J
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Long commute home - variant 1
TdMB minus 54 days
Bike of choice : Kap ... bit pointless this line innit ?
Distance : 94Km
metres climbed : +1090m
It's been a threatening stormy day all day today but the plan was to slope off from work "early" at 5pm and put in the first long commute home of the year. This means riding past the start of the normal climb to Lans and heading West and round the side of the vercors in the direction of Valence.
The target was to ride up the Gorge des Ecouges, a fantastic scar in the west flank of the Vercors, then over the Col de Romayer down into the Gorge de la Bourne and then up to the plateau and hence Lans. It's the simplest long commute available ....
Did you spot the fact that the was, was in bold ?
So we headed off, Fred and I again, straight into a fierce headwind and assumed the 2-up formation taking 2Km turns .... absolutely HAMMERED the first 35Kms !
We were well warmed up by the time we got to the bottom of the climb, and then deflated as we rode past the sign telling us the climb was closed. Popped into the wee village and went to ask what was wrong at the Marie (toon hall) ... is it really closed or can we sneak past the edge of the roadworks with our bikes ?
Turns out there's been another massive rockfall up by the tunnel near the top. The road is completely blocked and as it's been cut into the rockface itself, sneaking round the side would require climbing gear that we don't have in our jersey pockets .... merde !!!! This is the 2nd time we've been spurned by this climb. Same thing happened at the same place 2 years ago. It's one of the harards of living on a limestone massif. Looks like it'll be closed all summer too as they don't even have a date for the surveyor to come and look at it.
Shame as it's a superb climb.
OK so we can jump on the tailwind and be back in Grenoble in jig time or head into that headwind for another 25Kms to Pont en Royans and salvage the ride by going all the way up the Bourne ... the other option is Nan - Malevas - Romayere - bourne but it's already too late for that one.
Headwind it is. By the time we actually started climbing we had over 60Kms of thrashing into a headwind on the flat in our legs, that's not something I do but I guess it's all good preparation.
The climb up the Gorge passes quickly even with a 10min phonecall stop along the way and before long the mental calculations are estimating a ride distance of 94ish Kms .... laps round the village are planned to bring it up to the metric ton.
With 10Km's to go the storm that has threatened all day unleashes itself and the importance of metric tons are rapidly washed away. 94 it is for the day :O)
Magic - oh yeah Fred ... he still had to ride down my regular commute to Grenoble, I offered him my car but we both knew that he was already as wet as he was going to get and it's just as fast on the bike.
Another great ride and more burny leg pain so it must have been useful
Bike of choice : Kap ... bit pointless this line innit ?
Distance : 94Km
metres climbed : +1090m
It's been a threatening stormy day all day today but the plan was to slope off from work "early" at 5pm and put in the first long commute home of the year. This means riding past the start of the normal climb to Lans and heading West and round the side of the vercors in the direction of Valence.
The target was to ride up the Gorge des Ecouges, a fantastic scar in the west flank of the Vercors, then over the Col de Romayer down into the Gorge de la Bourne and then up to the plateau and hence Lans. It's the simplest long commute available ....
Did you spot the fact that the was, was in bold ?
So we headed off, Fred and I again, straight into a fierce headwind and assumed the 2-up formation taking 2Km turns .... absolutely HAMMERED the first 35Kms !
We were well warmed up by the time we got to the bottom of the climb, and then deflated as we rode past the sign telling us the climb was closed. Popped into the wee village and went to ask what was wrong at the Marie (toon hall) ... is it really closed or can we sneak past the edge of the roadworks with our bikes ?
Turns out there's been another massive rockfall up by the tunnel near the top. The road is completely blocked and as it's been cut into the rockface itself, sneaking round the side would require climbing gear that we don't have in our jersey pockets .... merde !!!! This is the 2nd time we've been spurned by this climb. Same thing happened at the same place 2 years ago. It's one of the harards of living on a limestone massif. Looks like it'll be closed all summer too as they don't even have a date for the surveyor to come and look at it.
Shame as it's a superb climb.
OK so we can jump on the tailwind and be back in Grenoble in jig time or head into that headwind for another 25Kms to Pont en Royans and salvage the ride by going all the way up the Bourne ... the other option is Nan - Malevas - Romayere - bourne but it's already too late for that one.
Headwind it is. By the time we actually started climbing we had over 60Kms of thrashing into a headwind on the flat in our legs, that's not something I do but I guess it's all good preparation.
The climb up the Gorge passes quickly even with a 10min phonecall stop along the way and before long the mental calculations are estimating a ride distance of 94ish Kms .... laps round the village are planned to bring it up to the metric ton.
With 10Km's to go the storm that has threatened all day unleashes itself and the importance of metric tons are rapidly washed away. 94 it is for the day :O)
Magic - oh yeah Fred ... he still had to ride down my regular commute to Grenoble, I offered him my car but we both knew that he was already as wet as he was going to get and it's just as fast on the bike.
Another great ride and more burny leg pain so it must have been useful
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
a wee leg shaker
TdMB minus 55 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 27Km
metres climbed : +250m
Went out for a spin in the late evening sunshine to shake the stress out of the legs but ended up getting a bit carried away and thrashed it hard .... there was stuff in my head that needed removing. Descending hairpins in the fading sun sorted that out nicely. Damn it felt gooooooood :O)
TdMB confidence soared today - as reported earlier I've got Rob joining me from Martigny to the Col de Grand Saint-Bernard and now Sam from Bike Village and Ash of Trail Addiction / Trans-Provence fame have offered to join me for the closing climbs from Bourg over the cormet de Roseland and on to the finish in Les Saises, or did they say they plan to throw rotten tomatoes from the roadside ?
Whatever ... magical peeps they are, look them up if your ever wondering how to spend a holiday with your bike in the Alps.
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 27Km
metres climbed : +250m
Went out for a spin in the late evening sunshine to shake the stress out of the legs but ended up getting a bit carried away and thrashed it hard .... there was stuff in my head that needed removing. Descending hairpins in the fading sun sorted that out nicely. Damn it felt gooooooood :O)
TdMB confidence soared today - as reported earlier I've got Rob joining me from Martigny to the Col de Grand Saint-Bernard and now Sam from Bike Village and Ash of Trail Addiction / Trans-Provence fame have offered to join me for the closing climbs from Bourg over the cormet de Roseland and on to the finish in Les Saises, or did they say they plan to throw rotten tomatoes from the roadside ?
Whatever ... magical peeps they are, look them up if your ever wondering how to spend a holiday with your bike in the Alps.
Friends are ace and arrive with great ideas just when you need them ....
TdMB minus 54 days
With the dull ache of Sundays ride fading from my legs, I was just having a gander at the TdMB route to see how that ride compared to what is to come, pontificating how far round the lap I'd have been as I crossed the line in Autrans and wondering how much bigger the mental challenge is going to be.
There are only 80 entrants so far, a number that will obviously increase a bit but with 330Km's of road I expect we'll thin out very fast and after the first 60 - 100Km of "were in this together" spirit I sense we might find ourselves riding solo for the rest of the lap.
I was just pondering that prospect when a wee angel fluttered by and landed on my shoulder, a wee angel called Rob who proposed meeting me in Martigny and riding over the Col de Champex AND the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard as far as Aosta ... what a gold plated frocking superstar !!!!
Kate, who I've not met yet, shares that acolade as she's donating him for the day ...
Martigny IS the 100Km point ....
That just made my day, I'm barking from ear to ear I am
With the dull ache of Sundays ride fading from my legs, I was just having a gander at the TdMB route to see how that ride compared to what is to come, pontificating how far round the lap I'd have been as I crossed the line in Autrans and wondering how much bigger the mental challenge is going to be.
There are only 80 entrants so far, a number that will obviously increase a bit but with 330Km's of road I expect we'll thin out very fast and after the first 60 - 100Km of "were in this together" spirit I sense we might find ourselves riding solo for the rest of the lap.
I was just pondering that prospect when a wee angel fluttered by and landed on my shoulder, a wee angel called Rob who proposed meeting me in Martigny and riding over the Col de Champex AND the Col du Grand Saint-Bernard as far as Aosta ... what a gold plated frocking superstar !!!!
Kate, who I've not met yet, shares that acolade as she's donating him for the day ...
Martigny IS the 100Km point ....
That just made my day, I'm barking from ear to ear I am
Monday, May 24, 2010
Challenge Vercors - FBRROTY
TdMB minus 56 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 170Km
metres climbed : +3500m
It's the third time I've set out to ride the full lap of this event ( formerly the Challenge Dauphine) ... my local Sportif in the Vercors, it's almost rude not to as it always passes through the village I live in.
At the first attempt 3yrs ago it was lashing with rain, the target was really the 120Km loop and I was riding with Robin who had flown over for the weekend, didn't have much riding in his legs and was probably going to be pushed by the 120. In the end it was lashing with rain, Robin was mildly hypothermic on the descent from the Col de Herboilly and I was relieved to hear his ask if we could cut it short and just do the 75Km.
Next attempt with Ali and Wendy of the Chant the weather was with us but the travel gods were most definately not. Two different flights coming into two different airports both being diverted to a third and fourth meant we finished building their bikes at 2am and headed off to the startline 5hrs later.
We might still have been OK if Ali hand't punctured on the way up to Bois Barbu and lost an hour trying to sort it ... to cut a long story short we rode the 120Km that year.
So the jinx had to be broken, I was riding alone with no-one else to blame if I didn't get round and this time I had a very different head on. It's "only" 158Km so I might as well ride over the Croix Perrin to get to the start line (10Km and +250m warm-up ride) I arrived in Autrans with just enough time to scoff a croixant and some fruit before the hooter sounded and the mass of 800 riders in front of me started moving back over the Croix Perrin towards Lans. There were a surprising number of Brits in the pack some of whom keep coming back to ride this event. Hardly surprising really as it's such a gorgeous place.
Autrans - Croix Perrin - Lans - Villard - col de Herbouilly .... almost a standard ride for me so far but then first the 70Km and the 120Km riders peel off to go their seperate ways and without any though or hesitation we descent down the Grand Goulets through the new tunnel towards the Drome and St Jean en Royans.
The temperature has risen fast and although I knew I had started way at the back of the pack I was surprised to find that there was no-one else in sight. I seemed to be dangling out on my own between packs and it pretty much stayed like that all the way round.
After St Jean came the (speak in booming voice) COL DE LA MACHINE ! A fantastic climb which ends with one of those classic clifftop roads passing through natural tunnels and arches, a wee wall on the left seperates you from a 500m vertical drop to the valley below. There are more riders around me now all struggling in the heat, every now and again one of them blows up and starts slipping backwards (me too) then finds some reserves and crawls back. Over the col at the 80Km mark I note that this is just 1/4 distance on the TdMB .... there's no rest as we immediately continue the climb towards the Col de Lachaud.
There were 4 guys 500m ahead of me on the road, working together up the climb but I couldn't bridge that gap until we reached the col and then they all sat up to coast the descent so I freewheeled away from them down past the Musee de la resistance and into Vassieux for what would be my last refuelling stop.
100Km down - not even a third of the TdMB and I'm knackered.
Over the Col de Alexis it started raining, huge globules, a welcome relief from the heat just at the point where the long straight run back across the Vercors starts. I was spinning along at 45Km grinning from ear to ear when I passed the final refuelling station, no way was I stopping to get cold when I knew there were still 2 grinding climbs to come. On the long haul up to St Julien en Vercors the organisers has put up signs saying "dos d'ane" (donkey's back) .... it felt very apt as I grovelled my way up - it's not meant to be hurting like this !
Down the other side into the Gorge de la Bourne and up the final climb - again a climb I usually relish as it's cool and the gradiend is light but yesterday it was tough - the final sting in the tail came as we turned up the valley to Meadre and Autrans ... a stiff headwind for the last 10Km to sap the little energy that was left.
Zipped up and sprinted across the line though ;o)
I was too hot and dehydrated but at the same time pleased to dip under the 7hr mark, 6hr 30mins in the saddle plus a bit of stoppage time for eating for a 158Km +3250m lap, all I've got to do is double that, throw in a bit more climbing and I'm there. I think I might have to borrow a triple chainset though.
8wks to go !!!
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 170Km
metres climbed : +3500m
It's the third time I've set out to ride the full lap of this event ( formerly the Challenge Dauphine) ... my local Sportif in the Vercors, it's almost rude not to as it always passes through the village I live in.
At the first attempt 3yrs ago it was lashing with rain, the target was really the 120Km loop and I was riding with Robin who had flown over for the weekend, didn't have much riding in his legs and was probably going to be pushed by the 120. In the end it was lashing with rain, Robin was mildly hypothermic on the descent from the Col de Herboilly and I was relieved to hear his ask if we could cut it short and just do the 75Km.
Next attempt with Ali and Wendy of the Chant the weather was with us but the travel gods were most definately not. Two different flights coming into two different airports both being diverted to a third and fourth meant we finished building their bikes at 2am and headed off to the startline 5hrs later.
We might still have been OK if Ali hand't punctured on the way up to Bois Barbu and lost an hour trying to sort it ... to cut a long story short we rode the 120Km that year.
So the jinx had to be broken, I was riding alone with no-one else to blame if I didn't get round and this time I had a very different head on. It's "only" 158Km so I might as well ride over the Croix Perrin to get to the start line (10Km and +250m warm-up ride) I arrived in Autrans with just enough time to scoff a croixant and some fruit before the hooter sounded and the mass of 800 riders in front of me started moving back over the Croix Perrin towards Lans. There were a surprising number of Brits in the pack some of whom keep coming back to ride this event. Hardly surprising really as it's such a gorgeous place.
Autrans - Croix Perrin - Lans - Villard - col de Herbouilly .... almost a standard ride for me so far but then first the 70Km and the 120Km riders peel off to go their seperate ways and without any though or hesitation we descent down the Grand Goulets through the new tunnel towards the Drome and St Jean en Royans.
The temperature has risen fast and although I knew I had started way at the back of the pack I was surprised to find that there was no-one else in sight. I seemed to be dangling out on my own between packs and it pretty much stayed like that all the way round.
After St Jean came the (speak in booming voice) COL DE LA MACHINE ! A fantastic climb which ends with one of those classic clifftop roads passing through natural tunnels and arches, a wee wall on the left seperates you from a 500m vertical drop to the valley below. There are more riders around me now all struggling in the heat, every now and again one of them blows up and starts slipping backwards (me too) then finds some reserves and crawls back. Over the col at the 80Km mark I note that this is just 1/4 distance on the TdMB .... there's no rest as we immediately continue the climb towards the Col de Lachaud.
There were 4 guys 500m ahead of me on the road, working together up the climb but I couldn't bridge that gap until we reached the col and then they all sat up to coast the descent so I freewheeled away from them down past the Musee de la resistance and into Vassieux for what would be my last refuelling stop.
100Km down - not even a third of the TdMB and I'm knackered.
Over the Col de Alexis it started raining, huge globules, a welcome relief from the heat just at the point where the long straight run back across the Vercors starts. I was spinning along at 45Km grinning from ear to ear when I passed the final refuelling station, no way was I stopping to get cold when I knew there were still 2 grinding climbs to come. On the long haul up to St Julien en Vercors the organisers has put up signs saying "dos d'ane" (donkey's back) .... it felt very apt as I grovelled my way up - it's not meant to be hurting like this !
Down the other side into the Gorge de la Bourne and up the final climb - again a climb I usually relish as it's cool and the gradiend is light but yesterday it was tough - the final sting in the tail came as we turned up the valley to Meadre and Autrans ... a stiff headwind for the last 10Km to sap the little energy that was left.
Zipped up and sprinted across the line though ;o)
I was too hot and dehydrated but at the same time pleased to dip under the 7hr mark, 6hr 30mins in the saddle plus a bit of stoppage time for eating for a 158Km +3250m lap, all I've got to do is double that, throw in a bit more climbing and I'm there. I think I might have to borrow a triple chainset though.
8wks to go !!!
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Another lunchtime col ... and a fair old bonk !
TdMB minus 59 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 40Km
metres climbed : +1090m
todays offering was the Col de la Charmette, 40Km round trip in a straight out, straight up, down and back sort of way. A climb of +1090m over 11Km in 39x23 was in the end just a wee bit too hurty for someone who hadn't eaten enough this morning ....
Fred, Ludovic and I took a little too long getting away from the office but were soon on the lower slopes of the climb and peeling off the layers as the sun was shining once again. All was going OK if a bit on the difficult side until we passed a sign indicating 6Km's to the top and I suddenly had the impression that the road had tilted hard in the upward direction ... unfortunately it hadn't and I bonked proper like with 3Km to go to the summit, no food and out of water - it was a very long 3Km and the other guys were just stating to worry about what had happened to me when I finally rolled up to the viewpoint. I don't remember the view.
It was 10 to 2 ... and I had a team mtg at 2pm .... ooops that's cancelled then.
The descent was terrifying, my vision went all blurry, I couldn't focus on the road and was having problems steering round the corners, lips were tingling too. Thankfully it's a quiet road as I don't think I was holding my line too well. Even when we got back to the flat it was bizarre - legs were fine, I could spin along the road tucked in behind the others but I could barely see them.
Back at the office it was straight to the cafe on site to buy all the sugary cakes that were left and some coke to washed them down.
Great climb though :O)
Will go back next week with some fuel in the tank.
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 40Km
metres climbed : +1090m
todays offering was the Col de la Charmette, 40Km round trip in a straight out, straight up, down and back sort of way. A climb of +1090m over 11Km in 39x23 was in the end just a wee bit too hurty for someone who hadn't eaten enough this morning ....
Fred, Ludovic and I took a little too long getting away from the office but were soon on the lower slopes of the climb and peeling off the layers as the sun was shining once again. All was going OK if a bit on the difficult side until we passed a sign indicating 6Km's to the top and I suddenly had the impression that the road had tilted hard in the upward direction ... unfortunately it hadn't and I bonked proper like with 3Km to go to the summit, no food and out of water - it was a very long 3Km and the other guys were just stating to worry about what had happened to me when I finally rolled up to the viewpoint. I don't remember the view.
It was 10 to 2 ... and I had a team mtg at 2pm .... ooops that's cancelled then.
The descent was terrifying, my vision went all blurry, I couldn't focus on the road and was having problems steering round the corners, lips were tingling too. Thankfully it's a quiet road as I don't think I was holding my line too well. Even when we got back to the flat it was bizarre - legs were fine, I could spin along the road tucked in behind the others but I could barely see them.
Back at the office it was straight to the cafe on site to buy all the sugary cakes that were left and some coke to washed them down.
Great climb though :O)
Will go back next week with some fuel in the tank.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Breakfast ride ....
TdMB minus 60 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 39Km
metres climbed : +1002m
Breakfast rides in the normal sense require mates, an early start, a ride into the hills / woods, probably a fry-up, cake and whisky. Billy no-mates here sneaked in a sort-of breakfast ride today courtesy of a fantastical mis-alignment of organisation abilities leading to all sorts of things being in the wrong place requiring a ride to regroup them all in the right places .... and grab some breakfast from the boulangerie round the corner from the house.
... nice skies this morning.
Next week might well contain a looooooong commute.
I even put in the gratuitous extra grunt up to Col de la Croix Perrin to score the 1000m climb for wee Rob
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 39Km
metres climbed : +1002m
Breakfast rides in the normal sense require mates, an early start, a ride into the hills / woods, probably a fry-up, cake and whisky. Billy no-mates here sneaked in a sort-of breakfast ride today courtesy of a fantastical mis-alignment of organisation abilities leading to all sorts of things being in the wrong place requiring a ride to regroup them all in the right places .... and grab some breakfast from the boulangerie round the corner from the house.
... nice skies this morning.
Next week might well contain a looooooong commute.
I even put in the gratuitous extra grunt up to Col de la Croix Perrin to score the 1000m climb for wee Rob
Tuesday, May 18, 2010
a wee col for lunch !
TdMB minus 61 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 35Km
metres climbed : +1172m
I guess someone was listening then, the sun is out, there's a bit of energy flowing, the motivation is present and I didn't have any early afternoon meeting to attend.
So I casually mentioned a lunchtime ride to my colleague Fred knowing that his bike was moored next to Kap down in the bike racks.
The Col de la Porte in the Chartreuse was ready for it's first tasting of the season ... a 1Km warmup at best then straight up a relentless but fun, twisty climb in the trees to the top and back down, bit of chat along the way and into the canteen for lunch - after a shower of course !
It's one of the great advantages of working here in Grenoble, big climbs you can almost reach out and touch from the office window and a deep acceptance of the concept of a 1hr40 ride followed by a quick refeuling in the canteen.
I felt good !
I'm buzzing now I am :O)
Groof woof yip gruff awooooooooo
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 35Km
metres climbed : +1172m
I guess someone was listening then, the sun is out, there's a bit of energy flowing, the motivation is present and I didn't have any early afternoon meeting to attend.
So I casually mentioned a lunchtime ride to my colleague Fred knowing that his bike was moored next to Kap down in the bike racks.
The Col de la Porte in the Chartreuse was ready for it's first tasting of the season ... a 1Km warmup at best then straight up a relentless but fun, twisty climb in the trees to the top and back down, bit of chat along the way and into the canteen for lunch - after a shower of course !
It's one of the great advantages of working here in Grenoble, big climbs you can almost reach out and touch from the office window and a deep acceptance of the concept of a 1hr40 ride followed by a quick refeuling in the canteen.
I felt good !
I'm buzzing now I am :O)
Groof woof yip gruff awooooooooo
Sunday, May 16, 2010
TdMB minus 64 -at last a proper ride !
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 80Km
metres climbed : +2250m
Fuelled by yesterday's positive vibes I struck out again, heading in the same direction and with the intention of pressing deeper into Switzerland via the col de la Forclaz - to Martigny and back if the weather didn't progress beyond drizzle back into snow.
I made a bit of a schoolboy error before starting out, checked the distance OK and knew the heights of the 2 cols I was going to go over but for some un-explainable reason I didn't check the altitude of Martigny. I "assumed" it was around the same alt as Chamonix and so I'd be riding 4 climbs of 4-500m along the way with the option to turn back at the top of Forclaz if the weather was ugly or the energy levels low.
When I reached the Col though all was nicely lined up so I just went straight over and dropped into the trees on the other side. I must have been enjoying the road snaking through the trees as it took a long time before it occurred to me that I'd gone along way down ! But I was still in the clouds, my altimeter was reading 800m and I thought I'd push on just a bit further as I must be nearly down .... suddenly I was out of the clouds AND the tree's and shooting across a steeply terraced vineyard with a series of hairpins reaching down the the valley floor below ! It was still a long way down - and more to the point it was going to be along climb backout.!!!!!
Option 1 : drink coffee, eat chocolate and start riding back asap
Option 2 : find train / bus station and take the easy way back
(I hope you didn't for a second think option 2 was a serious contender ?)
I high-tailed it back up that hill with a big black cloud chasing me all the way ! Long and steady and hurty almost all the way up for 1hr15mins. There was no time to waste at the top as the weather was getting ugly and having setout on this ride late afternoon the sun that I hadn't seen was no longer heating the top side of the clouds. Once again I was feeling my way down the descents praying to the puncture gods to leave me alone today ... they did, and I passed the border without any dramas and soon found myself back in the warmth tucking into a huge plateful of couscous feeling good about the ride I just stole from the weather.
80Kms, +2250m in 4.5hrs ..... I just have to multiply that by 4 to get what's going to lie in front of me in 9wks time !
Here's hoping that the weathers going to be better and I'm going to have a bit more speed / energy in me by then. Right now I've no idea how I'm going to achieve that.
Distance : 80Km
metres climbed : +2250m
Fuelled by yesterday's positive vibes I struck out again, heading in the same direction and with the intention of pressing deeper into Switzerland via the col de la Forclaz - to Martigny and back if the weather didn't progress beyond drizzle back into snow.
I made a bit of a schoolboy error before starting out, checked the distance OK and knew the heights of the 2 cols I was going to go over but for some un-explainable reason I didn't check the altitude of Martigny. I "assumed" it was around the same alt as Chamonix and so I'd be riding 4 climbs of 4-500m along the way with the option to turn back at the top of Forclaz if the weather was ugly or the energy levels low.
When I reached the Col though all was nicely lined up so I just went straight over and dropped into the trees on the other side. I must have been enjoying the road snaking through the trees as it took a long time before it occurred to me that I'd gone along way down ! But I was still in the clouds, my altimeter was reading 800m and I thought I'd push on just a bit further as I must be nearly down .... suddenly I was out of the clouds AND the tree's and shooting across a steeply terraced vineyard with a series of hairpins reaching down the the valley floor below ! It was still a long way down - and more to the point it was going to be along climb backout.!!!!!
Option 1 : drink coffee, eat chocolate and start riding back asap
Option 2 : find train / bus station and take the easy way back
(I hope you didn't for a second think option 2 was a serious contender ?)
I high-tailed it back up that hill with a big black cloud chasing me all the way ! Long and steady and hurty almost all the way up for 1hr15mins. There was no time to waste at the top as the weather was getting ugly and having setout on this ride late afternoon the sun that I hadn't seen was no longer heating the top side of the clouds. Once again I was feeling my way down the descents praying to the puncture gods to leave me alone today ... they did, and I passed the border without any dramas and soon found myself back in the warmth tucking into a huge plateful of couscous feeling good about the ride I just stole from the weather.
80Kms, +2250m in 4.5hrs ..... I just have to multiply that by 4 to get what's going to lie in front of me in 9wks time !
Here's hoping that the weathers going to be better and I'm going to have a bit more speed / energy in me by then. Right now I've no idea how I'm going to achieve that.
TdMB minus 65days ... will it ever stop raining ?
Distance : 38Km
metres climbed : +750
This rain is getting tedious ! I went to Chamonix to "get in touch" with the mountain but the weather was just super oppressive and wet and of course all the high cols are still closed so I accepted this as an opportunity to do a bit of carbo loading and to drink some red Energy juice ;o)
The original plan had been to get a bus to Bourg Saint-Maurice and ride over the Cormet de Roseland and then follow the start of the TdMB route to get to Chamonix ... some other time eh !
On Friday I forced myself to get out in the rain and at least ride some of the route, nothing ambitious, up and over the Coldes Montets down to the Swiss border, buy somechocolate and then back.
I think it might have been the worst first 3Km'sof a ride ever, I nearly gave up straight away. not because of the rain but the state of my head. I somehow kept going and by the timeI reached the Col I was actually enjoying myself. Down to the border crossing, quick wave to the Gendarmes buy chocolate and start back up the hill .... it suddenly gets very cold and before I know it it's snowing hard. Aaaaaaaarrrrghhhhhhhh - but it woke me up. I was frozen rigid by the time I got back to the col and was forced to tiptoe back down the other side on skinny slick road tyres.
An hour later once the warmth returned courtesy of a hot drink and an open fire all was good again and this time I felt much better after the ride than I had at the start of it. If the stress monkeys can eat energy then riding can at least drive them away and let the batteries start to charge again.
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Hurdles II
good point Dave ...
Well I went to edinburgh to work and although I set out with good intentions to ride whilst there it didn't really work out. Mtgs that dragged on, customers that needed entertained and rain created lethargy and before I knew it a week was gone and I was back in France knackered.
The demons are chewing my energy bars and it's still raining hard.
I did manage to get one plateau ride in over the weekend but the totaliser isn't spinning up in the way that it should.
Long weekend starts in a couple of hours, let's see what that brings !
Well I went to edinburgh to work and although I set out with good intentions to ride whilst there it didn't really work out. Mtgs that dragged on, customers that needed entertained and rain created lethargy and before I knew it a week was gone and I was back in France knackered.
The demons are chewing my energy bars and it's still raining hard.
I did manage to get one plateau ride in over the weekend but the totaliser isn't spinning up in the way that it should.
Long weekend starts in a couple of hours, let's see what that brings !
Thursday, April 29, 2010
TdMB : around the world in 80 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 30Km
metres climbed : +830
They say you can go around the world in 80days .... so if that's true, it's gotta be long enough to get ready to ride a teeny fraction of that distance.
It was hot today and I knew I was dehydrated when I left the office but a last wee moment of bravado with one of my readers (I've got 2 now, my distribution doubled overnight) had me promising to put in a 1000m climb tonight just because it's another arbitrary number to tick off. The theory was simple, ride up th commute, go straight past the house, stop at the boulangerie and grab a cake before riding on up to the ski station and scoffing said cake in the dying embers of another spectacular spring evening in the Alps.
Did I mention I got a bit delayed leaving the office and I was dehydrated ?
Neither of these things were a problem till I hit the bottom of the climb, 100mtrs later I knew it wasn't going to be hurty :O( .... and was it only yesterday that I said " the fatigue of those first rides is already gone and the dull pain of a lot of effort hasn't arrived yet " NEVER say stuff like that and definately don't write it down.
I slogged and huffed and puffed for 20mins then pulled over to rummage in the bottom of my sack for an energy bar I knew I'd seen. A Trans-Provencian Mule bar was retrieved and scoffed and on we trudged. It hurt a lot all the way but this is a good thing, it's going to hurt a wee bit more on the day, aclimitisation is a necessary evil.
Thankfully the higher I went the cooler the air was and the pain eased - perhaps it was the mule bar, who knows but my mind turned back to the 1000m chat. I'm behind schedule but the boulanger won't be, by the time I get there it's going to be closed and the cake was going to evaporate like a snatched away carrot.
I'll do it anyway, I told Rob I would, stuff that I'm tired and I can make a cake at home, the 1000m can wait for another day ... but it was a baby step it needs to happen - eh WHY we've still got 80days to go and you can go round the world in that time, allegedly .... thinking hard, Lans is in sight. OK new plan instead of riding through the village past the tauntingly closed cake shop I'll ride up the other side of the valley to the Croix Perrin and back down thereby achieving the nominal number.
200m to the top of the climb - I like that plan it works !
150m to the top of the climb - like hell it does, were tired and need to play the long game
100m to the top of the climb - no comon we said we would
90m .... pfffft
85m .... aye but it's important
80m to go to the roundabout and a car draws alongside .... quick glance left, hey it's Wendy of the Chant !
whatyoudoinghere ?
I'm coming to visit you
Hey fantastic, team car with a spare bike on he roof and all thoughts of another 200m climbing are gone.
It was a good decision, the target lives for another day and the legs deserved the break.
Oh and another great thing happened, waaaaay back down there a third of the way up the climb, a car passed me with wee kids I've never seen before hanging out the window.
And they barked at me :O)
Distance : 30Km
metres climbed : +830
They say you can go around the world in 80days .... so if that's true, it's gotta be long enough to get ready to ride a teeny fraction of that distance.
It was hot today and I knew I was dehydrated when I left the office but a last wee moment of bravado with one of my readers (I've got 2 now, my distribution doubled overnight) had me promising to put in a 1000m climb tonight just because it's another arbitrary number to tick off. The theory was simple, ride up th commute, go straight past the house, stop at the boulangerie and grab a cake before riding on up to the ski station and scoffing said cake in the dying embers of another spectacular spring evening in the Alps.
Did I mention I got a bit delayed leaving the office and I was dehydrated ?
Neither of these things were a problem till I hit the bottom of the climb, 100mtrs later I knew it wasn't going to be hurty :O( .... and was it only yesterday that I said " the fatigue of those first rides is already gone and the dull pain of a lot of effort hasn't arrived yet " NEVER say stuff like that and definately don't write it down.
I slogged and huffed and puffed for 20mins then pulled over to rummage in the bottom of my sack for an energy bar I knew I'd seen. A Trans-Provencian Mule bar was retrieved and scoffed and on we trudged. It hurt a lot all the way but this is a good thing, it's going to hurt a wee bit more on the day, aclimitisation is a necessary evil.
Thankfully the higher I went the cooler the air was and the pain eased - perhaps it was the mule bar, who knows but my mind turned back to the 1000m chat. I'm behind schedule but the boulanger won't be, by the time I get there it's going to be closed and the cake was going to evaporate like a snatched away carrot.
I'll do it anyway, I told Rob I would, stuff that I'm tired and I can make a cake at home, the 1000m can wait for another day ... but it was a baby step it needs to happen - eh WHY we've still got 80days to go and you can go round the world in that time, allegedly .... thinking hard, Lans is in sight. OK new plan instead of riding through the village past the tauntingly closed cake shop I'll ride up the other side of the valley to the Croix Perrin and back down thereby achieving the nominal number.
200m to the top of the climb - I like that plan it works !
150m to the top of the climb - like hell it does, were tired and need to play the long game
100m to the top of the climb - no comon we said we would
90m .... pfffft
85m .... aye but it's important
80m to go to the roundabout and a car draws alongside .... quick glance left, hey it's Wendy of the Chant !
whatyoudoinghere ?
I'm coming to visit you
Hey fantastic, team car with a spare bike on he roof and all thoughts of another 200m climbing are gone.
It was a good decision, the target lives for another day and the legs deserved the break.
Oh and another great thing happened, waaaaay back down there a third of the way up the climb, a car passed me with wee kids I've never seen before hanging out the window.
And they barked at me :O)
Wednesday, April 28, 2010
TdMB minus 81 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 50Km
metres climbed : +430 ish
With a couple of reasons to stay up on the plateau today, I decided to work from home. This has several advantages and one disadvantage - no commute.
The first advantage being that I could wear my cycling gear all day with the bike parked up next to my desk ready to roll as soon as a window of opporchancity presented itself ... surprisingly that didn't actually come until the early afternoon as the morning was full of conf calls and a couple of reports. At 2pm the gap appeared and I was out in the sunshine spinning down the road before the last mail even got out of my outbox.
I had to go to the next village to pay some bills and was soon out on the back road spinning up the first climb. I'm stunned again to find how fast my body has reacted to the demands of exercise again, the fatigue of those first rides is already gone and the dull pain of a lot of effort hasn't arrived yet. Small climbs were being thrashed and the big ring hammered every time it could be engaged. Round trip was a joy, paying the bills wasn't and I was back at the desk with only a small pile of new demands to deal with.
At the end of the afternoon, I shut down the laptop and commuted back to where I'd been sitting before firing up the coffee machine. 50Km's in a working afternoon can't be sniffed at ... long may it last !
Distance : 50Km
metres climbed : +430 ish
With a couple of reasons to stay up on the plateau today, I decided to work from home. This has several advantages and one disadvantage - no commute.
The first advantage being that I could wear my cycling gear all day with the bike parked up next to my desk ready to roll as soon as a window of opporchancity presented itself ... surprisingly that didn't actually come until the early afternoon as the morning was full of conf calls and a couple of reports. At 2pm the gap appeared and I was out in the sunshine spinning down the road before the last mail even got out of my outbox.
I had to go to the next village to pay some bills and was soon out on the back road spinning up the first climb. I'm stunned again to find how fast my body has reacted to the demands of exercise again, the fatigue of those first rides is already gone and the dull pain of a lot of effort hasn't arrived yet. Small climbs were being thrashed and the big ring hammered every time it could be engaged. Round trip was a joy, paying the bills wasn't and I was back at the desk with only a small pile of new demands to deal with.
At the end of the afternoon, I shut down the laptop and commuted back to where I'd been sitting before firing up the coffee machine. 50Km's in a working afternoon can't be sniffed at ... long may it last !
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
TdMB minus 82 days
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 33Km
metres climbed : +830
Commute home - Grenoble, Sassenage, eh-hop-up-we-go, Lans and then a spin on the plateau
If you look at the numbers you might note a slightly gratuitous "10%" theme to this ride ;o)
Plan (a) was to get up early today and go for a big ride before work, plan (b) was to get out at lunchtime instead, plan (c) was in itself nearly scuppered but thankfully salvaged.
A simple commute up the hill from work with a wee lap on the plateau just to hit the 33Km mark although by definition I overcooked the perfect tenth in altitude. It gave me an idea though, will look for a loop that give's me some unimportant percentage of the TdMB with no overall altitude difference to keep my engineering mentality occupied.
I'm not really sure why the muscle memory is there but I'm oh so glad that it is, ride felt easy, I wasn't pushing it at all, left the office tired (in glorious sunshine) and still put in a very respectable 63mins for the climb itself so I'm just a little bit pleased with myself tonight.
The engines are running and it would appear that they didn't sieze up and go rusty during the down-time. Time to start planning some stepping stones to up the game and build some of that stamina stuff (and get a bit more regular with the plan)
Confidence level jumps up from 14 to 17.3% as a result
Distance : 33Km
metres climbed : +830
Commute home - Grenoble, Sassenage, eh-hop-up-we-go, Lans and then a spin on the plateau
If you look at the numbers you might note a slightly gratuitous "10%" theme to this ride ;o)
Plan (a) was to get up early today and go for a big ride before work, plan (b) was to get out at lunchtime instead, plan (c) was in itself nearly scuppered but thankfully salvaged.
A simple commute up the hill from work with a wee lap on the plateau just to hit the 33Km mark although by definition I overcooked the perfect tenth in altitude. It gave me an idea though, will look for a loop that give's me some unimportant percentage of the TdMB with no overall altitude difference to keep my engineering mentality occupied.
I'm not really sure why the muscle memory is there but I'm oh so glad that it is, ride felt easy, I wasn't pushing it at all, left the office tired (in glorious sunshine) and still put in a very respectable 63mins for the climb itself so I'm just a little bit pleased with myself tonight.
The engines are running and it would appear that they didn't sieze up and go rusty during the down-time. Time to start planning some stepping stones to up the game and build some of that stamina stuff (and get a bit more regular with the plan)
Confidence level jumps up from 14 to 17.3% as a result
the bark is back
I was musing today with my reader (hi Rob) and was asked once again why the bark was gone .... stopping the bark seemed like a bad idea at the time but when asked in the cold light of day to justify it I couldn't. We tried to do so for reasons that are thinner than the thinnest of thin things which carry no weight or water.
He probed and poked a little, it didn't take much - several long seconds possibly, and he was of course right. It was never gone I was just trying foolishly to supress something that is me and mine.
So as it says on the tin - the bark is back, long live the bark !
Groof woof yip gruff awoooooooooo
He probed and poked a little, it didn't take much - several long seconds possibly, and he was of course right. It was never gone I was just trying foolishly to supress something that is me and mine.
So as it says on the tin - the bark is back, long live the bark !
Groof woof yip gruff awoooooooooo
Sunday, April 25, 2010
TdMB minus 12wks precisely
Bike of choice : Kap
Distance : 46Km
metres climbed : +790
Plateau ride - Lans, Villard, Cote 2000, Les Cochettes, Villard, Gorge, Meadre, Autrans, Crox-Perrin, Lans
OK is this the official start then ? Let's see what happens as the week goes on.
Gorgeous spring day and the sun was already hot enough to burn peely-wally Scottish skin. Got out for a 2hr (ish) ride that just happened to have a 2hr lunch break in the middle, how civilised is that ! Put in the standard plateau loop but with the climb up to Cote 2000 ski station in honour of those TdF chaps who rode up the same climb in 2004. It was a bit windy but that's good for the training I guess.
Baggy shorts and MTB jersey just to mess with heads, I'm liking the Kapu a LOT !!!!!
Distance : 46Km
metres climbed : +790
Plateau ride - Lans, Villard, Cote 2000, Les Cochettes, Villard, Gorge, Meadre, Autrans, Crox-Perrin, Lans
OK is this the official start then ? Let's see what happens as the week goes on.
Gorgeous spring day and the sun was already hot enough to burn peely-wally Scottish skin. Got out for a 2hr (ish) ride that just happened to have a 2hr lunch break in the middle, how civilised is that ! Put in the standard plateau loop but with the climb up to Cote 2000 ski station in honour of those TdF chaps who rode up the same climb in 2004. It was a bit windy but that's good for the training I guess.
Baggy shorts and MTB jersey just to mess with heads, I'm liking the Kapu a LOT !!!!!
hurdles
Of course as soon as you sign up for something stupid like this, something's gonna happen that slows you down. I've got some tooth problems ... 3 root canals all being worked on simultaneously. That's causing a certain level of pain and getting in the way of going out riding a bit.
2 days lost where it was absolutely impossible !
2 days lost where it was absolutely impossible !
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Just one final mouse-click and ..... I've ENTERED !
Yup I just hit the button that says "inscrire" .... rider number will be with me soon
Oh and another thing .... the entry form wanted to know what club I ride for and I'm not entirely comfortable with putting down the old team so I just invented "le Velo Club Bruichladdich" in honour of those of you who know why ;o)
I'm thinking molteni orange jersey with Laddie blue panel or somefink .... plenty time to fine tune that idea
Oh and another thing .... the entry form wanted to know what club I ride for and I'm not entirely comfortable with putting down the old team so I just invented "le Velo Club Bruichladdich" in honour of those of you who know why ;o)
I'm thinking molteni orange jersey with Laddie blue panel or somefink .... plenty time to fine tune that idea
Polishing the blog ain't going to help on the day ...
well that's what I've done tonight rather than getting out on the bike and getting some kilometers in ... I've had toothache though (inflamed root canal to be precise) and it's important to invest a bit of time in the whole idea to make it more real innit ?
That's my excuse and I'm gonna stick to it.
After fooling around to create that banner up there I'm obliged to enter ;o)
That's my excuse and I'm gonna stick to it.
After fooling around to create that banner up there I'm obliged to enter ;o)
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
I've not quite signed up yet but ...
OK so after a bit too much stress and not enough exercise for just a tad too long, it's time to enter a stupidly hard cyclosportif in France to err motivate myself to get back out on the bike.
La Marmotte @ 176Km and +5000m climbing in a day was the obvious choice as I've done it before and it's pretty much the hardest ride on the normal circuit ... but it's already full, keep looking.
Oh oh .... there's THIS : Le Tour du Mont Blanc
Now that's just plain stupid !!!
It's like a double lap of La Marmotte without the Alpe de Huez climbs ... or thinking more locally it's equivalent to riding up and down the hill to my work 10 times in a day, I've done that 5 times in a week once (albeit at a fastish pace) and that was tiring.
I think I need to do this .....
La Marmotte @ 176Km and +5000m climbing in a day was the obvious choice as I've done it before and it's pretty much the hardest ride on the normal circuit ... but it's already full, keep looking.
Oh oh .... there's THIS : Le Tour du Mont Blanc
Now that's just plain stupid !!!
It's like a double lap of La Marmotte without the Alpe de Huez climbs ... or thinking more locally it's equivalent to riding up and down the hill to my work 10 times in a day, I've done that 5 times in a week once (albeit at a fastish pace) and that was tiring.
I think I need to do this .....
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