The climb east of Alfriston up to The Long Man. favourite climb on the SDW.
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I started MTBāing when at Brighton Uni many years ago. Itād be great to ride the downs again 
Youāre going to find out where your fitness is in the first 10k of day one 
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I had a quick look at the route but not really thought about how it might impact training.
Looks like even on day 1 there is some nice technical singletrack.
Just signed! See ya in Lienz 
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Iām also based in the UK.
I wish Iād done this 20 years ago ,and fear I am too old now to survive it!
I would be entering as a solo rider, and also a masters rider.
Like you, I have a dilemma with camping/Hotel stays. Iām fine camping, if it is quiet, and dark ,but totally neurotic if its noisy . I donāt want to be a kill joy, but do they have a noise curfew, eg. 11.pm?
Iāve done the Scott MTB Marathon series, and camped ,and everybody respected the organisers āquiet timeā.
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I am also a masters and and single entry with no massive history of this type of event.
For accommodation I decided to go for hotels. I am not a big camper and did one night with the kids and felt pretty sore. The thought of 8 days with potentially disturbed sleep etc was not appealing!
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Merry Xmas fellow transalpers!
Hope you have all managed to stay off the mince pies and kept some training going?
Has anyone got experience of getting to and from the start particularly with bike. I dont know that part of the world and looking at arrival I think from London, a flights into Salzburg then train to Lienz but with at least 1 connection.
At the end has anyone got a tip on the best airport for the return journey.
If there are not easy public transport connections and a private minibus etc is the best option happy to share if that would suit anyone.
Hi. I have done 3x TransAlps and each time have got a taxi to Verona and then flown back to London.
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Thanks very much. Will look into this.
Just under 5 months to go now. How is everyoneās preparation going?
There was a webinar last week about the course but was in German. Hopefully an English translation following up soon.
Not as good as hoped (FTP is a few % below Feb 21), lastest set back is Covid
Still, 19 weeks to go 
Hopefully theyāll do an English version (I think they hinted at it)
Hows everyone else going?
Edit: found a good short video on last year (I have it on loop for Vo2max)
Iāve been doing a bit of Trainerroad stuff but then did 2 x 5hr rides back to back with full bivy gear this weekend which really tired me out. However I then rested and ate regularly for the remainder of Saturday, slept well and then did a half marathon running race this morning. Again folliwed by more food and rest to allow some big gains to happen.
Will probably rest all week as Iām doing a 300km bikepacking trip next weekend.
This for me is how I see training for the Alps. My ftp aināt that great right now but Iām building a whole load of resilience.
Hopefully COVID isnāt taking too much of a toll on you? I had it xmas 2020 and was ok after a couple of weeks.
This is my first spell of sustained structure and so far so good. FTP has taken a massive leap from 235 to 306 and am currently about 3.75/kg. My big downfall is a massive sweet tooth so if I can cut this back a bit I can hopefully drop a few kg which will help on the climbs.
Looking forward to these storms passing through to let me get back outside.
Does anyone to structured training outside using either a PM on the MTB or RPE? My garage is starting to get quite hot now the temp is rising a bit!
Will bookmark that video, looks like what I need for Tuesdays session.
Thanks, had a week off and starting to feel better so should be OK.
As mentioned FTP was 295 last Feb, currently 288 due to less consistency. However I am 4Kgās lighter so likely the same w/kg.
I have a pm and sometimes do V02max outside but due to where I live struggle to find anywhere suitable for threashold without breaks.
Hopefully I am building both but there is only really one was to tell!
I will just be looking to complete so hanging on is going to be sufficient for me.
@grawp 300km bike packing in feb is definitely going to build some resilience. Been planning on using some leave to get out for some long days. How are the South Downs at the moment?
Have considered trying to head down to Cwmcarn or Alan for a day to try and rack up some serious miles/technical terrain.
@UKCarl Did you ride with a PM or just try and use HR data to pace? This is my next purchase being consideredā¦
South Downs are a bit sticky in the woods but dry as anything on the exposed sections. Fallen trees were the biggest hindrance on Friday night.
Iāve found in the past that when i do a lot of bikepacking i develop complete faith that as long as i keep eating, Iāll be able to keep riding. Itās a very empowering feeling and is how i want to feel going into the Alps.
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As @smlring says a PM isnāt essentual. When I do gravel events, or just ridw with friends, I still pace with RPE/HR rather than the PM, but that may be due to 30yrs of using that measure and only 12 months with the PM. I suspect Iāll be the same during the Trans Alp. When I completed it in 2019 I targeted keeping my HR below 140 on the long climbs (in hindsight that was a little low but at least I finished) and Iāll likely do the same this year rather than use a power figure.
However for training it can be useful, threashold efforts for example can be more accurate.
p.s. +70w is awesome, nice one
I think I will hang off the PM purchase at the moment. exactly as kpedal mentioned, I donāt care if I donāt hit specific power targets or if I end up placing 5 spots further back. I think spending the Money on an extra wide cassette might be a bit of a better use of funds
@grawp Being out on Friday night was a bit brave? I am just up in Surrey and was taking cover all day and am even considering if its worth getting out today with the gusts that have arrived. Have not done bike packing but understand that mental feeling of just knowing you can get through whatever is next. Having done things like SDW in a day (on 35mm tyres) I know my body can take a lot more than ever imagined. Are you doing a specific route this week? King Alfreds Way is about 300km and local?