phgJun 21, 2025

Gorgeous weather. Well rested. Heading into the Alps. -- This could have been the perfect start of the #MonacoDiBavieraClassic if it hadn't been for the scumbags that threw pins on the road near Perlacher Forst. Just 10 km into the race and you got thirty cyclists at the roadside, fixing punctures.

#MdBC #ultracycling #carbrainrot

Show threadphgJun 23, 2025
Last item of the second day was the mighty #Gavia. When I rolled up the summit at 10pm the road was empty except for a bunch of curious deer. Back down in Ponte di Legno I called it a day and had five hours of wholesome sleep, sadly without anything real to eat.
Show threadphgJun 23, 2025

What an easygoing experience the Passo #Tonale is compared to Mortirolo or Gavia. It was a quiet, pleasant ride up there in the early morning hours.

Day 3 so far was all downhill from there. Well, mostly downhill anyways as our dear organizer Inaki sprinkled the road to Lake Garda with brutally steep, shorter climbs.

#MonacoDiBavieraClassic

Show threadphgJun 24, 2025
After riding for two days with ever worse pain in the feet I ruined the soles completely by hiking up that brutally steep slope out of Trento, barefoot. A painful experience due to the crumbling road surface, it gave me a serious blister. No way I could continue like this so I got myself a new pair of MTB shoes at Lake Garda -- finally I could set the cleats back under the middle of the foot to relieve the forefoot. It was night and day, the pain was gone instantly.
Show threadphgJun 24, 2025

After a restful night under the clear sky near Borgo Valsugana I took on the Passo #Manghen before breakfast. The climb is endless but rewards with incredible scenery. Easily in my top ten of climbs.

#MonacoDiBavieraClassic #ultracycling

Show threadphgJun 25, 2025
Started day 5 of #MonacoDiBavieraClassic by climbing to Passo #Valparola at dawn. Briefly gazed at the stunning sunrise over the Falzarego before heading down to the hotel for breakfast.
Show threadphg

#Valparola
#Fedaia
#Giau
#TreCroci
#TreCime

-- a regular day at the #MonacoDiBavieraClassic . The legs almost completely recovered after the shoe change which was motivation enough to collect another three checkpoints. I'm a little surprised how well I coped in the heat as the sun was burning relentlessly all afternoon.

#IBoccettiniQuelliLunghi

Jun 25, 2025 at 8:03pmPachli
Show threadphgJun 25, 2025
#showerthought : The #MonacoDiBavieraClassic could be renamed the "Three Peaks a Day Bike Race". #ultracycling #dadjoke
Show threadphgJun 28, 2025
No checkpoints for a change on day six of #MonacoDiBavieraClassic as the hardest part by far of the non-optional route awaited me: the mythical Monte #Zoncolan. To reach it we had to take a 50+ km detour through the scenic #Sauris valley which featured a savage descent through pitch black cobbled tunnels that were riddled with potholes. I was spared a puncture but others weren't as lucky.
#ultracycling
Show threadphgJun 28, 2025

#zoncolan, the test of willpower. Are you determined enough to finish the circuit to push the bike for two hours in the scorching sun? Cause that, in essence, was my Zoncolan experience at the #MonacoDiBavieraClassic .

After some deserved relaxation on the flat Alpe-Adria route I caught up with a number of riders in Pontebba, the last town on the Italian side of the Nassfeldpass which we then took headimg into Austria -- and a hailstorm. #ultracycling #grintacivuole

Show threadphgJun 29, 2025
On Friday, day seven of the #MonacoDiBavieraClassic, the final test awaited us: first the #Grossglockner Hochalpenstraße with a checkpoint on the #Edelweissspitze, followed by the final checkpoint on #KitzbühelerHorn. The Horn proved absolutely grueling and at the same time utterly unrewarding as the panorama at the summit was blocked from sight by thick rain clouds and pitch black night.
Show threadphgJun 29, 2025

After that night in the rain on Kitzbühler Horn I was a little hypothermic and decided to rest a few hours before finishing the #MonacoDiBavieraClassic. Though technically rather flat, it took a few short, steep climbs to reach the #Inn valley. After breakfast in #Kufstein what was left was a 100 km time trial to the finish line in #munich where I was greeted by Ainara and some of the finishers.

1609 km. 29000+ m climbed. 10/10 checkpoints reached.

What a ride! #ultracycling

Show threadphgJun 29, 2025
What #ultracycling does to #Garmin hardware: during the #sevenserpents the display of my Edge540 started delaminating, now on the final day of #monacodibavieraclassic it finally fell apart. Luckily it happened moments after the finish line and the track file was intact.