“…I believe that if someone starts out on a challenging activity, completely confident that they’re going to succeed, why bother starting? It’s not much of a challenge.” — Sir Edmund Hillary

When possible I pick my “A” races each year by looking for something that is so difficult in some way that I do not know if I will be able to complete it.  I also prefer it to be somewhere where good beer is served. So 540 KM and 45000 feet of climbing in the Alps with a start in Austria covered both requirements well.

In 2006, while spending the winter in Austin TX to prepare for RAAM, I visited Rick Kent. He had a poster on his fridge for a race called Race Across The Alps. I remember thinking I wish we still had races like that in ultracycling. I had assumed the race no longer existed. Fast forward a few years and I hear of another American doing Race Across the Alps , David Haase. I immediately added it to my “list” of races to do. In 2009 RATA made it to the top of the list. This is no leisurely jaunt doing one climb a day with lunch served at the top. There are no massages after 5 hours of racing. It is eleven alps passes in one race, one stage, 540 KM, 45000 ft of climbing. I wondered if I this is the race I would be broken by. I had so little idea how I would react to the excessive climbs and descents. Ive done races that had large amounts of climbing in them, but this is different. Its the alps.

The Stelvio, the Gavia, the Mortirolo are names that are famous to cyclists. The 47 switchbacks of the Stelvio are the location of some of the historic battles of the Giro. Coppi cemented his victory there in 1953 against Koblet. The Gavia is remembered as the pass where Andy Hampsten fought through blizzard conditions in a decisive move on his way to becoming the only American to win the Giro. The Mortirolo was described by Lance Armstrong in this way: “It’s a terrible climb…it’s perfect for a mountain bike. On the hardest parts, I was riding a 39×27 and I was hurting, really hurting. (Mortirolo) is the hardest climb I’ve ever ridden.”

I arrived in Europe 3 days before the start with my crew Dave and Carmichael. As a warm up, I rode the the course out to the top of the Stelvio. 47 switchbacks once you get to the point where they start keeping track. It was a hard climb, but not too bad I thought. I had a big smile plastered on my face all day. My confidence was good.

There was the usual rush to get last minute details sorted: Food, water, GPS unit setup. Austria seems to be a bit stringent on the hours you are allowed to eat, so we were consistently relegated to the a small pizza and kabob place lined with smokers(Pretty good pizza though). Dave spent many hours trying to get the route converted to my GPS unit.

The race meeting was in German, so we listened in on a translation from Christiane, the organizers daughter. Had a great time catching up with Shanna Armstrong. A good dinner and I made an attempt at sleep.

Race Day(s)

I arrived about an hour before the start and found a seat in front of a cafe to relax until it was time for the riders to line up. Met a racer and crew from England and they joked about getting a kettle for tea working in their follow vehicle.

The race began fairly easy but quick. I tried to stay in the middle of the front pack to conserve some energy until the first climb where I assumed the group would blow apart. Spent quite a bit of time weaving my way through support vehicles as i worked my way toward the climb.

The Stelvio - 9045 feet, 7.4 %, 15.1 miles
I made good time up the first pass, moving up a few places here and there. Already having done this climb I went a bit harder than my pre-race ride and made good time to the top. There I put on an extra layer and proceeded into my first alps descent. It was freezing cold and a bit tense. Short free falls followed by quick braking and hard turns through the switchbacks.

Gavia - 8700 feet, 7.9%, 10.7 miles
The Gavia is often described as one of the most beautiful climbs in the alps. On this climb I started to realize what I might be in for. A light rain started to come down and fog rolled in. I had a good conversation with another racer as we climbed at similar pace and occupied my mind by reminding myself that if another North Dakotan can win the Giro on this pass I can at least put in a strong effort. At the top I had to stop and put on some warm clothes, a common theme. Luckily, Dave had a warm rain jacket that I co-oped around this time.  Fog and rain made me more cautious on the descent than I would have liked.

Aprica - 3852 feet, 3.3%, 9.3 miles
The Aprica came to be known in my mind as the recovery climb. Compared to the others this seemed like a flat road. Everything is relative.

Mortirolo - 6056 feet, 10.5 %, 7.7 miles
The deciding climb of the race. Not as high or as long as the Stelvio but steep and seems to go on forever. I was told after the race that this is the point where riders usually blow up and drop out. I didn’t consider dropping out, but I was painfully slow on this climb. It became apparent to me at this point that my goal was finishing rather than a particular placing.The follow vehicle could not follow behind me up the climb. It would stall at that slow of speed, so the support vehicles would jump ahead, wait, than jump ahead again. This could get a little dicey on what is basically a one car wide road or better described as a path. Along the climb I encountered a shrine to Marco Pantani, my first thought was yeah you’d have to be doping to climb this fast.

Aprica - 3852 feet, 3.3%, 9.3 miles
My favorite recovery climb again, though i could have used a nice Chicago overpass by this time.

Bernina - 7637 feet, 7.5%, 10.9 miles
Entered Switzerland to begin the longest climb. A hard rain during this period. I crashed, fell over actually, while crossing railroad tracks just before the start of this climb. This is where my memory starts to get a bit fuzzy as to which climb I was on. In my mind I was trying to to do the countdown of how many climbs I had left, but I couldn’t remember if there were 11 or 12 passes in the race. In hindsight I should have just asked my crew, but it never crossed my mind.

Albula - 7565 feet, 6.6%, 5.9 miles
Fluela - 7870 feet, 6.4%, 8.0 miles
Fuorn - 7050 feet, 3.1%, 13.4 miles
Umbrial/Stelvio - 9045 feet, unknown grade and distance
My remaining passes calculation was easily solved because from here on out it seemed like one big climb with an occasionally short downhill. There was a section on the Umbrial that was gravel during resurfacing, so I spent my time pretending I was riding the Giro back in Coppi’s era. After a great deal of climbing, I eventually reach a point where I can tell I’m back on the Stelvio. While there is one more climb near the end, this is the last monster. We were told by the bartender in a bar at the top of the Stelvio that it is easier from this side, but I dont think that considered the 300 mile warm-up I had just done. I slowly pulled myself to the top. I was ecstatic to have crested the last summit. Now a long descent and a fairly flat ride in to the finish line. I had plenty of time to get there under 30 hours.

The descent was not easy. Upon exiting each switchback I pressed the backs of my fingers against the handle bars and the joints would click back into place from their frozen position clinched to the brake levers. I had to stop because my hands were so tired from the braking required.

At the bottom of the descent is a left turn and 30k to the finish. I was feeling great. The race was over. Than an unwelcome surprise, a very strong headwind. I don’t know what the wind speed was, but at that point it seemed like a hurricane. I plodded along at a very un-race like pace, until my crew came up to tell me I was in danger of missing the 30 hour cutoff at this speed(I think they said 9km/hr). 2 riders were about 5 minutes ahead. If I could catch them, we could work together through this wind. I struggled to increase my pace. I couldn’t come all the way to Europe only to be a DNF. Eventually I saw the other racers and inched myself up to them. I offered to take the first pull. 40 seconds on the front and I motioned for them to pull through. They were gone. I sat up and looked around. They were long gone. Solo to the finish it is. I had energy again and thankfully it became a slight downhill.

I pulled into the finish cross-eyed from trying to get in under 30 hours. Race staff helped me off my bike and led me into a big tent. This is not like an ultra race in the states. Hundreds of people drinking, eating, and cheering for each rider as they arrive. I was brought up on stage for a quick interview and a good beer.

At the awards ceremony, I found out the cutoff is 32 hours to finish officially.

Official Time: 30:04

20th Place

2nd American to ever finish

Official Results
RATA website

I signed up for the Sebring 24 hour race this year as a way to stay motivated over the winter. Last year, with my primary cycling goal not scheduled until the end of the summer, I felt like I was a bit stagnant over the winter.

This winter I’ve been in a good rhythm with my workouts. Many and regular hours on the Computrainer and twice a week doing functional strength training. Throw in a few indoor time trials to avoid boredom and a trip to Vegas to get some outdoor miles and I went into the race feeling great. I was optimistic, but cautious as I had only 3 rides 100 miles or longer this year, 1 indoors and 2 outdoors.

The usual rush to get everything ready the night before went well and for once I was asleep early before the race.

The first day loop went well. I tried to rein in my usual habit of going out too hard. The only difficulty was that my pace was nearly identical to the lead pack of drafting racers. It seemed i was always trying to get myself out of drafting positions, either trying to jump ahead, move to the side or fall behind. This was wasted energy. A support vehicle nearly hit me as I  followed an out of date road marking, sometimes colors are a challenge. This misstep dropped me far enough behind the pack that i was able to than ride my own pace.

I finished the first 100 miles in 4:30 approximately.  A good start. The afternoon loops began, it warmed up and a bit of wind arrived to make it a little more interesting. I always bonk a bit during the mid-loop at Sebring. This year was no different. All I could do is keep the pedals moving and drink as much as possible. Eventually, my energy returned and by the time I moved on to the race track for the night loops i was plugging along at good pace.

I like the night loops. Only 3.7 miles long, the race track is not an oval, but a winding Le Mans style track. It has enough variation to keep you alert and enough rough patches to wake you up. The night loops went well. I did encounter one more bonk, which required me to stop and shovel in some real food. A turkey wrap, pretzels, and a coke never tasted so good as they did at 1 am in Sebring.

As the night loops progressed I was hoping to pull out 460 miles, but my pace slowed toward the end. 449.1 miles, a good ride for this early in the year. Im looking forward to the upcoming races this year.

Power and Ride Stats on Training Peaks

Ultracycling Summary

Sebring Results

Sebring Split Times

32 degrees and some wind. 4 hours, 65 miles. Nice to be outside.

Along the way I encountered:

1. An ice flow covering the bike path along the lakefront that made me look like a 5 year old on his first set of skates.
2. A guy on a mountain bike wearing a motorcycle helmet with a spinning light on the top, made me think of Fahrenheit 451.
3. Another in a ski jacket on ten speed who nearly crashed while trying to wave.
4. Quite a few runners, a much saner activity this time of year.
5. 5 cars that pulled out of parking spaces directly in front of me without looking.
6. Very few other cyclists.

I did an indoor time trial this past weekend. I ignored my plan for a long outdoor ride and drove up to do a 30 minute computrainer race. 30 long minutes.  It always seems like a fun idea when I register.

A few years ago I did my first indoor time trial. I had completed some pretty hard races the summer before and was feeling pretty confident. It was 10K long. The shortest race I’d ever done to that point.  I placed nearly last. Next to me, a relatively obese older fellow pedaled along happily as i suffered miserably.

This one went a bit better. Though in my typical way I went out too hard, before realizing Im not Lance. Still, it was a decent showing. I’m sure it will be fun next week.

Ultracycling: Metamora (2008)

A short recap on the ultracycling.com site about one of the races I did this year.  I never seem to do well in western Illinois/eastern Iowa. This one went well other than a collision. I felt great all day. Average speed was 22.22 for 210 miles. Even with a crash that required a wheel change.

Shortly after the start  of the race Larry bumped my rear wheel going into a turn and somehow flipped his bike in the air. It became lodged sideways across the seat stays of my (new)bike. Luckily I didn’t crash, and managed to roll to a stop while carrying his bike. Wish i had a picture of it. It took us a few minutes to figure out how to disentangle the 2 frames, however my rear wheel did not come out of it injury free. I nursed it through the rest of the 50 mile lap. Larry and John Schlitter were nice enough to wait for me while i did a wheel change and than helped me back to the lead pack.

Unrelated to endurance cycling. Well maybe not completely in that his major novel is over 1000 pages, an endurance effort for sure.

I opened up my browser this morning to see:

An Appraisal - Writer Mapped the Mythic and the Mundane

I immediately clicked through excited that perhaps David Foster Wallace had released a new book. I was sad to find that it was an obituary.

I often cite Infinite Jest as a favorite novel. I don’t often recommend it to friends, because it is huge and at times frustratingly complex and dense. For me though it is a book that makes me laugh out loud. It includes an incredibly vivid description of what it is like to walk out to the court with an opponent when competing in a junior tennis tournament. I may have never noted this experience without re-experiencing it through his writing.

If you aren’t up for 1000+ pages. check out:

Girl With Curious Hair

or there are numerous articles he penned for magazines out there on the web.

Rolling Stone Article about John McCain
The Weasel, Twelve Monkeys And The Shrub : Rolling Stone

Atlantic Monthly article about Radio Host John Ziegler
Host

Gourmet magazine article about the Main Lobster Festival
lobsterarticle.pdf (application/pdf Object)

The rider summary I sent to the UMCA for certification of the record.

Record attempt: 1000K Outdoor Unpaced Track Record
Name of rider(s): Bryce Walsh
Start date and exact start time to the nearest minute: 8/23/08 10:10:00.00am CST
Exact start location: Ed Rudolf Velodrome, Northbrook IL
What were conditions like? Hot and Humid, threatening rain.
Why did you want to do a record? I think of the 24 hour track record as the ultracycling equivalent of what the hour record is for traditional racers. Also, through the process of preparing for this record I would learn a great deal about training, myself, and racing that could than be applied to future races. It was be fun to organize an event near my home and do something unusual that would give me some staying memories.
What equipment did you use?  Lake Shoes, Rudy Project Syton Helmet, Cervelo P3C, Zipp Wheels, Powertap
What did you eat & drink? Infinit Nutrition, From 10 hours in I made the mistake of trying some solid food only to encounter stomach problems from that point on.
What was the best part? Riding at night with Mikes mixes playing over the speakers and friends from Turin Bike Shop clanging cowbells and yelling encouragement on each lap. Later as kids in the neighborhood took up the cowbells to make some noise and cheer me on.
What was the hardest part? Continuing on after the 24 hour mark. Hours 24-30 were mentally very difficult. The first 10 hours also were difficult as I was having some aches and pains that were hard to overcome.
Did anything particularly unusual happen? Some physical pains that were unexpected. I had expected the record attempt to be difficult mentally. I was surprised how physically wearing it became to hold an aero position. The most unusual thing was the way in which my mind coped with the monotony. I would often find myself thinking back on the previous evening or even hour and thinking it was a completely different race and location.
Exact finish location described so that someone else could find the same spot: Northbrook Velodrome Finish Line
Exact finish time: 8/24/08 7:01:03.99 pm

It appears Marko Baloh set a new record for 24 hours on a track this past weekend at 553 miles. I was attempting to follow his progress on his blog with the help of  a Slovenian to English translation website

Marko Baloh - Marko ima nov svetovni rekord!

Awesome result.  Congratulations Marko.

Updated article with pictures and video.

Cyclist spent weekend chasing world record

Watch the video interview of Chuck