The descent takes us through this small town and there are at least 10 switchbacks, with traffic, in town. I got passed by at least 2 trains full of Euros who were willing to take some chances. Very impressive to see how much speed they can carry through these tight little roads. I came into town and relaxed, the day was almost done, just a finish line to cross and then celebrate! Mike was at the finish line again, beer in hand, and welcoming everybody across the line. Joerg and Tobias had secured a spot right under a willow tree where we were all hanging out. Erin and Sandra were there, Tom and Pat, Wilf and Thomas, Geoff and Mike, Chris and Jeremy, Graeme and Paul, and Gary. Karen and Jo were the next to arrive, then Ellen and Lisa, Tanya, Ian, and finally Jim and Chris. Duncan and his partner Tom did not start the day as the both had the flu something fierce but were there to support us all.

The group dynamic of the entire trip was amazing! Everybody supported each other by either riding with them, hanging out, eating, or joining in on the teasing that goes on with this much testosterone. The only unfortunate part of this whole experience was the accident that hurt Mike. If he chooses to come back I will definately join him as he is a great friend, team mate, and travel companion. Thanks for coming over with me on this epic adventure!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39122178

The Menghenpass was absolutely stunning. The road switches back and forth in the trees before opening up above the tree line onto these sweeping fields. Other than the Timmelsjoch this was one of my favorite climbs this past week. Tobias was near the top of the climb and barely recognized me. I had to chuck my water bottle at him before he knew who it was. He gave me my spare bottles, some coke, and a laugh. He was also playing opera music as loud as he could from his car. I got dropped by the girls on the descent, as I figured would happen because I do not descend very well, I am still not comfortable with the spped and braking power needed to let it all hang out. I have also seen some really big risks this past week where riders would hang it out and then lock up their wheels in order to make the switch back. I just can’t do it. Mike can. He loves the descents and is very comfortable letting the bike go, slowing it down quickly, and then leaning into any corner. It was quite fun being a domestique.

The second feed station was just across a small flat section and I figured that the girls had a couple of minutes on me that I should be able to make it back up to them but the heat started to get to me and I needed to stop. I was at the aid station for about 10 minutes drinking and eating when Ellen went by. She was set free by her partner Lisa and was pushing the pace today too. I left the aid station and chased her down. She was surprised to see me, but was also happy to have a familiar face to ride with. We worked together with a couple of other guys to keep the pace going on the flat sections, and to set a good rhythm on the uphill sections towards Trento. We got onto one paceline and got stuck at the front for extra pulls a couple of times and ended up cooking ourselves a bit too much. WE had to let that train go at one point. Oddly enough though we came across the line before most of them as they all cracked as well.

When we got into town the streets were very busy with traffic as Trento is a larger city rather than the usual ski towns we were stopping in. The cobbles were fun to ride on and made it feel like we were participating in Paris-Roubaix. We crossed the line together. Mike and Joerg were waiting and a bit surprised at where we were in the field. I figured we had ridden from the “D” group up into the last bit of the “B” group. After a few minutes of settling down I looked around at how beautiful this finsh area was. We were in the main plaza of the town right in the courtyard of a massive church. The square was buzzing with locals and racers alike and it seemed like a normal day in Italy.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39122225

Unfortunately I am starting this post from a hospital bed and it is going to be very short. I made it about 2 k into todays stage before I was blindsided by another rider. Many of the stages start with neutral starts to get the riders through the narrow roads that many of the towns are built around. This means there are cars and motorcycles in front of the riders trying to control the speed a little, unfortunately this means it can get a little congested in sections. Today’s start was particularly tricky as it was downhill and people were going to be spending a fair amount of time on their brakes. Our group was staying to the right side trying to stay out of the middle for safety as Jeorg had suggested. We were heading downhill at 40 – 45 about 2 k into the race when we came across a couple of riders that were for some reason going really slow and everyone was having to go around them. That’s about all I remember, Jeremy filled in the rest. Jer was riding behind me, with Tanya on his wheel. I guess the guy that was to Jer’s left didn’t see the slower riders in time and when he did notice he locked up his brakes, screamed by Jer and hit the rider to my left launching him between Jer and I. He then continued his trek to the right hand side of the road, unfortunately I was between him and the right side of the road and he felt I was no longer in need of my front wheel, so he proceeded to take it out from under me. I left the ground and pitched completely over to my left hand side firmly planting the back of my head into the tarmac. Luckily I was already moving towards the grass so that any subsequent bounces off the ground where a little softer, limiting most of the damage to the initial impact of head on pavement and the resulting concussion.

I still don’t remember most of this and I’m only just starting to remember the ambulance ride to the hospital. Once there, the Italian medical system was extremely efficient and had me triaged, CT scan, full x-rays for everything above the hips and an ultrasound to make sure I hadn’t damaged anything internally as I had some road rash and bruising on the lower back; all withing an hour. Try that in Canada.

After 2 days in the hospital, I am back with the group a little stiff, a little sore and with an incessant head ache I can’t seem to shake. Given what happened I think I got off lucky, but unfortunately my race is done. The doctors made sure the race organizers won’t let me continue and I’m not supposed to ride for a month. We’ll see.

Today started almost exactly like yesterday with bright sunshine and a climb that started right out of town. There is no way to explain how starting a ride with 2 hours of straight climbing can drain you. The Wurzjoch is not a particularly difficult climb but it is 25 kms (32 if you count the first pitch) long and at this point, regardless of the altitude, it is very hot. The one saving grace is we did have a few sections where we had a little respite from the unrelenting sun when we wound our way through beautiful pine forests with lots of shade for an hour or so. We also ran across a bus full of tourists who were stranded up on the Wurzjoch due to the races closed roads. Rather than be mad about it, they were all out along the road cheering us like we were doing a pro tour. Good energy boost that unfortunately did not last long as there was still plenty of mountain to climb. The trek from the Wurzjoch to the Furkelpass was a lot of fun, there were long winding sections through small little towns and we had one section where the road through some valleys and forest was more like a goat path and it had some really short steep pitches which none of us had too much trouble with because they were so short. Then there is the Furkelpass.

The Furkelpass is, how can I explain the Furkelpass; let’s just say that it didn’t matter what language they were saying it in, you knew what all the riders were calling the Furkelpass. This thing is just nasty. I don’t think we hit the 18% we hit of the Khutai on day one, but it was switchback after switchback of 14 to 16% that just never seemed to stop and it was really getting hot. I had one section where I have to admit I got off my bike simply because I had to. Not to eat or take a picture, I just couldn’t turn the pedals over anymore and the back was really starting to lock up. The descent was wicked though and I really let go on this one and left everyone behind, it wasn’t that I wanted to drop anybody, I just figured I worked so damn hard to get up there that I was going to have some fun on the way down and I was really getting comfortable with just how fast I could take the switchbacks and not drop too much speed on the descents. The cobblestones heading into San Vigilio caught me by surprise though and I almost did a header when my wheel slipped off one of the cobbles.

A humbling day to say the least considering that I can do a half ironman quite a bit quicker than it took me to do this “recovery ride” of 85k ride.

Another beautiful sunny day with 2 pretty good climbs ahead of us. The start out of Solden was pretty short and uneventful with the climb starting only a couple of kilometres out of town. The Timmelsjoch is one of those climbs that sweeps for long stretches along the side of the mountain so you can see a long way up and down as you are climbing. It’s not a particularly hard climb, but mentally numbing as you just never seem to get any closer to the top and you can see so many damn riders so far ahead of you. The top of the Timmelsjoch is our highest point in the race at 2506 meters and there was lots of snow at the top. A few of the gang regrouped here before we started the wickedly long 25 km descent into Italy. This one was particularly fun as once you pass into Italy, the police completely close the roads so we didn’t have to worry about cars on the long sweeping chicanes that made up a good part of this descent.

The second climb up the Jaufenpass was completely different from the Timmelsjoch, where the first was a long sweeping road along the mountain, the Jaufenpass was a seemingly never ending set of switchbacks that cut is’s way up the side of the mountain. This didn’t seem so bad at first until I got what I thought was about half way up and there seemed to be just as many switchbacks still ahead of me and I was starting to feel a little bit of cramping even though I was getting lots of food and fluids into me unlike yesterday. The one saving grace was that I knew Tobias was waiting at the top with our support vehicle and a much needed refill of fluids as even this high it was starting to get really hot. This by the way did not bode well for our plunge down in the valley towards Brixen. Those of you that know me, know that I have trouble in the heat, I lose water and lots of it when it is hot and I haven’t had time to acclimatize. Given the weather in Vancouver this year I think it’s safe to say I’ve not had a chance to adjust to the sun and warmer weather. I knew I was already dehydrated at the top and we were heading down into the valley with another 50 kms to go in heat that was in the mid 30′s.

The descent down off the Jaufenpass was uneventful for us and once at the bottom we settled into a good rhythm after we picked a couple other people in our group. We also had the fortunate luck of hooking up with a couple of riders from the Netherlands and man those guys like there flats. Unlike yesterday where I spent a good chunk of time pulling for the last 30 km, these two seemed more than happy to pull us along at 40-45 km/h for what seemed like forever. Our little group managed to hang on although there were many that couldn’t hold the pace and fell off over the 20 km of flattish terrain we had before we hit the final three short climbs coming into Brixen. Although the climbs were short, at that point in the race they were pretty challenging. I almost blew past one of the turns as I had my head down trying to pull the group up to the second climb.

All in all an awesome day where the climbs were not nearly as steep as the climb up the Khutai yesterday, but they were numbingly long.

Wow that was a hot one! With Mike spending the night in the hospital in Brunic we were unable to start as a team therefore we will have a DNF as a team. I am still able to continue riding and enjoy the rest of the routes they have planned for us. Today was the Passo San Pellegrino, yes the very same San Pellegrino we all enjoy, and it is a nasty climb! A long section of 14% grade that pops your knees at every switchback. Very beautiful though and the descent down the other side was worth any of the pain we went through. I started with Jimmy, Chris (from the Bike Barn), Ellen, and Lisa. The girls dropped us very shortly into the climb but we did add another rider to the mix as we picked up Ian MacAndrews (apologies Ian if I miss-spelt) who was having a very rough day. He could pedal on the flats and had lots of energy but his uphill muscles just did not want to fire. We coaxed him into joining us to the top and he said he was going to pull the plug. He didn’t cause we convinced him to stick it out. His partner Gary was waiting at the top for him as well and he wanted to help Ian get to the finish line and not quit. Good on him.

Jim was feeling terrible again today and was still having issues with keeping food in so at the water station we grabbed one of the medical team and she gave him something to settle his stomach. It helped cause he bounced onto his bike and hit the descent like an italian skier. We started the second of three climbs and had much the same effect as the first one. Thankfully it was a short one and we were able to get everybody to the top, with some minor coaxing this time. There was a second water station here and this is where we parted ways. I was given the mission to go to our neutral support station on the third climb where Tobias would be and ask him to come back and pick up the boys. So off I went. On the way to Toby I cam e across one of the faster teams rider, Duncan, he was ont lookiing very good, chills (in 35 degree heat) and sick to his stomach. He told me his wife Tanya was ahead of me by about 20 minutes. I told him my mission and that I would add him to the list and took off. Funny enough I caught Tanya just as she was reaching Tobias. Quick drink and some bottle fills and off we both went. We finished together after some amazing descending into the valley near Kaltern and then pushed through a few teams on the stretch home. Great finish to a great day!

Mike is on his way to us right now and will be joining the group this evening.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/39122257

Mike went down today in the first 2km’s. He is okay. Let me say that again to dispel any panic, he is OK. He hit his head and has a minor concussion that will keep him in the hospital overnight tonight. He has a small bit of road rash on his back side and his left shoulder, but no other damage. He is going to re-join us tomorrow in Kaltern and then we will take things from there.

I don’t want to go into the details of the accident other than to say that I was right behind Mike when he went down and was able to stop and stay with him. I want to commend how helpful the other riders were that stopped to help keep him safe and place calls for help. It’s amazing how quickly a language barrier can disappear when someone is in need. I would also like to thank the amazing people from the ambulance services, doctors, Magic places (Joerg Becker & Tobias Spindler), and the organizing group involved as they treated an unfortunate accident like this with the utmost professionalism and care.

Finally a short day only 88km of riding, we should be done this in about 3-3.5 hours right? Right.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38744808

I think the data speaks for itself that this was a very humbling, but yet beautiful, day. We learned 2 very important lessons today: 1. Mike and hills steeper than 10% don’t get along very well. 2. We are not the gods of cycling that aren’t riding on the Tour that we thought we were.

Today was a good start from Brixen right into our first climb of 32km. Yes that’s right we climbed 32km. The nice thing was that it was in the shade for the most part and the heat didn’t pose as big a problem as it had the first couple of days. The climb itself was gorgeous as the road took us through farmers fields, around a mountain, and then back around again. We stuck a lot clsoer together today and re-grouped everybody together at the first water station. There were five of us together here, Mike, and I, Lisa (Kelowna), Ellen (Kelowna), and Tanya (Abu Dhabi, via NFLD, via Vancouver). Tanya is a bit hesitant on the downhills so we told her to try to keep our lines and stay on our wheels as long as she could. She did great! When we got to the bottom of this descent we were all together, but that was quickly short lived as Mike put the diesel engine to work and pulled across the valley floor and then along into this copse of trees that was an absolute blast to ride through. There were steep pitches of maybe 10m in there but it was shaded and felt like mountain biking along a paved pathway. I wish we had gotten a picture of the four of us in a pace line. There was another descent after this and Mike got away from us, as usual, and waited at the aid station. Ellen and I stayed together while Lisa ate a banana and brought up the rear. Ellen and I had a near miss on a blind left hand corner as a rider passed by her and tried to take the inside line from me. He missed us both thankfully.

When we met up with Mike we started the last climb of the day the Furklepass (this should have a different F-word name) where we saw, yet again, 18% grades. The real killer was a section of switchbacks at 11% that lasted about 4km. Not good for the spirits. This was getting tough on Mike and his back along with my knees. The only saving grace was that there would be another great downhill. When we finally reached the summit we re-grouped yet again and started the descent. Mike was off the front again and I didn’t see him until I got into town. I was not too far off his time but witnessed my first ever downhill blunder as the rider in front of me slowed down to take a shicane and completely overshot the last corner and went right up the embankment. The good thing was that we had been slowed down by course officials enough that he wasn’t hurt and bounced back on the road quite quickly. The rest of the descent into town was wicked! I felt like I had dialed my nutrition in again as I got close to 1700 calories in and didn’t have the same cramping issues form previous days.

I kept Mike in view once we had dropped into town, mostly due to traffic on the descent he couldn’t go Mach 10, we crossed the timing mat together. Once into town the heat was staggering so we joined the other racers by hopping into the town’s central fountain. The water was perfect as it was so cold! Then we had an interesting experience by staying in the youth hostel, where we had separate rooms, for the most part (sorry Juicy), and a shower that didn’t work (mine). A bit of fatigue, dehydration, and hunger are not a good combination when you’re caked in salt and sweat for sweet talking an innkeeper to move you to another room. Lesson learned. I was able to shower in Mike’s room though and then we joined the Penticton crew at a local coffee shop for some panini before we went for dinner.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/38742093

All in all a great day on the bike and a lot of fun today. You will notice that I have power for this ride today as I have switched to my powertap wheels rather than using my tubular wheels. Good choice for me as well cause the descent of the Timmelsjoch was a touch on the windy side for me…

You will also have noticed that we haven’t been able to post recently because they don’t believe in the internet in Italy. I will try to keep more up to date with it from here on out as we are now in some of the larger towns where we shouldn’t have a problem finding wifi.

With views like this you almost forget it hurts. Almost.

Sorry folks, I know it’s only the first day but I’m beat so this will be short.

The day was 120 km with a little less than 2700 meters of climbing and on paper it looks like one of the easier days. God, I hope not. The first 45km was pretty uneventful which was good as there are many things that can go wrong with a mass start of 1200 riders. That’s when the fun ended and the first climb started with about 10km before a bit of a reprieve. Then the work really started with the long climb up to Kuhtai which is a lot like Seymour for most of the time, but it’s a whole lot longer and there are 2 sections which don’t drop below 16%, one 2 km long and the other 1 km long. I actually had a pretty good climb with no cramping and very few issues with my back tightening up which it’s been prone to do the last few weeks of training. Up to this point I had been stopping to take quite a few pictures which means our overall time was terrible, but I didn’t really care, I’m here to try to enjoy myself.

Once we started our descent into Oetz, the picture taking stopped. The descent was just way to fast and way to tricky to try to stop for photos. Jer and I got to the bottom with no issues and then we started the long slow climb up to Solden. It’s not steep at all but it constantly stays at 3 or 4 percent so it was good that we had a tailwind for a good chunk of it. We motored along pretty good at this point with a little pacing help from Toby for a kilometer or so as we worked hard to bridge from one group to the next. I managed to hold off the cramping until we were about 5 km from Solden and then I had to stop for a bit so that I could stretch out the hamstrings. After that it was just a slow spin into town for the finish which concluded with a little stretching and a lot of eating.

On to day 2.