Tour de France Stage 11

"This should be a relatively easy day" is a phrase that has always been used when looking ahead to this stage.. One look at the profile of it and you can see why



"50ish km of gentle uphill, then its mostly downhill, what can be so hard?"

Today was 34 degrees, and there was a wind of 15-20mph, and guess what? it was in our faces for most of the downhill and ride to the finish.. I've been back for about 2 hours, and nobody feels like they have had an "easy day " to let the legs recover after the Alps. We made this mistake on Stage 4.. riding 180km is never easy (especially with 2,000km in the legs from the previous 10 days..)

The first part of the day was great. A lovely flatish 45km leading into the one classified climb of the day. The category 3 Col de Cabre was a great ascent, 5km long with an average of a 6.5% gradient. I climbed this with Dermott, a 53yr old iron man triathlon competitor (pb 11hrs 49) and heard a few good stories on the way up.



The descent off the Col was unusual in that it was 13km long, very nice after only climbing for 5km..




Once through the 100km mark, it was clear that the final 80km were going to be a grind into the wind that was blowing right into us. I rode this last few hours of the day in a well organised peloton of 5 (Dermott, Olli, Doug and John), helping each other through the psychologically tough sections. We had to ensure that Olli stayed awake on his bike as there were a few occasions when he was wobbling all over the road.

The awesome fivesome



We rolled into Bourg Les Valence at our earliest time so far, just on 4.15pm. How nice to see the lovely swimming pool at the entrance to our hotel complex, it wasn't long before everyone was having a dip and massaging their sore bits under the jet sprays.

Also a surprise was to get my own room for the first time! big double bed too... i haven't slept well at all since i've been here (still feel wired most nights as i get to bed), hopefully the 8am start tomorrow means i can get some decent sleep. Tough day tomorrow with 210km and a very nasty finish!

Tour de France Stage 10

Halfway there!

After yesterday's epic Alpine stage, today was described by Tour Pro Phil Dekker as a "chance to recover after the mountains", but we are not sure if this is possible on a day that includes over 3,000 metres of climbing and 8 hours in the saddle..

Here is the profile of today's stage:



As you can see, we had a gentle first few hours (good for stretching the legs!) before climbing up to around 1,000m altitude, riding some lumps and bumps before a long chunky Cat 1 climb 35km before the finish.

The 10km climb around 65km in was a chance to test the climbing legs after yesterday. The bad news is that there seemed to be several of the group that were finding it hard going on this climb, and with over 100km to go there was a strong wish that things would turn around for them.

I rode the first 125km with Rick, Sam and Jake (or the 'sacrifical lamb' as he is now called after his ridiculous early pacing on that first climb). After lunch, it was just Rick, Sam & I tackling the day's biggest test, the Col de Noyer, an 18km climb up to 1,664m (nicknamed by us at the "Kronenbourg")

Ascending the Noyer



At the top



Once at the top (135km) we had 40km to go to our finishing destination in Gap, 35km of which were downhill.. The 5km "Col de Manse" was nothing too sinister, and all that was left on the descent into Gap was to look out for the famous "farmers field corner" that Lance Armstrong took in the 2003 Tour. Anyone that doesn't know it can see a VIDEO of it HERE

Once we got to the corner we had to stop and take a few pictures. Here are Sam and Rick showing you the moment in slow motion...





From there it was only 5km to the hotel, and despite the transfer this morning we were able to get to the hotel at 6.30pm, enough time for a quick massage before dinner!

Just a quick note to everyone that has asked about the spare part for my bike that i am still in need of.. having tried about 12 bike shops along the route with no success, i have got the part being brought over on Thursday night from England (by someone that is joining the tour). i will be back on my bike come Friday! In the meantime the Giant bike that i am riding is doing great, no aches or pains, and feels good on the hills

Total Cycling time: 8 hours 3 minutes

MAP of today's STAGE

With 10 stages now completed, we have 10 more to go.. just to reminder of the route and how far we have come. Rotterdam all the way down to GAP

Tour de France Stage 9 - 'Queens Day' of the Alps..

Morzine to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne (208km)

It hurts all over....

After yesterday's rest day in Morzine (washing, sleeping, eating!) it was back to business today with the hardest stage of the Tour so far. We had 4 categorised climbs to get through, the largest of which was the infamous Col de La Madeleine, a 25.5km HC category climb. (HC means "Hors category" or "beyond classification"...)

Here is the stage profile of what we did:



To add to the severity of today, we had to do it all in over 30 degree heat, something that took its toll on the windless sections of the climbs. In the last 2 days cycling, we have ascended the height of Mount Everest.

The first climb of the day was the Col de La Columbiere. I have done this once before, but from the easier side that we were to be going down today. The way up from the Sconzier side was over 14km in length, and took us up above 1600m. A beautiful climb, but steep over the last 3kms.





From there is was "down-up-down-up" as we conquered the Col des Aravis and the Col des Saises. The early part of the day was made easier by the fact that Mum and sister Uschi were still here, and offering encouragement every 2-3km on the climbs via yodelling or holding up the massive " GO Q GO" banner. They left midway through the stage to catch their flight to Geneva, but it was fantastic to have them here over the last 3 days. I will miss them!



There was a long 28km downhill section (some parts directly into wind so didn't feel downhill at all..) before we hit the early slopes of the Col de la Madeleine. This climb is 25.5km in length, and to aid us they have the "km to go" tablets at the side of the road that also tells you the average gradient of the next KM - very useful!



It was every man (woman) for themselves on the climb, i paced myself well enough to finish strongly. Colin did the opposite by starting strongly and blowing up in the last few km... The top lies at exactly 2,000m, and we were above some snow even at this time of the year. I didn't wait too long before starting the descent to the final snack stop at the base of the mountain. From there it was 13km to the hotel, and into a cold (then hot) bath before dinner to refuel for tomorrow's stage.

TOTAL DISTANCE: 1,643.93km
HOURS CYCLING: 59 hours 52 minutes

MAP OF STAGE 9

Tour de France Stage 8 - First Mountain day

So after 1,500km and 7 days of cycling, having started in Rotterdam, we have reached the Alps and have finished our first classified "mountain stage" of this year's route.

One look at the stage profile will tell you why this is classified as a mountain stage....



As you can see, the serious climbing was saved for the end of the day, with the ascent of the Col de la Ramaz (14km) and finally the climb up from the ski resort of Morzine to Avoriaz (also a 14km climb) to really test the legs ahead of Sunday's rest day. I had the added advantage of having my mum and sister Uschi arriving from London to stay for a couple of days, the plan being to meet on the climbs at the end of the day.

The first 130km were not plain sailing.. a few short sharp climbs in 30 degree heat more than got the legs warm. My aim for the day was to arrive at the 2 mountains as fresh as possible, so i stayed within a group of 8 for the large part of the ride up until lunch. Lunch was based just 6km from the base of the Ramaz climb, but in a beautiful setting right next to a lake that had plenty of people removing clothes and going for a quick dip to cool down..



The ascent of the Ramaz was the harder of the 2 climbs. A 3km section between 8-11km saw gradients of up to 13%, during which it was a struggle even in the lowest gear (i am still on my spare bike don't forget!). Once finished there was a very dangerous descent down to Les Gets (lots of gravel as they prepare to resurface the road for when the Tour passes in 2 weeks), the kind of descent the really hurts your hands having to use the breaks so much.

Once in Les Gets i was finally able to meet up with Mum and Uschi!! so great to see them (after 8 hours cycling), and it gave me an extra spurt for the final climb up to Avoriaz. They had made a sign from a bedsheet with "GO Q GO" on it, very touching! the only picture i managed to get though was this one of Mum trying to raise it...



At the bottom of the Avoriaz climb we were hit with a surprise - they were going to time us up the 14km climb to the top with electronic timing chips. This added a little spice and pressure for the final ascent (by this point we had been cycling for over 8 hours). After a huge amount of sugar at the final feed station (coke,sweets etc) i actually felt great all the way up. Comedy moment of the ascent was when i tried to throw my helmet to mum and usch as i passed them, and ended up wobbling and falling off. Only a couple of grazes, and maybe an extra adrenalin boost to help the legs.

The climb was beautiful, and i rode the whole way on my own. Mum and Usch drove up every 2km to stop and take some pictures





Above the ski lifts



With 1km to go until the summit, a flash rain storm hit me, which was actually really refreshing after the long day in the 30 degree heat.



Usch and mum were at the finish line to wrap me in the "GO Q GO" sheet and drive me to the hotel after a hard 196km on the bike. Today was an epic day, with some people finishing around 9pm, having set off at 7.45am. The rest day after 8 long stages and over 1,600km is very much needed!

Managed to upload some videos of the Avoriaz climb onto Youtube

Avoriaz Climb 1
Avoriaz Climb 2
Avoriaz Climb 3 (top!)

Stage 8 involved:

Cycling time: 8 hours 52 minutes
Elevation gain: 4,501m

Tour de France Stage 7

Jura region!

The TDF do not classify this as a mountain stage, it is called a "hilly" day, but after 7.5 hours cycling and over 3,500m of climbing there may be a few of us ready to dispute that claim.. These 2 stages before the rest day in Morzine have been lingering on everyone's minds, as it really was going to be the first real taste of the mountains and some lengthy climbing. A brief look at the stage profile shows the progressively harder mountains before the finish



Total distance ridden: 175.5km
TOTAL (7 days) 1,424.63km

Cycling time: 7 hours 32
TOTAL: 56 hours 14 minutes

Elevation gain: 3,580 metres

Calories burned: 7,644
TOTAL 55,652

GARMIN data with MAP HERE

After yesterday's debacle with my bike, i spend the first 2 hours of the ride getting used to my replacement one, as well as talking to the mechanics back in "On yuor bike" in London to arrange to spare parts that i desperately need. The fact that my mum and sister are coming out to Morzine tomorrow is fantastic, but even more fantastic is that my sister has already bringing the needed parts with her tomorrow, so i should only have 2 days on the replacement one.. The spare bike (courtsey of Dermott) rides pretty well, but it just isn't the same.. I cant wait to get it back!

Today's climbs included 2 "2nd category climbs", one of 12km, the other 15km. It was another scorching day (30 degrees), and the heat was really felt whilst climbing, due to the lack of any breeze. Despite the pain of the long climbs, it was very difficult not to admire the beautiful Jura region





The day ended with the climb up to 'Les Rousses', a ski station and our highest finish of the Tour so far. In the last 20 minutes of riding we were hit with a rain shower, one that actually produced painful rain...

For my bike 'failure' yesterday, i received the "fusser of the day" award to ride with today.. that means riding with a pink horn and tassles tied to the handlebars.. it also meant that i was to present the award at dinner tonight. Nominations included Rick fussing about how big his calfs were; Colin, Sam and Rowley for fussing about how good they looked, but the clear winner was Mark who was complaining today about how "nobody remembers my name or knows who i am".. hopefully the pink horn and tassles will mean everyone in the area will know who you are come tomorrow.

Day highlights

Swallowing a big fly whilst descending at 70km/h
Seeing Jake riding with one shaved leg. He was advised to shave them to aid his daily massages, but didn't have time (or the energy) to do them both
Mark effing and blinding at an old french man on the side of the road who was holding a water bottle. (He thought that he was squirted by him (usually an act of kindness at the top of a mountain), but 50m up the road realised it had actually started to rain...)

Tour de France Stage 6

Jeez.. what a day... 242km, over 9 hours of cycling, but over 12 hours from setting off to getting to the hotel - i will explain why in a bit



6am alarm, 6.30 bags in the van and then breakfast, and by 7am we were cycling out of Montargis and heading to Gueugnon on the longest day of the Tour, a day that sees the pros ride 227.5km. Pretty early on in the ride we went through the 1,000km mark, but by the end of the day that total had ballooned to 1,240km, just over one third of the total.

The weather was a beautiful 28 degrees with blue sky for the second day running. Plenty of suncream and fluids were needed again, and by the end of the day i had drunk a total of 7.5 litres whilst on my bike.

The biggest issue of the day however ended up being with my bike itself... after about 3 hours the rear hub (which holds the cassette) stopped turning, so when i pedalled the rear wheel did not budge, i simply free-wheeled. Hearing the bike pro state "oh dear, this is serious" on examination was not something i wanted to hear (especially the day before entering the Alps) so with just 5km to go until one of the feed stations, i got pushed by Jake and Sandy before jumping on a spare bike (when the mechanic arrived in his van) to limp into the feed station. Once there i was able to borrow a rear wheel from one of the spare bikes, and i thought my mechanical nightmare had been resolved. However, a few hours later something worse happened.. on ascending a small hill suddenly my rear derailleur sheared off completely.. Disaster. I waited for around 30 minutes for the mechanic in his van to arrive, and then jumped onto Rick Wates's bike (who was not riding today) for the final 80km of the stage. A smaller frame and different gearing meant it took a bit of getting used to, and probably meant i had to work a bit more than i normally would have done, but i arrived in a group of 6 after 7.30pm.

The good part of the ride in the morning



The mechanics are frantically searching in nearby towns for new parts to fix my bike but, so far, with no success. For tomorrow it looks like i will be on one of the spare bikes again, just as we arrive in the Alps and have 6 climbs to get over.. Hope it will be ok. gulp

The reason we rode the extra kilometres was down to road closures on the official route.. this is a problem we have faced a few times now, but nothing we can do to get around it. The actual tarmac for the race route gets re-laid in the final few weeks before the race begins, but this has caused us a few issues. We sticked to the route until we were forced on a detour, and this happened 4 times today. The end result meant an extra 17km to the longest day of the whole challenge, not an ideal day for it to happen!

Here is a list of what i ate today:

Breakfast

Bowl of muesli
Pain au chocolate
Croissant with jam
3 glasses fruit juice
4 squares tortilla
2 mini pancakes with honey
yoghurt

Snack 1

banana
handful of nuts
2 ginger cakes

Snack 2

marmalade sandwich
pate sandwich
handful of cherries
5 dried mini-sausages
half an orange
half an apple

lunch

large plate of rice,sweetcorn,carrots,peppers with celery
Packet of crisps
2 pieces of watermelon

snack 3

chocolate eclair
10 toffees
orangina
banana

dinner

Pate salad
veal and spaghetti
apricot "surprise"

Drinks: 9 litres of water (with electrolyte and carbohydrate)

I cant quite believe how long this list is either.. but this is what is needed to cover the 7-9,000 calories consumed each day!

Highlights of the day

Colin getting a hornet down his jersey travelling at 40km/hr
Removing my bike helmet in my hotel room at the end of the day and a large dead insect falling out
Having 'mouth open & no sound' giggles a few times today (exhaustion?!) with Mark & Sam, for some reason the fact that at 150km we were "..only just over half way..." seemed to be the funniest thing that i had ever heard at that moment.

Today's distance: 242.36km
TOTAL distance (6 days): 1,249.13km

Cycling time: 9 hours 23
TOTAL: 48 hours 42 minutes

Calories burned: 9,500
Total: 48,008


GARMIN data with MAP for today HERE

Tour de France - Stage 5

Stage 5 - Epernay (Moussy) to Montargis

Distance today: 190.6km
TOTAL: 996.77km

Calories burned: 7,338
TOTAL: 38,508

Cycling time: 6hrs 59 minutes
TOTAL: 39hours 19 minutes



Day 5 over! Despite being a hefty 191km, it was actually the fastest stage we have done, and by riding in a large group (efficiently) most people seemed to finish in a better state than any of the days so far.

36 riders rolled out of our hotel in Moussy (near Epernay) at 7.45am, and after a brief 10 minute uphill section to the highest point of the day at Mareuil-en Brie, the next few hours were ridden on very cyclist friendly terrain. The fact that there were only a few bumps along the way meant that large groups were able to stay together, benefitting all on the flat and slightly downhill sections as we were able to ride in 'Peloton'. Once again the perfectly placed feeding stops broke up the ride, coming every 30-45km, and with the 28km/h average speed that the groups were travelling at, this meant only 90 minutes passed before re-fueling (with anything from pasta,cakes,nuts,dried fruit,watermelon,sweets,flapjacks and the obligatory bananas...).

First snack break



Tomorrow i am going to write down everything i consume on the day just to see exactly how much i am taking in.

I do not think that anyone on the ride realised that we came within 60km of the heart of Paris..... There are still over 2,600km and 15 days left in the saddle until we return to the capital, so it was probably a good thing that nobody realised the ultimate finish line was literally just around the corner..

Fontainbleau was reached with over 100km ridden, and passing the beautiful "Chateau de Fontainbleu" in the heart of town could not be done without stopping for a quick photo




From there we cut down to Episy, then followed the picturesque 'Sente des Jardins" canal down through the lovely town of Nemours, then onto our hotel in the centre of Montargis. The final 20km were a lovely gentle downhill run that took any pressure off the legs that built up on the day, and most pleasingly the fast average pace for the day meant the majority were back in time to catch the England v Slovenia game this afternoon..

Hot work in the 26 degree heat! (Sandy dunking his head in a fountain)



Average speed today: 27.3 km/h
Av heart rate: 96bpm

All the computer data with map can be seen HERE

Tour de France Day 4

Day 4

Distance : 157.5km
Riding time: 5 hours 56 minutes
Calories burned: 6,103
Average speed 26.5km/h
Average heart rate: 103bpm

TOTAL (4 days)

Distance: 806.17km
Calories burned: 31,170
Total cycling time: 32 hours 20 minutes



After 650 hard kilometres in the first 3 days, Day 4 was a supposedly "easier" 159km from Cambrai to Epernay (our hotel is in Moussy just next to Epernay). I think a mistake a lot of people made was to think that this was an "easier" day, seemingly forgetting that we have 650km in the legs, plus the fact that the temperature has increased rapidly up to around 27 degrees. One 4th category climb, plus several other lumps and bumps made it a hard day for sure, not any different to the previous 3.

After a 45 minute transfer (left hotel at 7.15am) we were on the road at about 8.20am, and the day was nicely broken down into 5 sections with 4 feed stops at pretty much every 30km. This meant it was around an hour in between stops, a great way of breaking up the day. The extra heat meant that attention had to be paid to hydration, i think i was up to bottle number 9 by the time the ride was over.

First snack



By lunch there was a need to lie down..



We snaked down from Cambrai through some beautiful fields toward the Champagne regions around Epernay (not far from Reims), making it the most picturesque day of the Tour by a long way. The final run down to our hotel was a glorious 10km downhill stretch that had be sat on the wheel of Phil Dekker (the Classic Tours bike pro) which was an awesome 15 minutes of descending at a constant 45-60kmph. Gladly we finished a few hours earlier than the previous 3 stages, so we have all had some time to chill out in our rooms (i fell asleep with my legs in the air against the wall) before an earlier 7.30pm dinner.

This is the worst hotel we've stayed in

Moments of the day

-Being told to go faster by a French Policeman who was giving a motorist a speeding ticket
"Does this outfit look good Q?" Colin at 07.08am
"Do i look good on my bike Q?" Colin 11.14am
"Did i look good on that downhill section Q?" Colin at 1.42pm
"Delete that photo Q, i don't look good in it" Colin at 2.45pm


View the Bike GARMIN DATA HERE

Tour de France Day 3

Todays distance: 218.4km
Calories burned: 7,814
Hours cycled: 8 hours 48
Average speed: 24.8km/h
Average Heart rate: 96

TOTAL (3 days)

Total distance: 648.63km
Calories: 25,067
Total cycling time: 26 hours 23 minutes

Today's Computer data HERE



COBBLES!

Great day today.. The main focus of it being a cycle over 13 km of cobblestones at the tail end of today's 218.5km long stage.

This morning it was alarm clocks at 5.45am, breakfast at 6am, then a 1 hour transfer from our hotel to the start for the third stage from Wanze to Arenberg. By 8am we were on our bikes, and unfortunately back in our rain jackets as the bad weather continued (i have been in at least 2 layers since the first day..)

We passed the first couple of feed stops without any drama, and without the need to pedal at high speed, it was more of a case of "finding your legs" after yesterday's climbing day. It actually takes a couple of hours for your legs to start feeling "normal", but once in the groove it is a great feeling, especially on a flat stage like today's one.

At the lunch stop




There really isn't much to say about the day's riding up until we hit the long sections of cobblestones with around 25km to go. In that last 25km, there was to be 13km of cobblestone riding, something that was going to be a real test coming after 8 hours of riding. The first section was only 700m long, but more than enough to realise how painful/difficult/uncomfortable and unique it was going to be.. The best tactic is to hog the side of the cobblestones and try and ride on the 2-3 inches of dirt that lie between the cobblestones and the farm field… if the dirt runs out, you are onto the cobbles and bearing the full brunt of the ridiculous vibrations. I have an even higher appreciation of the pros that race this in races like the Paris-Roubaix one day classic, That being a 260km race that has 60km of cobblestones..

I managed to puncture with about 500m left of the 13km of cobbles, but didn't really care as what better place could there have been to have your first puncture in around 3,000 miles of cycling?!

We rolled into our Hotel in a group of 8 riders, by staying together we had made light work of the last 3 hours, and i actually felt great as we arrived, perhaps it was the sunshine and blue sky (for the first time!) that added to the joyful experience.

An easier day tomorrow after 3 tough ones thankfully!

Comedy moments of the day

Davina (one of 2 ladies doing the whole route) after one section of pave "after those cobblestones i no longer feel like a woman"
Sandy forgetting his feet were clipped in stopping at a T junction and the subsequent comedy fall
Rowley having a bird cycle into his wheel at high speed. Not much left of it after that
Colin having to wear a pink horn & tassles on his handlebar for winning the "fusser of the day award" for his 3 punctures and 1 crash in the first 2 hours of yesterday's stage.

Check out the handlebars on that expensive bike.. is that a forced smile?

Tour de France Day 2

What a day..

Today was only classed as a "medium mountain day" (unusual this early on in the race), but at 214km and over 3,000 metres of climbing, it really was one to test the legs. Thankfully i am writing this feeling pretty good considering the 9 hours plus in the saddle.

This is the profile of the stage from Brussels to Spa



As we started the ride in northern Brussels where our hotel was (rather than the centre like the real Tour will do) we added 13km to the official 201km Stage 2 distance.

The day started with a slow ride through Brussels (made slower by the constant red lights), and it wasn't long before we were in the countryside and onto the rolling hills before the first snack stop. Today's breaks were at 40k, 85k, 115k and 175k, and always appeared just when the appetite starting building. Colin had a disasterous start to the day, having 3 punctures and a crash within the first 3 hours.. fortunately the crash didn't result in anything more than a grazed hip, but more than enough to dent the confidence (and also wonder what the hell is is doing..).

Once past halfway, the "categorised climbs" began. (Anyone who doesn't know, the Tour de France grades each significant climb (ie one more than a few KM long) from Grade 4, to 3,2,1 and finally "hors category", which means "beyond classification. The top climbs are the Alpe D'Huez type climbs, the 4th category ones usually 4-7km long and a gradient of around 4-6%. Today's stage had 3 x 4th category, and 3 x 3rd category.

Climbing one of the 4th category climbs



They got harder and harder as the day went on, the toughest one being the "Col de Stockeu", only 2km long, but sections that hit 22% in gradient.. it was a case of fighting on the pedals just to keep moving, and coming after 190kms it really sapped the legs. At the top, there is a monument to Eddy Merckx, without doubt the greatest cyclist ever.

The obligatory photo is shown:



Having been told we were doing 196km, the last 18km were a psychological drag all the way to the hotel (and the very steep 1km climb to get up to it!). Having saved myself from climbing at over 130bpm heart rate, i felt good coming into the final climb of the day, and the for the run-in to the hotel. This i know will be the tactic needed to be employed to ensure we don't arrive completely shattered on any stage. Stay out of the "red zone"..

Day highlights

Colin's 3 punctures
Colin stating "this event is pretty hard isn't it"
The fantastic descents off the Cols

Today's distance : 214km
Calories burned: 8,998
Hours cycled: 9 hours 8 mins
Average speed: 23.4kmph
Average heart rate: 99

Map and data of the day HERE

TOTAL (2 days)

Distance: 430.25km
Calories: 17,253
Total Cycling time : 17hrs 36 mins


Video of the pros doing the steep Col de Stockeu

13km of cobbles to deal with tomorrow!

Le Grand Depart

Le Grand Depart at last!

After the obligatory carbo loading on arriving in Rotterdam on Friday afternoon, it was time to meet all of the cast and crew for the first stage of the Tour de Force that was to be a ride from Rotterdam to Brussels. After a brief welcome chat and some notes on the first morning's schedule, it was up to the bedroom to get everything ready for the early morning start.

DAY 1

Wake up at 6am, bike and suitcase down to the hotel reception at 6.40; breakfast from 6.45-7.15; briefing at 7.30, on the road at 7.45am.

From the hotel we rode down to the actual Tour Prologue start, taking the opportunity to get some group photos before the day's riding could start for real.




Riding out of Rotterdam was taken nice and easy on the flat roads, a feature that was to be with us all the way to Brussels. Today's cycle is the flattest stage of the whole ride, but one of the longest. The cycle lanes in Holland were great, but not so great once into Belgium..

This is a typical bike lane (Holland side!). The real Tour riders will be on the main road shown on the right



We faced strong wind and rain for the first 2 hours, i actually spent the whole day in my jersey, arm warmers and a lightweight waterproof jacket (despite it getting to 17 degrees).

The support crew were fantastic. It will be such a fantastic help having them with us the whole way. After 40km we had our first snack stop - where we had the choice of fruit, cakes, sandwiches, drinks, biscuits to feast on for our 15 minute stop. Another stop at 95k meant jam sandwiches.. haven't had one of those in about 15 years, and it is amazing how good it tastes when your body is demanding food.. Lunch was at 150km, and a final snack stop was at 185km. Having 4 stops throughout the ride means that the 8,000 calories that we all need to consume during the day becomes much easier!

The adrenalin of the first day meant that time passed pretty quickly, and before i knew it we were seeing signs to Brussels as we approached our hotel in a group of 12 riders. Colin managed to puncture 200m from the hotel.. not bad going after 216km and 8 hours 28 minutes of cycling. All in all the easy pace and plenty of body fuel meant we all arrived in pretty decent shape, far from over doing it which is always a danger on the first day.

Arriving in Brussels



Day highlights

Rich trying to adjust his bike computer in the centre of Rotterdam and getting 3 fingers stuck in his wheel doing 20km/hr.. all 3 fingers are heavily bandaged, one of them needed stitches.
Bev trying to put high pressure gas into his inner tube, getting it wrong and spraying ultra cold Co2 directly into his face. His new nickname is Kelvin
Colin saying after 160km of the flattest day of the whole event "this is actually quite hard, and we've got 18 days of this!". "no Colin, it's 20 days"

Today's Stage Computer data click here

Today Distance: 216.26km
Calories burned 8,255
Hours cycled: 8 hours 23 mins
Average speed 25.5kmph
Average heart rate: 97

Tomorrow's stage going to be tougher with around 2,500m of climbing to get through..

Q

Leaving for Rotterdam in the morning....

The night before... and as usual i have left too much to do at the last minute. It is midnight, and i will be on a 08.37am Eurostar train over to Brussels (then a connecting train onto Rotterdam) and i have only just zipped up my suitcase.

I wanted to write a final blog before i left, firstly to say how excited i am, and secondly to test my new camera to see if the uploading process is as straightforward as my last one was (the one that got stolen in Antwerp recently..)

Have i got everything??



If i have forgotten anything, i will put in a request to my mum and sister who are coming out to see me in Morzine for stage 8!

Next stop Rotterdam..

Final training ride - London to Brussels

With one week to go until the start in Rotterdam, there was time for one final training weekend with a 2 day ride to Brussels with 3 guys from work. 'Team Mako' left Clapham Common at 7.30am last Saturday and managed to get down to Dover in just over 4 hours and 20 minutes, not bad for the 129km ride (an average speed of 29kmph). A short ride in France after the ferry to Dunkerque took the day total to 148.5km.

Top of Dover hill


Day 2 was a longer 182km from Dunkerque all the way to Brussels. The route taken was essentially one whereby we joined the N8 about 20km out of Dunkerque, and stayed on this road all the way to Brussels. An easy route that only required looking at the map a few times. (A detailed map of the route is shown on the Garmin Data links at the bottom.)

Well done Graham, Ricky and Sean (especially to G & S for cycling a lot further than they ever have..). Thank you to Graham for showing us how eating a block of butter was his method of getting his energy boosts.. (that plus his home cooked Pork belly)



We completed the 182km ride on Day 2 in 6hrs 40 minutes, therefore making the total cycling time from London to Brussels to be 12 hours exactly.

ONE TIP! Be careful of the tramlines as you enter Brussels! Dangerous to cycle on... they caused a nasty spill for Sean 1km from the Eurostar train station and some sore looking grazes.



The Garmin Data with Route Map for London to Dunkerque

Garmin data with Route Map for Dunkerque to Brussels

2 weeks to go..

I just realised it has been 4 weeks since my last blog..

I stepped up training over the last month ending with a big push this last weekend. The main focus over the last 5 weekends has been weekly pre-booked 'Sportives' around the South Downs. In between those rides were one or two short & fast rides (Richmond Park) and a couple medium to longer moderately paced rides (100km) out to the South Downs. The good news is with just under 2 weeks until the "off", i feel ready and confident that i have done a good job in making sure i arrive in Rotterdam with everything in place to mean the suffering is kept within 'reasonable' limits...

The first step towards getting to that point was the arrival of the new bike. I went down the route of 'Project One' with "On your Bike" bike shop at London Bridge. (Ask for Denver Collins if you want help in buying a new bike.. he is awesome). 'Project One' means designing your own Trek bike, getting to chose everything from components to the overall colour scheme (down to minor things like the cable colours & handlebar tape). I now have a Trek Madone 5.5.


The next development over the last month was to step-up in the endurance training. I fitted in 1,500km over the last 30 days, fitting in my own rides around organised events that were selected from this very useful weblink. With the new bike i headed to the first of 5 long Sunday sportives (Sunday 9th May) in Reading. 'The Evans Reading Sportive' was a very well organised ride, unfortunately not in the best weather (3 layers all ride..). Here is the GARMIN DATA for that 140km ride.

Next up was the "Little Lumpy" in Haslemere (16th May). The word little shouldn't be associated with this ride.. 13 steep climbs (worst 32% gradient!) over this 175km course. After 7hrs 15 in the saddle and 2,900m of climbing the ride was done. GARMIN DATA

The 23rd May ride was the "King of the Downs", once again a ride around the South Downs, taking in 10 of the most famous climbs in that area. With a total distance of 185km it was another decent 7hrs 15 in the saddle. Anyone looking for the best cycling hills in this part of England should study the map here. GARMIN DATA

The "Sussex-Surrey Scramble" was up next on the 30th May. A flatter shorter course at 154km, a good chance to ride at a higher average speed than in previous weeks. This ride once again ventured into Surrey, but also took us around some decent unridden roads in Sussex. GARMIN DATA. This ride was the third long one in a row, having done the Box Hill loop on the Friday evening as well as the Saturday day. Total for the 3 days of 350km.

Yesterday it was the famous "Dragon Ride" in South Wales. I went into this 190km Sportive (UK"s largest with 3,500 riders) having done 260km over 3 rides on Thursday to Saturday, and it was pleasing to complete the ride feeling great throughout. If anything it took 4 hours for the legs to get going and i was strongest from 100km onwards...7hrs 3 in the saddle somehow my heart rate averaged only 119 despite the 2,900m of climbing (the effects of 4 days and 445km in a row for sure). I would recommend this event to anyone, the course details are all here GARMIN DATA

On top of the Bwlch after 160km



I will take it easy this week, before the final upcoming 2 day event on Saturday to Sunday 12-13th June which is London to Brussels in 2 days. Group of 5 of us from Mako doing this 330km ride. It will be flat at least..!

Thanks to Gina for my deep tissue massage today..! Needed that for sure...