The Final Goal

Cooor who's that speedy chap on a bike coming down the other side of the Glandon......

1. He can't be local, look how pale he looks
2. He can't be a pro, look he's not even wearing proper road shoes, just the mtb jobbies
3. I think his helmet is on all wonky


Thats right guys it's me and as the road is going downwards and not up I look bloody smug :)

So photos to follow, the following provides a written account of the event and how it all went but for those that can't be bothered to read to the bottom

I did a 8hr 30 and so was reasonably happy with that
The event was hard but totally achievable for most with a bit of training
Its bloody brilliant, if you get the chance just enter and worry about the training bit later and in summary best day I have ever spent on a bike.

Early Rise:

We were camping just up the road in Venosc and after a good nights sleep we crawled out of our luxury one man tents just before 6. The gods were definitely smiling, with blue skies (not too hot, just right) and for the 1st time in I don't know how many nights camping the need to get out of my tent and have a number 1 at 3.30 in the morning didn't occur.......today was indeed already a very good day.

We packed the car and set off towards Bourg and about 2 miles out pulled up in a lay-by and got ready. There were lots and lots of people doing the same but everyone seemed remarkably chilled and the gentle 2 mile ride into Bourg and the start was a really nice way to start the ride.

The Start:

You are directed into a back street of Bourg and you queue up with the thousands of others on a road next to the river that runs through town. We got there about 7:15 for the 7:50 start, ideally it would of been nice to be a little further forward however very quickly we were under way

Glandon:

The ride to Glandon was pretty chilled for me, the guy I was riding with was happy with a gentle start keeping in mind what was to come however again next time I think I would be keen to get into a fast group and nail the section to the base of the glandon quickly. You hit a couple of ramps initially....don't get excited this isn't the climb proper but don't worry its not much further and you'll realise soon enough when you get onto it (Ant decided another piss stop was in order....he really should drink less!).

I really enjoyed this climb, its quite busy due to its proximity to the start however its long and fairly constant in gradient so just sit into and enjoy.

After a while you descend and then climb again and this ramp is quite steep and then after a bit longer you reach.....chaos!

That will be the top of the Glandon then, and the 1st feed stop, good luck in the scrummage is all I can say.

I made the 1st tactical mistake here....I went through and descended as quickly as possible and then queued for 10 mins in the 1st village for water.

So lets read that again....I went as quickly as I could through the neutralised section (they stop timing you!) and only when we went over the timing matts to restart the timer did I then stop and wait at the slowest water fountain in France for water.......schoolboy error don't make the same mistake. Chill out all down the Glandon and get your breath back and enjoy the views.

To to The Telegraph:
This is a fairly flat section through the valley and I was buggered if I could find a group to tag onto but to be fair I wasn't about to do any work either so I just rode well within myself to the Telegraph. At the end of this section before the climb is a water station and I got water and then after a few mins I met Ant after he had motored along the valley. Ant again used my holding onto his bike skills while he fought the water scrap....hint here I just chucked my bottle to one of the guys nearby and he sorted me out......queuing well thats just for us Brit suckers.

The Telegraph:
Great climb this one, again quite steady and wooded to start with and all rather nice to be honest. I felt quite strong on this one and to be honest just made sure that I kept my HR below my target 150bpm and that I didn't get caught in the moment. Very soon I was into Valoire....keep going the feed station is right out the other side.

Galibier:
So the Telegraph....piece of cake frankly whats all the talk about (this is a huge lie).

Galibier....this will make you hurt, you will suffer, you will find a dark..dark place during this section (or you are a freak)

This climb is stunning but simply goes on forever and really comes in two sections. The 1st section is hard as the climb heads along the valley at a fairly steady gradient and destroys your confidence and will power. It just seems to keep on going and you make what appears to be bugger all progress for what is quite a significant investment. You of course have the Telegraph in your legs and this is all before you hit stage 2

After a lifetime of twiddling you turn right and actually start the climb out of the valley to go over the pass. So we are back to hairpin turns and its only after what is a considerable time before you can even see the top. The top will seem so far away and yet at this stage you will be suffering, for me this was tough the only really grim part of the whole experience. I have a video of me entering the feed station at the top and I look cooked. I took some time out at the top and tried to eat and drink. The truth is that it was on the Galibier my stomach said no more and I suffered major stomach cramps all the way up. I got to the top and any effort just made me want to throw up. After about 10 mins I headed off and this is the important bit now...

The Important Bit:
I headed off down the other side and it was suddenly then it all hit me. That was it I was going to finish, the worst was done and I now had getting on for an hour of descending before the Alp......bloody hell I'm going to finish!!

If I have to walk the whole way up the Alp....I was going to finish
If I have to crawl up the Alp...I was going to finish
If it took me 10 hours....I was going to finish

Yea you could say I was bloody happy and if you have done it or are going to think back to this bit......for me the best feeling of the ride....completely euphoric :)

Alp
You have an awesome descent almost all the way to the foot of the Alp. There is a climb towards the end so be aware of that however its no biggie. The last 7-8 miles is quite flat and again I just sat there riding along waiting for the Alp. It was only when I got to the feed station at the base I looked around and saw about 50 riders tucked onto my wheel......bloody cheeky sods not one came through and helped and I was only pootling along!!!!

So after 5 mins to stock up at the feed I set off:

The 1st part of the Alp is cruel, the ramps are steepest and its hotter at the base. I felt fine though and just kept going, in fact it only started to hurt as we got into the small village on the way up. From here onwards the Alp was tough and I was slow. Eventually after too long you can see the top however be aware they make you use all the hill here. You go through the town, turn left, keep climbing and only then on the other side of the town do you see the finish.

The Finish:
So I crossed the line and after my high spirits after the Galibier to be honest I just felt a bit runined after crossing the line. My stomach now had left the building and with it my pride, so I found a place to lie down and stayed there for some time. After a while I felt OK again and waited for Ant to finish and when I saw him I was bloody chuffed we both did it. A great feeling and with my big medal in hand I was all chipper and annoying again.

Summary:
After beer and food in Bourg I felt human and I would say:

1. It really was the best day on the bike I have ever had
2, Its tough but doable...if I do it again sub 8 should be straightforward assuming no mechanicals
3.Orgainsation is fantastic
4, Its one of the few events worthy of the hype

I came away really wanting to do another one, not necessarily this one but a continental sportive in the high mountains.......aha that will be the blog to follow and I already have a few in mind :)

Well I'm off with the family to the Pyrenees in 2 weeks so I'll be doing a bit more, enjoy the TDF fingers crossed for a UK 1 & 2 :)

Steve

The Long One

So Saturday was my final sportive prior to the big one and consisted of 126 miles and just under 2400m of climbing. When I booked it they claimed 130 miles and over 3600 m of climbing and you know what....I'm glad it came in under!

Its was the 1st sportive with Anthony (the guy from work I managed to rope into the Marmotte) and the aim was to do a pre-event and see how we could work together in prep for Marmotte. In reality Anthony did pretty much all the work and I held onto his wheel for dear god.

Its interesting in that I've done far harder rides but prior I just didn't feel like like. I think the long rides in prep are doing my head in a little. The long one was held over the south downs in a really pretty part of South England each little village with its own thatched pub. And this my friends was part of the problem, you see I really like pubs and every time we passed another the thought of jacking it all in and spending my weekends in the pub seemed like a far more attractive proposition.

Anyway, enough of the complaining thanks to Ant we easily came in for gold with a time of 7.36. Ride time was 7.10 and we lost about 15-20 mins as I had a puncture and then my front mech went out of alignment and I couldn't get out of the small ring....oh and I needed a number 2 too.....look some jobs just cannot be rushed OK!

So what did I learn during the day:

1. Don't over train and from now until the event I intend to wind down big time
2. Sort the bike, new tyres (hopefully no more punctures), 11-28 cassette and front mech sorted
3. I'm alright on the hills, I'm pretty light and they just seem to suit me.....long flat bits still do my head in.......this is where Ant comes in, as he's a strong lad on the flat.

2 weeks today then, you won't hear from me now until after the big event unless something bad happens. So fingers crossed and I'm looking forward to that 1st French Beer at the top of the Alpe....my god I'm going to get slaughtered regardless of how tired I feel!

My little Galibier

I can't quite get my head around 5000m of climbing during the big event. I have used bike ride mapping to work out a route in the Chilterns that replicates as close as possible as much climbing in as little distance as possible by combining just about every hill I can find and you know what..........at a push you can probably get about 2500 m of climbing in 100 miles!

We just don't have the terrain in this country, the hills are short an sharp where I need a long middle gradient hill that goes on for miles. So on Thursday (I had a day off ) I decided to climb the biggest hill in the area until my garmin said 2000 mtrs climbed and the result was this:

What you are looking at is Whiteleaf hill (x14.5) in the Chilterns (nr Princes Risborough) and I simply decided to go up it as many times as needed to get 2000 mtrs of ascent which worked out at 41 miles. I reckon thats not too far off the ratio of distance vs height we are looking at for the Marmotte and it felt alright to be honest. 

So to be clear 41 miles and 2000 mtrs was ok, fairly hard but ok.......now all I've got to do is the same again and then half as much again..........bugger

Its worth noting that the gradient ramps up to about 22% on whiteleaf, we won't get anything like that on the Marmotte and my heart rate doesn't get much higher then 154bpm. Keeping my HR below 140 for the Marmotte should be fine then, just select a low gear and spin away for 112 miles :)

I've got a couple of centuries coming up and then the wiggle long one at 130 miles and 3600mtrs of climbing and then I'll be in relax mode up to the event.

Steve

PS...will it ever stop raining?

Chiltern 100 sportive

Sunday started at 6.00am with my usual rise from bed necessitated by the need for an almighty piss  (damn that chatueax lafit) followed by a shredded wheat based feast. The day would involve 110 miles taking in 2600m of climbing over a fairly lumpy english countryside. The route is all about short and sharp climbs that come at you with an alarming regularity so how did I fair.....

Fairly average I'm afraid.....6hr 39 which will put me outside of Gold and I suffered for it too!

It was far from a disaster however a few things annoyed me:

1. A puncture
2. Hitting a big pot hole on a descent that moved my right shifter right round the bar and in doing so locked my front brake on
3. Pretty bad back ache from mile 85 onwards brought on I think by the above
4. Going wrong on the route twice...aggghhhhh
5. I rode solo for 90% of the event, just no bloody groups came past me which made it real tough at the end


I probably only lost about 10 mins tops due to the above mecahnicals, it did make me think thank god this didn't happen at the Marmotte, I guess I need to check the bike over some more pre-ride.

The major plus was it was a stunning day and the event was well organised, I'm realising that local club run events are pretty special. The standards are quite high and you can tell they are being run for all the right reasons, definitely support them if you can.

At the end we had 27 degrees and my celtic (thanks Mum) blood did find it a bit tough to be honest. My stomach was trying to make me throw up after mile 60 and I just couldn't get enough liquid down me. I need to sort this out for the Marmotte, 27 degrees will feel like the artic compared to south France on the Alpe.

So another sportive done and my next is a few weeks time based on the south downs over 130 miles and well over 3000 mtrs of climbing...a really good test 2 weeks before the real thing.

Steve

PS I did ride with one guy at the beginning who had a beautiful colnago c59 italia in blue with full DI2, major bike envoy on that one!

1st Sportive of the year

God damn rabbits everywhere........

Well I've just got back from the Hilly Hampshire Hundred Sportive (watership down hence the rabbit ref above) and after what feels like months of rain we had glorious sun the whole way around :) Its amazing what a bit of sun and temperatures above 15 degrees can do to ones self spirit......I would even go so far to say I bloody well enjoyed it.

The distance felt fine with only the last 10 being a bit painful and although my on the flat performance is a bit average my climbing has really improved. At no point did I really feel the hills hurting which has got to be a good thing. Its funny really as if anything rolling on the flat hurts more, I quite looking forward to getting back to a lumpy section.

I did the 100 in 5hr 31 just getting into gold (ride time was 5hr 25), thanks to getting into a couple of really good groups. For the last 30 miles there were 3 of us and one (big) guy who just steam rolled the road into submission. I'd move to the front to do my turn only for him to come straight back past picking up the pace once again.....whoever you are I am very grateful.

So a couple of weeks and I've got the chiltern 100, lets hope I've not peaked for the year already!

Steve


PS I managed to run 8 miles on Saturday and my ankle only hurt from mile 3 onwards. In my eyes thats a result and although my ankle grew in size and kept my awake all night I'd say its ok to start running again...happy days.

Hearty Training

The frustration of the sprained ankle continues however I can still bike so really its no biggie :) As a result my bike training is actually going ok and for the first time I've been wearing my heart rate monitor on the garmin which outputs pretty graphs like this:

As you can see most of the time I'm averaging about 130-139bpm peaking at 160 in this case. My highest to date is 167. Going back over the past few rides you can see I'm actually peaking a little higher as usually I don't get much above 154 or so.

I can conclude the following:

1. since I've stopped the running my aerobic threshold has slightly reduced..or
2. since wearing my monitor I'm now seeing just how high I can get my heart rate on a climb!

Point 2 has been compounded by finding the wonderful world of Stava. For most people this means going as hard as possible at key points on the ride and then uploading to see just how far up the leader board they are. I've managed a few 3rds and top 5 places down here in St Albans however a cunning tip for you strava users....

Get yourself to the middle of nowhere and cycle an obscure hill, this was the case for my recent holiday to Devon. KOM feels great even if the board only consists 3 people I can tell you :).

If you have reached here via Stuart's blog (Hi Stuart if your reading, I promise I'm not a stalker just loving the blog!) you'll realise that I have to date utilised zero structure to my training compared to a guy who although modest seems to have a pretty good structure to his plans.

 I'd like to claim a holistic zen like approach that is based on the sound judgement of effort and "listening" to my inner self. Unfortunately we all recognise that as frankly crap, the truth is that I can't be arsed.

So the plan I do have is

1. Hilly Hampshire in May (1st sportive of the year....eeek)
2. Chiltern 100 at the end of may
3. The long one (wiggle) in June
4. Marmotte

I'm getting out about twice in the week (thats cycling by the way) and always a long one of between 60 and 90 miles or so at the weekend. I'll also start running just as soon as I can again (its 6 weeks now :( ). My primary aim is to have enough fitness to enjoy getting around the Marmotte as apposed to just suffering the whole way. I'll guess we'll see if my chaotic approach works for me.....

The Equilibrium

What do you think:

Spec is as follows:

105 group with the exception of brakes which are shimano 451's long reach
planet x wheels
SKS guards
Conto 4 seasons Gps's 25mm
SLK Crabon seat post
Spesh BG seat
Spesh alloy bars

So now I have a steel reynolds framed do it all bike :)

The main differences between the roubaix are as follows which I'll try to split into frame vs the rest:

Frame feel:

Good bits are its springy and really compliant
Very comfortable and definitely feels an all rounder as apposed to a racer or a tourer for that matter

Less good bits in comparison to carbon
You can feel BB flex slightly, this surprised me s I'm hardly Griepel however flex it does. Not enough to create any feeling of real sluggishness just in comparison to CF it feels like its not quite as direct when you stamp on the pedals.

Its also heavier, the frame must be a 3rd or more heavier (remember the fork is still carbon), you do notice this I reckon its probably about 2kgs more then the Roubaix is now (the Roubaix does have DA and ultegra and much better wheels remember along with CF bars, seat post etc).

Steering is also slower, if I'm honest the roubaix handles quite a bite better striking a really good balance of directness and comfort.

So all in a really good do it all comfy steel bike...I am happy. To put this in context,

Every time it rains......I'll take Equilibrium
Every time the sun is out......I'll take the Roubaix
Marmotte/sportif......Roubaix every time
Adventure taking in pubs and more pubs with the wife on a summers day.....Equilibrium.

So thats 5 bikes and I can't currently ride any of them at the moment...I'm sure I'll be able to laugh at that in a few years time.