L’Etape du Tour

I would love to see a satellite image over the Col du Tourmalet on 18 July 2010, it would look like a swarm of army ants on the march towards the majestic mountains of the cycling gods from yesteryear – 10,000 cyclists making their way through the lush valleys, past fresh mountain streams, munching their way through countless energy bars and gels to their final destination at the top of the anthill, the legendary Col du Tourmalet.

Celebrating 100 years in the Pyrenees, the Tour organisers included the Col du Tourmalet in 2 stages of this year’s race, with the Etapers completing the Pau to Tourmalet stage. Taking the Barèges ascent to the 2115m summit where an average gradient of 7.5% over 18km was surely going to take its toll after 160km.

As one of the “must-do” sportives for many cyclists, L’Etape du Tour has grown from around 7,000 riders four years ago when I first took part to an incredible 10,000 this year. Where else can you ride on closed roads and pit yourself against the professionals in one stage of the Tour de France? The attrition rate is fairly high, where it is normal for around a quarter of the field not to make it to the finish line within the cutoff time, this year 6888 finished the event.

For a second year running, I had the privilege of riding the Etape as part of the Sky employees’ team, starting last year with a small group of around 30 it grew to an incredible 118 members of staff this year, with full support from British Cycling and Face Partnership.

The mass start is something to behold, the cool, early morning air feels electric with nervous energy and a buzz of noise from cyclists held in pens waiting for the count down. 3, 2, 1, and we’re off, a slow trickle out of the pens towards the first categorized climb of the event, the Marie Blanque. On paper this didn’t look like such a bad climb, bar the last few kilometers, which had a gradient in the red zone, usually around 9-10%.

Gradients have different meanings to different riders, so here is my personal rating:

5-6% is a good tempo where you can still talk with ease
7-8% starting to work a bit more, 3-5 word answers
9-10% digging in, one word answers only
11-12% out of breath, I can’t speak at all
13-14% did someone put the back brakes on, I’m going backwards!

Analysis of the course in the media had said to get to the Marie Blanque in the early groups as there was bound to be a bottleneck with riders getting off their bikes to walk. Having an early start number helped but there was still the drive in the bunch to ride hard to thin out the field and we arrived at the foot of the Marie Blanque, still shroud in mist with small enough groups to ride the whole climb.

I had cleverly displayed the gradient setting on my Garmin, or so I thought, until I started seeing 11-12% consistently on the last section of the Marie Blanque, before it hit 14%… that was the point I got off the bike to check the back brakes, sadly they were not touching the rim. Over the top, and then onto the best part of the ride – descending on closed roads. This is where the Etape comes into its own, with no traffic to contend with, you can give it horns on the descents. My preferred style of descending is to draw a straight line through the middle of the bends and point the bike in that direction, only braking when I really have to.

The next climb was the Col du Solour with its majestic rocky peaks jutting into the clouds. We faced a long steady 22km to the top, luckily most of the climb was still in the shade. The tranquility of the beautiful scenery was disrupted by a lone Vuvuzela echoing through the valleys – who would have thought that pesky little plastic trumpet would make it’s way into such a quiet corner of the Pyrenees. Having heard the horseflies were quite bad on the Solour, my strategy was to out ride them and luckily I found my legs here so only had to fend one off from my arm as it tried to hone in on the salty residue left over from the Marie Blanque.

Entire villages were out in full support, cheering, clapping, Mexican waving – what an amazing love of cycling the French have, I can’t imagine the reception they give the pro cyclists if this is how they supported us mere amateur mortals.

The Tourmalet is one of my favourite climbs having ridden the La Mongie ascent a number of times. I’ve never attempted it from the Barèges side and I can safely say, I may not choose to go up this side again. The massive 10% through Barèges went on forever and the road never dipped below 7%. It was at this point I rewrote my system for grading climbs.

4-5% is a good tempo, should be compulsory every 3 or 4km up any climb
5-6% ok it’s kicking up now, pray no-one asks a question
7-8% checking for an extra gear, oh dear I’m in the smallest gear already
9-10% where’s the button to switch the motor on
11-12% cue uncontrollable swearing
13-14% look for a ditch to hide in if the bike grinds to a halt

The ascent of the Tourmalet, or last climb of any Etape is unusually cruel, but ironically, often what gets folk coming back after swearing never to do the ride again. The road is lined with caravans ready for the Tour, supporters cheer loudly all along the route “Allez la petite blonde”, pouring water over your head, handing out sweets and giving the odd push up the hill. The support in the last kilometer makes you feel like you are winning the race and when you cross the finish line you forget the pain of the last 180km.

Having missed a gold time by 9 minutes last year, I was determined to make it happen this year. To understand how tough the organisers make it, there were less than 100 gold places awarded this year, so I was ecstatic to be one of them. What’s left to explain is how all that pain and suffering converted into numbers, here are my results.

8th in age group
12th lady overall
2nd British lady
1041 out of 10,000

One of my favourite events, for the closed roads, feeling like a pro for the last few kilometers up the climb and the incredible support both on and off the road.

So to put this all into perspective, here are the times from others who rode the course.

Andy Schleck: 5h 03′ 29″
Ist Etape male: 5h 59’ 10”
Ist Etape female: 6h 30’ 35”
Peta McSharry: 7h 55’ 02”
Cut off time: 12h

Stats from my Garmin:

Ride time: 7h 55’
Distance: 180.7km
Max speed: 73.6kph
Avg speed: 22.6kph
Total ascent: 4368m
Total descent: 2547m
Calories: 6943
Avg HR: 157bpm

Riding across the backbone of Wales, across the Cotswolds and central England and finishing with the open prairies of East Anglia taking in 380 miles across the widest part of the UK David Harmon, Eurosport’s Cycling Commentator and Jez Hastings, a wilderness guide, will attempt to make the Side-to-Side record in under 17.5 hours. They will be joined at the hips, literally, as they pedal in unison on their state of the art tandem, Rocket 1.

Every second will count as the timekeepers start the clock at 4am from Pembroke Castle on Saturday 21 August and stop it once the team touch down at the Britannia Pier in Great Yarmouth. Contending with regular traffic along the route, Team Wiggle Tandem may not receive any outside assistance. Where you’d see a team car assisting riders in a road race as it drives along side them, David and Jez will only be able to pick up musette bags (food bags) from crew who are posted on the roadside, they will need to make all their own navigational decisions as their support vehicles ride behind them and keeping an eye on the clock they will need to judge their pace to stay within the record time, yet ensuring they don’t blow up before they reach their destination.

With two delayed attempts due to injury and unfavourable weather conditions, Harmon and Hastings have been chomping at the bit to get underway with the attempt since March. Fitting the attempts between a busy commentating schedule has been tough, however the changeable weather patterns this year have seen the riders and team wait with baited breath until the very last minute to make the decision to go ahead with the record attempt.

As the team gather in Pembroke in Wales, weatherman Ian Michaelwaite has given the thumbs up with a South West South wind of around 8mph, whilst a good westerly wind is what is needed the more southerly wind is a far cry from the Easterly head wind the team would have faced earlier in the year.

Whilst the attempt is scheduled to start at 4am, the riders have a few hours either side of this time to make a start should the wind turn behind them. Their progress can be tracked on Map My Tracks once they get underway, with the route link and updates being posted on Twitter under WiggleTandem.

Roadside support would be an added bonus for the team, with their proposed route and schedule posted below. Cheer them loudly if you see them along the way and overtake safely if you happen to be caught up behind them.

For further information:

Follow on Twitter: http://twitter.com/WiggleTandem
Website: http://teamwiggletandem.com
Routemap & schedule: http://www.teamwiggletandem.com/side_to_side.html

The Moment of Truth

They say that time trialling is the ‘race of truth’. Against the clock you can’t hide in the bunch, can’t shelter from the wind or exercise any tricky sportsman’s games in the pursuit of your goal. In time trialling you can’t cheat the wind, can’t run for cover behind the group, or sandbag and fool nature into accepting your ruse.

It looks like finally, after months of delays we have come to the point where it is just us and nature. All our injury and health worries seem to be behind us. We have, against some expectation remained in good shape despite the interference of work, travel and families. There is always more that could be done, or situations managed differently but nevertheless we now stand less than a week away from knowing whether we will enter the record books by the time we roll into Great Yarmouth on our attempt at the Side to Side record from Pembroke.

The schedule that has been filed with the Road Records Association calls us to maintain an average speed of 21.6 miles per hour, over 380 miles with the worst of the terrain presenting itself during the first half of the course but crucially the better wind conditions over the faster second half of the course.

As always work has proved the biggest stumbling block to full on long hour training, most especially the Tour de France, with it’s constant travelling, long hours and often inconvenient routes and so for the final run up to the record attempt I have reverted to the fixed wheel bicycle to do tune up the legs and adjust to the speed that will be required to work in harmony with Jez. Throughout the Tour of Poland, which Eurosport covered from it’s London base, I trained with team colleague Peta McSharry in Richmond Park and commuted to work and back. Little did I know it would lead to doing my first fixed wheel TT in 10 years when Peta entered me for the London Dynamo Richmond Park 10.5 last Sunday.

I’d forgotten just how impossible it is to chase anyone on a road bike in a time trial when you can’t freewheel and than goodness for the generosity of Dave Atkinson at Road CC who rode to the rescue with a 5 tooth sprocket for the White Industries rear hub on my bike that has an unique carrier system. These sprockets are like hen’s teeth at the moment but at least it meant I could still see riders in the distance by the end of the 2 long fast downhill sections of the course.

In the end I caught 4 men in the road class for 2′ in total and ended up top fixed in the road category, which I have to say rather surprised and pleased me. The time might not look spectacular at 28′50″ but I simply couldn’t have pedalled downhill any faster….mind you I couldn’t have pedalled uphill much faster either!

Come Thursday night the entire team will have gathered at the most westerly point in Wales, Pembroke Castle will be the starting point for what has turned into more than a record, into a voyage of discovery and with 17 hours we will know whether we can open the record books to see Harmon & Hastings next to some of the greatest distance riders of all time.

Ride Safe

DH

25

London – Manchester – Gold!

As I looked along the transition area in the Excel Centre it finally dawned on me that it really was time for the London Triathlon! I was disappointed last year as I had a priority fixture for the Talent Programme that meant although the boys were able to take part in this event on the Saturday the girls had a clash on the Sunday and had to be elsewhere. I remembered just two years ago watching the elite athletes doing the same as I was about to on TV… it was a little overwhelming!

The Centre was buzzing with people: supporters and athletes. Bikes were being racked and preparatory rituals taking place all around. As I walked down to the racking area – at the extreme end of the hall I realised how vast the place was. I also realised that with the help of all the marshals and signage I wasn’t going to get lost either! It is an extremely well organised, and deservedly World Class event.

I was prepared for the swim after Eaton and Blenheim: resolved to attack more at the start. As we were the first race of the day we didn’t have much of a hype-up by the crew, but we were all raring to go as we walked out to the announcer’s plaudits and the cheer of the assembled crowd out on the riverside. Boys and Girls assembled together at the start – bobbing about in the Thames – all with the same colour hats which I think lead the spectators not to notice that it was a mixed race at first.

The swim went well and I was soon climbing the pontoon. Although the derelict South Bank had seemed quite forbidding when I got in the water, conversely the ramp out seemed just as welcoming. I soon had my Aquasphere W-Racer wetsuit peeled off and into a plastic bag as I ran down the bank. T1 went well as I had my number belt under my wetsuit ready to go and I was soon out on my bike: getting down nice and low on the bars.

The bike phase was pretty flat with a few inclines and a technical first section, all went smoothly and I felt the benefit of a bit more air in my tyres! Into T2 I overtook one person and then passed another two on the run. My mum said that I was easy to spot in my Blue and White Pearl Izumi Tri Suit: as practically everyone else was a sea of black! I finished 6th girl home, but I have to say there was no one close in front or behind, so I was pleased that I did as well as I could, and even more pleased that I had a really good position: up from 9th last time!

Then it was everything back into the car and off to Manchester – Salford Quays to be precise for the National Biathle Champs. I think my mum and dad had been worried that I wouldn’t have the legs for the two events but after the buzz of the London Tri and a few hours sleep in transit I was raring to go again.

Biathle is part of the Modern Pentathlon programme and is what initially got me interested in Triathlon: its a run swim run – continuous. It appeals to all ages and some of the ‘Masters’ age group are in their 70’s. I was aware that I had some extra competition this year so I was wary of predicting an outright victory – I needn’t have worried! Despite swimming an extra 5 metres (I went a bit off-course – oops!) and nearly getting passed on the exit ramp from the Dock I had a storming transition and lead the run out by about 10 metres. I had a comfortable win and relaxed in to the finish.

Collecting my Gold medal I realised I was at last National Biathle Champion, though I may not be able to defend my title at the World Champs in Dubai later in the year. On the long journey home I reflected on a fantastic weekend – what it’s all about: competing and winning ! Just a few days to pack now before I’m off to Berlin for ten days training with the German Pentathletes: I’ll have to try and look out on TV while I’m away for some of my mates who are up at Crystal Palace for the Athletics Grand Prix: Then I have the IRC prep, Aquathlon and Europeans in Bulgaria: It’s that time of year again – “Have passport will travel!”

5

Mid-week Racing

Mid-week Racing – Team Tor 2000 Circuit Race Series 2010

Between 6 May and 29 July I’ve been taking part in the seven mid-week fortnightly races at Merryfield Airfield, Ilton, promoted by Team Tor 2000.

Midweek women only races are limited in my area so the only options available to me are either this race, Crystal Palace, or Hog Hill. I used to race mid-week at Hillingdon, but that was a few years ago now and unfortunately they are no longer held there. Although Iton is the furthest away, it is easier for me to get there compared to Crystal Palace or Hog Hill. I’ve tried the journey to both of these London venues and it would be a complete nightmare for me to try and arrive there on time having battled through all the London traffic, so Merryfield Airfield it has been every fortnight until the end of July. In actual fact it takes about the same travelling time to get to Ilton as it did Hillingdon.

The Merryfield circuit is actually a lot tougher than you think it will be as it’s so open and always very windy, especially along the finishing straight which is usually a strong head wind. However, it’s great mid-week racing and Team Tor 2000 cater for youths, 4ths, 3rds, E/1/2/3’s, as well as women’s racing, so at least my partner can race at the same time. It’s all very well organised and definitely worth the trip.

For the majority of these races the weather remained dry and sunny, apart from the penultimate race held on 15 July when it absolutely poured with rain and we had to contend with gale force winds that turned racing into just surviving to stay upright on the bike. In hindsight I wouldn’t have even gone out on a training ride in those conditions and yet there we were trying to race. Mim and I were the only mad fools to turn up (although in my defense it had been lovely and sunny when we left home and in Mim’s she was leading the series), but as there was only one point between us at that point – Mim first place and me in second place – we had no choice really if we wanted to keep our positions. It was quite bizarre riding in those conditions and I would have to say quite scary at times coping with the gale force winds – something I would not want to do again – with all the races that night splitting immediately and riders ending up in just 1’s and 2’s around the circuit.

It was quite an eventful series and at the beginning the Fred Baker Team had a strong presence and it was a case of chasing down the numerous attacks that might stay away. Unfortunately for me on the first race I chased down one of the attacks by another rider and then the Fred Baker Team attacked immediately after on the far side and I couldn’t recover quick enough to get to them and soon found myself in no-man’s land. I tried to chase to get to the group of 4, but on my own it just wasn’t going to happen. There were 3 from the Fred Baker Team and Mim Freemantle from Team Tor. I was soon caught by 3 others and we worked together for the rest of the race. On the last lap we caught Mim and one of the Fred Baker Team who had been dropped from their group and I managed to out-sprint those in our small group of 6. I was pleased with my performance and enjoyed the race, but was slightly disappointed that I had missed the break, especially as I had been keeping a watchful eye on what was going on – up until that point at least!

At the end of the second race the 4ths caught us just before the finishing straight which caused a bit of confusion so it was a case of picking a line amongst the men, going for it and hoping they could pick us women out amongst the men. Unfortunately on the fourth race the 4ths had finished before us, but unknown to us there had been a couple of crashes along the finishing straight and cars had been driven onto the circuit to help protect the fallen riders which meant we had a narrow finishing straight and sprinting was greatly impeded. During the fifth race I had felt quite ill that particular night so I just had to dig deep to just stay with Mim Freemantle (Team Tor 2000) and Ali Holland (Maxgerar). The last race was probably the most fun and enjoyable as we were all watching out for Ali Holland (Maxgear), an Elite rider who is an extremely strong rider and is having a phenomenal season this year. Ali was attacking a lot, as she likes to do, and we had to respond quickly to try and stay with her – in fact it felt like we were all doing her training session on that night. It was hard work, but great fun and we all had a bit of a laugh about it during the race which made it a nice end to a great series of racing.

I thoroughly enjoyed these events and there was generally a really great atmosphere at all of the races. The sprint competition was a bit of a surprise as well, as I’m not too sure many of us were aware that there was one, so that was an extra bonus.

A big thank you to the organisers of Team Tor 2000.

My Race Results

Race 1 – 3rd
Race 2 – 2nd
Race 3 – 4th
Race 4 – 6th
Race 5 – 3rd
Race 6 – 2nd
Race 7 – 4th

Overall Final Positions

1st – Miriam Freemantle – Team Tor 2000
2nd – Nikki Wheeler – Team Wiggle
3rd – Ali Holland – Maxgear

Sprint Competition

1st – Miriam Freemantle – Team Tor 2000
2nd – Ali Holland – Maxgear
3rd – Nikki Wheeler – Team Wiggle

33

London Triathlon Win!

The London Triathlon is definitely one of my favourite races. It is well run, has closed roads and is in London which means I can sleep in my own bed the night before. I love the race and after winning my age group there last year, I was keen to have another shot at winning there.

My parents came over from Australia specially to see this race as they know it is one of my favourites and the last time they saw me race was when I used to do 5km cross country in my late teens! It was great having them there along with The Dutchman and certainly made it easy to find my support crew with my Mum shouting louder than anyone else and The Dutchman being a head taller than the crowd!

One of the things I love most about London Tri is the huge number of ‘newbies’ who choose that race to give triathlon a go. It makes for a really great atmosphere and highlights the popularity that triathlon is currently enjoying.

Everyone is put into a holding pen to begin where we get a race overview and then the adrenalin pumping with some cheering and Oggi! Oggi! Oggi’s! The special touch is that you have to give the person next to you a hug to wish them luck.

We then head down the stairs and onto the pontoon to jump in the COLD water. It topped the thermometer at 17.2 degrees, however saying that once the initial shock is over, race nerves kick back in again and before you know it the race is off. The course had been changed this year we were swimming in a clockwise direction which I prefer, as I breathe on the left, so I could keep close to the buoys on my right and keep an eye on what was happening in the pack.

I went out hard from the gun but it is always difficult with so many people so you do get a bit battered. I’m not really bothered by that and just keep focused and trying to find some clear water out of the way of kicking feet. The pushing and shoving lasted almost until the turnaround point which was good in some respects because I was focused on swimming hard to get where I wanted to be so I wasn’t thinking about how far we had swum.

After the turnaround it is amazing how many people you can overtake, and I guess that is where race experience comes into it in that I can pace myself over the distance. Out of the water and into a long transition which involved a couple hundred metres of running, including a flight of stairs! Wetsuits come off before heading back into the Excel centre and the trick is to run to the last person as they are always free to help you get your wetsuit into the bag provided.

My transition was fast and I was out on the bike in no time. I started cranking up the pace and was feeling good, only to make a silly error of missing the turnaround point for lap one! I realised my mistake a few hundred metres down the road and was lucky that I could cut across the course and get back on track. With an extra 500m in the bag, the adrenalin was really pumping now!!
I love that we get to go through the Blackwell Tunnel which is closed to traffic. It slopes down and you have a tailwind so being on my Focus Izalco Chrono means I can fly through there. It is such a buzz going that fast down in the aero position which everything rushing past. I was in the first female wave to go so I could see who was ahead of me on the bike which works well for me, I get really fired up about seeing the girls ahead of me and love chasing them down!

I was off the bike in 4th place and had some running to do to close the gap. I caught the first 2 girls within 1500m and couldn’t find the girl in front anywhere. The course was quite congested but with having turnaround points you can usually see who is ahead of you. In those situations the only thing you can do is just run as hard as possible. With the course changes, my time was slower than last year but I was really pleased with my performance and really pleased with 2nd place. When I checked the results later on that day, I was ecstatic to see I had won my age group! I have no idea what happened to the girl ahead of me and I do hope she is OK.

I’m in Nice now for a spot of recovery and to show the sites to Mum and Dad. It is going to be a shock to the system next week as I am going back to working full time! Having worked 4 days a week up until June and then not working at all for the past 6 weeks, it is going to be tough! Saying that I am looking forward to starting my new job.

Next race for me is another sprint race at Dorney Lake. I slipped one of those in pre London Tri and came in 3rd. So far it has been a really great season for me with every race being a podium finish! Hopefully I can continue the trend!

Happy training.
Cx

Getting close to ……

It has been a long game this record seeking team. we have been beset by injury the weather and luck but now after 8 months it really looks like we are the cusp of something big. It is a wee bit like looking into the crater of a live volcano. All being well we will survive.

miles have been munched, training digested and kit to get us there has never let us down. The Focus bikes, the dhb clothing and footwear are beyond reproach. The shorts and three quarter bib knickers are without doubt some of the most comfortable I have ever worn. The dhb eVent jackets have been tested to beyond their promise and even after the filthiest winter and wet spring and summer( after all, I do live off the West Coast of Scotland) they are still as waterproof as the day I went out in the first downpour. I am really impressed and would highly recommend these to everybody!

I noticed this week having organised and done the Ride of The Falling Rain, our local Islay sportif, that I am fitter than ever before. The L2P was a great success for us and ironed out all sorts of niggles and gave us others to consider too: the dreaded Hot Foot for me and more miles to be ridden for David. We ride like a team now, silently communicating, knowing when to push and when to ease back on Rocket 1. We lived together for a whole month training , eating and laughing together.

We know what cheeses each other off and there were certainly times when we both could have easily walked away from the whole project. However, it was the team that kept us together, the faith that all the members and sponsors had put into us. The belief that two ordinary guys, with the correct support and vision could do the extraordinary. It is extra-ordinary. Extraordinary, because of the amazing togetherness that a small and highly skilled team can achieve fantastic things, extraordinary that as Wiggle Athletes we are followed and supported globally (thank you), and extraordinary because we are still able to go for the S2S record for a third time (having lost the first attempt to injury and the second to the weather). We still feel good rather than worn out and that is all due to all of the above. We are a team and we are getting closer to breaking the record….soon…. 19-21 August 2010

32

Hyde Park Racing

I love it when I can race in London! It makes everything so easy, especially when the race starts at a decent hour. Last weekend was the Dextro Energy Triathlon in Hyde Park, which is a 10 minute ride from my house.

Saturday afternoon I headed down to the park to register and to watch the pro ladies. It was a great atmosphere and really inspiring to see them race. They girls can really move and it is incredible to see them flying past lap after lap doing times I could only dream of!

I was racing on Sunday morning in the age group Olympic distance race which for me started at 9.20. With a start time like that, I had some supporters on the course which is always fantastic! My swim wasn’t brilliant (when is it lately??) but I felt like I kept a consistent pace. I was with 2 guys who were making me push hard to keep with them which is what I needed.

The distance from swim exit to transition was around 500m which suits me as I can run straight out of the water and overtake a bunch of people who are not sprinting. I had spent considerable time on Saturday practising transition so my times were pretty good as I really have it down what goes where and in a specific order to speed through and get going.

The bike course was 5 laps and I am hopeless at counting laps because I refuse to use a bike computer, but that’s where the Dutchman comes in! I get so into the race I forget how many laps I have done! He was standing at the turnaround point counting down the laps for me and adding to the series of photos we have of my back wheel or the competitor behind me!

Unfortunately there were quite a few crashes on the course. It had been raining earlier in the morning so some of the corners were still a little bit wet and slippery. Coupled with a very busy course it was inevitable that accidents were going to happen. There was one guy who went down going in the opposite direction to me and he just seemed to crash into the barrier so not sure what that was about. Thankfully there was a lot of St John’s Ambulance support so people were never too far from help.

I was flying on the bike and having a great time. I was feeling really strong, all those intervals up mountains in France have paid off! I love the Focus Izalco Chrono and after many, many hours on it I am very comfortable staying in the aero position for everything except dead turns. It handles really superbly as well as looking great! I was talking to a guy in transition who had recently purchased it with the Dextro only being his 2nd race on it and he too was waxing lyrical about it (he also said to say thanks to Wiggle for the amazing 15% off deal he got!).

Out onto the run and due to the mixed waves, you have no idea where you are in relation to anyone else in age group so it is all about just going as hard as you can. I felt good on the run but didn’t feel like I had that really sharp fitness I like to have at this time of the year. My run was slightly slower than I liked, but it was enough to get me 3rd place in my age group so no complaints! I placed 9th overall out of the women so for me it was a fantastic day out and much improvement on last year where I was 14 minutes slower! I loved racing in my new Wiggle branded Craft Elite Tri Suit, it is always nice to get a ‘Go Wiggle’ shouted at me!

I’m off to Dorney Lake tonight for a spot of mid week triathlon racing which I am using as a solid training session in preparation for the London Triathlon on the 8th August.

Happy training.
Cx

There are races and there is the Tour de France. This bizarre cross between a medieval army on the march and a circus takes over my life every July. Over 8000 people, live, work and travel with the Tour as it rampages around France laying waste to each town in besieges and invading the media until finally Paris itself falls to the marauding peloton on the cobbles of the Champs Elysees.

Stuck in the middle of it all,in a tiny tin box sit Sean Kelly and myself. It’s a peculiar space to occupy in the Tour de France caravan. We sit at the very peak of a media network that brings the images of these warring knights of the road to millions worldwide, just 2 men in 2 square metres of ground.

And it’s a long history of warfare too. 2010 sees the centenary of the Tour de France visiting the Pyrenees for the first time and all the famous climbs used in that first foray have been revisited this year, culminating in the showdown between Andy Schleck and Alberto Contador on the slopes of the Col du Tourmalet. Hundreds of thousands lined the road as the two strongest men in this years tour went shoulder to shoulder, eyeball to eyeball to see who would crack first, neither did,but it was so vastly removed from those first stages 100 years ago won by Frenchman Octave Lapize as to be as if from another planet.

Sean prefers to limit his exercise to running whilst on the Tour but this year, as last, I have borrowed a bike from a team and taken to the road at every opportunity, often riding a part of the route each day and having a relaxed spin in the mountains on each of the Tour’s two rest days. I can’t get out everyday as the logistics of the job often prevent it but come the second, and rather late, rest day in Tarbes this week I was looking forward to a ride up the Tourmalet, a day bound to be more pleasurable as Sean had agreed to the request of a former team mate and former Champion of France, Marcel Tinazzi, to join a party of riders on quiet spin up the Col to celebrate the achievements of the early Tour pioneers.

The weather on the morning of the rest day didn’t look particularly favourable with spots of rain blotting the windscreen as we drove to St.Marie le Campan at the foot of the great Col and somehow I think Sean was hoping that one good downpour would mean the ride might be cancelled. I once remarked to Sean, on a training day when the clouds hung leaden in the sky, that it was only a spot of rain likely. His reply came back quick as a flash; “I spent 17 yeas as a professional suffering in the rain, why would I want to now go and ride it it for fun?”. If the weather failed to provide an excuse not to ride the coup de grace was revealed when the bicycle and kit promise by Tinazzi emerged from the back of a support van.

And what a bike it was, the very finest racing machinery and clothing available…in 1910. For years I have been trying to get Sean to ride the great retro event l’Eroica in Italy, where you race across the white gravel roads of Tuscany on period bikes and for years he has steadfastly refused. Now, faced with 25 other members of the Velo Club Ancien, he had no choice but to don the woolen jersey and shorts, pull the spare tire over his shoulders, adjust his goggles and face the Tourmalet on one gear.

For the record, he made it easily to the top as you would expect for the rider with the 3rd best palmares of all time and actually quite enjoyed it but what an eye opener on the world of Edwardian racing. My superb Team Wiggle issue Focus Cayo weighs in at about 7.4kg with my own light Shimano DuraAce race wheels on, Sean’s pre First World War machine weighed about 20kg. Added to which there was no super slick 10 speed, just a single freewheel of 24 teeth, driven by a 40 tooth chainring. Braking must have been more of an aspiration than a reality with a single ’spoon’ type rod operated front brake that applied limited pressure to the top of the tire and as for the saddle…well let’s not even go there.

And yet, feeling totally incongruous in my Team Wiggle Tandem kit and modern bike I had the best ride of my year, riding up and down the line as a domestique, fetching and carrying water and food for the group as they displayed just how hard the men of the early tour were.

How has this helped the tandem project? Well physically not much but I am a man who needs motivation, who needs to be in love with the bike and the romance of riding it in order to achieve and you could not in 1910, or now, ride these mountains on these machines without a real fire inside for the joy of the bike and that is utterly inspiring.

If you want to see exactly how much fun we all had away from the Tour for a day, check out the Facebook site run by the German Eurosport commentators; “Radsport on Tour” and go to the video section. A picture can say a thousand words!

Now, do Wiggle do 20kg, 100 year old single speeds?

Ride safe.

39

Ras De Cymru

Location: South East Wales

30th June – 4th July 2010

This is a race that I have previously won (2007) and when Wiggle got a team together I couldn’t wait to get racing. 6 Stages in 5 days and with the stages being held over some of the biggest hill South Wales has to offer it was going to be a tough race. The team consisted of myself, Richard Pearman, Peter Kitching and my main domestique Jon Cannings.

Stage 1 – Prologue

Well I was looking forward to the prologue until a last minutes course change spoiled my chances of getting off to a good start. Instead of a rolling course finishing up a hill it was now a sort of flat straight course. After having a good warm up on the rollers it still didn’t prepare me more the painful experience of the prologue. I finished in a disappointing 37th place some 49 seconds off the leader.

Stage 2 – Hilly Road Stage

Having raced on this circuit earlier in the year I knew that the main climb which we had to ride over 6 time was going to be wearing on all the riders. The second time up it though I managed to win the King of the mountain prime and continued to ride at the haed of the race marking any potential break aways so I could get away and gain some time on general classification. In the end though the racing was so fast that it was hard to get away that was until two riders managed to break clear and maintain a 1 min adavantge. The last lap saw this reduce rapidly and heading in to the last 2km I attacked thinking it was 1 km to go and soon realised this when I approached the 1km to go sign and looking back saw a charging peleton. I sat up and finished in mid bunch avoiding a dangerous crash where 5 riders had to go to hospital.

Stage 3 – Team Time Trial

The team time trial was next on the agenda and was described as a rolling course but it was far from that. We started off on an uphill drag and by the time we got to the top Rich and Pete were loosing contact so Jon and myself eased up because we need 3 riders to finish as the clock stops on the third man. We started rolling through well together on the slight down hill but as we approached the half way point we lost Rich and decided to carry on leaving myself, Jon and Pete to get to the finish. When we got to the half way point we turned into a strong wind and the road was grippy which made it extremely hard going and when we got to the return climb Pete began to suffer so me and Jon set the pace to keep us all together. We finished with a downhill sprint but only managed to finish one from last team. This pushed me way down on General Classification.

Stage 4 – Hilly Road Race

This stage followed the team time trial and was one of the most feared stages by the riders but I knew I could get up the leg destroying climb OK. So the first time up it I pushed hard and the bunch split, there where now 13 riders off the front. I sat on the back missing my turns as I was so far down on GC that I didn’t want to help these riders gain even more time just to jump me at the end. So once the gap was over 3 minutes I went through to do some turns but they were pushing harder than I wanted to especially when we had such a substantial gap. I moved to the back and bided my time so I could try and win the stage and salvage something of the race. In the last kilometre 3 riders were hovering in front of the rest of the break, the finish was approaching and I attacked jumping past the 3 riders in front but could see a rider sat on my wheel. I kicked all the way to the line but I got rolled at the last few meters to finish second. The others weren’t happy with my race tactics but it is a bike race and I was doing what I had to do to win the race. We had over a 5 minute advantage over the bunch by the time they crossed the line.

Stage 5 – Rolling Road Race

Having gained back some time in the pervious stage I was hoping to gain some more time in this stage. I knew the course well and new it was tough for the first part and then easier the latter part. The bunch stayed together at a high pace but a few rider managed to clip off the front and stay away until the finish although none of the riders were a real threat to GC. I stayed at the fron and pulled the bunch along because I dint want them to get too much time and then attacked up the final climb to finish in a small split at the front of the bunch. It was a warm day and a lot of riders suffered which included team mates Jon and Rich.

Stage 6 – Rolling with a Sting at the end

The final stage and I was in 8th place on GC and I was confident in my climbing abilities that I could gain some for place on the 4 mile finishing climb where I previously won the race in 2007. The race was fast from the off and with the intermittent rain made racing all that much harder. There was an early break and they were holding the bunch off just about but we were closing in on them in the final kilometres. I punctured on one of the final descents which was super fast and really rough so was trying not to destroy my very expensive lightweight wheel!!! Jon Cannings stopped to help me get back on so a delayed wheel change I started to chase with Jon and a Local rider John Fitzpatrick who also saw I was in trouble. Eventually the car caught me back up and shortly I managed to get back to the bunch and ride through straight to the front just in time for the climb. This was the final chance to gain some time and with the break now caught the natural selection was being made as the bunch whittled down to about 8 riders including myself. I didn’t feel as strong as I thought I would so sat in whilst the pace was high and as the climb opened up the wind was strong and the rain was sideways! The final kilometre there was an attack which I responded to and left us with 5 riders to fight to the finish, the last drag was a slow sprint and I managed to clinch 4th place.

Overall I finished 7th on GC at 2.48 off the leader, I was quite pleased with my performance and it was a shame we lost some time in the team time trail. I really enjoyed the event and racing and relaxing with my Wiggle team mates was great fun and I’m defiantly looking forward to future events like this!

Well done Team Wiggle and thanks for all your help and support in one of the toughest 5 day stage races in the UK.

Ben