Another Tackle

stats of the week: run 22km, cycled 65km

Bye for now, dear folks, I'm off for nearly a fortnight to tackle my personal mountain of the year.
On Monday, August 2nd, I hope to be swinging my home town's flag on the top of this one.
It'll need some luck to be successful ...

Day of Records

stats of the week: run 17km, cycled 274 km
L'etape du Tour: 181km, 10:14 h, 1060th of 1502 in age group, 5082nd of 6888 overall

As expected this year's L'etape turned out to be my toughest day ever. And it was a day of personal records:

- my longest competition ever, lasting 10 hours and 14 minutes
- longest distance cycled ever with 214km completed, included the way home to our bus
- biggest ascent ever done, Col de Marie Blanque, Col de Soulor and Col de Tourmalet added up to 4,350 meters of climbing
- highest speed ever ridden on the bike 70.1km/h (43.8mph)

Col de Marie Blanque 1035m:


Col de Soulor 1474m:


Col de Tourmalet 2115m:


On the final ascent to the very steep Marie Blanque we had to push our bikes for nearly a mile due to a traffic jam caused by walking cyclists - I lost about 25 minutes. The route was beautiful and I enjoyed every part of it. Although my performance wasn't as good as last year and I didn't feel as fit as in recent races. Anyway it was still a day I'll be dreaming of frequently.
Now I look forward to watching the professionals doing the same stage on Thursday.

Worn out by heat

stats of the week: run 17km, cycled 158km

Call me crazy, I know I am, but midweek I had to squeeze in a 5km track race. Our local town championships took place so I had to be there. After weeks of long distance cycling it was no use to take part in a 5km run. As expected my performance was limited. I finished after 22:02 min, under different circumstances a disappointing time. Nevertheless I was the only finisher of my age group what let me take home a champion title ...

To keep fit on the bike I completed a popular bike event in the nearby mountain area Sauerland. It's a challenging route of 158km and 1800 meters of ascent.

It was the unbearable heat what made the day more than tough. Reaching the finish after 6:20 hours of cycling I was so worn out that I wasn't able to eat anything and it took me until Sunday evening to recover reasonably. The result is that I don't feel really fit for Tourmalet - next Sunday will be the most challenging day of my 2010 sports year.

Day of Sweat

stats of the week: cycled 210km

Maratona dles Dolomites: result see below

The Maratona dles Dolomites is Italy's most popular cycling event, with this year's 24th race finished by 8,800 thrilled cyclists. More than 20,000 applied to get a bib. The whole day is broadcoasted live on TV, 140km of road are closed for the bikers - and nobody bothers. 3 routes can be chosen during the race - 55km/106km/138km, the longest distance covering 4,100 meters of height difference.

See and feel the sweat:

It was the hottest day of the year to go up Pass Giau. It made me feel my head being close to burst and I had to concentrate to stay on my bike. Smiling is just a second's window dressing.

At my third year of Alpine cycling I am still passing my apprenticeship as the result unmistakably shows:

Name Ulrich Sauer
BIB 9600
Land/Town D-Witten
Category 138km Uomini/Men 50-57 anni
Start time 6:53.42,5
Finish Time 14:55.48,3
Race Time 8:02.05,8
Ave Speed 17,174 km/h
Rank Overall 3016. M of 4151 (73%)
Rank Category 479. M50-57 of 753 (64%)

Splits on route
Place Hour Time Rank Overall
Gardena 9:53.51,0 3:00.08,5 587. 3447.
Corvara 10:08.14,2 3:14.31,7 578. 3426.
Campolongo 10:34.28,5 3:40.46,0 537. 3285.
Selva Cadore 11:38.31,0 4:44.48,5 529. 3230.
Passo Giau 12:51.41,6 5:57.59,1 496. 3131.
Falzarego 14:09.41,8 7:15.59,3 476. 3009.

Hill Time Trial Corvara - Campolongo 6.4km, Height diff 353m
Time 26.14,3
Ave Speed 14,635 km/h
Rank Overall 2179.
Rank Category 279.

Hill Time Trial Passo Giau 10.6km, Height diff 900m
Time 1:13.10,6
Ave Speed 8,691 km/h
Rank Overall 2879.
Rank Category 429.