Etape du Tour - a jolly big bike ride
Posted Tuesday, July 10, 2007, 7:38 AM by Lonely Planet
Lonely Planet author David Else is about to set off for France to take part in the Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on the trail of the Tour de France. In the first of a series of blog posts, David describes the training and preparation for his jolly big bike ride.
It all started when I couldn't fit into a pair of trousers. My wife said I had middle-age spread, so I started jogging and then took up (again) some half-serious cycling. One thing led to another and a friend proposed L'Etape du Tour - a 190km (120-mile) jaunt through the Pyrenees, on roads used by the Tour de France - one of the toughest sporting challenges in the world. 'Sign me up', I said. 'Middle-age spread? Middle-age crisis more like', said another friend.
That was back in January. Since then I've been training for the Etape, with those same two friends, going out for increasingly long bike-rides to get in shape.
We went up a stack of hilly roads in Northern England, like the one pictured here (Honister Pass in the Lake District), raising the distance week by week, month by month.
Some of those training rides were killers, but hopefully it will all be worthwhile. We leave for France on Thursday, ready for the big day on Monday 16th.
Today I must admit to feeling a bit nervous. The Etape du Tour is revered by most cyclists like the New York Marathon is revered by most runners. The Yorkshire Dales had some steep gradients when we were training, but will we be ready for the peaks of the Pyrenees?
As well as the distance there's about 4500m of total ascent. That's about half the height of Everest.
And we can't hang around. The fastest riders will do the 190km in about 6 hours. The slowest in about 11. Anything slower means disqualification. We're aiming for something between 8 and 9 hours.
We've got a final training ride tomorrow. Just a leg-loosener. The groundwork is all done now, and if we're not up to scratch it's too late to do anything about it. C'est l'Etape. Bon nuit.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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4 Comments:
190 ks? That is crazy. I rode from Sydney to Wollongong once in a charity ride and that was 96 ks. I thought that was bad enough. How on earth do you prepare your bum for sitting on a seat for that long? Never mind the fitness - I understand that - but those bicycle seats are hardly comfortable. Good LUCK!
"It's just a long bike ride...."
Thanks for the good luck wishes. How do a prepare my bum? There's a question I don't get asked very often. Well, if you really want to know, my young son's nappy-rash cream comes in useful sometimes. More seriously, the steady build-up helped: we started doing 50km rides, then went up by 10km increments every couple of weeks. Maybe it's like breaking in a new pair of shoes. In addition I've got a pretty good saddle - it's a strip of carbon fibre with titanium rails, covered in a thin layer of gel-like sponge - so that helps. I'll include a photo of my bike with the next post. And finally, my cycling shorts have a gel-filled pad too. But maybe that's too much information…
Having said all that, I probably will ache a bit towards the end of this big ride, so if any cyclists out there have more tips, I'd be pleased to hear them.
David
What was your time and how did it go?? It was a very tough day in the saddle. My time was 8:21, but a LOT of people DNF'd or took more than than the 12 (not 11) hour limit. I heard they kept the finish line open for an extra hour for the stragglers. Hope it went well for you.
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