The organisation was faultless , no queues at registration , loads of trade stands, food stalls, a bar, free T-shirt and water bottles, a secure area for bikes to be left over night and plenty of happy smiley people.
Then we get to the organisation of the company we used and that left a lot to be desired (I won't mention names )
Lots of confusion with coaches,not enough transport for the bikes which meant there were a lot of riders getting very stressed (inc me) . Not the best preparation
A poor quality and very small dinner the night before , even worse !!!.
Anyway , Monday morning 4:30 am (you get that Sean ) and we are all on the coach heading to the start . Everyone is silent , its the weird kind of group silence . I imagined that this was what the Christians might have felt like in the carts on their way to to the Colosseum
4:30am and it was already 70F
The coach arrives and we are now back to the smooth organisation of the Etape, two minute queue to collect my bike no waiting for the clean toilets and marshalls all over the place directing us to the starting pens.
Foix was already bustling with spectators and nobody seemed to mind hundreds of riders watering their flowers, and the atmosphere was fantastic. We could here the local heroes being introduced over the pa to huge cheers (no idea who they were)
Then Greg Lemond gets interviewed and an even bigger cheer goes up .
Suddenly we're off and thousands of riders move slowly towards the line, it took us 20 minutes to go over the timing mat.
Its flat for the first part so there was a good chance to spin the legs before the first couple of digs, . Over these and its down through some rather nasty industrial towns with what I think, from the smell, must have been some sewage works .
Then the first climb The Col de Port , nothing too bad 11.4K at 5.3% average , rising to 1249m . It goes through narrow woodland roads here and there were huge groups bowling along before the road steepens for the main part of the Col.
Once I got over the top there was a long decent down through some lovely towns and there were lots of people out cheering and I was starting to wonder what all the fuss was about , this was easy !!!
Then there is a long flat section with good roads but getting in a group was not like here . You get on somones wheel and they look behind and then start weaving as if to shake you off
but then when I got fed up with it and passed it was ok to sit on my wheel 
(race craft I suppose)
Then it was the Col du Portet d'Aspet, this one is not very difficult going up but over the other side is where Fabio Casartelli died in 1995 . In some places its 17% and I couldn't believe it when I saw a rider lying in the road by the concrete bollards with an ambulance and paramedics around him. It made me feel sick
The next climb, Col de Menté , was a different kettle of fish altogether . Truly awesome 7k at an "average" 8.1% with beautiful views of the valley and mountains all around . When I got to the top there were distances to go painted on the road to help spur you on . I stopped here to fill up bottles and get some food down me .
This is about halfway
The decent from Col de Mente is fantastic , very fast with huge sweeping hairpins and seems to go on for ages . I got 45 MPH down here and there were times when I wondered if my brakes would burn out
Going down here I was concentrating on my breathing trying to get my heart rate down as I knew the next climb was going to be a killer .
I was told that "from the Col de Mente the organisers could have taken the traditional Tour route straight to the Col de Perysourde on main roads via Bagneres de Luchon. However, in the spirit of Tour founder Henri Desgrange (infamous for making life difficult for the riders), they decided instead to open up a completely new road over the Barousse forest. In doing so they transformed the 2007 Etape into an extreme challenge."
"The climb is 19.2km long and only has an average gradient of 6.2% but this is a terrible misrepresentation of its real difficulty. It’s a beast. The narrow, winding road has sections of well over 10% and very few haipins to ease the pain"
Going up here was like riding into a battlezone there were riders lying by the side of the road in total collapse . I saw one man actually crying
The temperature was 102F now and the sun was blazing into my back - the tarmac was melting in some places and a rider in front of me fell as he tried to plough through it.
This climb was absolute agony there are hardly any hairpins to get a rest on and I was desperately trying to block out the pain . Then the 3k sign appears ( thats only 20 minutes or so to go )
At last the summit appeared and I put in a bit of extra effort to shouts of allez allez from the spectators at the top . Then I heard "Well done Addiscombe great ride" . I dont know who you were but that was well appreciated and I think I managed a thankyou at the time.
The feed station here was well stocked and I guzzled water oranges bananas and anything else I could get my hands on.
I had a sit down here to get my breath back before the descent which was on brand new tarmac but was narrow and with no barriers at all and once again very fast
the route goes through lots of small villages and there is a chance to take in the carnival atmosphere again . It was amazing the local fire brigades had turned out lined up on the side of the roads the villagers were out in force as well as the local police.
Almost straight away you hit the final climb the Col de Peyresourde only the small matter of 9.7k at 7.8% . As you go up here there are fantastic views of the road snaking up from below but then I made the mistake of looking up and the road goes on and on and on . I would think this is where a lot of riders heads would give up but I caught my mate Pete by now . a rider I've done a few other sportives with this year and there was no way I was going to let him see me give up !!!
Almost at the top of this last climb and we get carried away and get out of the saddle , only cos we know we are nearly finished .Another fast descent and I remember saying to Pete "are we nearly there, I dont want to see another effing hill" . No mate he says its all flat from here. Then we get the 1K triangle and up it goes again . "Oh yeah" he says "I forgot to mention the Col de Suprise"
This is just a short dig then and then its a sprint to the finish .
I was careful to zip up my top as I went over the line arms in the air
All in all a fantastic trip .
My official time 9 hrs 28 and a ride time of 8 hrs 43
Secretly planning the Marmotte for next year, dont know how I'm going to get that one past the missus
