Descent anyone?
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The Transalp Challenge is an 8-day mountain bike stage race across the Alps, this year it took place from 15th to 22nd July 2006 and UK based Specialized team riders Kate Potter and Jenn O'Connor (both SheCycles.com contributors) took on the challenge.
Here is the precursor to Kate Potter's diary which we'll be publishing over the next week.
Thursday 13 July, 2006
Every year I set myself a challenge. In 2003, as a complete novice to the sport, my goal was to survive a mountain bike holiday. This may sound an easy challenge to many of you, but when you have never used suspension, gears or disc brakes, let alone ridden a bike down steep off road terrain, then starting mountain biking is one of the scariest experiences I have ever undertaken, but an experience that has brought great fulfilment and even more challenges in my life since then.
The following year I entered my first mountain bike race and completed 24 hours of riding at Sleepless in the Saddle. In 2005 my goal was to race cross country at pro elite level (a terrifying thought) and complete the French Pyrneean single track marathon, Les Transpyrenees. Then 2006 came round and I was asked to accompany my Specialized Starlets team mate Jenn O'Connor in the Transalp Challenge. This was an event I always wanted to complete, but thought it would be years down the track before I would have the courage to enter such a gruelling event. When Jenn asked me whether I would race alongside her I jumped at the chance and decided that the Transalp Challenge would be my 2006 goal.
My training for this event started in November last year, but as with any challenge, you can never be fully prepared for what you will face on the trail. The Transalp Challenge is an eight day mountain bike stage race across the Alps. This year the course was starting in Fussen, Germany and finishing on the shores of Lake Garda, Italy. Over the eight days we would pass through four countries, ride across18 passes and cover a total distance of 665km. The highest pass would be 2768m, with the remaining passes around 1500 to 2500m.
Kate and Jenn ready to race
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As you can imagine the UK doesn't really offer the mountain passes or even the altitude to prepare one for such a demanding race. I also imagined that the heat may play a factor as well, as I lived in the Alps in the middle of summer two years ago, and remembered well how stifling the air became during the day when we were mountain biking. Fortunately for most of the year I'm based in the French Pyrenees where I work as a guide for a Quick Release Holidays. During my build up to the Transalp, when I wasn't guiding, I would take myself off and attack as many of the Tour de France road cols in the area that my legs would allow me to do. On other occasions I focused on the hardest off road terrain in the valley and even practised running off road with my bike. However my main concern was riding fast fire road descents. I suffered a nasty fall on a fire road a couple of years ago that has since made me wary of losing control on such harsh rocky terrain. My partner and skills coach Ian Potter spent a lot of time with me working on my confidence and focusing on my speed around corners.
Another important factor Jenn and I had to focus on was team work, as together we would have to push each other along, keep smiling when we were suffering mental or physical pain, and remind each other to never lose sight of that end goal, to make it to the finish line in Italy after 8 solid days of racing.
Both Jenn and I have been fortunate enough to be coached by Andrew Patterson from Patterson training, and had his support throughout the entire event. Andy made me aware of how important recovery time would be inbetween each race. Most of my training building up to the Transalp involved long training sessions in the mountains. Jenn and I would complete 3-4 heavy training sessions, so we would get used to riding hard on tired legs.
As Jenn, Andy and I left Dover all I could think about was whether I was prepared mentally and physically to race hard for 8 consecutive days.
For more information go to www.transalpchallenge.com
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