Anyone completed Biketransalp?

Training
#261

Here I am :slight_smile:
Did it last year and signed up for this one

Itā€™s ultimate MTB experiance

#262

Hi Blind,
cool ā€¦ Iā€™m super curious and quite a bit nervous for this experience!
Looking at your picture your much more in shape than I am :wink: ā€¦ my target is just to finish it and this will already be hard! Hope I can get some good ideas and tips here on the preparation, as my experience is quite limited I would say.
Started mountain-biking 1.5 years ago only and my first plan was only to get some weight of, but then I really started to like it being outdoors. When Iā€™ve seen some videos of the Transalp last summer I thought I want to do this as well some day and now Iā€™ve just registered. :thinking:
When I started 1.5 years ago I was completely out of shape (120kg and my FTP was around 180 or so) ā€¦ now Iā€™m down 20kg and Iā€™ve started a training plan to prepare for this summer. Last FTP test I did on Christmas was at 304 ā€¦ so I hope there is still enough time to improve and get ready for the Transalp in the coming 5 months to make it to the finish line.

Hope I can somehow enjoy the ā€œultimate MTB experienceā€ :wink:

#263

I was expecting long climbs but not that gradientā€¦
So you can expect every day to has climb(s) of 1000-1400 meters with grades around 20is %ā€¦

  • Focus on fuelling, on the stage and also after and before. Feed zones are great and you can find a lot of natural food, my favorite was potato with lot of saltā€¦ after the stage just fuel and restā€¦ I was caring 1L bottle and 1.5L USWE and Iā€™m not sure that 1L would be enoughā€¦

  • Almost every stage has neutral start and that is a very chaotic so if you are not chasing results I would suggest to go easy and calm

  • For a training spend a lot of time in the saddle and work on your endurance.

  • Have a great bike fit and make sure that you donā€™t have any problems because any small problem will become gigantic after 40hrs in 7 days

  • equipment : donā€™t riskā€¦ take with yourself CO2s but also pump and the tools, use robust tires and teach yourself how to repair common things

  • work on your descending techniqueā€¦ there will be everything from bike parks, wild descents, roots, stones, but there will be a lot 30ish minutes gravel descends, and I saw a lot of people in ditchesā€¦ because on a long gravel descent you have to have focus all the time because every hairpin is different and it is so easy to lose a front wheel

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#264

Iā€™ve completed it twcie, 2019 and 2022, itā€™s an awesome race, my comments are similar to others;

In no particular order my general adavice is;

  • Climbs can be 2hrs long, get used to long continuous efforts

  • Eat something every 45mins, practice this as you can adapt to it

  • Days will be anywhere fron 4-8hrs, You do not have to train this length (my longest day beforehand was 5hrs)

  • However get used to doing back-back hard days

  • Be comfortable on the bike. (I met someone who had saddle sores on day 2, it was a long week for him :grimacing:) Note: I used chamouis cream despite not usually using it.

  • Be efficient and orgainised (especially if you are in the camp), this can save alot of time and mental effort which will be a huge benefit in days 4,5,6,7.

If you want any specific advice just ask :+1:

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