Anyone got experience of this event whose 2012 edition is next Sunday? Any tips for the 77km "fun" loop?

Hi, did you do this race last year? How did you find it? I was thinking about the 70k loop this year, although it seems to be a lot of Tarmac and gravel roads so there are maybe races with better trails around?
Cheers,
Naomi

It was great fun. It was quite damp from heavy rain the previous days. There is only one really technical section downhill through a woodfull of roots. There is a tough uphill section too that is probably a walk for most. It's mostly fire track, but there are some very scenic sections.

The average time for the 77km of about 5 hours is a cracking pace, so it's not a "fun ride" but definitely not hardcore single track. I suspect a lot of road riders and more XC oriented MTB riders.

Thanks for the info. Yeah 5 hours for 77k and that much vertical is pretty fast... I did a few of the mountain bike marathons in Italy and Ticino when I lived in Italy so am looking for some good Swiss ones for this year. Have you done any others? Shame the Monte Generoso marathon no longer runs, that course was awesome!

Having done the shorter event (53km) a couple of times and ridden 95% of the 77km (excluding the section to the East of Wisstannen at 1400m) I can also confirm that it's not an especially technical course. One section from Büel down to Euthal is narrower and tricky in parts, but the main hazard for me was the number of other riders. There is also a section that drops you down through a field within 5kms of the end;this was easy one year, but very tricky last year as it had rained all the day before so was muddy and slippy.

For me, the killer section of the 77km is at the beginning. Not technical, but there are a whole series of short climbs and descents at the North end of the Sihlsee. Very difficult to get inot a decent rhythm.

Good fun though, especially if its not raining!

Yeah maybe the 53k option is better - I too find the "saliscendi" (Italian for the continuous up and down bits) sections tough! Thanks for the info!