German Bundesliga – Albstadt

I was back doing some Euro-racing at the weekend, returning to the Hors Class race I did last year in Albstadt, which forms part of the German national series. Irregular flights meant travelling to Munich West 3 days before the race so plenty of time to practice the course and have a mini holiday too. I went from Dublin with Mel Spath and initially enjoyed 35 degree heat, dusty trails, swimming in outdoor pools and sitting out on pavement cafes – if that’s pro-life I could get used to it!

By the time race day arrived the weather had changed completely, we woke up to cloud covered mountains, constant rain and cold temperatures– like being back home! Almost 40 riders lined up in the elite female race, including several world cup winners, Olympic and world champions, 10 different nationalities and loads of pros. The start was nerve racking, loads of noise from hundreds of spectators and lots of pressure being boxed in with such a big group of riders. I got a good gridding on the second row right behind eventual winner Sabine Spitz, and managed to fight through initial chaos, avoiding an early crash as people battled to get into a good position.

Things spread out pretty quickly as we hit a super steep 3-4 minute fireroad climb, and feeling good I started making up places. I’d forgotten how steep and nasty some of these European mountains are, it was a killer, but spectators lined all the way along, cheering and spinning noisy rattles making a great atmosphere and distracting from the pain.

Riding the course in previous days we thought it fairly easy – some steep switchback descents but nothing really technical. However in the rain it was totally different and became really hard. The rocky tight, steep singletrack was covered in a layer of wet, slippery mud making it really hard to get down in control. The first lap I dealt with it ok, a few dabs but making good time, and got round in 12th place at the end of the lap, up with several top riders – way better than expected!

Then it all started to go wrong. Mud was clogging up the bikes, tyres turning to slicks, and worst of all my pedals completely clogged up with mud. I had loads of trouble clipping in, meaning descending off balance and struggling to stay upright. I lost confidence and started to ride like a muppet, loosing time on the steep slippy singletracks (I wasn’t the only one, lots people were sliding, falling or running down hills whatever way they could, but still felt I should have been better since I get lots of practice in these conditions!).

The steep climbs got progressively harder too, legs burning and cramps setting in. I rode by one girl puking on the edge of the track – nice! By the last lap I just hoped to survive until the end and managed to finish 21st so at least got a few UCI points, overall not a bad result (results on cyclingnews.com here). Infact despite all that I did enjoy it, racing over there is so different – having your name called out on the loudspeaker and hundreds of people cheer you on up painful trails is an amazing feeling, and to be able to compete with the best in the world is great motivation to get faster.

We also had the luxury of technical support from WXC team mechanic Mike, who was also working for the USA national team. It makes a huge difference, taking so much stress out of things both before and during the race – thanks Mike! I had to fly with my bike from Dublin since my new Moda wasn’t ready after the robberies – another thing that really makes me appreciate having the support of the team. Signing away your bike to ryanair baggage handlers in the airport is not a nice feeling, nor is it fun carrying a 20kg box around Dublin at 1am to get home after a race!

Mel has a great report of the whole trip here.

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