HAC4 vs Powertap

Finally sorting out a fixed bike is good news but gives rise to the question of how I log rides in WKO, since natch it has not got any power meter.

However I do have a HAC4 computer, which gives a measure of estimated power based on riders speed, weight and ascent. The manual that comes with the HAC says that this is accurate to +- 20W on climbs and +-40W on the flat.

I thought I would carry out a test to check this out. So yesterday I made two rides along the same 18km course, one with my fixed bike+HAC4 and the other with my Giant winter bike+Powertap.

Both bikes had the same tyres (newly fitted Schwalbe Marathon pluses) and both+me weighed pretty much the same 85kg (which was the weight I entered into the HAC)

The weather was cold but very still, with no wind to speak of.

I chose a course that took me out and back to Kingsclere, the next village. It consists of a short climb just after the start and again just before the finish. (see below). There are no junctions or other reasons to stop on the road so I could make the rides pretty similar. I did the first on the fixed then repeated on the Giant. For the second ride I used a constant gear with the same ration as the 42x18 on my fixed. I used HR to pace, trying to keep second ride same as second, taking both rides easy. The only issue I encountered was that I accidently switched my light on during the first couple of minutes on the fixed, which messed about with the HR until I switched it off.

(Course profile above showing 2 climbs and the rolling middle section.

Once done I downloaded the Powertap file into WKO and exported into a csv file so I could use Excel to compare. The HAC file was loaded into Hactronic, then I used Snagit to save the raw data into a txt file, again to be used in Excel (pain having to do this but don't know of way to save raw data with power).

Results were quite instructive. I managed pretty well in terms of HR as the graph below shows.
(HR comparison, Powertap is red HAC is green) The funny HAC data at the start of the ride can be seen but afterwards the two graphs pretty much track each other, being slightly offset due to differences in ride speeds)

The power readings make interesting viewing:

Here the green HAC line seems to track the red Powertap one quite well through the two climbs but in the middle, rolling, section is much smoother and consistently less than the Powertap. (The smoothing is probably due to the HAC sampling every 20secs rather than 1sec, but this does not account for the difference in outputs.)

In terms of numbers a comparison of the WKO evaluation of the two rides is below:

This confirms I did pretty well in keeping HR constant and also shows how the power measures (Work, TSS, NP and Power) are all 11>25% up when measured by Powertap.

Breaking the ride into sectors explains the difference a bit more:

The climbs show much better correalation between HAC and Powertap in terms of average. (Maxes will always be a problem for the HAC given its sample rate). However the rolling mid section shows the average power is significantly different, in fact pretty much by the 40W HAC say will happen.

I used this to play around with the HAC file. After a bit of trial and error I found that adding an arbitrary 20W on each HAC4 record with a gradient of between 1 and -4% yielded a TSS and average power prettty much the same as the Powertap and the graphs between the two were more alike. Most of my rides will be similar in terms of terrain so will use this as a frig factor for purposes of upload to WKO in future.

Riding Fixed

I finally got around to converting my Langster to a fixed wheel yesterday. This was a bit more complicated than expected, due to me also fitting Schwalbe Marathon Plus 28s so as to do all I could to guarantee that I would not get any punctures. These tyres were just a bit too big for the brakes and so I ditched the latter, since they are (I am told) redundant if you are riding fixed.

I did a cautious first run down the road to Kingsclere and back. After a while I got used to the fixed sensation and found everything bar going down hill good fun. I did a follow up ride on my winter Giant next and noticed I was a lot more aware of the pedalling action. So will continue with a few fixed excursions

My Year in Performance Management Retrospect

With the benefit of hindsight I produced a performance chart for my 2007 season as above. And it makes sense, at least the blue CTL line maps well onto my 3 key events.

The yellow TSB line is a bit less meaningful. I remember feeling great at the start of the Wessex so adjusted the starting value to 100 which made it postive around then.

Will pay this some more attention this year and see how it all pans out...

Getting to grips with power based training

It being the start of a new training season and my first with a Powertap, I thought it worth doing a bit of background reading.

Some excellent resources can be found here:
WKO 411

including a pretty difinitive introduction to the subject by Andrew Coggan
Coggan Power Intro

and Joe Friel's guide including power based drills is here
Friel Power Guide

As part of this I discovered a feature of WKO that I had not spotted before, the Performance manager. An explanation for this can be found here

Performance Manager

The terms used are a little complicated and, I think, slightly misleading.

Basically:
CTL = Chronic Training Load = Long Term Load: Default = 42 days
ATL = Acute Training Load = Recent Training Load: Default = 14 days

TSB = Training Stress Balance and links CTL+ATL. A positive number should mean being fresh and ready for action, a negative should mean being less so.

There are some examples included in the last link that explain how these interrelate.



The one above gives most easiest image to comprehend.

The line to focus on is the blue "CTL" line. You can see how it gradually builds through the season leading up to a peak that coincides with the riders main season target.

It will increase through the pink "ATL" lines gradually increasing in amplitude (reflecting the fact that training load is gradually increasing week by week).

The yellow TSB line is negative throughout this time then just before the target event shifts to go positive.

Overall this all seems to make a lot of sense and I will start using it this year to see how it helps addess one key question of how to best plan training to balance increasing load to increase performance without risking overtraining.

Wednesday 7th June Mauleon>Lurbe St Christu My first Hors Categorie

Distance 80
Time 4:12
Climb 1554
Cols Soudet
Weather Very Hot (still)

TDF 2006 Day 18 7th June Mauleon to Lurbe St Christau

http://www.bikely.com/

I had a good nights sleep but woke with butterflies in my stomach. Today was going to be a special day, my first ever climb up a "HC" mountain. HC = Hors Categorie which refers to the Tour de France classification of climbs.

Wiki: The French term primarily used in French races (most notably, the Tour de France) to designate a climb that is "beyond categorization", an incredibly tough climb. Most climbs are designated from Category 1 (hardest) to Category 4 (easiest), based on both steepness and length. A climb that is harder than Category 1 is designated as "hors catégorie".

I was planning to go in the deep end. I had never done a climb of Category 2 let alone a 1 and here I was planning to do one so hard it could not be categorised. The climb in question was the Soudet. Overall it climbs for 30km up 1300m which is beyond anything in the UK. Harder still is that the further you go the steeper it gets, the second 15km go up over 1000m at an average gradient of over 7%.

My nervous stomach meant me only having a small breakfast as I was eager to set off. The weather was hot again, but there was plenty of shade. Finding the route to the Soudet was easy and after an hour or so I saw the first sign on the climb proper.

As I made the first turning up the mountain I looked down and saw a couple of fit looking, shaven headed guys get some bikes out of a car. This was a bit worrying, I was not sure if I was going to make it to the top or what state I was going to be in. I remembered the embarassment when starting cycling of having to get off and push. If my attempt ended this way then I would prefer to keep the humiliation to myself.

This gave me a bit of a spur and I kicked on. True to the profile the first few km are not too bad but things get tougher after passing through St Embrace. They were even tougher for me as I took a wrong turning up a near vertical street, only to find it was a dead end and I had to retrace my steps.

I carried on and the going got harder. The signs by the side of the road counted down the kms to go but the gradients started to get steeper with 8s and 9s appearing. To add to the difficulty the road was being resurfaced. This was something I was going to have to get used to, roads all along my route were being repaired in advance of the tour. This meant that often my back wheel would spin on the newly laid gravel and at times I felt more as if I was mountain biking.

Still I pushed on and saw my first 10% km sign. Then 11%! This is an average over the next km. Now this is tough. In the UK people talk out 25% and 30% hills but the reality is that this only refers to the steepest section of the climb. For example I climbed the Devils Staircase in Wales during training and that had warning signs of 25% and bits of it were. But at the end of the day it was a 1km climb averaging at 11.5% and once done the climb is over. Now I was doing pretty much the same after several km of climbing and several more to go.

I engaged low gear and pushed on. At the end of the km the next sign came up with me praying it would not be another double digit gradient. My prayers were answered, a mere 8%. Then I discovered why people say the Pyrenees are tougher than the Alps, a statement I was to agree with by the end of my tour. Climbing is fundamentally about establishing a rhythm, keeping pedals turning and breathing going on a steady pace. In the Alps the climbs are longer than the Pyrenees but tend to be smoother with less changes of gradient. This makes establishing a rhythm not too difficult. While in the Pyrenees you get things like was just about to happen to me. Just after celebrating the fact that after 11%, 8% was going to mean a bit of a rest the road suddenly went downhill for a bit. This was double bad news, first it meant my rhythm went. Second it meant that the bit after the downhill meant regaining my lost height then adding more. I reckon it was more like 16% then 8% and nearly did for me.

But in fact this was the toughest bit and once over I knew I would make it to the top. The final couple of km was a long drag and I finally left the cover of the trees. At last I made it to the top. I was tired but not dead and full of elation. My first HC, done without stopping. To add to the achievement there was no sign of the bald headed blokes I saw at the start.

I phoned Mrs Miff to give her the good news and took time to savour my triumph and take in the view. Sadly the latter was not much to write home about, the top of the Soudet is pretty nondescript and sadly lacking in sources of refreshment.

So after a while I headed downhill. Fast. Very fast. Faster than I have ever gone in my life. My speedo was registering in the mid 80s kmh and I was having a great time. It was lunchtime and the road workers were heading for the valley and a bite to eat. This meant descending was a bit easier as I followed one of them down.

Descending HC mountains is as much of an experience as climbing them. Nothing in the UK can prepare you for the amount of time you spend shooting downhill which can get tiring both physically and mentally.

My first descent was nearly my last. As I headed round a corner I suddenly found the road had disappeared. The top layer of tarmac had been removed leaving just a layer of hardcore. I didnt have time to think which was probably a good thing. I just shot over a 6 inch drop and carried on over the hard core every bone in my body and bit of my bike shuddering. Somehow I managed to jump my bike up and over back onto the road.

I went downhill a bit more slowly after that, figuring if I was a cat I might be down to 8 lives.

After what seemed an age I finally got to the bottom of the Soudet. I stopped by a tabac and at last the June edition of Velo was out. This had the full tour route details so at last I could be sure I was following the real thing.

Then I looked for a hotel. My first choice was a posh one but this was already full of cyclists (in fact there was a moment of confusion as when I pulled up the receptionist assumed I was with this group and started showing me to my room).

So I cycled a bit more of my route and came across another hotel in Lurbe St Christau. This looked a bit dilapidated and I was one of only a handful of guests. But appearances can be deceptive. The guy running the hotel was very laid back and welcoming and it had a swimming pool by which I lounged and drank several beers. The for evening meal I ordered pizza, which was excellent, piled high with fresh ingredients.

My first HC and I felt grand. Ready for the challenge of tomorrow and yet more climbing.

LEL 2009 - 50 up target

I am a great believer in serendipity. That's what kicked off my TDF in the first place and has now led me to a new challenge. Right now I am doing some forward planning for 2008. In the back of my mind when doing this is the fact that this year, while being fun, did not have quite the same challenge as 2006, in that I never started something I would not be able to finish.

My 2008 plan aims to sort that a bit but mainly through the quantity/quality of the events I will be doing so my challenge is a relative one of time, rather than an absolute one of whether I will finish or not. So my main target for the year is the Marmotte in less than 7:30, which will be hard but covering known ground unlike my 2006 tour.

I am happy I decided to read the Audax UK winter magazine. I joined Audax mainly to save some hassle getting medical certificates for some of the events I was doing. However looking at the rides they planned I had already decided to do a few this coming year as part of my training.

When you join Audax you receive a quaterly magazine full of sterling tales of riders and pictures of cold feet. I don't usually read it but on return from work yesterday I decided to scan it over tea, mainly to read about the Paris-Brest-Paris, an epic 1200km event, with a history dating back to the dawn of cycling. Most of the magazine was given over to accounts of the event ranging from heroic to inspiring to downright boring. Overall I was reconfirmed in my intent to give this a go at some time in the future. However since the event only runs every 4 years the earliest I could do this would be 2011.

Then a notice in the magazine caught my eye. London-Edinburgh-London 2009, a challenge to cycle between said towns the year after next. That means cycling 1400km in 93.4(? why .4: ask the organisers?) hours, so even more than PBP. I was attracted by the coincidence of me happening on this while musing about future challenges, coupled with the fact that earlier this year Mrs Miff and I spent a week in Edinburgh, thoroughly enjoying the place. However the main coincidence is that in 2009 I will have turned 50. So aiming for the LEL 2009 (as I will now call it) feels like a suitable landmark challenge, a challenge I will be assisted in achieving if things go according to plan and I leave the ratrace come 50.

So today I have printed out the entry form and am just about to send it off along with various bits of bumf.

One wierd thing. Entry includes a number of benefits including bag drops, energy bars and a free water bottle. But also 2 pairs of ear plugs?? Guess these are needed to help you sleep but given you will be cycling 20 hours a day or so then not sure there will be much of a problem sleeping when chance arises. From all I have heard main sleep issue is doing it while cycling.

Anyway I have a new challenge...watch this space.

Tuesday 6th June Dax>Mauleon Over the first (little) Pyrenee

Distance 135
Time 6:35
Climb 1864
Cols Osquich
Weather Very hot

TDF 2006 Day 17 6th June Dax to Mauleon Licharre

http://www.bikely.com/

Exhausted by my long ride I had a very good nights sleep. I awoke and breakfasted. I was, by a comfortable margin, the youngest person in the hotel. Dax is famous for its "cures", a popular continental experience that involves spending time drinking or bathing in smelly water. Despite my fatigue I did not particularly relish trying this out so I set off, somewhat excited as today was going to be the day I did my first "big" hill in the Pyrenees.

It took me a while to escape from Dax but once I did I made good progress until I tried taking a short cut. I should have known better as a rule of mine is that short cuts make for long journies but I ignored at my peril. My map showed a route that meant cutting off a section of road by going up hill. The hill was steep and at the to came to a crossroads. This wasn't on the map so I followed Sigrists law of being lost: (If lost and at a crossroads take the uphill route as if you are wrong you wont feel too bad). So I headed uphill and hit a farm with a loose mad, albeit small, dog. This chased me and I sprinted to the summit then hurtled down the other side. This bought me to:

• Another farm
• A dead end
• Another dog on the loose, this time very big.

The latter did not chase me. It simply eyed me up and down as if deciding which bit would taste best. With as much dignity as possible I did a u turn and sprinted back up hill before it could make up its mind. Exhausted I reached the top of the hill. And the farm. And the mad loose dog. That chased me again over the other side. I hammered as fast as I could and shot back down and through the crossroads.

After a while I stopped. Completely lost. Thanks to my compass I knew which direction I was travelling in but not which of the roads that made a maze on my map. I carried on, hoping to find some habitation, free of dogs, that would get me back on track.

Eventually I came to a stone masons. Several chaps were hard at work inside but they stopped to show me the correct route. This got me to a village where I managed to sneak into an Intermarche 2 minutes before closing to grab a bite of lunch.

It was getting increasingly hot as I pedalled on. To add to my woes my gear changing was becoming tricky as it seemed to be getting difficult to get the chain to stick to one cog on my rear cassette. Eventually the chain came off . Putting it back on I got a rude surprise. It seemed to be coming to pieces. A number of the little pins that hold the links together where loose and poking out. I guess this was the consequence of all the km plus the rain in Belgium.

Fortunately I had stopped just in front of a petrol station. So I was able to carry out a messy bodge by using my multi-tools chain tool to poke the pins back in then buy some oils and cleaning rags for the bike and my hands.

I carried on, negotiating my way through a few rue barres until eventually I took a turn leading to the col Osquich. This is a diddy col, a 3rd cat 500m pimple. However it was my first official col of the tour and I approached it with some trepidation, the more so as it was getting very hot.

There were helpful signs at the side of the road telling me distance covered and % gradient to come and I counted these down until I reached the summit. There was a restaurant there and I stopped for a beer and to take in the view, basking in the sun and the glory of making the climb.

After a while I continued to Mauleon. I had booked into a hotel in the centre of the village. The hotel was great, very old and feeling like a castle. Dinner was had in an open courtyard at the centre of the hotel and I ate and drank like a lord, looking forward (and with some fear) to the next day when I would be climbing a real mountain for the first time in my life.

Tour of the Black Mountains 2007

Map here: http://www.bikely.com/maps/bike-path/Tour-of-the-Black-Mountains-2007

The course:

Had a thoroughly hard but also enjoyable weekend. Did what I expect to be my final sportive of the year and it turned out to be the best.

The event was the "Tour of the Black Mountains", starting from Abergevenny and heading north then east of Brecon, then south and a series of climbs past a number of reservoirs to return to base.

The course (set by the same guys that do the Wessex) looked a bit of a challenge. 115 miles, a big old hill just after the start, then a long stretch on rolling A road, then lots of hills. Then right at the end another long climb.

In the couple of weeks beforehand I was dreading the weekend. The weather was truly awful and the prospect of riding all day in the wet welsh mountains held little appeal. However the closer the day came the better the forecast. In the end it turned out perfect. Dead lucky, second long ride in Wales of the year and both blessed with great weather.

I stayed overnight at the Angel Hotel in Abergavenny:

http://www.angelhotelabergavenny.com/

Once again I struck lucky, another great independent hotel with superb food. Learning from the Wessex I kept things simple, just ordering some penne. But even this simple dish was great.

Due to it being so popular I had to eat in the lounge and as a result had an interesting encounter with a local chap, with who I spent a happy half hour hearing a bit about the local history and looking at some really very good photos of steam trains taken in the area.

Prior to checking in I had checked out the ride doing a 70k circle round the start/end. Glad I did because the last 1km of the first climb was very steep which was good to know. Also the run into the finish included a couple of nasty little steep bits.

Only problem with this reco ride was that it did mean going to bed a wee bit more tired than I had hoped.

Woke on time, ate some Frosties (fortunately breakfast was not served until 8 so I did not have the tricky decision of whether to miss what I am sure would be a great "full" in search of cycling prowess). I donned my "Swiss" top for its first real outing, reasoning that having to ride for my country may spur me on to greater heights...

Very short drive to the event so I arrived, unaturally for me, early with plenty of time for last minute fettling. My cunning plan was to go off right on the dot at 8.00. This was the time set for those expecting to go under 6 hours. Not that I expected for a minute to do this time. But if I set off with this group and stayed with them up the long first climb, this would be the perfect group to stick with along the A road. Worst case and I fell behind I could join the next group along, who would probably be riding around my normal pace in any case.

Best laid plans...when I rolled up to the start at 7.55 a lot of riders had already set off. And I could tell from a short look round those with me that they were not the stuff sub 6 hour times are made of. I cursed a bit and assumed I had missed the first quick group. So I hurtled off, plan now being to catch them. Or if not to find riders going at similar pace during the climb and stick with them. This meant first 15km or so were a bit frenetic. I was catching and overtaking groups all over the place. Finally just before the end of the climb I settled into a group that seemed to be moving quite quickly. The presence of a motorbike just ahead seemed to indicate this was the lead group. Happily I had no problem sticking with them on the steep section but then just as I was relaxing a bit my pedals stopped turning. I looked down and realised my chain had come off....so I stopped, fixed it and restarted ASAP then hurtled at breakneck speed down the hill to rejoin the group I was with.

I made it, albeit with a bit of effort (on the first 2k of the descent I averaged over 200W with several 500-600W spikes after).

Still at the bottom of the climb I was pretty much back on plan. Or so I thought until I reached down to get a drink. My hand came up empty and on looking down I found I had lost one of my two sports drinks bottles. I guessed it must have become dislodged in my frenetic descent. This was pretty bad news because

• Sunny weather is great for riding but it tends to make you thirsty
• The first drinks stop was only 15km away but exactly at the point where I most wanted to be in a group. Stopping for drink meant riding alone.
• In an attempt to travel light (and being honest show of my Swiss top), I was not carrying my Camelback.

I had 500ml of drink to last 70km. Looking at my map I thought that the second drinks stop was going to be at the bottom of the second climb. So I stuck with the group when they skipped the frist stop and headed off down the A40 west of Brecon.

The group proved to be reasonably quick and we averaged 32kph on this stage. Not bad as the road is rolling with an uphill trend and the wind was blowing against us. Sadly, as often seems to be the case, it was not a very well organised group. One guy did about 50% of the work and I guess I along with a couple of others did the rest. 4-5 others just sat at the back (I guess they had the same plan as me....)

Come the end of the A40 the second climb started. The guy doing most of the work split from the front with another chap. I lost a bit of momentum on a turn and dropped from the back of the group. At first I was a bit distressed about this but happy to say I kept a cool head and got into a steady climbing rythm, being very conscious that I did not want to overcook myself going to hard. The climb was a relatively steady one of 5km at 4.5% and I motored along at 280W. Reassuringly the gap to the group steadied, then as the climb continued narrowed. Finally as the climb neared the summit I went through the group and actually finished on top with just the couple of others ahead. I could see one of them so I engaged 53x11 and set of in pursuit. This bit was fun, I did a 6k stretch at 48kph average (though an average power of 215W). I eventually caught the guy ahead. As we moved on to the third climb I thought I would be pretty sure to be able to stick with a group to the next drinks stop.

However my maths was slightly out and I found we were climbing again with no drinks stop in sight. Climb 3 came in 2 halves. During the first half I was getting thirstier and thirstier and when it kicked in again I had to take it a bit easy. (Part 1 was 272W, part 2 234W). When I got to the top and found still no drinks I realised I would have to throttle back. I let the group go on and motored along at a more steady pace, doing climb 4 at 244W.

When I got to the drinks stop at the top I had to take several minutes to drink as much as I could and find out that unfortunately there were no spare bidons.

When I set off from climb 4 I was alone and spent most of the rest of the ride catching/being caught by various groups. I was wary of running out of drink so kept things easy, climbing in the 240s rather than 260s up climbs 5 and 6. At the top of 6 a second very welcome drinks stop was made.

We then swooped down for a long section. So long in fact I thought that the profile was wrong as it promised a final climb. But then we headed off the main road and sure enough the final climb came. It turned out to be a cracker, very much like a mini Alp. My Powertap turned out to be very helpful, I set out to average 260W and as a result made it comfortably. I was joined by another rider and together we swooped down to the final run into the finish.

As I knew from yesterdays recce this had a couple of nasty little climbs, but knowledge gained helped a lot and got me and my fellow rider back to the finish where I was rewarded with a gold medal

Next years training plan is taking a bit more shape. On reflection I decided to give the Stryeproven a miss as the logistics of getting there/back will be a bit tricky and probably best left for another year when I have a bit more time.

So I have decided to focus on sportives and try to do at least a couple in France as well as UK.
My main events the moment the Wessex end May and Marmotte in July. Latter should be a bit of a blast as it reckoned to be one of the hardest sportives on the calendar.
For the Wessex I was planning a target of under 19 hours but latest info on the event shows its going to be shorter than this year. So I think I will aim for a target AVS of 30kph. This will be a bit of a tall order but may be doable. This year I managed 30.6 for day 1, though only 26.1 for day 3. (Day 2 was a washout due to wind and rain).

Setting a target for the Marmotte is a bit trickier. The event is 175km or so long and 4500m or so climbing. Looking over my rides this year I have done similar day rides and averaged 21kph which would give a time of 8:20. However in the excitement of doing a sportive I would expect to go a bit quicker than this, so will set a target of AVS 24kph and a target time of 7:30. It will be interesting to see how I end up doing.....(famous last words)

My first MAP

Did my first MAP test a couple of nights ago. This is a test to exhaustion that you can use to set power training zones (see here for info: http://www.cyclecoach.com/pageID-articles-Power_Guidelines.htm)

My first MAP




The test involved me pedalling away on my turbo, gradually increasing power until I could pedal no more. I started at 150W and increased by 5W every 12 seconds until I faded at around 375W. Apart from the pedalling the hardest thing about the test was checking the watts I was meant to be doing vs what I actually was. I tended to go a bit over all the time so my MAP score was 382W (peak 1 minute). This is "good" according to the site for my 73kg weight. Its a bit under where I think I should be, partly because I have had a few weeks of taking things easy and partly due to me getting used to the mechanics of the test. Will be interesting to see how things go next time....

Monday 5th June Montendre>Dax The Longest Day

Distance 238
Time 9:05
Climb 647
Weather Very hot

TDF 2006 Day 16 5th June Montendre to Dax

http://www.bikely.com/

I wake earlyish still not sure of travel plans following the sad news of my Aunt's death. I want to go back to the UK for the funeral but this means less cycling days and needing to sort out logistics of how to get from/to the UK.

Over breakfast with the family I find out I was lucky to hit on their B&B as there is nothing much by way of accommodation quite a way south. I venture a thought that is going through my head, to cycle down to Dax today. They confirm its well over 200k and think its way to far. But I am not sure. Its flattish and the only way I can make it back to the UK and complete my tour is to get myself well ahead of schedule. This looks like a way to gain a day in one full stroke.

So I head off south. I keep up a very good pace averaging over 30kph for the first couple of hours. The going is fair but no easy since I am heading through some of the most famous vineyards in the worlds. I pass many a sign offering "degustation gratuit" in a cave but have to pass them all up. Quite apart from the need to press on I don't think I would be so welcome, a fly bespattered cyclist is not going to buy many bottles of grand cru.

My average speed drops, mainly due to the roads east of Bordeaux being a maze, meandering here and there with few signs. At one stage I get passed by another cyclist. I speed up a bit to get a tow, today I need all the help I can get.

Around midday I check my progress and think Dax is doable. I phone ahead to book a hotel. Shortly after I lose time by getting hopelessly lost in the vineyards, eventually finding my way with the help of a charming old couple.

One thing I had not factored into my plans was it being a bank holiday (Pentecost I believe). Watering holes were few and far between and the weather was getting very very hot. I was starting to get desperate when I passed by a bar that seemed open. As I stopped and entered a host of firemen/ladies left (not I am glad to say on business, they had been having some bash or other). I had some baguettes and lots of beer and pushed on.

South of Bordeaux is quite amazing. Its a vast regional park "Landes Gascogne" http://www.parc-landes-de-gascogne.fr/

Cycling through it is very strange. The going is dead easy, because it is completely flat. But also strangely hard because the roads are arrow straight through the middle of unending forest. So no matter how long you cycle you dont seem to be making any progress.

After a while the tedium is relieved when another cyclist flashes past. I put on a sprint and catch him. Turns out he is a triathlete who goes in for Iron man competitions, including those in mountains. He is super fit, out doing intervals. When he speeds up he leaves me for dead but recovers and lets me catch up. He is heading to Pissos (confusingly for the French pronounced piss-oss) where we split. He is heading for a swim in a nice cool lake, something I would appreciate rather than the mile upon mile of hot forest I have to get through.

Progress is rapid though and I head down through Morcenx to pick up the autoroute. Not planning to ride down it but a road runs parallel to it that makes navigation easy. However I also see a sign that says its 46km to Dax. Knowing I will be late at the hotel I phone ahead, they say fine but warn me that dinner stops being served at 9.00 which gives me just under two hours to cover the remaining distance. Should be easy but its been a long day.

Push hard and in fact make it with 30 mins to spare. Still I am the only guest in the dining room and the chef is anxious to finish. So I just order a melon and steak. I have certainly enjoyed my meal. 238km in a single day is more than any stage of this years tour and a PB by a comfortable margin for myself.

Only niggle is that my right toe is giving me real gip. I put it down (wrongly as it later turns out) to road vibration and me only wearing one sock. Needless to say I have little difficulty sleeping.

Sunday 4th June Rochefort>Montendre Good day sad night

Distance 150
Time 6:06
Climb 801
Weather Sunny

TDF 2006 Day 15 4th June Rochefort to Montendre

http://www.bikely.com/

Fantastic breakfast. Quite the best of the whole trip despite the La Fayette being "only" a 2 star hotel. Fresh fruit salad, carpaccio ham, huge range of cereals, great fresh bread and croissants. Wonderful.
Leave Rochefort by the "pont transpondeur", a quite unique contraption that is a cross between a bridge and a cable car.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transporter_bridge


Perfect for cycles as takes minor roads out of Rochefort. Meet French/German couple who are also on cycling trip. German is pedalling a fixed gear bike along with trailer, looks hard work!
Wave goodbye to them but not for long as I confidently head for the area of France I know best after the Alsace I get lost and end up a dead end in some oyster beds. Return to point I got lost to see the couple again. Wave goodbye again and then think I have taken wrong direction into Marennes so again see them going in as I go out. Take bypass round Marennes to bridge in direction of Normoutier and guess what I see them again coming out of Marennes. Wave goodby for final time and head over to Ronce. Cycle down familar road along coast to La Palmayre/Royan.

This road brings back many happy memories of camping holidays past. There is a hill on hte road that I used to think was tough. It goes up about 30m at 8% or so...so things have changed a bit!

It was along this road that I noted in my diary the problem of using sun tan lotion (now the weather was getting so good): you become a mobile fly trap and end up with face and arms spattered with dead insects. After a few days of this I gave up on the lotion.

South of Royan I left familiar territory as I cycled south down the mouth of the Gironde. I needed to stop for lunch but there were not many villages. However I lucked upon a restaurant by the side of the road that looked very unprepossessing but turned out to be excellent. Think it was called Moulin de Monards. I remember particularly how kind the waiter was, not looking at all nonplussed by having a bespattered cyclist turning up and offering to fill my bidons (an offer I gratefully took up as it was getting very warm).

I push on in the afternoon finally reaching Montendre. I found most of the little towns and villages on my tour to be quite pleasant, but this was an exception. It was very dreary with a main strip that was more reminiscent of a mid-West American town rather than a French one. There were a couple of hotels but both were very run down to the extent that it was not even obvious they were still functioning.

I gave both a miss and resigned myself to having to head further south, which was a bit worrying as I was heading into countryside off the beaten tourist track.

Luck however was on my side because as I followed the road out of time I spotted a "Chambre D' Hote" sign pointing down a gravelled road. I knew what this was. It had been mentioned by one of my French colleagues when I had told them what I was planning. Chambre D'Hote is the French equivalent of Bed&Breakfast.

I descended and scrunched up this until I came to a large detatched house. There were clear signs of life, washing was on the line and windows were open. I scrunched up to the door, noticing as I did a lot of donkies in an ajoining field. I rang the bell a few times but no joy. Just as I was about to give in a lady appeared. She spoke no English but my French was more than sufficent to establish that: yes she had a room and yes I could stay the night. I thanked my lucky stars and followed her to a super large room at the back of the house. The lady explained that they did not serve dinner but recommended a restaurant back in Montendre.

All was seeming pretty OK. I phoned Mrs M only to receive some very sad news. One of my aunts back in the UK had died. I was especially sad about this because she was my favourite who I had known all my life as she lived in the same city as my parents. She was a wonderful person, who everyone seems to have been loved by all who met her. Typical of her was the way she reacted in the face of the cancer that would eventually kill her, somehow managing to keep smiling despite how she must have suffered.

I finished the phone call with my head in a bit of a whirl. I took my maps with me to my meal realising I would have to do some replanning as I felt I wanted to come back to the UK for the funeral that would be taking place in a few days time.

Raid Pyreneen - Fun, Sun & Snow

Did the Raid Pyreneen late September 2007. In a nutshell this is some 730km and 12000m of climbing in 100 hours or 4 and a bit days.
My trip was organised through Cycle Pyrenees (Roquefort Cycle lodge) who had put me up during my TDF 2006 ride. I had a great time, in no small part due to the magnificent support offered throughout the trip by Nick, Austin and Sal. Anybody wishing to do the Raid or sample the beautiful Ariege region should get in touch with them:
http://www.cyclepyrenees.com/lodge.html
The final words Sal said to us before we set off to the Atlantic coast were "remember you are on holiday, you are meant to be enjoying yourselves." These words were put to the test in the next 4 days as we rode through rain and shine (and snow), up and over some very large mountains. But they proved true. We certainly enjoyed ourselves. Here are a few photos as proof.



Day 1. First coffee stop. Stopped for coffee in the morning of the first day after having set out from Hendaye in the morning. Despite a grey start this proved to be a lovely sunny day's riding.





Over the Osquich. The first large(ish) climb of the tour. Brought back happy memories as just over a year ago this was my biggish climb of the tour. Then the restaurant at the top was open, this time it was closed but made up for the fact by having great views across the plain below.




Vital recovery drinking. The potential for beer is often, I think, not fully recognised by the cycling fraternity. The French have a great term for a pint. They call it a "serieux" (serious beer). I needed one as this stop was just before I made a detour to go up the Marie-Blanque via the steep side. Great ride, especially the Plateua de Benou on the other side.



Day 2. The weather took a turn for the worse and we climbed the Aubisque in cloud and that did not rise on the ascent of the Tourmalet as can be seen from picture aside. We had a "secret control" at the top of the Aubisque which gave us the chance to meet the organisers of the Raid (and have some vin chaud..)





Classic top of Tourmalet picture. Three guys here are my companions for the trip, for them it was first time over 2000m so a bit of a landmark. I am not in frame as I had already started off downhill. I had a few ghosts to bury following my fall last year and wanted to get the descent over and done with. Remembered Mongie but could not find exactly where I fell.


Day 3: Having some fun on top of the Peyresourde. Definitely more fun than last time I was here. This is a tough old climb, especially when conditions are bad. Still at least this time I made it to the top without having to count the white lines on the side of the road. Bitterly cold though and so we hung out for an hour or so in the cafe on top of the col. Owner there is a bit of an eccentric and has made lots of wooden toys/games for his customers to play with. Not sure quite why but good fun, certainly a break from cycling.




Coming over the Portet Aspet. The steepest climb of the raid with sections of 18% or so. Kept pace with Davy up this climb and we both enjoyed it. Both also agreed that though tough the Crouzette is tougher.





Day 4: Snow forecast so I had a cunning plan to keep my head warm and dry. This involved putting a tesco bag over my helmet.




Strangely others in the party seemed to find this funny....








Coming over the Port. Conditions prove the value of my headgear.





Strangely though others still seemed to find this funny.









Our support van. This became a welcome sight throughout the trip. Plan had been for just Nick to accompany us, given we were only 4, but his van developped a fault so we had Austin and his van for company as well. Both offered great support, encouragement (and amusement) throughout the trip.




Cycling in a winter wonderland. Hard to believe this is just 2 days after the first pictures and less than 24 hours before the ones below. We had thought that the Puymorens, our final big climb, would be closed due to snow. Luckily it wasnt so we were able to say we rode the whole way, despite conditions.





Top of the final col. And very very cold. Still just a couple of hours later it was sunny...









Day 5: Journey's end. From memories of last years tour to earlier memories of camping holidays. Our final half day involved cycling down the south Med coast through and past many of the places we had spent on camping holidays. That said we had never made it as far as Cebere, the last village before Spain so this was new for me.



Final finish, flying the flag for Newbury RC.









Classic end of Raid photo. Cycled from the Atlantic to the Med.




Not bad....





And a well earned meal......

Raid Pyreneen - Warm up

Did the Raid Pyreneen late September. This was a great trip organised through the Roquefort Cycle lodge/Bikepyrenees.

I arrived a couple of days before the ride. A couple of Irish guys were there already and we had a ride out together up the Cols Ares and Latrape. The weather that day was fantastic and we hoped it was going to stay that way.

Unfortunately next day, the last before our transfer to Hendaye and the Raid start, we woke up to a cold misty day. The Irish chaps needed to go to St Giron so I rode the day solo, checking out the quite scary Crouzette and riding down to Foix.

On my way back I went over the Port and up the very (4km 12%) steep Peguere. On the descent down the Crouzette to the lodge I met the Irish guys coming up. We met later for dinner. They had set some PBs on the trip already in terms of height/distance. They agreed the Crouzette was another in terms of sheer difficulty.

Raid Dolomites - Conclusion

Having a blog can be a bit of a bind when you fall behind...

So I will keep things a bit shorter and try to stay up to date with events.

So just to wrap up the Dolomites raid. When last blogged I was at the end of day 7 in Selle Gardena.

We had a good night there, best meal of the trip.

Day 8 was biggest day. The standard route involved 4 climbs over 2000m, the last being the evil Gaiu (10km at 9%). I thought I would make it a bit more interesting by adding an excursion to the Marmalade. Ended up being a hell of a long day, with me doing over 4000m for the first time. Only just made it into Cortina in time to beat the rain (some others didnt make it). Cortina notable for first sighting of R8 (not keen, too clinical for my taste).

Day 9 was other end of scale. Woke up to torrential downpour so first thing I had to do was buy some waterproofs. Buying in Cortina proved expensive but the Gore stuff I got lived up to its claim of keeping me dry. Day involved a climb up to Tri Cime, which is daft for a Raid as it is not on the road to anywhere, just straight up a mountain. Its very steep and this combined with the appalling weather meant I was only one of 4 from our party who got to the top. I was luckiest as the sun shone while I was there. Others had rain or snow.

Day 10 was the day I had been looking forward too since realising Zoncolan was an option on the route. Set off in cold weather and after descent from the first climb of the day (Ciampigotto, pretty big in itself at 17km/6%) I had to spend an hour or so in a cafe warming up.

However sun started to shine by the time I got to Ovaro and the Zonc.

Climb was the highlight of the trip. Had great weather, sun had come out but it was not too hot. No traffic up the road and once I got started and into a rhythm I found I could make it up by mashing my 30x23. Road was quiet and still had the graffiti from the Giro. Its quite a different climb from the more established "greats", being mostly in forest on a narrow winding road with few hairpins until the very top. Just before the top the forest opens out and the road flattens for a bit until you pass through a couple of tunnels to take a final few hairpins to the top.

Only spectators to my effort were a herd of cows. No refreshments at the top, but great views which you can savour as the descent starts quite flat before becoming very steep.

After Zonc its downhill all the way to Udine.

Day 11. Bit of an anti-climax. Only have 90km to do, all flat. Started as a group and stopped for a coffee after only 500m. Eventually headed off down a long straight main road. Dawdled along until joined by New Zealanders, things just getting interesting when I punctured for first time in 4000km. After fixing I headed off in search of more interesting scenary and came across a hill that had been a frontier in the first world war. It gave great views onto the mountains in Slovenia. Then headed down to Trieste and the end of the trip proper. As chance would have it as I came into the town I met up with some of the others. Celebrated at a pub which I only later found out was called "Martin", so somewhat fitting....

Winter draws on - time to think of summer

The NRC trip to Wales pretty much marks the end of 2007 as far as cycle events go. So I will clean the cow poo off my bike, put it away for winter and start using my winter bike and single speed.

I will also start to think about what to do next year. Fortunately I was assisted in this by sharing a car with Steve from the NRC. He has been riding all his life and in his time has, quite literally, ridden pretty much every ride there is to do, many more than once. Most impressive is probably doing the P-B-P 4 times (P-B-P will be on the to do list next time it runs in 2011). He mentioned some interesting tours in the UK one in the Lake District, the other in Scotland. Both are Audax "Permanents" which means you can do them whenever you like so I will do one or other (or both) in gaps in next years plans.

He also mentioned a tour of Picardy which, running as it does in north France, gives the option of riding to the event, doing it and riding back which would be fun.

Also he has done the Trondheim-Oslo Strkyeproven which looks excellent on a number of fronts: it's in Norway where I have never been, its in June so you spend the whole day in sunlight. You need this as the event is 580km long which, if I did it, would be a comfortable PB on the distance in a day front (my current being around 240km).

So pondering to be done.....

Young again in Wales

Spent the weekend in Wales on NRC tourette. Went back to a youth hostel for the first time in 30 years to find they had changed a lot since was last there. Excellent 3 course evening meal was on offer with choice of local beers (I tried all 4 on offer, as one has to sample the local culture when travelling)

This was my fourth cycling foray into Wales and my luck with the weather continued. We stayed dry the whole time and even saw a bit of sun. First days riding resulted in slight cock up as the two of us ahead blithley sailed by a sign "to the golf course" not realising it was also the road we were meant to be following. Much fruitless searching the Welsh countryside for missing members followed without success. So we made our way back alone and, by the simple expedient of taking every left turn we came to + asking the natives arrived back at the YHA.

Sunday we managed to stick together. I revisited some of the route I followed in the Tour of the Black Mountains, including my 3rd climb of 2007 up Gospel Pass. It was shrouded in mist and not sure if it was this fact or me simply getting fitter but it seemed a lot easier. This despite me eschewing my little gear for the entire trip so doing all in 39*23.

The descent to Hay allowed us to visit an excellent cafe where I indulged in both apple crumble and custard plus some super Welsh cheese. Our route back to the YHA involved several meandering and the inevitable (given Dave was leading) a section on a road with grass growing down the middle.

All in all the weekend involved some 170km of riding with 2000m of ascents. So not bad if not quite the Pyrenees

I saw this picture hanging on the wall of the Roquefort Cycle Lodge. It was taken by Austin during the 2005 tour in the Pyrenees. It left me gobstruck as I think its one of the best pro cycling pictures I have ever seen and Austin kindly gave me a copy to keep (which I scanned so not the best quality I am afraid)

Reasons for this are

• Firstly its just a great cycling picture. The riders are neatly framed by the motor bike on the right and the fans on the left. Most of the movement is coming from the fans who are all in motion while the riders, in contradiction to the reality, look static. But because of this the picture appears to almost be in 3D with the riders coming out of the middle of the picture.
• Secondly in the context of the 2005 tour. Examine the faces of the riders. Even if you know nothing of cycling or cyclists one face stands out, with an expression of steel hard focus while all around other faces show signs of effort and exertion. The face is of course that of the rider in yellow and goes some way to explain why he is on his way to winning his 7th victory in a row.
• Thirdly in the context of later tours. The other recognisable riders in the picture are Kloden, Ulrich, Mayo, Landis, Leipheimer, Vinokorov and (I think right at the back) Rasmussen. So with the exception of Kloden/Leipheimer, you have the full house of disgraced big names 2006/2007.
  
  

Organised vs Go it alone touring

I have now done two tours, one go it alone "credit card" touring, the other an organised tour. There are pros and cons to each but at the moment I am tending towards preferring the go it alone kind. Partly this is down to my nature, I am comfortable being just in my own company and independent/resilient enough to cope with the vicissitudes and adventures that touring will bring.
The benefits I expected from touring as part of a group were:

- Not having to carry my own luggage
- Not worrying about route planning/getting lost
- Not worrying about finding somewhere to stay at the end of the day
- Getting support during the ride (food/drinks etc)
- Riding with others so flat sections will be quicker and climbs more fun
- Getting a sense of shared achievement when tour is complete

In practice these benefits did not really materialise.

Luggage: true I did not have to carry my own stuff but as a result ended up taking more stuff with me and I travelled with a bike box. I actually missed the sense of travelling light and packing up all my "worldly poscessions" at the start of each day. In terms of AVS and climbing not having the extra weight of luggage helped a bit but not a huge amount. Now I tend to look at power as much as speed in terms of guaging how well I am riding. Given this having luggage doesn’t really matter.

Route planning: We followed a standard randonee and all the route info was printed on a carnet I could have got myself. The maps we got were useless, the first thing I did was buy some decent ones of my own. I missed the detailed route planning that you have to do when going it alone. For future tours, organised or not, I will buy maps in advance and plan the route myself.
Finding somewhere to eat/drink: In terms of convenience the organised tour was as much a hindrance as a help. Directions to the hotels were not always clear and some of them were in daft places from a cyclists viewpoint (prize for this is using a motel situated on a road were cyclists are not meant to ride). Quality was OK but not better than what I experienced using the Logis/Rough Guides. Food was again OK but not as good as when I had the freedom to choose where and what I ate myself.

Getting support: Did not really happen. The group was too big and too mixed abilities for one lorry to provide effective support and in any case this did not seem to be part of the package (e.g.. not even basic tools like a track pump were available.)

Riding with others: The group for my trip was of mixed ability and as a result the benefits I had hoped for did not arise. On flats we tended to go slowly and on climbs the group quickly fragmented. The itinerary was conservative but even so many wanted to start early each day to be sure to get to the finish. As a result of this after a couple of days trying to ride with a group I gave up and decided to go it alone, preferring a lie in and leisurely breakfast to an early start and taking opportunities to depart from the route and add a few extra climbs when they arose. Despite this I usually ended up amongst the early finishers each day.

Getting a sense of shared achievement: The mixed abilities, hardness of the route and weather we encountered meant most of the group bailed out at some point or another on the tour. This started remarkably early on. Some actually started the tour without any intention of trying to ride it all, others got in the lorry as soon as the second day. In the end only five of us rode the full route.

It may be that the tour I was on was an exception. I will be going on a second shortly and this may offer a different view. I expect at least the support will be better as at the end of one day we are being offered a massage! So time will tell. But based on experience so far I will be more likely to go it alone than with an organised tour in future.

Raid Dolomites Day 7

As per previous days I was last up. I did not feel too great so stayed behind for some extra coffees and water. Eventually I set off but only to find the LBS where I got some spare break pads and some oil for my chain which was looking the worse for wear following yesterdays trial and tribulations.

Once on the road proper the day started as usual with a climb, of a pass called the Presule. I surprised myself on this as despite starting the day under the weather I climbed it very well keeping up a solid 246W throughout the climb. I was feeling a lot better by the time I got to the top and consequently hurtled down the ascent and up the next climb of the Mendola. I needed a stamp at the top of this so I popped into a café and had a cake and some water. Refreshed I started on the long descent down to Bolzano. On the way down I was passed by another of our group who I caught up with on the ride into the city centre. He branched off to take the cycle path, I elected to stick with the main road. At first this seemed to be a bad decision as it turned into a dual carriageway but as it happened it was a good move as I heard later the cycle path was a nightmare to navigate.

I found the centre of Bolzano without difficulty but finding the way out was not so easy. Luckily, as I was checking my map for the umpteeneth time, a couple of others from the tour rode by, one of whom had ridden the route before. With his help we stumbled on the route out, which included a very good cycle path that kept us off the main road. Eventually we headed off the main road and up to Pinei pass.

Not far along this road a road branched off right with a sign "28%". This was too tempting to miss. Apart from the prospect of bagging another col it meant I would be able to test my fitness/gearing for Zoncolan again. The "28%" section was not that long but the climb itself was pretty and ended up at a castle on the hillside with fine views over the valley and a restaurant where I knocked back some water as the day was starting to get very hot.

I headed back down the hill and restarted the climb up to the Pinei. This was long and hot. The climb was irregular with some bits smooth or downhill, other sections over 15%. It ran through a number of small towns at one of which I stopped for an ice cream it now getting even warmer. Eventually the top was reached, a bit of an anticlimax as it was on a straight road in the middle of a wood. Still since the climbing had been pretty much constant since Bolzano it was nice to do a bit of downhill again.

The more so since the end of the day required a very uninspiring slog up a main road to Selve Gardena. The only good thing about this was that every metre climbed would be one less tomorrow, which was looking like being a long day, even bigger than today which at 3300m climbed was first time over 3000m for the trip.
By contrast to yesterday the hotel was easy to find, on the main road through the town. I nipped off to a supermarket to stock up on fruit then had a few drinks outside. Here I heard about an unfortunate accident that had befallen one of the riders. The tailgate of the lorry had fallen off and fractured his foot (he had the x-ray to prove it). It was a shame, the more so as the chap had come all the way from New Zealand to do the ride. Given this he was taking his misfortune with remarkably good grace.

Meal at this hotel was superb. Best of the trip (following the worst the night before) and the only time we were offered a choice. Great.

Raid Dolomites day 6

This turned out to be one of those days that are nightmares at the time but are nonetheless what elevate a trip from the ordinary to the special.
My notes at the day sum it all up pretty well "Remember waiting for the rain to stop, Remember eating at top of pass, Remember the snow falling, Remember the extra clothes, Remember the cold , Remember the cold, Remember the long downhill with a tail wind,
Remember trying to find the hotel".

The days itinerary was pretty simple. Just one mountain to go up then down the others side. Only thing was that the mountain was the Stelvio, the highest pass on the route and one of the highest in Europe. And the "down the other" was down the famous 48 hairpins and went on forever. Still we thought, looking at the route. "Could be worse, we could have had to go up the hard side". As things turned out that may have been a better option.

Having just had several hardish days, with more to follow I had decided that this would be a "rest" day, planning to keep the power and HR down on the climb then coast to the hotel. As a result I did not have too long a lie in and when I came down for breakfast a few of the group were still in the lobby. Worryingly they were dressed up for bad weather and when I poked my nose outside I found the reason why. Bormio is 1300m or so above sea level so suffers the vicissitudes of mountain weather. Yesterdays sunny evening had been replaced with a solid grey sky from which it was raining. Heavily.

By the time I had finished breakfast the others had left. I poked my nose out again. It was still raining. More heavily. I decided to wait. My previous experience of touring had taught me two things about rain. One: nothing is worse than starting the day wet, Two: even heavy rain has to stop at some point. So I reasoned, that given there was only a short stage to do today it would make sense to wait an hour or so at the hotel if that mean the downpour eased. The tour lorry was anxious to get off as some of the early birds should be nearing the top of the pass soon, so I handed over my luggage, aside from a book which I read for an hour or so in the lobby.

After a while, true to hopes, the rain had eased off. I put on my various outer garments, and set of in what was now just a light shower. The climb started immediately and keeping to plan I took it easy averaging just 187W (HR 128). For most of the way up I enjoyed the climb. I was feeling slightly smug about avoiding the rain, not trying to hard and the road up was very pleasant with a good road surface and pretty signs to mark each hairpin. Unfortunately as the metres ticked by and I passed 2300m or so the weather started to close in. The rain increased and got noticeably colder. The carnet needed an obligatory stamp on the way up. I made an abortive stop at a church thinking it was the place but it turned out not to be. Restarting after then was tough as the damp seeps into you when you are not active and it takes a while to warm up. When I passed another building I decided to give it a miss and press on to the top, reckoning a stamp there would just have to suffice.

By the time I reached the top I was feeling very damp and cold. My "waterproofs" were just protection against UK showers. They weren’t sufficient for conditions on top of an Italian mountain. Consequently I did not feel much initial elation at passing 2700m, the highest ever on my bike, quite a contrast from last year when the Galibier was one of the emotional as well as literal high spots of my trip.

The tour lorry was there to greet me at the top. I was asked if I was OK and said fine. (I did not realise then but most of the tour group bailed out at the top and got lifts down in the lorry. This did not even cross my mind as an option. Even with the benefit of hindsight it would have been the last thing I would have wanted to do.)

The lorry headed off and I headed towards the nearest restaurant needing: a stamp, warm food and somewhere to dry my clothes. I got all of these (including lots of soup) but this entailed a stay of a couple of hours. I had hoped that the rain would pass over in this time. Instead it got worse and turned to snow. Now call me an idiot but this came as a surprise. After all it was in Italy and it was August. I waited a bit more for the snow to stop. It didn’t, it just got heavier. Then it started to settle and I started to get worried. Then I heard thunder and the clouds lit up. I got really worried. The lorry had departed and I was alone at the top. If the snow settled any more I might be stuck here. So I needed to make a move. I togged up again and set off, but first made a detour to the souvenir shops. One purchase was a Stelvio cycle top. A bit cheesy but I think it looked quite cool and in anycase I needed more layers of clothing. I also bought some ski gloves to keep my hands warm.

I set off in a full on blizzard. The warming effects of the soup quickly wore off. When I came to the first of the 48 hairpins my heart was chilled but not due to the weather. The hairpin felt almost vertical, the tarmac that wasn’t covered in snow was covered in huge cracks. When you descend you are meant to use the brakes to the minimum extent. Not in these conditions. I clung onto my brakes for grim death through this and the next and the next and the next etc hairpin, each as scary as the previous one. In fact more so as my ski gloves were utterly useless quickly becoming water logged so that my hands were freezing and it was getting harder and harder to judge the braking. This judgement is pretty crucial, there are no crash barriers if you get it wrong, just a chasm. I was going down very very slowly and at one stage was passed by another, braver chap. Bizarrely quite a few cyclists were coming up the hill. I was actually a bit jealous of them, at least they were not as cold as me.

I caught a glimpse of my heart rate. It was heading down below 60bpm. When descending you do no work so your body cools down. This is nice on a hot day, but in the snow its disastrous. I could feel myself begin to shiver. I got more and more worried. I was in a vicious circle, the colder I got the less control I had off the bike so the slower I went so the colder I got. The descent was over 30km, I had done barely 1km and was starting to wonder how I would make it. Then through the snow I saw some lights. It looked like a restaurant, some 300m or so below. I promised myself I would stop there and worry about the rest of the descent after a cup of tea. I just made it. I parked my bike and went inside.

Only then did I realise just how cold I was. My entire body was shaking uncontrollably. I staggered into the bar area, beheld a blazing fire and saw the chap who had overtaken me on the descent before. We were a mirror image. Each of us shaking, barely able to speak. We were not alone, a number of other cyclists were there, also seeking refuge though they were a lot warmer and dryer, having presumably been there for longer.

Eventually I warmed up enough to order a tea. Drinking this was quite a challenge as I needed to co-ordinate the shaking of my hand to that of my head in order not to spill more of the drink than I swallowed. Still it had an effect so I ordered a second, and a third, and a fourth and a fifth. With each cup I warmed up a bit and was able to do a re-enactment of the dance of the 7 veils, except in my case I peeled off successive layers of soaking clothing and placed them as near to the fire as I dared. I spoke to the dry cyclists and found out they were going up the Stelvio. They had no choice but to get there as they were staying in a hotel on the col overnight, However they were going to take the bus the rest of the way.

This a gave me an option. Not one I really wanted to consider but needs must. I could take the next bus going down. Having just reconciled myself to this course of inaction the cycling gods smiled on me. I looked out of the window and thought it was getting brighter. I mentioned this to the others, they were sceptical at first but then agreed. We looked out of the door and sure enough it had stopped raining, the clouds were a very light grey and with a bit of imagination you could see your shadow.

I went back inside and put on all my layers of, now only slightly damp, clothing. As I set off I noticed my HAC had given up the ghost. It had suffered during my fall in the Yorkshire dales a while back but despite a huge crack it seemed OK. Now though it looked as if the snow and rain had killed it. This was a bit of a downer however not too much of a problem. The hairpins were numbered so knowing how close to the end was easy. Just count to 48. Warmed up and with roads now clear of snow the descent turned out not to be too bad. However it was very very long. Eventually after what seemed to be an age I came to a T junction that marked the official end of the climb. I stopped and looked at my brake blocks. I had put new ones on for the trip, now both were showing severe signs of wear and took quite a few turns to reset.

Though the official climb had ended in fact it was still downhill all the way for another 50km or so to our overnight stop in Lana. This was accompanied by a tail wind so I made good and fast progress averaging over 33kph despite only working at 133W/116bpm. The weather had now changed markedly for the better. It was hot and sunny so I dried out nicely as I sped along and had to make several stops to take off garments. It was scarcely credible that just a couple of hours earlier I had literally been the coldest in my life.

Our rest stop for the night was in Lana, in the Italian Tyrol. I knew this area well from holidays as a child. It’s a very scenic place, far more typically Swiss or Austrian than Italian and German is the first language there. Since the tour lorry had departed early I had not checked exactly where the stop was but did have a photocopied map with an X marking what I presumed would be its spot. After a few false turns I found the road containing the X but no sign of any hotel. I stopped and used my rudimentary German to ask a gardener if there were any hotels nearby.

He said no, so, confused, I made a call the tour company in the UK. They could not help directly but said they would get the guide to give me a call. Just after I put my phone away, quite by chance I happened to see a couple of guys from the tour. I hailed them and they said they would show me to the hotel. We went back down the road I had just come up, walked up to a house, opened a door and hey presto were in the reception area of a camp site. This apparently was the unofficial back door hence no sign. The receptionist was not happy to see me wheel my bike across his floor and uttered the classic phrase "This is not possible!" Having had the day I had I was in no mood to correct his English, I was just happy to get to my bedroom and change clothes.

Raid Dolomites Day 5

A long days riding. Leaving Chiavenna you immediately start on a climb up the Maloja Pass. Can’t be a very special climb as I don’t recall much about it, apart from the fact that when you get to the top there is no descent the other side. Instead there is a large lake there that you ride around eventually reaching St Moritz. Despite some warnings this proved quite simple to traverse unlike the next col which followed it.

This was the Bernina pass and though it marked the high part of the day (in metres terms) it gets my vote as the least enjoyable climb of the trip, principle amongst which was the biting headwind that I had to ride into throughout the climb. There are some nice glaciers on view but these don’t make up for the long straights and the absence of anything special when you get the highest point. I was very happy to make it there and head down over the other side.

The more so as the weather turned more sunny and I met up with the support lorry to get some fruit and drink. Coming over the next pass (Forcola di Livigno) I was overtaken for the only time in the trip, by a mountain bike of all things. In my defence the rider was in some sort of race that finished at the top of the climb (I had another 50km and 2 more climbs to go).

Once over Livigno I headed down to the village of the same name. This was situated in a very picturesque valley. I almost came a cropper by missing a turning and heading down when I should have started to go up but fortunately I realised my mistake early so did not waste too much time/energy. There were a couple of climbs, Eira and Foscagno that came one after another. The final climb over the Foscagno was made weird and a bit hard by the fact that there was a huge traffic jam before the customs stop at the top. I found out later that this is due to Livigno having a special tax free status which means people pop over the mountain to stock up on cheap booze, cigarettes and the like. The downside to this is having to risk a several hour wait to get back.

Neither of the final climbs were particularly hard , though the cumulative effect of riding 130km and climbing nearly 3000m on top of a couple of previous hard days was making itself felt by the end. Nonetheless after the final descent I had enough energy left to catch up a couple of the New Zealanders in the party on the final stretch into Bormio. This proved to be a good thing as I found out from them that our support lorry was stuck in the traffic jam we had just passed. Little point heading to the hotel so we found a café in nice sunny square in Bormio and waited there, eventually to be joined by other members of our group.

Eventually word came that the lorry had arrived so we headed to the hotel, looking forward to the Stelvio the next day.


Days stats: Distance 131km Time 6:02, AVS 22kph, Mclimb 2916,

Raid Dolomites Days 3-4

Day 3 Domodossola to Bellinzona



This should have been an easy day, just 90km and a couple of small hills to negotiate. However maps now in hand I decided to deviate from the proscribed route and go exploring.



I had a couple of reasons for this. First was that I wanted to spend more time cycling and less drinking/eating. Second was that the previous evening we had been discussing the days ahead and I had discovered that Mount Zoncolan was pretty much on the route of the penultimate day. I knew of this climb from it appearing as no.2 in the list of greatest climbs in a recent cycling magazine (Ventoux being no.1). Its new to the pro routes but has quickly made a name for itself, not surprisingly as it is 10.5km with an average gradient of 11.5%! Having done the Ventoux as a diversion last year it seemed somehow fitting to try Zoncolan as a diversion this time. However I had not planned on taking on anything quite this tough so I wanted to check I could turn over my gears for a long time on steep sections.



So I got out my maps and looked for "fleches". This are >s that show a road is steep. I found a number of >> and (better) >>>s and planned a route to take them in.



As a result I had a long days solo riding. Thoroughly enjoyable including a cheese sandwich in the Swiss town of Spruga (originally the barman said he did not do food but I think he relented and actually went home to get some (in fact a huge slice of) cheese and bread). Also made it uyp very steep climb to Trarego which made me a bit more confident about Zoncolan. Only downer on the day was trying to find the motel at journey's end. For some bizarre reason (for a cycle tour) this was situated on a main road where cycles were officially banned. Still when I arrived the hotel was pretty good, though I only just made it in time for dinner. Found that one benefit of my diversion was that I had missed rain that had caught others in the group.



Stats: Time 8:00, Dist: 178km AVS 22kph Mclimb 2624m, AvP 131W NormP 203W

Day 4 Bellinzona-Chiavenna

This was the first officially hard day with climbs over San Bernadino and Splugen passes, both over 2000m . As a result early starts were order of the day. I was happier to have a lie in and depart late. Slight problem at start given location of hotel on non-cycle road. Passing cyclist convinced me and tour guide simplest to ignore restriction and follow. Decision vindicated by not seeing any traffic (and later discovering earlier riders had got lost trying to find back roads).

The day was dominiated by the San Bernadino climb. This went on for 31km rising to 2065m at an average 5.4%. Its a lovely pass, mostly along quiet roads (the main traffic goes on a parallel main road to a tunnel) made all the better by lots of sun. A few distractions on the way up: a "rue barre" (ignored) that blocked of 100m of road for no apparent reason; a busy section of road as result of some problem on the main route; s "mushroom fair" at San Bernardino village.

On the way up I passed a number of members of the group, eventually being among the first to get to the restaurant at the top of the pass. Very pleasant with a lake and good views. After some food and drink I headed off down to Splugen to go up the second pass of the day. Shorter 8.8km but steeper 7.4% to reach high for the route to date of 2115m.

All went well until the ascent of the Splugen started. This turned out to be into a headwind and was very hard work. Very glad to get to the top and head down to Chiavenna once it was all over.