All Over!

Well I made it.

I've been giving it a few days before I blogged to let the experience settle a little in my mind and so just record the highlights.

The journey out to Toulouse was fine - we safely negotiated our bike bags on the train to Gatwick, and the stay in Yotel was spot on. The next morning we caught our flight no problems.

BA seemed unaware that there would be a lot of bikes checked in (73 compared to the 15 the groundstaff were expecting). So there were some delays leaving, and when we arrived in Toulouse 21 had been left behind.

Ours had made it though, and we then had the long transit by coach to Pau - our hotel was the 7th of 8 drop-offs, so this all took some time.

The next 36 hours were spent really not doing very much - trying to rest and eat and drink plenty (but not any booze). I found this period very tedious - the start village was uninspiring, and it was wet all day Saturday.

During the night before the race there were thunderstorms, and the rain and low cloud met us as we awoke. Waiting in the start pens at 630 we stood like animals waiting for slaughter in the rain. We had to pee where we stood.

The ride itself was not too tough - I kept my HR under control (perhaps too much), but managed the two climbs comfortably. The descent from the Tourmalet was not fun - I'm not a descender at the best of times. We saw nothing of the Tourmalet or Hautacam as visibility above 1,000m was down to 10 - 20 m. Very disappointing.

I finished in 7:26:56 - 575th in my category, and 1585 out of about 7,500 starters overall.

This was outside the silver time of 7:05. I realised quite early that I would not make Silver - my progress on the first 100km was not fast enough.

My Garmin output is here. I accidentally switched the timer off near La Mongie and then didn't turn it on again for a few miles.

I must admit, I never really got into the ride. I just didn't feel like being there. I've ridden hard sportives in the UK, and many Alpine climbs where I have been running on empty, hugely hungover, completely de-hydrated - but I've enjoyed them. I just didn't enjoy this.

My downbeat attitude was catalysed by:
1. the weather - it was just grey and grim
2. the sitting round and doing nothing and not having a drink even through I was on holiday
3. the fact that many in our hotel did not have their bikes with them (some only arrived at 3am the morning of the ride). It seemed to bring a general cloud of depression to the whole group.

So would I do it again? Possibly, but won't be rushing back. I'd like to do some other sportives abroad - in the sunshine, perhaps not take them as seriously (I know now that I can easily get round a foreign sportive without getting swept up by the broom wagon).

I think I would also go under my own steam, and make sure I was in a hotel where there was something to do nearby (eg sightsee - we were on a major road 5km outside of Pau). I would also perhaps take it less seriously, and afford myself a few drinks the days before!

Still, I'm bike-fitter than I have ever been, and the whole thing was an experience.

Well done to all others who finished, and good luck to any who are attempting in the future. Feel free to comment and ask any questions.

A bientot !

Paul.

Last minute shopping

At work today, so just popped out at lunch to pick up some currency, weetabix and malt - meeting Harry later at the staion to catch the 1605.

Weather forecast does not look good - showers forecast for Lourdes and Pau for Sunday. This will mean inevitable rain for anywhere above 1500m.

I've opted not to take any longs or overshoes - I hope I will be ok. I have just some armwarners and a lightweight rainjacket. At least the bad conditions will help with dehydration issues. But as a tentative descender, I'll be even more anxious with wet tarmac below me. I think the large groups hurtling along the first, flattish 100km may also run into difficulties - I guess I'll have to take my chances.

Final Preparations

Just finished packing up my bike into its box and getting my bag sorted..

Done just a few gentle miles over the last couple of days. I spent last night replacing the brake blocks and trying to adjust my brakes and gears to the point where they actually worked well. Bike maintenance is not my strong point, so I may be spending much of Friday and Saturday in some further tinkering.

I am travelling down to Gatwick tomorrow after work by train and staying over in a Japanese style mini-hotel at the airport (www.yotel.com). Should be fun.

Then it's the 7:05 flight from Gatwick to Toulouse.

I'm going to try and keep updating my twitter account (http://twitter.com/gizzajob) with SMS updates over the weekend. There is actually a feed from there to this blog (upper left corner).

Obviously lots of emotions running through me at the moment - it seems to have been a long journey to get here. I must say that I have never once found the training onerous (maybe I never trained hard enough!). There have been a few occasions where I've made the sacrifice of not partying too hard because I was riding the next day, and that has been difficult. But in every case I think I enjoyed the morning ride so much it made up for not getting legless.

I feel that I'm in as good a physical condition that I could be. And this in itself feels rewarding. However I perform on Sunday, I have actually enjoyed the journey immenseley. In some respects the ride will be an anticlimax.

However, I have not really given the ride itself much thought. I love the mountains and I have not been in any large range for two years, when I last rode in the Alps. Just being there is wonderful in itself, and this will be my first time in the Pyrenees in the Summer.

The last few weeks have been so busy with work and life in general that I don't think I've prepared for it mentally. I think I will gradually unwind as I have south by train, and then plane and then coach.

I'll try and post again tomorrow before I leave work.