From CP1 to CP2: Crossing the Alps

At the top of CP 1, Jonas' spirits were up again before we went our own ways.  He would pass 20 riders in the next 6 hours to regain second place.

As I set off from CP 1 the exhaustion set it. I didn’t realize how much energy had been consumed back at Schloss Lichtenstein and to top it off, I was on a roller coaster riding south to the Austrian border in Germany’s southern hills. I had changed this section of my route after my reconnaissance trip. I opted not to take the German local highways with considerable traffic at high speeds although we were allowed to ride them. Supposedly there were cycle path alternatives close by, but I had had a frustrating experience on my recon trip trying to stay on them, so I reorganized my route down to the Austrian border using secondary roads. I regretted this last minute route change as I seemed to be riding over every small hill, choosing what seemed to be the most rolling terrain in the whole area. I had to cross the Alps shortly and I needed to reserve my energy for the first mountain stage.

That afternoon was frustrating, probably the all time low of the whole race. The heat and humidity had come and with little sleep during the first 2 days of riding, I was exhausted. I rolled into Biberach, a decent sized town in Southern Germany, a pit-stop on my recon trip and I immediately spotted the same ice cream shop I had hit up before. After devouring the double scoop cone, I managed to freshen up in the public fountain, despite the vigilant eyes of the locals. I found a small kebab shop around the corner and quickly signed on to see Jonas’ progress. Sure enough he was quickly passing others and would soon be up in front again.

When I started pedaling again towards the mountains, I could see that I was headed straight into a storm. It wasn't the most ideal weather conditions by any means, but I hoped for the best. A few riders passed me who were "gung ho" on taking on the mountains regardless of the lightning storm that lit up the sky ahead of us. I rode a good distance behind a cyclist with a slight figure who kept coming on and off the road, taking a lot of the cycle paths. I admired them, because I didn’t have the patience for German cycle paths. Everyone speaks so highly of Germany and it’s cycle paths but for road cyclists with a “purpose” they are a true nightmare! I saw the “slight figure” pull over to a petrol station just in front of me. I continued in hopes of stopping at a restaurant just before I started the big climb at the Austrian border. Later I would realize that the cyclist with the “slight figure” who I thought was simply a very young rider, was indeed Karen Toastee, who would always remain within 40 to 100 kilometers behind me for the entire race.

Putting optimism to the test, pedaling straight into a thunder storm in the alps at night as I cross the German-Austrian border.

I saw what looked to be a good restaurant, parked me bike and went in, only to find the kitchen closed. I pulled up to another restaurant a few kilometers down the road and unfortunately the kitchen was also closed. At the third restaurant I tried, I came across another TCR cyclist who was eating, he smiled at me when I entered. Seeing him, I thought I was in luck, but when I asked the server, he told me the kitchen was now closed. I looked back with envy at the TCR rider who was eating so contently and couldn’t help but feel a bit of rage at the same time! By now I was starving and I had tried 3 restaurants and struck out all three times. Every time I got off my bike, I was losing time! You can’t get frustrated when you are unsuccessful finding a place to eat or sleep when riding. This is one piece of advice Jonas gave me before the race, but I also knew it was true from my own travel experiences. He said, don’t get frustrated if you can’t find a good place to sleep or have no luck with a restaurant, there is a better place yet to come. Optimism is the only way to combat frustration, including hunger! So I got back on my bike and pedaled on, forgetting I was about to hit a big town before riding up the Fern Pass. As can be predicted in a town of any decent size, there will inevitably by a Pizza/Kebab joint. I thankfully placed my order and had a seat outside.

At that same time, I saw the same “slight rider” I had been behind before. As they rode by me, I realized it was another female rider, hence her slight frame. I said hello in both amazement and shock. As she passed me I knew I was in for a tough race, she looked determined and tough. Sure enough, when I checked the dots, there were two of us women in the front of the pack. Karen Toastee, or “Toastee” as I called her, and myself. Karen was another “nobody”, like myself, when it came to female endurance riders. I was expecting to see other racers at the top who had experience and were more known, such as Emily Chappell, Paula Regener, and Shusanah Pillinger. As I would later learn, Karen, like myself was a novice endurance cyclists. We both seemed to be pretty tough and have a lot of “grit”, which would make an intense and interesting female race to follow.

As I sat and ate my kebab, I quickly chatted with my family on Whats App. Probably looking for a little bit of sympathy, I told them that a woman had just passed me. I clearly remember my sister-in-law telling me in the most direct of ways without any pity, to simply get back on my bike and ride! Her tough love approach worked and although the sun had set, the sky was lit up with a massive thunderstorm in the distance. In any other circumstances, I would have called it a day, as no cyclist really wants to ride over the alps in a thunderstorm, but I knew I had to keep on pedaling. Toastee was just in front of me and I couldn’t let her get away. I had ordered too much food, as always, and packed up a pizza to take with me on the back of my bike. I started out, hoping luck would accompany me over the Fernpass, and I would stay dry. Miraculously I was able to count my blessings and didn’t get wet, although the pavement gave evidence of the storm that had just passed. On my recon ride, this was a nasty pass to do during the day with a lot of summer holiday traffic. 

Approaching midnight, I had no traffic to contend with and no rain to speak of. Midway through the descent, my route was going to lead me through a longer, but flatter valley into Innsbruck. Alternatively, I had studied a different route that had a short, but steep climb that would get me to Innsbruck even quicker. My legs felt good so I decided to take the short and steep route. I knew that any “normal” person in their right mind would have thought it were foolish to take on a mountain pass in the dark, but you aren’t really a “normal”person when you are trying to pedal 4000km in 2 weeks time! It was then on that pass that I realized just how amazing it was to climb at night. With several lights on my front and back side and reflective clothing, I was lit up like a Christmas tree, completely visible in the darkness. Traffic was minimal and so was the suffering as the temperatures at night are much cooler. In the dark, it is hard to tell just how steep and difficult the climb is because you can’t see too far ahead. Considering I didn’t have this part of my route traced on my Garmin, I enjoyed the suspense, wondering when I would be at the summit. In the end, the climb was less difficult than I anticipated and I was surprised just how quickly I made it over. The next 40 to 50 kilometers to Innsbruck went fast too as it was a gradual descent. 

The last time I had pedaled through Innsbruck, I was overheating and overwhelmed by all the tourists. This time I was completely alone. I quickly stopped at a petrol station, loaded up on some more food and beverages and was amazed at how good I felt. It was now about 3am. A hotel was out of the question. I could see Toastee was sleeping somewhere in the valley, and I was proud of myself for making a last-minute change to my itinerary to strategically regain the lead. I still felt like I had the legs and energy left to start the Brenner Pass. I knew it wasn’t a difficult climb as I had done it before. With an outlet mall at the summit, by no means was it scenic, so I didn’t feel bad riding in the dark. My plan was to ride as far as I could until I got tired. I knew it wasn’t very smart to start climbing and sleep at altitude, but I was on an adrenaline rush and stopping wasn’t an option. 

I made it about 15 kilometers up the road, before I found a bus stop that looked inviting. Of course at 4:30am there isn’t traffic on the road, so I peacefully rolled out my sleeping bag liner on the narrow bench, took off my shoes, pulled my neck warmer up over my eyes and climbed inside. I tried to find the pizza I packed up but couldn’t locate it. On my phone I had received a message from Jonas’ brother, Dimitri, with an update of his progress. He was quickly regaining the lead as he approached Monte Grappa. He also told me that I was very close behind James Hayden, which seemed impressive, but James Hayden was just about to get up for the morning and start riding and I was just going to sleep, hoping to get about 4 hours in order to feel fresh riding up the Brenner Pass in the morning.

My plan to sleep 4 hours was very optimistic. I had too much adrenaline in my blood and I was up again after about 45 minutes. There was a steady flow of traffic driving by and the noise was impossible to sleep through. As I sat up, I heard a “Good Morning!” from a fellow rider who was passing, all cheery and fresh. I, on the other hand, didn’t feel so hot, but knew that I was too antsy to sleep any more. As I started packing up, I found the pizza I had been looking for which made for a nice breakfast as it was actually warm from having slept on it! In the last town before the top, I pulled over at a bakery. I must have looked pretty bad, because the waitress gave me a second cup of coffee and another pastry on the house, after hearing where I had pedaled from the night before! As I climbed to the summit of the Brenner Pass, I came across several cyclists coming down, pedaling in the opposite direction. They had numbers as well and seemed to be in some sort of race as well. One stopped, turned around and caught up with me. He told me he’d done the TCR the year before and this year had signed up for The North Cape race and was on his way to Norway. He took a selfie with me as I continued to pedal. Soon, I found myself at the top The Brenner Pass and started the descent to Bolzano. There is a cycle path that runs parallel to the main road which is probably advised to take, but I had gotten lost on it on my recon trip and stuck to the main road this time. 

Despite the cool air in my face on the descent, I was starting to feel really really sleepy and knew I had to pull over sooner rather than later so I could get some quality rest. Down below in the valley, it was already getting hot. Finding shelter to sleep is not always easy and when you are completely exhausted it doesn’t help either. I made a poor choice and stopped at a busy petrol station. I saw a little room with an open door. It looked like a storage closet and I decided to pull my bike in and lie down. I should have probably asked first, but I was asleep in minutes despite the buzz of people and cars outside and the petrol odor. Five minutes couldn’t have passed when someone was kicking me. I think they must have thought I was dead, lying on the floor. In my Spanish, wanna be Italian, I said, “dormire….vinti minuti!” It sounded good enough and they did leave me in peace, but the sleeping conditions were less than optimal. After about 20 minutes, I decided to get up, buy some food, and keep on riding. The temperatures had gotten really hot and I was overheated and delirious. I tried to ride as long as I could but it was too hot and I started making wrong turns on my route. My mood improved when I got a message from Jonas that he was on Monte Grappa, completely alone, with no other cyclist or race vehicle in the vicinity. I managed to keep riding until the early afternoon when I found a bar to take shelter. Unfortunately, it wasn’t much cooler in the bar, but I sat down anyways and ordered some food. After eating, I thought I’d put my head down on the table and rest for a few moments. I used my water bottle as a pillow, still sitting in my chair. 

An hour and a half later, I woke up in a big pile of drool as my head had slipped off my water bottle and was lying directly on the on the table cloth. I think it was then that I realized I had developed an unbelievable ability to basically sleep on command. I’m normally a good sleeper considering the large amount of energy I burn everyday with all my activities. But the TCR had turned me into a professional sleeper. Whether I had 5 minutes, 10 min. an hour or 3, sitting, lying down (and later on the bike) I could fall asleep within moments. As I sipped an espresso, I looked outside at the road and saw a few other TCR cyclists ride by. I got the energy and motivation to start pedaling again as the temperatures had cooled.

Italian bike paths, despite being a total maze, were better than the ones I encountered in Germany.  There was NO alternative as the other roads in the area were banned by the TCR.

It seemed to take forever to reach Monte Grappa and Italian traffic made it feel even longer. I found an Italian pair of cyclists, in bright pedalED jerseys and their twin caps, riding along the bike paths I was also using. They were very friendly and pretty impressed I could keep up with their pace for a good 30 k’s. I don’t think you can be accused of drafting on a bike path, especially when the race organization prohibited the roads in the area. But eventually, as all the other cyclists ended up doing, they dropped me. The scenery was changing from Alpine mountains to lower elevation hills that were blueish-green in color in the early evening light. I thought I would arrive to Monte Grappa before dinner, but it was well after sunset when I finally found the second checkpoint. The bike paths eventually spit me out on a main road, but I got lost trying to cross a river and walked my bike over a pedestrian bridge and hiked back down to get back on my Garmin route. My spirits were up again as I approached CP2 and the adrenaline started to pump as I reached the TCR tent. All the volunteers were so excited to see the first female arrive!

The closer I got to CP 2 the happier I was

At this point, I had seen that Toastee had taken an alternative pass to Brennar, which I had taken as well on my recon ride. She was a good half day behind me, which gave me the motivation to properly rest at Checkpoint 2 at the base of Monte Grappa. It was a popular stop with other riders as they were giving out free shower passes at the campsite. Most riders had been caught in last night’s thunderstorm as they crossed the alps and were filthy! Even if the guys didn’t have a change of clothing, most were showering and cleaning up, wearing whatever “extra” clothes they had, which was usually a pair of briefs. I took the time to take a nice long hot shower and wash my clothes. I finally brushed my teeth for the first time during the race and realized that my personal hygiene was slipping, despite my efforts to try to remember to do these simple things. I had stashed my toothbrush in my feeder bag, but every time I stopped, brushing my teeth was the last thing on my mind.

Posing for a photo at CP 2

Bikes are the perfect drying rack for laundry that needs to dry, no matter where you are.....

It’s amazing how revived a hot shower and clean clothes can make you feel. In fact, for a moment, I contemplated hopping back on my bike and starting up the Grappa that same night. Luckily my rational mind convinced me that I needed a proper meal and some decent sleep. Not to mention, it was fun to chat with the other riders and hear their tales from crossing the Alps. So many had gotten hit by the big thunderstorm. I remember one rider in particular, Matthew telling me an amusing story of descending a very steep mountain pass that Google wouldn’t even let me use as a viable road when I was route planning. I remember thinking at that point, what fun it must be to dot watch the TCR, especially on a mountain stage when there are a diverse number of passes riders could choose. 

At CP2 I also ran into the cyclist I had seen the night before, eating the last meal at the restaurant I had desperately tried to order food. When he introduced himself as Michael Wacker, I couldn’t believe my ears. I knew exactly who he was as I had followed his dot on the TransAm earlier that year. He had been battling for second place, also the first woman, Janie Hayes, when he got hit by a car in the Mid-west. I couldn’t believe that I was keeping up with him, riding almost at his same pace! It gave me a boost of confidence and motivation. We had a good laugh about the previous night and the route option he’d taken to arrive at Monte Grappa. He had somehow managed to ride through a sliver of Switzerland before coming into Italy. I tried to convince him to shower, but he was intent on riding on after getting some dinner. The restaurant at the campsite was a soon to close and I made it just in time to place an order. If I would have had more time, I probably would have ordered a second or third dish of everything. Italian food is a cyclist’s best friend!

I should have ordered 2 of everything!

Jordi, the Catalan video filmer for the TCR, sat down with me. I had met him at CP1 where he had picked up on the fact that Jonas and I were dating. He started asking me all sorts of questions in Catalan. Little did I know he was filming (and would later use this interview in a film to contrast Jonas and myself as riders), I was just delighted to have some company while eating. I popped online to update my friends and family and I was surprised to find an overwhelming amount of messages that I couldn’t respond to. It was the first time it dawned on my just how many people were following the race. My family was tracking me closer and closer and my Dad was writing me a thoughtful email every night. Later, I’d find out from my Mom that he was an absolute nervous wreck and wouldn’t leave the computer room all day except to quickly eat a meal. My older brother who works in the finance world and crunches data on a regular basis was starting to pick up on the patterns of other riders and warned me to slow down and rest more, telling me it wasn’t a sprint, it was a marathon! I knew this, but my body’s energy was relentless. In fact, my energy level surpassed anything I thought I was capable of doing before. Every time I hopped back on my bike it was like I was starting a new ride, fresh and recuperated. I wasn’t feeling the accumulated kilometers, at least not yet! And best of all, my mind was determined to keep riding!

Another cyclist, Wacker, who I rode behind nearly the entire race.

I laid down in my bivy sac down at the back on the campsite, where a few other riders had passed out as well. I set my alarm for 4:30 am to start the climb up Monte Grappa. Just before I closed my eyes, I decided to sleep one more hour. It was a smart choice!