Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.
23 December 2010
12erhorn
First time on the 12erhorn this winter and the snow was outrageous. Deep powder, snow falling lightly, very cold - a beautiful evening.
Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.
Looking forward to knocking this one off a few more times in January.
10 December 2010
7 December 2010
We came, we saw, we cranked
Watching as 15-odd bicycle couriers unpacked their battered bikes from their cars and prepared for an alley cat race in the village square, I began to believe that the night was going to go well.
The 'Radbote' had travelled from Graz, Linz and Vienna to tiny Fuschl for Battle Cranks, a roller racing event I organised which took place on November 27, 2010. I had some doubts: who would bother turning up? Would the first real snow of winter stop people from coming? And would Austrians get into the wild, rawkus frenzy that roller racing needs to be judged a success.
It turned out I had riled the couriers up by claiming this was the first ever roller racing event in Austria. I had researched this, but obviously not hard enough, and in fact a series called Hanky Panky had been going for some time in Vienna, usually tied to alley cat races around the capital.
They decided to come to Battle Cranks to show us who the roller racing kings and queens were. Their Fuschl alley cat race took place two hours before the roller racing was due to start. The temperatures were sub-zero and with snow on the ground, it looked distinctly dodgy to be riding skinny-tyred fixies. But they attracted a small audience, intrigued by this interesting looking bunch of bikers. Even the local plod parked up and watched them take off down the high street.
And so the mood was set. The Mohrenwirt's dining room quickly filled up with assorted cycling types, from ex-pro Gerrit Glomser to seasoned radmarathon roadies, downhill mountain-bikers and, fresh from ripping around the village, the couriers.
Paul and Jake, from Rollapaluza, a company specialising in putting on roller racing events, had driven two days from London to Fuschl with all the equipment to help make Battle Cranks happen. They got things moving with great support from the awesome DJ MKS, and after a few 500m qualifying rounds and it didn't take long for the atmosphere to heat up.
The buzz only increased as the night went on. The couriers were definitely the dominant force, occupying at least half of the top 16 spots that went through to the knockout stages. But there were surprises too, as Chris Sams, 16th fastest in qualifying beat fastest qualifier Random in the first round. Then, in the quarterfinals, Bernhard Steiner, a club soccer player, knocked out pre-race favourite Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec.
The contrast between Bernhard and Ralph was great, the former dressed in smart jeans and shirt ready for a night out, while Ralph wore grungy messenger clothes. But I guess this was for me the best part of the whole evening: all types of cyclists and plenty of non-cyclists coming together for a good time.
By the finals the crowd was pumping. Underdog and fellow zooomie Evelyn Winkler was up against courier-girl PandA in the women's and El Nino was taking on Prolo Radl in the men's. Evelyn nearly scooped an upset, but in the last 150m PandA edged it.
Much to the annoyance of Prolo Radl, the audience was asked if they wanted to double the distance of the men's final to 1000m, which of course they did. Paul counted down "Ready, set.... go!" and off they went. The crowd was screaming in their faces and it was neck and neck at the halfway point. Prolo turned round a couple of times to check out the dial but El Nino kept his head down.
With 200m to go, Prolo knew he was beaten and El Nino blasted to the finish in 52.47sec. I presented him the trophy and he was lifted off into the crowd on the shoulders of ecstatic supporters. I had goosebumps and tingles on the back of my neck. To have helped create a buzz like that was a marvellous feeling.
It goes without saying that people have to be thanked: everyone who turned up to take part or watch, the prize sponsors Fischer Skis, Airstreeem and Suunto, Jaki from the Mohrenwirt and Ulrich, my boss at zooom for supporting the idea and making it happen.
A good time to say the least. Crankage will return in 2011...
Yeah, we made it on TV! Servus TV reported on a "...vollig verrückt Wettkampf.."
The 'Radbote' had travelled from Graz, Linz and Vienna to tiny Fuschl for Battle Cranks, a roller racing event I organised which took place on November 27, 2010. I had some doubts: who would bother turning up? Would the first real snow of winter stop people from coming? And would Austrians get into the wild, rawkus frenzy that roller racing needs to be judged a success.It turned out I had riled the couriers up by claiming this was the first ever roller racing event in Austria. I had researched this, but obviously not hard enough, and in fact a series called Hanky Panky had been going for some time in Vienna, usually tied to alley cat races around the capital.
They decided to come to Battle Cranks to show us who the roller racing kings and queens were. Their Fuschl alley cat race took place two hours before the roller racing was due to start. The temperatures were sub-zero and with snow on the ground, it looked distinctly dodgy to be riding skinny-tyred fixies. But they attracted a small audience, intrigued by this interesting looking bunch of bikers. Even the local plod parked up and watched them take off down the high street.
And so the mood was set. The Mohrenwirt's dining room quickly filled up with assorted cycling types, from ex-pro Gerrit Glomser to seasoned radmarathon roadies, downhill mountain-bikers and, fresh from ripping around the village, the couriers.
Paul and Jake, from Rollapaluza, a company specialising in putting on roller racing events, had driven two days from London to Fuschl with all the equipment to help make Battle Cranks happen. They got things moving with great support from the awesome DJ MKS, and after a few 500m qualifying rounds and it didn't take long for the atmosphere to heat up.
The buzz only increased as the night went on. The couriers were definitely the dominant force, occupying at least half of the top 16 spots that went through to the knockout stages. But there were surprises too, as Chris Sams, 16th fastest in qualifying beat fastest qualifier Random in the first round. Then, in the quarterfinals, Bernhard Steiner, a club soccer player, knocked out pre-race favourite Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec.The contrast between Bernhard and Ralph was great, the former dressed in smart jeans and shirt ready for a night out, while Ralph wore grungy messenger clothes. But I guess this was for me the best part of the whole evening: all types of cyclists and plenty of non-cyclists coming together for a good time.
By the finals the crowd was pumping. Underdog and fellow zooomie Evelyn Winkler was up against courier-girl PandA in the women's and El Nino was taking on Prolo Radl in the men's. Evelyn nearly scooped an upset, but in the last 150m PandA edged it.
Much to the annoyance of Prolo Radl, the audience was asked if they wanted to double the distance of the men's final to 1000m, which of course they did. Paul counted down "Ready, set.... go!" and off they went. The crowd was screaming in their faces and it was neck and neck at the halfway point. Prolo turned round a couple of times to check out the dial but El Nino kept his head down.
With 200m to go, Prolo knew he was beaten and El Nino blasted to the finish in 52.47sec. I presented him the trophy and he was lifted off into the crowd on the shoulders of ecstatic supporters. I had goosebumps and tingles on the back of my neck. To have helped create a buzz like that was a marvellous feeling.
It goes without saying that people have to be thanked: everyone who turned up to take part or watch, the prize sponsors Fischer Skis, Airstreeem and Suunto, Jaki from the Mohrenwirt and Ulrich, my boss at zooom for supporting the idea and making it happen.A good time to say the least. Crankage will return in 2011...
3 December 2010
Letter from Europe: Kenyan Catch-up
Latest column published in the December edition of Vo2max. David Kinjah has one hell of a story to tell. There's way more than what I put down here and hopefully I'll find some time soon to write the rest. Check out his project, www.safarisimbaz.com, he's doing some great work in difficult circumstances.
Following the cycling road events at the recent Commonwealth Games in India reminded me of experiencing the Melbourne Games four years earlier. I was impressed by the sheer doggedness of two relatively unknown Kenyan riders who had played significant roles in the road race’s main break of the day and closing stages.
David Kinjah, 34-years-old at the time, had gone on the attack early with Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) Jeremy Maartens (South Africa), Domenic Perras (Canada) and Robin Sharman (England), staying out in front for 95km until caught with 44km remaining. Soon after his compatriot, 21-year-old Chris Froome, launched a counter attack, unfortunately pulling his foot from the pedal at a crucial moment but nonetheless causing a ferocious chase in the peloton.
Kinjah and Froome had taken the racing to the favourites, making their mark far stronger than many of the well-known and experienced professionals in the pack.
What made the duo’s efforts all the more remarkable was that they both competed in the mountain bike event three days prior and the time trial two days before that. “We were registered to ride the track too,” Froome said at the time, “but couldn’t get hold of enough equipment to race.”
Froome was first off in the time trial, his effort so good that he sat on the top of the leaderboard for over an hour until Kiwi Logan Hutchings came in two minutes quicker. Froome eventually went on to finish 17th.
In an interview he explained to me how difficult it was to get funding from the government and how he was “going to put all his efforts into one day getting hired by a professional team in Europe”. Admittedly I was sceptical about his chances, but now, four years on, Froome has shown himself to be a solid professional cyclist with a promising future ahead of him.
After the 2006 Melbourne Games, he rode for South African development squad Konica Minolta, and then landed a pro contract with Barlowald for 2007 and 2008. He debuted at the Tour in 2008, featuring prominently in a break to Alpe d’Huez and reaching Paris in 84th position overall.
He changed his nationality to British in 2008 – his parents are both originally from England – and now rides for Team Sky, who say on their website that he “has been described as a rough, unpolished diamond with loads of potential.“
At the Delhi Games, Froome, now 25, picked up fifth in the time trial and rode strongly for the English team in the road race, crossing the line 44th. He says he wants to become a general classification rider, aiming for top positions in stage races. This time I am inclined to believe him.
David Kinjah, meanwhile, is still involved in cycling, running Safari Simbaz, a non-governmental organisation devoted to training and coaching young Kenyan cyclists.
“I want to concentrate on the sport,” he says. “I teach them everything: how to fix their bikes, racing tactics, training and so on. I have about 20 boys in my team, and 95% of it is funded through my work as a bike mechanic.”
Unfortunately he has had what can only be described as a massive falling out with the Kenyan Cycling Federation that culminated in him being banned from racing after the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Kinjah says that the Federation wanted to see him fail, even trying to sabotage his and Froome’s chances in Melbourne. He had to scrounge and buy bicycles and parts as the Federation refused to supply them with the right equipment and, during the road race, he says the Kenyan cycling officials even hid their spare bottles and food.
“We had a cooler box of supplies which they took away from our support area on the course. I only had two half-filled bottles of water with me and had to try and get bottles from other teams to keep going.”
After his epic breakaway, Kinjah was interviewed by the race commentator and let his anger boil over.
“The interviewer asked me what would it take to see a Kenyan rider on the podium in a cycling event and I said that Federation needed to start behaving and acting professionally.”
The comments infuriated the Kenyan Federation officials and by the time he got back to the area where the team was supposed to be recovering, the riders and Federation officials were physically fighting.
For Kinjah it was a sad way to end his international career, but he remains positive about changing the system and producing riders capable of competing at the highest level.
“The Safari Simbaz will strive to find cycling success with whatever opportunities are presented to them and will keep pushing for the realization of the power and the potential of the sport.”
Following the cycling road events at the recent Commonwealth Games in India reminded me of experiencing the Melbourne Games four years earlier. I was impressed by the sheer doggedness of two relatively unknown Kenyan riders who had played significant roles in the road race’s main break of the day and closing stages.
David Kinjah, 34-years-old at the time, had gone on the attack early with Duncan Urquhart (Scotland) Jeremy Maartens (South Africa), Domenic Perras (Canada) and Robin Sharman (England), staying out in front for 95km until caught with 44km remaining. Soon after his compatriot, 21-year-old Chris Froome, launched a counter attack, unfortunately pulling his foot from the pedal at a crucial moment but nonetheless causing a ferocious chase in the peloton.
Kinjah and Froome had taken the racing to the favourites, making their mark far stronger than many of the well-known and experienced professionals in the pack.
What made the duo’s efforts all the more remarkable was that they both competed in the mountain bike event three days prior and the time trial two days before that. “We were registered to ride the track too,” Froome said at the time, “but couldn’t get hold of enough equipment to race.”
Froome was first off in the time trial, his effort so good that he sat on the top of the leaderboard for over an hour until Kiwi Logan Hutchings came in two minutes quicker. Froome eventually went on to finish 17th.
In an interview he explained to me how difficult it was to get funding from the government and how he was “going to put all his efforts into one day getting hired by a professional team in Europe”. Admittedly I was sceptical about his chances, but now, four years on, Froome has shown himself to be a solid professional cyclist with a promising future ahead of him.
After the 2006 Melbourne Games, he rode for South African development squad Konica Minolta, and then landed a pro contract with Barlowald for 2007 and 2008. He debuted at the Tour in 2008, featuring prominently in a break to Alpe d’Huez and reaching Paris in 84th position overall.He changed his nationality to British in 2008 – his parents are both originally from England – and now rides for Team Sky, who say on their website that he “has been described as a rough, unpolished diamond with loads of potential.“
At the Delhi Games, Froome, now 25, picked up fifth in the time trial and rode strongly for the English team in the road race, crossing the line 44th. He says he wants to become a general classification rider, aiming for top positions in stage races. This time I am inclined to believe him.
David Kinjah, meanwhile, is still involved in cycling, running Safari Simbaz, a non-governmental organisation devoted to training and coaching young Kenyan cyclists.
“I want to concentrate on the sport,” he says. “I teach them everything: how to fix their bikes, racing tactics, training and so on. I have about 20 boys in my team, and 95% of it is funded through my work as a bike mechanic.”
Unfortunately he has had what can only be described as a massive falling out with the Kenyan Cycling Federation that culminated in him being banned from racing after the Commonwealth Games in 2006.
Kinjah says that the Federation wanted to see him fail, even trying to sabotage his and Froome’s chances in Melbourne. He had to scrounge and buy bicycles and parts as the Federation refused to supply them with the right equipment and, during the road race, he says the Kenyan cycling officials even hid their spare bottles and food.
“We had a cooler box of supplies which they took away from our support area on the course. I only had two half-filled bottles of water with me and had to try and get bottles from other teams to keep going.”
After his epic breakaway, Kinjah was interviewed by the race commentator and let his anger boil over.
“The interviewer asked me what would it take to see a Kenyan rider on the podium in a cycling event and I said that Federation needed to start behaving and acting professionally.”
The comments infuriated the Kenyan Federation officials and by the time he got back to the area where the team was supposed to be recovering, the riders and Federation officials were physically fighting.For Kinjah it was a sad way to end his international career, but he remains positive about changing the system and producing riders capable of competing at the highest level.
“The Safari Simbaz will strive to find cycling success with whatever opportunities are presented to them and will keep pushing for the realization of the power and the potential of the sport.”
2 December 2010
El Nino Storms to Battle Cranks Victory, PandA Wins Women's Race
Daniel ‘El Nino’ Kofler and Andie ‘PandA’ Strießnig were crowned Battle Cranks bicycle roller racing champions on Saturday November 27 at the Hotel Mohrenwirt in Fuschl am See, sprinting to victory in front of a roaring crowd.Kofler beat over 60 competitors including former professional rider Gerrit Glomser, top endurance athlete Gerhard Gulewicz and Red Bull Air Race pilot Hannes Arch at the high-adrenaline event organised by zooom productions.
After a qualifying session, the fastest 16 men and four women went head to head in knockout rounds over 500m. Quickest in qualifying was Jakub "Random" Velikovsky with 22.39sec, but he suffered an upset in the first round when Chris Sams, 16th in qualifying beat him by 0.07sec.
Surprise package was soccer player Bernhard Steiner. In the quarterfinals he knocked out one of the pre-race favourites, Ralph Pecher with the fastest time of the night, 21.71sec. In the semi-final he came up against Kofler and pushed him all the way, leading until the last 100m.
In the other half of the draw, Prolo Radl made steady progress, beating Sams, then Benjamin ‘Zappa’ Duh to come up against Kolfer in a highly anticipated final.
The distance was cruelly upped to 1000m and the crowd at fever pitch as the duo, both bicycle couriers from Graz, battled it out for the title. There was nothing in it for the first 500m, but Kolfer managed to keep his momentum going to the end, fighting against the burn in his legs and spinning to a well deserved win in 52.27sec.
Strießnig was favourite to take out the women’s prize, but had to work hard to beat rapidly improving Evelyn Winkler, who scraped through the semi-final just 0.04sec ahead of Lisa Pleyer.
In the final, Strießnig and Winkler were neck and neck, Strießnig just finding a final shred of energy to pull ahead with a time of 27.78sec ahead of Winkler’s 27.89sec.
As well as top-notch racing, a tombola was held in aid of Wings for Life with prizes from Airstreeem, Suunto and Fischer Skis.
25 November 2010
Roller Training
Building up for Battle Cranks. After seven years of avoiding the rollers like the plague, these workouts have actually been pretty fun.
22 November 2010
Motion Blur
The results of a shoot with Marcos Ferra (www.marcosferro.com). The idea was to demonstrate the technique of motion blur, and I was asked to ride slowly around the corners. The flashes on me freeze the action but the background shows up blurry. Therefore it looks like I'm going quick even when I'm not. Useful technique for a creeper!
Some of the comments on youtube about my riding are pretty funny, though it's nice that most get what the video is for: photography.
Some of the comments on youtube about my riding are pretty funny, though it's nice that most get what the video is for: photography.
20 November 2010
Not the first
So it seems that Battle Cranks is not Austria's first roller racing event. Bit of a bummer since I really had researched it and come up with nothing. However, two ex-pros have contacted me to say that during the 50s and 60s there were such events, and in fact one of them raced against German sprint giant Michael Hubner (and won!) in an exhibition event in 1992.Also, since I began planning the event, there have been two very small goldsprint races in Vienna in bars called Hanky Panky.
But whatever, mistake acknowledged and on with the fun. The mix of people signed up is fascinating: ex-pro roadies, super-endurance athletes, a paracycling champion, the local hairdresser and now a messenger from Vienna who won the Hanky Panky races.
Will this event be a success? Keine Ahnung, no idea. But I have high hopes, and I believe it will be a good night.
10 November 2010
Noch mehr große Namen bei Battle Cranks
Die Liste der Stars, die an Battle Cranks teilnehmen, wird stetig länger. Neu mit dabei sind der ehemalige Radrennprofi Gerrit Glomser und Red Bull X-Alps Athlet Heli Eichholzer. Glomser, der von 1998 bis 2008 Radprofi war, hat drei Mal an der Tour de France teilgenommen und Eichholzer ist im Juli 2011 wieder am Start, wenn die Teilnehmer von Red Bull X-Alps sich nur zu Fuß und per Paragleiter 864km über die Alpen kämpfen.Genug Ausdauer bringen also beide von ihnen mit – aber am 27. November müssen sie bei Battle Cranks ihr Talent für den 500m-Sprint beweisen!
Wenn du dir zutraust, gegen die Profis anzutreten, registrier dich hier.
26 October 2010
23 October 2010
Churchiness in Fuschl
Faced with thousands of former devotees quitting the catholic church each year, the Salzburg diocese is hitting back, reminding everyone what a fun bunch they are.
Posters with uplifting churchie slogans on blue sky and cloudy backgrounds have appeared in villages across the region. Fuschl even has angels stuck on strategic corners with key words such as 'joy' and 'happiness' painted underneath. Last weekend ladies dressed in blue anoraks handed out gummi bears and encouraged us to smile.
And yet still the overriding feeling you get from all this is one of guilt - see, the church DOES want you to be happy and smile, even though you are a sinful non-believer. Perhaps this is a cynical point of view and for someone who was never in the catholic church or ever particularly religious, I'm probably not the best to judge.
However, leaving aside recent international scandals, anecdotes from friends and family don't exactly fill you with a new-found desire to attend mass on a Sunday with the old folks.
The wife of a friend of ours who left had a rather unpleasant visit from the priests assistant who said he had "done a very bad thing!" In fact, the wife is to scared to leave in case of the impact that it might have on her kids not being able to take first communion. "They would be teased about it," she explains.
Another way of looking at it is that of my wife's, who recently posted on Facebook: "The efin bells just woke the baby AGAIN.
Free tip to the Austrian Catholic church - if you want to stop the mass exodus, forget the God Loves You posters and rethink the excessive ding dong sessions at random times in the afternoon."
Posters with uplifting churchie slogans on blue sky and cloudy backgrounds have appeared in villages across the region. Fuschl even has angels stuck on strategic corners with key words such as 'joy' and 'happiness' painted underneath. Last weekend ladies dressed in blue anoraks handed out gummi bears and encouraged us to smile.
And yet still the overriding feeling you get from all this is one of guilt - see, the church DOES want you to be happy and smile, even though you are a sinful non-believer. Perhaps this is a cynical point of view and for someone who was never in the catholic church or ever particularly religious, I'm probably not the best to judge.
However, leaving aside recent international scandals, anecdotes from friends and family don't exactly fill you with a new-found desire to attend mass on a Sunday with the old folks.
The wife of a friend of ours who left had a rather unpleasant visit from the priests assistant who said he had "done a very bad thing!" In fact, the wife is to scared to leave in case of the impact that it might have on her kids not being able to take first communion. "They would be teased about it," she explains.
Another way of looking at it is that of my wife's, who recently posted on Facebook: "The efin bells just woke the baby AGAIN.
Free tip to the Austrian Catholic church - if you want to stop the mass exodus, forget the God Loves You posters and rethink the excessive ding dong sessions at random times in the afternoon."
20 October 2010
18 October 2010
Why am I a cyclist?
Because running is freakin' painful.
The last year running has been the main focus of my need to exercise, primarily because it doesn't require as much time as cycling to get a good workout. Of course the desire to compete is just as strong as usual and so the 27km Wolfgangsee Lauf was the final goal for the season.
Training has been fun. The company's current photography intern is an ultra-marathon runner from Mexico, Marcos Ferra, and we have been out for plenty of lunch break jogs. The guy is awesome, he can just keep going and going and apparently spends much of his weekends on four hour training jaunts around the local hills.
So I had some confidence going into the Wolfgangsee Lauf. The course is interesting: 3km after the start in St. Wolfgang, there is a sharp incline over the Falkenstein. It rises 250m vertically and the descent afterwards is equally steep. From there it is an essentially flat half marathon back to St. Wolfgang.
Marcos took off like a rabbit after the starting gun, not to seen again until the finish. I forced myself to take it easy until at least the Falkenstein. Getting over it wasn't a problem, and I adopted Marcos' downhill technique to good effect, overtaking a lot of runners on the way down. But back at lake level things didn't go totally as I planned. My heart-rate was soaring and I just couldn't get it back to what I was comfortable with.
By St. Gilgen at the 10km mark my pulse was still banging away at 176-179bpm, about 10bpm over what I wanted. I realised this wasn't going to change, so just tried to get in the best rhythm possible and slog it out to the finish.
With 10km to go, I actually felt pretty good. I was able to stick 4min 40sec kilometres and despite the cold and rain, my legs weren't too sore. However, something happened over the next 20 minutes and I gradually got slower and slower. More runners were coming past and my kilometre time was down to 5min.
Mentally I was nearing breaking point. Why was I doing this stupid race? I'm a cyclist, not a runner. Suffering on bikes seems so much more agreeable than on foot.
Through Strobl with five clicks remaining and I just had to take a break, walking for 20 seconds before starting up running again. I saw my work colleague on a corner taking photos which motivated me to pick up the pace a little bit.
The final kilometres were difficult to say the least but emotionally satisfying. At the 500m mark, Red Bull X-Alps athlete Christian Amon - who had finished almost 20 minutes earlier - gave me a shout, and then it was a short descent into the town with hundreds of people cheering. What a boost that was!
I crossed the line in 2hr 13min 6sec, nearly two minutes up on my target of 2hr 15min, and a placing of 228 from 1100 starters. Marcos killed it with 2hr 3min 46sec and 131st position. We didn't hang around, jumping in the car and heading home for a shower and a magnificent shepherd's pie cooked by Katie.
Due to the ridiculous and permanent cycling tans, I opted for baggier longer shorts
Marcos in cruise mode...
One day later and my legs are wrecked and my knees incredibly stiff. I'm sure the jolting on asphalt combined with belting down a steep hill has contributed to the feeling, but whatever the cause, it's ten times worse than after any bike race. The idea of doing a marathon next year is now on hold after this run. It will hurt, and I will wish I was cycling instead.
Meanwhile, less than 24hours after we finished, Marcos, the crazy fool, went for a run, jogging 12km round Fuschlsee.
The last year running has been the main focus of my need to exercise, primarily because it doesn't require as much time as cycling to get a good workout. Of course the desire to compete is just as strong as usual and so the 27km Wolfgangsee Lauf was the final goal for the season.
Training has been fun. The company's current photography intern is an ultra-marathon runner from Mexico, Marcos Ferra, and we have been out for plenty of lunch break jogs. The guy is awesome, he can just keep going and going and apparently spends much of his weekends on four hour training jaunts around the local hills.
So I had some confidence going into the Wolfgangsee Lauf. The course is interesting: 3km after the start in St. Wolfgang, there is a sharp incline over the Falkenstein. It rises 250m vertically and the descent afterwards is equally steep. From there it is an essentially flat half marathon back to St. Wolfgang.
Marcos took off like a rabbit after the starting gun, not to seen again until the finish. I forced myself to take it easy until at least the Falkenstein. Getting over it wasn't a problem, and I adopted Marcos' downhill technique to good effect, overtaking a lot of runners on the way down. But back at lake level things didn't go totally as I planned. My heart-rate was soaring and I just couldn't get it back to what I was comfortable with.
By St. Gilgen at the 10km mark my pulse was still banging away at 176-179bpm, about 10bpm over what I wanted. I realised this wasn't going to change, so just tried to get in the best rhythm possible and slog it out to the finish.
With 10km to go, I actually felt pretty good. I was able to stick 4min 40sec kilometres and despite the cold and rain, my legs weren't too sore. However, something happened over the next 20 minutes and I gradually got slower and slower. More runners were coming past and my kilometre time was down to 5min.
Mentally I was nearing breaking point. Why was I doing this stupid race? I'm a cyclist, not a runner. Suffering on bikes seems so much more agreeable than on foot.
Through Strobl with five clicks remaining and I just had to take a break, walking for 20 seconds before starting up running again. I saw my work colleague on a corner taking photos which motivated me to pick up the pace a little bit.
The final kilometres were difficult to say the least but emotionally satisfying. At the 500m mark, Red Bull X-Alps athlete Christian Amon - who had finished almost 20 minutes earlier - gave me a shout, and then it was a short descent into the town with hundreds of people cheering. What a boost that was!
I crossed the line in 2hr 13min 6sec, nearly two minutes up on my target of 2hr 15min, and a placing of 228 from 1100 starters. Marcos killed it with 2hr 3min 46sec and 131st position. We didn't hang around, jumping in the car and heading home for a shower and a magnificent shepherd's pie cooked by Katie.
One day later and my legs are wrecked and my knees incredibly stiff. I'm sure the jolting on asphalt combined with belting down a steep hill has contributed to the feeling, but whatever the cause, it's ten times worse than after any bike race. The idea of doing a marathon next year is now on hold after this run. It will hurt, and I will wish I was cycling instead.
Meanwhile, less than 24hours after we finished, Marcos, the crazy fool, went for a run, jogging 12km round Fuschlsee.
12 October 2010
Battle Cranks Update
Press release: done and blasted to as many cycling-type people as I can find.
Website: updated and looking frickin cool. Simple Wordpress CMS based site, effective and stylish. www.battlecranks.com.
Posters and stuff: coming along. Bill has done some sweet layouts.
We have prizes now, trophies are being made and the entries are starting to come in. There have been a few people signing up who I don't actually know, which is pretty darn exciting.
So for anyone interested, register here and check the Facebook event page here.
1 October 2010
Battle Cranks
My first foray into event organising is coming together. Battle Cranks will be Austria's first ever bicycle roller racing event and it should be a blast. The race takes place at Fuschl's Hotel Mohrenwirt on November 27 and it's totally free.
Website is launched and we have some sponsors coming in now too. Everyone I've spoken to is interested, but whether that interest turns into actual participants, I am not sure. Also a challenge is explaining to Austrians what it is - nobody, not even cyclists, know what roller racing entails. We came up with the German phrase "Rennrad-Rollenrennen" which covers it pretty well but is a bit of a mouthful. Guess we'll see if the locals 'get it'.
A big thanks must go to Rollapaluza, the London company credited with bringing back roller racing in the UK and who are coming to Austria on a shoestring to help us make this happen.
It's going to be a great night. Check out www.battlecranks.com, register at http://tinyurl.com/battlecranks and the Facebook event page is here.
Massive props to Bill for the graphics, the whole CI is freaking wicked.
Website is launched and we have some sponsors coming in now too. Everyone I've spoken to is interested, but whether that interest turns into actual participants, I am not sure. Also a challenge is explaining to Austrians what it is - nobody, not even cyclists, know what roller racing entails. We came up with the German phrase "Rennrad-Rollenrennen" which covers it pretty well but is a bit of a mouthful. Guess we'll see if the locals 'get it'.
A big thanks must go to Rollapaluza, the London company credited with bringing back roller racing in the UK and who are coming to Austria on a shoestring to help us make this happen.
It's going to be a great night. Check out www.battlecranks.com, register at http://tinyurl.com/battlecranks and the Facebook event page is here.
Massive props to Bill for the graphics, the whole CI is freaking wicked.
26 September 2010
The Mofa Curse
Village life is not as quiet as one thinks. If it's not the tractors driving past the window, the church bells or cows that wake you up on a Sunday, it's the village band oompahing around for another festival.
But by far the most annoying noise pollution comes from mofas, the 50cc motorbikes that can be driven by every brat over 16. Fuschl currently has a little gang of four or five teenie boppers who drive their hairdryer bikes seemingly non-stop, much to the irritation of residents.
Now, I don't want to deny these kids their right to get around. If I was growing up in a small town in the sticks like Fuschl I would be desperate for my own transport. It's the fact that they use their machines for every tiny pointless journey.
On a typical evening, they meet for a smoke behind the post office. Then one or two drive the 300m to the gas station for more smokes or to fill up. Another drives the 200m to the vending machine. They all drive back to the post office for more smoking, occasionally giving lip to any one walking past.
Later, two or three whizz 250m up the road to the pub where despite not being able to see over the bar, they get a drink. Back to the post office, then over to the garage again.. ad infinitum.
The noise generated is an irritating whine, much louder than a scooter. At least one of them has a hole in the exhaust, adding to the din.
As I say, it's the kids' right to drive them, and in general they don't seem to break the 10pm curfew that Fuschl like most places in Austria has on them. However, it would be nice if they used them a bit more intelligently. Driving back and forth within a radius of 400m is totally pointless and incredibly annoying for most residents.
Not only that, but why the hell aren't they exploring a bit? Every 16 year-old wants to get out of wherever their parents are at and they have the means to do it, so why are they wasting their time mooching around Fuschl?
But by far the most annoying noise pollution comes from mofas, the 50cc motorbikes that can be driven by every brat over 16. Fuschl currently has a little gang of four or five teenie boppers who drive their hairdryer bikes seemingly non-stop, much to the irritation of residents.
Now, I don't want to deny these kids their right to get around. If I was growing up in a small town in the sticks like Fuschl I would be desperate for my own transport. It's the fact that they use their machines for every tiny pointless journey.
On a typical evening, they meet for a smoke behind the post office. Then one or two drive the 300m to the gas station for more smokes or to fill up. Another drives the 200m to the vending machine. They all drive back to the post office for more smoking, occasionally giving lip to any one walking past.
Later, two or three whizz 250m up the road to the pub where despite not being able to see over the bar, they get a drink. Back to the post office, then over to the garage again.. ad infinitum.
The noise generated is an irritating whine, much louder than a scooter. At least one of them has a hole in the exhaust, adding to the din.
As I say, it's the kids' right to drive them, and in general they don't seem to break the 10pm curfew that Fuschl like most places in Austria has on them. However, it would be nice if they used them a bit more intelligently. Driving back and forth within a radius of 400m is totally pointless and incredibly annoying for most residents.
Not only that, but why the hell aren't they exploring a bit? Every 16 year-old wants to get out of wherever their parents are at and they have the means to do it, so why are they wasting their time mooching around Fuschl?
13 September 2010
Calls for tougher bike courses at ITU races grow
My latest Letter from Europe column appearing in September/ October's Vo2max.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Javier Gomez, one of the world’s top triathletes. He had plenty to say about the progression of the sport and the ITU’s new World Championship Series which has made its debut this year.
The Series runs over seven races from April to September and visits large cities such as Sydney, Hamburg and London. Although there are some complexities, athletes basically score points at each race and whoever has the most points at the end of the season is crowned World Champion. At the time of writing, Gomez is lying in second overall with just the Grand Final to race in Budapest in mid-September.
The Spaniard is undoubtedly a fan of the Series. “The winner will definitely be the best of the year.”
But interestingly he had a few points where he figures improvements could be made, including the design of the bike courses.
“Every course is flat,” he says. “It would be much better to see at least two or three that were much harder. I mean, we went to Kitzbühel in the Austrian Alps and we had a totally flat course.”
“It would be better for the spectators, more exciting to see breaks go instead of large groups riding together.”
What makes his comments particularly notable is that Gomez’ strongest discipline is running – he has regularly knocked out a 29min 30sec for the 10km run sections this year – and that he would not benefit if bike courses got tougher.
“It would make it fairer for the guys who are better cyclists,” Gomez says, “and it’s good for the sport when different people win.”
He’s not alone in thinking this. Australian triathlon site firstoffthebike.com said in a blog in August that the ITU should, “Put up a super tough bike course and then we'll see how the likes of (Alistair) Brownlee and Gomez et al will fare.”
The WCS has brought triathlon into some of the world’s greatest cities, it would be a positive move to throw some variety into the bike leg and increase the excitement.
Footnote: Javier's second place at Saturday's Grand Final in Budapest was enough to secure his second World Championship title. The bike leg was undoubtedly tough but this was basically because it was pissing with rain and full of potholes. It was still flat as a pancake.
I recently had the pleasure of interviewing Javier Gomez, one of the world’s top triathletes. He had plenty to say about the progression of the sport and the ITU’s new World Championship Series which has made its debut this year.
The Series runs over seven races from April to September and visits large cities such as Sydney, Hamburg and London. Although there are some complexities, athletes basically score points at each race and whoever has the most points at the end of the season is crowned World Champion. At the time of writing, Gomez is lying in second overall with just the Grand Final to race in Budapest in mid-September.
The Spaniard is undoubtedly a fan of the Series. “The winner will definitely be the best of the year.”
But interestingly he had a few points where he figures improvements could be made, including the design of the bike courses.
“Every course is flat,” he says. “It would be much better to see at least two or three that were much harder. I mean, we went to Kitzbühel in the Austrian Alps and we had a totally flat course.”
“It would be better for the spectators, more exciting to see breaks go instead of large groups riding together.”
What makes his comments particularly notable is that Gomez’ strongest discipline is running – he has regularly knocked out a 29min 30sec for the 10km run sections this year – and that he would not benefit if bike courses got tougher.
“It would make it fairer for the guys who are better cyclists,” Gomez says, “and it’s good for the sport when different people win.”
He’s not alone in thinking this. Australian triathlon site firstoffthebike.com said in a blog in August that the ITU should, “Put up a super tough bike course and then we'll see how the likes of (Alistair) Brownlee and Gomez et al will fare.”The WCS has brought triathlon into some of the world’s greatest cities, it would be a positive move to throw some variety into the bike leg and increase the excitement.
Footnote: Javier's second place at Saturday's Grand Final in Budapest was enough to secure his second World Championship title. The bike leg was undoubtedly tough but this was basically because it was pissing with rain and full of potholes. It was still flat as a pancake.
Chipper
After a summer of limited cycling training following the birth of our son, I had intended just to cruise round the only race of the year that I had entered.
The Eddy Merckx Classic Radmarathon runs through 155km of beautiful countryside, with the final 60km taking in some fairly tough climbs. A friend from New Zealand was visiting and a gentle potter would have been a fun way to spend the day.
However, after 20km, I couldn't find my friend in the bunch and a red mist had filled my head: I was going to race this MF as hard as I could. It made no sense, I didn't need to and beforehand I hadn't even wanted to. But what the hell, I wanted to make my legs hurt.
For the next 100km, things went well. The climbs were not proving difficult and I was sitting comfortably in the main peloton. We hammered through Oberösterreich, past Mondsee and back into Salzburgerland and the village of Thalgau. Then, as expected, everything split on Thalgauegg and I was riding with a little group, not too far down on the leaders.
Dropping into Fuschl, where my family and friends cheered us through, was a marvelous feeling - I was a proper racing cyclist again.
Reality struck 5km later as I was promptly dropped on the Perfelleck, a short sharp ascent out of Fuschl. It was here I realized that motivation and experience couldn't account for a lack of longer distance endurance training.
There was about 30km to the finish and a shedload of climbing in the way. My thighs felt fatigued and despite eating four bananas and two energy bars, I thought I was on the verge of bonking.
Over the Gaisberg, the penultimate mountain and longest climb, was awful. There weren't enough gears on my bike and more and more people passed me. "Well," I thought, "I wanted to hurt my legs, so I better get on with it."
The descent was long enough to recover slightly and I caught one rider up before the bottom. But the final hill dragged and I was dropped again, left to my own thoughts about why on earth I was doing this and how much I was looking forward to a radler.
After 4hr 46min I rolled through the finish, in 70th place out of 350 and 25min down on the winner. An OK result. Could have done better if I was fitter. But I guess that despite however much I want to be, I'm not a proper racing cyclist anymore. I'm just an old chipper who still likes trying to beat people and making his legs hurt.
The Eddy Merckx Classic Radmarathon runs through 155km of beautiful countryside, with the final 60km taking in some fairly tough climbs. A friend from New Zealand was visiting and a gentle potter would have been a fun way to spend the day.
However, after 20km, I couldn't find my friend in the bunch and a red mist had filled my head: I was going to race this MF as hard as I could. It made no sense, I didn't need to and beforehand I hadn't even wanted to. But what the hell, I wanted to make my legs hurt.
For the next 100km, things went well. The climbs were not proving difficult and I was sitting comfortably in the main peloton. We hammered through Oberösterreich, past Mondsee and back into Salzburgerland and the village of Thalgau. Then, as expected, everything split on Thalgauegg and I was riding with a little group, not too far down on the leaders.
Dropping into Fuschl, where my family and friends cheered us through, was a marvelous feeling - I was a proper racing cyclist again.
Reality struck 5km later as I was promptly dropped on the Perfelleck, a short sharp ascent out of Fuschl. It was here I realized that motivation and experience couldn't account for a lack of longer distance endurance training.
There was about 30km to the finish and a shedload of climbing in the way. My thighs felt fatigued and despite eating four bananas and two energy bars, I thought I was on the verge of bonking.
Over the Gaisberg, the penultimate mountain and longest climb, was awful. There weren't enough gears on my bike and more and more people passed me. "Well," I thought, "I wanted to hurt my legs, so I better get on with it."
The descent was long enough to recover slightly and I caught one rider up before the bottom. But the final hill dragged and I was dropped again, left to my own thoughts about why on earth I was doing this and how much I was looking forward to a radler.
After 4hr 46min I rolled through the finish, in 70th place out of 350 and 25min down on the winner. An OK result. Could have done better if I was fitter. But I guess that despite however much I want to be, I'm not a proper racing cyclist anymore. I'm just an old chipper who still likes trying to beat people and making his legs hurt.
2 September 2010
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