Anyone on here doing the Maratona Dles Dolomites July 5th?

terrydel

I'm having a go at it myself.
I've had a look at the entrants online and very few Irish
I'm down as GB (argh!!) as my mate in London registered our gang of 3.

Would be nice to meet up with a few other Irish over there.

LeoD

Not doing it but enjoy - probably the most beautiful cycling country in the world and a really well run event. Have fun on the Passo Giau...

terrydel

LeoD wrote: »

Not doing it but enjoy - probably the most beautiful cycling country in the world and a really well run event. Have fun on the Passo Giau...

Thanks buddy.
Yep, that's the ones that has me most worried!

Lusk_Doyle

Did it last year with Raam. Great event. Bloody slow at the start due to the inability of most to climb so practice your track stands!

terrydel

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Did it last year with Raam. Great event. Bloody slow at the start due to the inability of most to climb so practice your track stands!

How come? Just sheer numbers or a load of slowcoaches who cant get up a hill?

Raam

terrydel wrote: »

How come? Just sheer numbers or a load of slowcoaches who cant get up a hill?

Bit of both. Giau is tough, a worthy foe. Valparola is less tough but since it comes at the end of a long day it is hard. The final 20% hill near the very very end is nasty.

Lusk_Doyle

Raam wrote: »

Bit of both. Giau is tough, a worthy foe. Valparola is less tough but since it comes at the end of a long day it is hard. The final 20% hill near the very very end is nasty.

Pure pain...



I love linking that photo. Great memory!

terrydel

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Pure pain...



I love linking that photo. Great memory!

That's the mur dl giat? This scares me greatly!

terrydel

Raam wrote: »

Bit of both. Giau is tough, a worthy foe. Valparola is less tough but since it comes at the end of a long day it is hard. The final 20% hill near the very very end is nasty.

Giau will the longest climb Ive ever done, Im ok on the hills due to being small and light, but this will be new territory for me.

Raam

Lusk_Doyle wrote: »

Pure pain...


I love linking that photo. Great memory!

The guy behind you looks fine.

Raam

Anyway, this is how you climb it.

Lusk_Doyle

Raam wrote: »

The guy behind you looks fine.

Nah, I had just burned past him!

Lusk_Doyle

terrydel wrote: »

That's the mur dl giat? This scares me greatly!

Sure I did it seated all the way. It's grand!

Lusk_Doyle

terrydel wrote: »

I'm having a go at it myself.
I've had a look at the entrants online and very few Irish
I'm down as GB (argh!!) as my mate in London registered our gang of 3.

Would be nice to meet up with a few other Irish over there.

We were down as GER cos that's where our entry was done but your number for your back will have the Irish flag on it.

Raam

So, how'd it go?

terrydel

Raam wrote: »

So, how'd it go?

Will tell you after next weekend :pac:

Raam

LOL, I thought it was on yesterday! doh

terrydel

Raam wrote: »

LOL, I thought it was on yesterday! doh

Haha, I kinda wish it was! Just want to get going now.

Raam

terrydel wrote: »

Haha, I kinda wish it was! Just want to get going now.

Top tip: the shop for the kit can be a bit of a scrum so if you can arrive early, do. At least last year it was a scrum. The reg part was smooth, just a queue but it moved swift enough.

terrydel

Raam wrote: »

Top tip: the shop for the kit can be a bit of a scrum so if you can arrive early, do. At least last year it was a scrum. The reg part was smooth, just a queue but it moved swift enough.

Arriving Thursday, hoping to get a spin in (40-50k) on the Friday, and register on the Saturday.
That sound reasonable?
Presume you mean the shop for the free jersey that comes with entry?

Raam

terrydel wrote: »

Arriving Thursday, hoping to get a spin in (40-50k) on the Friday, and register on the Saturday.
That sound reasonable?
Presume you mean the shop for the free jersey that comes with entry?

Sella Ronda route is a nice spin to do.
You get a jersey and gilet when registering but there is a shop for other stuff also.

Lusk_Doyle

Raam wrote: »

Sella Ronda route is a nice spin to do.
You get a jersey and gilet when registering but there is a shop for other stuff also.

Yes. Such as the bib shorts that complete the kit. Last years kit was lovely.

Mayo self-build

Love to hear how this went... What was the heat like? Anyone here able to compare this event with Marmotte in terms of logistics, travel, etc?

terrydel

Mayo self-build wrote: »

Love to hear how this went... What was the heat like? Anyone here able to compare this event with Marmotte in terms of logistics, travel, etc?

Sorry for the delay in posting back, only got home fairly late last night.
It was a fantastic event, but unfortunately myself and my two mates missed the cut off for the 138km route so had to settle for the 106km instead. I was gutted at the time, missed it by only 20 minutes, which I would put down to the 40 or so minutes it took us to get over the start line, and perhaps a bit too long stopping, tho we only stopped for about 45 minutes in total before the 76k cutoff point, mainly just to get water and fluids onboard and reapply suncream to my pasty white skin.
We were averaging over 17kmph at the time, so I feel the cutoff is very harsh. I ended up finishing the 106 in 5'47'' rolling time @ 18kmph, in 30+ degree heat, the likes of which Ive never got close to cycling in before. I reckon I'd have done the extra 32 (including a 10km climb up passo giau) in 2 hours at most, so would have easily finished under 8 hours rolling, which I really think should make any cutoff, unless you are stopping for 4 course meals on the way.
Ah well, that's life. Im vey happy with how I coped, climbed really well and was never feeling worn out or exhausted.
After the pasta party, I headed back to Arabba, the town we were staying in, via another climb over passo campolongo, getting another 12km in, making it the 3rd time over that pass that day, as it was taken twice in the race itself. Still in the 30s, and I still felt strong, so made me regret missing the cutoff even more!
On the Friday before it, I did Campolongo from both sides, and passo pordoi, and another 10km each way down towards passo giau directon, so got 60km warm up in.
And the Monday after the race, we decided to bag passo giau, and I completed it in just over an hour.
Really happy with that.
Great, great event, the bits and pieces you get are worth the entrance fee alone, the only gripe I have is that with the sheer numbers in such a small town, they need to look at the cutoffs, so that those average cyclists like me who have a genuine shot at doing the 138km maratona, get a decent shot at doing so.
Would recommend it to anyone tho, its a stunning setting. Worth the trip for the views alone.
Hoping to bag the 138 next year.

El Vino

Here's my report on the day
On the morning of the event we were up at 4.45 am and on the road at 5.30 for a 6.30 am start. We were directed into a car park outside the La Villa the start town and took our place in a car park that was our designated pen. After some speeches in Italian and German a helicopter fired some sort of sonic pulse and then we waited while the 6000 or so people in front of me clipped in and set off in 3 giant waves.

Unlike the etape or some other Sportives where the starts are carefully staggered and there might be a long lead into the first climb, it was stop start through the towns streets and straight into the Passo Campologo, and a bit of unclipping and some comedy low speed crashes. Ominously it was already 18C at 6.30am.

There was a feed station at the top of the first climb, probably because it is climbed twice but many participants felt the need to stop. I kept going , the roads were pretty perfect with many of the hair-pins benefiting from a very fresh layer of Tarmac. Because of the massed start it was still very busy and I took it easy staying well in on the right. The Village at the bottom of the valley was Arabba where we immediately started climbing up the 9.2 km @ 6.9% Passo Pordoi at 2239m, this section where we climbed and descended the Podri, Sella and Gardena passes but stayed above 1800m was the most dramatic of the route. There were plenty of feed stations with ham and cheese rolls, cake, bananas etc. Following this section we descended back down to Corvara again and climbed the Campologo again. By now it was very hot registering 32C on my Garmin. It was to get worse.

After descending to Arabba we were off on the nearest this course has to a flat section although in reality we were always going up or down for the 20km it took us to get to the base of the Passo Giau, 9.9km at 9.3%. Here I really started to suffer the, ascent took an hour, and with no shade and 35C to contend with I was out of water by the time I reached the feed station at the summit. The crowds had thinned out by now we climbed in almost total silence.

I took a 10 minute break but I remember very little as I spent it trying to get as much free coke and cake down my throat. It felt a bit cooler on the descent and I started the final big climb the Passo Falzarego in relatively good shape. It also had some trees for shelter and a kinder gradient of 5.8%. All the way up the signs showing how far to the top gave me hope that I could finish and beat 7hrs. I pushed myself into the red zone big style during the climb and sprinted when I saw the 500m mark, unfortunately we weren't descending after this and were sent up another brutal 1.1km @ 12% to the nearby Passo Valparola. This failure to read the route map properly cost me and I cramped up pretty badly. I stopped to try to stretch out my legs and after a few minutes of agony set off again, it was now over 38C and every revolution was painful.

After finally summiting all that was left was a 10km descent to the latest nasty addition to the route, a 1.3km detour called the Mur di Giat (cat) which tops out at 19%. Here the crowds had gathered to watch the suffering and a man dressed as a cat taunted those who had to unclip and take the walk of shame. Luckily I had recovered enough on the descent to blast up it & on to the finish line. Official time of 7:18 and a Strava time of 7:05 close enough to make me think sub 7 hrs is achievable with a bit more training and perhaps some cooler weather.

Everything about the event was well organised, you felt the whole community was behind it and you could see where the entry fee had gone. The excellent food and free beer at the end only confirmed this. Having an Etape and a Marmotte under my belt previously this is definitely a worthy addition to anyone's bucket list. It feels more like a community event than the Etape which can be a bit corporate and unlike the Marmotte it is 100% closed roads. On the down side it is miles from anywhere with the nearest airports all 200-300km away we flew to Munich others flew to Venice and Milian which are a bit closer. Also it is an impossible route to get into any kind of rhythm or even group as you are always going up or down hill. The Dolomites themselves are beautiful and the route feels epic.

https://www.strava.com/activities/340454893

terrydel

El Vino wrote: »

Here's my report on the day
On the morning of the event we were up at 4.45 am and on the road at 5.30 for a 6.30 am start. We were directed into a car park outside the La Villa the start town and took our place in a car park that was our designated pen. After some speeches in Italian and German a helicopter fired some sort of sonic pulse and then we waited while the 6000 or so people in front of me clipped in and set off in 3 giant waves.

Unlike the etape or some other Sportives where the starts are carefully staggered and there might be a long lead into the first climb, it was stop start through the towns streets and straight into the Passo Campologo, and a bit of unclipping and some comedy low speed crashes. Ominously it was already 18C at 6.30am.

There was a feed station at the top of the first climb, probably because it is climbed twice but many participants felt the need to stop. I kept going , the roads were pretty perfect with many of the hair-pins benefiting from a very fresh layer of Tarmac. Because of the massed start it was still very busy and I took it easy staying well in on the right. The Village at the bottom of the valley was Arabba where we immediately started climbing up the 9.2 km @ 6.9% Passo Pordoi at 2239m, this section where we climbed and descended the Podri, Sella and Gardena passes but stayed above 1800m was the most dramatic of the route. There were plenty of feed stations with ham and cheese rolls, cake, bananas etc. Following this section we descended back down to Corvara again and climbed the Campologo again. By now it was very hot registering 32C on my Garmin. It was to get worse.

After descending to Arabba we were off on the nearest this course has to a flat section although in reality we were always going up or down for the 20km it took us to get to the base of the Passo Giau, 9.9km at 9.3%. Here I really started to suffer the, ascent took an hour, and with no shade and 35C to contend with I was out of water by the time I reached the feed station at the summit. The crowds had thinned out by now we climbed in almost total silence.

I took a 10 minute break but I remember very little as I spent it trying to get as much free coke and cake down my throat. It felt a bit cooler on the descent and I started the final big climb the Passo Falzarego in relatively good shape. It also had some trees for shelter and a kinder gradient of 5.8%. All the way up the signs showing how far to the top gave me hope that I could finish and beat 7hrs. I pushed myself into the red zone big style during the climb and sprinted when I saw the 500m mark, unfortunately we weren't descending after this and were sent up another brutal 1.1km @ 12% to the nearby Passo Valparola. This failure to read the route map properly cost me and I cramped up pretty badly. I stopped to try to stretch out my legs and after a few minutes of agony set off again, it was now over 38C and every revolution was painful.

After finally summiting all that was left was a 10km descent to the latest nasty addition to the route, a 1.3km detour called the Mur di Giat (cat) which tops out at 19%. Here the crowds had gathered to watch the suffering and a man dressed as a cat taunted those who had to unclip and take the walk of shame. Luckily I had recovered enough on the descent to blast up it & on to the finish line. Official time of 7:18 and a Strava time of 7:05 close enough to make me think sub 7 hrs is achievable with a bit more training and perhaps some cooler weather.

Everything about the event was well organised, you felt the whole community was behind it and you could see where the entry fee had gone. The excellent food and free beer at the end only confirmed this. Having an Etape and a Marmotte under my belt previously this is definitely a worthy addition to anyone's bucket list. It feels more like a community event than the Etape which can be a bit corporate and unlike the Marmotte it is 100% closed roads. On the down side it is miles from anywhere with the nearest airports all 200-300km away we flew to Munich others flew to Venice and Milian which are a bit closer. Also it is an impossible route to get into any kind of rhythm or even group as you are always going up or down hill. The Dolomites themselves are beautiful and the route feels epic.

https://www.strava.com/activities/340454893

Superb time. I was looking for fellow Irish all day, only met two others apart from my two mates who I was cycling with.

El Vino

I met a couple, one guy from Louth with a beard that I chatted to a bit just before the Giau and another guy from Galway on the Mur de Ghiat a the end. All seemed in very good shape. My entry was in the GB list but my number still had an irish flag.

terrydel

El Vino wrote: »

I met a couple, one guy from Louth with a beard that I chatted to a bit just before the Giau and another guy from Galway on the Mur de Ghiat a the end. All seemed in very good shape. My entry was in the GB list but my number still had an irish flag.

My mate Mick is from Galway! Was that at near 2ish?
I was 20 odd minutes ahead of him myself.