Team MotionBased

The last stage of the 2006 TransAlp Challenge began with a neutral 47km on pavement. It was only mildly stressful until I (Evan) flatted at 20km. While changing the flat, all three blocks and support vehicles passed and that resulted in a 12km chase to re-integrate the group. At this point, we were quite nervous about another problem and rode conservatively on the two big climbs (one 11km and the next 14km). At the top, we were only happy to be on the final stretch for about a minute as we began what turned out to be the hardest descent of the race. Approximately 12km of “military” road, which evidently means only fit for tanks, caused many flat tires and was a source for some concern since we had already had problems. More air pressure in the repaired tire further reduced traction making the switch backs sketchy to say the least. The next section was typical “Garda” single track which must mean 4in travel minimum. The trail was super technical and could have been really fun under other circumstances. Fortunately, we passed a few more teams and managed to stay off the ground. Finally, we hit the cobbled farm road which was probably 30-40% grade and so rough that many riders were stopping to regain feeling in their hands. A couple klicks later we blew through some yards and a 180 turns and popped out on the beach at Lago del Garda. The girls were there to hand up our final feed (a bottle of champagne) which helped cool some spectators as we rode the last few meters to the line. A few high fives and our finish medals around the neck brought the race to a beautiful conclusion. See the Garmin / MotionBased GPS file here: http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/episode/view.mb?episodePk.pkValue=1096577 We ate some food and washed up in the lake before checking the results and discovering that we had placed 13th on the day and solidified our 11th position on GC. Thanks again to the wives and all the sponsors for making it happen!!