Maratona Dles Dolomites
With the wheels set in motion, our trip to take on the Maratona Dles Dolomites on Sun 1 July was on. Pete’s organisation was on a par with the Royal Wedding, so all that remained was for us to get on our bikes – have a valid passport (enough said!) - and go……..
We flew to Munich on Friday 29 June and had a 5 hr car transfer to La Villa, the starting spot for the Sportive.
Sat 30 June: As the norm, I was oblivious to the scale of the event until registration – 13,000 competitors had signed up and the village was swarming with riders! We even got our picture taken with Big Mig!
With our bikes built, we didn’t set off on our warm up loop until 3pm in the afternoon – largely due to me having put on new cleats and them not fitting my pedals! So after a frantic trip to the bike shop and skinned of 110 Euros for new pedals (priceless for peace of mind!) - we were off! 55km Sella Ronda loop taking on the first half of the Maratona course in reverse – Pso Gardena, Sella, Pordoi and Campolongo. Breathtaking scenery with rocky mountains and the sun shining, we were happy rolling up and up and up, with smooth, pot-hole free tarmac on the twisting descents – fantastic!
After Vicky experiencing some technical issues (Boy – I will not shame you with the details!) and another visit to the bike shop for a compatible rear cassette, we didn’t get back until 8pm – perhaps not the best preparation in retrospect!!!
Sun 1 July – the Big Day. 5am breakfast – struggling to spoon down some cereal. 5.30 am rolling down the hill to the start up pen. Vicky and I were together in our pen, with Pete in the next category somewhere down the hill. The whole town was a sea of bikes tightly crammed and waiting excitedly for the start. The helicopter buzzing overhead and the pumping beat of the music all added to the magnitude of the event and our excitement. I was surprised to see many foreign competitors looking like Teletubbies in all in one white plastic suits – it was 16 degrees at 6am in the morning for goodness sake – I was already peeling off my arm-warmers and standing in my jersey and shorts!
At last the countdown was announced and after a slow moving 10 minute start, we had crossed over the timing mat and were off. We steadily snaked in the peloton up the valley to Corvara among the masses. Then it was up the Campolongo (1875m), Pordoi (2239m), Sella (2244m) and Gardena (2121m) passes. Thoroughly enjoyable and a beautiful ride! It was pleasantly warm and the first loop was completed in good time (about 3 and a half hours.) Vicky and I lost each other after a while – as expected, but we were surrounded at all times with other cyclists and there was a good sense of camaraderie. I was concerned about the descents with so many people, but the crowds did disperse and I found myself with plenty of room on the long downhills. So, before I knew it, I was back in Corvara and riding up the Campolongo again to take on the more challenging 2nd 83km loop – I was less than half way!!!! By now it was getting extremely hot and I was aghast to see the temperature was reading 38 degrees - I was in meltdown as I began the most daunting of the 7 climbs – the Giau (2236 m with an average of 10% gradients for 10km!!!!). As I began to climb I was seriously doing a mental check – are you breathing ok, is your heart racing, are you feeling dizzy? I was acutely aware that temperatures like this could kill your average Scottish person and I did not want to be that statistic! However, with mental medical check in place I carried on up – what else is there to do? And I do live for a challenge!!! What I wasn’t prepared for was burning feet – unless you have experienced this it is difficult to describe how agonisingly painful this is. Obviously due to intense heat my feet had swollen up inside my shoes and every time I pressed down on the pedals it was like stepping on hot coals. With 3km to the summit I was at the point of tears when I heard, “Come on Lee from Glasgow, it’s not far now, you can do it!”. My guardian angel had appeared in the form of a fellow Scot called Lawrence Clark. I’ve never met him before, but I’ll never forget him – he rode side by side chatting to me and trying to take my mind off the pain. Without him, I think I would have walked up just to take the pressure off the pedals. At the summit, I got my shoes and socks off, poured water over them and another bottle over myself – I have never been so hot in all my life! (Pete said his temp gauge went to over 40 degrees!!!). After a long stop at the rest station, fuelled up and feet reluctantly secured back on the pedals, I was wheeling down to the last main climb – the Passo Falzarego/Valporola (2117 m with 16.5km of climbing still to be done!). My feet were still so acutely sore, I even had to stop on the descents just to take the pressure off and on the slow climb up, I was hogging myself to the tree-lined shade just to get out of the sun. However, our Scots are made of strong stuff and quitting is not in my nature. It was a relief to wheel into La Villa again, but unfortunately I still had another 4km ascent back to Corvara for the finish. This was agonisingly slow – despite the legs being ok under the circumstances, the feet were exploding and it was stop/ start despite being so close to the end. At last, I was riding up the finishing gantry and it was all over! Instead of being exhilarated, all I could think about was getting into the shade and getting my feet into a cold stream! I can honestly say it was the most difficult day I’ve ever had on my bike and probably ever will – 138 kms with over 4000 metres of vertical ascent in 8hrs 32 mins in a searing 38 degrees+ heat – not your average 86 miles day out! I can honestly say there was not one piece of flat on the whole course! Vicky arrived in literally minutes after me, she too had been in a whole world of pain with the heat and her back – we probably missed each other at the last food station, which was a pity as we could both have done with some moral support on the last section home. Pete arrived in a while later – he had his own demons on the Giau after attacking it full on in the early stages (never to be underestimated!!). Arriving back at the hotel, I could honestly have packed the bike away….but our adventures had only just begun!
Mon 2 July: Despite the previous day’s exploits, we decided just to get on with our plans. So, driving over to Arabba, we were back on the bike and completed the Passo Fedaia (Marmoloda loop). It was spectacular riding up the gorge but the Passo Fedaia was a hard shift – 2057 km, 14.1km, max 18% with very hard 3km halfway never below 12% and gaining 1056m!
Tuesday 3 July: Drove to Cortina d’Ampezzo and did the Tre Croci (1805m), a pleasant climb with nothing overly arduous. I wish I could say the same for the Tre Cime di Lavaredo (2,320m, Max 19% with a tough final 4km average 11-14%.) For me, this was the hardest climb of them all. Out of the 8km ascent, I swear I was probably out of the seat for 6km and the front wheel was nearly off the ground!!!! Pete informs us that this will be in next year’s Giro D’Italia.
Wednesday 4 July: Having driven to Austria after yesterday’s biking, we were now ready to take on the Grosglockner HochalpenstraBe (Y shaped double summit on Austria’s No1 mountain and home to the largest glacier, the Pastereze). It was a beautiful day and my favourite day of the holiday. Leaving from Heiligenblut, we arrived at the Hoctor summit (2504m) after a steady 10% grinding, to discover that the Tour of Austria was about to pass through within the hour – great excitement ensued. We had enough time to proceed on to the Fuscher Torl (2,428m) and finish on the Edelweisspitze (2571m) which was a very steep ascent on cobbles to the summit. We returned to the Fuscher Torl to await the tour – by now the team cars had arrived, the helicopters were in the air and the roads were closed. It was refreshing to see the front riders looking suitably knackered reaching the summit and the peloton did not pass for another 15 – 20 mins after them. After a quick lunch, we then had to descend 18km and begin the ascent to the Kaiser Franz Joseph Hohe (2,369m). Sadly, the glacier itself is diminishing rapidly. However, more excitement was to come with the appearance of a marmot and her babies. A mammoth day out!
Thursday 5 July: Pete, the task master, actually allowed for a rest/travel day to Bormio. We actually felt more knackered after 5hrs of driving!
Friday 6 July: Stelvio Pass loop from Bormio (southside), encompassing both sides with a quick ascent into Switzerland. After lunch and coming back over the northside (2758m), we had been cycling up the valley for 10km before we even reached bend 49 (very daunting sight!!!). Steadily we continued up the 21.9km beast of a climb, snaking around the hairpins and trying not to look up! Vicky caught up with me on bend 20 and announced, “Lee, why do you insist on pushing a big gear!” As far as I was aware I was in the lowest gear – but I was in 3rd ( 23!!!) and had been all day! We stopped to try and screw the derailleur and even phoned Boy for some advice, but the chain would not move – even when we lifted it manually. So, I was forced to continue up 20 more hairpins with Vicky shouting encouragement as fatigue and fury ensued!!! (I was fine before I knew I wasn’t in the lowest gear!!!!) Miraculously, I made it, although a few expletives were used that day! Even more surprisingly, the bike shop in Bormio was still open at 7pm on a Friday night!! It appeared that my right hand cable had sheared, so nothing we could have done would have made a blind bit of difference. On the way out the shop, I asked the mechanic, “Tomorrow we do the Mortirolo – will I make it on a 27? “ He smiled and said, “Today, you do Stelvio both sides in 23 – no problem!” So, I rolled down the hill to our hotel having confidence in our last big challenge!
Saturday 7 July: Passo del Mortirolo (aka Foppa) from Westside Mazzo (1852m, 12,5km, 1300m gain, avg 10.5% max 18%). I had been dreading this climb and knew this would be a challenge, so took on my usual tortoise and hare approach. To be honest, I was bored on this climb as it was single track and in the forest, so there was nothing to see. Had a hairy moment between bend 23 and 22 when there was a car behind me and a tractor coming towards me. The ground was wet and as it was very steep I was out of my seat and felt my back wheel slipping. There was no way I was stopping, so I squeezed past and made it! I can’t say I was happy with the traffic on this road – far too narrow and dodgy! Next it was on to Passo Gavia (southside) (2,621m, 20.7km avg 6.6% max 16% gain 1366m.) For me and Vicky, this was the straw that broke the camel’s back. We probably broke the record for the slowest time up a hill. Vicky would stop and I would stop behind her, no one would speak and then we would wheel off again in silence. I thought it would never end. Towards the end there was a horrific black tunnel to pass through which just magnified the torture – fortunately it was going up, or I truly believed we were on the road to hell! However, we finally made it and after a long rest, the descent was magnificent! Job done!
Sunday 8 July: We had – over ambitiously - planned to do the Engadin Radmarathon in Switzerland, but even we realised that was biting off more than we could chew. We did drive over and see the race finish!
Monday 9 July: Pete embarked on the long loop of the Engadin Radmarathon, taking on the Albulapass, Fluelapass and Berninapass, but Vicky and I opted for the ride down to St Moritz to sunbathe by the lake option!!!! No guilt what-so-ever!!
Tuesday 10 /Wed 11 July: Returned to Munich. Had a wee shop, a beer in the Hoffbrauhaus (Pete has corrected me and he knows his beer houses!), a run in Olympic Park – on very heavy legs at a snails pace – and then a swim in the beautiful 50m Olympic pool. Pete even made us dive off the springboard into the diving pool – more frightening than the Mortirolo!!! And back to Sunny Scotland it is………..
Didn’t mean this to be quite as lengthy a report, but what do you miss out??? This was Pete’s ambitious A-list of the Giro D'Italia and many more - and we did it!(Although little did we know what we were letting ourselves into!!)Many thanks to Pete for his meticulous preparation (3 years worth from the onset of our ballot for the Maratona) and for supplying all the technical data on the climbs for all you techno geeks (you know who you are!!). And as always, thanks to Vicky, my partner in crime, for enduring the suffering again – you know you love it as much as me!!! Only question is, what do we do next year to top that??????????!!!!!!!

There can never be too much detail. Sounds like a proper adventure, well done.

I am very jealous.

Brilliant write-up, Lee - really enjoyed reading that. That's a serious amount of climbing to pack into one trip, well done you guys!

Have you added up the total height climbed?

Then you could work out how many times up the Crow that equates to!

Ah've met ma nemisi (izat tha plural?),
ootwurded an as Ah've always known - ootclassed !

Noo wherrs ma balance bike ...nae pedals tae save weight an it's tha full wid, btw!


Well done Pete, Lee and Vicky !

Ye'se don't need tae dae tha Wednesday nights furr awhile, naw honest ye don't need tae... (please....!!!)


Royster

ooohh.... My legs are hurtin just reading that trip report ! Well done Lee & co
Just a wee bit sorer than the Strontian trip eh ?

Well done you guys it sound like a fabulous trip. Your report, Lee, makes great reading. Only wish I could have been with you, as it was I had the family out in Tenerife.

Brian