Day10: "Switching To Turbo"

After day ten of his ‘Once to the end of the world – and back’ tour Sigi Grabner has covered 1754 kilometers – and secured as many euros for Wings for Life. The running blog of the 34-year-old snowboard overall World Cup winner 2009.

”Today I started a bit later again – I slept well – and completely forgot to put on sunscreen. The sun is back and is burning down on my arms, legs and nose! I wasn’t betting on seeing it again,

My route took me from the mountains in the national park (Parque National de Somiedo) – a beautiful, varied landscape, very wild, weathered, rock walls for climbers, and then the most voluptuous vegetation and leafy trees. I was able to collect a few kilometers for the cause because I prefer to ride along the labyrinthine side valleys instead of just cruising the straight roads. That gets boring pretty quickly. But the two mountains I rode over today were a real challenge. One was just under 1100 meters, the other 1300 meters – not noteworthy heights. We ride those kinds of meters in altitude in the Alps as if they were hills … Yeah, I thought that, too. They turned out to be straight as arrow ramps with inclines of between 15 to 20 percent – over eight or ten kilometers uphill! I had to pedal standing the whole time, these Cantabrian dwarves were that unbelievably steep and aggressive! And they look so harmless. It’s really deceiving. Never underestimate the small ones!

On the last downhill of Pola to Mieres del Camino I sped through a red light (I was just in full swing) and I was promptly stopped by a police car with a flashing light 200 meters on. The ‘Guardia Civil’ wanted my ID, por favor. I showed him my passport and the policeman looked long and hard at the many stamps from different countries that I’ve collected over the nine years of my World Cup travels. He thought I’d cycled to all these places and patted me enthusiastically on the back. I explained everything, but my snowboard career also impressed him, and I found a friend.

Late at night I took my time over a long meal, it’s the Spanish lifestyle, and I really enjoy that. At night I always eat huge portions; I almost lick the plates clean. Every chef is really happy with me! A tour like this, though, just wouldn’t be possible without increased nutritional intake. That’s why I eat constantly during the day and when I’m on the road I buy replenishments regularly. At the two passes today I discovered a miracle combination: two Red Bulls one after the other along with a batch of cacahuettes con miel (honeyed peanuts). Pure turbo energy …”

Sigi Grabner – 12/06/09

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www.sigigrabner.com
www.wingsforlife.com
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