August 2, 2024, edited by Gravellata
It's 2 a.m. It's the night of the Maratona dles Dolomites. We're in a room with a window in the ceiling. It's raining, harder and harder. Under the duvet, we think that in 4 hours we'll be inside the start of one of the events we have dreamed of most in these years. Now we can't dream anymore, the rain beats on the glass, soon the alarm will ring, the dream is in front of us, we need to open our eyes and live this gift. It's our first road race. This cycling of ours seems like an endless story.
We eat some eggs and a savory toast at 4:00 in the morning. Hot coffee. We are lucky to have breakfast with a large window in front of us. We see the mountains and the first light of day. The sky seems calmer, to say clear would be too optimistic. At least it's not raining. The humidity envelops the woods. We prepare, check our bicycles for the last time, oil the chain. At 5:30 we go out, the mountains are majestic even in this cloudy dawn. Slowly, so as not to kick up too much water, we pedal towards the start. We enter our grid at 5:50. We have bib numbers 281 and 282, we are in front.
In the grid we arrange the last things, every now and then we drink some carbohydrates, we arrange the action cam. Everything is ready. Four helicopters fly above us, from the speakers they play Never Ending Story. We hum in silence because we really like this song. The start is a flash and the music after a few meters is immediately replaced by a heart that starts to pump blood and a mouth that starts to pant louder and louder, the real soundtrack of today.
I pass Campolongo early in the morning, with a little drizzle. Excellent breakfast. We overtake, we are overtaken. We overtake, we are overtaken. It's a continuous mixing of bicycles. Slippery descent to Arabba, we take measurements and listen to the bike, we have never pushed it so far on the wet. It gives us a lot of confidence, we manage to make it slide faster and faster. Second climb, immersed in the fog, it seems like we have returned to the BMW HERO Südtirol Dolomites of three weeks ago. We are on the Pordoi and we have the luck to pedal alongside Miguel Indurain who tells us that if the helicopter is still in flight the weather is good. It flies above us but we don't see it, there is a very thick fog. At the GPM we eat something and we set out to hunt Passo Sella and then Gardena.
We close the Sellaronda loop with a long descent towards Colfosco and then Corvara in Badia. Here the menu offers us Passo Campolongo again but it's a climb we like and we climb it gladly a second time. Now the climbs of the first part of the race are over. We start to head towards Passo Giau, the real challenge of this Maratona. We take the opportunity to eat, drink and fill a water bottle at the Aid Station near Colle Santa Lucia.
We enter the Giau, 9.9km to the GPM. Immediately some ramps but the legs are fine, it doesn't scare us, we want to work hard, we feel ready. From the Giau, get down, it's the only thought. As we climb however the sky closes. One kilometer is missing to the top and it starts to rain, harder and harder. For the whole climb we pedaled with the jersey completely open but we close everything and at the GPM we also wear the windbreaker. It looks like a downpour. No, it is! The road fills with puddles and along the descent we literally pass inside these huge clouds that throw water at us from all directions (yes because it rains from above but the wheels do the same from below). We are soaked. And we are cold. We would never have thought of hoping to reach the Falzarego climb as soon as possible, at this point.
The climb is a salvation. It brings us back to work hard. The legs become operational again after a short out of office period. The climb is very smooth, we alternate, every now and then we exchange some thoughts or make some clips with the action cam. It rains less but it always rains. We find some cyclists who tell us that with the same training they are running 30 minutes slower than last year, with the sun. The water is making this day more complicated but not less spectacular. There is little left, we stand on the pedals we reach the Falzarego and then Valparola. How beautiful, we see Val Badia from above. The descent starts, the legs go back to hibernation. Not now! Mür dl Giat is missing. We face it by instinct pushing what the body still offers us as a gift because yes, having energy here, is a gift.
We see the red triangle of the last kilometer, it's pouring. We talk to each other. This is another adventure we dreamed of together and that we completed together. We hug each other and there is everything needed to be happy in these moments. But to feel good you need a hot shower.
We made a video during this race and uploaded it to our YT channel "Gravellata". *keep pedaling