Earlier this week we heard from Tim Bateman about some of the choices that need to be made when planning for a paired Stage Race – in this case, the Craft Bike TransAlp. With your hotels booked, you need to make sure you and your bike are ready.
Preparing for TransAlp (or similar Stage Races) – Part 2 Bike choices and Event planning
Following on from Part 1 … you are entered in TransAlp, have bike and travel insurance, licenses and lodging all sorted. What considerations must one put into bike choice, tyres and pre event acclimatisation?
Given the statistics of the TransAlp route, namely approx 20,000m of climbing over 8 days, it is no real surprise that hardtails feature most prominently. The trail encompasses all surfaces from asphalt, TA’s beloved schotter (gravel to us Anglophiles), double track, waldweg (literally forest path, closest in translation to singletrack), Radweg (bike path) and the dreaded Hike-A-Bike sections. There are relatively small amounts of technical riding, and when it is techy, it could be a bit of a Euro lycra clad walking conga line, even towards the front of the field. The simple fact is that it only takes a simple dab from someone in front of you, and you will end up walking some parts, especially early in the stages before the time gaps open up. The nature of the course isn’t too extreme as it has to be relatively safe for the 1000+ participants.
It's not all single track, but that doesn't make it easy! A rider descends from Dos Radond. © CRAFT BIKE TRANSALP powered by NISSAN/Peter Musch
This helps nullify any real advantage of a dually. The climbing tends to be made challenging by it’s gradient or length, not so much a series of difficult rock step-ups like the Convict 100 course of just last week. So both times I have ridden a hardtail, as have most of the field around me. Yet Mike Blewitt of MarathonMTB.com is one person that comes to mind who has chosen a Scott Spark as his weapon of choice. Even 80mm old SID World Cups with the spindly 28 mm stanchions have been good since their lack of weight makes a nice light bike easy to achieve. On the whole 100mm forks would be dominant. My memory of TA 2010 reminds me of one bone jarring 1000m descent over rocky trails including a path through a carless gipsy village somewhere in Italy, but on the whole there are few times I wanted a dually. A light bike is great but it has to withstand 8 hard days of racing with minimal servicing. So perhaps keep the über lightweight parts at home ? Still, that won’t stop some crazy Euro using a Tune Speedneedle saddle!
But the last time I rode Transalp was in 2010 … Just on the cusp of the explosion of 29ers into the Euro marathon fields. Judging by the latest pictures from the Cape Epic and last years TransAlp the 29er is definitely here. So the real question now is 26” or 29” hardtail … If you do take a 29er pay careful attention to your gearing as even 26” MTBs with triples are very common. The climbs can be steep and sustained! Hardtails are also great as they easily accept two bottle cages.
Tyres present another challenge to the Stage Race participant. Keep in mind that stage races are team events, and the best performance of a team is achieved when the two riders can easily ride within each other’s capabilities over the course of 8 days. When both team members are really putting in, the last thing you want is to have your team mate waiting by the side of the road as you fix a puncture in one of your 400g tyres while watching hordes of Euros stream on by – on the descent or a climb you’ve both just busted yourselves to crest in good position. Consider the stage race as 8 marathons in a row – would you be confident in your current tyres?
The Maxxis Ikon is the tyre of choice for the Subaru-MarathonMTB.com Team. Find something you trust!
The last thing you want is the worry about the life expectancy of your current tyres. Plus swapping tyres of an evening, post stage, carries additional stress the next morning when a tyre hasn’t beaded properly. This also eats out of your recovery time. For this reason I think the lightest UST tubeless tyre in your favourite tread is the best choice. In 2010 I rode with Schwalbe Racing Ralph and Rocket Ron EVO combination. After a rear flat the Ralph came off to be replaced with a UST Crossmark from the Maxxis rep in the race caravan. A nagging doubt over the front Rocket Ron saw me replace that with a Monorail also in UST. Light race tyres in a stage race are now just not worth the risk and stress for me!
One other consideration of your preparation is acclimatisation. TA 2007 saw searing 35 degree Celsius temps the whole week. If you are travelling direct from Australia the shock from winter to immediate summer takes some adjustment. Your body sweats a lot more suddenly, coupled with some elevation for good effect too. My team mate Graeme (aka Biscuit) and I both suffered hugely on our respective first days of Euro racing with cramps. I had arrived a week early to tackle the famous Dolomiti Superbike (DSB) in the Val Pusteria region of the Südtirol in North Italy. During DSB I experienced quad cramps unlike any I had ever experienced. Likewise, Graeme suffered similarly on day 1 of TA 2007.
With this in mind I ideally recommend arrival up to one week earlier. This lets you recover from the travel, build your bike in a state of relative calm (provided it has survived the journey), do some training rides with your team mate to get the systems all working again, and adapt to the summer conditions. Rehydration following travel and the exposure to warmer weather is important.
Keep up the training, ideally with your team mate, the next article will address the dreaded start box!