I took a little trip and rode my bicycle in the Maratona dles Dolomites on Sunday morning.
* The shortest route is 55km with 1780m climbing (34 miles / 5872 ft.)
* The middle route is 110km with 3090m climbing (66 miles / 10,137 ft. )
* The long route is 138km with 4190m climbing. (86 miles / 13,746 ft.)
In other words: Hard, harder, and freakin' greuling!!
The ride takes place in the heart of Dolomites in the area around Alta Badia and Corvara, Italy. This region of Italy, the SüdTirol, is in northern Italy about 1 hour drive south of Innsbruck. What is especially interesting to me about this area is the amount of German spoken instead of Italian. It feels much more like being in south Austria (SüdTirol means South Tirol. Tirol is a province of Austria that I rather enjoy visiting in winter!)
Originally, I had planned to sleep in the car where a colleague had suggested, but at the lat minute chickened out and got a hotel room. Since the ride takes place in "the mountains" and there are 8000+ people riding, plus support, pluslocals, plus the other unsuspecting toursts, plus the not-to-happy motorcyclists who came to ride, but found many of the roads closed.
I stayed at a nice little hotel, the Hotel Langgenhof in Bruneck (Brunico) about 30 minutes drive from the start. They advertise "Our house maintains the old traditions of Tyrolean hospitality: ….natural and casual or classical and elegant but always friendly"...I totally agree. My stay, although very short, was very pleasant. I had a nice walk around the town of Bruneck, followed by a dinner of wine and Gulash, a local tradition I was told. Not exactly the best pre-race meal, but it was tasty.
So, Sunday morning came early with the alarm set to 4:45. Get up, get dressed, drive a half-hour down to Pedraces, get the bike down, climb on, and ride the last two miles to the start area....Then Wait
I was seeded in the last group. My section was the last to start. So, I was about 8400th across the start line.
No problem, that just leaves me more people to pass! BIG problem later when I realize that my slow climbing and extra stops were going to make me miss the time cutoff for the middle distance. Oh well. Maybe next year.
Startnummer: 9000
Land/Ort: D-Meckenbeuren
Kategorie: 55km Uomini/Herren 37-42 anni
Startzeit: 6:50.34,9 Zielzeit: 10:54.08,3
Fahrzeit: 4:03.33,4
Durchschnitt: 13,549 km/h
Rang Kategorie: 178.
Durchgangszeiten auf der Strecke
Stelle Tageszeit Fahrzeit Rang Gesamt
---------------------------------------------------------------
Gardena 10:37.34,0 3:46.59,1 183. 860.
Stay Tuned....