Alexey Zdeblovsky: how does the Leningrad Region Cycling Marathon Cup live

Guest

Useful from the issue

1. A long marathon requires a different diet

   At a long MTB distance, food and water at the points go many times more than at the usual stage, and at the finish line people need to be fed tightly. The organizer should lay it in advance.

2. The marking must be guarded

   It is not enough to mark the route on a long track: during the race, the tapes can be removed by outsiders after the leaders have passed, so the marshals must follow it to the last participant.

3. Explore the track before the start

   Alexey broke his finger on the first kilometer of someone else's race, because he went without scouting the track. The advice to participants is to prepare and watch the route in advance.

4. Fitness is a stepping stone to the half marathon

   It is better to take a short distance as a test: to see the track and rivals, to understand your strengths. It's worth fighting for pockets and prizes already at the half marathon.

5. Starting position is more important in short races

   In a one-round half marathon, the start decides more than in a marathon, where the alignment becomes clear after a dozen kilometers. Therefore, the challenge of the strongest forward is needed there.

6. T-shirts work as marketing

   Recognizable finisher's shirts are worn in everyday life, and this promotes the race. But guessing with sizes and coming up with a design every year is a separate big job.

7. Gravel in the Leningrad region needs quiet primers

   For a gravel race, Alexey is looking for unbroken roads with almost no traffic, where a gravel road gives a real advantage over MTB. There are such in the north of the region, but this is a border zone and coordination is needed there.

Ski orienteering, trails and bicycles

The conversation begins with skiing: Alexey has been engaged in ski orienteering since childhood and in recent years has started performing regularly again. He notices that there are many former orienteers among the cyclists — and he himself came to cycling from running and skiing.

In addition to the cup, he conducts several running trails. The guest describes the difference in audiences simply: about 40 percent of women are on trails, about a tenth are on cycling races. But his heart is still in the bike, because he has ridden a lot and understands this topic better.

Koskijärvi — the hardest marathon

Koskiyarvi is not included in the cup and is known far beyond the borders of St. Petersburg. Alexey explains how it differs: a long distance, more singletreks, a decent climb and a low average speed — a real MTB within the limits that the Leningrad region allows.

A long route changes the whole logistics. You need many times more food and water at the food points, a hearty lunch at the finish line, and the finish itself stretches until the evening. The marking is handled by a team of about eleven people, and it still has to be guarded during the race so that a random passerby does not take off the tape after the leaders have passed. A separate concern is T—shirts for hundreds of participants, which, as Ilya notes, are then recognized in everyday life.

Routine and lost locations

Ilya asks if it's boring. Alexey honestly admits: this is a stressful routine, and he does not see any breakthrough ideas in organizing MTB marathons - everything, according to him, has already been thought up, the only question is execution. He notices fresh movement rather in the gravel hangout.

The main problem is places. The cup has been traveling to the same locations for the last three or four years. The guest lists the past stages: Zelenogorsk closed the city reserve, the local organizing team did not gather in the Meadow and Pine Forest, people did not like mud and broken roads in the Golden Valley, Okhta Park was built up. He is especially sorry for the meadows: snow comes down there first of all, and it would be possible to open the season at the end of April.

Organizer's security and income

One of the tracks ceased to be held after a fatal accident on a fast dry descent. Alexey says that safety is the main concern of any organizer. MTB races, in his opinion, are still safer than road races because of lower speeds, but collarbones are constantly broken. He himself broke his finger at someone else's race, skipping the study of the track, and after a long-standing fracture of his hand, he still has screws.

When asked about earnings, the guest replies that in addition to races and trails, he also has a project: the team carries finishers and prize medals from China, including for other people's starts.

Whining participants: fitness, pros and pockets

A short fitness distance is not deliberately rewarded: only children are celebrated there, and for adults this is a fun race — to see the track, understand your strength and go to the half marathon. There are so many categories at the main distances.

Alexey has not yet introduced a separate test for professionals. The pros come irregularly — sometimes not one, then a whole bus — it's difficult to prepare prizes for them every time, and their coaches also take the athletes away before the award ceremony. With a request for starting pockets, he agrees more willingly: at a half marathon, where the lineups change a lot and the children climb into the front row, you can ask the commentator to call the top ten ahead.

Prizes, sponsors and a new gravel race

There are fewer partners: the cup pays money out of its own funds in absolute terms, and gives memorable prizes to age groups. Alexey remembers that the best time with prizes was fifteen years ago, when bicycles were selling well. Now he deliberately spends his energy on the tracks, and not on searching for certificates.

Gravel has been attracting him for a long time — since the Tartu Marathon, which in 2007 was essentially a gravel race. He plans to gravel in the north of the region: unbroken primers, almost no cars, a circle of about 90 km and about a kilometer of recruitment. Last year the race was not coordinated by the border guards, this year they want to start from the base of the orienteering competitions, where there will already be parking lots, toilets and showers. Alexey is not going to block the roads — he considers it unrealistic.

Why doesn't he race himself

Alexey never goes to his starts: on the day of the race you need to solve a million questions, and after the preparation you just don't have the strength. In the summer, according to his own words, he is half-disassembled, he is gaining shape only by September, so the Tsar Grader is not yet decided on cyclocross, although Ilya is calling. In winter, he prefers skiing — he does better there, but I want to compete at a level where you are competitive.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Acquaintance and ski orienteering
2. 02:37Bike marathons and trails
3. 04:47Trails vs velomarathons
4. 06:10Favorite starts
5. 08:04How does Koskijärvi differ from the cup
6. 11:58With whom to compare yourself
7. 13:30Organizer's routine
8. 16:54Stages that have closed
9. 22:27Risks and security
10. 26:12Why don't they reward fitness
11. 28:24Pros and amateurs
12. 31:48Starting pockets
13. 34:09Cyclocross and gravel
14. 41:26Partners and prizes
15. 43:56New Gravel Race

Mentioned in this episode

Cycling Marathon Cup of the Leningrad region · Koskijärvi · Tartu Marathon · Tsar Grader · La Strada · Zwift