Transalp - Finish!

At the finish in Riva Del Garda Italy - Both our teams finished.

Hogan/Dooley in 11th & Gouge/Geer in 28th. You have to work hard to get a "biker tan" like these. You cannot eat enough food to replace the calories you burn each day as Thomas' ribs attest to.

Transalp Stage 8: Andalo to Riva del Garda Italy

"L'ultimo minuto, L'ultima tappa" - one minute to start the last stage!

There is a lot of excitement this morning as this will be the last day. Everyone has to be tired & looking forward to a break. Still, the start out of Andalo was very fast. Perhaps it was because it was the last day to place well, the last day to use the rest of your energy or perhaps it was because the rest of the field knew you had t get to the single track first today.

Thomas was on form & blasted up the climb with Mike just on his wheel. This was his finest day! They were able to pass the women's leaders & the super master leaders for the first time. Mark & I got trapped in traffic on the narrow, two rider wide climb. Near the top we were excited to roll fast to the finish but the organizers always have something devious up their sleeves. First we kicked up again on a hike-a-bike-section. Then - the descent! This was a piece of work. We dropped straight into a near vertical section of wet rock covered in wet leaves. This was not a few meters to roll over but was almost 2 kilometers long. I'm not even sure our back wheels were rotating or just sliding over the surface. Mike & Thomas were able to ride about 3/4 of the section, while Mark & I stuck back in traffic would have to wait in a line just to get going. Lots of time was lost by not getting here early. Huge mistake in retrospect.

Here we witnessed the "euro-option". Riders we were way ahead of dropping into the technical sections pop out at various points ahead of us. They know the area & take a few "liberties" with the trails skipping a dozen switchbacks or so ot move up in the long lines of riders. I do have to give them some skills credit. We are on the switchbacks riding the steepest descent I have ever done & they are riding straight down skipping the switchback - that has got to be incredibly steep!

We then had the home stretch made up of fast pave & gravel roads through the vineyards & orchards. The wind always blows up from lake Garda so you want a big group. The groups formed quickly. Unfortunately, everyone is very tired, eager to finish & the big groups were a bit sketchy at that speed. Today was the first day I saw crashes. Lots of riders seem to be going down hard on the easiest piece of the week. We all stayed very alert & either moved ahead or backed off squirrly riders to avoid danger. Not reason to crash today on the roll in.

Dooley salutes Alison Sydor & Pia Sundstedt, the women's winners, at the finish (photo @ transalp)

Arriva! It feels really great to make it to Riva. We headed directly to the lake & jumped in. Some riders just rode right off the dock. Mike & Thomas had a great day, breaking the top 10 for the first time with a 9th place stage finish & 11th overall. Their overall finish time was 36:46 minutes. This was 5:47 off the world class pro leaders. Mark & I hung on for 28th overall with a total ride time of 41:10 (10:11 off the pro lead). Our best stage finish was 19th. Ultimately 138 masters teams made it to Riva of the 155 starters.

We had a relaxing afternoon with giant beers with our support crews. They have to be almost as exhausted as us from packing every day & racing ahead to the next stage. They were always at the finish to give us food, water & wash out bikes before hauling us to the hotel or RVs. We owe our crew ,our families, a big thanks for this whole event. Now the Hogans are off to Venice with the Dooleys. The Geer crew is headed to Nice & the Gouges are staying a day in Riva.

Heading out to Riva from Andalo (photo @ transalp)

Final Thoughts:

Between the Velonews race crews we have over 100 years of racing experience & have raced many of the biggest endurance events in the US - Leadville, Vail, Durango & Breckenridge 100s, UCI Maters Worlds, 24 Hours of Moab , every US National Marathon held and more. The consensus among us is that this is the most epic adventure we have ever done. Three of the stages make up the three most difficult races we have ever done. Stringing eight together has been unbelievable! We have never ridden with such a large field of so many great riders. We have all learned new riding skills & also just how far our physiology will take us.

Should you do this event? Yes! Absolutamente!
I read with a smile a US magazine article on adventure travel that recommended Transalp as a nice tour. They said you could rent a bike or even bring your own. I certainly hope no one takes that seriously. Every serious endurance mountain biker should put this on their "to do list". It is hard to get into. It is expensive & logistically difficult to set up but you will not regret it. You will need to train yourself into the best shape of your life just to finish & you will feel great when you do.

Arrividerci, Ciao

Drew Geer
with Mike Hogan, Thomas Dooley & Mark Gouge
the Chipotle Titus Velonews crew

Our overall race route: 410 miles in 8 racing days. 26 major climbs with 67,000 feet of climbing crossing 4 countries.

Our overall combined race profile with stage towns marked.