If you are curious on pricing for this incredible experience, the registration fee was $1899 Euros per person, we bought one accomodation package (comfort double) for $1339 and airport transportation to the Geneva airport after the event is complete ($59 euros) for a total of $3297 Euros (or around $3300 US dollars). Total for both of us was ~$5255 Euros. While an expensive event, we work hard so we can play hard and we love finding epic ways to turn our vacations into race-cations.
As part of our registration package, our accomodations from Saturday until the following Sunday are taken care of by the Haute Route staff. I booked an extra night in Nice at the same hotel for Saturday so that we could arrive on Friday. Although we planned on bringing our road bikes for this trip (and renting mountain bikes), the recent issues with lost luggage concerned us and because of our within-Europe flights to two different airports, we didn't want to take the chance that our bikes wouldn't arrive to Nice (or return back to Vienna with us after the event). Instead, we decided the best option was to rent road bikes from France Bike Rentals - a partner of Haute Route. Karel decided on package 3 for us (Pinarello Prince Disc Ultegra Di2) and he will make sure that we are both set up well for the event. Karel also brought my crank (Rotor aldhu w/ 155 crank length) to swap out from the rental bike (which will have 170 crank). We will pick up our bikes at registration on Saturday and we will be able to ride the bikes on Saturday afteernoon as part of the kick-off ride.
We will be given a backpack and duffle bag and at the end of every stage, we receive our backpack (with items that we want to have immediately after each stage) and our duffle bag will be taken to the hotel where we will stay that evening (between stages). We receive breakfast and a post race meal, massages and full tech support (similar to the Tour de France). There will also be cut-off times for each stage. In the evening, we have a mandatory athlete briefing for the next stage. We heard there are between 450-600 riders at this event.
We have the course maps loaded into our bike computers. Here's a summary of each stage:
- August 21st: Nice, France to Cuneo, Italy -
114 miles/184km, 13,450 feet/4100+ meters - August 22nd: Cuneo, Italy to Serre Chevalier Briancon, France -
88 miles/141km, 11,811 feet/3600+ meters - August 23rd: Serre Chevalier Briancon, France to Les Deux Alpes, France -
68 miles/109km, 9842 feet/3,000+ meters - August 24th: Les Deux Alps to Meribel, France -
95 miles/153km, 13779 feet/4200+ meters - August 25th: Meribel, France -
6.2 miles/10km, 2788 feet/850+ meters (time trial) - August 26th: Meribel, France to Megeve, France -
86 miles/138km, 11,482 feet/3500+ meters - August 27th: Megeve, France -
62 miles/99km, 7874 feet/2400+ meters
We were instructed to download the Ride with GPS app (with a special code to connect us with the Haute Route Alps official app). Within this app, we have everything we need for throughout the event. There's a link for our accomodations, the routes, weather report, latest news, start times and locations and so much more. This is what we see for each stage of the event:
All the information for the upcoming stage with important times and locations.
As you can see from the bottom graph (above), certain segements (red line between the timer icon) are timed, which is what is included in the results. There are also several feed zones throughout each stage (which I heard are well stocked with a lot of great food and sport nutrition varieties). For this specific stage, after we finish the actual stage, we have another 16k to ride to get to the town of Cuneo, to reach our accomodations. I've already looked up places for Pizza in Italy - there are a lot!
We also have a description of the climbs. For Stage 1 we have two big climbs. As you can see from this picture, our climb is 12 miles or 20K (although we are climbing well before we actually start the official climb) and goes up to almost 8000 feet elevation. We can also see the gradient/inclines for each part of the climb. Stage 1 is 104 miles and 13,450 feet of elevation gain.
Karel and I are nervous and excited. This event will test us mentally and physically, in ways that we have never experienced before. We are hoping that our years of long distance triathlon training and racing, as well training on our technical and challenging terrain in Greenville, will have prepared us for this event. I don't think it's possible to feel fully prepared so I know there will be many struggles along the way. If you are familiar with the documentary ICARUS, the initial focus for the production was to race the 2015 Haute Route Alps while taking part in a doping procedure. I mention this because the Haute Route Alps is only open to amateurs (not professionals) and to win the overall title is a prestigous accomplishment. Karel and I are not expecting to be competive at the top but we will still try to complete the event while also feeling like we are "racing" - whatever that looks like on each day. I'm thinking some stages, it'll be all about trying to complete the stage and not compete on the stage. Karel and I will not stay together throughout each stage so that we can each get the most out of the event.
I'll be sharing updates throughout the week on social media (Facebook and Instagram) if you'd like to follow our journey.
Tracking and Results can be found HERE.
I'll be sharing updates throughout the week on social media (Facebook and Instagram) if you'd like to follow our journey.
Tracking and Results can be found HERE.