Today’s report from stage 4 of the Craft Bike Transalp 2011, from Brixen to San Vigilio
Will’s day
Where to start with today? It was memorable for a number of reasons, not all of them good.
Week-long stage races are not very kind on the body at the best of times. If you aren’t feeling great and continue to push yourself hard, they are even less forgiving. As the queen stage of this year’s Craft Bike Transalp, with over 3,500m of climbing, and most of it up around 2,000m altitude, this was not a day on which to feel under par. Unfortunately however, today the man with the hammer came for Lio with a vengeance.
We got over the first monster climb OK. Then came a series of smaller climbs, the last one of which was a real belter – about a kilometer at gradients reaching 39 degrees, we learned from someone else’s Garmin. By this time, Lio was already having trouble getting the legs and heart going, and was walking, along with 98% of the other riders. I had a bit of fun seeing if I could ride the whole lot, which I did manage in the end, but it was one of those climbs where you’re in the smallest gear you have, heart rate soaring, barely able to keep the front wheel down and retain some sort of forward motion. Fun in a sick kind of way.
There was a great singletrack descent from the top, with plenty of amusingly befuddled Euros either walking or skittering down on their bikes with a foot down.
The final climb, in true Transalp style, started out on the road, then turned to gravel fire-road, but then turned into another real stinker of a steep climb towards the top, and it truly seemed to go on for ever. Finally we made it onto the last descent of the day down into San Vigilio, for a 7.5 hour day and a rather lowly place.
Overall it was a truly epic day in terms of scenery as well as in terms of effort – we made the transition from the Zillertaler Alps into the Dolomites today, and were rewarded with steep-sided valleys and rows of dramatic rocky peaks, many with snow on.
Now that we’re settled down for the evening, the messages that Lio’s body are giving him are not great – feeling cold, looking somewhat pale, and unable to get the heart-rate going. At the same time though, he remains admirably chirpy – you can’t get a good man down. No doubt he’ll give his own view, but we’re going to see just how restorative a good night’s sleep can be.
Lio’s day
The scenery was amazing, very impressive, and downhill was a lot of fun. I am afraid everything else was pure pain. I woke up feeling sick, my face look like a boxer, swollen eyes, pain in the lung muscles. I couldn’t sleep properly, my body hasn’t recovered. You need deep sleep to repair muscles, day 2 we pushed it hard, our time in 4h40 was very good. Day 3 the sign of a poor recovery showed up, I guess 5 hours under cold rain and walking into fresh snow didn’t help.
At this time today I feel cold, my body sending signs of deep fatigue. It is a shame as I can’t ride at my true level for two days, but this is a part of the race and a part of the sport. I have done crazy stuff in my life, pushing it far sometimes, it seems this time is not my time. I probably got a cold when we had the puncture after that long climb in the snow at 2600m. Will has been once more amazing and basically spent the whole day waiting for me, pushing and pulling, encouraging. As Will said we learn a bit everyday about each other and I can tell you this man has rare quality, team spirit friendship and sacrifice. He was up for a great classification this year, probably top 40 again, but we both know it won’t happen now. Still, he’s enjoying himself uphill and downhill. Thank you Will!
Anyway the plan is to go to bed and find out tomorrow how I feel.