Grand Raid Practice
Yesterday, I went out to Evolen, Switzerland to practice for the "petite" Grand Raid on August 20. I went with two collegues and we rode the last 40km of the 76km course to Grimentz..
It was an absolute nightmare...took us 7 hours to finish. We climbed a total of 7000 feet. 1600 of this was above 60% grade..so steep that you had to carry your bike over rocks and boulders while trying not to slip on the gravel and mud. The descents were also tricky...riding on slippery roots along steep embankments and negotiating around lots of loose granite...
But the views were spectacular.
My Colorado riding experience helped and I made good time on the technical descents and technical climbs...However, the idea of tacking on 36 Km and another 2600 feet of climbing is frightening.!..
To qualify I need to hit the last cut-off at 4:00pm. I start at 6:30 am...
There will be 5,000 participants...if bike traffic is low, I don't wreck, my bike doesn't break, and I can move quickly on the downhills, I have a good shot.
Shot of glacier resevoir...
It was an absolute nightmare...took us 7 hours to finish. We climbed a total of 7000 feet. 1600 of this was above 60% grade..so steep that you had to carry your bike over rocks and boulders while trying not to slip on the gravel and mud. The descents were also tricky...riding on slippery roots along steep embankments and negotiating around lots of loose granite...
But the views were spectacular.
My Colorado riding experience helped and I made good time on the technical descents and technical climbs...However, the idea of tacking on 36 Km and another 2600 feet of climbing is frightening.!..
To qualify I need to hit the last cut-off at 4:00pm. I start at 6:30 am...
There will be 5,000 participants...if bike traffic is low, I don't wreck, my bike doesn't break, and I can move quickly on the downhills, I have a good shot.
Shot of glacier resevoir...
posted by DFisch at 11:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home