HOPE1000
(in steady construction)
Day 5. Before hell broke loose..
The HOPE1000 is a non-stop unsupported MTB race created in homage to the Tour Divide. It zigzags across Switzerland to create a very challenging 1000Km course with 30000m of elevation. Although in theory the logistics are supposedly easy, in its short life the race has already achieved quite a legendary status among the ultra cycling community due to its climb to distance ratio. Besides the typical Swiss beauty overload, the HOPE1000 it is well know for many long and steep hike-a-bikes, plenty of “unridable” sections, thousands of cows and almost as many cattle gates.
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www.hope1000.ch
The 2022 edition was characterized by extreme weather conditions. The thermometer run between 35 and 40 degrees during most of the first week. This weather pattern generated strong wind and rain thunderstorms on most evenings and and some mornings.
Romanshorn 05:35. The sky turns red. Put the bike shoes on. Pump the tires. Control the fork air pressure. @denk_an_den_kuchen shows up and says hi. I am too nervous to make sense of it all.
Suddenly I am lining up. We start in reverse age order. Yes. I am in one of the first groups. Duh!
Time to go. Did I say properly good bye to Emma and @aytenw ? … last hug!
I miss the first turn!!!
We are going fast. Gravel roads, we are going fast. Very tenacious “older men” with expensive Swiss made fullys keep on drafting on me … I let them pass, … I pass them one every hill, they draft …
@lucaridefree passes me quite concentrated after 2.5h or so … so does @frnkwz, but he seems to be a bit chillier, … we spend a while riding within minutes.
After 4 hours finally @sutterme catches up to me and passes me swiftly, although the started only 4 minutes behind me. He will have to do better than that or he will only finish a couple hours ahead of me at that pace.
10:49 -Km98
… the Garmin hits 39 degrees at the “special” water stop provided by Yvonne, … it is all still fun and laughs.
The area is hilly, no rest. We are going fast. The vertical meter accumulate and the heat does not help.
The Watwill Bahnhoff short before 17:00 and only 60km after feels like a war hospital. People show up and drop to the floor. Empty bottles of soda pile up and the calories and consumed in the thousands.
Up we continue, non stop … the harder of the day is still to come. The first “real” passes come up and we hear abut the first scratches … “heat stroke”, “ the chills”, …
14 hours into the ride, I eat some bread while some dude vomits his yogurt over the the fence of a church. Ok? Want a Kleenex buddy?
The first real MTB sector is finally here. Tricky rocky downhill right before is too dark. Welcome.
I reach Walensee around 22:00, … the fast guys are finishing their dinner in a restaurant. Off they go.
I manage to grab some French fries and a Schorle.
Across the valley and up. … pitch dark. Very steep.
@sutterme and another guy are sleeping under in a garage, I join. Another guy shows up later.
I am the last to leave the shelter. First summit. First MTB downhill section is tricky and not really enjoyable. Views are not bad.
“Are you doing the HOPE100?” Asks me a nice man in a SUV at the bottom? “One thousand!” I correct him a bit offended, but happy to be recognized. …
Second day without caffe. Bad supermarket paestry and alp water in dirty bidons als breakfast again.
10:42 – 7 hours, only 70 km and two big mountains into the day.
I run into @sutterme in Brunnen at the lake, he is having ice-cream. “Swimming? “ I scream … f**k the race, it is already 35 degrees. We strip and jump in. In retrospect best stop in the whole week. Christian Dupraz shows up wearing hiking pants and a shirt. He strips and jumps in the water.
Two heavy hitters in the next 25km. One with 700m and the second with 1100m. The afternoon does not look like any fun. The tarmac reflects the sun and the conditions are brutal. It feels I find Christian Dupraz lying under a three at the beginning of the second pass. I greet and continue. 40 degress says the Garmin. Some ramps hit 17%. I walk.
“HOPE1000 Shower” says the painted sign on the road. A couple has extended and water hose from their hause to the side of the road for us to use. Amazing. It feels amazing. Minutes later I hear Christian Dupraz screaming in pleasure under the “shower”. What a sight he is in his pants and shirt, straddling the bike smiling under the garden hose!
I hit the top. There is a cross and a blurred view of the lake. “The downhill is not ridable. It is a trap. No satisfaction after all the effort.” I had been warned. But somehow “La Chona” found a line and we rode it. Not that bad.
Down. Up one more. Rolling hills. Endless. I am fried.
Another painted road sign. “HOPE1000, HOPE1000”. … I stop. I am offered Bouillon and a sandwich by Ruth. The best two glasses of warm soup I had in my life. A smile I will not forget in a while.
I fly direction Baar. It is getting late and I have to get food for the night and the morning. Suddenly I see a sign. “Baar 6Km” but in the wrong direction. I panic. I turn around and get lost. I waste one hour between going back, eating a really shitty pizza, finding some food, (it is sunday late evening) and getting back to where I am.
Finally the temperature drops. My body is paying the effort. I ride into the darkness.
Then I find myself riding a very fast and narrow slight downhill singletrack flanked by shoulder high stinging nettle. It is pitch dark. My brain totally concentraded on the circle produced by my light ahead of me. Something hits my handlebar on the right side. A fence! I fly to the left and land full on into the stinging nettle. Classic! I think.
Garmin, Tracker, Watterbottles, GPS, bag, bag, … everything is where it should be. I click in and I continue controlling my breathing to allow the familiar burning produced by the plant so settle.
The forest opens and there is fire place with a covered little shelter. I check quickly for glass on the floor. None. There are ants though. And a suspiciously big cat. I don’t care. Decided! I am sleeping here. It is 23:00 and I have been at it for 19 hours.
Monday. 5:00 am.
The sound of a loud freewheel wakes me up. In 13min camp is packed and those familiar tears produced by the cold air of the first descent are running down my chicks.
Caffe in Sursee with @rudibracher. Of course @sutterm shows up smiling somehow coming from the wrong way. Both leave me behind but are soon neutralized by “La Chona” and a surprisingly fit Pablo, … Michel does not give in and tags along and we both ride together into the much expected and feared “Napfgebiet”. The rumors were not quite accurate. The views are definetly better and the roots much, much bigger. It is bike over the head stuff and waist high rocks to climb over. A truly five stars Hike-A-Bike. We laugh about the fact that it could be much worse, at least it is dry.
At one point I try to ride a section, and while wheeling a root, my back wheel sleeps and before I hit a tree, I extend my right arm to stop the impact. Boom!. A wave of pain fills my brain. My right shoulder takes the impact. I can not move the arm. Excruciating pain. Have I dislocated it?. No time to whine. I make it to the top. There is restaurant. Sandwich and 1.5L apfel-schorle. It must be over 35 degrees. In the bathroom I can barely take off my jersey. My shoulder is killing me. Ibuprufen time.
We descent. Michel is gone once more. Amazing scenery. Great trails. Find him an hour later fighting with brake problems short before Entlebuch. Inferno hot. … last climb before the midpoint depot at km 500. A smiling man with a fascinating hairstyle playing a trompet jumps from behind a hedge and greet us. Hans Ruedi definetly was one the hightlights of the week. Music and sport he says he does. If you need someone his line of work, drop me a text. I got his business card.
14:00 || We get our box of goodies and prepare for the second half of the event. Still 18000vm to go !!! by the way, we have been on the road for 9 hours and only done 90km. Long day ahead.
Early afternoon. My Garmin marks 32 degrees, feels quite nice compared to the previous two days. My shoulder is killing me.
Surprisingly or not, we find ourselves deep into some quality hike-a-bikes that need be conquered. Some silly ones by the way. Straight up fields, loose rocks and what not. It is not hard to hate the course designer.
Two veggie burger and a couple sodas in Flühli and up again. And down. And up. @sutterm leads concentrated and at a solid pace. I am actually following “Il Capo” without many problems … later he will confess suffering of strong pain in his right ribs from a fall on day one. Probably broken I think, but one thing I know for sure, nothing is going to stop this guy from reaching the finish line.
The sun lowers. It is getting late. After asking for our plans for the night and without hiding her surprise, a lady at a remote alpine hut, inform us that “There is a cabin right after you crown the summit”. The night engulf us hiking over loose rocks in what it seems like an endless mountain. Big loose rocks. Who built this thing?! The light is low and is difficult to find the right place the feet. We push our bikes listening to the sound of carbon soles getting destroyed.
The cabin is actually a military bunker that does not seem very appealing. We search for other options for the night. The downhill is steep but in a very good road. The night is pitch black. Hundreds of eery eyes reflect our lights in the dark like strange ghosts. Cows every where. Lying on the road. Walking. They chill totally and observe us like questioning our sanity. Is getting cold. The cattle gates are not easy to see, and although Michel’s brakes are not good, I am the one that end up being really close to hit one.
Finally a town. The usual shelter search. … old wood shop? Nope, too risky. We could perforate the sleeping matts, … trash depot? Nope, too stinky. … finally a small bus stop next to a fountain and in walking distance to the town hall bathroom … score! … Pffui! almost 18h on the road. Good night.
I crown the first pass with the first lights of the morning. @sutterm dissapears in the horizon while I stop to change the brake pads of my back wheel. I reflect upon the upcoming day. Today is the first of the big days. The real Alps are coming.
My shoulder is basically worthless. More painkillers. My crotch area is not happy either. From all the hiking covered in sweat from yesterday, I assume. I “bathe” the area in Vaseline and proceed. “Something” tells me today is going to hurt more than usual.
“You were 12th yesterday. Today 14th. What happened?” texts my father while I struggle direction Sörenberg. “because I sleep and I am old” I tell to myself, ...
@cal_james95 and another guy catch up while I devour some horrible industrial muffin sitting outside a supermarket. They both must be at least 20 years younger and look terribly fit. I guess I am gonna be 16th very soon.
Super slow progress, it hurts to seat and my shoulder is not better. Worse part is that I know the climbs in this area and to top it all, my bottom brakett sounds like wants to explode.
12:30 Down in Meiringen is hot as hell already. It does not matter any more. I stop for pizza.
Last time I went up the Grösse Scheidegg was in 1999. I hated it then. I hated it now. Temperature is way over 30C. Almost 3h of pain. Surprisingly no one overtakes me. My sitting area is worsen. I think about quitting, but the views at the top recharge my batteries as I entertain myself taking pictures.
Nice young guy at @bikebox.ch in Grindelwald knows about the race, recognizes my impacient body language and swiftly runs to try to find me, without luck, a Shimano BB, “… one with an Orbea and another with a Cannondale” he tells me when inquired about other Hope1000 riders that have already stopped by. Michel must have stopped to repair his brakes I assume.
I am about to crawl into the safety of an air conditioned supermarket when Collum finally show up. I guess I am not going that slow after all.
Up to the ski area.The Eiger is covered under the clouds. Is getting late and it is a bit colder. The climbs seems endless. I forget about my shoulder. I hike a lot, I push the bike a lot. I am not enjoying it.
I reach the top. Is been almost 7h since the pizza stop. Everything is closed already. “It is already 20:00 and the last train run at 18:00” tells me a guy at the station while he feeds a fox. Yes, a fox.
The downhill is long and rewarding. Those curves in Wengen were fun. … and suddenly I am 12th again, … down in the valley five riders are having pizza together. My father must be proud now, I think … they soon pass me and put my in my place.
“I want to see if I find somewhere to sleep at the lake” I answer, when Michel, asks me right after we meet at the last open gas station as. … 30min later we are swimming in the dark. Soon after sleeping like logs.