| T.R | Title | User | Personal
Name | Date | Lines |
|---|
| 1819.1 | So who's doing what | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | | Thu Feb 07 1991 06:43 | 7 |
| Which if these events are the Valbonne men thinking of doing ?
Is there any interest amongst people from the UK (Newbury/RDG until
April, Scotland and points South from then on) In filling a car up to
do any one of these ?
Rod
|
| 1819.2 | Better prepare a few excuses in case I bottle out | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | The beech forests of Antarctica | Thu Feb 07 1991 08:41 | 6 |
| I might do the l'Epervier for the pleasure of meeting up with the
Valbonne men, and I'll probably give the Portes du Soleil a go
especially since Robin H has dubbed it "my" event.
Rod
|
| 1819.3 | Yes, well..... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Fri Feb 08 1991 05:18 | 67 |
| Seems like my bluff is being called......
My plans at present are :
04/05/91 Le Bouquet
18/05/91 L'Epervier
22/06/91 Portes du Soleil
21/07/91 La Tom Simpson
Rob muttered a few things about La Marmotte and L'Isard/Bahamontes, I
don't really know how seriously, the second is in the Pyrenees and
requires some considerable organisation, the first is just b----y hard,
and anyway I've seen Croix de Fer, Galibier and Alpe d'Huez, so would
prefer something different.
As I sit in the office, it is foul, so I'm not so keen. I had to stay
at home yesterday because of the snow!! Rob Rowlands is in principle
interested in the same, Bill thinks that 130 km is about the limit for
him and John is talking about entering something......
Le Bouquet starts and finishes at Tavel, nr Avignon - last year we drove
over along the motorway because it starts at mid-day. Not sure on
number of starters, I seem to think it was over 1500, I was 1328. It's 130 km,
and pretty fast at times on narrow twisty roads - so you need your wits
about you until you reach Mt Bouquet itself, which last year was too
much on 36 x 26 and I had to walk, as did Bill and Rob with (I guess) 42
x 26. After this, things are much quieter, and I had difficulty finding
a decent bunch to ride in. We hung around for a while and then had a
pizza in Avignon before driving back - Bill and I had a sleep while
hard-man Rob drove and we got back about mid-night. I would prefer to
stop overnight on the Saturday and attend the prize-giving the next day.
No problems with getting numbers etc on the day.
L'Epervier is 204 km, starting at La Foux, nr St Tropez and finishing at
Cogolin. An early start, 6 or 7 a.m. (can't remember exactly) so I
drove about 80 km from home. 2200 starters, and the first 20 km are very
hairy with gritty, narrow, up-and-down lanes. Later on it gets quieter
as the fastmen disappear, but bunches form on the (rare) flat sections.
One big 'ill, Notre-Dame-des-Anges which I was OK on 36x26, hard bits in
the afternoon but I was pretty well cooked by then and a lower gear
would not have helped. At the end I drove home, I don't usually feel
much like eating after this type of thing, especially as I had been
eating all day. You need to get your numbers before the Saturday - Rob
and I went over and got them Thursday previous when we had a last reccy.
I would like to stay over one or two nights, and am looking for a
likely place.
The others I don't know about, but the Tom Simpson is not as far to
drive as Avignon. It's "twice over the Ventoux" and likely to be very
hot from my previous expeditions there. I would like to stay over
afterwards like for Le Bouquet.
I shall be requesting "renseignements" in the near future. Other things
to note are the requirement for either a license or a certificate from
the quack saying you are fit to compete. Last year, helmets were not
compulsory, but recommended - they were noticeable in both Le Bouquet
and L'Epervier and less so in the Louison Bobet. Food is available at
various places, less formal in Le Bouquet than in L'Epervier where there
were long tables stacked with things - water is available easily, I
didn't feel the need for more than a small bidon, but then I don't drink
all that much......
As a final note to this droning on, I have a couple of files about Le
Bouquet and L'Epervier -
IDEFIX::ETTS$DEVICE:[HEMMINGS.EPERVIER]EPERVIER_PART_1.TXT
IDEFIX::ETTS$DEVICE:[HEMMINGS.EPERVIER]EPERVIER_PART_2.TXT
Can't guarantee the performance of IDEFIX, it's running like a dog
(Asterix fans will see the funny side of this!!)
|
| 1819.4 | Book now for 10th August '91 | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Wed Mar 13 1991 09:06 | 16 |
| Another new event has crept out of the woodwork. L'Union Cycliste de
Monaco have announced the first running of "La Monegasque", which is an
�preuve of 173 km, a d�nivelisation of 3500m, crossing 6 cols. It is also
posted as "3 countries" - France, Italy and Monaco. We don't have the full
info yet, but will post asap.
I also have a list of counting events in the C�te d'Azur for P-B-P,
100km 10/3/91
200 24/3/91
300 14/4/91 P-B-P is shown as 20-23 June
400 4/5/91 and 27-30 August
600 1/6/91
1000 18/7/91
As a metter of interest, you can get an award "Aigle d'Or" (Golden
Eagle, although in the context maybe Turkey is better) by completing 200,
300, 400, 600, 1000(twice!) AND P-B-P...... � toi, James....
|
| 1819.5 | Comment dire degringoleur en anglais? | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | | Wed Mar 13 1991 11:33 | 9 |
| The Monegasque sounds like it could be quite nice (and within my
capabilities to boot). Look forward to seeing the course..
Rod
PS I've dicsoverred a thing in the SCU handbook called AUDAX - are
these like cyclosportifs (but in the rain and with only a handfull of
people) ? Its a bit odd having to learn Cycling jargon by having to
get it translated to french....
|
| 1819.6 | Audax | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Wed Mar 13 1991 16:55 | 11 |
| Rod, the English term also seems to be "Audax" - it is a randonneur
type of event, cross-country, largely self-reliant, usually
characterized by people riding in groups (a team or club rather than a
peloton), and sticking together "no matter what." Kind of a loose
but cohesive riding style.
BMB was advertised as such. The Europeans are much better at Audax
than we (Americans) - as shown by PBP - they tend to come in groups
of riders, sometimes with matching jerseys, and just ride as a unit.
-john
|
| 1819.7 | Audax usually more organised | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Thu Mar 14 1991 02:49 | 13 |
| re -..1
I think there are "rules" in true Audax events, like a maximum average
speed and you are not allowed to pass the "captain"... Epreuves sportifs are
more like unlicensed road races, certainly for the first few hours. After that,
people are more friendly and tend to form groups for mutual survival!!
At the front of the �preuve, it is definitely cut and thrust, with
reports reading more like a Classic, I can't remember the figures exactly, but I
think the first home in the Bobet averaged more than 32 kph for 180 km and 4500
metres of climbing, a lot of these guys are ex-good amateurs, slightly over-the-
hill old pros or just hard-nuts who don't want the hassle of "racing".
It's an experience starting in a field of more than 1000, especially in
a narrow lane in the Var......
|
| 1819.8 | | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | Wasp in a blender | Thu Mar 14 1991 04:48 | 19 |
| Re Audax: There's an organisation called Audax UK which organises
audaxes in, yes, the UK. There are quite a lot of audaxes through the
summer, often advertised in 'Cycling Weakly', at distances of 100km
upwards. When you apply to enter one, you get a card which you have to
take with you on the event and which gets stamped at various control
points to certify you did the course. The location of some controls is
given on the route sheet, but there are usually one or two 'secret'
ones as well, which you discover as you do the course.
I did a 100km audax in the Chilterns in Oct 89, and it was very
enjoyable. The field seemed to be composed of club riders who were
fairly fast and tended to sprint up the climbs for the hell of it. I
went on my own, but ended up cycling with various groups over the
length of the course - a sort of moving party.
Recommended, in brief.
Rod
|
| 1819.9 | The Audacious! | HERON::ROWLANDS | Rob Rowlands, TPSG VBO 828-5480 | Mon Mar 25 1991 05:50 | 47 |
| After participating with Robin in the 200k Audax yesterday:
We learnt that "Audax" comes from an Henri Legrange definition,
"the Audacious, those daring to cycle more than 200km in a single day" (!)
The "Audax" is very definitely a more friendly affair than the
�preuves cyclo-sportifs, we rode 2 by 2 most of the distance
(cote-d'azur drivers permitting) and spent most of our concentration
on the conversation rather than where we were going to source
the next km from.
Indeed, admittedly with tempest-conditions winds behind us,
we got to the half way point not in the least extenuated. We took a
leisurely and pleasant 2 hour lunch, then fearfully set out to
fight the winds which were now going to be against us.
The next 50k were hard, but not as bad as expected, and then
the wind died to reasonable proportions resulting in pleasant
riding conditions - especially since the earlier conditions had kept
most drivers indoors.
The route captain definitely did not like being overtaken - unless
one was invited to do so to shelter him from the wind... The only
exception to this was towards the end, the ascent of the Esterel
from Fr�jus, about 5-6k and 3-400m climb. Robin & I defended the
DEC colours by getting to the top 3rd & 4th, the route captain
(who'd been sitting on our wheel all the way up) just beating
us in the last 50m sprint - gnash...! On the steep descent
into Mandelieu where we had left the cars, most riders were
itchy to sprint it out, but the cap'n kept us together to the
very end.
The Audax events are clearly aimed at the rider who enjoys a reasonable
pace and a sociable ride. Every effort is made so that slower riders
are not dropped and left to fend for themselves, although the cap'n
admitted that in fine conditions close to home they would allow
that. The average rider was probably in his 40's; bike equipment
was traditional rather than the latest gee-whiz components, and
most bikes seemed to date several if not 10's of years.
Overall it was a very enjoyable ride, and good bottom-conditionning
for our future 200km cyclo-sportif's.
Departure time: 07:00
Lunch arr : 11:30
Lunch Dep : 13:30
Arrival : 18:30
Distance : 200km, at an average of about 22km/h (14mph).
|
| 1819.10 | | NOVA::FISHER | It's Spring | Mon Mar 25 1991 06:46 | 8 |
| Sometimes there is an Audax PBP as well as a Randonneur PBP. I read
that 4 riders did both events in '83. There was no Audax PBP in 87.
Do you know when there will be another? I know the ACP (Audax Club
Parisien) runs both events but the Randonneur PBP is definitely now
run as a "friendly affair."
ed
|
| 1819.11 | Could be.......... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Mon Mar 25 1991 07:18 | 2 |
| In my note in .4, I see I've listed P-B-P as 20/23 June AND 27/30 August. Maybe
this is because there are 2 events...............
|
| 1819.12 | Audax - could it happen here?? | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Tue Mar 26 1991 15:10 | 10 |
|
RE: .9 Interesting description of the Audax ride captain.
I've never been on a ride like that, and was curious because
BMB is supposedly semi-Audax. Anyway, a couple weeks ago, one
of the riders on the Bamberg 400km brevet was trying to keep people
together, though there were no official captains. This
seemed like a good idea, but difficult, because of the wide
variety of skills and pace.
-john
|
| 1819.13 | 1990's thoughts....... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue May 14 1991 04:54 | 5 |
| I don't agree with putting in large notes, so I'll compromise by putting in 2
only slightly large notes - together with the warning that the next 2 replies
will be them...........
They concern last year's thoughts on "Le Bouquet" and "L'Epervier".
|
| 1819.14 | May 1990 - Part 1 | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue May 14 1991 04:56 | 255 |
| Reliability - � la fran�aise
============================
Part 1 - the hors-d'oeuvre
--------------------------
Introduction
------------
The late and much-missed Jock Wadley, one-time Colchester Rover,
and founder of "Sporting Cyclist", produced a paperback about the 1973
Tour de France. I still have a copy - it is somewhat dog-eared and
held together with sticky tape, but the words remain as vivid as ever.
The book, sub-titled "Legrange's 60th and Wadley's 19th", describes how
he forsook his normal privileged seat as a journalist in a following
Press car and elected to follow that year's Tour as closely as possible
from the saddle of his bicycle.
During the course of the 184 pages there are several deviations
from the main story of the trip and the 1973 race. Two passages in
particular caught my imagination The first described a 24-hour "raid",
in company with 3 French cyclists, from Champagne to Provence, and the
second, an "�preuve cyclosportif" in the Alps near Grenoble. Both of
these described his encounters with what are termed "cyclo-sportifs" in
France and what we would have termed "hard-riders" in England during
the 1950's.
I filed this information away in my memory, thinking to myself
that this was something I would participate in if I ever got the
chance. I knew of course of the birth of the Audax movement in the UK,
but somehow it didn't have the same attraction. During 1988, events
changed chance into reality.
Moving to France
----------------
I have always wanted to try living in France and when I had the
opportunity in 1989, my wife and I decided to make the move
permanently. Although I still work for the same company, my drive to
work now takes me through the foothills of the Alpes-Maritimes to a
business park between Nice and Cannes, rather than down the A1 from
Biggleswade to Welwyn Garden City.
The move has been a re-birth in cycling terms. Starting as I did
in the late 50's, I was beginning to find the style of cycling in the
U.K. tedious - not to mention somewhat fearful thanks to the Kamikaze
attitude of the motorists. Although the bikies down here look like a
load of fairies with their leery skinsuits, hidden cables and carbon
frames, once you start to ride in the terrain you start to respect them
more, after all you still need to push the pedals up and down to get up
a 500 metre climb. The area is close to being a cyclist's paradise
provided you avoid the 5 kilometre wide coastal strip in the summer.
There is also the advantage of being able to wear shorts for 9 months
of the year. 10 minutes after leaving home, I can be riding up the
Gorge du Loup, one of the spectacular roads in the area and climb to
the "village perch�" of Gourdon and from its 750 metre altitude view
the Mediterranean from Nice in the east to the heights of the Esterels
in the west.
Anyway, like JBW, I digress. Having managed to get in a few
kilometres thanks to the weather, I was interested to see an
advertisement in the local newspaper "Nice-Matin" for a " ....
magnificent day out in the Pays des Maures .....", which turned out to
be an sporting trial of some 200 km criss-crossing the Var, in the
empty country some 25 kilometres back from the Coast, between roughly
Saint-Tropez and Hy�res. This, I thought, was a chance not to be
missed.
The Team forms......
--------------------
We have several enthusiasts in the Office and there was some
interest to take part in the event which was to be held on 19th May.
The fact that the temperature was already a steady 20�C and the sun
shone most days gave us all a sense of fitness and we were sure we
could make it easily. It reminded me of club conferences which usually
took place at the occasion of the Annual Dinner, when several people
volunteered to take part in the following year's 12-hour - probably
because they were under the influence of too much alcohol and had
forgotten what it really entailed. Later on, as the season progressed,
the number who actually did compete was significantly lower.
Anyway, being naturally cautious, we decided on a reconnaissance
before hand, so on 3rd March four of us set out for the small village
of Gassin close to the start and where we intended leaving the cars.
This is almost the story of "the Englishman, the Irishman and the
Scotsman" - in fact it turned out to be the Englishman(myself), the
Irishman(John), the Welshman(Rob) and the American(Roger).
The Die is Cast
---------------
We survived the "look-and-see" trip and having decided we had
almost 2 months training time ahead of us, and that the likelihood of
this being curtailed by rain was slim, we took the plunge and entered.
However, the team composition mysteriously changed.... John the
Irishman decided on 2 bikeless weeks in Spain and pleaded unfitness and
Roger felt he needed more experience - most of his work before had been
done in Central Park with climbs of 10 metres being the norm.
We found Bill, another American who had just re-located and who
said he liked the heat, and the hills. His surname was Strong, so
naturally he was referred to as "Strong Bill" from then on.
The Team collects its Bouquets
------------------------------
A week or so later, John and I had a trip to the bike shop in
Antibes - he wanted some Look clipless shoes and I reluctantly decided
I needed some wrap-around Rudi Projects after my old sunglasses fell
apart during the week. It's hard to live without sunglasses in this
area and I feel happier protecting my contact lenses against the dust
and grit.
I picked up a small brochure describing "Le Bouquet", a sporting
trial which was to be held 2 weeks before L'Epervier. I was briefly
interested, but discarded it when I found it started in Tavel, the
premier wine-growing area for ros�, on the other side of Avignon, and a
few hours away even on the A8 motorway. The following Monday I got a
call from Rob suggesting it would be an ideal warm-up for L'Epervier,
being a mere 130 km. It was another event organised under the aegis of
UFOLEP, one of the French cycling bodies, and therefore it was
categorised.
Standard times for "Le Bouquet"
------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
| Men | Bouquet d'or | Argent | Bronze |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 18-34 | < 4hr 20min | < 4hr 55min | < 6hr 00min |
| 35-44 | < 4hr 30min | < 5hr 05min | < 6hr 10min |
| 45-54 | < 4hr 40min | < 5hr 15min | < 6hr 20min |
| 55+ | < 4hr 55min | < 5hr 30min | < 6hr 35min |
------------------------------------------------------------
| Women |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 18-34 | < 5hr 10min | < 5hr 45min | < 6hr 50min |
| 35+ | < 5hr 20min | < 5hr 55min | < 7hr 00min |
------------------------------------------------------------
Backslider John cried off, pleading weakness. It wouldn't be so
bad, but this man competes in triathlons and thinks nothing of running
12 km during his lunch hour. In addition, the biggest amount of fat on
him is the sun cream he rubs on, but again, I digress. It was
obviously up to the Three Mousequetaires again to keep the Company flag
flying.
This is NOT a race
------------------
So said the regulations. Anyone who remembers the Brentwood 100
in 8's which took place in the late 50's and early 60's, will realise
what this means, and it turned out to be a 500-up road race, in all but
name.
Tavel had been taken over by bikies. Cars were parked
everywhere, just like any event in the U.K., people warmed up furiously
or just pedalled up and down, chatting with their mates. We signed on,
and collected a bag of goodies which included the obligatory
feeding-bottle with "Le Bouquet" printed on it, a bottle of Tavel Ros�
from the local vineyard, and in my case, a paper number with 1328 on
it. Start time was 12:30 and at about midday everyone was checked into
a carpark in front of the newly erected Town Hall. During this time,
we had stirring speeches from the Mayor, the organisers and even a
short sermon from the doctor advising us to remember to eat sufficient
and above all to drink so we didn't end up in the Broom Wagon.
At the appointed time, there was the standard French blowing of
lots of whistles and some 500 bikies took off down the road using the
complete width and jostling for position up the front. Despite what I
said to the contrary beforehand ("I just want to survive"), I found
myself unable to drop back and indeed, my speedo didn't go below 35
k.p.h. for the first 40 km - not a race, my foot!! Fortunately, the
local Army detachment had been included in the organisation and their
role was to police every junction, so there was no stopping for
anything. On the contrary, as you came to these points, it was very
gratifying to see a line of cars stopped in each direction.
Mont Bouquet
------------
You are always given a profile of the course before the race.
This one appeared flattish, apart from a peak called Le Bouquet at
half-distance. As we approached 50 km, I thought I saw something
looming in the heat haze but we were soon into narrow lanes between
vines again and I dismissed it. I wish I had studied the profile more
carefully - a little further along, there were lots of marshals waving
flags and an arrow pointing left accompanied by a sign "Attention -
17%".
It was chaos - gears mangling into spokes, people with clipless
pedals falling in the road and above all, lots of French oaths. This
"thing" turned out to be 4,6 km with 2 sections of 20%, and despite a
bottom gear of 36 by 26, I soon joined the walking wounded. It was
evil, rising from 192 to 629 metres in the short distance. The top was
crowned with a radio mast and the feeding station was just below. I
met up with Rob and Bill who admitted to having walked as well, and
after a short stop I left in the hope of picking up some of my losses
on the inevitable downhill. Some hopes! An equally steep descent with
loose gravel and hairpins had me hanging on to the brakes for the next
5 km, and I emerged at the bottom with the prospect of 55 km to be
covered and legs feeling like wet spaghetti.
50 km with the Dooms
--------------------
I looked behind. No-one. I strained my eyes into the rolling
distance. Not a back wheel in sight. I resigned myself to pedalling
along slowly in the hope that an equal would catch me, or even better a
small, steady bunch which would tow me to the finish. I did catch one
rider, but he climbed off into the inviting grass in the shade of a
small tree and said "Fini...".
The back roads of the Gard department are not easy, the roads
roll up and down and the scrubby trees of the garrigue gave scant
shelter from the by-now blazing sun. The heady scent of the broom
bushes which I had enjoyed up to then began to stifle me. Eventually I
ended up amongst a group of 6 and we commiserated and helped each other
on our weary way. By now, I was feeling a bit better, all thoughts of
a Silver Bouquet had vanished but I knew I would finish within the time
limit and at least claim a Bronze.
The sign notifying 20 km to go was a pleasant surprise, I had
been ticking the kilometres off one at a time and thought there were at
least 25 left. My enthusiasm was quickly dampened by yet another climb
where my new-found comrades left me for dead, but after crossing the
motorway bridge I realised it was all downhill back to Tavel. I joined
a main road which was well surfaced and tried to make up a little time,
and was very soon at the Tavel turn-off which was again well-policed.
Never again ???
---------------
Wheeling my way into the parking at the front of the Mairie, I
met Bill and Rob who had finished 1 minute and 20 minutes before me
respectively, the latter being particularly annoyed at missing a Silver
by less than half a minute.
We stayed for some of the presentations which were awards to the
first 6 or so in each class, cups for the winners, and equipment prizes
like shoes, pedals, computers, rims etc etc.... Towards the end, the
forecasted thunderstorm started and we jumped in the car, pausing only
at a pizzeria in Avignon before burning back up the A8.
A few more statistics
---------------------
--------------------------------------------------------
| Men | Best | Best | Rob | Bill | Robin |
| | Time | Place | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------
| 18-34 | 3.43.04| 1st | | | |
| 35-44 | 3.47.36| 8th |5.05.26 | 5.25.26 | |
| | 296th | 348th | |
| 45-54 | 4.01.30| 41st | | | 5.26.38 |
| | | | 351st |
| 55+ | 4.10.53| 72nd | | | |
--------------------------------------------------------
| Women | Best | Best | |
| | Time | Place| |
--------------------------------------------------------
| 18-34 | 4.26.20| 132nd | |
| 35+ | 4.35.44| 184th | |
--------------------------------------------------------
to be continued.................
|
| 1819.15 | May 1990 - Part 2 | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue May 14 1991 04:59 | 260 |
|
Reliability - � la fran�aise
============================
Part 2 - the Main course
------------------------
L'Epervier
----------
L'Epervier was again organised by UFOLEP, which meant that it was
open to men and women over the age of 18, and according to the text it
was split into age categories ("... to allow everyone to express
themselves fully ..."). Further time divisions within these categories
gave one a chance of a Gold, Silver or Bronze Epervier award. The set
of such events organised by "Sports-Organisation" comprise 7 in all,
dating from April to August, and are co-sponsored by "Le Cycle", a
well-known French bike magazine. Several regions of France are visited
and each event has a "godfather" and is usually named after a famous
bikie from the area, so you get the "Anquetil" in the south of Paris,
the "Hinault" in Brittany, the "Bahamontes" in the Pyrenees and so on.
All of these events contribute to a season-long competition
called the "Troph�e d'or", and you have to compete in two of them in
order to be classified. The degree of difficulty of each event is
categorised to obtain a final points total. The title "Epervier" in
this case is French for "sparrow-hawk", because the Var is hunting
country, and not due to the fact that you have to be a pervert to
compete. It has Robert Chapatte the journalist as its patron and the
categories were similar to those relating to Le Bouquet.
Standard times for "L'Epervier"
-------------------------------
------------------------------------------------------------
| Men | Epervier d'or | Argent | Bronze |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 18-24 | < 7hr 10min | < 8hr 09min | > 8hr 10min |
| 25-34 | < 7hr 10min | < 8hr 09min | > 8hr 10min |
| 35-44 | < 7hr 20min | < 8hr 24min | > 8hr 25min |
| 45-54 | < 7hr 30min | < 8hr 34min | > 8hr 35min |
| 55+ | < 7hr 50min | < 8hr 54min | > 8hr 55min |
------------------------------------------------------------
| Women | |
------------------------------------------------------------
| 18-34 | < 8hr 25min | < 9hr 44min | > 9hr 45min |
| 35+ | < 8hr 40min | < 9hr 59min | >10hr 00min |
------------------------------------------------------------
The morning of May 19
---------------------
It was almost like old times - I hesitate to say the "good old
days", but it reminded me of preparing for racing down on E3 in the
60's. It was about 100 km to the start, about half of it along the A8
autoroute and the remainder on relatively slow routes so I decided I
needed to get up about 3:30 a.m. in order to be at the start for about
6:30. On joining the A8 at Cannes-Mougins, I was surprised to be
driving in heavy rain, the forecast was for the possibility of
thunderstorms but it had been for a week or so. It stopped before the
Le Muy turn-off and I was soon in the Casino supermarket at Le Foux,
getting my bike ready just like all the rest.
Another competitor suggested it would be a good idea to get there
well before the advertised start time of 7:00 a.m. because you would
then get a place near the front so I took his advice and joined the
steady stream of bikies up the road. The system was really quite
simple - they had barricaded a length of road to the actual start-line
and they checked you in one end. Imagine 2,300 bikes in a lane - I
calculated that it means nearly 2 km of cyclists, and as everyone
departs together there is some discrepency between the start-times at
the front and at the back. The organisers cater for this by modifying
the timing by the average time taken to pass the starting line, Rob
said later that this was almost 10 minutes.
The "Nice-Matin" helicopter circled overhead, and a little after
7 a.m. the colourful procession made its way towards the small village
of Gassin. I had read a short description of the event in "Le Cycle" a
month earlier, and the writer suggested you should be ready with lowest
gears for the first climb so I was relatively prepared, which is more
than could be said for many others!! The air was blue with shouts of
"Bidon" and "Attention" as riders struggled to select their gears at
slow speeds. In fact, an over-riding impression of the first 10 km was
the number of feeding-bottles which had fallen in the road, and people
putting their chains on.
Through Gassin and Ramatuelle the road was fairly unpleasant.
During our early season reconnaissance we had discovered it was very
narrow, very gritty, and full of potholes. The pace was pretty hectic
as those who had started late and therefore at the back, tried to get
towards the front. Remembering Le Bouquet and how I had felt at
half-distance, I was content to continue at my own pace and was soon in
the middle of a bunch of 50 or so as we sped along by the sea, through
the resort of Cavalaire and to the foot of the Col du Canadel. There
was no question of being dropped or soaring like an eagle up the climb,
the road was completely full from gutter-to-gutter, so for me it was
just a question of riding 36 by 22 and watching back-wheels.
At the summit, things cleared a bit and with more room you could
relax and take notice of the scenery while the more ambitious hustled
past trying to regain time. This "false-flat" in fact climbs 100
metres before descending another 200 to the Col de Gratteloup and has
wonderful views to the sea on one side and across the wooded hills of
the Var on the other. On the descent my bike began to handle a bit
strangely and I soon realised the front tyre had gone down so I was
forced to change a tube. I can't say I was pleased and I gave M.
Wolber a few words of the prophet, but also I was not surprised
considering the gritty state of this part of the course. It also gave
me an opportunity to drink, to eat some supplies from my back pockets
and to refill them from my bag.
Notre-Dame-des-Anges
--------------------
The first feeding station was in Collobri�res, one of the
sponsoring towns, and the main square was laid out with tables offering
various high-energy foods. I made sure my bidon was re-filled, grabbed
a bit to eat and drink and resumed, shortly to be diverted onto a very
small lane which was the start of the main climb of the day, Notre Dame
des Anges. By now, the participants were well spread out and climbing
was less hazardous, but in the narrow valley, the heat was stifling and
the heady scent of the broom flowers was everywhere.
Although long, the climb was not severe when compared with Mont
Bouquet two weeks earlier and I only needed 36 by 26 on the steep
corners. At the top, there was another impromptu stop with crowds of
bikies downing water as if they had just crossed the desert, but I
decided to continue along the ridge rather than risk getting a chill.
This next section is shown as all downhill, in fact it is a series of
uncomfortable switchbacks through the garrigue with no real descent
until just before Plan-de-la-Tour where we had left the car on the
previous Thursday, when we made our final check on the course.
By the fountain in the centre of La Garde-Freinet, which was a
maze of tiny, twisting streets between the houses, bikies were filling
their bottles and I saw the hard woman who had dropped me on the Col du
Babaou dipping her feet (complete with shoes) into it. She was with a
crowd of club-mates and I thought they would be a good bunch to join
and quickly got on their wheels.
The afternoon
-------------
We all made the most of the well-surfaced descent into Plan de la
Tour which was only about 20 km from the finish as the crow flies but
more like 70 as the epervier flies. A matter of a kilometre further
on, I experienced the familiar sinking feeling again. This time it was
a full-blown patch and solution job, so I took advantage of a shady
spot under a tree. The worst thing was that I got pretty dirty doing
this after 120 km, but I had plenty of water and was confident of
finding more en route so I squandered some for the sake of personal
comfort and appearance. The second worst thing was that I saw this
comfortably paced bunch disappear up the road.
However, by now I was on familiar roads and confident of
finishing provided no real disasters befell me, I knew the only real
obstacle was up through Peigros and there were plenty of comfortable
back wheels to latch onto. A group of a dozen or more of us stayed
together on this stretch and snaked down the descent to the plain at
Roquebrune-sur-Argens where there was another official feeding station
to get us over the last 40 km. It was by now noticeable that I was
amongst equals and away from those out for a performance, it was
certainly much more relaxed.
The stretch to the coast was into the wind as expected but I
found a few allies who were OK on the flat but disappeared as soon as
the road started to climb, and I was pleased to find I was able to
catch and drop a few sufferers on the Col du Bougnon. There was yet
another magnificent view over the Bay of St-Tropez from the top and I
found myself alone on the Mediterranean-side road to Sainte-Maxime, but
once through the town I joined onto another small bunch for the second
run-in to Plan de la Tour.
The Last Leg
------------
The organisers seemed to have thought it a good idea to just drop
in a last "c�te" before the finish at Cogolin, and the C�te du Reverdi
had several riders zig-zagging across the road. I was particularly
pleased to catch and pass a rider apparently from the Pyrenees region
who had floated past me on a climb early in the morning, and I was soon
into the last 5 km. I staggered up the high street at Cogolin,
suffering the indignity of having to drop onto my small chainring
again, and stopped between the barriers outside that corner-stone of
French life, the Mairie or Town Hall.
They took my number and time manually and then a bit further on
passed a bar-code reader over my frame number. It was all apparently
computerised and the results were posted on A4 sheets as they became
filled, the times being available within 10 minutes or so. Bill and
Rob were there looking relaxed, and we celebrated Rob's "Silver" with a
few drinks. I put my shoes back on and rode slowly the 5 km back to Le
Foux where I cleaned myself up until I felt human again and put my bike
on the roof of the trusty Wilhelmina. Nothing left to do after that
but just drive quietly back home - the next day, I went to a barbecue
and played Boules with no ill effects .......
A few words on equipment
------------------------
When I first came to the C�te d'Azur, I had a gears of 38/50 by
15-23. This is fine if all you want to do is ride up and down the
coast between Mandelieu and Nice, but as soon as you venture back into
the Alpes-Maritimes you begin to think again. In addition, having
spent most of our cycling time in Essex, Hertfordshire and
Bedfordshire, my wife and I had been relying on side-pull Weinmanns to
stop us and had experienced very few problems.
After some consideration I changed my velo to 36/48 by 14-26
gearing and my wife's to 34/44 by 15-28; we still couldn't ride the
last 200 metres to our house, but we could manage most things. The
exhilaration of a 60 kph drop from Gourdon was dampened somewhat by
thoughts of going off the side, so I decided on something more powerful
on the braking front. Consequently, we both now have Chorus brakes -
my 'racing' machine has Shimano 105's which are very impressive, even
now I'm not sure that the Chorus are worth the extra money.
During Le Bouquet and L'Epervier I rode my old plain gauge
Raleigh with 700C's and 22 mm. Wolbers, and a Brooks leather saddle
with a small bag underneath for essential supplies. Bill and Rob
agreed with the choice of gearing and used 42 by 28 bottom gears. I
lost count of the number of carbon-fibre and dural frames around me,
not to mention the new centre-pull Campagnolo brakes. About 25% used
triple chainrings, but only a minority of freewheels carried more than
6 sprockets. The most obvious point of agreement was in the almost
universal use of clipless pedals, the French have really taken to them.
Clothing was universally gaudy, not necessarily with current trade team
names, enterprises such as banks often sponsor their local club so you
see Cr�dit Lyonnaise or BNP on jersies. Opinion was divided on the
wearing of helmets - certainly I used an old track-style helmet for the
early stages but discarded it for a cotton racing hat once everyone had
spread out a bit.
The Inquest
-----------
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| | Name | Time | Posn. |Avg. kph | Brevet |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| 1st man: | Georges Luthi | 6.09.12 | 1 | 33.15 | Or |
| 1st woman: | Odile Sercy | 7.24.10 | 439 | 27.56 | Or |
| | Rob Rowlands | 8.20.07 | 1049 | 24.47 | Argent |
| | Bill Strong | 9.01.01 | 1401 | 22.62 | Bronze |
| | Robin Hemmings | 9.32.01 | 1556 | 21.40 | Bronze |
| Slowest: | Lepr�tre | 11.07.41 | 1838 | 18.33 | Bronze |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
| Starters: 2211 (40 women) |
| Finishers: 1838 |
--------------------------------------------------------------------
According to the Var edition of "Nice-Matin", which featured a
full report, the fastest (not the winner, because it's not a race
remember!!) on scratch is a 35 year old Swiss ex-professional who rode
in the Tour de l'Avenir in 1977 and 1978, then made his pro debut with
the Cilo team. He was 2nd fastest in both the 1988 and 1989 editions
of L'Epervier and this time had a margin of 1'30" over the next
finisher, who came from Nice. Analysis of the final figures shows that
we still have a lot of work to do, even to equal the fastest woman - I
feel certain I could have cut my own time by 30 minutes without the 2
punctures, but am less sure about another 30 minutes which would have
given me a Silver in my age category.
Rob said at the end, �I didn't want to see the bike again after
finishing�, but like most cyclists, after a week's reflection we were
looking for the next target. Another in the same series was the
obvious candidate to enable us to qualify for the seaon-long Troph�e
d'Or, so we started looking at the "Louison Bobet", 192 km long
starting at Valloire and crossing the Galibier twice and the Izoard.
But that of course, is another story...................
|
| 1819.16 | My left foot | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | Ratiocinate! | Mon May 27 1991 13:00 | 76 |
| Robin's note .15 gives a very good idea of what L'Epervier is and what
it's like to cycle in it. Having ridden the '91 edition last Saturday,
these are my impressions. Apologies to someone who's already read this
(but it is a little different now). Known Digits riding this were Rob
Rowlands, Robin Hemmings and myself - all kitted out in Digital
jerseys.
I didn't prepare too well, driving 550km the evening before and
arriving at my host's place at 00:30, then being levered out of bed at
4:00. An hour's drive to our parking spot in the finish town of
Cogollin, an 8k ride to the start, and 07:00 found us in the start lane
with *stacks* of flash gits on bikes that would make a pro jealous.
Actually, this was brilliant, especially when a couple of queue-jumpers
attempting to get to the front by walking down the adjoining field came
in for a barrage of good-natured whistles and jeers. We started at
07:20, while it was still cold but with the first orange rays of the
sun promising later warmth, and a more physical warmth delivered
immediately by short sharp hills. Closed roads, people cheering us
past, an exotic mediterranean landscape of pine and cork oak. and the
rare and valuable experience of cyclists owning the road. Absolutely
wonderful. I felt ready for everything.
Your 140Fr entry fee buys you all food and water necessary, plus
desirable items of cycling credibility like Epervier water bottles. The
first ravitaillement (food stop) was at 80k, and I reached it a few
minutes before Rob R and Robin H, however I spent too long there (I
always stop too long) and they both left before me. The climb of Notre
Dame Des Anges was straight after - 680m from 100m - and the pack was
curiously subdued as it struggled up, having been very chatty earlier.
I saw Robin at the top, where there was a water stop, and then again at
around 115k, at another water stop in an incredibly pretty little
village (totally swamped by noisy cyclists - ha!) where I dunked my
left foot in the fountain. My left foot was getting sore, and my
early confidence was evaporating fast.
At around 130k on a vicious little hill, it evaporated entirely, and I
flaked out at the side of the road for ten minutes. I felt exhausted
and sore. The road here was at its most scenic and inviting - it
couldn't have matched my feelings less. I forced myself to eat, though
nothing tasted very inviting, and set off again. After that I felt
stronger but actual physical pains in feet and bum kept growing. There
were long ascents through burned countryside, and long descents
into small villages. These descents are my strongest memory in fact:
always following the line of a cyclist ahead, switching weight from one
foot to the other, watching for grit and potholes, left curve, right
curve, almost hypnotic.
After the second ravitaillement at 150k, I got into a big pack to
tackle the remaining hills and a headwind coastal section, even took a
few turns at the front. Whereas inland the countryside is pretty empty,
the coastal strip is quite heavily developed, so the traffic was
significant. You had to concentrate the whole time to keep position.
With 15 to go I had to drop out of the pack because my feet were so
sore.
I came in at 8:56 for the 204k, well outside the silver award limit of
8:10. The two Robs had both beaten me, Rob R at 8:17 and Robin H at
8:32, and both by virtue of being older had squeezed out silvers. The
event was won in 6:06 by a 44 year-old fireman from Geneva. For
something that's not a race it's pretty bloody competitive.
Some day, all in all. I measured the course at 200k, not 204 as
advertised, but recorded 2800m of climbing rather than the publicised
2500. Incredibly memorable being among all these good cyclists - 1400
finishers (me on 1002). The organisation was good, and there was a real
party atmosphere at the finish, where the whole square was given over
to us. Manufacturers such as Hutchinson and Mavic had tents to show
their products, so you can see that they take it all seriously.
I've hardly been able to stop sleeping since coming back. My respect
for the pros has increased. I can't imagine racing over that kind of
course day after day. Les Portes du Soleil next - June 22nd in the
Alps, 184km, 4500m climbing. I might just have recovered by then.
Rod
|
| 1819.17 | Turned chicken....... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Mon Jun 17 1991 08:28 | 17 |
| We decided not to go to the "Portes" - Rob through pressure of work, and
me through idleness and not being able to get the time off, so we expect a full
account from "Our Man in Ferney" after this weekend coming.
I, in fact, found another nearby, dedicated to the memory of Rene Vietto
who started in the TdF in 1934 and was still around after the War, yet another
whose career was wrecked by the 39-45 hostilities. He is probably best known
for being the faithful team-mate of Antonin Magne during his TdF wins. "Roi"
Rene came from Cannes but the event is centred on the Ventoux.
The other which I found irresistable is The Fausto Coppi, starting and
finishing at Cuneo, and taking in the Colle dell'Agnello (2741m), the Vars
(2111 m) and the Maddalena or Larche (1996 m) in its 243 km. I entered before
I had time to think and change my mind.
22/06/91 La Rene Vietto 170 km 2379 m d�nivell�, centred on B�doin
21/07/91 La Fausto Coppi 243 km centred on Cuneo (4000 m d�n I guess)
|
| 1819.18 | nice rides! | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Mon Jun 17 1991 10:52 | 7 |
|
Robin, so did you enter one of those (but not the Coppi one?)
I'd be curious if any one did, because those routes sound quite
challenging and beautiful (if you get a chance to glance around!),
and I await anyone's post-ride report.
-john
|
| 1819.19 | '91 experiences.... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue Jun 18 1991 04:29 | 18 |
| John
Rob Rowlands and myself were joined by Rod Macfadyen from Ferney for
L'Epervier on 18th May and he has written his impressions in reply .16 and I
wrote up last year's in replies .3, .14 & .15
As last year Rob and I entered and rode Le Bouquet as a prep for L'Epervier,
despite fitting 32x26 I still had to walk a bit of Mt Bouquet itself much to
my disgust, but I was not alone. In the early stages you don't get much time
to look round and see the scenery, there are too many twitching wheels to watch
but after the climb at 75 km it all becomes quieter. I have come to the
conclusion that I need to realise that I am no loger 25 but nearly twice that
and as such I have to let them go, especially in the early stages - there is
nothing worse than trying to keep up at a pace just a little too high for you,
- when it gets really hard later you just die.
Anyway, as Rod says, Rob and I got Silver "Sparrowhawks" to go with our silver
"Bouquets". The Golds are a long way away....................
|
| 1819.20 | Les Portes du Soleil, 22/6/91 | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | That's not supposed to happen! | Thu Jun 27 1991 11:37 | 87 |
| Les Portes Du Soleil, Sat 22/6/91 in the Alps just to the south of the
eastern end of Lac Leman.
********************************
Well, another innovative method of preparing for a major athletic
event. After the long-drive/no-food-or-sleep preparation for the
Epervier, this time it was lots-of-food/stay-up-late, or, to put it
another way, the Digital Ferney midsummer bash which didn't let me get
to bed until 2 in the morning. Then up again at 5.30 for the drive to
the start at Morzines, where I just made it onto the back of the queue
as the front of the queue was unleashed at 07.05 on a sunny morning.
The itinerary of the Portes du Soleil consists of a list of cols, three
of which we did twice, since the course was out and back, with a loop
at the far-away point. Anyhow, the cols were:
Col de la Joux Verte 1st, last 1760m
Col du Corbier 2nd, 6th ~1300
Pas de Morgins 3rd, 5th ~1300
can't-remember-the-name 4th ~1300
They put us up the Col de la Joux Verte first thing, which definitely
woke me up. Compared with the Epervier, there were fewer cyclists, and
I didn't see any number higher than 900 and something. There were the
usual motorbikes, service cars and helicopter to liven things up. The
scenery was fantastic, with snowy mountains appearing from behind
lower tree-covered hills as we ascended the first col.
As usual, Sports Organisation provided food and drink. The previous
night's big meal turned out to be a bonus and I was never in danger of
bonk. One Swiss village went to the extent of handing bottled water and
- brilliant! - bananas to us in fine feeding station style, and I was
pleased to score one bottle and two bananas on the way past.
Occasionally I rode with other people for a while, including a wordless
10k into the wind with two others, and a loquacious climb of the
col-with-no-name with a guy who told me that this col was hard, but the
one after was hard, and the last one was really difficult. Actually, he
must have had some sort of crisis en route because he eventually
finished an hour after me, which I would never have guessed from the
way he rode while I was with him. We all fight our own battles on these
events.
Round about the half-way mark I wasn't feeling too bad (and in fact I
never felt as crap as I did on parts of the Epervier) so I began to
entertain hopes of slipping inside the silver time of 9:39. However,
the return ascent of the Pas de Morgins and the Corbier proved to be
very tough, as the agonised faces around me proved, plus my left foot
got very sore, so by 3/4 distance I'd given up on that hope. The return
climb of the JV started just 2km from Morzines and there was the option
of missing it out and just going straight to Morzines, which would have
earned me the Portillon brevet, however some friends had driven down
from Ferney and were expecting to see me on the JV (which now seemed
rather a sadistic idea) so I had no option but to grit my teeth and do
the 800m climb.
Which was a toughie - steep as hell. However, 5km from the top I met
Piers driving down to look for me, so I gave him the bar bag (to
lighten the load) and made it to the top to meet the others where I'm
sure I looked less of a wreck than I felt. After a drink, there was a
fast descent into Morzines, Piers chasing me down in the car but being
told to slow down by the women, for a finish time of 10:45. I measured
the course at 185km and the total climb at 4488m. No bike problems to
report.
Despite my recent note in this file I haven't yet bought new shoes, but
I definitely will now, and saw some nice ones last evening. What the
hell, it's only money. Separaately, as a point of info, in an entry
form I found a list of difficulty factors for the Sports Organisation
events, and here it is (ref .0):
Le Jacques Anquetil 1
L'Epervier 1.25
La Bernard Hinault 1.4
Les Portes du Soleil 1.7 7 cols as above
Le National 1.25
Le Marmotte 2 Croix de Fer/Galibier/Alpe d'Huez
L'Isard-Bahamontes 1.9 Tourmalet/Aubisque
La Louison Bobet 1.7 Galibier (twice)/Izoard
They vary in length from about 170k to 230k, with the hilliest being
shortest.
Rod
|
| 1819.21 | 120 miles on 3 hours sleep ? | FILMS::WIDDOWSON | | Thu Jun 27 1991 12:15 | 7 |
| I wish it to be known that not all rods are mad...
I assume that when you do the Marmotte you'll prepare by cycling down
to Bourg D'Oisans the night before. I am beginning to regret
suggesting we did the Marchairuz together,,,
(the other, sane) rod
|
| 1819.22 | �La Rene Vietto 1991� | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Fri Jun 28 1991 04:54 | 103 |
| No Rod, we didn't spend all day lying in the sun.....
�La Rene Vietto�
================
The Portes du Soleil �preuve was held on Saturday 22nd June and in the
early season we had every good intention of taking part. With the advent
(finally) of good sunny weather on the Cote d'Azur we felt less inclined to
spend the time sitting in a car, getting to and from the Alps, at least an 800
km each way trip. Not wishing to miss out on all the suffering which is
available to the cyclo-sportif in France, we decided to go to Carpentras
and commemorate "Roi Rene".
"La Rene Vietto", or as it is written on all the signs daubed in the road
"VR", starts and finishes at the Cave Cooperative at B�doin, a small proven�al
village in the shadow of Mont Ventoux. I'm not exactly sure of the
connections because Vietto came from Cannes, but the Cave was offering bottles
with a special label carrying a likeness of the man himself and also a big
lump of rock was dedicated to his memory in their car park. I had entered
earlier, but Rob had been troubled by possible travels so ended up by entering
on the day before, which didn't seem to be a problem - it just meant 120
francs instead of 110.
170 km + 2380m d�nivel�, dedicated to the great French star who began
in the 1934 Tour. We spoke to our 75-year-old neighbour, who said �Oh Yes, he
would have won the Tour had he not given up his wheel to his Team Leader,
Antonin Magne, when he punctured in the mountains�
We drove over Friday afternoon and Rob was a late-entrant, just in time to see
the inauguration of a st�le outside the Cave. We collected our frame numbers,
303 and 497, plus the by now familiar plastic bags
containing a bottle of Speciale Cuv�e Rene Vietto,
an out-of-date Le Cycle, Bidon, key-ring, stickers for Stronglight and Rigida
etc etc...... and went to the hotel about 10 km away to stoke up. I
definitely recommend Le Beffroi at Caromb, quiet and very friendly people.
Got up about 5:45, had breakfast kindly prepared the night before and set off
for the start � v�lo, nice and cool with the promise of heat to come. The
whole start much lower key, supposedly 500-600 starters, no number checks
whatsoever and we staggered off at a reasonable speed about 8 a.m. Twitchy
early, with small roads, ups and downs with 32x24 needed after only 10 km,
magnificent countryside, better kept and cultivated than the Alpes-Maritimes,
road surfaces generally superior to anything during L'Epervier. The massive of
Mt Ventoux in view most of the day, looking every bit of its 1900 m (which it
didn't the day before).
Through roads not marked on my maps, and finally a steady bit along the north
flank of the Ventoux where we managed to get a small group together, although
only Rob, myself and A.N.Other seemed prepared to do a turn into the wind. No
matter because after the feed, they wouldn't have stayed together, the
competitors we have come across in these events seem to have little idea of
banding together to make life easier. One guy sat on the back until forced to
go to the front whereupon he upped the speed by a couple of kph into the wind
and rode off until he slowed down and then expected to sit in behind again -
very short on brain.
Relaxed chat with a few locals at the tables when we reached the
"ravitaillement" at Montbrun-les-Bains, discussions whether this was
easier than Le Bouquet or not, generally speaking more friendly atmosphere
than L'Epervier. By this time Rob and I had decided we were not out for a
"performance" and would ride together admiring the scenery. It was difficult
to decide what you needed to do anyway because the brevets were based on the
first 3 in your category on the day - t<15% = Or, 15<t<40% = Argent,
t>40% = Bronze (10 categories).
The big 'ill was a pain, I'm unconvinced about ravitaillement at the foot of
such a thing. I spent a good time in bottom, but perked up a bit further on -
Rob had drunk too much grapefruit juice and was suffering a bit but we came
together at the Col de l'homme mort 1270m, feeling we could make it after all.
The descent to the Plateau d'Albion, where the French have their secret missile
sites marked "Keep Out - Strategic Missile site - no photographs", was smooth
and quick but would have been miserable on one's own. About 50 km of almost
downhill to Sault where we resisted the opportunity to have our legs rubbed
by a couple of sadistic looking females - I think they would broken mine.
The next climb was relatively harmless although its straightness made it look
worse, then we were onto a fast gravelly and generally downhill stretch. As I
remarked to Rob, the Air-B puncture wagon was in great evidence on the early
(smooth and less gritty) sections but was nowhere to be seen here. Down again
and through a small village and we just had to negotiate a sadistic climb with
only 10 km to go. As the road continued to descend I had to keep revising my
time estimate and we finally crossed the line together in about 7hr 22m.
Envelopes at the finish again, food and drink pretty well unlimited, we both
won blank video cartridges but I changed mine for a T-shirt. Even showers over
at the local football club so we were soon feeling quite good again. The
efficiency didn't run to the times being posted but we should get them during
the week. They gave away 50.000 ff of stuff in total, and had organised good
support from the ambulances, motos and anti-crevaison trucks. At the finish,
they even had photos on display taken in the morning, to buy at 30 ff about the
size (full-plate?) of the one Rod sent me (and thankyou) so all in all a good
day out somewhere different.
Looked at the v�lo the day after - it was foul, under a combined coating of
fruit juice, flies and tar but it looks better again now I've been at it. Must
admit the triple was worthwhile, it appears to be working a bit better although
the changes are slow. Rob was envious but he did take the precaution of
fitting a 28 during the week. Don't think I saw a single pair of tri-bars and
more than 50% wore triples, we were beaten again by several women and old men
but who cares?
Postscript: I was entered for the Sophia Games 25 km TT around the Park on
the following Thursday and failed to complete even one lap. Give me 165 km of
"La Rene" anyday instead......
|
| 1819.23 | unkempt? | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Fri Jun 28 1991 10:40 | 14 |
|
A small side question (great write-up, by the way!): you characterize
the area of the Vietto ride as "better kept and cultivated than the
Alpes-Maritimes." So, is it not just my imagination, or does the
Alpes-Maritimes seem especially unkempt, scraggly, and dishevelled?
I don't expect a Mediterranean region to be "tidy" like Northumberland
or Cornwall (or Vermont), but I always thought if I lived on the C�te
d'Azur for a non-trivial amount of time, the dishevelled appearance
would wear away at one's tranquillity. (Note: this seems to go beyond
a lot of other Mediterranean areas.)
Again, is this just too subjective or what?
-john
|
| 1819.24 | | FILMS::WIDDOWSON | | Fri Jun 28 1991 12:28 | 25 |
| John,
A lot depends on the level of farming (now lets not mention GATT..).
Vast areas of Provence are plumbed into the Canal de Provence (all those
reservoirs you see in the high alps) and are very intensively irrigated
and farmed making the area very productive (and leaving a lot of money
around). The Proven�al village I lived in had the additional
advantage of having two high-tech factories and a large industrial
park in the region which swelled the local coffers to allow a higher
level of local amenities.
Now I've never lived in the Alpes Maritimes but my impressions of the area
(outside the tourist bits) are that there is very little farming. In Sospel
(my favorite village in the area) at least 75% of the terraces are
overrun, quite a lot of the (deserted) farms seem to be lacking in
water. No money, no-one living there and thus slightly more run-down.
As for the coastal area - well touristy coastal areas are aklways places
I avoid where possible be they in the UK, France, or the USA.
As for the general scruffyness of the Mediteranean Coast, for me it
is, like the Cicadas, part of the country and I could no more imagine it
neat and tidy than the Swiss Alps to be scruffy.
Anyway I'll let the locals comment more.
rod
|
| 1819.25 | | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Fri Jun 28 1991 16:31 | 4 |
|
Interesting analysis, Rod.
-john
|
| 1819.26 | Results - La Rene Vietto | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue Jul 16 1991 09:12 | 24 |
| La Rene Vietto 22 June 1991 170 km 2380m d�nivel�
-----------------------------------------------------
Now it can be told, the facts on the Rene Vietto....
The standards were based on the mean of the first 3 in each category rather
than a fixed time, so we didn't know until we received a copy of La
Marseillaise, the sponsoring newspaper. Obviously I was fortunate and the
fastest in my category were not too quick so I made a silver fairly easily
whereas Rob's age compatriots were a bit more swift. Makes it difficult to
decide what you need to do the next year to get a "gold"......
BTW, I tried to work out the times, but obviously the fiendish French have a
different method to me, so I have just listed the fastest in each class.
Women
Or 6.15.34
Argent 8.12.45 (+15% of base)
Men
18-25 26-35 36-45 46-55 56-64 65+
Or 5.23.52 5.19.35 5.23.59 5.53.03 5.45.00 6.13.00
Argent 7.59.00 6.17.40 6.15.35 6.47.35 6.55.31 8.19.00 (+15% of base)
Robin 7.19.12
Rob 7.19.19
Bronze 7.43.20 7.37.40 8.25.28 8.35.21 9.00.00 (+40% of base)
|
| 1819.27 | | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | The key word is survival | Wed Jul 17 1991 09:14 | 1 |
| So did you cross the line hand-in-hand, a la Hinault and Lemond?
|
| 1819.28 | Yes, of course, ducky....... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Wed Jul 17 1991 10:00 | 27 |
| Actually, being older and therefore more sneaky (it's no good getting
old if you don't get more sneaky), I crossed the line first. Probably explains
why I got a Silver certificate and Rob got a Bronze (despite what the results
said).
This is the first event I have ridden where the thought of a Gold is not
beyond the realms of possibility, after all I only need to take off 20 mins in 7
hours and we did loaf around a bit.
Some notes ago, John Ellis said he thought the A-M were a bit scruffy,
he's maybe right but things are improving a little. For example when they
altered the lethal multi-junction near me to an even more lethal roundabout,
they kept the trees and replanted them. Also near us, the terrasses are full
of olive trees and orange groves but as you get nearer the Cote, it degenerates
into the usual French sprawl of hypermarkets, tyre dealers and furniture/hifi
stores. The thing which really wrecks France in my opinion is the predominance
of huge advertising hoardings which seem to be completely out of control.
That being said, I've had 2 magic trips recently only 50 km back from
the Med and they were unbelievable in terms of scenery and lack of traffic. I
still can't get used to the sweat dripping off me at 8 in the morning when I am
higher than anywhere in the UK!! If you choose your time ie: NOT July/August,
the Esterels between the N7 and the sea are really something, as is the Coast
Road from Monaco to Nice November to February.
Can't wait to shake hands with Prince Albert when he sees me off in
the Monegasque (that's "sees me off" as in "waves goodbye", not as in "burns me
off his wheel").
|
| 1819.29 | | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Wed Jul 17 1991 10:12 | 5 |
|
Nice going, Robin. I'd agree - 50km inland and it's another world,
and a pleasant one at that.
-john
|
| 1819.30 | "La Fausto Coppi" - 21/07/91 | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue Jul 23 1991 08:41 | 129 |
| La "Fausto Coppi" 1991
======================
I suppose I shouldn't have looked in "Le Cycle" - but there it was, an
ad for the 4th version of the �preuve to commemorate the Campionissimo. 243
kilometres, starting and finishing in Cuneo, over 3 cols and spanning the
Franco-Italian border.
So I got the details, and in due course sent off the entry form and the
hotel booking, another first trying to understand how International sending of
money works from France. Would you believe that La Poste only accepts real
cash for such transactions? 21st July unfortunately clashed with the Tommy
Simpson, which is 2 laps of Mt Ventoux but having ridden the Rene Vietto
earlier, I figured I could miss this time round. My mates all totally let me
down this time, through weakness and other commitments so I was on my own.
The Course
----------
No mention on the "prospectus" of denivelisation, but a quick scan
revealed the worst suspicions - just summing the peaks gave 3900 metres, with
Colle nell'Agnello at 2741 being higher than the Galibier and only just short
of the Bonette (which has anyway been artificially raised by an extra loop).
Second on the menu was the Vars (2111 m), and finally the Larche, or Maddalena
(1996 m). The only saving grace appeared to be that the last 70 km to Cuneo
looked to be downhill !!
The Day Itself
--------------
Time of start 6 a.m. in the main piazza, having been impressed by the
organisation of the day before where they had a special "desk" for "stranieri"
(foreigners) I was relieved to find that the depart was as chaotic as I
expected for Italy. The first 50 odd on the map were dotted and that turned
out to be a fictitious start, with the real thing starting at Sampeyre where
the "racers" met up with the "cyclos". So we all finally streamed out behind a
leading car with motor-cycle outriders, difficult to give numbers but I would
estimate about 800, there being 1200 entrants in total.
A very swift transition to Sampeyre, too quick too early for my liking
but then we stopped for 15' or so eating and drinking in the main square of
this small village waiting for the real departure. The roads were closed in
sections so they were full from curb to curb, A relatively quiet take-off with
most of the village out to watch the fun, and we were into the real stuff at
about 8 a.m. Sampeyre is at 976 and the top of the col was 32 km away at 2741.
What a magic climb ! But, the last 8 are double-arrowed and I was reduced to
stopping several times (looking at the views and drinking) even with 32x25. It
was about this time I realised I was not on a good day, the heat over the
previous couple of weeks seemed to have drained my strength somewhat.
1 down, 2 to go
---------------
Anyway, at great personal cost I made it to the top and got my control
card stamped, ate and drank as much as I could and put on raincape for the
descent. This was a bit hairy, especially through the small villages which
were 1 car width and with most of the road surface washed away, but I did pick
up a bit of speed and emerged unscathed onto the valley to Guillestre where I
got in with a small group. I saw the road to the Izoard and was grateful to
pass it, and we continued down the supposed downhill made hard by the upcoming
wind in the valley. The surface here was not too special either. The col de
Vars starts immediately you leave the town of Guillestre and the mid-day sun
made it like a furnace, especially as this first part is the steepest.
To pack or not to pack?
-----------------------
I really didn't think I was going to make this and during one of my
frequent stops I had a chat with an Italian cyclo about the possibility of
getting in the broom wagon. He said it was at the back and I would have to
wait for it, so I decided I would rather continue and climb in if and when it
caught me. The same silly old fool told me it was 2 km to Vars and a further 6
to the top - I rode for about 12 km up through the pretty revolting ski-station
and was pleased to find the last 5 a bit cooler and less steep. Once again, a
flurry of activity as my card was stamped and I crammed food and drink into
myself before caping up for the steep descent to St. Paul. These slopes and
those of the previous col were alive with marmots and the sound of their
whistling will stay with me for some time to come.
No sting in the tail
--------------------
I must admit that I began to feel a bit better along the valley to the
Larche and knowing what I know now, I think I could have cracked on a bit, but
the thought of 24 km of up and then still 70 to the finish made me a little
cautious. I passed a customs post with the usual happy little customs man, I
think they are a standard issue all over the Continent - I was really a bit
disappointed no-one looked at my passport having made the effort to bring it
with me !! Up at the top of the Maddelena, as the Italians know it, was a
trifle cool at 5 p.m. so I didn't hang around and started the final drop. We
had been previously warned that the tunnels here were unlit and we should be
careful - in the event they were not too bad, probably because most of the
brightness had gone out of the sun by then.
Good road surface, big downhill, followed by rolling but mainly
downhill and I was clocking 35-40 kph easily on 50x16/17, sorry I was on my
own, I could have done with some company. By now I was behind time and looked
like I would miss the closing time of 6:30 p.m., and also the roads were open
again so there were quite a few cars going back into the heat of Cuneo. Still
I was going quite well and with 10 to go was caught by another couple and we
did bit and bit into the main square on 50x14/15. Finishing time about 6:50 so
I had used about 12 hr 35 min riding time. Looking at my trusty Huret
afterwards, which only records time while you are moving, I think I must have
lost about 45 minutes by stopping, but I had averaged over 20 kph. Some
confusion at the end, not sure whether I would be timed or even recorded as a
finisher, that needs waiting until I get the official result. In this respect
the French events are a little better organised but the rest was impossible to
fault.
In retro
--------
Great day out despite the extreme suffering, but as my wife pointed
out, I found my first experience in "Le Bouquet" somewhat traumatic and the
second was better. Organisation very good, value for money - 50,000 lire entry
fee got you a Fausto Coppi 1991 jersey, casquette, frame bag, poster plus a bag
to put everything in. Add to this all the food and drink I put away during and
after and all the helpers, Red Cross, Sag wagons and Carabinieri, you almost
make a profit !!
Personally I think I am not used to 30 km climbs and to be more
competitive I need to train with this in mind - the fact that I went well in
the later stages means that probably mentally I was destroyed by the long
uphills. As for gearing, I went with 32x25 bottom and with a better attitude I
think my normal 24 on the back would have been fine. In fact, although I was a
bit dozy on Monday, I came in to work feeling quite good on Tuesday, which
suggests I had saved myself too much. Still it's probably nearly 20 years
since I did 150 miles in one day !!!
There were quite a few non-finishers, I would think 80% of the 1200 who
started, finished. There were obvious cases of cheating with guys hanging onto
the side of cars - I'd like to think they were just getting a tow to their team
car to pack but I have my doubts, many others shared my opinions on this manner
of competing.
I spoke with a guy from Clermont-Ferrand who reckons to ride 5/6 such
events each year, the same as myself, and he says it's good to go different
paces and just see. His all time favourite for atmosphere is the "Hinault", so
maybe we can get to that one next season (as well as the "Coppi" of course).
|
| 1819.31 | | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Tue Jul 23 1991 09:37 | 4 |
|
Thanks, Robin. Nice report! (And good going.)
-john
|
| 1819.32 | "La Monegasque" - never again??? | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Mon Aug 12 1991 11:00 | 75 |
| Une "Monegasque" is a lady who comes from Monaco, in the same way as une
Parisienne (from Paris) and une Arlesienne (from Arles). However on 10th
August La Monegasque referred to an �preuve starting and finishing in the
Principality with a route "through three countries - Monaco, Italy and France,
173 km long with a denivelisation of 3,500 metres. This was the first organised
by UC Monaco, so we thought we should go. We also thought we ought to be able
to manage it OK, after all the Bobet had 2560 as its highest point, and this one
had only the Turini at 1607 - what we overlooked was that the low points in the
Bobet were Valloire at 1420 and Guillestre at 1020; whereas of course Monaco is
at sea-level!!
The weather Friday was bad, thunderstorms most of the night and wet all morning
but it turned out OK in the afternoon. When we left Antibes at 5 am Saturday
we still had some lightning and impressive clouds but once we got on the veloes
and left at 7:10 it was pretty good bowling along in the sunshine. First col
(Castillon 706m) wasn't too not bad, we were sent over the top and not through
the tunnel which was a relief, and we dropped like stones into Sospel at 348m.
On to the Vescavo, the second col which was rough surfaced and a bit nasty,
especially on the descent to the Roya valley. It started to get hot here and
there was a lot of traffic using the Tende road between Ventimiglia and
Cuneo.
A faux-plat to Breuil where we stopped at our first "point d'eau" and onto the
the Brouis (879m) which was said to be OK, but with some sharp bits at the top.
By now the slopes were very exposed to the sun and very uncomfortable with the
last few km the hardest, as predicted, so we had a couple of stops before
gratefully starting the loop back to Sospel.
A quick nosh-up in Sospel and then we started the 25 km drag up the Turini,
- later I found that temps of 30-35 were recorded in the arriere-pays, which
explains a lot. I was OK to Molinet (� way and 800m) but from there to "5 to
go" were stifling - I recaught Rob who had left me behind and we stopped a few
times, at 5 to go I said �No more stopping, I'm getting over this�, and made it
to the summit (1607m and 100 km covered),only to be greeted by rain, so I caped
up for the descent. I lost Rob here surprisingly because he was going better
than me, but I subsequently found he had lost 15 mins in those last 5,
complaining of severe wobblies and the heat.
Disappointedly, the downhill was almost non-existant and the rough surface
didn't help to regain any lost time either, but it was a little cooler through
the trees and scrub to the Col de l'Able (1149m) which drops down to the road
from the Braus. It was again difficult to pick up speed on the very sharp
lacets to L'Escarene (357m) where we had some more food, and generally stood
around muttering �dur, dur�, which is what all the French cyclos say when they
meet each other going uphill.
Earlier, there were several cheerful souls saying that the pull up to Peille
(630m) from La Grave was the sting in the tail so I was dreading it.
Supposedly 6km at 10%, full sun and nasty again but I made it with just one
stop to pour water over myself. I was caught and dropped by a woman, but I saw
another guy in a Z jersey walking with 5 km of uphill still to cover, which
made me feel better. The view over the valley here is appalling, with a huge
quarry and stone-crushing plant dominating the whole area - rather typical of
the French disregard for their countryside.
Not a very good drop to La Turbie (609m), with crummy road surface, but once on
the Grande Corniche I caught up with a couple of others and we flew the last 15
into Monaco, with fabulous views over the Mediterranean (although I wouldn't
give tuppence for Monaco or Monte-Carlo - they are the pits). A confusing
route back to the Arriv� by the harbour, I did have to go down a one-way street
to save another tour of the Grand Prix circuit!! Finished about 4:50 pm, an
hour down on silver schedule and Rob made it about 20 mins later.
Damage: Robin 9h 42'35" (106th) 173 entries, supposedly 133 finishers
Rob 10h 05'17" (119th)
1st man 5h 57'12"
1st woman 7h 38'56" (31st)
Oldest man 8h 31'48" (70th - born 1922 !!)
Last man 10h 19'33" (128th) - don't understand this!!
�Never again� said Rob on finishing, later on he was feeling more like himself
and of course we shall be looking at it again next year. We have a
questionnaire to fill in and I think I shall suggest June or September because
of the heat and the traffic. August on the Cote d'Azur is not recommended.....
|
| 1819.33 | | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | You never listen to a word I say | Tue Aug 27 1991 18:26 | 15 |
| <<< Note 1819.32 by IDEFIX::HEMMINGS "Lanterne Rouge" >>>
-< "La Monegasque" - never again??? >-
> and generally stood
> around muttering �dur, dur�, which is what all the French cyclos say when
> they meet each other going uphill.
They do, they do. Sometimes they say "pur dur" instead, to amplify the
remark.
It's me and Rod W in the M. Blanc - Megeve this Saturday, so I'll put a
full race report (it's not a race!) in next week.
Rod
|
| 1819.34 | Trop dur | MARVIN::WARWICK | Trevor Warwick | Tue Aug 27 1991 19:04 | 7 |
|
> They do, they do. Sometimes they say "pur dur" instead, to amplify the
Oh, so that's it. When my wife and I were in France a few months ago,
we wondered what the guys bombing past us up the hills were saying...
Trevor
|
| 1819.35 | Transalpine equivalent | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Wed Aug 28 1991 03:36 | 1 |
| During the "Fausto Coppi", it was "e dura"..................
|
| 1819.36 | I'm Back... | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Two pork pies and a Strawberry Yoghurt | Mon Sep 02 1991 07:30 | 8 |
| The words which sprang to my mind were
"putang ces bosses" (with provenecal accent) especially on the Domancy,
but most people were just grunting and sweating and wondering how
Hinault m,anaged to attack the 20th time up...
A fuller report will follow
rod
|
| 1819.37 | And here is that fuller reply.... | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" | Mon Sep 02 1991 09:18 | 114 |
| Event: La Meg�ve mont-Blanc, Saturday 31 August
Course: Megeve - ND Bellecombe - Col de Saisies 1615m - Crest-Voland
- La Giettaz - Col des Aravis 1498m - Col de la Croix Fry
1477m - Manigod - St Jean de Sixt - Chinaillon - Col de la
Colombiere 1618m - Col de Romme sur Cluses 1330m - Cote de
Domancy - Combloux - Megeve.
155.5 km, 3586m d�nivellation (I measured 153 km, 3800m)
Attendees: Rod MacF and Rod W
Having talked Rod Widdowson into doing this event as the
finale to his Alpine touring holiday, I had to organise his
participation. Both my previous events have been logistical nightmares,
and this one ran true to form. Rod W would arrive in Geneva too late
for us to get to Megeve in time to collect our dossards, so when I
collected Rod on Friday evening in Meyrin (a suburb of Geneva), I had
already been to Megeve to collect them and pay for the hotel, a
three-hour round trip. We ate in Ferney and then drove back to Megeve,
arriving just before midnight.
Rod W turns out to be thin, with a cyclist's tan. He wears Oakleys and
owns a Giro helmet (I guessed that correctly, we're so image-conscious).
He has just cycled up all the biggest cols in France, carrying luggage,
on a Kettler aluminium bike which is bendy but light. Unlike yours truly,
he is truly fit. For some reason he was making noises about being slow
round the course, but I took all this with a pinch of salt.
At 7am on Saturday we morning we assembled with about 4-500 other
cyclists outside the Palais des Sports in Megeve, with the PA saying
something about this place being the d�part fictif and some other
unspecified place being the d�part r�el: well, when they let us go at
7:30, there wasn't anything fictional about the speed of the peloton
down the hill towards the Col de Saisies. It was cold at that time of
day, so it was good to reach the col and warm up. Rod W muttered
something about me starting too fast, but I don't know why because a
minute later he dropped me. You have to set your own pace on hills, and
his was faster than mine. One of these days I'll meet a cycle-noter
who's slower than me, but I won't hold my breath.
Just after the top of the Col de Saisies, I passed Rod W at the side of
the road, mending a puncture, I later discovered, but I was so pleased
to have caught him I didn't stop. You've got to attack when you have
the chance, after all! There followed a long descent on crappy surfaces
(we'd been warned about this), then the long climb back up the Aravis.
In the village of La Giettaz, a bus and some cars were stopped in front
of a bridge over the narrow road; squeezing past the bus I had a look
to see what the trouble was. Sad to say, the bridge was slightly, but
significantly, lower than the bus... I don't remember much about the
climb of the Aravis except that I felt OK, and there were some very
pretty views of cyclists lit by the first rays of the morning sun. At
the top I had my first stop, loading up with bananas and water. The
catering on this event was good, with a nice variety of things to eat
and drink.
The Aravis was followed by a short descent and another climb, the Col
de Croix Fry, then a long descent before the start of the Colombi�re.
Some of these descents were wonderful experiences of speed, with
virtually zero non-bike traffic and good surfaces, and only the
presence of other cyclists, plus the fear of killing yourself, to hold
you back. On the climb up to St Jean de Sixt, a busy road, I had a flat
period when it felt a bit of a grind, but I paused in St Jean for five
minutes to eat and drink in comfort and felt all the better for it. The
climb of the Colombi�re in bright sunshine was spectacular, heading up
towards a huge wall of striated rock, then bending round to the right
to pass underneath it. The last 500m pitch to the top was steep, but
there was food at the top.
Not having bothered to carry a course profile, I was surprised by the
next col, the Romme sur Cluses, which was very steep. But I dug in,
with an old guy on my wheel, and we climbed in silence and made it
alright. A fast descent, during which in a fit of over-enthusiastic
braking I initiated a rear-wheel slide on a tight hairpin, which I
had to stray into the opposite lane to correct, then we were on the
valley floor and facing a 20km drag up the valley before the last
climb. Just for once the wind cooperated and there was a strong breeze
at our backs. I was quickly into a group of three, the old guy (took
fewer pulls than me) and a young guy (took more), and we zipped along
at 35-45kph.
Right up to the start of the last hill I'd been feeling good, and had
become very confident of my first silver award, for which I needed to
break 7:35. In fact I'd begun to think of breaking 7 hours. I hadn't
seen Rod W, either, and was entertaining hopes of beating him.
The lower half of the final climb up to Megeve, starting at Sallanches,
was the Cote de Domancy. The historically-minded will note that it was
here that Bernard Hinault won the 1981 World
Champs. Well, I'd like to add a historical footnote, something like
"Cote de Domancy, 31/8/1991: Rod MacFadyen absolutely gutted". I
couldn't believe how steep it was. After not having been under 10kph
anywhere all day, I hit a low of 5.5kph. I had no strength, and felt
furious about it. By the time it levelled out, when it joined the main
road back to Megeve, I was drained and had to sit down for a minute.
The road flattened out, ever so slowly, then at last I was in town and
turning right for the Palais des Sports. I had to sprint for the line
because some cheapskate opportunist did his best to catch me over the
last 500m. I completed in 7:13 and got my silver.
And there at the finish line, stuffing a banana into his grinning
features, was Rod W, pleased with himself for nipping round in 6:26.
Well, he'd done enough training. Neither of us knew where he'd passed
me; I suspect it was when I was getting food at the top of the Aravis.
I was shattered for an hour after the finish, then perked up, and
bought a pair of bib shorts from one of the stalls for the
advantageous price of 200fr.
All in all, a very good day, even if the Cote de Domancy was a bit
humbling. Good organisation, good company, good weather. A recommended
event, but read your history books first.
Rod
|
| 1819.38 | He's going to murder me on the bike now. | KIRKTN::GGOODMAN | Number 1 in a field of 1 | Mon Sep 02 1991 15:32 | 20 |
|
>> Rod W turns out to be thin, with a cyclist's tan.
What? It's amazing what a few weeks in the Alps can do to someone's
physique! :*)
>> One of these days I'll meet a cycle-noter
>> who's slower than me, but I won't hold my breath.
I'm you're man...
>> And there at the finish line, stuffing a banana into his grinning
>> features, was Rod W
What is this fetish you've got with bananas Mr W?
Graham.
|
| 1819.39 | If only.... | UKCSSE::ROBINSON | Just an endorphine junkie.... | Tue Sep 03 1991 04:46 | 7 |
| Thanks for the write-ups gentlemen, I really enjoy reading about your
suffering. These cyclo-sportif events really sound fun; the only sort
of competitive cycling I'd consider doing now. I only wish we had them
in England. Perhaps next year, if we take our planned trip to
France....
Chris
|
| 1819.40 | | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Two pork pies and a Strawberry Yoghurt | Tue Sep 03 1991 06:10 | 80 |
| I typed this in yesterday and then our link went down.....
======================================================================
Rod has given a great report of the event, I'll just add some thoughts
from my side.
In my defence I will point out that I had just come from 700 miles (yes
I know that that's just a weekend for John Ellis but I was happy with
it) in the Alps with about 14kg (30 pounds?) of luggage (of which more
elsewhere). In addition I had taken 3 days off the bike so I was as
fit as I'll ever get. The only shadow was that the weekend previously
I had gone round the course of the 3 cols (Cayolle, Champs and Allos)
which is shorter (120 km), less climbing (3,200m) and less cols (3 vs 5)
in 7 hours. The fact that I am 6 months younger than Rod meant I had to
do this is less than 7 hours to get the silver and I didn't see how to do
it.
I had never done one of these events before so there was a lot of new
stuff. My feeling was that they are very relaxed compared to racing,
for instance when the road flattens people ease up, when my natural
inclination is to change up once or twice and pile on the pain.
Despite what he said Rod started up the Saisies like a rocket, putting me
into the pain level, but on the first flatter bit I kinda pulled away and
that was it. It soon became apparent that I was on a good day as I climbed
up Saisies following one wheel for 10 metres, catching my breath and then
jumping to the next. We had started off towards the back of the pack and I
passed a lot of people on the first climb. As Rod said I punctured on the
first drop (in the very last pothole of the descent). Shortly after he
came flying past - "I'll see you later" he shouted. So I dug pretty deep
on Ararvis and the Croix de Fry - still no Rod. And it was depressing
overtaking people you had already been passed who had overtaken when I
punctured, when I stopped at the feedstations, or on descending (as Rod
says I had my touring bike which was a little bit nervousmaking in its
attitude towards flexing on fast descents or hard braking).
Robin had warned me about starting too hard and the last few 100 metres
of the Croix Fry had frightened me, so I resolved to take Colombiere
easily and dig deep on Romme and Domancy (if I had anything left). So on
the climb up the valley I pushed a bit to catch another rider (who turned
out to be a Brit) and we climbed Colombier together. I sprinted to the
top, the breifest possible water stop and down the other side (a lovely
long sweeping descent). Another 7 people behind me on Romme - 3 of which
came past on the descent (still not Rod) and then, thankfully a tailwind
along the valley, I was bit and bitting with a mountain bike at speeds
between 40 and 45 kph, we eased of at the feed station and were caught
by a `train' of 7 or so other riders coming up. So we stuck with them
until the base of the Domancy when, I couldn't help it, I went of the front
- me, who gets dropped on hills by 5th cats!. As Rod said the Domancy was
a pig a real killer and a pretty evil thing to put at 143 km into the ride.
I had to go down to a touting gear (30x21) to get up. Evil, very very evil.
Back on the main road I got back onto the 42 and even managed to get up
onto a 17 for the end of the climb.
I ended feeling pretty fresh (thanks to the practice in the hills
previously) with the feeling that I'd have made another 4 places given
300 m more of climbing. Obviously I hadn't sufferered enough early on....
My feelings - a great event, good fun (in hindsight).
Would I do it again ? Probably, but I'd want to take the 10 previous
days to get some real training in (pottering around Fife and the Borders just wouldn't have been
enough).
What would I do differently ? Eat less sugary food and more real
Carbohydrate at the feed stations. I felt very sick at the end of the ride.
I'd probably check out the route as well. And I almost certainly wouldn't
do anything with more than 4,000m of climbing - I did the Marmotte route
minus the climb up to the Alpe and it slayed me, anyone who does that
deserves a medal and then to be locked up.
Other points of interest - The first person came past the line in 4 hr
55 at an average of over 32 kph (20 mph) about an 1� hours in front of me
or when I was still laboring up the penultimate hill.
Rod
Oh yes, and when I got to Geneva Rod's car wouldn't start so he made
me push it - fortunately it fired up before my heart exploded.....
|
| 1819.41 | Program? | PLAYER::GWYNNE | | Tue Sep 03 1991 07:58 | 5 |
| Where can I get a programme of these events? I'm living in Brussels and
wouldn't mind travelling down for one.
thanks Phil.
|
| 1819.42 | | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" | Tue Sep 03 1991 08:42 | 13 |
| Events described in this note have mostly (but not all) been either Sports
Organisation Trophee d'Or events, or UFOLEP Time Trophee events. These are
all done for the year, but I'm sure you could write to them now and get dates
and entry forms for next year. There are other local events which one has to
keep an eye out for, read the cycling press, that kind of thing. Also, there
are definitely cyclo-sportif events organised in Belgium, I saw an article
recently about a long and hilly one through the Ardennes which had a large
number of participants.
I don't have addresses for either SO or UFOLEP handy right now. Robin?
Rod
|
| 1819.43 | Bien sur, M Rod | BONNET::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue Sep 03 1991 09:17 | 24 |
| Sports Organisation:
BP 4
38330 BIVIERS, France
UFOLEP
3 Rue Recamier
75007 PARIS
There is an article in this month's Velo 2000, talking about the great
increase in cyclo-sportif events and participants, to the detriment of
real racing. Be also aware that there is a war between the various
French sporting factions at the present, rather like the old RTTC/BLRC
days back in the UK. Only once have I heard about people from one
organisation being barred from an event run by another, and then the
announcement was treated to such jeers of derision that I was unable to
take it seriously!!
As to the Megeve - Mt Blanc event, I think it most unfair for young Rod
to take the mickey out of old Rod and not treat him with the respect he
deserves.... I also wonder if Bernard H took the final lap up this
'ill on 30x21...... and REAL banana fanciers have them taped to the
top tube - just ask M. Wilson..... Yeah, fully agree, more stodge and
less of this fancy stuff, if you eat sensibly and do enough miles you can
handle anything without resorting to Gofasterade.......
|
| 1819.44 | Roll on '92...... | BONNET::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Tue Sep 03 1991 10:00 | 55 |
| Next year, I'd like to do the following:
Le Bouquet 1st week in May
----------
Other side of the Rhone to Avignon, mainly narrow roads, a bit quick with
one dirty great hill at half-way. First year it was very hot, second a
lot colder - about 130 km. May go biennial due to administrative
difficulties.
L'Epervier 3rd week in May
----------
Down in the Var, near yer actual St Trop. Big entry, tough start,
generally poor surfaced roads, wonderful scenery. First year hot, second
cold - about 200 km. A traumatic experience if it's your first!!
Bernard Hinault 1st week in June
---------------
In Badger country - Brittany. Never ridden it, but in '91 there were
4500 starters and it's reckoned to have the best atmosphere. Supposedly
hard with lots of short, sharp cotes.
Rene Vietto 3rd week in June
-----------
A loop round Mt Ventoux, a very friendly event in excellent countryside.
Roads vary from very narrow to quite large. Very hot in '91, but plenty
of water available and well organised - about 165 km.
Tom Simpson 3rd week in July
-----------
Even though I think he was a fool to have died the way he did, I have to
admire him and I would like to ride this one in his memory. It's twice
up the Mt Ventoux, starting from Carpentras. I've done the Ventoux a
couple of times and it is really something else......
Fausto Coppi ??? - depends on my fitness...
Monegasque ?? - depends on the date, this year it was too hot and there
was too much traffic.
What would I do different?
I think I would standardise on 3 rings and 7 sprockets
(32/40/50 x 14-18,20,24)
I wouldn't bother with 2 bottles, there's plenty of places to stop,
and I'm no longer in the bracket where stopping makes a difference to my
performance.
For tyres - a 22 mm Hilite on the front and a 20 mm same on the back
seems OK, I am wary of the bald ones but may try them.
Helmet - I hate it, but I find the first hour (say) a bit hairy
and then it's OK, I really would like a team-car to take it off me. In
the Coppi and the Monegasque, I rode up most of the cols with it hanging
on the bars.
I'd get in more hard miles - until you ride a 30 km col, you
really don't know how you will react, like Rod says you need balancing
practise at times when you are only doing 5 kph!!
I'd work on more of my mates to enter so I could have a few more
friendly wheels to follow............
|
| 1819.45 | | LJOHUB::CRITZ | | Tue Sep 03 1991 10:25 | 9 |
| RE: 1819.37
Rod,
No, don't listen to Graham. I'm your man. I can't climb
anything. I even had to walk up the hill at Mont Vernon,
NH, yesterday.
Scott
|
| 1819.46 | | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | """"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""" | Tue Sep 03 1991 11:16 | 6 |
| Terrific. Not only am I "old Rod", now I am searching for anyone I can
beat up a hill. Excuse me while I go off and kill myself. If I can find
my zimmer frame.
Doddery
|
| 1819.47 | I want an easy one | PAKORA::GGOODMAN | Number 1 in a field of 1 | Tue Sep 03 1991 17:10 | 6 |
|
How hard is the 'Vietto', Rob? It's the one that most of my club
(well, both of us) are interested in.
Graham.
|
| 1819.48 | See you there.............. | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Wed Sep 04 1991 04:53 | 30 |
| I think reply .22 says most of what I thought. It was certainly
the most relaxed event of 1991 for me; I enjoyed it a lot and would
recommend it as a good "starter". The large entries in the SO events
can be a bit un-nerving - I had never ridden in a 2000-up bunch before!!
As for the difficulty; it's hard to say because it was held in
June when I had done over 4000 km, the recommendation is for 10 times
the distance and 10 times the deniv before the event. Now 1650 km by
June is not so bad, but a total of 24000 metres of climbing may be more
difficult if you come from "flatter" countries (and do you know many
hills of 15-20km in length?). The first 40 or so are on small, twisty,
up-and-down roads which I personally find a bit uncomfortabel and there
is a lot of loose gravel; there is one big hill around lunchtime, and a
nasty sting in the tail late in the afternoon, but we took it all fairly
easily and managed Silvers quite comfortably. I had 32/40/50 by
14-18,20,24 and used them all........
I think the main problem could be the heat, especially coming
from Scotland - on the day, it turned out somewhat hazy in the afternoon
but in the morning temperatures were well into the 30's. Plenty of
water stops, no need for double bottles, but factor 6 suncream is
recommended!!
I had thought of giving it a miss in '92 and going to the
Simpson instead, but it was a good day out and the chance of a few more
Deccies could not be missed. If you do decide, then I'll do the
bookings for you and also the entries - you need a copy of a license or
a quack certificate saying you are fit to cycle. Give it a go!!!
|
| 1819.49 | Too late to back out now... | PAKORA::GGOODMAN | Number 1 in a field of 1 | Wed Sep 04 1991 20:42 | 24 |
|
>> can be a bit un-nerving - I had never ridden in a 2000-up bunch before!!
Does it make that big a difference? I had only ever rode 50-60 bunches
here, before doing a race in France (Pontoise) with a 147 man bunch. It
didn't feel that different. I feel that the only riders that are of any
concern are the ones immediately around you. It doesn't matter how many other
riders there are outside them. But then again, there's a big difference
between 147 and 2000.
>> I think the main problem could be the heat, especially coming
>> from Scotland - on the day, it turned out somewhat hazy in the afternoon
>> but in the morning temperatures were well into the 30's. Plenty of
>> water stops, no need for double bottles, but factor 6 suncream is
>> recommended!!
What? You mean I won't need my nylon fronted jacket and fur lined
overshoes? Still, we can tempratures in the 30's here. OK, so it's 30F...
Thanks,
Graham.
|
| 1819.50 | | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Two pork pies and a Strawberry Yoghurt | Thu Sep 05 1991 05:04 | 28 |
| >>> can be a bit un-nerving - I had never ridden in a 2000-up bunch before!!
>
> Does it make that big a difference? I had only ever rode 50-60 bunches
> here, before doing a race in France (Pontoise) with a 147 man bunch. It
I cannot comment too much since I ain't raced much. I found the
Megeve-Mount blanc was soooooo relaxed at the start compared with
a race even with a small peleton (that's 40-50 in France...). Mind you
Rod and I had strategically placed ourselves at the rear of the group
(read, were almost late for the start...).
Having a big group of people only seems to mean that you always have
someone ahead. Apparantly a peleton forms at the head of the race but
apart from that there was very little bunching that I saw. Furthermore
most of the people around us were not at all used to riding in groups
and so it was a bit hairy until the first climb..
_Racing_ in big bunches I found to be good since I could drop back during
the climbs and still be in the bunch at the top. Of course I could only
survive 3 laps in this mode but that is better than my normal. (My
personal record was lasting 2km in the bunch during a 110km race...)
Young rod
Graham - If you are going to an event next year, let us know there is
at least a couple of people here who might be interested (listening
Alan ?)
|
| 1819.51 | Le Bouquet wasn't relaxed | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Thu Sep 05 1991 06:24 | 16 |
| I have ridden Le Bouquet twice, first time with Rob and Bill, second time just
with Rob - I would be interested in what they say.... Both times, the pack
took off up the road at about 40 kph, used all the width of the road for the
first 20k. My compteur didn't go below 35 kph for 40k...... In addition, there
were a few posers with their tri-bars who shot off the road into gateways when
they missed the corners. However, the worst thing is what I call the "French
lack of Spacial Awareness" - this manifests itself wherever they are, they stop
in the middle of roundabouts when they are lost, they crash into you with super-
market trolleys, and generally speaking have no concept of where they are
relative to anything else. In cyclo events, they always manage to drop their
bottles in the road, usually during the first hairy 10 km when everyone is keen
and fresh and trying to get to the front - then they stop dead, turn in the road
stop ACROSS the road to pick up the offending bottle and seem totally amazed
when they are treated to a few words of the Prophet.......
This is why I go against all my principals and wear a helmet early on anyway...
|
| 1819.52 | and the pumps... | HERON::ROWLANDS | Rob Rowlands, TPSG VBO 828-5480 | Thu Sep 05 1991 07:18 | 21 |
| Agreed, the bunching during the first kilometers is where the
crowd effect counts. After x kilometers (where x is somewhere between
5 and 15, depending on the number of participants) then everything
splits into small groups and there's much more road space available.
But those first kilometers can be hair-raising (if the helmet wasn't
there...) with everthing that Robin describes being possible, not
forgetting the pumps that fall off too!
Also depending upon where you are in the line-up, you're either
going to be attempting to overtake everybody (if you'vre turned
up late and are at the back) or you're upfront and people are
weaving around you. When the whole road-width is taken up by
cyclists then there's little space to be ceded for those going through.
Finally I still haven't worked out, and I'm sure 50% of the bunch
are in the same situation, that when someone coming from behind
shouts "� gauche!" whether that means that he's coming up on my left
or whether I should move to my left...
Never again...
... until the next one.
|
| 1819.53 | mass starts in Paris | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Mon Sep 09 1991 09:25 | 15 |
|
PBP's 2000-cyclist 10pm start (out of 3100 total) was a problem
only the first dozen miles. It was like molasses composed of
differing and not altogether compatible ingredients. Thereafter,
it was only a problem for the next 50 miles trying to pass with
both lanes taken up with similarly "leisurely" cyclists. I don't
like the big mass starts. To do it over again, I'd go for either
of the other, smaller start times.
The first daybreak, a young French quasi-racer type and I were
pacing each other. You have never heard a drill sergeant bark
more menacingly as he shouted, simply, "DROITE!!" to get people
up ahead out of our way. :-)
-john
|
| 1819.54 | | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Two pork pies and a Strawberry Yoghurt | Mon Sep 09 1991 10:13 | 20 |
| >pacing each other. You have never heard a drill sergeant bark
>more menacingly as he shouted, simply, "DROITE!!" to get people
>up ahead out of our way. :-)
I know the feeling... The elder Cat 4/5 riders (what other countried
would put into vet) are pretty good at this - often they will follow up
with a hand on the backside to make sure you do....
However Johns posting brings up a question of english vocab. When you
are second in the pace line and the guy in front is weakening and you
feel good, in french you shout `ecarte' to get him to move out of the
way - what does one say in English.
It has to be said that the only time I have been in a chain gang in the UK
I have been highly unwilling (incapable) to take the lead and so I never
ever shout anything. Fiven this position in France the plaintive cry
`n'accelere pas' when some loony blast to the front and put the foot down
is useful..
Rod
|
| 1819.55 | | AD::CRANE | I'd rather be on my bicycle | Tue Sep 10 1991 10:04 | 9 |
|
> to get a rider ahead of you who is weakening to move you shout
> "escarte" What do you yell in english?
I've always used "Move it" and it works pretty well.
John C.
|
| 1819.56 | I value my job | MASALA::GGOODMAN | Number 1 in a field of 1 | Wed Sep 11 1991 04:14 | 8 |
|
Re.54.55
What they say in Scottish Road Races isn't printable in hear. You
get the general idea...
Graham.
|
| 1819.57 | | DANGER::JBELL | Zeno was almost here | Wed Sep 11 1991 10:24 | 3 |
| > What they say in Scottish Road Races isn't printable in hear...
Then use phonetic spellings. It would be hearable in print.
|
| 1819.58 | Back to earth..... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Mon Nov 18 1991 08:59 | 18 |
| I was congratulating myself of my sporting achievements for 1991, then Rob gave
me "Le Cycle" for November '91.....
�I am 78 years old,born 4th Feb 1913. I do 12.000 km/year, having taken up
biking again in 1984 after 40 years absence. Here are my principal
achievements for 1990 -
Jaques Anquetil: Bronze 25 kph avg
Bernard Hinault: Silver 23,60 kph 10hr 34'35"(2406th out of 3470)
Le National: Silver 23,60 kph
Pierre Jodet: Silver 27,65 kph
Pascal Jules: Silver 26,37 kph
Jeanne d'Arc: (190 km) Silver 28,00 kph
Vall�e du Loir: (206 km)Silver 26,37 kph�
and another note:
�.....I would like you to mention in your report on the Bernard Hinault, a
cyclo of 71� years with the number 2199. This cyclo covered 19 km without a
saddle and still got a gold award.....�
|
| 1819.59 | Epervier article in "Bicycle Action" (UK) | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | look, stop and listen | Sun Dec 08 1991 09:16 | 11 |
| The UK magazine "Bicycle Action" in its winter issue (on sale now) carries
an article I wrote about the Epervier, if any UK noter would like to know
more about it. Though if they've read this note they probably won't.
As a by-the-by, this is the last ish of "Bicycle Action" in its present
form. It's editor is abandoning cycling for running - bad move in my opinion
- and the magazine will re-emerge as something called "Bicycle Racing" if
my informant is correct.
Rod
|
| 1819.60 | 1992 dates as I have them so far.... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Fri Jan 10 1992 08:15 | 69 |
| French Cyclo-sportif events 1992
================================
-------------------------------------------------------
Date Event Series Dist/Den Where
-------------------------------------------------------
12/04 La Jeanne d'Arc Time 45(Orleans)
(Ph Garnier 2 rue E Leroy 45400 FLEURY LES
AUBRAIS 38.61.42.57)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/05 Le Bouquet UFO 130 30(Tavel)
(G Hote, Ch de la Vaussi�re 30126 TAVEL
66.50.04.97)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
09/05 La Danguillaume UFO ? 37(Azay s/Cher)
(D Rondeau,�La Micheli�re� 37270 AZAY s/CHER
47.50.40.70)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
16/05 La Jaques Anquetil S.O. ? Chartreuse
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
17/05 La Cyrano UFO ? 24(Bergerac)
(JP Devese,26 Rue C Julian 24100 BERGERAC)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
23/05 L'Epervier S.O. 204 83(St Tropez)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
28/05 La Stablinski Dia 180 Belg
30.38.55.31
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
30/05 La Lucien Van Impe Dia 175 Belg
(19.32.69.22.52.51)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
06/06 La Pierre Jodet Time 36(Buzancais)
(1 rue Notre Dame 36500 BUZANCAIS 54.84.12.68)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
07/06 La Bernard Hinault S.O. 227/2400 Brittany
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20/06 Les Portes du Soleil S.O. ? Savoie
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
27/06 Le National S.O. 185/2500 Champagne(Vertus)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
04/07 La Marmotte S.O. ? Haute-Alpes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
12/07 Les Copains Time 175 73(Ambert)
(M Lafond Lot des Granges 63600 AMBERT
73.82.12.23)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25/07 La Tom Simpson Time 170 90(Carpentras)
(Mairie 84200 CARPENTRAS 90.67.30.16)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
25/07 L'Isard Bahamontes S.O. 203/4500 Pyrenees
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
02/08 La Louison Bobet S.O. ? Haute-Alpes
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
08/08 La Lapebie UFO 190 31(Pyrenees)
(Robert Pujol 31440 ST BEAT)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29/08 Megeve-Mt Blanc Time 155/3586 74(Savoie)
(Club des Sports rue de La Poste 74120 MEGEVE)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
05/09 La Jaques Bossis UFO ? 17(Mornac s/Seudre)
(JM Guillorit rue Basses Amarres 17113)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
20/09 La Stephen Roche Time ? 78(Houilles)
(CCO,40 rue de Verdun 78800 HOUILLES)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
S.O. Sports Organisation Tel 76.52.04.04
Dia Challenge Diamant
UFO French Cycling Organisation UFOLEP
Time Troph�e Time
|
| 1819.61 | 20th June 1992 L'Ardechois | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Thu Mar 12 1992 08:30 | 11 |
| Just received more details in the post...
20/06 L'Ardechois 199km/4135m
La Volcanique 154km/3060m
Les Boutieres 103km/2140m
Le Doux 60km/1406m
The first 3 are all available as cyclosportifs, and all 4 are available as cyclo-
touriste category. All take place on the same day and use partly the same course
in the Ardeche area just to the west of Valence. Godfathered by Bernard Vallet
who won the spot jersey in a recent TdF, information from:
L'Ardechois 07410 ST FELICIEN
|
| 1819.62 | Fausto Coppi route - more info ? | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Its (IO$_ACCESS|IO$M_ACCESS) VMS | Tue Apr 28 1992 18:10 | 24 |
| > <<< Note 1819.30 by IDEFIX::HEMMINGS "Lanterne Rouge" >>>
> -< "La Fausto Coppi" - 21/07/91 >-
I've just re-read this again, sounds horrible, and makes me wonder what
I've let myself into for the Raid this summer...
Anyway, I've been looking at the maps again and I was wondering about
doing this route this summer, so some questions:
- There seems to be a lot (~ 80km) of flattish Italy involved. What is the
scenery there like ?
- We have two options for starting place - Guillestre or Barcelonette and
two directions. My feeling is that Clockwise from Guillestre is the best:
o The climb up to Agnell was (is?) a bad surface but the descent is OK.
o we do the worst hill first and the easiest last
o The descent from Vars is a _great_ way to finish a day.
What does anybody else think ?
- This is a really tough days ride, How would anybody rate it against
longish Alpine days - I'm thinking of Glandon+Croix-Fer,
Croix-Fer+Galibier, Madelaine+Glandon or Cayolle+Allos+Champs, all of
which I managed (one way or another) last year ?
So what does the panel think ? Any suggestions (like `don't do it') or
hints ?
|
| 1819.63 | Harder than the Bobet..... | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Wed Apr 29 1992 03:32 | 25 |
| Staring at Guillestre and going clockwise -
- Rough road and faux-plat along the valley, probably OK first thing.
- Col d'Agnel from France not as steep as the other side, which is 10% for
the last 10km, road poor to say the least.
- tremendous downhill along a very pleasant and quiet valley, from the summit,
surface generally quite good, not many food-stops along here, and a few campsites
I would say only the last 20 to Cuneo are boring and then the next 15 until you
turn right up the Larche. There will be quite a lot of traffic on this main
road stretch.
- the Larche from this side is not steep but do not underestimate it because of
the sheer length, and it does go from the Cuneo plain to nearly 2000m! The road
is picturesque, good and bad, there are cobbled stretches in some of the villages
which are nasty in the wet. Could also be very hot and against the prevailing
wind.
- Larche to the Ubaye valley is easy but the Vars from the south is very steep,
especially the last 4 km.
- home down the Vars, probably the best part of the day.........
Not an easy day and not an easy choice!
|
| 1819.64 | Les Portes de la Pluie | JURA::PELAZ::MACFADYEN | Only scratching the surface | Mon Jun 22 1992 16:09 | 125 |
| In reply .20 to this note I detail last year's sunny but slow experience.
This year's edition was a more desperate affair altogether...
The plan was to cycle up to Morzine on Friday, do Les Portes du Soleil, and
return on Sunday.
I took Friday off. The ride up, via Taninges and Les Gets, was
unremarkable, 65km and 900m climb. Ominously, rain was setting in by the
time I got to Morzine and I felt pretty cold. I signed up for the event,
found my hotel, and went out for a meal. (Going for a controversial
preparation here, involving no pre-race parties or late nights.)
Saturday morning found me at the start line with many hundreds of others.
The helicopter roared overhead, it was time to go, it was 07.34. The
weather was cool and cloudy but not actually wet. I was wearing tights,
cycle top with long-sleeved undervest, goretex top, track mitts, helmet. I
took it pretty easy up the first climb of the Joux Verte (1760m) and felt
good at the top. By my desk there's a picture I took at the same spot last
year. It's happy and colourful. But this time, cold rain set in.
The descent was horrible and I was quickly soaked and frozen. By the bottom
I had lost all sensation in my feet and in fact, sensation-wise, they
played no further part in the day's proceedings. I felt very downhearted. I
didn't see how I could possibly continue all day in these conditions, and I
came within a hair's breadth of abandoning right there. But I decided to
delay the decision to the top of the Corbier. I've never been so glad to
start a col! At the top of the Corbier the rain was, if anything, worse. I
started the descent, then stopped. Should I continue? The way ahead looked
grim. Sod it. I let the brakes off.
From the bottom of the Corbier, 850m, to the Pas de Morgins 22km away and
1370m, was the closest to flat cycling the whole day. Along the way I
looked for a shop to buy socks because I was worried about my feet. The
best I could eventually do was get a couple of plastic bags to prevent my
feet getting any wetter, itself a ludicrous concept. I longed for my
neoprene boots and gloves sitting uselessly at home.
At the Pas de Morgins we crossed into Switzerland and started the loop
section of the course, first up the valley, over a 1210m col, then down to
Monthey, 450m, before going back up to the Pas de Morgins and retracing our
steps. Some of the Swiss villages support the event well. I was given a
chicken leg of all things. This was timely because my supply of pain au
raisin and bananas was running out. During this loop the rain briefly let
up. The clouds drew back just enough to reveal new snow in the hills.
At Monthey I had a brief conversation with a Belgian guy, doing the event
for the first time. After a while I dropped him, then he passed me,
shouting "C'mon boy!". The climb from Troistorrents, 720m, to Morgins (and
food) at 1310m, is an awful drag. It's not unreasonably steep, but it's
unrelenting and unfriendly. I managed to lock on to the wheel of a guy who
was climbing steadily and just stayed with him for however long the climb
took - shades of Robert Millar towing Ronan Pensec through the Alps here. I
think this was a critical section for me, and this guy really helped. At
Morgins I ate and ate and ate. I was bloody cold. People were sitting about
wrapped in blankets.
I felt pretty good when I started again and began to calculate the
possibilities. With 65km to go I had about 3:30 in hand in order to
complete the course in the 9:40 or less required for a silver. I'm fond of
gradual descents and really flew back to the Corbier, passing many people.
On the second ascent of the Corbier I was still going well, climbing the
400m in 28 minutes and passing more people. Silver was looking attainable.
After the descent of the Corbier, there was something of a regroupment as
we headed back towards the final climb of the day, the second ghastly
ascent of the Joux Verte. Here I regained my Belgian friend. "Piano!", he
said, "Souplesse!".
My book of Northern cols shows that the Joux Verte on this side is never
worse than about 9% per km. Subjectively it's far worse, perhaps because
the only two times I've climbed it I've been in a far-gone state. I ground
my way up through the awful section below Les Lindarets and had my last
sight of the Belgian here, getting off his bike and starting to walk on the
next lacet down. Above Les Lindarets I speeded up and passed more people.
By this time I was half-mad with cold and exertion, and pinning all my
hopes on a silver.
The final descent into Morzine was nightmarish. I had about 25-30 minutes
in hand and 800m to descend. The instant I turned down the hill, the 50kmh
wind and stinging icy rain drained all residual heat from me. By half-way
down I felt faint and I was losing the ability to control my hands. My
forearms were stiffening up and my fingers were ignoring me. I could hardly
see for the rain in my glasses, except to see that my speed was dropping to
20kmh on bends - I didn't dare go any faster. The only thing that could
make all this worthwhile, it seemed, was that damn silver, and it was
slipping through my numb grasp. I was almost crying in frustration.
In the end I came in at 17:07 for a time of 9:33, collecting that stupid
silver after all. I didn't pause at the finish line but went straight back
to the hotel, and bed, and didn't stop shivering for about two hours. Two
days later, one fingertip still feels tingly. The Avocet 50 worked
faultlessly all day and recorded 185km of distance and 4724m of climb (about
250m more than last year for some strange reason). Going out for a meal later
in the evening, a temperature display showed 7�C.
Sunday was superbly sunny and clear, giving everyone an opportunity to
admire the new snow - down to 1800m by my estimation. I checked the
official results. Of the more than 1000 dossards issued, 443 people
completed Les Portes du Soleil, of whom I was 270th, and 93 completed the
Portillon (which is what you get if you avoid the second climb of the Joux
Verte). The winner went round in 6:53. I would love to know how many had
abandoned. (I did see a note someone had left in the hotel. From one cyclo
to another, it said. "I abandoned at Morgins. I've gone back to Paris.
Bravo!")
On the technical side, it seems to me Shimano/Suntour/Campag are all missing
a trick by not making a reasonably-priced racing triple chainset. About
half the competitors were running triples, and very many of these were
obvious conversions of doubles. I believe I'm right in saying that Shimano
don't make a Dura-Ace triple! Notable bikes: apart from all the glossy
Euro-hardware, I saw a couple of Kleins and a Trek 5500. I had the tiny
pleasure of dropping the latter's owner on the final climb. But mainly I
was just glad to suffer no punctures. I don't know if I could have withstood
the misery of roadside repairs under those conditions.
From my point of view, despite or because of the desperation of the day, I
produced my best performance since coming to France. I took 1:12 off my
time of last year and I always felt strong. I felt OK yesterday (Sunday)
too, and in fact came home via Praz de Lys and the Col de la Ramaz, which
at 1600m isn't trivial, to notch up another 78km and 1060m climb. For the
three days in total I clocked 328km and 6.5km climb.
Roddy
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| 1819.65 | :-) | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Mon Jun 22 1992 18:01 | 12 |
|
Bravo, Roddy! Excellent write-up and performance!
Your endorsement of "racing triples" will doubtless please Robin
and Bat. :-)
Ironic to think that an event like that in California right now
(speaking of Bat) would eliminate people through heat-stroke
rather than the opposite.
cheers,
-john
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| 1819.66 | good course, good story | MVSX00::MVSX02::GISLER | climbing brings you closer to heaven | Tue Jun 23 1992 03:12 | 17 |
|
Hi Roddy,
Well done! I believe you, that under these conditions, it's not easy
to find the motovation to continue all day. But you did it.
Congratulations.
When I did the "Portes du Soleil" in 1989 we had beautiful weather and
climbing up to Pas de Morgins at around noon or 2 p.m. was not
easy either. Many of the riders plunged into a foundain half way up.
Nice story as well.
By
Norbert
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| 1819.67 | | MASALA::GGOODMAN | Born Victim | Tue Jun 23 1992 04:52 | 11 |
|
>> Ironic to think that an event like that in California right now
>> (speaking of Bat) would eliminate people through heat-stroke
>> rather than the opposite.
You can always rely on some smug git to rub it in, can't you. :*)
Well done, Rod. The weather must've made you think of home... :*)
Graham.
|
| 1819.68 | | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Mon Jul 27 1992 06:00 | 0 |
| 1819.69 | La Tom Simpson 1992 | IDEFIX::HEMMINGS | Lanterne Rouge | Mon Jul 27 1992 06:03 | 149 |
| "La Tom Simpson" Sat 25th July 1992
===================================
The 25th anniversary of the death of "Major Tom", as he was known in France,
was 13th July this year. The 1992 edition of the randon�e was therefore of
particular significance. Although I cannot condone Tom for the manner in
which he died, I will always have admiration for his fighting spirit which was
probably a major contributor to his demise on the cruel slopes of Mont
Ventoux.
This year, the �preuve was headlined as being "easier, with only one ascent of
the Ventoux", because people had found it too tough and the organisers were
faced with falling entries. So in 1992, the start was as usual in Carpentras
with a small detour into minor roads around the Dentelles and
Beaumes-de-Venise, before cutting across to B�doin for the 1st ascent. From
there, to Malaucene and a retrace to B�doin before cutting across to the
Gorges de la Nesque and returning to Carpentras on more minor roads. Total
distance was posted as 171 km with the odd 3250 m of divilment.
John and I stayed overnight at Caromb, a small vilage perch� about 8 km to the
north of Carpentras and situated between the two major roads. An excellent
place and well recommended for a centre if you are staying a few days in the
area. The staff were very helpful, and in comparison with our last stay for
"La Vietto", there were about 10 bikies there so they kindly offered to
provide something early in the morning (5:00 a.m. !!). In addition, they
asked if we wanted to return after the event and have a shower and a clean up
- we declined because we were driving home in the opposite direction, but it
was a kind thought.
After a week of exhausting heat in the Alpes-Maritimes, we were sorry to find
it equally hot in Vaucluse and sleeping was not easy. However I personally
slept better than usual before an event of this nature and felt reasonable the
next morning when we loaded the car and set off back to Carpentras, where we
joined an eager crowd milling around the Square Jean Jaur�s. Apparently there
were over 800 starters from all over, even some Colombians!! - we met several
English who had either come specially or were incorporating the event in their
annual holiday.
As usual, the massed start was hectic and everyone went up the road like
loonies, compteurs at 35-40 kph, towards the turn-off to Le Barroux at about
8km. This was followed immediately by some very small, gritty give-and-take
lanes where it was impossible to get any kind of rhythm, so by the time I
crossed the Col de Suzette (with not a cr�pe in sight), I was feeling a bit
seedy with a mere 30km in the legs!! The descent to Malaucene allowed a few
groups to form and I had some company over the ridge which leads between the
vines to B�doin. Some-one had a problem here, the ambulance came roaring past
and I caught a glimpse of a bikie sitting on the roadside, holding his head,
but that was the only incident I was to see that day.
Welcome shade from the trees overhanging the streets of B�doin, and then we
were out onto the road leading to Chalet Renard, with the Ventoux looming
ominously to the North. The night before, as we drove up, John said �You
wouldn't think that it was nearly 2000 metres, would you?� I said �Wait until
tomorrow, you will be saying - are you sure this is only 2000 metres???� From
this village to the summit is 21,5km for an altitude gain of 1609m, a mere 7,5%
average, however the first 6 to St Est�ve where it really starts are 4,4% and
easy. The next 9,2km are at 9,3% and the final 6,3km at 7,8%. It is not a
push-over......
From St Est�ve to Chalet Renard, the road is narrow, but with a fabulous
surface and trees overhanging most of the way, so it was not unbearable,
although I wouldn't have fancied it 2 hours later in the full Provencal sun.
You get no impression of height as you climb, you can't see the plain which
stretches back to Carpentras - all you know is that the steady 10% never
slackens, and you wish you had seen sense and put on the 26 instead of the 24!
With 10 to go to the summit, I had to stop for a breather, a leak and a banana
- I had deliberately been putting away a lot of water, fearing the effects of
35� heat. 4km later, I was glad to find the first ravito and sank some more
water, filled my bottle and ate some fruit before attacking the last stretch.
Chalet Renard to the summit is evil.
- There are no trees.
- There is no shade,
- There is not even any grass.
All there is as far as you can see in front is white scree with the sun
bouncing on it and the road winding up towards the Relay Station. The view to
the South is awesome and some small recompense.
We had a slight tail-wind, but even this was not good because it made it even
hotter, but with the slight ease in gradient I was able to wind my speed up
from the previous (just balancing) 7kph to an astounding 9kph!! There were
quite a few walking this part, but with the photographer situated here, there
was no way I was going to be caught doing that! Only 6 km between ravitos may
seem a bit over the top, but 40 mins in those conditions and you are very glad
to see the one at the summit, I can tell you. I can never get over how near
to the Summit that TS actually collapsed - the memorial on the north side of
the road as you climb can only be 1,5 km from the top. I cannot think of a
more unpleasant place to turn my last few pedal-revs......
A short sit-down in the shade of an umbrella, another pint of water inside me
and the same in the bidon and I was ready for the 22 km descent to Malaucene.
You actually cross the ridge so that the incredible view is to the North from
this side, - the road is wider but less well surfaced, and once you get into
the trees again it's OK (and very speedy - nearly 70kph). The bends as you
get to the village are a bit nerve-wracking and bumpy but I was soon back on
the loop to B�doin where I found a bit of company again.
The small lanes to the start of the Gorges were uncomfortable, open to the sun
and wind, full of faux-plats making progress and making up of time rather
difficult - I had averaged about 18's for this first 109km. In
Villes-sur-Auzon, I was pleased to find another ravito and sat on the pavement
with my back against a garage door pouring water over my head. I met a guy
from Gravesend (UK) who had never been up a mountain before and he just
couldn't believe it, saying he had seen the Tour on the TV but never really
been able to relate to it. To make matters worse, he couldn't speak French so
he couldn't ask, had left his glasses behind so he couldn't read, and didn't
know how far or how uphill it was to the finish. I was able to re-assure him
that there was no other "Ventoux" lurking round the corner.
Going up the Nesque was a doddle, tr�s roulante on 40x18 & 17, with an
excellent surface and very impressive views into the deep gorges to the right
- I found this 20km from 200m to 750m height the most pleasant of the day. I
met a Colombian along here and with a lot of arm and hand waving, I managed to
convey to him that the feeding station was at 1 km, then he only had 14 more
km of up before 26km of descent to Carpentras. I never found out what they
were doing over in France, I don't think they were good enough to have been
their country's squad for the Barcelona Olympics. From the Belvedere, it was
a short freewheel to the "man, boy, dog" village of Monieux where we took a
sharp right to reach St Hubert along some grubby lanes which were badly
surfaced and a bit up-and-down.
Heights were marked on the bornes along here and I was convinced we went to
950m so I received a nice surprise finding the last ravito at about 100m less,
and on asking I was told, yes, it was downhill to Carpentras from there. 26km
and 45 mins to get inside the Silver Standard - I reckoned that given a good
descent and a following wind I would be OK. Tough luck, a bumpy downhill and
some long straight faux-plats into the wind were next on the menu - more to
the point, not a back wheel in sight anywhere!! Still worth a try, I thought
and rouled at 45-50kph for a while through the vines and woods - at about 12
to go I caught another 2 or 3 but they protested they were too weak to take a
relay so I towed them as well, doing a steady 30's but wondering if my
strength would last. Two to go, purgatory, but with as I thought about 5 mins
to spare, down to 40x16 and I fell over the finish line in the tree-lined,
shady parking.
The damage? 8hr 36min - 9 mins inside the Silver Standard with an average of
just under 20kph. John must have come over the line almost in sight, he was
470th with 8hr 34min to my 472nd, and I hadn't set eyes on him since St Est�ve
at about 50km. I wandered around the stands, eating and drinking and then
finally went and washed with several others in the fountain in front of the
Syndicat (- there were showers available, but they entailed a car-ride to the
Complexe Sportif). The results were posted quickly, fastest just inside 6hrs!
- pictures taken at the summit were on display and an hour after finishing I
had the (computer-produced) Dipl�me in my grubby little hand.
All in all, the best event I have ridden to date. John said that it beat Alpe
d'Huez into a cocked hat, OK go there to see the Tour, but experience the
Ventoux at least once....... See you there, 3rd week in July, 1993 - I'll
have an extra 1/4 hour allowance (and a 26 cog!!).
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