Summary of exploits

Summary of exploits

Fri 8th July
8am meet at Harbour for 9am boat. Ian C arrived at 8:30 without bike shoes and then had to run all the way home to get them! Early start from St Malo. We noted that at a push we could re-route to see a stage of the tour, and proceeded to race the peleton to the finish point. We watched the HTC lead out on the road and Cavendish win from 3km mark on Stage 8. Photos will be added to this page once we have everyone's cameras. Then jumped in the car to finish the days 400+ mile drive.

Link to the stage we saw
http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/COURSE/us/700/etape_par_etape.html

Sat 9th July
Awoke early for 2nd part of drive to Mondane for our Etape race. Busy day with driving, race registration and then discovery that our accommodation was miles away and at the top of a mountain. It was too hard and too far away to ride and posed problems for getting to the race on Monday. The accommodation was posh, but remote. There was some rivalry for the best beds, and the place quickly resembled a mix between a squat and a bike shop!

Sun 10th July
Spent the day sorting the bikes, doing a training ride and working out how we were going to get to the race. The plan was to leave the car at Alpe DHuze and get a coach back. This was a 5 hour round trip! This would mean we have a car at the finish to take us home. However we had not figured how we would get from our mountain top accommodation to the start line at 6am on Monday. Waking at 4am and riding there was not a viable option. In the end we hired a van for 12 hours and Euro 166!! Madness, but the only way it was going to work. The alternative would be to hope to get a taxi, for 4 bikes, 4 people at 4am - that was not going to happen!

Mon 11th July
4am start to load the van and drive to the start. Had to be in the starting pen by 6am and ready for the off from 7am. Actual start time was determined by which pen you are in. There were 10,000 people!

The riders tackle the successive climbs of the Col du Télégraphe and the Galibier, and then finish with the climb to Alpe d’Huez,. It is a short stage. Nevertheless, all of the riders will be afraid of it. Those who aren’t going so well will be concerned about the cut-off time for elimination and the favourites will know that they will pay a heavy cost for any sign of weakness. The shortness of the stage allows the climbers to attack from very early on, which is not something they will be used to.

I complete the course in 5 hours. Kenny Patrick and Ian Campbel did 6 hours and Paul Cowieson about 8. It got hotter and harder as the day went on and I think Paul Cowieson had the toughest ride. See earlier blog about details of race, placing and links to photos and video.

Link to the stage we did
http://www.letour.fr/2011/TDF/COURSE/us/1900/etape_par_etape.html

Tue 12th July
Awoke to tidy up and exit accommodation. We did an easy un-wind bike and then proceeded the 2 day drive back to St Malo. With so many cyclists on the roads, and great scenery it inevitably became a speed session and an opportunity for me to learn from descending technique that I lacked in the previous days' race. We had aimed to get to Tours but cut the journey short at stayed at Chateau de Ferrard. Had a lovely evening meal in the cathedral city, a few drinks and then a long walk back to the hotel in a thunder and hail storm which was both spectacular and a bit annoying, given the distance we needed to walk in the downpour.

Wed 13th July
Drove to Paul's gite in France were we stayed overnight, prior to taking the boat home the next day. A great place in a Center Parks type environment. It was a fantastic place to unwind, but realistically by now I was too tired to do anything but sleep. Dozed in front of TV watching the tour and then a nice meal at the local golf club and some evening drinks - which went on till far, far too late.

Thu 14th July
6am start to get to St Malo and boat home. Then change and into work! Very tired by 5pm