I’ve got a starting spot for Milano San Remo!

This one-day race is one of the ultimate events, a cycling monument that probably impresses every cyclist, whether hobby, amateur, or professional. The 297 km from Milan to San Remo in one day is legendary. This year it is now finally the time for me, I am there. Today my slot is confirmed.

Originally Milan – San Remo was organized as a car race in 1904 and served to promote the casino of San Remo. However, only two cars reached San Remo, so the race was organized for cyclistis three years later. Well, in 1904 cars were just not as reliable as they are today, but cyclists were. The first bicycle race then started on April 14, 1907 with 33 riders who reached San Remo with an average of 26 km/h and received 5 lire as compensation.

Since 1970 there has also been a Grand Fondo, which is the name given to amateur events that replicate professional races. Whenever I saw the professionals on TV riding this race, I felt the desire to participate. Especially since I know and love the last part of the route from Genoa to San Remo and beyond; it’s just great to ride along this coastal road, which is only surpassed by the Amalftiana from Sorrento to Salerno, for me one of the most beautiful routes in the world. Okay, in the north of Sicily there should also be such breathtaking coastal routes, but we’ll save that for ourselves.

In 2020 and 2021, the event was cancelled due to COV19 and only the races for the professionals took place. This year, however, I can be there.

The Route

It varies every year by nuances, but is quite still with few deviations the original route of 1904. As always here’s the map with the abillity to navigate in it.

The altitude profile is not as daunting as Mallorca 312, although the press always dramatizes the few climbs. Sure, with the pros in a race exactly there the decisive attacks are set. The real climbing effort needs to be investet before Genoa and afterwards there are just a few ramps only.

It’s spectacular riding this section along the coast from Genoa to San Remo, which I have already done a few times ago. In preparation for the 2017 tour, I had completed – with a small pack on my back – the section from Girona, Spain up the coast to Genoa and further on to Lake Maggiore. I still have fond memories of the section from Marseille to Genoa. Riding coastal roads is great.

Organisation and etc

In Italy you can’t easily participate in a sporting event, you would think the Germans would be picky. In Italy you need a medical certificate, a liability insurance and a racing license. The latter you can buy a daily licence, even if you are not a racer, the insurance you have anyway. I took this as an opportunity for a comprehensive medical check-up and at the end I asked the doctor how he knew that I am fit for such a “race”. Whereupon he just smiled and said, I will already know what I’m doing and handed me the certificate.

While planing my participation I found Günther Kulessa (www.milano-sanremo.net), who has been organizing all espects (start slot, hotels, transfer, luggage, and transport) for German amateur cyclists for years. You can also organize it yourself via the official site (www.milano-sanremo.org), but if Günther does it so great, I’m in. Many thanks for this, Günther.

So, on June 4 I take the train via Zurich to Milano, check in at Ripamonti Residence hotel, 20km south of Milano Centre and will be at my starting spot on June 5 at 7am with 5’000 riders from all over the world.

Lessons learned

Mallorca 312 is a month before Milano San Remo and I will, for sure, learn considerable lessons at this marathon course, on what it means to cope with such a challenge. This experience I will use that for future events, especially for Milano San Remo.

Motivation or the question of why

Does the question arise? I could say, slightly presumptuously, because I can. But my reality is rather the loud exclamation: “I want to be able to do it”. As I have already said, “Someone who no longer has any goals has reached the end of the line”.

I recently met a cyclist

A recent encounter I want to report, because that is, on the one hand, unusual and yet really often to see. It was some of my first longer rides after the winter out in a remote area in the backyard of Lake Constance and met a cyclist who was fast on the road. My training session forbade me to go faster, but the cyclist was so constant, calm, steady, and in a very good posture on the bike that he interested me.

I closed up and called out to him, “Hey, you’re going really faston the way, top.” So we rode together in the 34 – 38 km/h range and talked, as is just usual; so where are you from, where are you going, and a little more about the area here. I then noticed that he was not so young after all and my respect grew to say at the end, “May I ask you how old are you?” Two weeks ago, he became 73 he replied and I was gobsmacked. We parted amicably at an intersection where he had to turn for home, but the encounter remains with me. That’s cycling!

I want to mention for the sake of completeness, the encounter took place on a Garmin segment (which are route segments in the cloud of the bike computer, where cyclists compare themselves, who are in contact with each other), that I suddenly, just like that, went 2:35 min faster than before and I am now in 5th place out of more than 120 participants of all ages, yeah! And that in the company of a 73-year old, WOW, that’s cycling.

Here is the ranking of the mentioned segment from the Garmin Cloud as of March 30, 2022:

It’s about to die young, but at the latest possible date.

Nina Ruge

3 weeks final training

My trainer, Philipp, programmed some high intensity VO2max trainings for this last phase before the event. Here, every unit is really challenging and followed by a resting day. Unfortunately, the weather crashed my training plan with the comeback of winter. That cold, rainy and even snowy conditions makes it impossible to do long endurance trainings, so I use my Zwift account again. However, I’ll use any improvement for endurance sessions outside.

The last few days before Mallorca 312, I ride some easy endurance loops with cyclists I’m gonna meet at Mallorca, to be refreshed and prepared for the big event.

On Saturday, April 23, I am off to Mallorca to face the first challenge of 2022.

Keep you posted.