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Pirate
Bike Challenge ZILLERTAL 2010


After a long, hard and intensive preparation a week before on Mallorca I´m in perfect shape and travelled to the 30.06.2010 to the Zillertal Bike Challenge 2010.




Stefan "Zimbo" Zimmermann (Team Pirate), Gerd Sowa (P-Racer, Plettenberg) & myself wanted to participate the 3day race on Mallorca as an exercisunit for our different seasonal highs. Under the name King/ Queen of mountain and Prince/princess of mountain you had to choose between two categories. First for the leisure time rider the prince of mountain with 152,1km and 5656m of altitude and for the pro´s the king of mountain with 203km and 10046m of altitude.
Because we´re no leisure time rider or wimps we choose the hard tour, of course !!!
Zimbo had to cancel his race because of job-related reason, what should be 2 days later a stroke of luck.





Stage 1:
After 1 ½ day to get the feeling to the climate in the height of 550m in Fügen we started at 9:15o´clock in the morning. Temperatures were around 25degrees and the way went thru the village for the first 3-4km than we rode over forest trails about 12km towards Hochfügen. Menawhile the temperatures rised up to 28degrees and after easy 100m of altitude I arrived on the top, well on the top is the wrong word, I stood at the food supply in 1500m and had to ride the next 15km with about 800m of altitude and than 10km back in the valley again to Kaltenbach.
In Kaltenbach we had 33degrees. I didn´t know how much gel and water and iso-beverages I used that day, so my digestive tract notify itself, I tried to cool him down by eating two bananas to be ready for the next part.
The next part should go with about 1500m of altitude and ascents with 23% up t0 200m to the Kreuzjochhütte and finally just to ride downhill-said the schedule…
The first 4km lead over a bitumen road with a natural stone wall on the side of the road. I wasn´t sure about if the heat from above was more worse or the heat from the bitumen from below. The air was some kind of stuffy in the room and I started to think about a escuse, why I´m dropped out. And one after the other all the other riders came back from above and faced me. After the event we were being told that 20% of the riders dropped out after the first stage
With top speed of 6,5km/h chased myself and the triathletes from RSC Niddertal the other from the pelton up the mountain. But constantly take a look behind to the Tommy, so, that we don´t finish as last.


After two hours of constantly uphill riding, I remarked that the one or the other San Miguel I drank before on Mallorca was too much. So, we decided to make some kind of wandering break, what the Tommy behind us urged to catch up again, while we´re riding with a speed of less than 1km/h. Somehow, it felt like hundrets of hours we reached our destination, the Kreuzjochhütte and watned to take a break, but obvisiously we were to fast and our supply team haven´t been able to build up the supply stand. Well, we received onky water and stupid pattern up there…tstststs. So, we made our way up to chase the tommy down the hill thru the serpentines on the 15km towards Zell am Ziller.
Halfway we saw him and than came our hour of the winner. Full throttle we passed him and so we didn´t got the last place. Us three reached the last but one place and we felt like Lance Armstrong after one own blood treatment.
I already said good bye to the triathlete with the words of “ you can do the fu…ing shit alone, I rather go swimming tomorrow”. When I arrived in my rented home, Gerd Sowa stood in front me, well tempered and fresh bathed, already filled up his storages and asked me: Hey, whats up,everything fine???
He was so lucky, I wasn´t able to strangle him anymore….


The rest of the day I spent in change in the rest room and on the divan bed – such a good race.


Stage 2:
After Gerd talked a lot to me, I stood up again the very next morning and went to the start again in Zell im Ziller at 9:00o´clock for the second stage. Like they say, only the first hill is a little bit more difficult and than the next 50km only warming up or cooling down. It started up quite good for me, because we rode all the time in the shadow of some trees. My digesting system worked as usual without any problems and the cramps in my thighs changed from leg to leg, so I didn´t have the chance to give up.


The guys from the RSC Niddertal were also there, as well like the Tommy, he rode 150m behing us. Everything as usual, nothing special.
But when we reached 1700m of height it was all over with the brightness: I only got shadow behing my seat post, where I tried to hide, while I pushed my bike up the 23% ascent. It can´t be that far, as listed, we were at 1800m from 2500m, so we cheered us up, we rode and wandered and rode again, because the cramps now changed from the thighs to the calves. Sadly the diagram haven´t said the true, in fact of the height, it became clear, when we reached the mountain station with a sign” 2250m”. Now we reached the first snow fields, we had to walked thru.


It was a really fresh feeling for the feet, getting the cold snow in the shoes, but after a while not anymore, because the ice water ( -10 degrees) starts to hurt in the shoes. And another thing is that we didn´t speak for about an hour or more because of our gasping.Somehow we made it all and reached after riding up almost 2000m of altitude the supply station. Again empty;-)… damn we were fast. Well, before I forget it the island monkey (Tommy) must have been a yeti in a previous life, because he dashed by, while we are in the snow. No problem I thought, I still have enough water, salt, gels and bars with me and its only 8km to the next station, that I would walked the next km´s, I didn´t know yet….
Lots of snow and boulder fields baggered us while we wanted to go on downhill. While I`m a former ski rider; I didn´t give a shit on it, and went sometimes down the hill, like Markus Wasmeier in his best days. With some somersaults with the highest points you could achieve, but this brighten up our moods. And after 500 curves we reached Gmünd - but the Tommy wasn´t there. While we had comfortable 35degrees in the shadow( but we hadn´t one) we went to Gerlos. There was a station, were I could fill up my bottles again…which bottles???


During the boulder downhill, my bottle holder broke and so I lost all f my bottles. It was my day.
Now we should ride to the Ißkogel in 1700m of height. So, the thermometer didn´t fall under 30degrees, and my temper reached the zero point, as well as my digesting system, the first disbeliefs came up. Than we recoverd that we at the earliest time be in Mayrhofen at 17:15o´clock and the soccer game of Argentinia vs.Germany started at 16:00o´clock, I decided myself against Austria and for Germany. And after 5600m of altitude and 115km I quit these…promotional trip…

Stage 3:
No clue - I was with my girl-friend in Hintertux to watch a stuped MTB-race.



By the way: Gerd Sowa finished 61th in a field of MTB-Olympic winners, Marathon-champions and World trophy rider – CHAPEAU !

...maybe I´ll be here next year again, better prepared but without the preparation in Mallorca !


Servus your
Mallorca Paule
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