From sweep-up to finish

stats of the week: run 21km, cycled 363km

My first Nove Colli Race was a very special experience. Due to heavy rain we waited too long to get to the start. When we finally found the area everybody was gone and no start line present. We set off while it was raining cats and dogs. Dozens of cyclists turned and drove back to their hotels. It took me 48km to overtake the sweep-up bus and another 20km to catch the very last 20 bikers. First time when ascending the 3rd colle after 80km I felt within a race although the food stations were already finished. However, I enjoyed my day on the empty roads and managed to reach the finish within cut-off time after 132km and 6:21h while my somehow produced official time is 7:13h.

Photo: With the ambulance at my back wheel

Enjoying Italy

stats of the week: run 9km, cycled 336km, gym 2h

Cycling in the region of Italian region Piemonte is pure enjoyment. Calm roads, beautiful landscape, pretty villages, numerous hills, last not least: tasty food and superb vino rosso. The perfect way to prepare for the Nove Colli bike race, alas if there weren't such old man shortcomings like back pain! We'll see what is possible.

Body limit

stats of the week: run 30km, cycled 200km, gym 3h

For me there will be rather "quattro colli" than nove colli next week. I tried a longish tour of 130km and 1800 altitude meters what also are the dates of the shorter Nove Colli variant. My body revealed that this amount of strain is close to its limit. So trying the longer route of 200km and 4,000 altitude meters should be out of the question. But one should never say no ...

Tired sportsman

stats of the week: run 18km, cycled 130km, gym 3h

Recovery from the marathon worked as usual with being ready for a slow jog on Thursday again. However, after a fast flat cycling tour on Saturday I got so exhausted that I fell asleep after arriving home. Aim for oncoming weeks is to switch to regular cycling without neglecting running too much.