Today the adventure began Haute Route for me. After 3 very work-intensive days at home, my friend Roman and his girlfriend picked me up in Innsbruck and off we went towards Venice. As soon as I got into the car, my eyes closed and I woke up again at the rest stop in Rovereto. There was no trace of the rain anymore and we got in the right holiday mood as we enjoyed the smell and taste of the espresso and the sun shone on our faces at 28 degrees Celsius. We reached Venice around 15:00 p.m., and with bag and baggage I started looking for my hotel in the center. Of course, all eyes of the tourists were on me, because of course nobody else was on the road with a bike and a large travel bag.
I found the hotel right away, checked in calmly and got on my bike a little later. The wind was already blowing on the bridge to Mestre on the mainland, a thunderstorm in the hinterland, blue sky above me, sunshine - just perfect! I've been to Venice several times - I've even walked across Venice on my bike to take the ferry to the Lido and from there back to Lignano. So I actually knew the route, but some construction sites and my curiosity resulted in a few detours.
After 2,5 hours of easy driving I was back and still visited the Race Village to meet the people from Mavic. They were about to leave - it was already 19:00 p.m. But with Denis and the other guys, of course, the smack started immediately and I already have an appointment for the bike service tomorrow – although a complete material check by the Mavic crew is mandatory for all starters anyway. Finally, I quickly bought the essentials, showered, ate, took a short nocturnal walk through the dark alleys and now I'm going to write and go to bed late.
Tomorrow morning I'll get on my bike again, probably to Jesolo and via the Lido and back by boat. So I saw St. Mark's Square again and walked through the city. Then in the afternoon the whole procedure at the administration, bike check, number and God knows what else - it was really too hard for me to read the daily flood of e-mails with information - all of it in English. The bike stays there and is taken to Conegliano, where the race starts on Saturday. The drivers will then be transferred on race day.
Hopefully there will still be enough time tomorrow to study the road book, find some rest and get everything ready. As best I can, I would like to write a short report every day after the Haute Route Dolomites and Swiss Alps celebrates its premiere this year, it might be interesting to see how everything works here. I haven't had any experience with such stage races yet, just the tours as an elite driver - but that's far from comparable, because you're literally spoiled as a driver! I'm curious to see how the first few days will go in terms of organization and racing, but I'll say goodbye for today.
Until tomorrow!