2013 So Far...

So this year hasn't quite panned out the way it should have. An overly long winter meant many hours on the turbo trainer and a few wet, windy and cold sportives in April and May where I struggled to build any fitness. Etape Caledonia was great - 7th fastest time in the sprint and 4hrs 25 mins for the overall time respresenting solid improvements from last year. Unfortunately a crash in June on a Yorkshire Dales training camp saw me sustain some serious injuries that ruled me out of the London to Paris in July. My first ride back after healing up (although no-where near fit) was the Ride London 100...which I limped around, but finished on what was an enjoyable course. A ride to Brighton with some work colleagues to raise money for Cystic Fibrosis Trust was a good break from competition and a challenge to keep them all together and finish, rather than to finish it myself in any particular time. I am now getting some fitness back, enjoying my new bike and trying to make the most of what's left of the summer...although today I think that it may be over!

Some photos of the year so far:

New Forest Sportive, April 2013

Etape Caledonia, May 2013

Ride London 100, Aug 2013 - for Asthma UK

Tea stop - London to Brighton, Sept 2013



2012 Year Review

May - Etape Caledonia

An excellent event and an excellent break up in Scotland, raising money for Marie Curie Cancer Care.

The town of Pitlochry hosted the start/finish and everyone was made to feel very welcome - a really good atmosphere. Due to a very wet April my milage was down on planned targets of 200 - 300 miles a month, so I went into this one with a little extra weight and perhaps not quite a fit as I would have liked to have been. Fortunately, the ride was not as hilly as I thought and I ended up averaging over 17mph over the 83 mile course - although this would have been more if I hadn't needed to stop to stretch out some cramp in my thighs in the final few miles.

Unlike any other ride I have done, this had timed sections for a sprint jersey and a king of the mountains jersey. Knowing my inability to climb hills quickly, the king of the mountains section was going to be a non-event for me, so I put my energy into the sprint. The section came after about 15 miles and lasted for 1km...I went for it, only slowing a tad for some leisurely participants riding three abreast, hoping that I did enough to make an impression on the rankings. I couldn't be angry with the riders in my way - I had started at the back and had been overtaking people all day so far - and would continue to do so for the rest of the ride, with many shouts of "on your right" to alert them to my impending overtakes, time and time again. Next year, I'll make sure I start nearer the front. Oh yes, and maybe I'll win that sprinter's jersey - this year I came 86th (joint 11th) and placed 1,434th overall in the 'GC'.

July - Etape Du Tour Acte 1

The big target for the year, I went into this knowing that I hadn't managed to train as much as I had wanted to, but planned to take it steady and get through it. Replicating stage 11 of this year's Tour de France, which the pros raced a week after me, I had little knowledge of the climbs beforehand and knew they were longer than last year. Last year I had the 'benefit' of watching the pros race the stage in the Massif Central a few days before I flew out to take it on myself, so Iat least had an idea of the parcours. This year, all I knew was that the climbs were longer, steeper and they were going to hurt!

If last year was the hardest thing I had ever done due to the weather conditions, this year was a challenger for that title due to the mountains.  Having cracked completely on the Glandon, I had to stop for almost 20 minutes to refuel and get to the base of the final climb, up to the finish at La Toussuire. After having already tacked the Col du Madeline, the Col di Glandon and the Col du Croix de Fer, this last 14km climb was always going to be a struggle. What happened to me on that mountain that afternoon, kilometer after kilometer in 38oC heat, changed my perspective of what was possible if your mind tells your body to simply 'carry on'. Every sinue of my body wanted to stop - bordering on collapse - dehydrated and withdrawing energy from reserves I never even knew I had, I dragged myself and my bike up that final mountain, passing riders collapsed on the road beside me and across the line, finally allowing myself to collapse exhausted and overcome with emotion for achieving something that probably no-one will ever quite understand as being the absolutely harrdest thing I have ever faced and overcome in my life so far.

A week later I watched Bradley Wiggins put time into Cadel Evans on that very climb as Cadel cracked, unable to respond and struggling to bring himself to terms with the fact that mountain had beaten him too. He finished, of course - we both did - but we both also had our own epithanies on that 14km stretch of tarmac draped on the french Alpes of Le Sybelles. On Sunday 8th July 2012 I fell out of and back into love with cycling. On Sunday 8th July 2012 I was invincible.

August - French Revolution and Etape Hibernia

An unusual sportive from UK Cycling Events/Wiggle saw a friendly day's cycling in France in the middle of August. However, the 73 mile parcours was nothing compared to the six hours in total spent on the ferry - what a slow way of getting somewhere when the Eurostar exists!

I did enjoy the day, but it wasn't one for me to go back to. I think it would have been ok if I was with company and it is a long day with as many hours off the bike as on it, through some scenic and relatively flat French countryside. A good leg stretcher before the Etape Hibernia it would have been - if the Hibernia hadn't been cancelled due to the sponsor pulling out. I have since learnt that the 'sponsor' was actually the organiser, IG Challenger World, who also organise the Caledonia. I have also learnt that the Hibernia clashed with Sean Kelly's Waterford sportive - the most successful and popular cycling event in Ireland by far for a number of years...which makes you wonder why would IG organise an event to clash with this and then wonder why participant numbers were lower than expected? Oh well, after July I was in the mood for an early start to my off season and we went to Ireland anyway for a drinking holiday. Well, it wasn't planned that way, but when you're in Ireland...

October - Bec CC Hill Climb

I can't recall exactly when I agreed to do this, but I suspect I was drinking at the time. The weekend after our holiday to Asia, I found myself back on the bike for the first time in a few weeks on a hill in Kent. The Bec CC Hill Climb is basically a time trial up a hill, with some real specialists in attendance...not to mention a few pros and one Ned Boulting from ITV. Now, I've said before, I'm not fast up hill. So I wasn't expecting much. And 'much' is eactly what I didn't get. So I wasn't overly disappointed! It was a great event though and with a bit of specific traning next year I'll be back again to put in a better show.

My wife, who attended with a work colleague and his friend, who also did the climb, was there to see me in all my worst possible form too..which was lovely! Her words, which I will surely use as motivation for next year, were "I thought you'd be going a bit faster". Yup, me too! But then I thought about 8th July 2012 and smiled. A great year.

Training Diary

It's the 1st January and I have officially started my Training Programme TM. The first major objective will be to get myself in shape for Etape Caledonia in May, then it's onto the Etape du Tour in France in July, then the Etape Hibernia in Ireland in August. I still need to plan some sportives along the way to help get the miles in, but aim to complete at least 2000 miles (and many hours on the turbo trainer) in the process. Everything will be recorded on a very complicated and overly difficult to understand spreadsheet, so that I may learn from my experiences...



Belgian Cycling

I took a bike with me to Belgium the week before xmas. While the weather didn't disappoint (it was windy and wet, just as expected), the roads were not quite what I expected. The question sometimes arises as to how you can tell that you have crossed the border into France, Germany or Holland. You know when you are in Belgium when you hit a pothole - makes me pleased to be back on the Surrey country lanes. Really.

Etape du Tour 2012

Well, I got a place on next year's Etape du Tour Acte 1, which will take place on Sunday 8th July. This Etape replicates stage 11 of the 2012 Tour de France and is a 139.5km passage from Albertville to La Toussuire. It features famous Tour passes such as the Col de la Madeleine, Col du Glandon and Col de la Croix-de-Fer.

It will be a bit 'hilly' through the Alps, but the scenery will be well worth the effort. I will have to start training again soon, after all the xmas parties are out of the way!

http://www.letapedutour.com/ET1/fr/homepage.html

Etape Cymru - 9th October 2011

I took part in the first Etape Cymru on 9th October. Unfortunately there is no easy way of describing the experience without seeming unduly harsh, as I realise that organising a closed road sportive must be a very difficult task and I appreciate the effort to put this event on in principle.

Firstly, let me just say that the scenery was absolutely stunning. Unfortunately this is where the 'positives' end. The negatives are so numerous, I've decided to actaully number them:

1. The ride started twenty minutes late and en mass, which meant the early stages were very crowded - especially on the first hill, where there were many crashes as 2000 people tried not to collide with one another.

2. The road surfaces were very poor, with many holes (and many punctures) suffered. It would have been better to have brought a cross bike. Indeed, some people familiar with the roads turned up to do this "100 mile road bike suitable sportive" on a mountain bike! More should have been done to advise entrants of the road quality being so poor - gravel in places - unless the organisers seriously believe these are no worse than elsewhere in the country?

3. Route signage was sparse. There were too many junctions with no signage or marshalls, which meant that educated guesses had to be made. Many people ended up taking different routes based on the guesses they made! Signage was also lacking in providing warnings of sharp corners or steep descents - something that is pretty much standard on most sportives in the UK nowadays.

4. Not all roads were closed. This was advertised as a closed road sportive. Not only was this disappointing, it was dangerous as coming down a hill trying not to hit the potholes was hard enough, without trying to avoid on-coming traffic as well.

5. Feed stations were under-stocked. Water and bananas on a ride that cost £60 to enter? I was one of the lucky riders to see the water and bananas though, as I hear they ran out of BOTH later in the ride with half the field still to come through!

6. There was no sign of any motorcycle out-riders or mechanical support. Although I have heard that the Mavic van (was there only one?) got lost as it was relying on the route signage too.

7. There was no event control phone number or emergency number provided. Not particularly reassuring when you find yourself in the middle of no-where, without any route map, without marshalls or any support vehicles...

Well, I'm really sorry to come across as a moany old sod about this ride, but the truth is I was really looking forward to it and, having ridden many other sportives at a fraction of the cost, felt quite misled. I'm not alone either, as you can see many other opinions along the lines above, including the Cycling Weekly write-up. I've been offered a 25% discount on next year's ride, but with many other sportives to choose from I simply will not be taking the risk. Maybe I will in a few years if this is still going and the organisers learn how to put on such an event.

Tour of Britain - Stage 8

I had a fantastic day with my wife today watching the cycling and wandering around London. We were both surprised as to just how close we were able to get to the Team Sky riders - until we walked further up the road and realised that everyone was clambering for a picture of Mark Cavendish!

Geraint Thomas (above) took a lot of time to sign autographs and speak to the fans - he really is a good ambassador for the sport. He went on to win the points jersey on the road race stage after his team mate Alex Dowestt won the time trial earlier on. Mark Cavendish gave the fans what they wanted and won the stage - so all round a good day for British cycling on the final day of the Tour of Britain!