While my partner and I were racing the TransRockies last year we talked to several of the original organizers of the mountain bike Bike-TransAlp from Europe. We had heard about the road version of this classic race the year before, and knew that there was a good possibility that they could assist us in getting an entry. We had had such a good time racing the mountain bike version as a group of four with supporting driver that we thought why not expand the idea and bring over a larger group. In November our plans came true when we secured 10 entries. Since then we have been training hard, while looking forward to a wicked week of riding.I have never attended a road race before, so this is quite jump into the deep end. This year’s version is the 4th annual and is 880 km. long with almost 18,000 m. of elevation gain. It traverses through some of the major passes of the Alps, and visits portions of several classic Giro d’Italia stages. Our start location is in Germany and in general the course rolls south and east through the Alps to finish in Northern Italy on the east edge of the Dolomiti just north of beautiful Lake Garda.
We are all approaching this week with significant trepidation. For many this is their first road race, and for others their first attempt at a multi-day tour. A few have some history of road racing, but to remember the lessons learned requires a very deep reach into distant memories. Whatever the past history, the week is sure to bring a quick education. Two days in particular bring out a cold sweat on my brow.
Day 5 traverses a 118km route from Naturns to Livigno in Italy. In between there is 3600 m of elevation to climb including the Stilfserjoch or Stelvio pass, the highest pass in the eastern Alps.
Stelvio is an intimidating beast. The approach to the pass displays the entire 24.5 km., 1850 m climb including its 49 switchbacks in its entirety. Can we say “mess with your mind?” This winter I found this website that describes the difficulty of a climb in numeric terms. The formula is (H/D*100)*4 + H2/D + D/1000). My local mountain Cypress comes out with a difficulty of 76, Stelvio has a difficulty of 194! Ouch!!!!!Follow this day up with Day 6, a 181 km day that climbs not one, not two, but five major passes. Four have a difficulty comparable to Cypress, and the middle one Passo Gavia climbs 1400 m over 26 km.
Uli Stanciu says “It is not only the master route of this race, it's also the toughest stage of all Jeantex-TOUR-Transalps ever: almost 181 kilometers and a difference in altitude of 3,770 meters - that will command respect even from the best.” .Welcome to our nightmare. Stay tuned for regular updates.
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