Stage 3. Mayhrofen, Austria to Brixen, Italy. It still feels like Austria, since everyone speaks German. Such fun for everyone today. The stage started with some rolling road and dirt road, ultimately turning into a big climb (4800 vertical feet). The top half was rough double track, loose rock, and even some singletrack. This exposed the weakness of the euro riders. Certainly fast climbers and punishing on the flats, they turn into uber wussies when the trail gets the least bit technical. It was hilarious to watch Tyler ride up the techy climb, yelling “Rider up!” and “this is a mountain bike race.” He didn’t throw any punches, but just maybe he rode into a few people pushing their bikes on purpose. We were blessed with incredible views of the Austrian and Italian Alps, crossing into Italy at Pfitscherjoch. Even better was the cool breeze and cooler temps, because it’s been hot. The top of the climb was at 30K and the stage was 94K long, so the last 64K was a blistering downhill and rolling bike path. At one point, Tyler and I were in a peloton of 40 plus people on a 6 foot wide rolling bike path. The noise of the knobby tires on pavement was pretty incredible.
Here’s the breakdown:
Green Mountain Boys: Best day for me so far- I finally felt my legs were where they’ve been. Best finish yet, and we moved up in the standings. Some highlights were mentioned above, but I should also mention my forced Le Mans style remount at the second aid station when Tyler rode away with my bike while I had a pee break. Great way to loosen up the legs; sprinting to catch your bike for more 25 mile per hour bike path peloton. Near the end of the stage, Tyler and I were in a 10 person group when someone spazzed and took out about six riders around me, including hitting my back wheel. Fortunately I stayed up. Great sprint finish.
Mile High Riders: Brian and Liz enjoyed the shady start. Brian enjoyed drafting behind the well built riders in front of him. Something about orange bike shorts. Both crossed the finish line with smiles on their faces, Brian heading immediately for ice cream, Liz dunked herself in the fountain in the town square. All told, a solid stage for the MHR.
Team Soft Core: Cath rode well today, after being able to eat and drink to sufficiently fuel herself. After riding the top technical climb (the only person in sight to do so), she scored an Ali G “Respec!” call out from an onlooker. Great fun all around for TSC.
The stage finished in a beautiful square, surrounded by steeples. We commandeered a table at a shady café and refueled and waited for everyone to come in. Even better is the backyard of our hotel with a pool, patio and brews. Cath even managed to “choke” down a gin and tonic, her first cocktail since the start of the transalp. I had run up to the bar to get a brew and Chris Merritt had asked me to get her a glass of tonic. “No gin?” I ask.
“No thanks.” So when I return, she has a ziplock of ice cubes and her own bottle of gin. Classic Darien.
Looking forward to tomorrows two big climbs and our first stage in sthe Dolomites.
Ciao.
Monday, July 16, 2007
Sunday, July 15, 2007
super suffer
Stage 2. Reith to Mayhrofen. 11,000 feet of climbing. 90 degrees. Sun like a laser. All was well until the last climb- 4800 feet of climbing over 9000 feet in elevation. Even the three Coloradans were appalled and beat down. Sort of hard to put into words. Following the massive climb, there was a ripping fast descent that unfortunately turned to pavement with oncoming traffic. Someone attempting to pass Liz had a head on with an oncoming car. Preliminary information is the guy is ok, but may not be racing for the rest of the week. Turns out he was a roadie, not in the race, trying to pass Liz. Sprained his shoulder. Guess he’ll have to shave his legs with his other arm.
Green Mountain Boys- tyler was strong as usual, and I had a much better day. I did languish a bit on the last climb. OK, fine- a lot. Nonetheless, we moved up a few spots. I’m more pleased with my effort, but still have some improvement to make. At least I looked super hot in my full white kit.
Mile High Riders- Liz and Brian were strong with their Colorado legs and lungs. Liz’s climbing skills and willingness to suffer were certainly an attribute, as was Brian’s patience and support.
Team Hard Core- Their name is now officially changed given Cath’s fearless preservation through dehydration and nausea. Aaron was an unbelievable domestique to her as well, providing moral support, pushing and towing. Given the ban on tow mechanisms, Cath was pulling on Aaron’s Camelbak, thereby pulling his bottom down harder onto the saddle. I’ll let him fill you in when he returns to VT. Something tells me he will.
I write as I sit in a wonderfully quaint restaurant in a square in Mayhrofen with Ty, Cath, Liz, Brian, Aaron and the Merritts. No kidding, there is an Oom-Pa-Pa band playing outside. Sweet the waiter just brought me another brew. Tyler has resigned himself to drinking wheat beers after his first three days in Italy consisted of stammering ”stout” to a bemused server.
So tomorrow is a longer stage at 94K, but only one big climb. Granted it’s 5000 feet. Check in tomorrow for more adventures.
Green Mountain Boys- tyler was strong as usual, and I had a much better day. I did languish a bit on the last climb. OK, fine- a lot. Nonetheless, we moved up a few spots. I’m more pleased with my effort, but still have some improvement to make. At least I looked super hot in my full white kit.
Mile High Riders- Liz and Brian were strong with their Colorado legs and lungs. Liz’s climbing skills and willingness to suffer were certainly an attribute, as was Brian’s patience and support.
Team Hard Core- Their name is now officially changed given Cath’s fearless preservation through dehydration and nausea. Aaron was an unbelievable domestique to her as well, providing moral support, pushing and towing. Given the ban on tow mechanisms, Cath was pulling on Aaron’s Camelbak, thereby pulling his bottom down harder onto the saddle. I’ll let him fill you in when he returns to VT. Something tells me he will.
I write as I sit in a wonderfully quaint restaurant in a square in Mayhrofen with Ty, Cath, Liz, Brian, Aaron and the Merritts. No kidding, there is an Oom-Pa-Pa band playing outside. Sweet the waiter just brought me another brew. Tyler has resigned himself to drinking wheat beers after his first three days in Italy consisted of stammering ”stout” to a bemused server.
So tomorrow is a longer stage at 94K, but only one big climb. Granted it’s 5000 feet. Check in tomorrow for more adventures.
Saturday, July 14, 2007
super hot, super tough
Day 1 of the Transalp. Pain all about. From Mittenwald,Germany to Reith, Austria. The stage was tough in that there was an 11 AM start, a 1 hour wait in the hot sun, and a sprint start that was not kind to anyone.
The course had two huge climbs with loose, twisty, sketchy descents filled with euros and their notoriously lame descending skills. A lot of folks to pass, but damn can those euros climb. Roadies probably.
The green mountain boys had a fair day. As always, tyler was fast. I’m not sure where my legs were today, but I managed to pull it together and get faster as the day went on. I didn’t cry, but it was damn close. I had a tactical error of running my shocks to rigid, adding a beatdown to my body. Sweet.
Mile high riders were strong. Liz and brian rode well together, and liz is her vivacious self as we wait for dinner. I think she cried once or twice, but finished strong.
Tough day for cath in team soft core. Nothing soft about her performance though. She had the line of the day, renaming the “squeezy” energy gel “queezy” as she barfed her brains out after eating it. Oh, did we mention it was 80 degrees and sunny? Great day to be nauseated and unable to eat. IP was a champ with super support, but her performance was truly heroic.
The white jerseys were fantastic in the hot sun. appalling as they were, I was fairly pleased to be wearing white shorts as well. Tyler has a new pair he promises to wear in the VT 50. Perfect for the mud.
Now we sit in a pretty garden restaurant with insufferably slow service. I am so damn hungry I had to run upstairs and have GU as I was bonking. IP ran into the street and got 4 ice creams to tide us over.
So tomorrow is the same length, but 11,500 feet of climbing. Should be a great time, if suffering is your goal. Thanks for reading, and I’ll write again tomorrow pm.
The course had two huge climbs with loose, twisty, sketchy descents filled with euros and their notoriously lame descending skills. A lot of folks to pass, but damn can those euros climb. Roadies probably.
The green mountain boys had a fair day. As always, tyler was fast. I’m not sure where my legs were today, but I managed to pull it together and get faster as the day went on. I didn’t cry, but it was damn close. I had a tactical error of running my shocks to rigid, adding a beatdown to my body. Sweet.
Mile high riders were strong. Liz and brian rode well together, and liz is her vivacious self as we wait for dinner. I think she cried once or twice, but finished strong.
Tough day for cath in team soft core. Nothing soft about her performance though. She had the line of the day, renaming the “squeezy” energy gel “queezy” as she barfed her brains out after eating it. Oh, did we mention it was 80 degrees and sunny? Great day to be nauseated and unable to eat. IP was a champ with super support, but her performance was truly heroic.
The white jerseys were fantastic in the hot sun. appalling as they were, I was fairly pleased to be wearing white shorts as well. Tyler has a new pair he promises to wear in the VT 50. Perfect for the mud.
Now we sit in a pretty garden restaurant with insufferably slow service. I am so damn hungry I had to run upstairs and have GU as I was bonking. IP ran into the street and got 4 ice creams to tide us over.
So tomorrow is the same length, but 11,500 feet of climbing. Should be a great time, if suffering is your goal. Thanks for reading, and I’ll write again tomorrow pm.
Friday, July 13, 2007
super psyched
Friday July 13, 2007
OK so we’re all here in mittenwald.
Green mountain boys- ty and me (carter)
Team soft core- cath and aaron
Mile high riders- liz and brian
Thursday dawned as the prettiest day in bormio, complete with the 69 year old chalet owner mowing the lawn shirtless in his bike shorts. Fabulous. Thursday’s ride was a singletrack descent from bormio 2000 after a shuttle from bill merritt. We were quite pleased to see liz return from her 48 hour multi city train ride. Miraculously uneventful I tell you. Why you’d buy panties and lipstick in Venice is unclear, but perhaps an answer will appear during the ride.
Thursday afternoon we headed to the bagne vecchio, some roman baths carved into a hill. After some massages we retired to the baths, except for me as my stitches weren’t quite ready for soaking. Saunas, baths, bathrobes, young Italian women and paper panties for men. It ruled. We finished with a brew in a grassy lawn overlooking bormio and the ski areas. Really remarkable.
Friday am was also beautiful. After dealing in bormio, we headed to mittenwald for transalp registration. The hotal post was once again welcomingyhjkiuy76tuij8yij8yij7yjhkuiytghjkuiythgjkuiytghjkiuygbnmjhgbv bvbnm ,njbhgvfcxb vbnmkjiulo7i6u5ydcvbnjhuy6trcvb njhuyit6u5yrgdbxcv nbnmkjiulyi7kt6ur5egsegr56ut7yu8i8y7t6r5e4w345rt6yuy7654ewertyuiuytre45678io0
That last indecipherable series of letters was the result of me wiping off the keyboard of bill merritt’s laptop after spilling some beer on it. Mayhem on the terrace at the Hotel Post.
So, the white jersey’d teams will throw a leg over their bikes (mine is the coolest and tyler’s second hand hardtail is junk) and take the first stage from mittenwald to Reith im alpental; Germany to Austria. Wish us luck.
As they say, the hay is in the barn, and we are ready to roll.
OK so we’re all here in mittenwald.
Green mountain boys- ty and me (carter)
Team soft core- cath and aaron
Mile high riders- liz and brian
Thursday dawned as the prettiest day in bormio, complete with the 69 year old chalet owner mowing the lawn shirtless in his bike shorts. Fabulous. Thursday’s ride was a singletrack descent from bormio 2000 after a shuttle from bill merritt. We were quite pleased to see liz return from her 48 hour multi city train ride. Miraculously uneventful I tell you. Why you’d buy panties and lipstick in Venice is unclear, but perhaps an answer will appear during the ride.
Thursday afternoon we headed to the bagne vecchio, some roman baths carved into a hill. After some massages we retired to the baths, except for me as my stitches weren’t quite ready for soaking. Saunas, baths, bathrobes, young Italian women and paper panties for men. It ruled. We finished with a brew in a grassy lawn overlooking bormio and the ski areas. Really remarkable.
Friday am was also beautiful. After dealing in bormio, we headed to mittenwald for transalp registration. The hotal post was once again welcomingyhjkiuy76tuij8yij8yij7yjhkuiytghjkuiythgjkuiytghjkiuygbnmjhgbv bvbnm ,njbhgvfcxb vbnmkjiulo7i6u5ydcvbnjhuy6trcvb njhuyit6u5yrgdbxcv nbnmkjiulyi7kt6ur5egsegr56ut7yu8i8y7t6r5e4w345rt6yuy7654ewertyuiuytre45678io0
That last indecipherable series of letters was the result of me wiping off the keyboard of bill merritt’s laptop after spilling some beer on it. Mayhem on the terrace at the Hotel Post.
So, the white jersey’d teams will throw a leg over their bikes (mine is the coolest and tyler’s second hand hardtail is junk) and take the first stage from mittenwald to Reith im alpental; Germany to Austria. Wish us luck.
As they say, the hay is in the barn, and we are ready to roll.
super descent
time to get my blog on. today started late with a van suttle up to stelvio pass. this pass is both the highest pass and highest paved road in europe. 47 switchbacks, 5700 feet higher than town. tyler nearly hit a van in a narrow tunnel, but we arrived w/out event. the plan was to descend an old WW1 road back to bormio. high alpine sigletrack paralleling the road. made us all think of ski touring, especially with the snow. after a 30 minute uphill hike a bike through the snow to a col that had WW1 gun turrets, ty, IP and I started a 5k descent to town. we stopped off at a WW1 barrack that was now in ruins, including pretend gun fighting between IP and I from high alpine to pine forest, we descended a WW1 road down the valley. unbelievable.
you'll note cath was absent from the ride. with the near freezing temps she perhaps wisely opted out of the ride and opted to rest a weary body in preparation for the big showdown in mittenwald.
the evening has ended in a power cocktail hour on the merritt's balcony with views of the alps. cath's extra energy from not riding has given her the strength to have a third gin and tonic. no biting just yet, but check back tomorrow for more details.
fortunately, the ten stitches i got in my calf the night before we left have not bothered me.
you'll note cath was absent from the ride. with the near freezing temps she perhaps wisely opted out of the ride and opted to rest a weary body in preparation for the big showdown in mittenwald.
the evening has ended in a power cocktail hour on the merritt's balcony with views of the alps. cath's extra energy from not riding has given her the strength to have a third gin and tonic. no biting just yet, but check back tomorrow for more details.
fortunately, the ten stitches i got in my calf the night before we left have not bothered me.
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
super killer ride
july 10- put it on your calendar as the day tyler cath aaron and carter, w special guest stewart, enjoyed one of their greatest rides of all times. snow down to 2000 meters forced a slight change of plans, but we left bormio on the road up the 13 switchbacks to the terri de frale, around lago di cancano, across the damn and on sweet sidehill singletrack above lago di s giacomo di fraele, up the alpe del gallo to a grassy alpine meadow, through a snow covered field, down a loose descent dodging cows. then over to livigno via val alpisella. after a tight switchbacky climb with some 100 foot drops to a gorge, and aaron riding quite close to the edge, possibly on purpose, we happened upon a near perfect alpine valley and watched the local shepahards herd the cows into the feed yard. very "sound of music" except it smelled worse. a grassy climb led to a 3000 foot descent into livigno down some of the buffest fastest, funnest singletrack we'd ever seen. wow.
livigno sits in a broad valley. cath and i immediately bought a pizza, and after a search for our van, we reconnoitered at a bar and toasted our fantastic day with some fizzy yellow euro lagers. the hero of the day was stewart (liz merritt's husband) who enjoyed the six hour ride even though it was just his second ride of the year.
we then found a very high-end euro bike store that fixed tyler's rear brake, and aaron's credit card began to seize in his pocket. with a penchant for ignoring value and making impulsive purchases, we alas had to leave before he could really do some damage. culminating in a beautiful drive through two alpine valleys and several little towns w views of glaciers, the day ended with our last dinner with liz and stewart before they head to nepal.
today we plan to back off on the intensity of the ride and taper before the BAR starts in mittenwald. we are all pumped for the transalp, and yesterday was a ride for the ages.
we'll check back in later after cocktails
livigno sits in a broad valley. cath and i immediately bought a pizza, and after a search for our van, we reconnoitered at a bar and toasted our fantastic day with some fizzy yellow euro lagers. the hero of the day was stewart (liz merritt's husband) who enjoyed the six hour ride even though it was just his second ride of the year.
we then found a very high-end euro bike store that fixed tyler's rear brake, and aaron's credit card began to seize in his pocket. with a penchant for ignoring value and making impulsive purchases, we alas had to leave before he could really do some damage. culminating in a beautiful drive through two alpine valleys and several little towns w views of glaciers, the day ended with our last dinner with liz and stewart before they head to nepal.
today we plan to back off on the intensity of the ride and taper before the BAR starts in mittenwald. we are all pumped for the transalp, and yesterday was a ride for the ages.
we'll check back in later after cocktails
Monday, July 9, 2007
Super Grazie
ok so today was our first full day in bormio and boy was it fun. last night, liz v established an aggressive trend for the trip w her assault of the limoncello apres dinner. today included the classic tyler merrit tour with studious route planning yest disregard for contour lines and weather. so 3000 vert of climb culminating in steep loose gravel w driving rain, scheiben and oh wait 40degrees F was just warmup for the other side of the pass. to call it dirt trail is generous because there was more cow manure than dirt. nevermind such silly details though. fortunately, we spied a high alpine farm house, and sought shelter in the shed, which was actually a cow feed hut- smelled like something else entirely though. the shephards kindly invited us into there house, with its decadent hot stove, and made us some espresso. tyler's first cup of coffee. they spoke no english, we no italian, but a great cultural experience. the locals locals so to speak.
the remander of the day was a mix of rain and poor route finding and slick roots. cath and liz wisely headed back to town early, while i (CARTER) foolishly followed IP and ty on a soggy search for the remaining 30 feet of singletrack. straight back home for beers, sausage, cheese, and more. Just finished a great four course dinner with the full merritt crew (no much booze flowing here, right?)
Today's stats: start 11:00, finish 5:30. Climbing 5,840'. Miles? Height of cow shit up the shin?? We'll let you guess.... (bad day for white jerseys...)
Tomorrow's agenda: the assault from Bormio to Livigno. Must be brutal, Ty wants to start with a shuttle up the pass.
Ciao.
the remander of the day was a mix of rain and poor route finding and slick roots. cath and liz wisely headed back to town early, while i (CARTER) foolishly followed IP and ty on a soggy search for the remaining 30 feet of singletrack. straight back home for beers, sausage, cheese, and more. Just finished a great four course dinner with the full merritt crew (no much booze flowing here, right?)
Today's stats: start 11:00, finish 5:30. Climbing 5,840'. Miles? Height of cow shit up the shin?? We'll let you guess.... (bad day for white jerseys...)
Tomorrow's agenda: the assault from Bormio to Livigno. Must be brutal, Ty wants to start with a shuttle up the pass.
Ciao.
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