We Can Rebuild It, We Have The Technology

With rain and gale force winds arriving, the time has come to put the Scott away for the winter and re-instate the Cube as the bike of choice.

Unfortunately, that meant having to rebuild it first.

I'm proud to say that I did it all myself, including the cabling and installing a new bottom bracket and chain. Some fresh bar tape finished it off nicely, and it all runs smoothly.

Doubts

It seems like ages since I've been out on the road on the bike. Most weekends since the etape have been taken up with doing all the things I couldn't do earlier in the year due to training for Annecy.

The route for the Tour de France has been released, and the etape for this year is back in the Pyrenees, taking in the massive climbs of the Tourmalet and Hautacam. I can imagine that all those planning to do the race this year are getting quite excited now - it should be a great ride (as long as the weather behaves)

Speaking of the Tour de France, I spent the weekend in Paris and took a stroll along the greatest finishing straight in the world, the Champs Elysees. It's not hard to imagine around 200 cyclists hammering around it at the end of the Tour, but I didn't appreciate how much of a hill there is on it. Especially now that the circuit goes right up to the Arc de Triomphe. A nasty sting when your trying to maintain a speed of 50-60km/h at the end of 3 weeks riding.

And now I'm back in the UK, and it seems that my bike is permanently connected to the turbo trainer. It's a really good workout, and I get a lot from it, but it's no alternative to getting out on the road and putting the long rides in. And the more time I spend off the bike, the more enormous the task of preparing for, and riding, the Marmotte becomes.

This is really beginning to play on my mind, as as I mentioned at the very start of this blog, I'm prone to not even attempting things which I deem to be out of reach. I need to get into serious training, so that I feel like I'm moving towards my target, not letting it get away.

Then there are the scary aspects of the course, and these are really turning niggling doubts into full-blown paranoia the more I think about them.

Take the first climb of the race up to the Col du Glandon for example. It's 24km long. That's longer than Ventoux, and much longer than any climb I attempted on the etape. And that's just the first of 4 HC category climbs!

After that there's the descent back to the valley. I'm far from being a great descender, and this part of the course is actually neutralised as they've had many crashes and even fatalities in the past. Gulp.

Into the valley and there's a 15km, slightly uphill, drag to the foot of the Telegraphe. The key here is to get in a group and do as little work as possible, but what if I don't get into a group and have to pull along on my own? My legs could be shot before I get even halfway round.

The Telegraphe doesn't sound too scary, but it's another long climb which saps the energy just before you get to the big one - Galibier.

Galibier sounds brutal. The second half of the climb averages at around 10%, and gets up to 14-15% in places. Tough on it's own, but with two mountains already behind me I may just pedal to a standstill (how do you say 'put me back on my bike' in French?)

The general consensus is that if you crest Galibier still on your bike, it's a massive milestone as you have a lovely long descent all the way to Bourg d'Osian to recuperate, and you're likely to have ample time to get up Alpe d'Huez, even if you take a break at each one of the fabled 21 hairpins.

But even then there's still so much that can go wrong. As I've said, I'm not the greatest descender, so when you add in fatigue and several dark road tunnels into the equation, coming down off the mountain is fraught with danger. By the time I get over Galibier (if I do) I'll have done as much climbing as in the 2013 etape, and I don't need reminding that I was pretty much on the limit there. So the descent is likely to be quite tense, expending even more precious energy.

Then there's just the Alpe to go. For the first two hairpins, the gradient averages 11% - nevermind resting at each corner, I may have to stop every 10 metres! After that it will be an utter, painful, delirious, never-ending slog. The internet is awash with stories of Marmotteers collapsing on the Alpe, only to wake up in hospital in Bourg and their finishers medal cruelly snatched away (I've even read of one poor guy collapsing in the town of Huez, having completed the climbing and had less than 1km to go). I have no doubt I'm gonna hate every moment of the Alpe, which is a shame as it's the climb I most want to do. I'll have to come back some time and do it on it's own.

So that's what I'm up against. I always felt I was strong enough to do the Etape, but even that pushed my body to the limit. This looks like a wholly different proposition. And I really am scared.

Saddle Sore

The dreary autumnal weather has finally arrived, so with the rain pelting the windows, I attached the bike to the turbo trainer to have a go at Sufferfest's new video - the aptly-named 'It Seemed Like A Good Idea At The Time'

The story to this training video is that you are attempting to win the most aggressive rider award at the Giro d'Italia on a stage containing 4 mountains and lasts 2 hours.

The riding is mostly tempo climbing and time-trialling, and whilst I prefer interval training on the turbo, this was quite welcome as I don't think I could manage 2 hours of attacks and accelerations. There was still plenty of changes of pace to keep me interested though.

At the end I was suitably drenched in sweat, and my sit-bones were completely numb. Two hours on the bike without being able to stand or really change my position was probably the hardest part of the programme.

It looks like the bad weather is here to stay, so I may have to pack away the Scott and rebuild the Cube as a winter bike (to mudguard or not?)

Cotswolds, Cake and Climbing

Took my bike on a weekend holiday with my mates to the Cotswolds, and despite the copious amounts of alcohol consumed, I managed to get out for a couple of rides on it.

On Saturday I led our slightly hungover peloton on a loop ride from Tetbury.

The main climb on the first half of the ride was a punchy 12% out of the village of Uley, which strung out the group a bit. The descent into Stroud was great fun with some fast, sweeping bends (and the occasional cattle grid). Half-time refuelling came courtesy of the Lockkeeper's Café in Stroud.

 

 

Was able to really attack out of the saddle on Butterrow Hill and maintain a good speed all the way up the climb. After that we rolled across the heathland at the top before hammering along the approach back to Tetbury.

 

 

 

Good ride and lots of fun.

 





Went out for a 23km TT today - good course with a couple of short climbs to get the heartrate going. Averaged 33.3km/h - not bad given the amount of wine, cocktails and rich food consumed the night before.

Put Me Back On My Bike

After 2 weeks in Africa (there are some great cycling roads in Uganda and Rwanda - must take the bike next time!), my attention has turned to starting to get myself back into shape.

I've put on 1.5kg since the Etape, and I also have the Great South Run to train for in October.

I've already entered a couple of sportives for either side of Christmas, and have registered my interest for the Etape Caledonia in May. The centrepiece of my training, however, will be an attempt to join the Club des Cingles in May.

Membership of the club is fairly straightforward. All you have to do is cycle up all three ascents of Mont Ventoux. In one day. There's a reason why cingles translates as 'screwballs'

The 5,000m of climbing mirrors the Marmotte very well, albeit over a shorter distance and a much more relaxed time schedule - lunch at Chalet Reynard anyone?

The Road Most Travelled

Back down to Surrey this morning with Emily to spin the legs and get some climbing in. Did a route which included the climbs up Ranmore, Staples Lane, White Downs and Box.

Heroically managed to stay sur le plaque (on the big ring, for those that don't speak velominati) all the way up Ranmore, nearly brought back my café-stop cake in setting a time of 3:45 up White Downs, and managed a respectable 7:15 up Box Hill.

Top of Ranmore. Still on the big ring. Evidence. Sort of...

100km ridden. Cycling will be tailing off for a time whilst on holiday for the next 2 weeks though.

Pain Revisited

Found this video documenting the ascent of Semnoz during the Etape by someone who climbed at the same speed as me:



My thighs hurt just by watching this. My times for all the climbs on the Etape are included on the certificate below. Interesting that I climbed quicker than 811 riders that eventually finished ahead of me - need to brush up on the descending skills!