Having taken a few weeks off, away from races, the Salzkammergut Trophy was marked as a return to competition. And about time too – why else would I be in Europe in summer if not to race my mountain bike? The Salzkammergut Trophy is based out of Bad Goisern, in the Dachstein holiday region, east of Salzburg. The course is by and large in the mountains around the Hallstatter See. They are steep mountains, riddled with hiking paths, salt mines, ski runs, forests and enthusiastic cycling fans. The steep walls of the mountains make a stunning amphitheater for a bike race.
Having arrived on Thursday evening, I was under no illusions that the hills would be testing. With the ‘B Strecke’ having almost 3900m climbing in 119.5km, I could only expect to be chewing the stem on the climbs. Rainy weather on Thursday and Friday started to clear, but grey skies did not hinder the mood in town. By Friday afternoon the centre of Bad Goisern was full of excitement with thousands of Mountain Bike Marathon fans filling the old town – not to mention a huge beer tent, sounds system, and a great Expo of bike related product.
With over 4000 entrants, this is a big race. Europe doesn’t lack for marathon races, and the Salzkammergut Trophy is part of many series. As such, there is a strong contingent of Austrian, Hungarian, Czech, Slovakian, Italian, German, British, Polish and some Australians. The race also has a host of VIP entrants. For 2011 it included Gary Fisher (competing in the B Strecke – ‘Classic’) and Roberto Heras (entering the the 210km behemouth). Their demeanour at dinner on Friday was quite opposite. Heras left early, as he had a 5am start. Gary Fisher stayed longer, downed some beers and was continually engaged in conversation with all guests.
Saturday dawned crisp and clear, as Vaughan Caseley (of MTB Villars fame, guest rider for MarathonMTB.com) drove to the start from our accommodation in Hagan Lodge. The start blocks weren’t too bad. The preferential start pen was carefully monitored, and we continually saw riders being ejected who had tried to sneak in.
Ignoring a nervous pee, I spent the time chatting to a Dutch rider, Leander, about the race and what we expected. Soon enough, then gun went off and away we went. Typical start, withthe flow generally being up the side but backwards down the middle. The road went up and a split started to go. I managed to bridge across to the front group of about 20, but this only lasted maybe a kilometre before I wished I had a Gruber Assist to stay on. A few of us dagged off the back as we lead into the 10km start climb.
Rain had made some of the rocky climbs pretty slippery, and a high cadence was required to keep 2×10 gears moving. The 1500m high point finally came around and we started descending. A long singletrack descent with a whole lot of slippery chutes lead us to the infamous Salzkammergut Trophy photo, where you ride through tunnels and a rock cutting. More downhill and back into the valley, and a group started to compress on the valley biketrail and singletrack.
Not content to ride at a group speed, I made sure to hit the next lot of singletrack in front, and enough forcing of the pace created a gap. Blasting the false flat upstream towards the lake was pure fun. It was a bit of a surprise to see a naked guy riding towards me on his town bike, ringing his bell (take that how you will) and yodeling. It was great amusement to alleviate the pain of seeing a 70km to go sign. Looping around the lower part of the lake, it’s hard not to be distracted by the idyllic scenery. But that’s part of marathon racing – the amazing places it can take you.
Climbing out of Hallstat was some kind of torture. A super steep wide walking path lead up the side of a mountain. I joked with one of the guys I caught that it was bloody hard and I was glad it was over. But the worst was yet to come. As you ascend further, you pass salt mines, and the forest road becomes sealed – so it would get steeper. I flicked the Garmin to gradient. I unclipped at 28%, and wasn’t too surprised to see it hit 37%, as I groveled upwards in the sun, searching for traction with MTB races shoes on bitumen. But it didn’t get easy from the top. A quick schotter bomb downhill and we were climbing again. I checked the course profile – we had about 5 km of climbing, to gain the next 500m. My bidon was almost empty and I only had one gel left in my pocket. That’s bad.
Suffering in the heat and from the effort so far, I really had to back off. People who I had ridden away from around the lake now started to catch me. About three from that group came by, followed by two more as we finally crested the climb. The next feed was still distant, so I did what I could to maintain focus down the blindingly fast schotter descent. I virtually dumped the bike at the next feed and guzzled fluid. The last 15km probably did some lasting damage.
Marathon hurt had begun. I was now 4 hours in, and I’d dug a bit deep without replenishing properly. The sun beat down, my bike complained, and I still lost a couple more places. Not happy. Finally, I realised I didn’t want to be out there for six hours. With 30km to go it was time to dig, and time to hurt. not time to throw my chain inside the litte ring and bottom bracket shell, a place it seems to enjoy.
Back on it, and it was a case of finding what pace I could barely maintain, and drill it. I regained a couple of places, but not enough. The last 10km into town were dragging out, but gratefully involved little climbing. Some more traffic as the shorter courses all finish the same way, and I was coming into Bad Goisern, but the timing didn’t look favourable. I crossed, certain it was over 6 hours. The Garmin said as much.
Drinking, eating, showering – they never feel as good as they do post race. It has been a while since my last post-race sausage fest shower. Not too long, just a while.
Back in the centre and waiting for Vaughan to finish, it was great to see the elation in all the people who crossed the line. The winner of the 210km race finished while I was cleaning myself up. His time of 10:24 was super fast, yet still 14minutes of the course record held by Thomas Dietsch.
The Salzkammergut Trophy is an amazing race in a stunning region. Like most big European Marathons, it is run through the Tourist Office. The bonus here is that the town wants you to be there. You are not on the periphery of a small country town. Businesses are open at convenient times (fruhstuck from 4am!) and accommodation packages are plentiful. You will never see more helpful teenagers than those helping at a European Marathon. That’s a fact!
So, having done the 119.5km course, by all accounts the Chicken Run, perhaps 2012 is the year of the 210km? Who’s with me?
Full results are available online. And yes, Vaughan beat Gary. It was close though.