Two Great Rides

In the end, a fantastic event – both the Masters and the Senior (me). That was 127 km with 2,300 m of climbing. Riding time 5 h 40 m (22.4 km/h average). Max speed 59 km/h (I blame the generally damp and sometimes bumpy descents). Average temperature 9°C, minimum 2°C.
Several long (10+ km) climbs with 9% to 11% gradient in places, but mostly less. Lots of snow on the peaks and fantastic scenery, with deep narrow gorges, vertical cliffs and rushing rivers. Not much sun and 20+ km/h headwinds on the homeward leg and a very unpleasant final 10 km or so where I expected a flat bit.
Monday was beautiful, warm and sunny, so Wendy, Steve and I got tired legs in gear and did a beautiful 70-odd km ride up the Col d'Herbouilly, down and through the tunnel where the two courses split, then past Echevis, St Eulalie and a coffee stop at the stunningly picturesque Pont-en-Royans at about 200 m. From there it's a steady 30 km climb back up the length of the Gorge to Villard at 1,050 m. There are more pictures of the trip on Flickr.

The 'hanging houses' at Pont-en-Royans.

Challenge Details: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/321904304

Gorge Ride Details: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/321918168

Wrong Again...

Sunday's event is on, and they've moved the women-only event to start then too. The 177 km Master's course starts at 08:00. It has 3,650 metres of climbing. The Senior ride (that's for me then) is just 126 km with 2,300 metres and starts half an hour later. Although there's only 51km in it, that extra distance is expected to take another 3 hours – so 17km/h. Tough stuff.
Bikes are cleaned and oiled. Kit tried on and laid out. Bars and gels ditto (there are only two food stops, both fairly early on). I have the route in my Garmin computer (though some of it is back to front) and a course map and a course profile in the iPhone. That's it, I hope.

Heeere's Johnny!

Well, here we are in the Overlook Hotel – sorry, Hotel de Paris. All around this morning, the snow lay deep and crisp and even, and it's still coming down at 10.00 am.
A few of the party haven't made it yet, having been held up at London Heathrow. I doubt if they should try, as we can't really see this lot clearing in time for tomorrow's event even though the forecast suggests some improvement and even sun on Monday. We'll have to decide whether to stick it out and drive back on Tuesday as planned or make a break for the more temperate conditions of Richmond Park. Meanwhile, I guess it's off to the sauna.

The Overlook this morning.

It's Snowing!

Not good news.

John's car this morning.

We are not that far from Grenoble and about 1,000 metres up. Beautiful scenery when it's visible but the weather is quite extreme – temp just above freezing, occasional snow showers and VERY occasional sun. Locals say these are the worst conditions in living memory, and they had a winter like the UK one.

We had a brief ride this morning (20 km) including a whiteout, and a much nicer, longer one this afternoon up to a local col. The women's challenge event scheduled for tomorrow has been cancelled already. I doubt that they'll call off the main one on Sunday, but I think 130 km will be plenty, rather than the 177 km thing. I'm very slow up the hills, as I expected!

I had to buy some headgear at lunchtime... Sorry.

The view from the Maquis memorial, half way to the col.

Nous Sommes Arrivées

A pretty uneventful drive down through France to the Hotel de Paris in Villard de Lans. Around 1,000 metres up, big, empty and a bit like the one in The Shining, but OK and a tasty dinner.
Weather quite dire – about 4 degrees and a sprinkling of snow on the peaks, but the sun was out earlier. Fingers crossed for tomorrow, though the forecast isn't encouraging.

The view from our hotel this evening, with snow.

Here We Go...

Up at 05:15. Didn't sleep well (but comfortable). Amazing how early it gets light in London after Africa, and how quiet it is: no birds, no calls to prayer, at least in Epsom....

All a bit too exciting! There's four of us - John, Mark (another one), Grant and me - and Grant forgot his passport. So back to Ham and then a record-breaking drive to the Eurotunnel at Folkestone. Just in time. 

A Chilly Challenge

Before the Fireflies Tour place cropped up, my main cycling event of 2013 was going to be the annual Dynamo sportive – this year, the Challenge Vercors, formerly called the Challenge du Dauphiné-Libéré. This year it departs and finishes at Villard de Lans – France's oldest Ski resort in the northern Vercors, some distance south of Grenoble.
There are usually about 1,000 entrants, 25 of whom will be Dynamos, and two main distances – one of 177 km with 3,380 m of climbing and a shorter 130km route with only four mountain climbs. That took the 2012 winner 3 1/2 hours with the last rider taking 6 hours.
So four of us are setting off at an unearthly hour tomorrow morning to drive down. We should be there by dinner time tomorrow (Thursday). Sad to say the latest forecast is quite a bad one: cold, windy and a chance of 'light snow' on Saturday. But the event itself is on Sunday, so we might be lucky. I hope we see at least some of the spectacular scenery through the sleet...

Col de la Machine on the Challenge route. Spot the road, on the right.

Fundraising

I got my act together last night and emailed (almost) everyone I could think of about the Fireflies Ride. Every rider is set a target of £2,000 in individual sponsorship in addition to his/her entry fee.
It's for a good and personally relevant cause, but I was staggered by the response this morning – nearly half way to my total, including Gift Aid. People are very kind and so supportive – as I remember well from the Malawi ride three years ago.
So... THANK YOU ALL VERY MUCH! I'm aiming to reply to everyone personally if I can keep track of all the emails. Just the thought of so much support must be worth a lot on those climbs....

Richmond Park Revisited

The London Dynamos (my club) routinely foregather in London's great Richmond Park of a Saturday morning, so – in spite of still feeing rather rough – I trundle over in time for a single lap (there are hills!) and the social stop at the café near Roehampton Gate. It's swamped in Dynamo blue and black, and I wonder – not for the first time – how long a club this size will be allowed to use the increasingly crowded park roads. Nice to see old mates, though.
Coming back through Putney I notice that my Enigma bike is creaking and groaning. Clearly a bit of a tune-up will be needed. It's titanium, and a lot lighter than the old LeMond. Checking the measurements back home, I'm obscurely pleased to find that I've managed to set it up almost identically. The only difference is that the saddle is 5mm further forward. LeMond bikes always had a long top tube. Greg's the man. I move the Enigma saddle back 5mm....

He's riding my bike!

Back in the Cool UK

Got back to London in the early hours – an endless wait to get off the plane, another for my bag, a third for the Gatwick Express (nothing stopping at Clapham Junction because of engineering works) and a pricey taxi home.
The weather seems decidedly chilly, and it feels like I've picked up some bug or other en route, but it's all OK with the central heating and – what a treat – TV. Maybe a little ride tomorrow?
Meanwhile, I realise that I have to get started on fundraising for the Leuka charity, so I set up a Virgin Money Giving page – and of course this blog to keep in touch with supporters.

Riding in The Gambia

Gambia is small, hot and almost entirely flat – not the best place to prepare for alpine climbs – but the roads (where they exist) are pretty good (fewer potholes than London) and the traffic could be worse too.
Three of us at the Medical Research Council are fairly regular riders. We tend to do a 75 km loop down south from Fajara, past the airport, through the busy market town of Brikama and then, on quieter roads, across to the coast road at Sanyang and back up the coast through the big fishing village of Tanji. A shorter alternative – about 65 km – is an out-and-back route to Sanyang. Either way, there is always a headwind on the way back, which tends to keep the average speed below 30 km/h.
And if the traffic gets unbearable, there's always the beach at low tide. The Senegal border is only 55 km away.

There's always the beach – all the way to Senegal....

I'm IN...!

Two days later. I'm pretty certain it's not going to happen. Then an email from Penny: 'Hi Terry, I hope we are going to make your day today!  I can confirm that we CAN offer you a place on this year's Tour.'
After an (un)steadying coffee, and with a certain amount of trepidation, I reply that I'm absolutely up for it, barring any typically African catastrophes. I only have two or three more Gambian rides before I fly out on 14 May, and I'll keep a particularly close eye on delinquent taxis, dilapidated trucks and wandering livestock of all descriptions.
I email Mark for some support. What's it really like? He tells me it's amazing, though each year is different due to the constantly changing riders. Everyone pulls together. There are 'young racing snakes' at the front and then other groups of riders of similar capabilities. There is a lady of 54 this year. There are older men too, though he's not sure of their ages. The leader is Ross who started La Fuga who organised rides for Rapha and rode for Scotland in the Commonwealth Games a few years ago.
I've got to do it!

On the Bench...?

I emailed Penny at the Fireflies and got a fairly cool response, mostly about corporate sponsorship (the majority of the riders are from the film and advertising business, and their companies will be backing them and the ride). However, I replied with a few more personal details and got an email today saying that they've put me on the reserve list. I don't know how long the list is, or whether it's first come, first served, but we'll see. I've stepped up training on the 20+ year old LeMond, anyway....

My beloved steel Lemond, frame built by Billato in Italy around 1989.
Greg Lemond is of course now the only American winner of the Tour de France.

An Unexpected Invitation

I'm in The Gambia, it's Thursday and I've just got an email:  'I'm with the Fireflies organiser. There is a place for you. Mark'.
This makes perfect sense, but I can't believe it. Mark is one of the two guys I did an end-to-end ride through Malawi with, and he'd done the Fireflies Tour – an annual Geneva to Cannes ride in aid of Leuka, the UK leukaemia charity. A thousand kilometres taking in many of the most famous climbs in the alps in just eight days. Very tough.
Should I do it? Could I do it? There are no hills in The Gambia. I must be getting too old for this sort of thing. But those climbs, that scenery... And I might never get the chance again.
I'll email the organiser...

Firefly Mark heading for the finish line in Malawi, 2010.