L'Etape 08

[Dombo]

A 4:30 alarm saw the day of the etape dawn cold and wet. After a rushed breakfast and an optimistic slathering of face arms and legs with some Factor 30, I joined 8,000 other madmen assembled in numbered pens to await the 0700 start of what promised to be along day in the saddle and heaven knew what weather horrors awaited us in the high mountains.

Announcements, all in French, were garbled except for the words “tres dangereux", "descent" "Tourmalet et Hautacam". A sombre mood descended on the crowd. Then we were off, barreling through the slick streets of Pau at speeds up to 25mph on closed roads, waved through red lights and junctions by kindly gendarmes. The locals had turned out in force to cheer us on our way and to witness the many crashes on wet, greasy corners as riders caromed into thoughtfully placed padded crash mats.

The first 60 miles were fast, the trick being to stick with a bunch of other riders and save energy by slipstreaming, tucked close behind the wheels of those in front and trusting them not to brake or swerve. Good discipline here I’m glad to say. All the while eating carb gels and sipping energy drinks to keep fuelled. Lourdes came quickly, and our first food stop. Grab some water and fruit and catch another bunch of riders, reaching the first proper climb, an easy 5kms through some woods as friendly spectators cheered us up the hill. Some sweeping turns and we were on the flat, powering towards the base of the Tourmalet and our first real test.

A thoughtfully placed sign informed us that La Mongie, 3kms from the summit, was 22kms away. Just 13 miles. Except it was straight up.

Cloud cover so low that it sat on the road deprived us of the apparently great views as we climbed upwards, banter having ceased as everyone tapped out a steady beat on the pedals. At these times no gear is too low and I ground along at speeds that at times dropped below 4mph, mildly curious as to how I did not topple into the void. Amazingly I passed a few people, although there were no Armstrongesque power attacks as I dropped them awestruck in my wake – just a slow creep as I inched past perhaps a half mile an hour faster.

More food at La Mongie, a place that resembled a winter battleground. Bikes strewn everywhere, empty water bottles, and riders emerging haggard-faced through the cold damp mist that thankfully shrouded the architectural horrors of that ski resort. Then it was a final few kms to the summit and a much deserved descent.

A child's picture of a mountain is often an upside down V. Tourmalet has a similarly very obvious summit. One minute you are toiling in your lowest gear at 5mph, the next your legs are spinning like a flywheel as you scrabble to change up a dozen gears at once as the bike accelerates to 30 mph and the first series of hairpins.

Road bike brakes are useless at the best of times. On a wet Pyrenean descent they are as effective as sticking your hand out the window of a speeding car. A sound like a rifle shot rang out. A tad harsh way to eliminate the slower riders, I thought, but no, the rear tyre of a nearby rider had exploded, his overzealous and continuous braking having superheated his rims.

So I now had a choice, brake, burst a tyre and perhaps die, or don’t brake, miss a bend and certainly die.

Thankfully I avoided his fate and hammered down the mountain, aware that a lapse in concentration could smear me against the rocks or catapult me into the white void without even a view to enjoy for my last five seconds on earth.

The clouds behind us, we were soon in a gorge where a bunch of us swept along through beautiful scenery taking full advantage of the closed roads. One more town before a straight tailwind along the valley led us to the base of Hautacam and our final climb.

Spectators were out in force on the lower slopes and it is a real boost to have total strangers yelling encouragement as you toil up a hill. So up I rode, rain jacket tied around my waist, trying to spin a 30x25 but only managing to tap out a steady rhythm.

Hautacam is a lot like English climbs in that you get some flat or even slightly downhill bits. While they mess up your rhythm they do offer a brief respite from the relentless grind skywards that was Tourmalet.

Km markers ticked by, 12, 11, 10 then single figures. 9kms is six miles so twice up the Dorking-Coldharbour climb in Surrey. 5kms is once up that road. One old boy just ahead of me gave up at that point, turned around and began his sad-faced descent. The 3km marker was passed – less than 2 miles now. My house to CSS. Except a mile of that is downhill. Finally we passed under the 1 km to go arch. There were no heroic sprints here. How far can that be? Just over a thousand yards. I looked up. 2 more hairpins. I could hear the bleeping of the timer mats getting louder. I then made them bleep. Joy! A medal and a bottle of water were thrust into my hands.

I glanced back at the inflatable Finish arch and the steady stream of ghosts emerging from the clouds, then made my way to the start of the descent. Two by two we were let go at fifty metre intervals for a cold descent back to base.

8 hours 6 minutes

http://www.justgiving.com/dominicbarnes

[Andrew G]

Well dome Dombo, weather sounds very un-etape. Must have been great climbing some classic mountains and having the closed roads.
[quote]the rear tyre of a nearby rider had exploded, his overzealous and continuous braking having superheated his rims.

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]Over inflated tyres is often the cause of this, people pump them up to 110/120 psi and then go out in hot weather and/or ride the brakes and get the rims red hot.

[Andrew G]

I read an interview with Lemond after he'd done the Etape with his son saying tyres were going bang all over the place. It was a hot day with lots of descending so he'd dropped his to about 90psi to avoid blowouts.

You may not use your brakes downhill Paul as you descend like a rocket but the haipins can catch you out, or the vehicles coming round them at you .

[Keith]

Well done Dom.

[quote="Dombo"]
A sound like a rifle shot rang out. A tad harsh way to eliminate the slower riders, I thought......

[Del]

Time for me to add the 2nd agreeable report on the Etape. 3 more to come from Andy K, Chris L and Tim N, but Chris and Tim are both still in France on holiday.

I'll start by saying that both Andy and I were lucky that our bikes arrived with us. Many others coming out from Gatwick with Easy Jet and Ryan Air on Friday didn't see their bikes arrive until Saturday and 2 of our tour group had to ride loan bikes as theirs turned up on Sunday night. I've just been to Gatwick tonight to pick up my bike which returned from Toulouse 24 hours after me. Next time I do a popular sportive in Europe, I think I'll drive.

As Dombo said, the day started wet. Not terribly so, more of a constant light drizzle, but with a very light wind. There was quite a bit of chaos on the roads around the start and delays in getting our bikes out of the secure pound wher we had left them at registration the day before. This meant we started the day at the back of our pen, and we finally got away at just after 7:15, accompanied by a single clap of thunder and a sudden increase in the level of rain.

The exit from Pau was fun, waved through lights on closed roads, splitting either side of roundabouts and getting plenty of "Allez" from people watching at the roadside and on bridges even that early in the day. I didn't go as fast as Dombo at first. I went at a reasonable pace, but was riding a little within myself. The first 64 miles included 2 Category 3 climbs, the Cote de Benjacq and Cote de Loucroup, preceded by an uncategorised climb, which was actually as difficult as Benejacq, with a trickier descent that took one guy off on a wet corner just behind me.

I was a little lucky at this point. I thought I was half an hour ahead of the broom wagon at the foot of the Tourmalet and stopped for a leak and a gel. I found out later that I'd got my times completely wrong and was only around 3 minutes ahead when I set off up for the climb. I would only have had myself to blame as I could have ridden a little harder and I took longer than I should have at the Lourdes feed station.

Thankfully, from that point on, I gradually put more distance between myself and the broom wagon. A little sluggish on the flatter base of the climb, once we started to hit the 8 and 9% ramp, I got into a really good rhythm and was passing people all the way up to La Mongie. By this time we were way up in the clouds. I really could only see the road ahead, which is a real shame asd the Tourmalet is a beautiful mountain, except for the monstrosity that is La Mongie. Putting architectural aesthetics to one side, I took a ham sandwich and some water at the feed station and headed onwards to the summit.

Straight over the top and downwards into a foggy haze, except the roads soon became much drier than on the ascent. Lots of sweeping bends gave way to the fast descent down both sides of the valley towards Bareges, where the fog lifted and temperature rose, allowing a much faster and enjoyable descent to Luz St Sauveur. We turned here for the run along the river valley to the foot of the Hautacam and the only stiff headwind of the day. After about 5 kms, this seemed to die away, and we enjoyed a good run to the foot of the Hautacam.

As we approached the start of the climb, we met riders who were coming back down. Hautacam is a dead end and the finish village was at the bottom, so the road was 2 way from there, with cones along the the center line and riders being allowed down the mountain in pairs with 50 metre gaps, which became a constant stream of riders the closer the bottom they got.

Then I looked up and was shocked to see 3 different banners strung high across the road saying "Non au Tunnel". I wondered just what our esteemed Guru had done to upset the people in the Haut Pyrenees region? Perhaps he'd once missed a chain ferry across the river that runs through the finish village of Lau Balagnas? Or maybe he'd led the locals on a circuitous route to Brighton? Perhaps I'll never know?

Anyway, enough of that. The Hautacam is an absolute bitch. It has sections that say 8 and 9 % gradient for the next kilometre, whch start off by going downhill, which means that you find yourself suddenly on a 13% section. It never seems to dip below 8% and continues to rock up and down all the way up the 13 km to the summit. There were loads of people off and walking by this time, but I kept ploughing on and made it all the way to the top, fearful that any failure would see my name added to the list of agreeables on banners who are not welcome on the Hautacam!

My reward at the top was to have a young lady lunge at my left leg to retrieve the transponder, a medal, a bottle of Vittel and a chance to freeze my nuts off in the queue waiting for permission to ride back down. I arrived in a time of 9 hours 20 mins, but a riding time of about 8 hours 34, which means I wasted too much time again at the feed stations.

The decent was truly awful. A view shared by most people I spoke to. The narrow road, ever changing gradient and twisty descent were made worse by a freezing damp wind, whose effect was far greater due to the time we had to wait at the top to descend. I stuck my bike in the coach at the bottom and rode back in it to the hotel as I couldn't stop shivering.

Despite the weather, it was a great experience. Closed roads and being part of a moving swarm of humanity on bikes is just a great feeling. I've been riding a bike for over 10 years since quitting playing league squash, and I did some sportives and the Raid Pyreneen last year, but its only since joining Addiscombe last November, that I've really seen my speed start to increase. I wouldn't have avoided the broom wagon this time last year. Just wish I'd started doing this all a bit sooner, but never mind, enjoy it now and see what I can do with a bit more focus on training.

Really pleased with my climbing, if I can get a bit more pace on the flats and improve my descending, which is improving but needs work, then I think I can still make a reasonable improvement. I've read the Marmotte thread with interest, but I'll wait to see how things go before I decide whetehr I'm up for that challenge.

Finally, there were 2 other guys with Andy and I. all of us work for BT. One of our group came 84th. He finished in around 6hrs 12 minutes, which which was a great effort.

[Del]

Here's a picture of Pete (finished 88th), Alan, Andy and me getting wet in the start pen:



And here's a picture of me showing how to get cold at the top of the Hautacam:


Er.... I'll post the later when I work out how to re-size them!

[mrP(Boonen)VT]

[quote]Then I looked up and was shocked to see 3 different banners strung high across the road saying "Non au Tunnel". I wondered just what our esteemed Guru had done to upset the people in the Haut Pyrenees region? Perhaps he'd once missed a chain ferry across the river that runs through the finish village of Lau Balagnas? Or maybe he'd led the locals on a circuitous route to Brighton? Perhaps I'll never know?

[huw williams]

[quote="Del"]I've just been to Gatwick tonight to pick up my bike which returned from Toulouse 24 hours after me. Next time I do a popular sportive in Europe, I think I'll drive.

[Andy K]

What can I say after Del's report which summed it up exactly and echoed my experience of the day So I'll keep it short

As with Del, I have been riding a while but mostly self organised runs and only joined The Agreeables last November. I had one aim for the Etape and that was to finish ahead of the Broom Wagon - which I did - just about - with a mere 20 minutes to spare!

I must work on motivation as I was close to Del's time on the descent of the Tourmalet but slackened off once I was passed the final elimination point and I knew I would make it to the finish in time.

Anyway, a great day and proud of the medal and looking forward to further challenges.

As for the two work colleagues who joined Del and I - Allan only started riding earlier this year and knew it would be challenging and did well to do 100K before being caught. And as for Peter -Amazing - as far as I know he does not belong to a club but he commutes by bike and goes on long rides by himself each Saturday and Sunday. His only comment on finishing the ride was that no-one had passed him on the ascent of the Tourmalet On scanning the results he finished 84th (position reel) of the 7500 riders

Final point - I need the training - so next Brighton Run it's "Oui au Tunnell""

[Antloony]

Great write up guys. A special well done to Andy and Del who have put in quite a few hard miles in training in preparation for this, good to see it paid off. Sounds like a good trip. I really must do something like this next year and stop talking about it, the misses takes skiing holidays so Im sure I wont feel too guilty if I book a cycling one.

[TimN]

Afternoon all,
I'm back in London and enjoying the rain (not). Great write ups so I’ll try not to repeat any of the ride info.

I found the l'etape tricky, a couple of the lads i train with had ridden the Tourmalet and the Hautacam the week before the and said the climbs were really tough. this concerned me as although i had managed faster times than them on the shorter sportives we had done this year but i thought they may fair better then me on the longer event, one is a rower and completes and a high level and the other completes in iron man competitions and completed numerous polar treks.

i got to the bottom of the Tourmalet in fairly good shape but found i on the climb I was just sitting in and not really going for it because I was worried about the how hard it would get. That said it is a hell of a climb and I was nacked when I got to the top The decent from the tourmalet was great and i was able to pass a lot of people but i think two came passed me. Fantastic roads though, swoshing around, timing overtakes and bends.

When i got to the bottom of the Hautacam i was dredging it but actually it was not too bad, like someone said earlier it was like a UK climb, lots of twists, turns and changes in gradient. I had to keep standing up due to pain in hamstring but found the best thing for me was the sit for the flatter bits then change up two gears and stand for the steeper bits and alternate. this worked well and i felt strong so i ditched one of my bottles, stopped for a wee and went for it for the last 7km. It worked a treat but made me disappointed that i had not gone for it earlier. The decent was truly awful though.

One of my mates said he was on the Hautacam and noticed an Addiscombe rider walking (unlikely I thought – should cover his shirt if he was walking) but anyway my mate got off to have a pee or something and they started chatting, after awhile the addiscombe chap says “you’re a bit big to be ridding these hills aren’t you?” well said that’s the sort of pep talk that he need to make him get back on his bike and get up the hill, so well done you.

I’m not going to talk about the french guy in pink short that trumped twice and then really regretted doing a third, or the feller that was taking a leak out of the bottom of his shorts and whilst passing a little to close to supporters.

Anyway good event and I’ll probably be back next year to ride in the mountains.


Tim N – finished in 7hr 57’ 29”

[Dombo]

Here you go lads, this is how you climb Hautacam after 100 miles of racing:

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=A6DmNMGEuI0

Same weather that we had too.

[TimN]

any one going on the club run tomorrow?

[Del]

[quote="TimN"]any one going on the club run tomorrow?