Transalp - stage 1

The Neuschwanstein Castle in Fussen - the race ran right below the castle on stage 1

Chipotle/Velonews team

Stage 1 is over & we have all survived. It was a perfect day starting in a fairy tale town. The start was crazy - fast & busy with over 1200 riders in a mass start. After a relatively short stage of 80k & 3+hours Mike Hogan & Thomas are sitting in 13th place for the masters, while Mark Gouge & Drew Geer are in 24th.

"There will be some tarmac & you will go fast. You will walk your bike, but you will not mind because it will be so beautiful."

These are the race announcements in Fussen Germany just before the Stage 1 start of the Transalp. The announcer was absolutely correct. There was fast riding & there was walking. The ride was so beautiful it was hard to remember it was a race. This single stage was a ride of a lifetime. It was "The Sound of Music on MTB wheels". This stage was 75km long with one giant climb & 2000 meters of total climbing. It is also the easiest stage of the race.



Chipotle-Titus-Velonews has two masters teams entered in the 2008 Transalp, an 8 day stage race starting if Fussen Germany. It then runs along the spine of the alps through Austria, Switzerland & then to Italy, finishing in Riva del Garda. Mike Hogan & Thomas Dooley comprise one team, while Mark Gouge & Drew Geer make up the second.

The band in Fussen

1200 racers rolled out the the small castle village of Fussen. It winds through the narrow streets. This is a mass start event & it startsed fast with lots of positioning - think of a NORBA/NMBS start with over 1000 riders. The pack is endless & it accelerates to 50kph & then slows to a standstill. The riders are on the whole, very talented bike handlers, likely more than you would see in a similar size race in the US. Despite riding fast & close there is very little touching of wheels & few crashes.

The starting "kite" in Fussen Germany

The flat appearing profile starting stage 1 was very misleading. There are multiple steep climbs in the first few kilometers the the giant field starts to splinter into "smaller" groups of 30 - 40 riders. There is a fantastic mix of fast open road & narrow gravel bike trail. There is really no single track & nothing actually technical, though the short climbs are brutally steep & you have to stay very aware with many sharp turns coming at you fast. At 50k we came into the first feed zone which signaled the start of the days big climb. The field, now miles long, snaked it's way up a ski area road. This being very similar to one of the typical US ski area climbs. The climb kept pitching up steeper & steeper, now far exceeding the american ski road. The entire upper section averages 15% grade. The view is so fabulous it is all you can do to remember you are supposed to be racing. There are giant alpine peaks above & lush green valleys below, manicured for the grazing cows. Nearing the top of the ski lift we assumed we had reached the top, but the course took a sudden left & pitched up to 25% heading to a notch in the peaks above the ski runs. The leaders most likely rode this section but 100 spots down every one was off their bikes and walking this, just like the announcer had predicted.

Nearing the top of the climb (photo:transalp.de)

After cresting the top we enjoyed the same 25% grade though now gravity was on our side. We dropped 1000 meters in the next 10k on fast fire roads before the finish stretch of fast flat 10k dirt paths.

The open race was won by the duo of Karl Platt & Sahm Stefan in 3:05. The leading women are the pre race favorites Alison Sydor & Pia Sundstedt in 3:36.

Both our teams finished with solid rides. Hogan/Dooley are sitting in 13th place in the masters about 15 minutes off the leaders, with Gouge/Geer in 24th. These placings are very important as we are now in the "B" seed. This is the top seed below the elite top 10 riders. It enables us to get a good start each day. The strength of the field here is apparent as we fully expected. Hogan is no stranger to endurance racing, winning the 40+ 2008 US Nationals two weeks ago in Breckenridge Colorado. He has finished 1st of 2nd in every national marathon held since the first in 2004. Dooley is close in fitness - both finishing top 10 in the 2007 Leadville 100 with sub 8 hour rides. Neither team pushed it too hard today as this is the "easy" day. We expect some of the early leaders to come on back as the race progresses. Tomorrow has twice the climbing over the same distance, running from Imst Austria to Ischgl Austria. It will undoubtable run over trails every bit as beautiful as today.

Off for some schnitzel & beer.

Garmin GPS profile from stage 1. Each of the "little" climbs rolling into the days big climb are anything but little. Each is a major climb in itself. They only appear small because the major climb dwarfs them & skews the profile scale.