|
Swiss Season Report 2006 |
|
|
Team Bikeman -
Race Reports
|
|
Written by Juerg Bauert
|
|
Sunday, 22 October 2006 |
Season Report From Switzerland 2006
Sihltal Tour May
 Our first big ride of the year is always one of our favorites around Zurich. It is a 50 mile ride door to door which goes through town and then along the river. Nice singletrail, old mining tunnels and a restaurant with a trout hatchery. To get to the other side of lake Zurich we take the car ferry. Tex and his wife have been on this trip too, it combines all the sights you expect from Switzerland.
 
 
Black Forest Ultra Marathon Germany 18. June 06
 I had some problems getting my race schedule togheter for this year, because of my job. Some race dates collided with big banquets at the restaurant. So I decided to do a new race, the Black Forest Ultra. I had no chance to preride the course, but I like the first time, no pressure from previous results. I did my usual warm up before the race, but my starting time was delayed by 45 minutes, and my legs were pretty stiff at the take off. What a miserable start, I had to suffer for about an hour until my engine got warm. I liked the course with long, hard climbes. 4.26 hours for 48 miles and 6500 feet. I got 168th of 514 in my agegroup, and 596th of 1538 overall.
Bike Masters Prättigau 23. July 06
 On Saturday I raced the Freeride Marathon. The start was at 8733 feet altitude on the Weissfluhjoch at Davos. It was a mass start with 160 bikers. The trail was not too technical, so the race was pretty fast. I was about midfield when I had a flat rear tire with about two miles to go. I kept on going, but got passed by a lot of riders.  12 miles and 5000 feet down in 33 min, and 109th of 136. Not my best race, but it is always a thrill to start with so many riders and the views are stunning. There was no time for partying on Saturday because my starting time for the marathon was 7.30! The first climb goes on forever, 14 miles and 4665 feet.  It is one of the toughest marathons I do, with hiking and climbing parts and tricky downhills. On the last descend my front brake ( El Camino ) locked up and I face planted into the woods. I had problems througout the race with wandering brake levers. I unlocked the brake with an allen key and raced on. 46 miles and 9800 feets in 6.01 hours, 99th of 269 in my agegroup and 479th of 999 overall.
 
 
24 Hours of Eschlikon 13. August 06
 This is the race I was awaiting the most. I did many miles in the winter and in the dark to get fit for this race.I rode on my Rocky Mountain Hardtail and Racing Ralph Tires. The bike was around 20 pounds and the Hardtail was perfect for the course. At the start the sun was shining and it was warm.  But not for long, at 6 pm the rain started and it rained for 15 hours straight. During the night I had to change tires because the slicks where sliding all over. One loop was 4.3 miles and 690 feet. I came trough the night without sleeping and kept a steady pace. I got supported perfectly by my girlfriend, and because of the short loops, she could hardly sleep. Friends who rode in a 8 man team came over during the night and cheered me up. What would we do without friends? I rode 43 laps, a total of 187 miles and 30`000 feet. I was very happy with my result. 20 Solobikers started in the category 40 years and older, 10 finished, and I got 7th.
 
 
 
 
Nationalpark Marathon Scuol 26. August 06
 The next race was at the beginning of our three weeks vacation. This was nice, not thinking of going back to work with legs full of lead. Again it was nice but cold, 40 fahrenheit, at the start at Fuldera, the starting point for the 65 mile race. I had to get up at 4 am, because the shuttle for Fuldera left at 5 am. It was perfectly organised, even the bags with the unused clothing found their way back to the camp. From the beginning my heartrate was lower than usual, I could not figure out why, and what it meant, but I was faster than the field. So I kept going and it was a great race. The walk up to the Chaschauna Pass took me about 55 minutes like last year. The 6.25 mile downhill on the other side was a lot of fun, because nobody was in my way on the singletrail. On the last 30 miles it was like somebody turned a switch, and I was flying. On the flat parts I had always people at my rearwheel, but not for long. They could not hold my pace. 65 miles, 9400 feet in 6.16 hours, 45 min faster than last year! The winter training paid off. Last year I said "This was my best race ever.", what can I say this year? 19th of 117 in my agegroup, and 96th of 380 overall.
 The next day we relaxed at the campground and on Monday we drove to Austria to check out some bikeparks. We stayed five days in the area of Leogang an Saalbach-Hinterglemm. We had a blast at the parks and did a 5 Gondola Tour. 45 miles of freeriding, 3300 feets uphill and 16`400 downhill in one day.
 From here our journey went to Bavaria in Germany, to the Bikeparks of Lenggries, Hindelang and Oberammergau. Lenggries was a small park with lots of technical stuff and a T-bar lift to get on top. Hindelang had some rocky trails and it was raining that day, so it was pretty slippery. Oberammergau was my favorite with a 3 mile natural trail with lots of roots, north shore sections and jumps.  It was raining hard the night before and it was very muddy. It dried out a bit during the day, and after changing the front tire and switching to flat pedals, I had lots of fun. The last park on our trip was Todtnau in the Black Forest. They have two trails, the Freeride which is for everybody, and the Downill course, where they hold the German Chamionships. Nice course with lots of jumps and drops.
 
 
Ironbike Marathon Einsiedeln 24. September 06
 The dessert of the season is always the Ironbike Marathon on a Singlespeed which I do in honour of my best bikefriend, Tex from Los Angeles, who brought me to all this ! I stripped my Rocky Mountain off every unnecessary part, and got down to 17.6 pounds with a 18/32 ratio and discbrakes. Again, nice weather, I could get used to this. I was last of the field at the flat beginning of the race, and did not feel too fit in the first hour.  But after two climbs I got into gear, and rolled the field up from behind. No flats or cramps this year and still no singlespeed categorie, so I raced my own race. 48 miles, 7500 feets in 4.41 hours was a nice result to round up the season. It placed me 97th of 292 in my agegroup and 316th of 857 overall against all the gearheads!
Greetz from Switzerland, thank you for reading, and keep on riding for the fun of it !
Juerg the Eurotrash
 |
|
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
; "Image")
Show/Hide comment form
