L'Etape Du Tour 2012

Pau to Laruns

I was awakened as dawn broke by the sound of the car pulling away up the track. Two of our party were heading into Pau to the start of the ride. The rest of us slowly got ourselves together and made our preparations for the day ahead.

At 7.15 we made our way down the hill to wait at the junction where the riders would come past. Our two early risers had taken our timing chips with them to the start and were planning on handing them over at the place we were now standing at.

With the rendezvous complete we joined the next fast moving peloton to come around the bend and set off towards Laruns.

A lot of riders got carried away with the adrenalin of the start and set a frantic pace on the smooth and mainly flat run in to Laruns. Some of our group decided to join the race while the rest of us settled into a comfortable spin, the omniscient climbs ahead acting as a brake on our ambitions.

Col D'Aubisque

On hitting the first big climb of the day everyone went their own way at the pace they were comfortable with. Having the experience of this climb from earlier in the week to draw upon I deliberately held back and stayed at a very comfortable clip.

I reached the summit 16 kilometres later feeling very comfortable and ready for more climbing.

The weather deteriorated the higher we went and rain was falling heavily at the summit. After donning my jacket I plummeted down the other side. The weather on the descent was atrocious, with a bone chilling wind and lashing rain. My only concern was to get below the cloud as fast as possible. As I descended at as near to break neck speed as I could manage I ate up dozens of more cautious riders.

The long run continued up over the Col Du Soulor and down into the town of Argeles Gazost to the food station there. I was met by the sight of wet and bedraggled riders many of whom were shivering uncontrollably. Some of the worst cases, who presumably had not carried jackets with them, had been given foil blankets.

I filled my face with biscuits, sweets and sponge cakes and headed off again anxious to get warmed up by the long slow climb up to Luz-Saint-Sauveur and the base of the Tourmalet.

Col Du Tourmalet

This was the big one and, back when I was contemplating the ride back in England, the one I was most apprehensive about getting up. The rides earlier in the week had given me plenty of confidence that I could handle this one.

I set off at a similar cadence to the previous climb and started counting off the kilometres. There were plenty of other riders to chat to on the way up to relieve the monotony of the relentless slow movement uphill.

I was still feeling comfortable when I reached the food station 9 kilometres from the top. I could have bypassed it, but I decided to remain cautious and stopped to stretch and eat a little.

As with the previous climb, once above the clouds the weather closed in. The gradient increased and I could start to feel the effects of the accumulated climbing. The very last section became very steep and it was a relief to finally go over the top.

This descent turned out to be even colder than going down the Aubisque.
As with that descent, it just made me more anxious to get down as quickly as possible. There were some slick sections that required heavy application of the brakes.

At the bottom in Sainte-Marie-de-Campan there was another food station. I had decided by this point to stop at every food and drink station along the way. This would give me the opportunity to stretch out cramping muscles in my shoulders and neck and to ensure I had adequate nutrition.

From here the road climbed upwards immediately towards the Col D'Aspin.

Col d'Aspin

I was thankful to be climbing again as it meant that I would soon stop shivering and warm up. The Aspin is a relatively easy climb. It was only 13 kilometres from the bottom of the Tourmalet to the summit of Aspin. Most of the gradient was less than 6 percent and I could mix in some fast spinning in between the steeper grades.

The weather, though still closed in at the top, was starting to improve and the descent was much more enjoyable than the previous two.

Col d'Peyresourde

Although I was starting to feel tired I knew I would have plenty of reserves to get up the final climb of the day.

By this point in the ride there were lots of riders pulled off to the side of the road, either cramping up or just in need of a breather.

I set off up the Peyresourde with the same pace that I had used for all the climbs. I put my head down and just focused on moving my legs at an even rate. The kilometres melted away and even the final steep 4 kilometres were vanquished without pushing myself to the limit.

The final descent was the best of the day with a fabulous 5 kilometre run in to the town of Bagneres-de-Luchon.

The last kilometre ran through the centre of town and the streets were packed on either side with cheering crowds. Everyone, no matter how tired by this stage, put on a big sprint finish for the enthusiastic supporters.

It was a relief to go over the finish line and then go seek out my friends to see how they had got on.

I finished in 10 and a half hours which was well under the cut off of 12 hours. I rode conservatively as I wanted to ensure that I finished but I left plenty in the tank. I would love to ride it again and have the attitude of going for a time like some of the guys in my group. The training I did proved to be good enough despite my apprehensions.


Arriving earlier in the week and getting adjusted by riding some big climbs helped a lot. We were also used to, and prepared for, the conditions.

Now back to the short but steep hills of the Severn escarpment. Maybe next year the Marmotte.

Riders coming through Rebenecq

At the top of Col d'Aubisque

Joining the ride

Pre race meal

Col d'Peyresourde

Feed station on the Tourmalet

Col du Tourmalet

Col d'Aspin

Going up Col d'Aspin

Final effort up Peyresourde

Day five: Logistics

The problem with doing a ride like the Etape is that the finish is a long way from the start. This means organizing some means of getting back to your lodgings from the finish line. The complications are increased in proportion to the number of people in your party.

We now number nine riders so that meant driving two cars and the van 200 kilometres to the finish and then driving one of those vehicles back.

The unlucky drivers were designated and set off on their journey. The rest of us rode our bikes into Pau to the Expo and to give our legs a final easy spin before Saturday.

The weather forecast could not have been kinder. Today brought the one and only day of hot weather. The forecast for tomorrow is overcast with rain showers and temperatures in the high teens. This means there will be no spectacular views but also no relentless heat while grinding up the passes.

One decision still to be made is whether to get up really early in the morning and cycle 14k back up the road to Pau before the road is closed at 6.30 am. Then wait around for 90 minutes or so before setting off.
The alternative is to get up at a reasonable hour and make our way leisurely down from the house to the road on which the rest of the riders will be coming down. This means that we won't get an official start time and will be cutting off 14k from the route. Some are in two minds about not doing the official route but weight of opinion is leaning towards the saner option.

Day four: Registration

With just two days to go before the big ride I decided to rest my legs for a day.Instead I headed down to the Expo centre in Pau with Gary and Tim, newly arrived overnight via Heathrow and Toulouse.After signing in, receiving a grab bag of goodies and perusing the many commercial exhibits, the day was getting late. We headed back to the house and Gary and Tim decided to head out for a short spin up to Eaux Bonnes and back. I declined the invitation and stayed at the house to receive the rest of the crew arriving by car from England.

Day three: Col Du Pourtalet

In the morning we drove into Pau and went swimming in an outdoor pool ostensibly to relax and soothe our aching muscles before the afternoon ride.

After two heavy days in the mountains we decided to stay away from the big climbs and tackle the Col Du Pourtalet. The main motivation was to give the legs a workout but not over stress ourselves before Saturday.

To make things even easier on ourselves we drove closer to our destination and parked up in Louvie-Juzon.

Once on the bikes we set a steady pace on the, now familiar, road to Laruns. The weather was slightly worse than the previous two days with low cloud cover and a persistent drizzle.

At Laruns the road forks. The left bend goes up to the Aubisque and the right heads up the Pourtalet. The total distance of the climb is 29K but a lot of the sections are between 4 and 6 percent with only a few stretches of steeper ascent.

I had been feeling nauseous most of the day and after about 10k was beset with stomach cramps which got more severe as the grade steepened. Gary zoomed off leaving me to my fate.

At about 15k into the climb I had to get off the bike and lie on the grass by the side of the road. After a few minutes I started to feel better so decided to continue on with the ride.

Once I got back into a regular rhythm the cramps ebbed away and I was able to get back into a high tempo, especially on the easier sections.

As I neared the summit the temperature started to really drop and the clouds closed in leaving very low visibility. Then just 500 metres from the top the clouds gave way to the first blue sky of the trip.

I reached the summit and crossed the line into Spain, where a shivering Gary was waiting for me.

After a brief pause to take photos I put on a wind breaker and we set off back down into France for an exhilarating descent.

By the time we got back to the car park darkness was looming and we had banked another 85k of mountain riding.

Back into France

Blue sky at the top of Col du Pourtalet

Summit of Col du Pourtalet

Dam half way up Col du Pourtalet

Day two: Luz Ardiden and Hautacam

We decided to do a couple of less well known climbs.

We drove down to Argeles Gazost via Lourdes.

From there it was a 12K ride up to Luz Saint Saveur which is where the ascent of the Tourmalet begins. We made a short foray 2K up the Tormalet route and then returned to the village and onwards to Luz Ardiden.

Just like the previous day's climb up the Aubisque the start was fairly moderate. The gradient started steepening after 3K as we again ascended into thick cloud.

The total distance was 13K with 1100M of ascent. The last 3 kilometres were tough going and, with the thick mist, there was only the immediate 15 meters of road in view.

The conditions at the top were cold so we immediately turned around and headed back down.

After a lunch in Luz Saint Saveur we decided to add another climb to the day and headed back down the gorge towards Hautacam.

This is another ski destination in the valley and equal in length and height to our first climb.

After another tough climb the same inclement conditions prevailed so we did not linger at the summit.
The descent was particularly tricky as the road was quite wet and narrow.

We reached the van after a total of 95 kilometres distance and 2500 meters of climbing.

Quite a draining day in the saddle but still plenty of time to recover before Saturday.

Add caption

Summit of Hautacam

The valley below Luz Ardiden

2K up the Tourmalet

Top of the Hautacam

Day one: Col d'Aubisque

We packed up all seven bikes belonging to our peleton in the van and set off for the chunnel on Sunday evening.

After a 12 hour drive through the night we arrived at our lodgings for the week. Gary, in charge of logistics, had managed to procure a fabulous farmhouse high in the hills above Rebenacq just south of Pau.

After grabbing a couple of hours sleep we unpacked our bikes and headed out to climb the Col d'Aubisque.

The route starts by dropping sharply for a couple miles down from the farmhouse to the road to Laruns.

After 25k of mostly flat terrain we arrived in Laruns which is where the ascent begins.

A large group of Spanish riders had just set off when we reached the start of the climb. After a quick photo shot we started the ascent.

The first 5k was very moderate and we quickly overtook reams of riders. It was hard to hold back and I found myself pushing the pace. As the average gradient was between 5 and 6 percent I had no trouble keeping up a high tempo.

This proved to be a mistake because after 7k the gradient increased to 8 percent and 10 percent in parts. That in itself was not difficult but as the kilometres dragged on I could feel the energy sapping from my legs.

The last 3k became a crawl up through the dense mist to the summit.

Visibility at the top was down to 5 feet and we quickly became chilled. We turned around and hit the descent, all 17 glorious kilometres of it back down to Laruns.

After a quick coffee we got back on the road home. Cursing Gary for renting a farmhouse at the top of an extremely steep hill, I arrived back quite spent.

Total distance was 85k with a 1700m climb. When I tackle this climb again on Saturday I shall be sure to take it easy on the lower section and save something for the top.

The bikes packed in the van

Gourette Ski Station - 4K to the summit

Summit of Col d'Aubisque

Our lodgings in the hills of Rebenecq

At the base of Col d'Aubisque

Out of Time

There is now just eight days to go before the Ride. Time to assess if I am ready for it.

The stats from my Strava profile:

YEAR-TO-DATE
Distance	3,238.4km
Time	135hr 7m
Elev Gain	44,484m
Rides	65

In retrospect I could probably have gone a bit harder at the training. I started focusing on hills about a month later than I should have. Ideally I would like another two months.

On the positive side I can feel the acute difference in my fitness level. There were many days when I would not have gone out for a ride but for the fact that I felt the pressure to do so. Looking back at the earlier days when I dreaded riding up hills such as Selsley, I now feel very comfortable handling those climbs.

I should be able to complete the Etape, the bigger question is how much pain I will have to endure to do so.

I leave for France on Sunday. My friend Gary and I plan to ride around in the Pyrenees for five days before the rest of the crew join us. That should give me the opportunity to try out the Aubisque and Tourmalet before Saturday.

That might not be a good idea if I find them to be extremely tough.

Changing Gears

I had never really given much thought to the ratios of my gear  set up until the prospect of riding for an hour an a half continuously uphill started to loom ever closer.

I consulted with a few fellow riders to find out what gear ranges they used and it became apparent that I was putting in way more effort than I ought to be. Of course, that was to my advantage while I was in the training phase. No one that I spoke to was going to be attempting to ride the Etape with a front gear set up of 52/39 which is the standard. Everyone had moved to a compact front crank.

I scrambled to my laptop to scan ebay for a suitable replacement crank. After a week or so I finally landed a Shimano FC-R700 Compact Chainset with a 50/34 gearing.

I popped over to Noah's Ark  cycle workshop and had them fit the new crank before heading straight out to the hills to try it out.

It was a pleasant surprise to find that going up Frocester Hill was no longer an absolute grind. I could actually get a higher cadence going. It did not result in a massive gain in time but I was faster up the hill and expended slightly less effort.

The fact that I have a 25/11 range on the rear means that I don't have an "escape" gear that allows me to  completely relax but I have enough now to confidently get up the Tourmalet, albeit at a slow pace.

Once back from the Etape though I will switch back to the regular chainset to get the most out of my training. That is based on the assumption that I will still want to ride my bike afterwards.

Pembrokeshire hills

A family holiday out in Pembrokeshire provided the opportunity to try out the Preseli hills. None of the climbs are particularly steep but they are longer than the hills around the Stroud escarpment.

Trying to fit in a three hour ride and satisfy the demands of a "family" holiday can be a tricky balancing act. Luckily the appalling weather provided a convenient cover for my extra curricular activity. No one was in a rush to leave the holiday cottage while the wind outside was howling and the rain was coming down in sheets.

I set out at 6.15 am with my full winter gear on. Visibility from the outset was down to 30 metres and I was cursing myself for not bringing my lights. The route started out just north of Haverfordwest and headed northwest up to the start of the Preseli hills. From there is skirted the National Park up to the start of a long downward descent into Fishguard - a picturesque fishing village.

There is a sharp climb out of Fishguard and then a long undulating section on the busy A road to Newport. After Newport there are many different routes to choose to head up the Preseli hills for the real climbing. I chose the main B-4329 route that goes over the pass. The climb starts at Crosswell and, though not overly steep, proved to be a tough climb due to the heavy head wind and stinging horizontal rain. For the last 1 kilometer of the climb I was down to a derisory 5 or 6 kph bent over the handlebars trying to keep the bike upright. The conditions were very similar to Snowdon in a gale. This was perhaps the only time in my cycling career that I wished I was riding a steel frame bike with sandbags hanging off the handlebars. Several times I pondered flagging down passing cars to get a lift as it seemed like an extremely foolhardy thing to attempt to keep going. Visibility was now down to a few feet and I was extremely concerned about the ability of cars being able to see me before I was plastered over their front windscreen.

I finally made it to the summit and the descent proved to be just as tricky. The more speed I gained the less stable the bike became due to wind shear. I had to apply the brakes for most of the ride down and was most relieved to finally reach the relative protection of the hedge-lined roads at the bottom.

The rest of the ride was stress free apart from the occasional seat of the pants scare when large trucks passed me and gave me cause to grip the handlebars with maximum torque.

Foolishly I repeated a similar ride two days later in even more atrocious conditions. I would love to go back and ride those hills on a clear sunny day. I am sure it would be an amazing ride.

The Ladder

My new favourite hill is The Ladder.

It rises out of Nailsworth up to Minchinhampton Common. The road has been newly resurfaced and is super smooth. There are several switchbacks that give you the feeling of being out on the Alps and then it summits into an awesome view of the common. The total distance is not more than 1.5 kilometres and a rise of only 140m or so which means the pain is fairly well contained.

The great bonus though is that once you have climbed it you can turn around and come back down. The descent (http://app.strava.com/segments/720237) is probably the best on the Escarpment. The smooth tarmac allows speeds up to 80kph, although you have to brake hard for the sharp bends.

A word about Strava

I love Strava.

As a tech geek and a cyclist I have an appreciation for the sheer genius of it. There are plenty of imitators out here but Strava seem to have the lead on them all.

Usually the first thing I do after a ride is hook up my garmin to the mac, upload my ride and eagerly await for the results to process. Have I set a new PR on the Frocester Hill segment? What was my average speed on the Tetbury Road Sprint segment?

As a motivational tool it can't be beat. You get to measure your performance, not only against yourself, but also against thousands of others. Well, in some of the Californian rides it is thousands. Over here it is not so well known or used and even the most popular segments only involve a few dozen riders. I expect that will change as more riders sign up. But for now there is still a chance that you can be the King of the Mountain on a segment for a short while. That is until some cocky young pretender happens to breeze by your time when they discover a new unconquered segment to add to their tally.

The downside to all this competitiveness is that every ride becomes a time trial. Riders know where a segment starts and their heads go down and legs start thrashing automatically as they get into a Strava zone. There is no more leisurely rides through the dales. Every hill has been marked out so you definitely can't dawdle up those.

Then there are the times when you may not even know you are on a segment and stop to take some refreshments as precious seconds tick by. Only when you get home and plough through your results do you realise that you were fifteen minutes slower than everyone else on a segment but you have no way of telling everyone: "Hey!, I didn't know it was a Strava segment. I was taking a break".

Strava has joined all those other apps that we can't get away from that break down every minute detail of our lives for analysis. You can either choose to ignore it or immortalise yourself with a KOM on a hill that no one else will ever bother going near.

Disclaimer: At the time of writing I hold the KOM for Tanners Hill in Sherston (http://app.strava.com/segments/882653) a mighty 300 metre long climb that gains all of 17m of elevation. I'd like to see Bradley Wiggins beat that time!

The Castle 100

This was a chance to ride a longer distance with some of the guys that I would be on the Etape with.
There were five of us riding together. As we were late in assembling we all decided to do the shorter 70 mile route. I was hoping to test my body and bike out with a longer ride but it was more important to hang out with the rest of the guys I would begin the Pyrenees with.
My friend, Gary, is experienced in tuning bikes and made some adjustments to mine that were really helpful. The angle of my bars were raised and more importantly I ditched my Shimano cleats for Look Keo cleats and they were far superior.

It was the first time I had ridden for a long period of time in a peloton and it was a great experience. We were able to keep up a frenetic pace with minimal effort ( as long as you were not at the front!).

The route was mostly along winding country lanes through the heart of Hop country, very scenic. There were no major hills to tackle, they seemed to be reserved for the longer ride.

At about 80K I started to flag a little and found it increasingly difficult to stay up with the group, especially as the terrain was more hilly. Luckily for me Gary's gear cable snapped and he was stuck riding the last 30K in low gear. This meant that I had lots of time to recover waiting for him at the top of hills as he started to struggle to get up in what was now a fixed-gear bike.

We picked up the pace again for the last 5 miles and raced into the Castle grounds at Tonbridge to the finish line.
I was surprised when the results came in to find that we were the 14th and 15th fastest finishers in the 100K. I guess riding in a peleton makes a huge difference.

The training is starting to feel like it is having an effect as I felt comfortable for most of the ride and could have managed a further 30 miles quite easily.

Now for six weeks of hills......

Frocester Hill

With less than eight weeks to go before the ride I decided to switch gears and focus on hill climbing.
This entails driving out 12 miles to the Severn escarpment to Coaley Peak view. From the car park I have bounteous options of inflicting pain on my body with Selsley Hill, Frocester Hill and Uley all within a 3 mile radius.

I picked out a route that starts along Selsley Common and plunges down Selsley Hill over the cattle grates and turns sharply back up hill two thirds down Selsely Hill. So sharply in fact that I could not change gears in time and had the option of hitting the car waiting to turn or rolling over on my side with the cleats still engaged. I went for the latter more humiliating option.

The route winds down into King's Stanley and through Frocester before the winding route up the hill looms into view. Scary to think that this hill is only one tenth of the size of the Tormalet. It is a steeper gradient than the Tormalet though which is one tiny saving grace.

It was not as bad as I anticipated which means that perhaps this training is starting to pay off. At the top I paused for a drink before ploughing on to Uley.

There is a steep descent into Uley and then it is back to grinding away in the highest gear again up Lampern Hill. Parts of this hill reminded me of Tunitas Creek in the Bay Area - bloody steep! Gasping at the top there was no time to take in the scenery as I was in race position heading down to Nailsworth.

The route out of Nailsworth up to the wind turbine via Forest Green is short but steep: a recurring theme on this loop. Once the summit is reached there are about four miles of gentle uphill left before returning back to Coaley Peak.

The loop is about 30K and 800m of climbing. A great ride for the work week when time is limited. I managed some decent middle of the pack times according to strava so things don't look so bleak for July. This Sunday will provide a good marker when I tackle the Castle 100.

Santini Cotswold Spring Classic Sportive

I was feeling under prepared for a long ride through the Cotswolds after an almost two week layoff. I signed up with the intent of doing the longer 170km route.

The day was wet and windy and got progressively worse as the day wore on. About a third of the riders who signed up did not show for the start, including the two who I was supposed to ride with. The Cotswold sportive is not as hilly as some. There is a minor climb out near Bisley (Limekiln lane) followed by 40 or 50 km of gently undulating terrain around the Cotswold Lakes.

There was a food stop at Poultney after 60km. The riding got progressively harder after this point as the head wind kicked up and the rain poured down. My lack of endurance started to tell, especially on the 1km climb at Withington, near the 90km point. As the ride wound back to Cirencester it was an easy decision to cut out the extra 70km and head for the finish. I suspect a lot of the other riders felt the same way as the final results did not show too many long course finishers: (http://www.veloevents.co.uk/csc/riders.php).

As a gauge for the etape in July this was a wake up call that I have a lot more training to do. This ride was half the distance and one quarter of the climbing and I found it tough. More disconcerting is that about thirty km from the finish I developed a pain in my lower back on the right side. By the time I finished it was close to debilitating.
I need a lot more 100km+ rides in the next three months. Time to step up the training to 150-200km per week.

• 107.1km
  Distance
• 1120m
  Elevation
• 04:28:11
  Moving Time
• 2,038
  Calories

Bike adjustments

After two weeks of training on a different bike in California it was immediately apparent on getting back on my own bike that it did not feel right. I was used to a certain position and when I got on my bike I had to reach a few centimeters further forward to reach the bars.

I ordered a new handlebar stem eXotic that reduced the reach by 30mm. That seems like a better fit.

Return to Kings Mountain

Back in England the will to get out and train in near zero temperatures was seriously sapped. I managed two rides in five weeks.
Luckily another trip to the Bay area resuscitated my enthusiasm and got me back on track.
On arrival on Monday afternoon I immediately headed over to CyclePath in San Mateo and picked up a bike. I was fortunate to have a training partner in tow (Paul Hilliar) for the entire two weeks to prevent me from slacking.
The next morning I was wide awake at 2am and pottered around until 5 and then headed out to Canada Road in a rented truck to the start of the ride.
That was pretty much the pattern for the entire trip.
In the ten days out in California I managed eight rides and they all included an ascent of Kings Mountain.
Total distance covered was 400K+ and almost 8K of climbing.

Kings Mountain

The final ride of my stay in San Francisco was a chilly morning ride up to Canada road and then continued upwards on Kings Mountain Road.
These last three rides were with Paul Hilliar who, being fitter than me, provided a hare to chase. He got plenty of rest at the top of ascents waiting for me to catch up.

Similar to the La Honda ride this one starts with the smaller climb up Ralston Avenue with a 11K flat section along Canada road which at this time of the year is a good deal colder than the lower peninsula. Once the digits were firmly numbed it was time to wind up Kings Mountain road. This is a Cat 2 7K climb.
Needless to say everything had thawed out within a few hundred meters of ascending.
The climb is comparable to the last section of Mount Hamilton and about one third of The Tormalet distance.

Once on Skyline Blvd there is a few more hundred meters of climbing before the long ascent down Skyline, La Honda and then Woodside for a total ride of 75K before breakfast.

A nice finish to the trip and a good base this early in the season to build upon.

La Honda road and Skyline

The mountains to the west of Foster City provide plenty of climbing opportunities. This route involves climbing Ralston Ave which is nothing more than a short warm up for the hills ahead.

After reaching Canada road, which is closed off to traffic to give cyclists free access on Sundays, the route heads south until Woodside road. Heading West on Woodside you can opt to tackle Kings Mountain or head straight up La Honda road. I decided to leave Kings for another day and worked my way up La Honda. The view is hidden by trees so there is nothing for it but to put your head down and grind it out for 5 or 6 kilometeres until you reach the junction to Skyline Boulevard where there is a trading station that makes a convenient resting point.

After refilling the water bottle and chatting to a group of riders it was back to climbing again up Skyline. A few more hundred metres of ascending and then then long run down to route 92. The wind was blowing a bit up there which made ascending tricky and the road surface was horrendous. It is not a route that I would choose again.

At the bottom of 92 I turned left and over Bunker a hill for a pleasant descent down Polhemus and Crystal Springs road and home.

After five straight days in the saddle my legs were feeling the strain but it has been an excellent start to training in the New Year and I hope to build on that back in England.

The stats:

• 75.9 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 1,214 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 03:31:37

  MOVING TIME

  
  

Mount Hamilton

After three consecutive mornings of pottering around on minor hills it was time at the weekend to tackle a big ride. I decided to pick a HC category climb near San Jose.
Mount Hamilton is a 30 kilometer climb gaining 1200 metres of elevation.

I took a train down to San Jose and set off through downtown out East towards the foothills. After 10 kilometeres I reached the turn off to the mountain road and the climb started immediately. The first 10 kilometeres of climbing were quite pleasant with some excellent views of San Jose which was now getting smaller. The route then turns inwards and you get the first view of the James Lick Observatory twenty kilometeres in the distance and high up in the hills.

It is a popular route and there were several groups of riders hurtling down the return. There were several flat and downhill sections to give relief to the constant uphill grind. At about 11 kilometeres from the finish the final climb starts and the grade gets a little steeper. I pulled off to the side of the road to take some food in and then set off again on the final push.

The observatory is in constant view around the many twists and turns giving you a reminder of just how much elevation is still to be gained. There is a final sting in the tail as you reach the parking lot and realize there is a steep 200 feet more to the very top.

After a quick tour of the observatory and a few snaps it was back on the bike for the fantastic 30 kilometer descent. There were some rough patches of road to negotiate at speed but also a lot of fabulous new tarmac which made for a smooth and exciting descent. In no time all I was back at the mountain road junction and heading back into San Jose for a flat finish.

It was a fairly tough ride, especially this early in my training schedule when my legs don't yet have the power I would like. But as a taster for what to expect in the Etape it was great. It is sobering though to compare it to the Tormalet and realize that the Tormalet involves a couple of hundred metres more elevation gain in only 20 kilometeres.

I will probably try this ride again in 3 months or so and hope to knock 20 minutes off my time.

The key stats:

• 80.1 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 1,583 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 04:22:30

  MOVING TIME

  
  

Winter training camp

The New Year has started and the training now starts in earnest.

Luckily my regular business trips to California means I can get some serious training in despite it being the middle of winter. The current daytime temperature in the Bay area is between 18 and 22 degrees centigrade.

I arrived in San Francisco on Tuesday afternoon and immediately headed over to CyclePath bike rentals in San Mateo (http://www.cyclepathsm.com/rental.php).

I picked up a Leonard carbon racer and booked it out for 9 days and perused the awesome climbs of the surrounding hills.

Wednesday morning I was up before the crack of dawn, due to jet lag, and headed out. This is a golden opportunity to put in some mileage every day for a week and a half. On top of that there are some fantastic hill climbs all around the area.

On Thursday I tackled Ralston Avenue (Cat 4 climb) and an exhilarating descent down Crystal Springs Road - all before breakfast.

Key Stats:

• 35.3 km

  DISTANCE

 
• 380 m

  ELEVATION (?)

 
• 01:38:11

  MOVING TIME