Saturday, December 22, 2012

TDF Stage 7 Un Mondidier > Beauvais Un Jour de repos

Stage 7, my first rest day
  • Leisurely breakfast
  • Change of the weather: start grey, finish in lovely sunshine
  • Easy ride to a pre booked hotel in Beavais
  • Hotel more like staying in someone's house. Very relaxing
  • Short walk to town and some tourism
  • A pint of "Goudale"
  • Turn down the offer of a free beer!
  • Reading a "History of the World" in the sunshine
  • Pasta and pizza to finish and refuel for the coming days

Wednesday, December 12, 2012

TDF 2006 Stage 6 Nouvioun>Montidier

This is one of the days that I didn't recall too much about though quite a bit has come back to me as I did this entry
  • Wake up to more rain and cycle against wind.. again
  • Passing past large Nestle factory
  • Lunch in St Quentin - steak frites
  • Hard work post lunch, long roads straight into a headwind with busy traffic
  • Grateful for HGVs though, give a bit of shelter from the wind and a warming blast from their exhaust.
  • Head off into the countryside in search of shelter and some more pleasant scenery
  • Eventually find Mondidier, built on a steep hill.
  • Hotel with nice garage for bike and electric shutters 
  • More steak frites for dinner

Monday, December 10, 2012

TDF 2006 Day 5 Huy - Nouvion - Storm before the Calm

Here's my worst and best day ever on a bike. Looking back I'm very impressed with myself.

I should remind myself of this day whenever I feel a bit down. It was quite epic and a reminder that for things to feel really good they also need to sometimes feel really bad.
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I've been putting of this post. Day 5 of my tour was the worst. On the other hand it was also the day that made me into a real cyclist..

  • Waking up to the most depressing sounds a cyclist can hear, the steady patter of rain on the window accompanied by the continuous swishes of cars driving through puddles. 
  • Taking shelter from the wind at start by following the Meuse down a valley.
  • Encounters with market and moterbike gang.
  • Crossing the Meuse and climbing up the side of the valley into a full on gale driving torrential rain into my face.
  • Very very hard work trying to make headway over the undulating countryside, easier going uphill, sheltered from the storm, than down..
  • Feeling very low and wondering if it had all been a mistake. Then seeing a sign, downhill and away from the wind "Mettet"
  • Finding the town and, more important, a warm bar.
  • Ordering double everything, beer and croque monsieur.
  • Stripping off and drying clothes 
  • Stay for a while until clothes dry, stomach filled and spirits "Leffted."
  • Joy on leaving the bar to see some traces of blue in the sky.
  • Unscheduled stop at Chimay to pay due homage to the monks. 
  • Crossing the border into France, smooth roads replacing pitted with amazing coincidence of that being the moment the sun finally broke through.
  • Overnight stop at Nouvion which, fittingly, was first to be advertising forthcoming arrival of tour.    

Tuesday, December 04, 2012

Go back to (virtual) reality

Mrs M and I went over to watch some of the Ghent 6, combining the trip with some sightseeing of the city and its close neighbour Brugge, We had a great time, the event and both cities were wonderful.

A stand at the 6 had a Tacx virtual reality trainer on show for a bit of fun. I was very impressed with the idea (a bit less so by the trainer itself which seemed to have given up the ghost after a couple of days of hard use).

I was sufficiently enthused  to do some research when I got home and found out CycleOps do an equivalent, the "Power Beam Pro".  Powertap reliability aside I like the build quality of CycleOps products so I took the plunge and bought one.

Gosh I am happy I did.The trainer itself delivered on the quality front, its reassuringly chunky and solid. But the best thing is the Virtual Training software that comes with it. You can download routes that simulate the actual thing. 

I tried it out on Alpe D'Huez and it was great fun, very close to the real thing. The unit seems to be about 10-15W higher in terms of power vs my Powertap and  is a bit optimistic in terms of VAM  for power so you climb pretty quick. But that's not too much of an issue as it seems quite consistent. 

The drawbacks are minor compared with the experience the unit gives you. I have downloaded more routes, yesterday I did the Stelvio climb from Bormio that I did on my Italian Raid. It was nice to see it in the sun.. sure beat the rain I did the real thing in and it wasn't snowing when I got to the top either!!

Other interesting thing is that the pedal stroke feels very authentic. I am using some different muscles and the sensation I have is pretty much exactly how I feel when climbing.  So think it will be very good training for my return to the mountains next year. 

Monday, December 03, 2012

TDF 2006 Stage 4 24th May Eupen > Huy Wind, Wind, Fing Wind - revisited

Watched the Fleche Wallone yesterday with Jean Alaphillipe storming up the Mur de Huy to win.

Reminded me of my tour, when I overnighted in Huy in happy ignorance that the next day would be the best and worst day of my life on a bike.

The notes below capture my mood pretty well


Not a very pleasant day...
  • Wind gathered force and I was riding straight into it.
  • First encounter with another cyclist, he passed me and I caught him up which helped morale and gave a break from the wind.
  • Over the border into Holland
  • Lunch in Valkenburg, getting ready to host a tour finish. Only food was cake so had cake and beer lunch.. not the best for nutrition but again helped morale.
  • Got lost post lunch but eventually found Maastricht and all its cobbles. 
  • Hard going to Huy. Had to pause on outskirts of town to shelter under a bridge as heavens opened.
  • Huy very grey and worryingly devoid of hotels but eventually found one.
  • Evening meal in an Irish pub

Saturday, December 01, 2012

TDF Day 3 Arlon to Eupen: Hail and Hills

Memories of my third day on tour

  • Start day with slightly fuzzy head .. glass too many of champagne maybe
  • Belgium much hillier than expected
  • Stop for lunch and phone Mrs M who finds a hotel for the night
  • Showers turn violent and have to sit out a hail storm sheltering under a tree
  • Yellow road incident: learn that Belgian roads don't allow for lorries and cycles to be on same road at same time. Detour needed.
  • Route to hotel takes me to Eifel.. Mountains! In Belgium??
  • Luckily road to hotel is downhill all the way and arrive very wet (mix of sweat and rain)
  • Nonetheless folks very welcoming and have a nice meal to warm me up.