Gidday folks,
Hope all is well. For those who maybe interested a blurb on my Tdf adventure.
France, wow, what a place! Here bike and car live in harmony, they co-exist on the road, no agro only mutual respect for each other, it's unbelievable. Cars toot their arrival then politely drive around, on most occasions driver and passengers waving and smiling in the process, not because I'm an extremely attractive man dressed in Bandido colours but simply because I'm a cyclist, albeit a slight pathetic on occasions, but a cyclist regardless.
Cadel in yellow! Ok, only by 1 second but its great position and hopefully his team can defend.
So far the trip has been great, from morning to evening its full on, something always happening. That's by choice because there are non-riders who spend more time chilling out and that what i have decided to do today simply to break away and catch up on a few things.
The daily rides have been an incredible experience. For example, stage9 we rode 70k's including the Col d'Aspin, stage 10, a 130km ride including 34km climbing up the Tourmalet and Hautacam. The descent down the Tourmalet was brilliant, incredibly scenic, post card perfect. If I didn't have climbing legs before then I reckon I may have by now, I calculated so far over the past week we have ridden about 60km's at between 7-9% gradient. The 34/52 compact and 13-26 cluster have been fantastic, I reckon a minimum requirement for this type of pro-longed climbing.
Still heaps to be done including the Mount Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez and Galibier. I'm loving the French folk, the food but not so much the wine, we are spoilt with the A1 quality Aussie wines.
Keep on spinning!!
Take care
KT
Hope all is well. For those who maybe interested a blurb on my Tdf adventure.
France, wow, what a place! Here bike and car live in harmony, they co-exist on the road, no agro only mutual respect for each other, it's unbelievable. Cars toot their arrival then politely drive around, on most occasions driver and passengers waving and smiling in the process, not because I'm an extremely attractive man dressed in Bandido colours but simply because I'm a cyclist, albeit a slight pathetic on occasions, but a cyclist regardless.
Cadel in yellow! Ok, only by 1 second but its great position and hopefully his team can defend.
So far the trip has been great, from morning to evening its full on, something always happening. That's by choice because there are non-riders who spend more time chilling out and that what i have decided to do today simply to break away and catch up on a few things.
The daily rides have been an incredible experience. For example, stage9 we rode 70k's including the Col d'Aspin, stage 10, a 130km ride including 34km climbing up the Tourmalet and Hautacam. The descent down the Tourmalet was brilliant, incredibly scenic, post card perfect. If I didn't have climbing legs before then I reckon I may have by now, I calculated so far over the past week we have ridden about 60km's at between 7-9% gradient. The 34/52 compact and 13-26 cluster have been fantastic, I reckon a minimum requirement for this type of pro-longed climbing.
Still heaps to be done including the Mount Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez and Galibier. I'm loving the French folk, the food but not so much the wine, we are spoilt with the A1 quality Aussie wines.
Keep on spinning!!
Take care
KT
PS - If your interested just a cut from my own ride report of the stage 9 & 10 mentioned above plus a ride we did on the rest day.
Tdf - Day 3 Stage 9 Boulouse-Bagneres de Bigorre 222k
My ride - 70k Col d'Aspin to the finish. 13k climb. First 6k, 5% ave then 7-8% for next 4k then 3-5% last 2k. Our first ride to include a serious climb the 1489m Col d'Apin. It's surreal to ride the same mountain as the pros and experience the crowd who are large in number and very vocal even 3-4 hrs before the pros come through. The crowd were amazing, very passionate and very supportive for even a hack like me. I punctured about 500m up the climb and a dozen of the crowd gathered to watch the comedy show that was me changing a tube. I then tried to ride up to the tail of our front riders with no success, pushed too hard, Spent alot of time in 34/26 just spinning. Big decent, long sweeping corners.
Tdf - Day 4 Stage 10 Pau - Hautacam 154 _ CADEL takes Yellow by 1 second
My ride - 130k including the Tourmalet, Hautacam. 34k of serious climbing. Tourmalet was unbelievable, 17km climb, steep but gradual. Starts 2-5%, then kicks to 7-9% for next 12k's, Incredible to look up with about 3-4k to go and see the zigzag of the road, the descent was made in heaven, brilliant, magnificent scenery. Hautacam, 17k climb, felt much harder, steeper start, it hurt, big 7km 7-10% middle section. Watched Cadel ride past on his way to yellow!!!!!!
Tdf - Day 5 Rest day - Pau CADEL in Yellow!
My ride - 110k Col du Soular and Col du Aubisque. Total 30k of climbing. Magnificent day.
It was a much, much, quieter day riding on the Tdf rest day. The Soular and Aubisque are effectively one climb, after climbing the Solour you then have a 2 km downhill then a climb 8km up the Aubisque. Really enjoyed this climb.
the start of the Soular climb was flatter at 1-4% and very fast. I really enjoyed pushing a bigger gear and hit the steeper parts harder but then slow considerably once the 6-7% section hit. The last 3km were nasty, b/w 8-11ish% to the top of the Soular. The 2 km descent included a 200m tunnel. Not just any tunnel, had no lights, lighty curved , damp and had uncomfortably large groves in the road. Very, very hairy particularly when descending at about 50kph. Absolutely pitched black in the midlle had no lights!!!
After the 2km descent for the Soular it as then a beautiful 8km climb to the top of the Aubisque. This was a really enjoyable climb of between 3-8%, beautiful ride. Being a Tdf Rest day the roads were very quiet and I must say although a stark contrast from the Tdf circus I really enjoyed it. You have a better opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the country side, relax, without the hustle and bustle. Magical, postcard perfect scenery. The Aubisque decent was an adventure, around a sweeping bend I had to negotiate a cow on the rode having a giant dump. Oh sh#t!!
keep posted .... climbs to come include Mount Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez and Galibier.
PART 2
My Tdf is in one word, brilliant. Its was everything I expected and more. 1,300k's over 18days that included some nice little hills.
Since I last wrote the more interesting climbs were a 120k day that included Mt Ventoux then the following day I rode 150k's that included Col de Galiber, Telegraphe, Col de la Croix de Fer and last but not least Alpe d'Huez.
The following day (stage day) I rode Alpe d'Huez againJ , what a crazy experience. The Dutch on the mountain are very excitable folk, almost as excitable as Rowie and Ricardo comparing new bling!!
Also many other rides but I'II save them for another day.
Since the Tdf finished I have been travelling through France and Italy with my kids.
Bike is packed away and sadly will not be ridden for 5 weeks.
Long Version of the above (for the enthusiasts!!) :-
My Bikestyle tour finished the day after the Champs-Elysees. My trusty C50 is packed and will not to be ridden again until I get back to Melbourne in about 5 weeks. I will be travelling around Europe with my kids over this period.
Experiencing the Tdf was everything I had hoped for and more. The only thing missing was seeing Cadel in yellow standing on the podium on the Champs-Elysees but regardless it was another brilliant effort to secure second. It was one man versus a very strong united team, Cadel Vs CSC, riveting stuff and hopefully with a stronger team he may go one better next year.
We had the good fortune to have Cadel say a few impromptu words at a dinner at the end of stage 10 and he mentioned the challenges of competing against strong, united teams such as CSC, how prophetic his words were.
So much to say about the trip, 1,300k ridden over 18 days, greater than half up hill, rode many of the major mountains, but the trip went beyond the daily rides and the tour itself. The trip was also about enjoying and living the French lifestyle. I found the French folk to be very accommodating and considerate to those of us who have a very limited grasp of the French language. I loved the food, fresh, tasty and always well presented. I double loved the pastries.
As I will not be riding for about 5 weeks I have reluctantly reduced my daily pastry consumption from 6 to 4 to avoid having a body like AI Prez before the Jenny Craig make-over.
During the Tdf I went to several stage starts, finishes and feed zones but sadly no TV coverage but not from the want of trying.
Since I last wrote I have ridden Mt Ventoux, Col de Galiber, Telegraphe, Col de la Croix de Fer and last but not least Alpe d'Huez, twiceJ .
Each ride is worthy of a chapter to capture the experience but for those interested here is my blurb of the key climbs since my last report.
Mt Ventoux (1912 metres) -
Unbelievable! From the first time I saw Ventoux in the distance i was blown away. Ventoux is a stalker, it didn't seem to matter where you are, walking through town, sitting drinking coffee, it was always visible in the distance, just watching you. It added to the sense of intimidation and anxiety for the ride ahead.
Ride day, Monday 21 July, 120km
Our ride guide on the day to Ventoux was Eric Van Lacker, a 7 times Tdf participant in the late 80's and early 90's. He was a member of the Panasonic team that won the team TT on several occasions, he also won 2 stages of the Giro d'Italia and won the Leige-Bastogne-Liege. As we were approaching Ventoux I asked Eric if he had ridden the mountain many times,
"yep, I've riden it on several occasions",
"Oh, did you race? How did you go?" a quizzical KT asked,
"I did ok………………….I won a stage of the Paris to Nice" he responded
I smiled and politely made my way to the back of the bunch.
Riding Ventoux was one of the most challenging rides I have done. 22 km in length, starting with a medium incline, then 7-10% in the middle section with a final 3km at 10% average, with 13-15% in places. There was no respite, no relief, no flat section (apart from a flat section at café 5km from the summit)
The climb just seemed to go on and on for ever. The weather started of pleasant at the base but soon turned foul with steady rain at the summit. Reaching the summit was incredibly satisfying if not wet and cold. The decent was very dangerous given the weather conditions. Blue skies greeted us while returning to the hotel.
Col de Galiber, Telegraphe, Col de la Croix de Fer, Alpe d'Huez
All in one dayJ
Ride day, Tuesday 22 July, 150km -
This was to the biggest riding day of our tour with three Hors category climbs, ekkk!!!! In fact I would have to say this day was the most challenging riding day I have ever done and one (violins paying in the background) I'm particularly proud of as I was one of only 5 people in our party to have completed the entire ride.
First climb, Galiber (2700 meters). A pig of a mountain. Our climb actually started mid-way up the mountain as our group of about 60 was dropped off by coach with a 1/3 opting for the shorter ride, the rest the 150km longer "ride".
With no warm up we commence the climb. After doing Ventoux the previous day I felt very ordinary. I suppose it was like starting from the base of Arthur's seat with cold, tired legs. About 4-5km into the climb that was averaging 7-9% I thought momentarily about turning around to ride back down the mountain to catch-up with the folk who opted for the shorter ride. To compound the situation it was very, very windy. I plodded on, thank gawd for the 50/34 compact set ( thx Ricardo for the compact, and no I'm not calling you gawd). Gale force winds greeted me as I approached the summit, just to make things interesting the last km had a gradient of 13%. The descent initially was hairy with the strong winds really impacting on your line.
One thing to note, on most of the Alpes and Pyrenees climbs you are generally exposed to the elements with little protection whereas many of the climbs through the Dandenong's and the snowfield areas you are in a sense generally shielded if not protected by trees and surroundings.
From the Galibier warm up it was onto and up Telegraphe that wasn't that hard.
From there it was then onto the Col de la Croix de Fer (2068m ). For me this was the mother of all rides, a 30km climb with only 2 small but steep downhill sections. The climb ranged from 2-4% early then unlike other climbs there was no real variation just a progressive incline that seemed to increase by 1% every 2-3 klm. The biggest challenge was a 6km section averging about 10% soon after half way. In my wisdom I had decided to stop for water and lunch just before this section not appreciating what was before me. 30minute break, water, food, lets rock'n'roll, then 6km of absolute grind averaging 8-10%. At the end of the 30km there was a much welcome long descent, time to appreciate the magnificent scenery while descending for 20km at +60 kph. However as with most rides, expect the unexpected, at the bottom of the descent just as I was thinking about Alpe d'Huez in about 1 hours time I was greeted with a 1km climb at 12%, where the hell did this come from? Just the last thing you need to milk your cold legs of any energy you may have reserved.
As I rode towards the Alpe d'Huez I was overcome by a wave of reservation about climbing one of the greatest mountains. Within the group there was a lot of negative talk, it was getting late, it was windy, we had done enough, crowds were heavy, tired, sore, plus we can always do it tomorrow, stage day, instead of today. I didn't come here to sit at the base to pay homage to the great mountain, I came here to ride it and even if I need to "walk" ( yes, it's a dirty 4 lettered word ) then walk I will. As I rode through the roundabout at the base only 1km before the climb I looked up, squinting, trying to mark where I was suppose finish, yep, way up there somewhere. Alpe d'Huez is truly an amazing sight, I'd seen it on TV but you cannot start to appreciate the enormity nor beauty until you are there.
The climb up the Alpe d'Huez was absolutely brilliant. First 3 kms are the hardest at about 10% incline but from then on I was actually able to get some good rhythm knowing that at each of the 21 corners I could ease off catch my breath, then get out of the seat push hard for as long as I could then get back into the seat until the next corner. The crowds were brilliant, they supported and cheered any and every rider up the hill. The main base of the orange (Dutch) army was about half way up, several made reference to my Bandido gear. I gestured to a couple of young guys who had obviously had one to many beers and possibly some spotted tablets to push me, joke ok!, but no, hands on my back they proceeded to push me for what for the best part of 100 meters. Embarrassingly my speed increased from 10kph to 15kph!!
Finally up to the summit. It was a circus up there, almost mayhem even before the actual stage day. I rode with one other guy so we decided to stop for the best hamburger, fries and a few beers I think I have ever had. We just sat absorbing the surroundings, it was so surreal.
The descent was great, needed to be careful with crowds all over the road.
The following day (Wed) I rode with the main Bikestyle group up the Alpe d'Huez again. Yesterday was crazy, today, stage day, bedlam. The orange army had renewed their supply of amber fluids and seemed to have doubled their quota of spotted tablets. I cannot believe there are not more accidents between spectators and the pros when they do their gig up Alpe d'Huez.
There were other rides but I'I keep that for another day
That's it folks, see you early September.
Whishing you the best
KT
Tdf - Day 5 Rest day - Pau CADEL in Yellow!
My ride - 110k Col du Soular and Col du Aubisque. Total 30k of climbing. Magnificent day.
It was a much, much, quieter day riding on the Tdf rest day. The Soular and Aubisque are effectively one climb, after climbing the Solour you then have a 2 km downhill then a climb 8km up the Aubisque. Really enjoyed this climb.
the start of the Soular climb was flatter at 1-4% and very fast. I really enjoyed pushing a bigger gear and hit the steeper parts harder but then slow considerably once the 6-7% section hit. The last 3km were nasty, b/w 8-11ish% to the top of the Soular. The 2 km descent included a 200m tunnel. Not just any tunnel, had no lights, lighty curved , damp and had uncomfortably large groves in the road. Very, very hairy particularly when descending at about 50kph. Absolutely pitched black in the midlle had no lights!!!
After the 2km descent for the Soular it as then a beautiful 8km climb to the top of the Aubisque. This was a really enjoyable climb of between 3-8%, beautiful ride. Being a Tdf Rest day the roads were very quiet and I must say although a stark contrast from the Tdf circus I really enjoyed it. You have a better opportunity to appreciate the beauty of the country side, relax, without the hustle and bustle. Magical, postcard perfect scenery. The Aubisque decent was an adventure, around a sweeping bend I had to negotiate a cow on the rode having a giant dump. Oh sh#t!!
keep posted .... climbs to come include Mount Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez and Galibier.
PART 2
My Tdf is in one word, brilliant. Its was everything I expected and more. 1,300k's over 18days that included some nice little hills.
Since I last wrote the more interesting climbs were a 120k day that included Mt Ventoux then the following day I rode 150k's that included Col de Galiber, Telegraphe, Col de la Croix de Fer and last but not least Alpe d'Huez.
The following day (stage day) I rode Alpe d'Huez againJ , what a crazy experience. The Dutch on the mountain are very excitable folk, almost as excitable as Rowie and Ricardo comparing new bling!!
Also many other rides but I'II save them for another day.
Since the Tdf finished I have been travelling through France and Italy with my kids.
Bike is packed away and sadly will not be ridden for 5 weeks.
Long Version of the above (for the enthusiasts!!) :-
My Bikestyle tour finished the day after the Champs-Elysees. My trusty C50 is packed and will not to be ridden again until I get back to Melbourne in about 5 weeks. I will be travelling around Europe with my kids over this period.
Experiencing the Tdf was everything I had hoped for and more. The only thing missing was seeing Cadel in yellow standing on the podium on the Champs-Elysees but regardless it was another brilliant effort to secure second. It was one man versus a very strong united team, Cadel Vs CSC, riveting stuff and hopefully with a stronger team he may go one better next year.
We had the good fortune to have Cadel say a few impromptu words at a dinner at the end of stage 10 and he mentioned the challenges of competing against strong, united teams such as CSC, how prophetic his words were.
So much to say about the trip, 1,300k ridden over 18 days, greater than half up hill, rode many of the major mountains, but the trip went beyond the daily rides and the tour itself. The trip was also about enjoying and living the French lifestyle. I found the French folk to be very accommodating and considerate to those of us who have a very limited grasp of the French language. I loved the food, fresh, tasty and always well presented. I double loved the pastries.
As I will not be riding for about 5 weeks I have reluctantly reduced my daily pastry consumption from 6 to 4 to avoid having a body like AI Prez before the Jenny Craig make-over.
During the Tdf I went to several stage starts, finishes and feed zones but sadly no TV coverage but not from the want of trying.
Since I last wrote I have ridden Mt Ventoux, Col de Galiber, Telegraphe, Col de la Croix de Fer and last but not least Alpe d'Huez, twiceJ .
Each ride is worthy of a chapter to capture the experience but for those interested here is my blurb of the key climbs since my last report.
Mt Ventoux (1912 metres) -
Unbelievable! From the first time I saw Ventoux in the distance i was blown away. Ventoux is a stalker, it didn't seem to matter where you are, walking through town, sitting drinking coffee, it was always visible in the distance, just watching you. It added to the sense of intimidation and anxiety for the ride ahead.
Ride day, Monday 21 July, 120km
Our ride guide on the day to Ventoux was Eric Van Lacker, a 7 times Tdf participant in the late 80's and early 90's. He was a member of the Panasonic team that won the team TT on several occasions, he also won 2 stages of the Giro d'Italia and won the Leige-Bastogne-Liege. As we were approaching Ventoux I asked Eric if he had ridden the mountain many times,
"yep, I've riden it on several occasions",
"Oh, did you race? How did you go?" a quizzical KT asked,
"I did ok………………….I won a stage of the Paris to Nice" he responded
I smiled and politely made my way to the back of the bunch.
Riding Ventoux was one of the most challenging rides I have done. 22 km in length, starting with a medium incline, then 7-10% in the middle section with a final 3km at 10% average, with 13-15% in places. There was no respite, no relief, no flat section (apart from a flat section at café 5km from the summit)
The climb just seemed to go on and on for ever. The weather started of pleasant at the base but soon turned foul with steady rain at the summit. Reaching the summit was incredibly satisfying if not wet and cold. The decent was very dangerous given the weather conditions. Blue skies greeted us while returning to the hotel.
Col de Galiber, Telegraphe, Col de la Croix de Fer, Alpe d'Huez
All in one dayJ
Ride day, Tuesday 22 July, 150km -
This was to the biggest riding day of our tour with three Hors category climbs, ekkk!!!! In fact I would have to say this day was the most challenging riding day I have ever done and one (violins paying in the background) I'm particularly proud of as I was one of only 5 people in our party to have completed the entire ride.
First climb, Galiber (2700 meters). A pig of a mountain. Our climb actually started mid-way up the mountain as our group of about 60 was dropped off by coach with a 1/3 opting for the shorter ride, the rest the 150km longer "ride".
With no warm up we commence the climb. After doing Ventoux the previous day I felt very ordinary. I suppose it was like starting from the base of Arthur's seat with cold, tired legs. About 4-5km into the climb that was averaging 7-9% I thought momentarily about turning around to ride back down the mountain to catch-up with the folk who opted for the shorter ride. To compound the situation it was very, very windy. I plodded on, thank gawd for the 50/34 compact set ( thx Ricardo for the compact, and no I'm not calling you gawd). Gale force winds greeted me as I approached the summit, just to make things interesting the last km had a gradient of 13%. The descent initially was hairy with the strong winds really impacting on your line.
One thing to note, on most of the Alpes and Pyrenees climbs you are generally exposed to the elements with little protection whereas many of the climbs through the Dandenong's and the snowfield areas you are in a sense generally shielded if not protected by trees and surroundings.
From the Galibier warm up it was onto and up Telegraphe that wasn't that hard.
From there it was then onto the Col de la Croix de Fer (2068m ). For me this was the mother of all rides, a 30km climb with only 2 small but steep downhill sections. The climb ranged from 2-4% early then unlike other climbs there was no real variation just a progressive incline that seemed to increase by 1% every 2-3 klm. The biggest challenge was a 6km section averging about 10% soon after half way. In my wisdom I had decided to stop for water and lunch just before this section not appreciating what was before me. 30minute break, water, food, lets rock'n'roll, then 6km of absolute grind averaging 8-10%. At the end of the 30km there was a much welcome long descent, time to appreciate the magnificent scenery while descending for 20km at +60 kph. However as with most rides, expect the unexpected, at the bottom of the descent just as I was thinking about Alpe d'Huez in about 1 hours time I was greeted with a 1km climb at 12%, where the hell did this come from? Just the last thing you need to milk your cold legs of any energy you may have reserved.
As I rode towards the Alpe d'Huez I was overcome by a wave of reservation about climbing one of the greatest mountains. Within the group there was a lot of negative talk, it was getting late, it was windy, we had done enough, crowds were heavy, tired, sore, plus we can always do it tomorrow, stage day, instead of today. I didn't come here to sit at the base to pay homage to the great mountain, I came here to ride it and even if I need to "walk" ( yes, it's a dirty 4 lettered word ) then walk I will. As I rode through the roundabout at the base only 1km before the climb I looked up, squinting, trying to mark where I was suppose finish, yep, way up there somewhere. Alpe d'Huez is truly an amazing sight, I'd seen it on TV but you cannot start to appreciate the enormity nor beauty until you are there.
The climb up the Alpe d'Huez was absolutely brilliant. First 3 kms are the hardest at about 10% incline but from then on I was actually able to get some good rhythm knowing that at each of the 21 corners I could ease off catch my breath, then get out of the seat push hard for as long as I could then get back into the seat until the next corner. The crowds were brilliant, they supported and cheered any and every rider up the hill. The main base of the orange (Dutch) army was about half way up, several made reference to my Bandido gear. I gestured to a couple of young guys who had obviously had one to many beers and possibly some spotted tablets to push me, joke ok!, but no, hands on my back they proceeded to push me for what for the best part of 100 meters. Embarrassingly my speed increased from 10kph to 15kph!!
Finally up to the summit. It was a circus up there, almost mayhem even before the actual stage day. I rode with one other guy so we decided to stop for the best hamburger, fries and a few beers I think I have ever had. We just sat absorbing the surroundings, it was so surreal.
The descent was great, needed to be careful with crowds all over the road.
The following day (Wed) I rode with the main Bikestyle group up the Alpe d'Huez again. Yesterday was crazy, today, stage day, bedlam. The orange army had renewed their supply of amber fluids and seemed to have doubled their quota of spotted tablets. I cannot believe there are not more accidents between spectators and the pros when they do their gig up Alpe d'Huez.
There were other rides but I'I keep that for another day
That's it folks, see you early September.
Whishing you the best
KT
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