Post Etape...

Recovery from l’etape was pretty quick, which just goes to show I did not go hard enough! Work and home have been very busy since France with the school hols and lots of business trips. This belated update is being written on the Narita Express train from Narita Airport to Tokyo where I shall be for the next few days. Another week and another hotel will surprise with grand descriptions of their gym facilities. This one is described as a “fitness corner” I have absolutely no idea what that means but I expect to be running through the streets of Tokyo as opposed to working out in a salubrious fitness centre.

The London Triathlon was last weekend, apparently the largest in the world with waves spread over two days. Having won an entry to the event last year and postponing it I eventually decided to participate with two mates as a relay. Unfortunately we were entered in the sprint event which meant that there was a lot of effort to get to London and sort out the logistics for a short race but we all treated it more as a bit of fun. We finished 8th overall (out of 324) so that was not too bad but reflects more on the lack of decent competition more than our team performance. The wave had around 200 people in it and I really didn’t envy Tony who had manfully agreed to do the swim section. He never managed to escape the washing machine during the 750m and spent more time fighting off people and trying to navigate a clear route through the melee before finishing in a credible 16mins. T1 was mayhem with a lot of swimmers coming in together and the three people per team all getting in the way of each other crammed into three small bike rack rows. Tony did really well getting out of the wetsuit and running upstairs and into the transition area which was an exhibition hall, we had the 4th fastest T1 overall which was cool but even that was over 3 minutes. I was nursing a “right and proper” hangover from a unexpectedly late night out the night before but managed to overtake over 100 people on the bike to get back into T2 in 6th place leaving Rob to run his first ever 5Km race. He had been “sandbagging” about being a slow runner but I knew differently, I have seen him running around the village and knew he had a handy 10mile time in a recent village fun run. He was hoping to not let the side down with a targeted 24 minute run but eventually he smacked a sub 20 minute 5.1Km which was great. With all the hassle of getting there it was a shame that we had to leave pretty quickly and I tried to see a few friends finish their Olympic relay but unfortunately I couldn’t find them and with the venue being huge it was nigh on impossible to bump into anyone unless pre-planned.

So I have update my Event list below and only have one event left.




I am now suffering my familiar high summer lethargy spell and lack of motivation for any training. This was the exact reason I picked a September Triathlon to ensure I have something to keep me going till later in the season. So duly motivated I am back in the swing of things for September 20th and the New Forest Middle. I went out for a long run for the first time in months on Sunday and after daydreaming for a while realised I had accidently ran 20Km in 1:34 which was supposed to be an easy pace. Cracking! Actually that would be close to the pace I am hoping to achieve in the New Forest. I am not sure how realistic this is as I have a half marathon PB of 1:30 I need to do some research and find out what I can expect for my half marathon time at the end of a Tri. Updates as soon as I can get the answer.

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!

Saved by Jelly Babies!

The Dave Lloyd Challenge was certainly that, although with a few days rest the pain is fading. This was easily the hardest bike ride I have done due to both the length and steepness of the hills and the total ride distance. I remarked to a friend before the ride that I was hoping to get a bit of practice climbing “out of the saddle”, i.e. standing up on the pedals to get more force. I am quite poor at this and I fatigue quickly so have been adding it to my riding over the past weeks. Boy – did I get some “out of the saddle” practice; I must have spent over 60 minutes out of the saddle with tiring thighs. At one point my motivation was to not get off and walk like some of the people I was passing, that seemed to do the trick and I made it up every hill. I am not sure how long the ride was supposed to be but we added a good 15-20 minutes due to getting lost after a few signs went “missing”, I finally clocked up 177Km in 7:49Hrs of riding. This averages at 22.4Kmh (20.5km if I include the stops) which actually puts me in good shape for l’etape, or at least for getting to the final elimination point of l’etape before the broom wagon. The l’etape cut off speed is as high as 21Kmh but as the first 150Km only comprises 1900m of climbing then I should be OK as averaged 26Kmh in the Hampshire Hilly Hundred which is comparable. If I plan to save energy for that first 150Km and average 23-24Kmh then I should be in good physical shape for Ventoux.

The scenery on the Dave Lloyd was just magnificent: The steep slate hills and quarries with sheep wandering around aimlessly (and dangerously on some of the descents!) made for some great pictures.
Unfortunately on the drive home over some of the same hills we were in the cloud with almost zero visibility and I was unable to take any worthwhile snaps. The whole area reminded me of summer holidays in my youth when we spent every summer in this part of the world, the views and familiar smells were charming.

During the ride I was focussing on not going out too fast and not hitting the hills too hard early on, the goal being to have enough energy to keep going at the same pace throughout. I think this worked although I did go through a bad patch between 110Km and 140Km where I was very tired and unable to do my fair share of the work on the front. A few handfuls of jelly babies seemed to revive me sufficiently to push harder on the last two climbs before the finish. My heart rate monitor estimates that I used up 6000 calories in the ride which equates to 1.5Kg (or 3lb) of carbohydrate, or 40ish energy gels!
I am not sure where that weight comes from but I had two meals that night and have been eating like a horse since. One of the goals of the ride was to get nutrition right; It was definitely better than last time but still not there yet. I couldn’t get down the flapjacks and in the end the hastily bought jelly babies saved me. For my next ride I shall try Mule Fuel Hanza Nut bars which I tried on a ride to work and it seemed quite easy to digest. My HR Monitor also says my average heart rate was 134bpm which is quite low and my max was 158bpm which is very low (for a high). This does confirm that I took it a bit too easy on the ride and have some more to give on the Mt Ventoux!

The Dave LLoyd Mega Challenge

The Dave Lloyd Mega Challenge takes place on Sunday and I planned a 130Km hilly ride on Saturday as a final warm up for that. We gathered at 8am in Dorking and planned to hit all the major Surrey Hills with climbs going up to 21%. Riding with a bunch of mates who are better cyclists than me would help motivate me to get up the tougher ones, most of which are detailed on the rather good Jibbering web site (I can also recommend the home made sports drink and gel recipes). All went well until around 20Km in and I was chatting to Bob on a descent when we came across what appeared to be a scene from “Casualty” with a car stopped right in the middle of the road and a body slumped across the bonnet with his legs up the windscreen towards the sunroof. My first instinct was that this was some sort of photo-shoot but as is the way with these things I immediately realised it was for real and that the rider was one of our bunch, Phil who organises the rides. I quickly dismounted and rushed over to him where he was also being attended by Scott. He was still unconscious and it looked bad, my big concern at the time was him waking up and then falling off the bonnet. Sure enough he woke with a start and we supported him and eventually got him to stop moving whist we assessed the physical damage. He was remarkably sober and apparently, superficially at least only suffering minor injuries. His bike was a mess and he was more worried about how he was going to race in Ironman Switzerland in 4 weeks with nothing to ride on. We called an ambulance and the “comportement” (a French word without exact translation but roughly meaning behaviour) of the driver and the locals gave us a strong indication that the police needed to be called to ensure accurate statements and scene records. The paramedics took Phil off to Guilford hospital and he was subsequently released after a series of detailed scans. It looks like he will be OK and will still be fit enough to ride and swim this week in prep for his IM. A blessing really considering what had happened. The upshot of this is that we decided to cut short the ride and did a few of the hills on the way back to Dorking, a ride totalling 50Km. Strangely I was riding the hills well at the beginning of the ride but after the hour or so break my legs stopped working properly and riding was a real struggle.
We finished off up Box Hill which in the end was quite an easy climb; I put the machine in first gear and spinned my way up to the top expecting it to get steeper which it didn’t. I averaged 14Kmh up the hill and could have dropped a gear or two so that means I think I am OK for the early hills on l’etape which are of a similar gradient, if not a little less. I managed a 2 hour MTB ride on Sunday morning which compensated for not getting the full 130Km in on Saturday and I subsequently found out that Phil managed to get 100Km in on his old winter bike as well, so he really is strong.

Here is a profile of the Dave Lloyd Mega – those hills look quite steep but it is hard to say. I know the one at the end finishes at 25% so if I can do this ride in sub 8 hours then I think l’etape will be achievable as well.

Back on the Bike

After a brief focus on triathlon for the last two events, my bike is going to get hammered over the next few weeks prior to l’etape. I have a 130Km ride planned on Saturday with some buddies and then the Dave Lloyd Challenge next Sunday which entails 177Km with 3500metres of climbing (almost exactly the same as l’etape). The profile of the Dave Lloyd is different to l’etape but with the same amount of climbing it will be a good indicator of what to expect in France.

I have acquired and now swapped over a 12-27 Cassette onto my race bike. This will give me more room on the climbs and I shall try it out on the Surrey Hills on Saturday. If that doesn’t work out well then I am in trouble!


The Dauphine Libere bike race is taking place this year. I like this race as it was our local race when we lived in Grenoble and I will never forget seeing Miguel Indurain in Grenoble after the finish one year. He had huge thighs and tiny arms, I guess the ideal physiology for a cyclist. Not a shape I have aspirations to have, so I guess a life as a top level cyclist is not coming. The Dauphine Libere shall climb the Mt Ventoux tomorrow so I have Eurosport set to record and will watch the whole climb as done by the pros. I wonder if the gradient will show up on the TV, it rarely does when I watch Skiing.

Mid Term Report

It is time for a review of my achievements vs. goals, in other words “How am I doing?” Firstly, I feel like I am a better cyclist and certainly a better swimmer. I am not convinced I have improved my running, I think a maintenance of last years’ standard is more accurate. If I do an approximate year on year comparison between two sets of events: The Big Cow Sprint and the Eton Super Sprint then there are some telling results:

Eton 2009: 1:09:34 vs. Eton 2008: 1:11 (92nd on GC vs. 249th)
Big Cow 2009: 1:16:56 vs. Big Cow 2008 1:22:08

My overall times were better and if I take into account the weather conditions in both events this year (wind and freezing rain for the Big Cow and strong cross winds in Eton) then the results are better than they look. I improved from 249th to 92nd out of 1000 at Eton whereas I dropped down the order in the Big Cow which I will put down to a) it being the National Champs this year and b) the bad weather deterring the lower order athletes from turning up. Point a) can also be re-enforced just by looking at the quality of kit on display compared to previous events; the type of kit only used by top end athletes (or very rich athletes)!

If I break down my splits then it is apparent that the training strategy I adopted last year has done what should be expected. My Bike and Swim times are much improved over last year whereas my Run time has remained static. My swim is vastly improved, not only in terms of speed but also in the lower level of fatigue that I have when I get out of the water.

Here is an updated Event table. I have added a new event which is the Big Cow Sprint on June 28th. I will enter this event if I am recovered from the Dave Lloyd Challenge and if the weather is forecast to be suitable.

Arrghh! It's real now

The official route for the Tour de France and hence l’etape du tour 2009 has just been published. More importantly, the elimination times have also been published. Here is the official route from their website:

First thing to do is check out the elimination times. There are two cut off points:

In Sault after 115Km @ 1pm (which is 5:20 - 6 hours after the start at an average speed of 19-21Kmh depending upon my start time)
In Bedoin (the bottom of the Mt Ventoux climb) at 150.1Km @ 2:55pm (after 7:15-7:55hrs which equates to 19-21Kmh) then you have 3 hours to get to the top. The Final Cut off is at 172.1Km @ 5:55pm (10:15 at 15.8-16.7Kmh). Here is a link to the official route and cut off times.

So I possibly need to average 21Kmh to the bottom of the Mt Ventoux. To put it another way, I have to ride 150Km over 3 “Category 3” Climbs and 1 “Category 4” climb at an average speed of 21Kmh. Then I have to average 7.5Kmh up a “Hors Category” climb for 22Km. Easy Peasy. Maybe not. I have just reviewed my previous blog on this topic and realised I am not in good shape at all. Last years’ l’etape cut off was set to 17.5Kmh, this year (if I ignore the final climb) it is set to 21Kmh. A massive difference. I managed 24Kmh in the Hampshire Hilly Hundred. Ok I was not going full speed and could have gone faster but all the same that is pretty close to the cut off time. I hope I can get in with a group and up my speed. I must check out the etiquette of doing just that. I can see myself avidly watching the first few stages of The Tour to see how steep those Category 3 climbs are.

They have also published the “ravitaillement” or refuelling stops which are at 78Km and 150Km which sounds good. The good news is that there is a liquid refill available after 14Km of the final climb.

The Climate is not Great

I was planning on riding l’etape with 2 friends. That would make the ride more enjoyable and a lot easier. Unfortunately one has lost his job and as he was riding for his company team he will no longer be allowed to enter. He has opted to spend some time in Asia doing charity work which is great. He will have a blast and help others at the same time. My other buddy has also lost his job and is naturally considering whether he can fly over from the US to take part. A difficult decision for him and his family. It looks like I may be “Billy no-mates” on the start line on July 20th. He is a great guy and I am adamant he will be back working again in a matter of weeks, he already has some contract work come in. So watch this space.

Learning from the Hampshire Hilly Hundred.

I finally did some desk research (and asked some questions on the very good TriTalk forum) and I have some answers to my questions from the HHH. Why did my heart Rate descend and why was I unable to get it high towards the end of the ride? There are three possible reasons for this: 1) I am not fit enough, 2) I went out too fast, 3) I did not warm up. Well, 2) and 3) are definitely true so that is easy to fix – Yeah! Unfortunately 1) also appears to be true which is not so easy to fix. Back on the road for more LSD miles or I will not get to finish the Mt Ventoux.

Not Unhappy ;-|

The Hampshire Hilly Hundred is now completed with a silver award in my back pocket, a cyclist sun tan on arms and legs and a very sore “saddle” to show for it. This Sportive is a beautiful ride in the Hampshire countryside with only around 1 mile on what you would call a major road. The rest is on country lanes and minor roads showing off wonderfully what England can be like on a sunny day. I was pretty happy with the ride even if I was saving a little for the coming birthday weekend which will be celebrated with a Triathlon and a 10Km road race. We departed in a group of eight with me promising my wife I would look after her boss as he had not ridden more than 60 miles before. It became clear that he would have struggled to maintain our starting pace for the whole hundred so I dropped back to ride with him. We subsequently rode together up hill and down dale for just over 6 hours at an average speed of 26Kmh which is good considering I held the front for just under 6 hours. My original plan was to smack the hills as training for l’etape but clearly my definition of “smack” needs reviewing as I was often passed by faster climbers whilst struggling to turn the pedals in 1st gear, a gear I now know well.
I know it sounds naive but they really don’t call it the Hilly Hundred for nothing. I have the impression that every bend disguised another climb and the number of hills with false brows was getting tiresome towards the end. A total of 2400m climbing in 160Km is actually comparable to the first 160Km of l’etape which I think is 1900m followed by the 1600m climb up “the Giant of Provence”. There was one 15% climb which started at mile 68, that was the only real “grin and bear it” climb and it wasn’t too long but the thought of doing something close to that for 22km fills me with dread.

There is plenty of food for thought prior to l’etape, not least a need to do more hills and build up the leg strength. I shall also be reviewing my gear ratios this week, I spent far too long in 1st gear for my liking and am too proud to get a Triple which leaves me with the option of changing the rear cassette to give me some room. I will struggle to ride at this pace for 150Km and then climb Ventoux so I will need to review that as well. I noticed that I was comfortable riding at a heart rate of 145bpm for the first half of the ride but then the legs got tired and I struggled to raise my HR above 135bpm for the remainder, I actually averaged 137bpm (10bpm lower than when I did the Gorrick Enduro). I guess that is down to either a lack of fitness or poor nutrition on the ride. I shall do some desk based research and find out.

# 2138

2138 is my recently allocated l'etape rider number, I am now officially entered. I will have to get out and ride around the hills again to build up the legs. I have the Hampshire Hilly Hundred this weekend; 160Km with 2400m of climbing which will be a great test of where I am. Updates early next week with a smiley face or a sad face depending on my performance.

I went Open Water Swimming again yesterday evening, twilight lake swimming is so much nicer than waking up at 5:30am, crawling out of bed and into a chlorinated swimming pool. I even improved my best 800m time by a good 90seconds so am pretty hopeful of not disgracing myself in the water this season. Still a way to go to hit my sub 30 minute 1500m goal but I am getting there. Needless to say Tony is a good bit ahead and improving even more then me, I am really pleased for him - the git.
I had a lunch at Shoreditch House this week, a very trendy private members club filled to the brim of vaguely (to me vaguely) recognisable faces lunching and doing media deals. They have a rooftop bar/restaurant with a 17m long swimming pool, annoyingly I keep forgetting to take my swim gear when I go. I sat and wathed a few swimmers doing lengths and it made me realise that I am actually a pretty good swimmer now and am just comparing myself to Triathletes and not normal people. It gave me another reason to dip into that 2nd glass of wine as a reward.

More XC - this is becoming a habit

Training has been average (or “ordinary” as they say in Australia) over the last two weeks. I picked up a sinus problem the last time I went Open Water Swimming which put me off training. I have also been a little “chesty” which has brought on other problems which arise when I up the intensity. So I spread my last week of training over ten days and will have a week off this week. I was talking to a buddy today who had the chance to spend 20 minutes with Jo Friel (a very well respected Triathlon coach) over the weekend and he suggested that triathletes of a “certain age” would benefit from a complete week off every 4 weeks. That theory actually matches my training plan although I would normally plan some easy sessions during my rest and recovery week. So I feel much better about my break now.

To add some further variation to my training, I entered the Gorrick Enduro on Sunday. This is a endurance based cross country mountain bike race which takes place over a number of ten mile laps. I had very good intentions last month to enter the 4 lap race which I expected to take between 4 and 5 hours but as I was not on top form I opted for my usual 20 miles. It was a pretty fast course with some wide fireroads and good climbs with the last 4 miles dominated by sweeping single-track with deep berms enabling the rider to maintain speed through the turns. It was less technical than the previous races and suited fitness over handling skills. I came in 14th place out of 69 in a time of 1hour 53mins which I was pretty happy with, it was in line with my annual progression from 32nd in 2007 to 25th last year. I could have kept up the same intensity for another lap I think which was good to know. I was pretty pleased with myself until I noticed I was 28 minutes behind the winner – probably a young whippersnapper but all the same 28 minutes is a huge gap. I re-checked the results and noticed I was 5th out of non-sponsored riders which is a pretty good result. The 7 lap supermen and women were generally completing their laps quicker than me which was a little humbling.