6th March Roller time

Finally get the hang of rollers, doing 35km in total as a gentleish recovery ride. Find that need to go very fast in order to get any noticable heart rate increase, which is limiting factor as start to wobble at high speed.

Also get in touch with Tony from Flamme Rouge re Channel Isles trip this weekend

5th March Well Earned Day Off

Day off today after the Audax. Legs tired but only sore bit on behind as result of 4 hours saddle rubbing against wet shorts....

4th March Wed and Windy Audax

No club run today, its the Newbury Audax.

This runs 106km south and west of Newbury up and over the downs. 3 climbs apparently, Shurlock Hill, Rivar Hill out and Asmansworth on the way back.

Weather forecast had the two words no cyclist wants to hear. "Wet and Windy". Fortunately when we (about 35 of us) started it was neither but this soon changed. Got absolutely soaked and my bottom bracket got even more noisy.

I had thought Audaxes were meant to be easy events so had planned this as a recovery day. Turned out not to be as I wanted to keep up with the lead group so as to get back asap and out of interest as to how Audax compared with Cyclosportif. Turned out very similar. Pace was quick(ish) at 26kph (considering the conditions). Eventually just two of us in front and I dropped of on last climb up to Ashmansworth as did not want to push it to the limit on what was planned as a recovery day.

All in all interesting. May do some more a bit farther afield.

Details here: http://www.aukweb.net/index2.htm

2nd March Max Intervals

End of last base period so decided to push it a bit on the Lifecycle. Sport 19 (almost max) for 30 mins then did 15 mins of Intervals at 20. Meant in practice doing 2*400W for 45 seconds. Managed no problems

1st March Day off

Day off. Got submerged in Oblivion instead, deciding to take it easy following unexpected exertion night before and bearing in mind got a long weekend of training planned.

28th February Training - Unexpected exertion

Went to NRC turbo training class. Was expecting it to be a bit tough, but not as tough as it turned out to be. Training schedule said 4*5mins at 90% MHR with a minutes rest. Actually we did 3*10mins at 90%MHR with 4 mins rest. But survived.

Still felt well enough on return to brave the rollers again and managed to do 4km without needing to grab the step ladder for support.

Single Speed Up Blowingstone Hill

Last Sunday went for club run on single speed. Went pretty well, ending up doing just over 110km. Included a climb up Blowingstone Hill.

This seems to have a bit of history > Blowing Stone

It is also b. steep! But managed it and was rewarded by long downhill swoop to Lamborne.

Training Diary 27th Feb

Boring but thought would use blog for training diary. So here goes.

Last night did first criss-cross 240W<>285W alternating every 2 mins for 40 minutes total. Really good drill with HR slowing oscillating up to just above LT.

Thursday 8th June Larbe>Argeles Gazost More cols and meeting the English

Distance 83
Time 4:48
Climb 2112
Cols Marie-Blanque, Aubisque
Weather Hot


Decide to do Aubisque as nearby and need to stay on in Pyrenees for longer than planned
The unplanned trip home means I will be staying for longer in the Pyrenees than I orginally planned so as to make the flight. So I decide to change my route a bit and take in the Aubisque, a famous HC climb but not one on the 2006 route.



The Marie-Blanque is also on the menu for today. This was a climb that Tim Moore did and he recounted how difficult it was, apparently it being one even the pros find hard. This despite the fact that its a lesser Cat 1 climb, what makes it tricky are the last 4k at 10%+.



At breakfast it looks as if I was the only overnight guest at the hotel.



Turns out only guest at hotel.


Earlyish start to Marie-Blanque. Read ahead so know the last 4 k are difficult.


Prove to be the case, especially as roads not v good. But overtake others which is always good for the morale


Get to top and blown away by scenery. Just expecting up and over but in fact beautiful plateau. Almost too beautiful as I nearly get run over by driver who is looking everywhere but the road ahead.

Surviving this I move onto Aubisque which has dreaded 3 chevron on it somewhere on it. Actually it turns out to be easier than the previous 2 climbs as road surface good and finding a rythm is straightforward. Only problem was taking wrong turn in a town and heading up and around car park (which was very steep, much steeper than the 3 chevron bit of road which was a bit of an anticlimax as Marie Blanque was a lot worse)

The Aubisque was the busiest mountain yet in terms of other cyclists. Happily I was overtaking rather than being overtaken, though one guy did pass me. By coincidence he turned out to be another Brit and when I reached the top I saw him along with a number of others. Speaking to them it turned out they were on an organised trip. (Later I realised they were doing the Raid Pyreneen). I got some tips from the guide about the descent, main one being "when you get into the tunnel remember to turn right at the end".

The cafe at the summit served some of the biggest sandwiches I had ever seen. These took a while to eat and I passed the time talking to another chap, from Ireland, who extolled the virtues of his home country for cyclists. I made a mental note to go over there some time.

I set off again, a bit too quickly as I had been there so long I had forgotten I had to settle up and the waitress had to call me back.

The descent was very fast and would have been faster had I not been held up by a car. I was surprised how poor parts of the road were. Eventually I came to the tunnel and was grateful for the warning received as just after it ended there was a sharp turn right (straight on would have been straight down..)

My chain was continuing to cause problems and when got to Argeles Gazost, my stopover for the night, I headed to the local bike shop. I got a new one fitted (KMC), which the owner told me would be quite expensive (40euros or so). However it did the business and proved to be a very good investment, seeing me through to the end of the trip and lasting several thousands of miles afterwards.

I stayed at a very nice, if bit expensive hotel. They were used to having cyclists, indeed the lady owner was very willing to tell me that Lance Armstrong had stayed there while training. (Apparently he wanted to ride the Tourmalet, but this was closed due to snow. So in high dudgeon he rode up and down the Hautacam twice..). Noting my computer she also mentioned that the first thing Armstrong did on returning from rides was load data up into a computer. Part of the secret of his success no doubt.

I had some time to kill so went for a walk around the town in the evening sunshine. Nice park with small casino. Then had an excellent meal before turning in for bed. Today had been a bit of an entree, tomorrow brought the main course in the form of the highest mountain in Pyrenees: Tourmalet.

Its been a while.....

Its been a while since the last post so very quickly what has happened since:

• Xmas
• New Year
• Never ending jury service with an insight into another world
• First century (km and miles) rides of 2007
• Base training periods 1 and 2 over and done and into period 3

2006 - Highlights

Around this time of year you tend to look back over the past 12 months and muse on the good and bad things that have passed.

So just for the record and to jog my memory when I pass by this thread again the 2 highlights of 2006 were

• Getting to the top of Tourmalet.
• MaxV*2 + MCR

TDF Journal Day 11 Wednesday 31st May Rennes>L'Orient Fired up and off to see the sea

Distance 175
Time 7:07
Climb 1226
Weather Sun

This turned out to be a lovely day. The sun shined throughout and I rode my longest distance to date, 175km, including over 1200m of climbing up and down over the rolling Brittany countryside.

I had thought that, given the size of the city, I would find it hard to get out of Rennes. But in fact navigation proved to be the least of my early morning problems. Prior to my trip I had obviously thought about (and worried about but not too much) the various hazards that might befall me. Punctures yes, falls maybe, sunburn, beesting, saddle boils...for a pessimist the list could go on forever. However I must say that I did not think I would catch fire!

But today I managed just that. Following my early three-course-blow-out-lunch mistake I had taken to just having a light lunch. When possible I would buy this in advance, hanging a few croissants, cheese etc in a plastic bag from my rear saddle bag. This had worked perfectly well except today the bag, unbeknownst to me, slipped and started to rub against my rear tyre.

I put my rather hard progress through the streets of Rennes down to the after effects of rather too much food the night before. Also the rather strange odour that seemed to be everywhere I put down to big city smells, that I had become unused to with all the fresh air and countryside I had been experiencing. However when I stopped at some traffic lights I was a bit surprised to be surrounded by some tendrils of smoke. I looked behind and found that my lunch of pain au chocolats was smoldering away on back wheel. I quickly jumped off my bike and poured some water over my "lunch" to put it out. Sadly nothing could be salvaged and I would need ot search for some food later in the day. However on the plus side my pedaling became a lot easier..

Once out of Rennes I had a great day of cycling. The weather was perfect, the roads quiet and rolling. I made very good progress, at one stage even managing to overtake 2 cars and a tractor on a fast bit of downhill.

Everything was perfect up until about 10 km out of my destination for the day, L'Orient. I had covered over 160km in the day and was at the stage of wanting to get to my hotel and have a shower and a meal. Fortunately, I thought, that would be easy as I was on a road that led dead straight to the heart of the town (which was on the sea so downhill all the way.) However, for the second day running, the road abruptly turned into a fast three lane carriage-way, where cycles were not allowed but also had no-where to go.

Having wasted time and effort trying to find a way into Rennes I was in no mood to repeat today. So I decided to cycle down the hard shoulder and see what happened. I figured the second worst thing (the first worst involved a big truck) that could happen to me was that the police would pass by and take exception. But I reasoned, what realistically could they do? and if they did stop me at least I could get them to show me the way.

As it happened my journey was uneventul. Cars and trucks whizzed by ignoring the cyclist in their midst, as if this happened every day. And it probably did because this was after all, France. At one stage I did get a bit worried when I thought I heard a motor bike behind (and thought it was a gendarme) but I turned my head to see I was being followed by a young boy on a moped (also in theory not allowed on this road). Reassured I was not the only mad one on the road I pressed on. I eventually left the road and found the centre of L'Orient.

My day's travel troubles were not quite over. The whole of the centre of L'Orient was being dug up and the directions to my hotel were not at all clear. I had to stop and call Mrs M to see if she could help with directions. Eventually I got to my destination, which turned out to be very nice but did not serve evening meal.

This turned out to be a good thing. As mentioned I had been following the recommendations in the Guide de Routards and today it turned up trumps, leading my to probably the best restaurnant of my tour. At first it did not seem too promising. L'Orient is by the sea but I to leave this behind and walk through some of the less well heeled areas to find my dinner. I arrived early so had a picon at a very nice bar before going the the restaurant. Entering was like going into someones home. The decor was modern but friendly with large windows at the rear looking out onto a small garden. I was the first diner to arrive and was greeted by the husband of the couple who ran the restaurant. He was the sommelier, his wife the chef. When I expressed an interest in some beer as an aperitif he recommended "Lancelot" from a small local brewery. This turned up and was marvellous. Then he explained the menu which was different from most. There were six dishes and you had the choice to have as many of them or as little as your appetite could manage (if you did not fancy one or two then you could ask for some alternatives.) All the dishes looked tempting and, having cycled over 100 miles in the day, I had an appetite for all of them so I sat back and tucked in.

http://www.brasserie-lancelot.com/


The food was superb. Freshly cooked, portions just sufficient to leave me full but not to bursting. I let the sommelier choose the wine and he surprised me by giving me some Alsatian Tokay that I really liked (despite living in Strasbourg, I am not the greatest fan of Alsace wine). After several happy hours I left the restaurant in a very good mood, the walk back to my hotel helping my digestion and also giving me time to wonder how it was that I had found in the backstreets of a not too fashionable French coastal town a restaurant better than any I had ever been to in the UK.

I've opened 4 casks so you can just help yourselves and drink all you want

Went on brewery tour of Lodden Brewery last night, courtesy of work. This is the third brewery I have toured but the first time in England (others being one in Germany and Heineken in France).

Must say this was by a country mile the best. It really could not have had a better start, as the owner himself was the guide and he started of with the immortal words "I've opened 4 casks so you can help yourselves and drink all you want...".

So we did, trying 5 different varieties of beer and eating some excellent fish and chips. We also got a very good walkthrough of the brewing process with a lot of useful info (like the key part a pencil plays, the importance of temperature control to 0.1C ). It was good to see real hops being used as well. At Heineken they just use hop extract, at Lodden you could see the hops on the bottom of the brewing chambers. Wierdest bit of info was that brewers jealously guard their yeast, handing down from father to son over the generations. Apparently if the yeast was to change then the beer would be completely different so Lodden even go to the extent of keeping some of their yeast stored in liquid nitrogen to be used in case of disaster.

All in all a cracking night, though the next morning was a wee bit difficult....

Lodden info

TDF Journal Day 10 Tuesday 30th May Domfront>Rennes Tyred Out

Distance 122
Time 5:02
Climb 950
Weather Sun



I did not know it at the time but today marked the first, painful, appearence of two things that that would dog me off and on for the rest of my trip: punctures and "rue barees". The former is a bit ironic as the one thing I was a bit paranoid about at the beginning of my tour preparation was punctures, to the extent that when I started riding again I fitted "Slime" innertubes (which are meant to be self healing). Even despite these my first trips out on my mountain bike resulted in me pushing the bike home after numerous punctures so I ended up taking multiple inner tubes instead.

Anyway, now the weather was getting better and the roads smoother I decided to try blowing my tyres up a bit, so inflated them to 120psi. Theory of this is that the higher the pressure the quicker you go. Maybe but very shortly after doing this I found my tyres were flat. I used both my spares to sort out the problem and set off. Shortly after, bowling downhill through a town I noticed a shop specialising in tractors and cycles. I stopped and bought some replacement tubes.

This turned out to be a very lucky break as after a while I came across a sign saying "rue baree - deviation". Being a law abiding Brit I followed the deviation but regretted it because
a: it was hilly
b: it took me onto a newly tarmaced road with sharp gravel specifically designed to puncture bike tyres. So I ended up repairing the third puncture of the day (under the watchful gaze of an old farmer and his dog).

These unexpected delays put rather a dent in my schedule for the day. I had planned to stay overnight in Rennes, the largest city on my route. But my hoped for early arrival was getting later and later. Things deteriorated when I approached the city itself. I found that that my road in suddenly became a motorway and very dangerous for bikes. Worse there seemed to be no easy detours. I ended up following some farm tracks, very frustratingly being able to see the city in the distance but with no road leading to it.

My compass came in really useful at this point as I used it to take any road that headed west. Eventually I came to a more built up area and was able to follow some cycle paths that got me to Rennes city centre.

By now it was somewhat later than I had planned to arrive and I had no hotel. So I headed to the tourist office where I learned that Rennes was full. Fortunately there was a room at a hotel a short distance from the centre, though it was expensive. Beggers can't be choosers (provided they have a credit card) so I took the room and cycled off to find it. This involved going over lots of cobbled streets so I was thoroughly shaken up by the time I arrived.


Lecoq-Gadby



The hotel (Lecoq Gadby) proved to be small and chic (and dear). The rooms did not have numbers but names. I was in the smallest of them (Napoleon IIII, not sure if the emperor himself was as small as his more famous predecessor). I showered changed and headed off to explore Rennes, armed with a suggest pedestrian route to follow.

Rennes Tourist Info





Had a very pleasant time. Rennes is a very easy city to explore on foot,with a young vibrant feel due to its very large university. It reminded me a bit of Strasbourg (though not quite as nice..) My excursion was made even more pleasant as the evening was warm and sunny. I planned to eat later but the hunger pangs of my somewhat longer than expected day were starting to bite so I had emergency fillup at a fast food pasta bar (not something I had seen anywhere else). I also had time for a beer (large) and a quick call home at one of the many tables outside (as below).



I was away for a couple of hours and the walking had rekindled my appetite. I had a meal the hotel in a very swanky restaurant with some top notch grub/beverages. The Vire-Clesse wine was excellent but the star of the meal was some Epoisse cheese, very smelly, very nice. (Apparently it was called the "King of all cheeses" by Jean Brillat-Savarin the lawyer, politician and according to Wilkipedia possibly the most famous French gastronome of all, whose most famous quote was "Tell me what you eat and I will tell you who you are". Praise indeed!)

Viree-Clesse



Epoisee info

More Epoisee info

Munich:Aftermath

Well, slightly, belatedly, I can report we all returned safely from the beer capital of the world.

Some photos of our weekend

The night before, meal at a typical beerkeller:


On the day Russell and I prepare with a breakfast of quadruple expressos


Waiting to get into the tent. Phil convinced me to try out some of his sumo squats, useful preparation in case of later need to go to the lav. I end up looking like a constipated mime artist:


The definitive Munich picture, Stewart with some of his steins:


After the tent. We head for the Chinese garden and enjoy the sun. Note the pace it taking its toll, some glasses look suspiciously un-beer-like-coke-like:


Bathing in the park. What happens when beer and sun combine (taken before the police arrived...)




Evening round another table of beer and bavarian food. (Later discovered to be the same place as Hitler staged his putsch)


Our French member in typical pose:

Boire Chanter Vomir Mourir

Boire Chanter Vomir Mourir: Once again, despite previous vows of "never again" I am heading to Munich and the Oktoberfest for the weekend. This is the fifth or sixth time I have been (combination of old age and too much beer making me forgetful) and each time proves the old adage of being unable to organise a p***up in a brewery applies to our motley crew.

True to form the number of people saying they will definitely go and those actually making it to the Augustiner tent are two completely different things. So far this year one has dropped out due to forgetting he was due to go to a wedding that was planned 18 months in advance (fortunately not his own!) and another has been hit by the Schwengen treaty. (He is South African and discovered at the last minute he needs a visa to be allowed across the channel. Strangely the quickest way to get this was to get this is via the Finnish embassy and it will be ready in central London at 15.00 today. Unfortunately his plane takes off at 16.00 from Stanstead. All is not yet lost, there is an early flight tomorrow).

Still on the plus side we have one more Russell than was expected. And compared to previous years we are not doing too badly. Hopefully this trend will continue and we will

• Not arrive late at the tent and actually find somewhere to sit without having to resort to bribery and corruption
• Stay upright until after noon
• All go out together Saturday night
• All return safely Sunday

Should the above all happen this will mark a first and I will be able to retire from Beerfest duty and hang up my stein with pride. Otherwise it may be same time, same place next year....

Knackered Knees

My new found fitness and weight (lack of) led me to think I may be up for playing footy again. So I put myself down for the office 5-a-side game Wednesday.

Sadly my left knee could not take the strain. Felt very wobbly during the game and the following day swelled up and got very painful.

So very sadly will have to hang up the trainers and stick to what I do best. Worryingly the state of my knees may rule me out of my planned return to MTB events this coming weekend...

Southern Sportive Result

Just finished the Southern Sportive. Beautiful weather and everything went v. well apart from minor mishap in the bottom department prior to start....

Did well finishing in 5:19 AVS 28.8 kmh (which is almost identical to Highclere). Happy with this as though the course was easier it was also pretty much run as an individual time trial. I only cycled for a total of around 20km or so with other riders, rest of time it was solo, Highclere by contrast spent majority of time in fast company. Clearly not all sportives are the same.

Another Sunday another sportive

This coming Sunday plan to do the Southern Sportive
Web

Famous last words but looks a little less difficult than Highclere, it is certainly shorter. But means an earlier rise as starts in Petersfield just to the south of me.

Will be aiming for a gold standard at 5.50, weather forecast good so fingers crossed it stays that way...

TDF Journal Day 9 Monday 29th May Cormeille>Domfront I'm a cider drinker/Heading South

Distance 155k
Time 6:54
Climb 1525
Weather Sunny and a bit of wind

Had a good nights sleep but on waking found that rather strangely no water was coming out of any taps or the shower. Thought it may be a problem with my room so dressed and went downstairs where I found the manager (and chef) talking animately on the phone. I was soon joined by some other guests with same lack of water problem. When he put the phone down the manager explained that he had just been talking to the mayor. Apparently a pump had broken somewhere and this had stopped water flowing to a section of the town. It was being fixed and should be back on tap within an hour or so.

I must say this quite impressed me. Firstly that the hotel manager could know who to contact, secondly that they could pick up the phone and speak to them and, even more impressively, that they would know about the problem and say when it was going to be fixed. This seemed like quite a good system and might be worth considering in the UK.

The manager suggested we have breakfast, by the end of which normal service should be resumed on the water front. So we did and it was. Very impressive.
Suitably showered I checked out. The manager/chef must have appreciated my appreciation of French fromage as he said he was not charging me for the extra cheese course I ate last night. Very nice of him. I left in a good mood, stopping only to pop into a local shop for my habitual supplies of croissants and some food for the journey.

The ride was uneventful. The weather continued to show signs of improvement, with sunny spells more frequent than cloudy ones. There were one or two heavy showers about but the countryside was so flat that I could see them well in advance and plot my course to avoid them.
I reached Caen, but decided against going into the town centre, instead taking a detour round it. This marked the next major turn point of my trip as I would now start seriously heading due south, which apart from promising warmer climes, also meant that the wretched head wind would increasingly be a thing of the past.

My route took me through Pont D'Ouilly in the area of, appropriately for me, Suisse Normande.
Pont DOuilly info
More Pont Info
As the name suggests this town had a bridge (though over the river Orne not the Ouilly) and as I passed over it the view of the river below was so idyllic that the tourist overtook the cyclist and I had to stop. I negotiated, with some difficulty, the steps down to the river bank and spent happy half hour there, eating my food, taking in the view and generally feeling very good about the world.



I restarted and took a scenic tour through Normandy. As I passed along a country land a sign caught my eye. It advertised farm cider for sale. My bidons were close to empty and it seemed somehow appropriate to top them up with some local brew. So I went down the farm track and found a small cidery. The shop/stockroom was open but no-one appeared to be about. I stomped about and made some noise, then shouted a bit. No-one appeared. There were several thousand bottles (of cider and calvodos) on view and a price card so I thought maybe I was meant just to help myself and pay for what I took. I was just about to do this when the cider maker appeared. He was very friendly but somewhat bemused that a cyclist would want to buy some bottles. However eventually he understood and laughed as I topped up my bidons. He advised me against the doing the same when I got to Bordeaux as the police did not take too kindly to drunk cyclists.

Refuelled I set off again. One thing I had not thought of when filling my bidons was that cider is bubbly. After a few kilometres or less than smooth farm lanes therefore I was surprised to feel a sudden explosion of warm liquid between my legs. My first worry was that all this cycling had had unfortunate effects on my bladder but I then realised that the cider in one of my bidons had been shaken up so much it had reached critical pressure and blown the top off. Luckily there was a simple and enjoyable remedy to this. I drank enought cider from each bidon to leave room for expansion and carried on, a bit the merrier despite/because of having a sticky patch in my cycle shorts.

Eventually I reached Domfront, my resting place for the night. At first sight the Logis did not look particularly welcoming, being on the main road and not a very special building.

Domfront Logis

But in fact it turned out to be one of my more pleasurable hotel stays. Firstly it was run by a husband and wife couple who seemed to argue with each other constantly, but you got the sense that they had probably done so happily for all their married life and would probably continue to do so for the rest of their days. The wife was also an ardent anti-smoker. Strangely, for France, their hotel was completely "non-fumeur" with signs to this effect all over the place. On first glance the restaurant and menu did not seem very special either but in fact the food, cooked by the husband, was excellent. Classic, simple cooking with a strong local theme and ingredients. I am afraid I was not brave enough to try the tripe but had a lamb shank in beans that was delicious and enhanced by being served on an earthenware plate with a lid with a steamhole, that I had never seen anywhere before. To celebrate this lucky find I had a few more bottles of cidre....

Domfront Site

One thing that surprised me at the days end was how many metres I had climbed during the day. France was proving to be hillier than I had expected.