The Alpentour started, as I have forgotten with Austrian marathons, at a rather rapid pace. The start was neutralised with a lead vehicle – which just meant that it was the same old road bunch craziness but with a speed limit. Avoiding coming off In the pre-start hustle, the gun finally went a few k’s out, where I found myself a little outclassed. It was difficult to establish a rhythm with the opposite to my normal “better looking for it than at it” strategy, but I did take comfort in the fact that a lot of the fast dudes were struggling on basic rooted sections.
Nearing the top of the first (and largest) berg, I was reminded of the height we were riding at as we entered the fog (perhaps metaphorically as well) as my physical capability suffered a bit of an altitude de-rate. As could only happen in an Austrian marathon, there was a classic Oom pah band at the Berghoff on top of the first major climb. Descending the stairs after it, and the race was back on – typically Austrian again with a ski-slope style descent. As the race progressed I was regretting my optimistic positioning (for my current form) at the start, with the net flow of passing not going in my favour.
The next descent allowed me to reel a few riders in, but it appeared that each time the terrain changed a bit with a slight uphill I would loose the group I had tacked onto. I realised at this point that I was a little understocked with food supplies, but somehow I convinced myself that it was not long enough to warrant a lengthy stop at a feed station to get myself sorted. Pretty silly really given that it was precisely a good feeding strategy that made my previous marathon at Llandovery a success.
Austrian marathons are hilly things, so naturally dipping along the valley floor could only last so long, and I was glad to hit up a massive never-ending chute style descent back down to Schladming. Hitting the final climb, I expended the last gel, not too bad I thought given that home was just a short climb and descent away. Hitting the top and cruising through last feed zone, then seeing the 10 km sign I was convinced it was an easy roll home. Then the course turned up another massive mountain. I was very much regretting not taking on food or looking after myself at this point, and began to sink backwards again. Fortunately Schladming’s downhill course appeared and I was able to regain some respectability by scaring the Euro’s in front by scratching the rear tyre on the corners. I even managed to draft the guy in front who was pretty keen on sprinting to the finish. I didn’t attempt to win it, but it did gain me a couple of seconds.
At the end of the day I ended up in 76th position, with team mate Mike Blewitt in a similar situation in 81st.. So I’m now sitting here pretty sore – I had forgotten how punishing a European marathon can be with the sheer volume of climbing. At least tomorrow is shorter!
Check out Mikes view on things at the MarathonMTB.com Race Team site