our club captain), of which there appeared to be about 10 this year.
Recognising that not all VIPs were the fastest or the fittest (I saw one VIP whose height, shape and density was reminiscent of a cricket ball), so that they wouldn’t be embarrassed in the first 20 km, the organisers also permitted VIPs to bring their own pacemakers into the Elite/VIP start block. Thereby, 4 of our group were allowed to join the club captain, meaning in total, six of our group were in the front start block.
We other five had gone down to the start early enough that although we were with the ‘rest’, we were quite far forward when the start gun went.
Start,showing about a quarter of the participants. The black jersey on the left of the front row is our club captain
The speed at the start really took me by surprise. Although I’ve taken part in many continental cyclosportives, when I think back, very few have had more than 10 km of flattish route before the first climbs, thus few ever allowed speed to be built up for any length of time. However, this one had just over 20 km to the start of the first climb and many riders were already out to make ground or at least to show their presence.
I’d say the average speed was 45-50 km/hr, with a few ‘chains’ going at close to 60 km/hr. In the first 6-7 km, it took me a while to find a group with whom I was comfortable, but eventually I tagged on to a chain riding about 48-50 km/hr. However, after about 10 km together, the pace picked up to 53-54 km/hr and I felt myself only just hanging on, as well as very concious of the approaching climb. So about 2 km further down the road, and 2 km before the start of the climb, when we passed a group going at about 46-48 km/hr, I transferred myself to them and let ‘my chain’ go.
The climb was over the pass called the Gailbergsattel, about 7 km long (350 m rise) with almost 6% average slope, 12 % for about 500m. I’d ridden it on the Friday so knew what it involved and knew I’d have no problems with it, so it surprised me how many riders were passing me - if I felt I was riding it quite well, so how come so many riders were going faster?
View back towards Lienz from start of Gailbergsattel climb
Simplified profile of Gailbergsattel climb
Riders ascending the Gailbergsattel climb
The first feed station came after about 35 km. By then we’d descended from the Gailbergsattel, and passed through the village of Kötschach. Immediately after the feed station was the start of the climb to the next pass, the Kartitscher Sattel. Simply said, this is a climb about 36 km long, with a difference in elevation of 826 m. But because, for every couple of kms the road rises, it then drops over the next few hundred metres, the profile is like a jagged saw blade and the actual amount of climbing is about 1500 m.
The profile is like this because the road isn’t in the valley itself, but partway up the mountainside on the valley’s north side, and wherever there’s a small stream running through a ravine down the mountainside, the road dips down to cross the stream, then has to recover its elevation again.
Over its 36 km length, the ascent has 18 stretches with gradients of 10% or more. About one third of these are descending down to cross a stream and one third climbing back out again. The other third are when the road simply rises in a step. These steeper stretches vary in length from about 250 m to over 1 km, and two or three of the really steeper ones in each direction are 16-18%.
Profile of Kartitscher Sattel climb
Typical stretch of road on the lower part of the climb to Kartitscher Sattel
Typical stretch of road on the lower part of the climb to Kartitscher Sattel, with riders from behind
Typical stretch of road on the lower part of the climb to Kartitscher Sattel, this time with riders from the front
Typical stretch of road on the lower part of the climb to Kartitscher Sattel, looking back down valley
Sometimes we went down to a bridge only just above a stream, other times a bridge would span a ravine, 50-100 m high above a stream*.
(* One such high bridge is the Podlanig Bridge, which we crossed about 11 km after the feed station. This is famous for having the longest swing in Europe attached beneath its span. When extended, the swing, which holds three people, harnessed in for safety, hangs 70 m down into the ravine. It apparently reaches speeds of 100 km/hr when swinging.
Podlanig Bridge from below, with swing
Swing close-up
And here is a YouTube link (at the end you can see the bridge):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LGtKyDRyl8I&feature=player_embedded#
Not long after leaving the first feed station I noticed I seemed to be riding with the same group of 8-9 people, not a homogenous group working together - the constant ups and downs prevented that - but always within 15 m of each other. The others were easy to recognise as they included 4-5 men with distinctive tricots and 3 women about 30 years old, distinctive in their ponytails and their attractiveness. Generally speaking we were moving forward in the classification, overtaking 3-4 riders for every 1 rider who passed us. One of those we overtook was our VIP club captain, the only one of the club I noticed the whole ride, losing sight of the rest within 50 m of crossing the start line.
In most of the villages along this part of the route, there were lots of spectators out to watch and cheer the riders go by. They included many families, or rather children under the guidance of adults, who had set up their own mini-feed stations. Also, next to the roadside in two villages there were brass bands playing on our behalf, in a third village a pop group, and in a fourth village a percussion group, all creating a good atmosphere.
Brass band and riders at one of the villages, from opposite roadside
Brass band and riders at one of the villages, from behind band
After about 25 km of the ascent, we came out of the constant up-and-down stretch of road and started on an ascent of over 5 km length and relatively-even slope, at first 3%, later steepening to 6%. Gradients between 3-5% really suit me, and on such gentle climbs I often find myself leaving behind riders whom I’d never normally be able to drop on the flat or on steeper gradients. And so it was this time too, and I soon found myself not just leaving my 8-9 distinctive companions behind, but also overtaking lots of other riders. I presumed many of these I passed were those who’d passed me on the Gailbergsattel, and had now run out of steam.
The long gentle climb
Then came the second feeding station, but where I didn’t stay long, not wanting to lose the advantage I’d just gained. After a long, slight descent, there followed an ascent like just before, perhaps 3 km at 5%. Not long after starting this drawn-out ascent, I found myself leading a ‘train’ of 6 riders, three who had tagged on to me when I passed them, and a trio of one woman and two men, who had came up from behind.
The slight descent after the feeding station
Everyone was happy for me to lead the whole 3 km, me too I should add, but just short of the top of the pass, the Kartitscher Sattel, at 1526 m the high point of the route, I heard the woman’s voice say, “The crest is only 300 m ahead, let’s go”, and I was overtaken first by her and her escorts, and then by the other three riders hanging on to them. This bothered me a little, that they’d wanted to claim the ‘mountain points’ after being towed so far, but on the other hand, I felt I’d probably soon catch them all - I consider myself a good and fast descender, without being reckless.
I passed the three individual riders very quickly, within the first km of the 7.5 km descent (550 m drop), but it wasn’t until we were about three-quarters the way down, on the only two or three fairly generous (i.e. not very tight) hairpins of the descent, that I passed first the woman, then her two escorts.
A generous hairpin on descent from Kartitscher Sattel
At the bottom of the pass, where our route joined the main road through the Puster Valley, there was the third feeding station, sooner than it was supposed to be by 5-6 km according to the organiser’s route map and rather too quickly after the previous one I felt - only 15 km later, half of which was descent. Nonetheless I had to pull in briefly to top up with water, and as I did so, the trio went by without stopping.
I wasn’t too far back though and within a km was able to attach myself to them. As the road then descended slightly, about 100 m over the next 3 km, we were soon at nearly 60 km/hr. However, after not long the divide point loomed up ahead and, as I eased up for the sharp turn off to the right, the trio kept on going at speed. I took mental note of their start numbers, so I could see when they finished*, and therefore when I might have, had I done the short route.
(* The trio finished in a little over 4 hours, so that would have been about my time had I continued with them. This placed them just over halfway down the field. Coincidentally, three others in our group finished the short route in times between about 4-00 and 4-15 as well. Our best two riders took about 3-20, our slowest, the club captain, took a few mins under 5 hours.)
I turned on to the long route, which first did an easy 1 km long half-circle sweep to go through an underpass beneath the main Puster Valley road. Here I passed an Italian couple in black, he resembling Guardiola, the 38-year old FC Barcelona manager. And then the road went right into an 18% climb - what a contrast it made compared to the 60 km/hr speeds I’d had only seconds ago!
After about 700 m I found it so hard, I pulled to the side for about a minute, for a break. It wasn’t just the gradient; the sun was beating down on my back, and the road was so enclosed by a cliff face on one side and trees on the other that there seemed to be no air.
While I stopped, Guardiola, Signora Guardiola, and a tall lanky man went by me, so I felt I’d better continue. I soon caught Signora G, then passed Signor G who’d pulled to the side to wait for his missus, and as I approached the top of this stiff 1.5 km climb, I passed the lanky guy too. As I went by, he said to me “È molto difficile!” and I answered, in German, ‘Yes, it is very hard’. How right we were!
View of the hillside of the longer route. The valley road just after the third feeding station is seen middle left. The longer route left this road about the middle of the photo, went up past the village with the visible church (near top of left fir trees), then later, after a small descent, even higher (to about where the fields become forest)
After passing through a village (the one with the church mentioned above), the route continued to rise for another 2 km, but now only at about 5%. When I reached another village, where it was fairly level for a couple of hundred metres, I passed a man on a mountain bike and he said to me, ’I wonder why so few participants are doing this longer route’. I replied, ‘Well maybe it’s not so surprising given that first climb, and with supposedly similar to come’. Whether he agreed with me or not, he still looked disappointed that there were now so few of us on the road. (Later I found out, of the about 1350 finishers, only 16% did this long route.)
I left the mountain-biker behind as we descended slightly for 4 km, then at the bottom I crossed a bridge with a wooden deck (one of several along the whole route, probably a bit treacherous in wet weather), turned sharp left and started right into another 18% climb.
The sudden contrast gave me problems again, and this time I only got about 500 m up the road before I decided I needed a break. This time I pulled over for about 2 mins, and watched first the mountain-biker go by, riding something like 22/34 as opposed to my 39/26, then Guardiola, who had a compact, so was perhaps riding 34/26. Eitherway, he looked very comfortable - as opposed to Signora G who now appeared. She looked like she was struggling more than me, although it must be said for her, unlike me, she never stopped.
Before the Signora reached me, I set off again and after nearly another 2 km the mountain-biker, Guardiola and me were together as we came out of the really steep bit of the climb, at a sharp right bend. Signor G stopped again to wait for his woman, while I was able to drop the mountain-biker now that the slope for the next km was only about 3%.
The road then undulated for about 4 km before dropping at 10% for another 4 km, to begin the last climb. I remembered from my ride in the opposition direction on Thursday that this wouldn’t be as steep as those I’d just done, so I felt the worst was over, and I was correct. The climb was 5 km long rising 250 m and comprising three 8-10% sections with flatter stretches between. Before I even started the climb, from the preceeding descension, up ahead I could see half-a-dozen or more riders, including two in red jerseys and three in white.
In the distance, view of the lower part of the last climb, photo taken from the descent before the last climb. The last feeding station was just past where the road goes out of sight
The last feed station was halfway up the last climb, just before the second steeper stretch of this climb (and 8 km later than the organiser’s route map suggested) and when I reached it I found out the red jerseys belonged to two cheerful, talkative and somewhat-rounded Italians who were intent on having lots of photos taken with the stunning view in the background. The white jerseys left the feed station just as I arrived.
I only wanted drink, so quickly had a couple of plastic beakers of Coke and had a volunteer at the feed station fill one of my practically empty bottles - I wouldn’t need two full ones for what remained – and then I set off again, turning down not just the food but also the free beer the feed station had (unlike a couple of others there, who were clearly enjoying this offer).
I joined the riders in white at the end of the second steeper stretch and slowed to their pace for the last bit of the climb, so we did the third steeper part together. One seemed to say he was having cramp problems and that the other two were hanging back for him, but as we approached the final crest, they appeared to purposely make an effort to get over it and into the descent before me. I said ‘Don’t think you can escape me, I’m going to leave you behind on the descent’ - but only to myself, of course. It's over a decade since I had a racing licence, but the competitive spirit never dies!
I felt fairly confident about overtaking them, the descent was long enough - 5.5 km with almost 600 m drop. But I also wanted to open enough margin so that, when I reached the 3.5 km flat run-in to the finish line at Lienz, the three in white wouldn’t be able to catch me. I reckoned, in order to guarantee this, I needed 40 secs lead on them by the time I reached the valley.
As I went over the crest, one whitey was already over 100 m down the descent and the other two were about 50 m ahead of me. I bided my time at first, while we went through a couple of bends, just closing the gap to 10-20 m. But after 1 km, when we entered a 500 m long straight, I let fly. I went very wide of the two whiteys as I passed, 6-8 m to their side, at I’d guess 10 km/hr faster than they were travelling. For a moment, one tried to latch on to me, but then gave up either because the gap was too large too quickly or his mate hadn’t followed.
Meanwhile, the front whitey had opened the gap to about 200 m, but now I’d picked up speed, it didn’t take me long to reach him. By the time we’d covered 2 km from the crest I was within 5-10 m of him, and stayed there a moment. Then came the next long straight, again about 500 m long, the 18% where I’d stopped a couple of days ago ostensibly ‘to admire the view’.
I remembered from my toiling up on Thursday that at the end of this straight was the longish S-bend where the ‘hiking girl’ had appeared out of the woods. I felt if I could get sufficiently ahead before the bend, and especially if front whitey didn’t know the road (meaning he’d perhaps be over-cautious with his breaking around the bend), I’d be able to get free. So at that point I accelerated and whizzed by him, which I suspect was a surprise to him (I don’t think he knew I was on his tail).
I glanced at my tacho as I went by him; it was at 75 then 80 km/hr, but then I had to watch the road again. I imagine we were both going about 70 km/hr before I passed and that I was easily up into the mid-80s before I had to slow for the S-bend.
As I came out of the bends, I bumped up the speed again and soon, without looking back, I sensed there was a big gap behind me, and knew I was away.
I kept on going, as fast as I safely could, for the remaining 2.5 km of descent and then reached the T-junction in the Puster Valley. It was all flat for the remaining 3.5 km, and unfortunately there was the infamous strong valley headwind, this time coming from the east. I turned into it and tried to keep a nice steady pace despite it, 34 km/hr. Here I passed a few riders who were doing the short route but towards the back of their field.
The last 500 m were in the old part of the town and closed off, with barriers to prevent spectators straying across the road – although, since over 90% of riders doing the short route and over 80% of riders doing the long route had already finished, there weren’t any longer huge numbers of spectators, like I later heard had earlier been the case.
As I approached the line, I heard my name shouted out loud and clear, so loud it must have been audible all over Lienz. It was from the wife of one of our group; she’d purposely hung around to greet me, after the rest of our group had arrived and then gone off to shower. When I finally came to a stop, she came running up to hug me. For such a reception, I was of course very pleased and thankful!
The run-in the the finish line at Lienz
A short while after, the three whiteys appeared, the first 1 min 10 secs back, the other two 1 min 30 secs back, so I’d more comfortably achieved my aim to out-distance than I expected.
Finally, I then went off to shower and then on to the after-the-event pasta party, where I joined the others and enjoyed lots of free food and free well-deserved beer.
The best overall placing in our group was 16th in the long route, by the guy who’d finished 20th in the short route last year, while 5 riders achieved good placings in their respective age categories. My passenger on the car journey down, however, ended up in hospital. He went to the medics at the first feed station complaining of stomach pains, and they had him delivered to hospital. Nothing amiss could apparently be found but as a precaution, he was kept in for 36 hours. This meant he didn’t travel back with me next morning, but with another driver who was staying down in Lienz for a couple of days after the race.
The statistics read:
- on the 112 km short route, 1134 finishers and 43 DNFs, times between 2 hrs 55 mins and 6 hrs 40 mins
- on the 123 km long route, 218 finishers and no DNFs, times between 3 hrs 40 mins and 6 hrs 34 mins
- apparently about 130 riders registered for the long route but then on the day chose to do the short route instead
- there were about 140 DNSs (so almost 10% of those who registered and paid in advance)
Overall, I’d recommend this cyclosportive to anyone, like I’d recommend half-a-dozen other continental cyclosportives I’ve done, for their organisation, route, atmosphere and/or value for money.
But for Brits, I’d probably recommend this cyclosportive more than some others, because I think the route with its steep short climbs would suit Brits better than the very long not-quite-so-steep climbs which some of the other Alpine cyclosportives have.
Finally here’s three homemade videos of the event (from the footage, it looks like the riders did the short route):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oex2pMOoEeM&feature=fvsr
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kJkKFcgZlfQ
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KiF0knnewFw&feature=related
and here’s a link to a someone’s profile GPS tracking of the short route. He makes the distance a couple km less than the event claims to have, but calculates the total climbing as a lot more, 5440 m as against 1850 m. He’s surely made a mistake!
(If he hasn't, this huge difference can only be explained from the GPS equipment measuring every little bump, and is why one should be wary of events and riders who speak of routes having x-1000 m of climbing based on their Garmins!):
http://www.gpsies.com/map.do?fileId=vozudifprymzggaf
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P.S. Since this event, I’ve done my 20th mass-start, timed, continental cyclosportive - in Bulle, Switzerland - and there acquired yet another event cycling jersey, this time also with matching bib shorts.
I’ve also done my second UK sportive - the Gore BikeWear Sportive at Ruthin, North Wales - and there acquired yet another event T-shirt!
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