Yesterday, just before going to bed, the participants received a text message on their mobile phones from the official timing company of the BIKE Transalp: "Start tomorrow at 8am!" Good idea, looking at the Stage 4. Because with 109 kilometres and 3100 metres of elevation gain, that was quite a climb! But when I took a closer look at the elevation profile, I realised that the timekeeping should already be at kilometre 59. This was followed by a transfer section without timekeeping to Bolzano, where the second "starting shot" would be fired and the time to the finish would be measured again. An exciting format that I had never seen before.
But sleeping was out of the question at first. Not because of the news or the route data - although the latter would have made you wet your trousers - but because of nasty digestive problems! I had obviously eaten something that my body didn't like. That's why, instead of going to bed in no time at all, I went to the toilet with intestinal winds. After a restless night, my stomach was still rumbling so much in the morning that even breakfast was a challenge.
With a queasy stomach at the start
With an uneasy feeling and a queasy stomach, I rolled to the start with Torsten. The first few kilometres took us downhill before the first 800 metres of altitude piled up in front of us. By the fourth day of a stage race at the latest, you start to wonder what you're doing to yourself anyway: your bum burns like fire, your legs ache as if they're being maltreated with thousands and thousands of pinpricks and your lungs whistle like an old steam engine. And now you've got a stomach ache to boot!
"I could be c...!", I thought to myself, and less than five minutes later my body unfortunately realised this thought - breakfast sent its regards! But it seemed to have helped, because from then on I felt much better and got into the race well. After almost two hours, I dared to eat my first food - if you can call an energy gel an energy gel. These highly concentrated energy boosters are not exactly tasty, which is why I sucked on them hesitantly. Always with the gag reflex in the back of my mind. But everything went well and my stomach gratefully absorbed the sugar.
Suddenly punk instead of waltz
From the highest point of today's stage, the Würzjoch at 2000 metres above sea level, the characteristics of the route changed: whereas up to this point it had been a steady climb on asphalt, like a waltz, the profile now changed to wild punk music. A constant up and down, left and right, coupled with a constantly changing surface not only demanded maximum concentration, but also cost me a lot of energy.
I finally reached the timing station and was able to take a long break and replenish my energy and fluid reserves at the refreshment station there with cool melon, fresh oranges and sweet pineapple. As my stomach had made up with me by then, I also treated myself to a piece of cake. After all, I now had just under 35 relaxed kilometres to digest everything properly. And so Torsten and I rolled with other participants towards Bolzano, where the second timekeeping began at kilometre 92.
Once again in the red zone
It was a strange feeling when, after three hours at the limit until the first timekeeping and the following hour of "coasting" until the second start, the body had to turn into the red zone again. But it went better than expected. Torsten and I smashed through the last two 300 metre elevation gain waves and, after a long day in the saddle, were finally able to cool down the engine with the obligatory non-alcoholic beer at the finish. Later we had a delicious turkey steak with potato salad - now that's what I call a finish line meal!
