L'etape: The Ride

The race started at 7am (the organisers insist on calling it a race even though most people just want to get round) and I was in my starting pen ready to go by 6am along with a growing bunch of other riders who were all better prepared, with high carb snacks and disposable energy drink bottles to consume whilst they waited for the start. I managed to have a final pee despite the single portaloo for around 7000 riders.



Having reviewed the Mt Ventoux climb during the drive the day before, I decided to reign in my natural tendency to go too fast early on and save as much energy as I could for the final climb in the hope of making up any lost time by being in better condition. So I resolved not go over my Lactate Threshold during the early climbs and spin easily down the hills prior to Bedoin. If it meant I would not get to Bedoin until 6:30 of riding then that would not worry me too much. Despite having a race number of 2130 we were off and across the line around 5 minutes after the starting gun.

The sheer volume of riders meant that it was peleton riding until the first hill at around 12Km which enabled me to maintain an average speed of 30Kmh at an easy effort. That first hill was the Cote de Citelle which measured 4% for 5.2Km. I got into 1st gear and kept a high cadence all the way up and managed to keep my HR below 150bpm. I kept up with the average speed of most people and found it quite straightforward. Ha, I thought – these category 3 hills are easy! All those Surrey Hills rides with the gang have made a huge difference. On this very first descent I watched a guy tumble and slide around 20 metres on his side to the “Ooohs and Ahhhs” of the surrounding riders who all took it a little easier for the next few minutes. It was at this point when “Le Geant de Provence” came into view in the distance yet still appearing close enough to touch.

Another 6.5Km, 5% Category 3 climb, the Col D’Ey was treated with the same respect and I was flying and well up on my planned average speed whilst not going over my target Heart Rate – the benefits of riding in a group were becoming clear and I focussed on always sitting behind someone for as long as I could. This led us to the 1st of two feed stations after 75Km. It was mayhem – strewn bottles of Vittel everywhere and people fighting to get in and out as fast as they could. I grabbed a few bottles and what I thought was an oat cake of some kind but that turned out to be salty Olive Bread which was both unexpected and unwelcome. I decided to make do with my ample supplies of Mule Bars and Torq Gels and got back on the road in preparation for the Cat 4 climb to the Col de Fontaube. I was still happy with my hills but I noticed that as the sun climbed in the sky it started to become noticeably hotter than any of the previous days or the early weather forecasts. I had kept up a great average speed up to the top of this climb and was on schedule for my 6 hour target at Bedoin. It was at this point, 95Km in that I had my now familiar dip and I started to tire such that even slight downhill sections seemed to be hard work, or rather my speed on these sections was noticeably less than the other riders around me as I was being engulfed by riders flying past with race numbers in the 5000-7000. I was pretty disappointed as I had strictly kept to my nutrition plan and consumed a good 120g of carbs for each hour of riding. I decided to take 2-3 minutes off the bike, stretched and ate a Mule bar and made a couple of quick phone calls to report on my progress, that made me feel better and I re-started in the hope of getting to another hill soon as I felt I was fairing much better on the hills than on the flat. The penultimate climb came at 100Km, the Category 3 Col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles which was a whacking 8Km long. I had been pre-warned by a guy at the start that this was a lot more difficult than it looked on the map so I was pretty happy when I climbed it well, even over the false top and back up the other side. Here again you could see the Mt Ventoux looming heavily so I dismounted and took a quick snap with my phone. Again as the riders around me were struggling I could hear the odd “Il est la” comment – it was great and helped to build the suspense!




I had planned to reach the Col de Notre-Dame des Abeilles after 5hrs15 in order to get to Bedoin at 6 hours. There was a 15Km descent and then a 10Km flat section prior to hitting Bedoin and I thought I could easily do that in 45 minutes. As it happened, my energy dip had cost quite a bit of time and I was 15 minutes behind schedule. The descent from there was exhilarating with a gradient of up to 12% on wide, car free roads I averaged around 65kmh and hit a top speed of 74Kmh before my nerves gave way. The result was I caught up the 15 minutes delay and managed to get to Bedoin before the 6 hour mark. More chaos at the fuel stop and I opted to take on water only and left Bedoin with 2 full bottles and a bag of Jelly Babies ready for the Mt Ventoux.

The Mt Ventoux

Over the timing carpet and into my stride I was feeling in great shape if a little hot in my poorly chosen black cycling gear. The first 6Km of the 22Km are quite straightforward averaging around 5%, this was worrying in itself as this only meant that the rest of the climb would be very steep to maintain the average of 7.8%. Already we were very hot (it was 1pm by now) and searching for shaded areas on the road to ride on. Spectators were happy to throw water on us as we went past which was refreshing and welcome. I was looking forward to the forest section which whilst steep should be shaded and hence cooler. Wow – how wrong I was! The forest section was steep yet manageable on my 34/27 gearing without really needed to get out of the saddle, the problem was the heat and almost complete lack of shade on the road. The trees had the effect of holding in the heat and stopping any cool breeze which on this day resulted in a whopping 36 degrees C (96F) heavy atmosphere, 18C higher than the day before. The almost surreal view of hundreds of cyclists wordlessly and relentlessly climbing up the hill was a sight to behold. I said to myself that I would not stop for a break until at least 10Km and eventually made it to around 8Km before the heat won over, strangely my legs were fine but the heat was just too much. From that moment on through to the top there was a clear split in the peloton: 30% were riding the hill, 30% were pushing their bikes up – something I had vowed not to do and the remainder were either passed out, vomiting, sitting or lying in the shade of the forest. It looked like the aftermath of some kind of chemical attack. My head felt like exploding for almost the whole of the forest section, the heat was unbearable and it was clearly taking its toll on most of the cyclist. Ambulances were continually flying all the way up the hill and my 2 bidons of water were rationed carefully and hence I was unable to use it on my head to cools down. I must have stopped around 5 times in the forest section alone before making it to Chalet Reynard and the last water station as the road opened out onto the famous moonscape.

I filled both Bidons and set off for the last 6Km climb, the slight breeze was a godsend and it is the first time I have been grateful for a head wind whilst being on the bike. There were numerous cars and RVs parked on the side of the road up the hill, all in good time for Saturday’s Tour stage and the support from the people at the side was very gratefully received. Coming out of the forest cooled the air significantly and even though the gradient was still up at 10% it was significantly easier. Just Tom Simpsons memorial
to go and then the final turn to the top. Here I had cooled enough to get into 3rd gear and pick up my speed heading for the finish. I made it in 8hrs38 with a final Mt Ventoux climb of 2:30 at an average speed of 8.8Kmh, much slower than anticipated and hence somewhat disappointing, but I had made it and made it in a respectable time. The broom wagon was well over 2 hours behind me.

Done it:

The feeling crossing the line was more one of matter of fact more than anything else. I had achieved what I set out to do although in a slower time which somewhat blunted the edge and I look back thinking I should have gone out harder in the early stages as I was not “tired enough” at the end. If only...Maybe next time.

L'etape: Pre Race

One thing that becomes clear with experience of participating in Sportives and Triathlons is that there is a real the benefit in routine; it reduces unnecessary stress and enables you to focus on the right things in the build up. Having never participated in an event abroad before I was prepared for the lack of normality. The starting point for the etape was Montelimar in the South of France. I originally had to choose between driving or flying and had opted to drive so I could be a little more in control of the situation and could also explore a bit of the country side whilst there.

It became apparent in the run up to the event that even though I was driving myself, it was a requirement for me to use a Bike Box for transportation to and from the start/finish. This meant that I had to pack the bike in a box for the trip down and I would then re-build the bike on the Saturday in Montelimar. I am now aware that successfully using a Bike Box is a skill in itself, a skill that comes with patience and practice. Four attempts and several internet consultations later I managed to get the bike in but was still a little concerned that it was too tight and some of the parts may be under pressure. Once we got to Montelimar on the Saturday it became apparent that I was right.

Upon re-building the bike and subsequently testing it, I couldn’t get it into 1st Gear and it was jumping in several of the others; not ideal for climbing 5 Cols on the Monday. A cursory glance revealed a split gear cable hosing which required a visit to a bike shop for a spare cable or the correct tools for a DIY repair. I took advantage of the Mavic support team and they took a look.

No spares were available so a repair was the only option. After repairing the cable, the Mavic technician started what appeared to be randomly adjusting all 4 screws on the rear derailleur. I suspected from that moment on that I was doomed to spend the rest of the weekend trying to fix my bike. He topped it off by adjusting the perfectly working brakes and “Horror of Horrors” putting oil on the chain – something that my bikes never get as it just attracts dirt and wears down the chain and cogs. I always use a Teflon lubricant and the cassette and chain remain spotless. This was not really a problem, merely a deviation from routine which made me nervous. I couldn’t complain as he meant well and I was grateful for him having fixed the bike.

I had to go for a quick ride as part of my Carbo Loading strategy and the gears were running great. Well I thought they were until I realised I couldn’t get the bike into top gear – the technician had either not noticed or not mentioned it to me but I now only had 9 gears working on the back. I had run out of time that day to look at it so resolved to return on Sunday to fix it and reset the brakes where I wanted them. Alas, Sunday was not fruitful and I ended up with 9 gears for the ride and black hands from all that oil!

After looking at the bike, we decided to take a drive up to the top of Mt Ventoux from the Mt Serein side.

Having previously been told that we were not to hang around at the top after the etape but were to descend to Mt Serein before stopping I wanted a proper chance to see what the top was like and take some snaps. The drive up took 30 minutes, primarily in 2nd gear, I was more and more surprised at the sheer relentlessness of it as we got higher and higher. I adore the mountains, having lived in the French Alps for 5 years I really feel at home in this type of geography, it is awe inspiring. This is the first mountain I have been up where you can see for miles for a full 360 degrees around the top, it’s “balding head” (the result of Roman tree cutting) is visible from miles around and sticks out as if it doesn’t belong. The weather was quite poor at the top, very windy from the Mistral and according to the car it was a good 10 degrees C colder than the bottom. I made a mental note to carry my arm warmers for the ascent in the cold.

Once we got to the top and appreciated the scenes I decided that my 8 hour ride time target would be tough as I would need to save energy for the final climb. All the same I wanted to try and hit Bedoin at 6 hours and plan a 2 hour ascent knowing I could average 11Kmh up that sort of incline.

Oh the wind, the wind!

I have just consulted MetCheck for the weather forecast for Monday. It looks good, around 19 degrees C and cloudy. The good news is that it will not be too hot. The BAD news is that they are forecasting 25mph (40Kmh) Southerly winds a.k.a The Mistral. As the route goes from North to South that means the wind will be against for almost the whole ride. Ouch!

Final preparation

So much to do, so little time. Why do these things creep up silently from behind and then BANG! – a few days to go and there is too much to organise. The checklist is getting longer by the hour and few of the items have been completed: repair the bike after crashing; final touches to training; service the car; get the spare flat tyre fixed; panic about the Mt Ventoux and do more hill training; find a hotel for the trip down; watch the Tour on TV and start panicking again; book the train; trial run of getting the bike in the bike box; get one more long ride in; trial run #2 for getting the bike in the box after unsuccessful first attempt; make a decision on nutrition....

Last minute equipment failure

I spent several hours repairing the bike after crashing: straightened two buckled wheels, mended the brakes and checked out the superficial damage to the pedals and rear derailleur. Thankfully the frame looks to be OK so that was re-assuring. With one week of training to go I panicked and started going mad, the upside is I have had a great week training and aside from a lack of long rides I am pretty happy with my prep. I did attempt a final long ride over the weekend but only managed 65Km after getting a flat and incompetently messing up the change by overinflating the spare with a CO2 cartridge. The noise as it exploded when I righted the bike was impressive, however that left me with no spare tubes and an inability to find the puncture. Thus a second long ride in a row ended up in a car being driven home. At least I now know what not to do with the CO2 cartridge – better to learn that now than on Monday. The other positive is that I was never really confident in the tyre being puncture resistant so I have made the decision to buy a new one and fit it before leaving, this gives me more confidence.

Training

Training has gone well this week with the plan being to do a lot of strength work and hill work to build up confidence for attacking the Mt Ventoux. I am pretty happy that I can sit on the saddle and get into a rhythm for the climb now after trying several reps on hills of a similar gradient. I am not sure how well prepared one can actually be for a 22Km 8% climb but I am close enough. I watched the professionals going up a similar gradient last week and they all looked to be struggling – I guess they would be travelling at double the speed I plan to so their pain is to be expected. I am confident of averaging over 11km on the Ventoux now (subject to being not too fatigued after the previous 150Km) and that will give me a 2 hour climb time which is a good target to have. I now have a chilled week planned which is just as well as my legs were very tired after last week. I took a quick snap from the top of one of the hills I climbed on Sunday: the view from Hannington in Hampshire.



Nutrition

Following several trials I have made a decision on nutrition. I have a goal of taking on board over 100g of carbs per hour which I hope will be achieved through one Mule bar and one gel per hour with High5 4:1 energy drink mix and my emergency pack of Jelly Babies. The only issue left is working out how to carry 8 clif bars, 8 gels, a pack of jelly babies and 4 packets of High5. That equates to around 140g per hour so I can afford to miss a few if I have to. I am not sure they will fit in my pockets; I do have a “bento box” on the cross bar which will carry 4 bars so that should do the trick. The final nutritional questions is about “carbo loading”. The most recent published study on carbo loading comes from the University of Western Australia (those damned Aussie are so good at sport you cannot ignore anything they say!) which prescribes a plan which involves a very short intense ride the day before l’etape followed by a big intake of carbohydrate. I shall try that and see how it works.

Pain and Suffering

“Le Tour” has started and the anticipation of riding l’etape has risen once again. One of the attractions of this years’ etape was the stage itself being Mt Ventoux but also the fact that this stage (stage 20) is expected to be pivotal, being held on the penultimate day: It may well decide the winner. All the media coverage I have seen has mentioned this stage and how critical it will become; having ridden it 5 days before the professionals I will hopefully take the afternoon off work and watch the whole stage with a beer in hand. Numerous articles have been published by journalists who have just ridden the stage or climbed the Ventoux and each one talks about pain and suffering!

I had my own pain and suffering at the weekend during a planned 100Km ride. Having settled in after 35Km at a pretty good pace I took on a right hand bend on a country
lane that I have ridden many time before and both wheels slipped away from me. The resultant body slide across the tarmac left several layers of skin behind. I managed to keep my hands on the handlebars and avoid the dreaded broken collar bone but the downside was that instead of my hands it was my side and chin that broke the fall. I managed to slide around 10 metres forwards and onto the verge before regaining my feet gingerly. The bike was unusable and my chin was bleeding profusely, so a couple of calls later and I was being collected by a friend and taken home. Ninety minutes later I has 6 stitches in my chin and was discharged from hospital. We have had great hot and dry weather in the UK for several weeks now and it has been glorious riding conditions, but I the lack of rain means that the surface dirt and oil is not washed away. There was a brief rain shower during the early morning and the corner was damp and extremely greasy, hence the fall. So no long ride this weekend, the need to ride to work and back this week is growing but this may be difficult with various commitments during the week.

Final Tweaks

Well after thinking that my leg strength was down and needed a lot of work I have completed a great strength session and turned a higher wattage than previously, so it looks like I will be OK. I estimate around 7 bike sessions left before a one week taper for the event. I plan a 100Km ride on Saturday to finalise nutrition and a few shorter intense sessions mixed in with a full ride to work and back in a day (which equates to 140Km). A couple of further strength sessions in the gym and it will be about right. Every time I see an article on the Tour de France I get nervous, bearing in mind the Tour starts tomorrow there are loads of articles coming out so I am perpetually nervous at the moment.

Delicate timing

With 2 weeks to go to l’etape there are now 3 cases of Swine Flu at the kid’s college. I am now panicking and indecisive: Do I get over there straight away and hope to catch it and subsequently recover prior to going to France or do I try and avoid it for two weeks in the hope of being OK until I get back? I am not particularly worried about the illness itself just the inconvenient timing of its arrival in the locality. Mmm – decisions, decisions.

Goals

I had originally set 8 hours as a goal for the etape but I am not sure that is achievable now. If I break down the event into 2: The first 150km with 1900m of climbing and the last 22Km with 1600m of climbing then I can work out my goals. After my previous rides, I think it should be relatively easy to average 24Kmh for the 1st 150Km (I can add 2kmh if I can get with a group and benefit from the occasional draft). 24Kmh = 6:15 ride time (add 30 mins for food stops = 6:45); That only leaves 1:15 for the Ventoux which is not possible (the TdF record is 55mins). I think 2 hours is reasonable at an average of 11Kmh. I can average 14Kmh in 1st gear spinning at 95/100 rpm so if I drop this to 11Kmh then it may be achievable. This gives me a new target time of 8:45 or sub 9hrs. If I get a draft then I can get the first 150Km done in 5:30/6:00 which is closer to my target.

Here is the profile again - to remind me!

Work to do, questions to be answered

With l’etape now less than three weeks away I am panicking about numerous things. I am worried about leg strength, think I have the endurance after the Hampshire Hilly Hundred and the Dave Lloyd but I just don’t have the strength on the hills. So have resolved to do a lot of strength work before then. The down side with this is that each time I try a power session I turn less and less watts as I am still tired from a previous effort. I must do some more research and see if this is a problem. Nutrition is still a problem.
I have given up on flapjacks and oatcakes as I just cannot digest them on the ride which means I don’t eat them. Mars bars seem to go down well but I am not sure of the nutritional value so will check. I have tried Mule bars but two of the types don’t appeal, I have two left to try. I am also considering caffeine as part of fuel. This is common as it aids synthesis of fat to energy but having avoided caffeine for 3 years now I wonder if it is wise to take a slab before riding. I shall try it out over the weekend and see if I have any problems. I need to take in around 120grammes of carbohydrate per hour and am working out the best way of consuming that: 1 gel (60g); 1 bar (40g) and 500ml of energy drink per hour should do it along with the emergency Jelly Babies for the Ventoux!