Alpen Brevet 2011?

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Anyone ever done the Alpen Brevet platininum stage before?

I did the marmotte last year and while i found it tough, mainly the bloody heat it was very doable.

I got great advice from fellow Marmotters last year and just wondering how others faired out?

Are there any training guides out there? anyone got a course review? Generally what were your feelings about it?

I am looking to book the Alpen Brevet this year and use the Marmotte 2011 as preparation for it so i would look forward to anyone and everyones suggestions.

cnz8euq6x7syj2

So just back two weeks days and feel I am able to tell the story now subjectively. Just took the bike out of the box last night!! I have recovered mentally. I wanted to post this so as to let others know of the Alpen Brevet as when I asked no one else seemed to have done it before on boards and information was very thin on the ground from English speaking folk. It may be a bit long and winded so apologies before you start. Fore warned is fore armed!!!

The alpen brevet is a 276k (which actually was 278k) and over 7100metres cycle sportive (if you can call it that) of climbing over the day which starts and ends in Meiringen. It is split into 3 different cycles. A 134k silver route, a 176k Gold route and the longer one which I attempted. A total of circa 1700 cyclists took part in all three routes with about 400 starting the platinum one. I was the only Irish man to do it.
Just a bit of background about my ability I am not in any club and have cycled since I was a kid because I love it. The higher the mountain the better I like it. This year I have put in some serious mileage and vertical climbs. I did the brownstuff audax just before I went away spending 23 hours on the bike and covering 450k so I thought I was as well prepared as I could be. Stressing “as I could be”

I decided to drive the route the day before with my girlfriend. This was a stupid idea for a couple of reasons. Firstly I had an excess of 1750 on the car rental insurance and Swiss drivers are totally chite. I feared the whole day I was going to end up driving the rental off a cliff and europacar coming after me for their gold. They don’t believe in the white line in the middle of the road and the motor cyclists on the passes all think they are Valentino Rossi and ride like muppets. When they finally do stop in the multiple villages they take off their helmets to reveal spotty little scrawny teenagers!! The second reason was that it scared the total crap out of me. The drive took about 7 hours including lunch and really showed the level of climbing involved. It honestly kept me awake the night before thinking about it. I always know I can complete a cycle it’s just a question of how long but this was not the case. The time limits for the Platinum were very severe and allowing for an average of 20k per hour. Not a lot I hear you say but after over 7100 metres of climbing it’s a pretty big average to maintain.


The day started out ok. Weather was meant to be good. Hot and not so much wind all day. A bit unusual for all 5 passes but I was not complaining. Had a decent breakfast of Spag ball and muesli with yoghurt so I was pretty much set. Bike was ready from the previous day so I was ready to rock. Arrived in the town at 630 and the race was at starting at 645. Was pretty much at the back which is never a good start. Forgot that the Swiss and Germans are very punctual and probably waiting there since 5. Wasn’t long before the count down. 5….4….3….2….1 and the sounds systems blasts out “halleluiah, halleluiah”. I couldn’t stop laughing my head off as I realised I needed to stop wasting valuable seconds and get myself to the front and out of trouble.

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Grimsel nearing summit

The start was fast and into a climb straight away from Meiringen. Only lasted about 5k and then a decent into Innertkirchen. Tried my best to keep the heart rate in check. It was going to be a long day after all. The first climb was Grimsel Pass and measured 2164 metres. Found it ok but not great. Tried to keep the lid on things and just managed to do that. It was certainly the easiest of all mountains. The legs and lungs were fresh and it was easy to find a groove. The traffic was light and a nice climb overall. The climb last about 20k all in all and there were about 5ks of real nasty stuff with a few sections going up to 11 and 12 %. Got to the top and was within the platinum time limit but just about. Started to have some serious doubts about my ability to get through it. Didn’t bother stopping for food or water instead preferring to chance getting water at a fountain in a village somewhere.

The decent was fast and the scenery was amazing. To the left was the Rhone Glacier and the Furka pass which was out of Goldfinger (remember the car chase). The Furka was on the Silver route and is some climb. One of the best in Europe I would say. Anyhow by leaving the food stop I was dicing with some seriously fast descanters and to my amazement I was passing everyone out. I had a major advantage over these guys and that was weight. At 11 ½ stone versus their 8 1/2 / 9 stone I was able to pull away and stay away. Made it to the second town on the decent stopped and filled up the bottles. Let two fast groups go and got on the road. Was made work way too hard on the gentle decent which was part of my downfall.



Made it to the bottom of the Nuefenpass in great time and was happy with my progress. The Nuefenpass is a very tough climb and one which reminded me of the Glabier in the higher parts. It was to be my downfall. I know myself now that my body doesn’t cope well in low altitudes. The heat is a major problem for me. Found it on the telegraph which is a killer and the Neufenpass was too. It tops out at 2476 and is a mere 14k or so but the average for the first five is 8% and the next 8 is 9%. Regularly it goes up to 11/12% and was so hard I cannot begin to explain. I was passed out by every single person on the hill on the last 5 k. For the last k I recovered but by the time I got to the top it was game over. The platinum was over and done I was twenty mins amiss behind the cut off. “Phack it, suppose gold is better than nothing” I thought.

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Nufenen Pass halfway up

I stopped and got a load of food and gels in and filled the water bottle. Bit of motivation and I decided I was going to give the gold a massive push. My weight advantage again came to the fore. I started to get some serious speeds on the downhill part clocking 89.1k per hour. Nobody bar one guy could catch me and that guy was about my build, we worked together and managed to form a decent group of 4 riders including a tank of a German who was trying for the platinum too, on the flatter parts. Next town was Airolo and at 23k after the Nuefen pass wasn’t that far. To my shock and amazement I and the German were the last through the gate at Airolo, where the gold and platinum route split. The guy at the gate was telling us in German to hurry up as we were the last two he was allowing, pointing at his watch and moaning. Talk about timing. Still don’t know how I did it but I made up a crazy 25 mins or so on the decent!! Felt I had recovered a bit but after spending probably 2 or 3k at the front realised I would pay for it later. Sat back and let some of the others do some work. This decent went on for ages. We were running parallel to the motorway for bits and in and out of various quarries. Nothing much to write about for this period. Plenty of food and water was had and it seemed to relieve the boredom. We had a load of cycle tourist hang onto the group and we totalled the guts of 35 riders at this stage. The decent and flats lasted for nearly 60k and took the guts of 1 ½ hours to complete.

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Glacier Nufenen Pass/glacier

There was a food stop just before Biasca. This was a much smaller one and I decided more food was the best option. Only a few guys decided to go without which was a bad idea as I caught a number of them within the next hour.
The food was good and it was a chance to empty the tank before the next climb which was in the Italian side of Switzerland and was called Passo del Lucomagno/lukmanier pass. This was one of my favourite climbs. We passed through a few lovely little towns well-spaced apart. The gradient wasn’t that hard and it was easy enough to get the grove going. I had a better section than most on this and made up some good time. Saw my first ambulance attempting to take a cyclist away but he was refusing. Think he may have had heat stroke and was hiding under a garage forecourt. The Lukmanier really reminded me of my nemesis the col de telegraph. That pxy climb is a magnet for heat and it’s hard to escape it. I have suffered on the col too many times and I show it the upmost respect. Probably more than the galibier. Luca is the same and is very similar in parts to it. Overall it’s longer and a lot tougher than it but similar in its unforgiveness. Had to stop 3 times to refill the bottles alone on this one before eventually making it to the top. Came across a fair few families cheering us on in our fragmented approach. At this stage already the groups were gone and it was pretty much every man their own. Finally made it to the top after 40k of climbing. Nothing too hairy just very long. Couldn’t wait to get off the bike at this stage. There was a French man selling homemade sausages and all kinds of fish. Was so tempting in comparison to the tent of banana, oranges, gels and drinks. Remember thinking I was going well. I had made a decent dent in the time and was 10-15 min a head of the cut off. Finally had the belief I could do it. Didn’t want to lose it so I decided to take my time. Get food on board and water and descend like a dog on a skateboard. I took it easy for the first bit which is through a tunnel which goes slightly up and allowed a couple to catch me and tried to work with them. Some audax rider who was in the region of 50 took the bait and we literally flew down the mountain passing out the guts of 10 riders. Then traffic lights…..Boohoo. The Dub in me resisted and I stopped for about 10 mins and everyone we passed out caught up. More food.


At this stage we had entered into Disentis and we were into the fourth climb of the day the Oberalp which is about 20k and averages about 6% going from 3% to about 13%. The first bit was really nice. We were skirting some really nice towns. Drivers were very courteous and I was flying. It starts off pretty steep for the first few k and there is no shelter so the heat can get to you. Again I kept drinking and eating and found I was able to keep a really high tempo until the last 3k or so but at that stage I had food on my mind. The last 5k is pretty scary. The drops are mad so you need to keep your eyes peeled. Plus it’s a major route to andermatt and Gotthard tunnel so you get the tour buses flying along very regularly and the little scrawny German and Dutch motor bikes thinking they are Valentino Rossi. We had the pleasure of cycling in the opposite direction of the Alpen Brevet car race. Similar to the gumball rally. Fcuk me some of the cars were out of this work. Model T fords to Lamborghini Diablo’s. Most of the drivers were proper petrol head as opposed to the boy racers us cyclists are used to here.

The food stop was well deserved. Never ate so many gels in my life. Walked up to the table to grab some and it smelt like bobby sands bed. Unreal and the other cyclists were not even hiding their flatulence. It was like the artane boys band up there with all their wind instruments. More food on board and I headed off on my tod. The decent into Andermatt is amazing. I can’t describe how beautiful it was or how funny. I was about 3k down Oberalp when I spotted someone on a bike in front. The closer I got the closer I realised it was a 30/40ish woman on a nigh nelly bike. Then I started to break my chit laughing. I probably passed her at 75 or so and she was fairly moving too but the funny part was she had a wooden fruit basket on the back, and in the basket…..was her dog. It was an average size brown dog and he was having the time of his life. Head out of the box, licking the air as he flew along….funniest thing I have seen in ages!! If I die I want to be reincarnated as her dog. I get to go up and down the mountains and don’t have to cycle. What a deal.

The decent into Adermatt was nice but short at 11k. Andermatt is a lovely little town with cobblestone streets and a tremendous place to tackle the big Swiss Alps. It was quick shot through and I was 40 mins up on the cut off time. I had no doubt I could do it at this stage. I was feeling good so I decided to fly by the food stop and go it alone. 4 guys joined me and I let the two quick guys guide us at a ferocious pace to the base of the Susten pass and into a town called Wassen.

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Sustenpass

I always knew the Susten pass would be a total killer. Driving it the day before told me that but it’s always much worse on a bike. The first few k are the same as the middle and the last. It’s all bloody tough. It averages 8% over 18k. Ouch. The only consolation was the views which were truly amazing. Glaciers left right and centre, cliffs with 100’s of metres of drop off but relentlessly uphill. A girl who was going really well stopped 100m in front of me and offered some help. Her pedal broke. Game over for the poor girl. I was going really well for the first 14k or so but as per usual I started to run out of steam. The broom wagon had made its first appearance. It was in the form of a VW red van. The driver kept driving past me and pulling in and standing by the side door as if inviting me in. My mind was playing tricks with me and I thought I had lost all my time gained. I tried to work out simple maths in my head but I just couldn’t think straight. Adding was difficult. I knew it couldn’t be far however the Garmin was acting the maggot and had added on 2 extra k somewhere so I thought I was 2k off the top when I was just at the final tunnel and finally at the top. As I was stopping the broom wagon pulled in. It was smiling it had got its man. And on the very last stretch of the last mountain. I had a passed an older guy out and he was bollixed. The broom wagon had also taken a prisoner in the form of another guy who decided to walk the last 2 or 3 K in his cycling shoes. Sure it would have been easier to cycle I thought!! All the space was used up in the van so there was no room for yours truly, not that I would have got in it anyway.

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Susten pass

I was stopped for 1 minutes and I was Baltic. The giant glacier to my left could have told me I would be but I ignored it. I put on the knees and arm warmers and got myself a cup of warm soup. Checked the clock and was 40 mins still up. Didn’t hang around to get any colder so just went for it and decided to see if I could get a top speed on the decent. The decent off the susten is pretty technical and not a good place to try as it’s very popular with the motorbike plonkers. I had a near miss with a group of about 8 riders who were flying up the mountain and well over my side of the road. Time to back off. The decent into Intertkirchen is about 26k so it was a long one and good fun even if it was freezing. I passed out some guys with nothing more than a jersey and shorts. Bad move boys. From innerkirchen it’s a sharp shock to the system of 2k climb before the decent into Meiringen and home.
Made it home in a respectable time of 13:37:37 which I was happy with. To complete it within the time was my goal so to be 55 mins ahead was very pleasing. Didn’t hang around for long. Had a major hankering for a beer. God was it nice.

Will I do it again? Fcuk yeah. I try to do something like this or the Marmotte etc. once every year for charity.Ended up raising over a grand for temple street. Feel free to donate if you can (Mycharity.ie)
So I’ll be signing up for it for sure. Question is do I want to try and do something bigger and then do the gold or silver or try and beat my time?? Looking at the tour de mont blanc...sure why not eh???

Any ideas on something bigger let me know….I would prefer to stick to something than can be cycled within a day

velo.2010

Fair play to you. Makes me hanker for the mountains.

So you made it inside the time limit, those that mean you got Platinum - was there a medal for it? Whatever the case to spend that time on a bike in the mountains is some going. And you're not in a club? That might change!;)

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velo.2010 wrote: »

Fair play to you. Makes me hanker for the mountains.

So you made it inside the time limit, those that mean you got Platinum - was there a medal for it? Whatever the case to spend that time on a bike in the mountains is some going. And you're not in a club? That might change!;)

Thanks.Yeah made it with 55 mins to spare. Was worrying about finishing in the dark! But I just kept turning.

It was the only chit thing about the organisation.At the end of something like that you want something tangible like a dirty big Jim’ll fix it badge. In its place you get a really gammy T shirt and an A4 cert. A medal was very much amiss. Food was top drawer. Not as crazy as the W200 (is anything) or even the marmotte.Probably as everyone was strung out....over the course.

Overall it was torture but very doable. Looking back it was well worth the effort.

Yeah no club. Just train solo. I figure no one can give out to me when I am inevitably late:D