Posted Tuesday, August 05, 2008, 1:10 AM by Lonely Planet
Want your kid to grow up to be a travel writer? Give them an atlas and a bicycle for their 10th birthday. That's what Dervla Murphy got, and she spent the day working out how she could ride from her home in Ireland to India. And being Dervla, when she grew up, she did it.
Full Tilt is her account of this astonishing journey. She did it on a no-frills army bikes (no electric shifting for this gal). She battles her way through record blizzards and up mountains, and takes on wolves and lechers with the same aplomb. She's indomitable, but also friendly, curious and supremely comfortable in her own skin.
It's a mingled pleasure and sorrow to read her rapturous account of Afghanistan, her favourite part of the trip. The people may be as warm and honourable, the weather as clement, but the wondrous country she describes is good and gone.
It's hard to suppress a cheer when she finally coasts into India...and this was just the start of a long life of adventures, often with her young daughter.
Ah Dervla. You're my idea of the ultimate traveller.
- Cherry Washington
Labels: Afghanistan, cycling, Dervla Murphy
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Posted Sunday, October 21, 2007, 6:47 PM by Lonely Planet
So many travellers, so many different reasons for travelling. Mirjam Wouters' alter-ego, cyclingdutchgirl, cites curiosity amongst hers. She has hiked, hitchhiked and cycled over much of Europe and is broadening her horizons, currently making her way through Central Asia:
"Like everybody in the Netherlands I started cycling at an early age, my Parents cycled with 4 little girls (age 4, 7, 8 and 9) to Germany and a year later to Pieterburen, camping on the way at farms. A few years later we all went to Zeeland, the south of the country on inline skates... while 2 would cycle with the luggage...
My first big solo bike trip was from Holland to Morocco when I was 23. I figured I better get some exercise after spending months in a backpackers hostel in Northern Ireland. I left my parents home in Apeldoorn in April and arrived in Morocco in July. Had such an amazing time. I loved the euphoric feeling of freedom and happiness I got on my bicycle."
Mirjam's traversed the Pamirs and has just crossed the border into Kyrgystan. The plan is to make it to Australia. She has a great website where she reports regularly on her travels, with interesting quips and stunning photos.
So, why do you travel?
Labels: Asia and Pacific, cycling, Europe
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Posted Monday, July 23, 2007, 8:55 AM by Lonely Planet
This time it's for real. Today around 200 of the world's best professional cyclists tackled Stage 15 of the Tour de France, covering almost 200 km over five mountain passes through the Pyrenees, the hardest day of this famously tough three-week bike race.
This evening (Monday), I was glued to the TV, watching the Tour de France big boys do their stuff, as exactly one week ago I pedalled, puffed and panted over those same mountain roads. I was with a group of friends from Britain and about 7000 other cyclists from around the world. We were taking part in the Etape du Tour, a chance for non-professionals to get a taste of the real thing.
And it
was just a taste. Last week, most of the Etape riders took between 8 and 11 hours to cover the route, most stopping at least for a few minutes to refuel along the way. Today, the Tour riders did it in five and a half hours - non-stop of course - riding UP those 15% gradients that drag on for 20km or more, almost as fast as we came down them. And (to get technical for a moment) where we were using compact chainsets giving gears like 34 x 28, the tour riders seemed to cruise along in 38 x 23. And where we were exhausted at the end of our ride, the Tour de France teams do it again, day after day for three weeks. Respect. Utter respect. Or, as they say in France, '
chapeau'.
Watching sporting stars like Rasmussen, Contador, Vino, Evans and the rest is undoubtedly inspiring, and it certainly brings back great memories of riding the Etape. But will we do it again next year? It's still far too early to say...
Etape Memories #1 - The Author. The Day Before. Calm and (appearing) confident.
Etape Memories #2 - The Author. The Final Mountain. Totally shattered.
Lonely Planet author David Else was in France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on part of the route of the Tour de France. This is the 8th (and final) of a series of blog posts.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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Posted Monday, July 16, 2007, 5:10 PM by Lonely Planet
After 6 months of training, and 4 days of travel and preparation, the big day finally arrived.
At 7am on Monday, more than 7000 cyclists rolled out of Foix, and headed into the Pyrenees to cross five major mountain passes on the Etape du Tour route to Loudenvielle.
The first 30km was fine, then came the first pass. The Col de Port. Steep.
Then came the second. The Col de Portet d'Aspet. Steeper. Then the third, and the fourth. You guessed it, longer and steeper again. Only the last pass of the day, the Col de Peyresourde, was a minor respite.
All in all, the 200km route included about 100km of uphill, with a total ascent of about 4500m. That was hard enough. But on top of the gradients, the heat was intense. Up to 40 degrees at times. So hot, the tar was melting.
Sometimes when riding a bike gets hard, it feels like the road is sucking the tyres. Today, that's really what was happening.
But despite these obstacles, we all completed the distance in the allotted time. It was a long day in the mountains, and the roads were as hard as hell, but the scenery was stunning and the
camaraderie was magnificent. Well over 1000 people dropped out, so we're all proud of our achievement.
Will we do it again next year? Tonight, as we recover in the bar, it's far too early to say...
Lonely Planet author David Else is in France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on part of the route of the Tour de France. This is the 7th of a series of blog posts.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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Posted Sunday, July 15, 2007, 9:08 AM by Lonely Planet
One day to go. The Etape du Tour is tomorrow. Today we cycled down to Foix, the start, to register. According to our guidebooks (Frommers and Rough Guide, naturally) Foix is an interesting historic town, with a fine chateaux to admire. We cycled right past.
Continuing yesterday's celebratory atmosphere, an Etape 'festival village' has been set up on the outskirts of Foix. A chance to meet old cycling buddies, to buy some last-minute kit, or queue to have the bikes checked over by skilled mechanics.
Throughout the day we kept up to date with news from the Tour de France, now on stage 8. The professionals will be coming to Foix in about a week, and crossing the same five mountain passes we're attempting. We'll be well out of the way by then.
Although the Tour de France is exclusively for male cyclists, there's also a Tour Feminine - won in 2006 by a Brit, Nicole Cooke, also winner of numerous other cycling world championships and one of the highest-performing athletes in the world - although you wouldn't know it for all the press attention she gets (ie, very little).
The Etape is open to both genders, so it's not completely testosterone fuelled (although there's a lot of that about). Every year a few hundred women ride among the 7000+ total field. My sister Jacqui did it last year and was buoyed along by constant shouts of "allez les femmes" from the spectators. She's doing it again this year, and we hope to ride side-by-side some of the way.
She's younger than me, and fitter, so I'm worried. If she leaves me behind on one of the 20km ascents, I'll never live it down.
And, if you'll excuse more personal references, there's another family connection: My father used to coach cycling teams, and helped me with a training schedule to prepare for this Etape. Just one day to go until we know if it worked, Dad.
Lonely Planet author David Else is in France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on part of the route of the Tour de France. This is the sixth of a series of blog posts.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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Posted Saturday, July 14, 2007, 10:29 AM by Lonely Planet
We're back on the bikes. Hooray and hurrah. After two days sat on the coach to reach Toulouse, it's an immense relief to be pedalling again. The weather is warm, the roads are dry, and we're rolling along at a nice relaxed pace between fields of bright yellow sunflowers. It's France, Jim, but it could be paradise.
As well as our little team, there will be several hundred other Brits among the 7000+ riders riding the
Etape on Monday. Our cycling jerseys are based on the flag of England, but in a spirit of
entente the lettering says
Angleterre.
Today is 14 July, Bastille Day - a French holiday. After cycling through the quiet countryside for about 40km we reached a small town celebrating the event with a market and small festival. We stopped for coffee, and enjoyed the atmosphere.
Vive la France.
It was another relaxed 30km or so back to Toulouse. These limbering-up days are great. Shame there won't be time for coffee stops when we're doing the
Etape.
It's Saturday evening now. The hotel is now full of cyclists from Britain and other parts of the world, reassembling bikes after a journey by car or plane, checking the route, talking excitedly about gear ratios, and wondering if tonight's dinner will be pasta.
Lonely Planet author David Else is in France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on the trail of the Tour de France. This is the fifth of a series of blog posts.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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Posted Friday, July 13, 2007, 1:31 PM by Lonely Planet
We broke the journey through France with an overnight stop in Paris, and this morning (Friday) had a short stroll near the Seine, admiring the sleek new architecture of the Defense district. Eiffel Tower it ain't.
Then onwards to Toulouse. Lunch was at a charming motorway service station: a chance to buy a cafe au lait and a copy of L'Equipe newspaper to get the latest reports about the Tour de France, currently on stage 6, still with about two weeks to go.
For the Tour de France professionals, each day is a race within a race, as every top rider wants to win a stage, but they must also remember the big picture: the chance of overall victory of the Tour de France itself, and that means consistently high placings every day.
That puts our little Etape jaunt in perspective. It may be a daunting 190km over five major passes, but the Tour de France boys will ride the same distance as us, twice as fast, then do it again and again, for 21 days virtually back-to-back. The only small comfort we can claim is this: Foix and Loudenvielle is reckoned to be one of the hardest stages of this year's Tour, and quite possibly a decider. As the old hands say, "the toughest battles are always fought in the mountains".
We reached our hotel in Toulouse this evening, in time for dinner. Pasta, of course. It's a relief to get the coach travel over and done with. Tomorrow we can get the bikes out and start getting properly limbered up for Monday's jolly big ride. It'll be great to be cycling again. And in glorious weather too - according to the meteo. All we need to remember is the sun cream, and to ride on the right side of the road...
Lonely Planet author David Else is in France to take part in L'Etape du Tour - cycling through the Pyrenees on the trail of the Tour de France. This is the fourth of a series of blog posts.
Labels: cycling, Etape du Tour, Europe, France, Pyrenees
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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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