adidas Transalp Challenge
Getting Started
Pete Webb and Sauze Holliday - Sponsored by Fat Face and Rocky Mountain Bikes / 14.08.2004
The start, just inside Germany, not far from the Austrian border, is in Mittenwald. Almost an hour south from Munich and very close to Innsbruck. This is the traditional start venue and my introduction was the pasta party in the local fire station!
Race morning saw us alongside the railway station and there was a huge buzz as various support teams and sponsors had set up camp with tech teams sorting bikes, people were offering energy drinks and some popular sporting brands were selling their wares. The start was a late one, set at 12am for the first day only, the sun was beating down and competitors were shading under trees. First day and 30 degrees, great!
With all 1000 + competitors lined up it was a very impressive sight. I had a guy next to me who with 3 minutes to go before the start got a puncture … while standing still! The impressive bit was that he and his team mate fixed it before the start, with a big cheer from everyone around! The start, which was a procession out of town, was my first sight of the centre of town and the first of many picturesque towns through en route. Cafes lined the route with hundreds of people seeing us on our way.
Day 1
Rather than try and describe every part of the trail, I will condense it into parts that impressed me. We had had a briefing that had explained that the Tyrol region of Austria, which we were heading for, had been working on their mountain bike trails and the number now open is absolutely huge.
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