Otztal Radmarathon 2013

galatzo

Registration for the ballot for a place is open from now till end of Feb if anyone fancies a bit of a challenge ?

http://www.oetztaler-radmarathon.com/ma ... index.html

238km
5500m climbing

Costs a few quid to enter and to get there of course but it is so worth it. Organisation is top class, support along the route from locals is outstanding, event village that puts the Dragonride etc to shame (Focus, Willier, Scott etc displays etc) scenery... well you can guess and the feed stations.... hot salty sliced roast potatoes at the top of the Brenner pass and as much as you need everywhere else - no sign of a single smart price apple pie and half banana limit !

Unfinished business me and this bleeder !

galatzo

Well I missed out on the initial draw for places on March 5th
Forgot all about the 2nd draw and was more than a bit surprised to get an email last week telling me I'm in !
Work evenings so can ride most days so please let us have a better summer than last year.
Think I'm looking forward to it !

galatzo

Not a lot of people know about the Otztal Radmarathon but I can tell you it's hard and I'm never doing it again !
Saturday night before the ride it started raining and didn't stop till about 11-30 the next morning. And I mean raining, virtually Biblical p!55ing it down, streaming across the roads but I set off from Innsbruck at 4am to the start in Solden arriving at 5.15. I sat in the car watching it pour down wondering if it was worth starting but saw a few others getting ready and thought I've come this far that I may as well give it ago.
So from the start at 6.45 and for 35km downhill and 18km up the first climb to Kuhtai it teemed it down. As I reached Kuhtai riders were coming back down and quitting, at the top riders were in foil blankets shivering, it was snowing about 750mtrs above us ! I had a soup and decided to plough on and hope that the weather would improve after the decent into the valley which it did however the decent into Innsbruck was the coldest I've ever been on a bike in August, the rain my gloves and shoes had taken on virtually froze my hands on the decent.
A glimpse of sun appeared in the valley and got a bit stronger as we reached the start of the Brenner pass and by top it was a pretty nice day, I was feeling good and glad I'd stuck with it.
A quick decent and before I knew it I was starting up climb 3, the Jaufenpass, were I buckled last time. Should have eaten a bit more but got to the feed station just before the top and stocked up and then started the amazing decent just before the road was opened to traffic.
Now the big one, the Timmlesjoch, all 29km and 1759mtrs of vertical ascent. The legs were stiffening now and it was a grind to the half way point were I quit last time. There were still quite a few out on the road but I didn't hang around too long at the feed station just to be sure. The last 8km to the top was agony and there was no way I could have done it last time but save for a brief walk I struggled on to the top and achieved redemption for 2010. The downhill from there save for a short uphill to the border control (from Italy back into Austria) was awesome and I think I picked off about 40 riders, one in the last 200 yards were I hit about 40mph on the flat to the cheers of people who had hung around. I crossed the line after 12hrs 37mins but any pain was gone at that moment (to return the next day though) and my finishers jersey awaited.
238km
5500mtrs
Sorted - never again

If your looking for a challenge give it a try, amazing scenery and support all the way round.

knedlicky

Congratulations, and considering the weather at the beginning, Well Done!
Although I’ve done almost 25 sportives on the Continent, including the Marmotte and alpine sportives with as long a distance as the Ötztaler, I’ve always been shy of the Ötztaler (only the longest option of the Alpenbrevet is a harder one-day sportive).
I can imagine what you went through weatherwise, however, because at 4 of my sportives in the Alps there was also continuous torrential rain at the beginning, starting the evening before and going until 11.00 next morning (seems there must be 20-25% chance of it being so!)

All together I know 10-11 people who’ve done the Ötztaler. Four of them were there this year, two for the third time, two for the first time.
One of those who had been there before, and was hoping to better his time from 2 years ago (8-42), called it a day, along with 500 others, at the Kühtai feeding station - this although at the time he was in the leading 7-8% of the field.
The other three, who were by then already farther back in the field, ploughed on and finished, one in roughly 10-20 (pretty respectable given the initial conditions) and the other two in just over 12 hours (pretty admirable too - applies to anyone who finished!)

napoleond

It's been a few years since one of these was dished out...

dsoutar

I've tentatively thought about this but I remember the torture I endured with the Marmotte and this seems way harder. I'm also 6 years older now

Is there a broom wagon and if so, what are the criteria to avoid it ?

p.s. A hearty congrats too, well deserved and well done

galatzo

Knedlicky - Give it a try mate, sounds like it's the only one missing from your palmares !
NapD - Cheers very much, means almost as much as my finishers jersey !
Dsoutar - Broom wagons are easily available if you need them but the organisers really seem to try and get everyone through if they can. Half way up Timmlesjoch at the Schonau feedstation I noticed cars with time limit advice in the back windscreen but they didn't seem to be pressurising people to stop rather just to crack on if you were struggling. That said I did go through that feed pretty quick to avoid any chance of the broom wagon and there were still a few hundred there and more on the road behind me.
Ullrich did it in 8hrs 10mins winners 7hrs 15mins, not sure about the slowest but saw a few over 13hrs
It's an amazing event that I'm not doing again but I recommend it to anyone.
Mallorca 312 looks appealing for my next project....

FransJacques

ausgezeuchnet! sehr gut gemacht. du sollst sehr glucklich sein!

ich moechte einem Tag dieses Renn machen. Aber mit einem kleinem Kind wir warden sehen...

galatzo

mein Deutsch ist sehr schlecht, aber ich danke Ihnen!