For the past 8 years, we have been traveling to Europe every other year to visit Karel's family in his hometown of Znojmo, Czech Republic. For the past 3 visits (2014, 2016, 2018) we combined our trip with racing Ironman Austria - which is now one of our favorite race venues.
For the past few years, I've been wowing over this event called the Haute Route Alps (pronounced "oat" "root". The more videos I watched and more I learned about the event, the more excited we got for a new challenge (Karel and I like to share our crazy adventure ideas together). Although we are not removing ourselves from the sport of triathlon (we are already registered for two Ironmans and 5+ half IM's between us), we are constantly seeking different/new events to keep our spark alive for endurance training and racing. Through long distance training and racing, we have both developed great endurance, strength and mental toughness and we can use this fitness to test our physical and mental boundaries.From August 22-28th, 2020, our endurance, strength and mental toughness will be challnged more than it's ever been tested before. And this excites us....and makes us a bit nervous too!
Here are some quick facts from the event:
"The Haute Route Alps features bucket list climbs made famous by the Tour de France including six cols culminating over 2,000 metres (6,500 ft) above sea level and gives you the rare opportunity to pin on a number and test yourself on long point-to-point stages."- 7 consecutive days of cycling
- ~500 miles
- ~65,000 ft total elevation gain
2020 stages:
- Stage 1: Megève – Megève (Côte 2000): ~68 miles / ~9842 feet
- Stage 2: Megève – Tignes: ~67 miles / ~11,320 feet
- Stage 3: Tignes – Serre Chevalier Briançon (Col du Galibier): ~86 miles / ~11,320 feet
- Stage 4: Serre Chevalier Briançon – Risoul: ~45 miles / ~7700 feet
- Stage 5: Risoul – Auron: ~71 miles / 10,660 feet
- Stage 6: Auron – Nice (Col de Vence): 106 miles/ ~10,826 feet
- Stage 7: ITT Nice – Col d’Èze: ~7.5 miles / ~1640 feet
"The Haute Route’s objective is to deliver an unparalleled 'professional' experience for amateur cyclists. This means not only delivering first class hospitality and event management, but all the key ingredients that make up the culture and experience of professional road racing."
What's included in our registration fee:
- Rider's Pack - cycling apparel, backpack
- Welcome dinner
- Live timing
- Detailed road book
- Road mobile mechanics, safety vehicles, course marshals, feed stations, medical team
- Breakfast and post-stage meal
- Post-stage massage
- Post-race bike wash
- Professional photos
- Daily stage highlight video
- Daily rankings and awards
- Closing cermony
- Finisher apparel
- Medal
- Accomodations (for all 7-nights)
- Airport pick-up
- Daily travel of race bag
- Mid week laundry service
Over the next 8 months, I'll be sharing more about our training (how we are preparing for this event while still training for long-distance triathlons), sport nutrition (fueling/hydration), gear, travel and anything else that related to this extreme endurance challenge.
Note to self: make room on your phone for lots and lots of pictures during the Haute Route Alps!
Note to self: make room on your phone for lots and lots of pictures during the Haute Route Alps!