Day 14
5 Cols ( 2 missed) 127km 7.25hours in the saddle 3,827m climbing Calories ? ( Weight watchers : I think you’ve got the idea of what’s involved here by now…)
Start in the valley mist again. I love these first hours of the day: full of promise. Just as my body has miraculously recovered again from the previous day, so too Nature seems poised for a new day. Claire is still asleep. After breakfast – she has a slightly more civilised daily routine than I- she usually catches me up after I’ve been riding for 3 hours or so.
Today was the Day of the Pyrenean Giant Duo : Aubisque + Tourmalet
You want to know how hard yesterday was ? These two seemed easy!
I had climbed Aubisque 2 years ago in the Etape, along with 1000’s of other Riders. This morning I had it to myself all the way up. I held the bike at a steady 10-11kph all the way up and only broke a sweat on the last few kms. At the top the first few camper vans were already dug in : there would be a Tour stage finish here in TEN DAYS time!! This time no wind at the top – what a difference.
On my way up the Col de Borderes I had my first puncture! Always a humbling experience for a Rider. Especially when you can’t just get a new wheel off the roof of the team support car like they do on the telly. Even more humbling : Claire arrives, laughs and takes a photo.
Once through Luz St Sauveur, the Tourmalet climb starts. By now it was getting hot : nearly 30 degrees. I asked Claire to stop at a bar at Bareges on the way up. I may not have a Real Support car, but to have someone who lines up an iced tonic water on a bar terrace ½ way up a Col is even better! As I savoured the moment, a local Club Rider went past at a pretty fair pace. Competitive Mind woke up instantly. But Mind Control told him where to go! Still, I coolly slipped back on my Rapha riding gloves, slid on the shades, straddled my beautiful machine and let Competitive Mind and Rational Thought Army do battle. After 3km Club Rider was in sight. Competitive Mind blew the Rationals away instantly. 2 km later I drew up by his side, took both hands off the bars to make it look even easier and greeted him. ( Well, I deserve a bit of cheeky fun from time to time!) “Dur,dur. Putain” was his reply! He looked young (early 30’s) but had to spend more time trying to get oxygen down his lungs than chatting. So I did the talking. Explained what I was doing. He said his town ( Lourdes) had once built a pyramid of old shoes to mark the number of people who had had legs or feet blown off by land-mines. I said I would tow him up the hill for a few km, but with 2km from the top he begged me to just go on. So I pulled away and felt like Lance himself! ( I did this climb keeping at a steady 11kph, feeling really strong – Lance, Ullrich and Mayo climbed it in 2003 at average 26kph!!! Ah, the Supermen!)
Another fast descent down to Ste Marie de Campan and then up Col d’Aspin – choosing an easier road for both car and bike ( 2 cols down today – one at the end of a dirt track, the other on the small road we chose not to take. We have decided that it is better to be kind to the mechanics of both bike and car and do no more ‘off-roading’. It’s harder to find flat than up anyway, so we are spoilt for choice when we need to find a ‘replacement’ Col.
Another great day and in the hotel room in time to watch the finish of toady’s Tour de France stage. Perfect!
Day 15 ‘REST’ Day ( written in the Laundromat!!)
Woke up restless at usual time and mid-morning I’m still feeling jumpy : how am I going to sit down at a desk after this month?!
Wireless connection connected. At last. Throat swells with emotion as I read your messages. Thank you so much. Will sort through and then save onto disc the 1,500 photos taken so far. Reply to e-mails. Big kind wash and service of Beautiful Bike. New bar tape. 30 degrees today at 11am. I love it! Etape du Tour Bike Riders everywhere : their big day out tomorrow.
Review of the ride so far :
Bike going superbly – thanks again Stonehenge Cycles for tuning it up so well.
Vital statistics of my Beautiful Machine, for those who have tuned in only recently :
Titanium frame Omega ( model ‘Enigma) + carbon Look forks; Campag Chorus chainset ( 50/36 in front, 12/25 behind) ; Fulcrum Racing Zero wheels with Continental GP 4000 tyres.
Rider doing well too – thanks again Torq because I still swig down and munch your stuff with pleasure. ( Despite a regime of 6 – 6.5 hours sleep each night I am drinking no coffee or tea : just 100% Me and Torq!)
Still looking and feeling cool in the Rapha gear, although I have been sweating recently with the temperature going over 30 degrees.
Support car/wife – hanging in there well too. Claire was very chuffed at a donation to MAG recently in respect of what SHE was doing rather than me! It would be impossible to do this at this pace without a competent support car, and she is proving to be real professional!
The riding itself- after the stress of the first week, I feel I have settled into the rhythm of this now. The Body Team are well organised and seem very efficient at sorting out a sweaty, shattered, smelly mess of disgruntled parts and somehow pulling themselves all back together into a fresh and unified group after less than 7 hours sleep! I still have to be careful to ride within my limits, but I don’t feel those limits are as fragile as they felt in the first week. I spend less time ‘talking’ to myself and more time just concentrating on the riding. I NEVER get bored. Constant stimulation from the road, the scenery, the weather and the Cols that just keep coming at me. I have no idea though what the same amount of riding again is going to do to me… Therefore your continuing support is REALLY IMPORTANT and SO APPRECIATED. Every little message. Lots more donations have come in, so MAG tell me. I promise you that each donation has the same effect on me as 4 energy bars scoffed down at once!!
Thank you.
3rd Section.
Day 16
4 Cols 215km 10.02 hours in saddle 4,738m climbing 6,123 calories
Despite nearly 50 years of practice at the Living Game, there is still a thick vein of naivety running through me. I guess this explains the optimistic and enthusiastic slant in my character. It probably goes a long way to explain why I thought up this challenge in the first place too!
So today’s programme of just 4 Cols and an excursion into Spain was a pleasant change of style of riding in my mind. What was I thinking?! That the Mighty range of the Pyrenees would just vanish once I crossed the border? How wrong I was, yet again!!
5am alarm call : both Claire and I were out on the road at 6am today because the first 30 km of our route clashed with the end of the Etape du Tour route so we wanted to be sure of getting through before the roads were closed.
The Col de Peyresourde was a nice warm-up for the day ahead. As I descended I thought of the suffering that would be going on here later this afternoon. The first 2-3,000 Bike Riders would be pushing themselves to their limits hoping for a Gold or Silver medal. The other 4-5,000 riders would have been running on their reserve tank on the previous climb and by the time they got here would be pushing body and mind into unknown waters of physical suffering and delirious mind games. Great day out!
The Col de Portillon was an excellent climb : a short one at 6km but quite steep. Wooded and with streams and waterfalls it would be a fond memory before the harsh character of the rest of the day kicked in. A great, recommended climb. Nice descent too on excellent road surface. I scattered a middle-of-the-road meeting of red-ish deer as I came surfing round a bend. Glad that they can move fast!
Then it was along the valley floor. Gone the gentle Nature of the French side of the Pyrenees. Here the scenery became more arid, open and hostile as the day went on. I battled with a hot wind all day until the last 20km when at last I managed to get the wind BEHIND me. Only 2 Cols to do with just over 100km left to cover. Some Cols I can catch by pedalling just a couple of km. Today I was having to do about 50km for each Col remaining! And the worst type of Col : 20 km UP, 20km gently down ( i.e. not enough down gradient to coast down – because of the wind I have to PEDAL down!)
Hard roads (in Claire’s vocabulary, the roads on the map today looked like arms and legs rather than the usual intestines we’ve been going up and down!) , wide and straight, no shade and no real pleasure to get to the top. Just relief that it’s over. In the French Pyrenees the cowbells kept me amused with their chaotic sound that I likened to a totally unorganised jam session of first-year students of Caribbean steel band who had absolutely no musical sense and who were allowed to bring along their own drums, meaning that most of them were banging on dustbin lids of various sizes! Brilliant! Here, in Spain, the only sonic distraction was the ‘clang,clang’ of the crash barriers on the roadside as they expanded in the afternoon heat that was steadily climbing up towards the upper 30 degrees C. ‘Dur, dur. Putain!’
To end a hard unsatisfying day, we had to go through Andorra town. What a dump!
Hoping to get back to the real mountain climbs tomorrow, through Andorra and back into France…
Day 17
10 Cols 7.10 hours in the saddle 135km 2,630m climbing
Back to the usual thing : 6.38am I roll down a short slope back to the main road and then start a 9km climb up to the Col d’Ordino. Good road surface and quiet at this time of the day. A fair climb and no problems here, with rested legs. After this it’s back on the busy road through Andorra and I start the long climb up to Port d’Envalira at 2,400m altitude.
A bit of a shock to be back on roads with cars and even lorries too! Not the best place to find Bike Nirvana, and I didn’t – for 18kms! Still, nice to pocket a 2,000m + Col and a decent road for a swift descent down the other side, overtaking cars if they refuse to get out of my way. Most drivers, as soon as they spot this crazed windswept face in their back mirror, pull up or move out to let me through. Some try to hold their ‘territory’ on the road. Don’t usually bother me long though! But I’m still being careful, Mum, of course!!
However, I can feel the efforts of yesterday and I’m not really enjoying this particular day out. This whole stage through Spain and Andorra has been hard work and I am relieved to be back in France. Gimme my cowbells, empty roads and other Riders who say “Putain” a lot.
Soon we, ( I say ‘we’ now because Claire is getting better and better in her support role and is making this thing easier as each day passes : I have never really been riding alone.), are back in the hills and trees and things fall back into their place. I’m content on my bike again and the legs find their rhythm and strength and seem happy to carry me through another day. Phew!
Something seems to be changing though : I seem to have to make more of an effort to get motivated and overcome the growing sensation of tiredness. I know this is because of lack of sleep. But you are all obviously enjoying reading this rubbish, and I just can’t switch my mind off at night without thinking back on yet another extraordinary day. So I have got used to shorter nights than what’s on the Doc’s prescription. Oh well, I’ll catch up later – falling asleep at me desk at work probably!
Great timing, then, that as of tomorrow, I have a co-rider for 6 days – Giles Croft, a seasoned long-distance climber and who I am hoping will help my Team up a few hills over the next week! Better stimulation than caffeine, which I still haven’t succumbed to.
I finish relatively early so go and collect Giles from Perpignan airport. A bit strange to be on FOUR wheels! It’s been a long time.
Day 18
A leisurely 8am start for another short stage today. All 3 of us actually had breakfast together, waiting for John M and friends who had planned to rode with us after their Etape du Tour two days ago. They don’t show up so Giles and roll our wheels out onto today’s route. One day wonders, I reckon. Still recovering from their One Big Day Out!
Giles Croft. Ah! It is immediately obvious that I have in front of me a young, accomplished Rider who has been starved of mountains for tooooooooo long and has two very fresh strong legs that are pumping with joy at the idea of long climbs and fast descents, and lots of them. Great. He’s been through more of this than I have so we understand each other beyond words. Early in the day he spots a very wiggly road on the map that would take us just 20km out of our way and even had a bit of, oh joy, 21% gradient. But we could bag 2 more cols! Tired Old Rider replied to Fresh Young Hare : “Errr, do you mind if we don’t? ” He didn’t, but I did say that I would be game on for his next idea. Silly that, I think, because I got a feeling that he will be having a few more of these enthusiastic ideas! Anyway, today we go different ways after an hour or so since he wants to explore a bit whilst I am sticking to my itinerary. We will meet again tomorrow morning a few km from the start of the epic climb up the Col de Pailheres.
Giles Croft cycled from Leeds to Istanbul a few years ago to raise money for MAG too. He has been out in Cambodia and Laos as part of his medical studies and had come across MAG’s de-mining and social re-building work out there and was mightily impressed. So now MAG have FOUR legs pedalling for them. He too knows how it helps to hear about support from all of you. Thank you all again on behalf of us both.
As I mentioned yesterday, something has changed in me. The Body Team seems to have got itself perfectly organised. It can find a solution to each new pain that appears in the Legs, the Knees or the Back. It can find new strength when I thought there was none left. In the first week the Body Team was being hit all day with challenges it had never met before. Now it seems to be able to cope with what comes its way. Mind Control, however, seems to be going through a harder period. Probably needs more sleep. Or maybe because it doesn’t have to try and manage the chaos in the Body Team anymore, it is less stimulated. In simpler words, I am getting tired and just going through a low stage. Nothing serious really. With Giles on board now and heading into unknown scenery in the Ardeche/Cevennes, I’m sure things are going to sort themselves out.
Today was a bitter/sweet day : we have wrapped up the Pyrenees ‘loop’. As I pedalled along the last 10km to St Paul de Fenouillet this afternoon, in the upper-30 degrees C heat, I thought back to our arrival here 10 days ago. It seemed months ago! I had fallen off the eastern edge of the Pyrenees today and tomorrow we would be heading back over a last couple of giant Pyrenean climbs before turning North East towards the Ardeche. Unforgettable 10 days. Life-changing 10 days. I could try and find words to describe it, but maybe photos will say more. Thank God that there are still wild places in Europe. Places where Man can listen to Nature.
Not so much about cycling here : more about Life. But then, Le Velo, C’est La Vie! Vive Le Velo!
Day 19
178km 19 Cols 7.45 hrs in saddle 3,388metres climbing Max speed : 76kph
Giles Croft. A better shot in the arm than a quadruple expresso. A Kindred Spirit. Rider has found Rider. A Cat 2 racer and time-trialler and hungry Col chaser with many, many Cols already packed in his legs. Claire can hear us coming before she can see us. She can’t believe how 2 blokes can natter away whilst climbing up a 13km 1st Category climb. She can’t believe how 2 blokes can natter away without mentioning football once! She can’t believe that 2 blokes can natter away about clothing…. There’s lots of things she still can’t believe about Riders…
We are Kindred Spirits On Fire. Four legs pumping for MAG. Giles shouts out to the mountains just as I had on my first day. He’s alive ‘n pedalling, and it’s brought new life into my jaded legs. I had become slightly bored with and tired of my own company ( hard to believe, I know!) and Giles has arrived at a perfect time.
We ride pretty much at the same pace, but he flies down the descents like a Real Racer. I let him go since I don’t want a ditch or a ravine to get in between me and Annecy on the 29th. Uphill we glide together. He talks, I breathe. I talk, he breathes. The Cols fly by under our wheels. By the afternoon though, he is feeling the long distance and the heat getting to him. All respect, mate. It’s only your second day and yesterday he had managed to do 170km and climb 4,000 metres as a warm up! I am glad to let him ‘draft’ me for a bit. He asks if we can fit in an extra stop to get a shot of caffeine and some water. We take a turn off into the next village and just find 2 old ladies sitting on a bench who assure me that there is no bar, no bistro, no café, no bakery, no ‘tabac’, no….in this village. All there appears to be is one bench. That’s all they appeared to need. Nice, the simple quiet country life, isn’t it?!
Try the next village – each village of course being UP a hill from the road we were following. I ask the first inhabitants I come across again for a Bar/Café and again get a blank look. Then I spot the car number plate parked by the house. “ English?”
This is how we came to meet Alan and Lesley Woolacott who shared their time between here and Glencoe, Scotland. They make Giles a coffee, invite him in ( well, actually Giles invited himself in) to wash his face with COLD water and after a few questions begin to grasp what it is that I/we are actually doing. They find it hard to believe. They make a donation of a £10 Scottish pounds note ( will you accept that Harriett?!), and we pedal away leaving them with an expression of bewildered admiration on their faces. That should probably read : compassionate sympathy for our condition.
But we feel the business. With our Rapha-MAG ‘team strip’ on, I feel part of a Real Rider Team at last. We fly into Castelnaudary after 15km at 38-40kph on our dials all the way, working together and feeling like we’ve just managed to maintain the breakaway and hold off the peloton right till the end.
Looks like I’m in for a few good days. Claire now has a team of two to ‘support’ and did it brilliantly today, despite having been bitten all over recently by some vicious nasty little, probably Andorran, spiders. ( I hate Andorra!). She is the real star of the Rapha-MAG team and deserves a medal from one of our sponsors…!!!
Day 20
17 Cols 218km 9.27 hours in the saddle 4,115 metres climbing
An epic day. A Classic Ride. One more to be proud of.
After a sweltering night in Castelnaudary, (when Giles had wrapped himself in wet towels in bed to try and cool off his sunburnt skin), we were surprised to walk out into light drizzle at 6.45am. We had heard thunder storms rolling over the now-distant Pyrenees, but hadn’t expected such an abrupt change in the weather.
Giles had coated himself in sun cream after his care-free attitude to the southern sun yesterday. We both decide to be prudent and set off with wind gilet and arm-warmers as extra clothing. Not quite prudent enough, as it happened.
After an hours’ riding, Giles’ sun cream was a soggy mess around his wrists and ankles as the light drizzle turned to light rain. The wind had woken up too and appeared to be in a bad mood. We were not warm. After a quick stop in a dry Boulangerie, we headed away from the plain. When asking our way in a village, we are pointed towards “une route qui monte et qui monte”. If it goes up and up, that must be ours. It was and it did. For a long time again. An hour later we were in thick cloud with a biting wind and where the rain wasn’t so light at all anymore. We could see about 10 metres ahead. When looking for the Col, and not having seen a car almost the whole way up, we almost cycled straight into a line of parked cars on the narrow road we were trying not to fall off. ( The fog was so thick, we had almost cycled straight into a lake!) A few more yards and a sinister monument grew out of the fog. Uniformed men carrying banners were getting ready to perform in front of an audience of about 100 people, blocking the road. No film-set, this was real life. Didn’t feel like it to us though. We weaved our way through them and gathered that they were remembering those who had fought in the Resistance and who had paid with their lives up here. ( We forgot to take off our caps, so were probably tut-tutted by them all.)
Redcar and Nurse Claire were waiting for us at the bottom as we were both shivering with cold and apparently still had feet hanging off our ankles, but we couldn’t feel them. Yesterday we had been begging for water in 37 degrees C. Today, we quickly changed socks and put on gloves and overshoes and then sprinted to the next village for a café to warm up in and get some blood into our hands and feet again. Lucky we put on sun cream before riding today!!
We are heading through the ‘Montagnes Noires’ although these are no longer what we would call mountains. Steep, wooded hills and more beautiful quiet roads. In fact, make that : very steep and very wooded. Beautiful. Giles knows this area and is smiling with delight at being back. He’s a strong Rider, ( anyone who can ride the Alpe d’Huez in under an hour instantly commands respect in my book), and when he wants to pull away from me, at the end of a climb he leaves me standing. But he’s a polite Rider too, and we work really well together and keep up a strong pace. He did have a less clever moment today though, when a gust of wind in a descent blew him straight off the road as we went into another sweeping bend. Luckily, there was a gravel sort-of-lay-by and he managed to bring his Beautiful Machine to an embarrassing but life-saving stop before he would have gone down and down and down.
But as a duo team we had our moment of glory when we totally unexpectedly found ourselves on a climb that the Big Boys had done just a couple of hours earlier. La Montee de Jeante, the main climb of this days’ stage.
Downhill there was a 4km solid line of cars and camper vans, not really going downhill at all. They weren’t going anywhere really for the moment. 
Uphill there was Phil and Giles. 14kph up a long 7-8% gradient. It was hurting. The strength in our legs was dwindling but our sense of pride was growing. “Allez, allez” “ C’est bien les gars” “ Plus vite et vous pouvez encore gagner” were being shouted encouragingly at us by these die-hard Tour fans who were happy to sit in a 2 hour traffic jam after watching the Big Boys flash by. We climbed as if we had just been given the OK to go for the break by our Directeur Sportif and forgot we had already put 165km behind us today. Eventually the line of cars ran out and our legs ran out too. But we had shown ‘em! We limped up to the top of the climb and got there just in time before the one steward left took down the last ‘Champion’ banner to mark the top of the climb. Photos. ‘Who had gone over first?’ we asked. The reply : ‘I don’t know-they went through so fast I couldn’t see’ Ah, The Super-Men.
One last Col after the race up the Jeante, and Giles does what every true ‘domestique’ knows he has to do : with the last 200 metres of the climb straight into a very angry headwind, he drops back to shelter me and bring me up to the top safely. What a Rider! We have ridden a long hard day with endless climbs, always riding together, ‘drafting’ for each other, laughing together and have a mighty respect for each other as we roll into the hotel car park 12 hours after leaving this morning’s hotel. This day has yet again been all about why we Riders choose to do this. Other Riders know exactly what I’m saying here.
It’s midnight as I finish this. Tomorrow, 20 more Cols on the menu. But only 160km!! Time for some sleep before we are up early again to clean up the bikes a bit, give them some TLC and get some food down to our bellies. Tomorrow also promises to take us into some of the wildest parts of this ride so far in the Cevennes.
Day 21
217km 10.16 hours in the saddle 22 cols 4,206 metres climbing
Don’t know why, but I seem to have consistently under calculated the distance. This was supposed to be 160km today! Turned out to be the day with the most Cols AND the longest.
Since Giles has joined me, I have had to make certain compromises to my daily rhythm , given that since he’s still young, he’s not too good at getting up in the morning! He also says that his legs hurt each morning. Poor him! Makes me feel lucky though. He calls me Steady Eddy. I call him Gunner Giles, since when he wants to he can gun down all competition ( usually me) on the up, down or flat. He’s got beautiful legs ( other Riders will know that this does not mean I have a bi-sexual tendancy!) and when his Rational Mind lets his Body Team go for it, they do. Big Time. He suffers afterwards though!
At 8.30am we are rolling. Giles had put his sun-cream on. Damn, the weather was going to turn bad again. Of course it did! Today I let him try out one of his ‘bright ideas’ and since he has become a hardened Col Chasseur already, he wanted us to take a route that would add an extra 5 cols to our bag. Not too many extra km either, he said. I have to admit that it was worth it for even more stunning views and some good climbs on VERY quiet roads. I’m doing OK but Giles is finding his legs painful and tired after the show-off sprints yesterday. But despite a low moment in the afternoon he does me proud again and we manage to keep up a good pace all day. Just as well, because even so we only manage to get to our hotel at 9.15pm! He’s good, this nipper.
We climb side by side, often pushing the pedals and breathing in unison. Both bodies and minds seem to understand each other perfectly. We keep up a pretty fierce pace and seem to be able to sense when the other is having to make too much effort and therefore we stay in a relative comfort zone. But we also entertain each other. I managed that particularly well today. The true comical value of this gag will forever be hilarious to Giles and I, but you might find it vaguely amusing too. I will omit describing the full context, which definitely is funny ONLY to Giles and I.
We are going UPHILL, battling with another Col – and winning- when a car goes by ( quite rare here) and I decide to use it as a ‘lead-out’ for my stage-winning final sprint to glory. “Here I go!” I shout as I thrust my right leg down with every ounce of strength in me. The result : wet gloves slipped on wet handle bar tape and the bike began a mad, drunken, zig-zagging, panic-stricken dash for a very rocky and deep ditch on the side of the road. I did try and steer it away, but in vain. In and down I went, splitting my sides with laughter even before impact with the rock tried to literally split one of my sides. My right hip slammed against rock and the ‘sprint’ was over. We were both laughing as Giles ran to my side and I looked up from the ditch. 1st concern : was the bike OK? 2nd concern : were my shorts ripped? 3rd concern: was I OK? Answers : Yes, No, Yes. Bruised and a bit bloody, but back on the road in minutes. Trying to climb the rest of the Col when we are both giggling like little girls was quite tricky! I had never expected to have an UPHILL crash. Giles suggests that I had better stick to being a climber rather than a sprinter.
Feeling a bit battered, we still had the Big Climb of the day to do up to the Col de l’Homme Mort. We find ourselves back on stony track and climb, sometimes steeply, on this for 12km. The views opening up around us are unbelievable. The rain had cleared and the evening sunlight was bathing the landscape in pure beauty. But that sunlight was fading and we still had 18km to go once we had got to the top. Claire had incredibly managed to find a way to get the car up to meet us by another way ( long story, don’t ask) and we stocked up with survival rations.
She went ahead to the hotel where they were going to keep the kitchen open especially for us, lay on a true cyclists supper and generally make us feel important. Thank you Hotel du Parc, Esperou – they added on to their original donation too.
By hauling myself up the stairs with a lot of help from the hand rail, I managed to make the bedroom and Nurse Claire attended to my battle wounds. They were getting sore.
What a day! Neither words nor photos can describe the power and beauty of the landscape we had cycled through.
Day 22
172km 18 Cols 7.28 hours in saddle 3,163 metres climbing
9am this time before we are rolling. But it had been a late night before, and for the first time on this trip I had not opened up the computer after supper. ( Part of the reason why my nights are short is because you mustn’t forget that supper in France can take anything from 1 ½ hours to 2 ½ hours, depending on the service. Even if you go for a modest menu, which we always do!)
A beautiful sunny but cold morning. We are still above 1,000 metres altitude. We begin the day by grabbing an extra Col – just a 6km detour. Then head up to the Mount Aigoual for more never-ending views. On the way up we fly by 2 club Riders out for their Sunday morning usual. “ You know what”, says Giles, “We’re as fit as F***!!” Sometimes Giles can be quite poetical. Other times he just gets straight to the point.
The F word was used again later on, by Claire, would you believe?! I’ll explain why, and you will believe! 
I allowed Giles just ONE MORE bright idea, knowing that he was here for just six days of this crazy challenge and wanting to catch as many Cols as possible. He had found on the map one extra Col that we only needed to pedal 5km each way for. I tried to contact Claire, who tries to place herself all day at places where she reckons we will be SO glad to see her, but had failed. Oh well, we’ll be back on the road soon. Only 10 km. I agree. Not quite as flat as Giles thought though. For the next hour, once back on the itinerary road, we are expecting to find Redcar at tops of passes, at junctions, anywhere actually. Phone signal is rarer than petrol stations here.I try several times to send messages about where we are. Eventually Redcar and us meet head-to-head on a narrow climbing (of course) road. Claire is NOT HAPPY. She has been driving back and forth for ages……. Giles melts away whilst the sparks are flying. Lunch is thrown at us on the tarmac. 2 Riders sit on tarmac and silently open the packets full of delicious, lovingly chosen French market food. Claire reckons she has made her point. We have made apologies. Peace is made. Half an hour of riding up the hill later I get a beep confirming phone signal and message received. I ask Giles to read it since I don’t like cycling in reading glasses. He struggles a bit at first but then deciphers : WR F*** R U, U IDIOTS?!!!!! Best message I reckon I’ve ever received from my wife! Well, it was funny to us….
Good day of climbing. Worked well together. But on one of the hardest climbs, when I had been trying to impress Giles by breathing through my nose whilst climbing a 10% stretch ( try it next time you ride a bike uphill!), he decides to sprint for the top with 500 metres to go. I arrive at the top to find a car skidding to a halt and the driver rushing out towards and sprawled Rider and bike in the long grass at the roadside. “Don’t worry” I shout “ he’ll be alive, but maybe needs a mental hospital” He eventually sits up and the driver believes me. Giles and I get on very well!!!!!!!
2 killer climbs finished the day. I knew they would be bad because they had been sponsored by people who knew them ( last night’s hotel and Mario Labelle – who had sponsored Port de Larrau, probably my hardest climb so far).
Col de Finiels was one of those ones who never want to let you win. They keep letting you think you are at the top but have more to fling at you round the next corner. Beautiful climb though. Thank you Mario.
Before our last shot of the day we stop at a bar to catch the end of the Tour stage in the Pyrenees. Just in time to see Contador win in front of Rasmussen. We loved it and took inspiration from it for the next 4 km climb at 10-13% all the way up. Giles managed a sprint to the top again. Amazing. Steady Eddy watched him go.
Finished the day with 26 km of flat. By working for each other ( ‘drafting’ – i.e. taking in turns to hide behind each other with 20 cms between our wheels ) we managed to maintain a speed somewhere between 42-48 kph. Not bad we think.
Day 23
167km 7.41 hours in the saddle 9 Cols 3,183 metres climbing
On the road at 7.08. Well done Giles!
Claire is woken by the sound of cleats clipping into pedals and Blokes on Bikes nattering away as we zip past the bedroom window. I’m never usually that talkative at this time of the morning, but we have to get the mad-chat going immediately- it seems to help turning the pedals once again, knowing that’s what we’ll be doing for the next 7 hours or so…again.
We realise that we haven’t actually been through what you and I would call a town for 2 days now, and we would not see one today either. We were coming off the north edge of the Cevennes and into the Ardeche mountains. Very desolate, especially in the thick fog and drizzle that clings to us all morning. At least we are learning now and leave fully clothed for bad weather. Thanks to Giles’ excellent navigating – I have passed on that role very willingly and he spends all day now just trying to get me to pedal in the right direction. The problem is that after this long on the road my attention span to anything except tarmac, pedals, gears, eating and drinking, is about 7 seconds. So unless we set off again, after consulting the map at a junction, within 10 seconds, there seems to be a 50% chance that I still mange to pedal purposely down the wrong road. Giles is very patient with me though, and shouts at me each time without using many F words at all, considering. I think he is as worried about my mental condition though, as I am about his. You should hear some of HIS stories!!!
We cycle all day with rain gear on. This is July 23rd in the South of France!
Giles had hoped to ‘recover’ today after our two 200km + days in succession, and had thought that only doing 9 cols today would be easy. He wanted to be in a flying mood for his last day with the Dream Team, ( his name for us), tomorrow. Alas, there are no recovery days on this Tour. The road relentlessly throws us up and up after every little short downhill section. The legs are hurting us both after each time we stop pedalling (downhill). The lactic acid builds up a lot quicker these days and gets more painful each time too. We just scream to the trees and cows and tell them how much we LOVE cycling and then we feel better. Weird, innit?!
We stay above 1,000 metres more or less all day, just dipping down to 6-700 metres from time to time. By early afternoon Giles is ‘jazzed’ ( a polite word!) and begs for the hotel and a hot bath. I just pedal on keeping just ahead of him: enough to pull him up to my wheel ; not too far to be demoralising. He still wins the end-of-stage sprint though, but I had done all the work for him!! He’s a racer through and through which is why he finds it hard to keep a level head. Still pedals faster than most people who call themselves Riders though.
Claire has been very patient with us too, especially when I managed to tell her where I thought we were on the phone, which of course was nowhere near where we actually were. So once again she doubled back on herself and spent an hour looking for us before eventually working out where we probably were. Well, I’ve seen so many road signs and village names now, I’ve no idea where I really am- I’m just here to pedal. You can’t ask me to think as well! We admire Claire’s perfect cornering line as she overtakes us when she catches up. She too has become an expert round the hairpins and can throw Redcar around these lanes like a Pro rally driver now. Respect!
250 Cols and still counting. Giles is thrilled because he will go home after tomorrow with over 100 Cols in his pocket in six days! And he’s still got legs on!
Day 24
238km 16 Cols 3,552metres climbing 9.40 hours in saddle Av. 24kph
After a festive evening and another short night it was time to set out on what was to become probably the best day in terms of the Art of Cycling : the longest stage yet, the fastest average speed, the most extra cols added in, Competitive Minds definitely at the controls. This was Giles’ last day with the Dream Team, as he had named our Super-Trio. His legs were on fire as soon as we were out of the ‘neutralised zone’ and mine were feeling OK too.
We flew up the first climb of the day side by side at 19kph. Only 6-7% but still a pretty hot pace to maintain for 5km. We had to be good today because we were meeting a member of the 100 Col club 50km into the ride. We were working out what we would do if we had to wait at the top of every climb for 20 minutes for him to catch up with us. How could we break the news that we were adding another 50km to the ride to enable us to get in another 5 Cols as a special last-day treat for Giles? Just how good do we thing we are??!!
We met Philippe Le Frenchie as planned and after 5 minutes hanging on to his wheel, Giles looked round at me and said quickly in between frantic early-ride breathing : “ I don’t think we will have to wait for him, do you?!!” He had worked out the route for us and was delighted at our initiative to bag some more Cols. He was one of us. This was further confirmed when, as we were all being violently attacked by hailstones on a fast descent later in the day, he went by us shouting ( well, it certainly wasn’t ‘singing’) “ I’m zinging in zee rain”. Mad. He was one of us.
He was President of his local cycling club. A dedicated Rider. These days he was training for the Paris-Brest-Paris cycle event which happens every 4 years. He had just done his last qualifying ride of 600km in 25 hours. ( Yes, that does mean that you don’t go to bed until you’ve finished!) He was hoping to do the 1,200km in 65 hours. Actually, he was MADDER THAN US.
Our route took us along a roller-coaster road that run along a ridge with 100km views either side : Lyon and the Mont Blanc on one side; the Massif Central and the Puy region on the other. Once the morning rain had cleared the light was crystal clear and the views were incredible. Hard riding though, especially as we wanted to establish a solid reputation for the Rapha-Mag Team amongst the 100 Col-ers! We pushed Philippe le Frenchie all day and from time to time Giles would unleash his legs and disappear up the hill as he sprinted away for the last km of the climb. Awesome!
On one of the last climbs of the day I decided that I had better have just one try at a truly competitive climb with Giles. Unplanned really : I saw the opportunity and went for it. We could see the Col about 3km away and had already been climbing for a good 2km. One of the hardest ones of the day. Giles had decided that it was time to go for it and pulled away from us with ease. Philippe le Frenchie and I rode side-by-side in silence. Who was going to have a go first at bridging the gap? We are no longer on some unknown Col in the Mont Lyonnais, we are on the Aubisque and the overall GC of the Tour depends on this climb…. No reaction from beside me so I add a little ‘push’ to each pedal stroke to see what happens. No one beside me. No more breathing. From here to the top I never look behind me. I’ve dropped le Frenchie. Giles is a long way uphill, but gradually I realise that his silhouette is growing. I’m gaining on him. He gives a quick glance behind him. Zut, he’s got smaller again. He’s reacted to my challenge and is too strong. Nevertheless I find even more ‘push’ in my legs and sure enough I am gaining on him. But it was not to be, of course. At the top he times the gap and congratulates me on getting it back to 27 seconds. Le Frenchie comes up a good 3 minutes later. Reputation of the ‘Grimpeurs Ongleesh’ well established.
We leave Philppe le Frenchie with still another 30km to do and thank him for terrific company. His navigation has been superb and his efforts in English have kept us amused. He rides well too. The days ride finished with a long, fast downhill to Tarrare. Giles points out a car about 500 metres down the road and shouts out to The Universe his intention to overtake it. ( To Giles’ Mum : He IS wearing his helmet. I witness!!!!) He swoops down on this poor innocent car like an eagle about to grab a new-born lamb. Not quite so elegantly does he eventually get his prey though, as he has to overtake it on the outside of the last bend of the descent. ( To Giles’ Mum : There were no cars coming in the other direction and I don’t think he went across the central white lines…much!). I’m in his slipstream, well the last wisps of it, and grin with delight for him. The road flattens out within 100 metres of the last bend and the car of course zips back past Giles. But that doesn’t matter. He still has both arms in the air in true Stage Victory fashion. I’m going to miss him!
Day 25
143km 16 Cols 5.38 hours in saddle 2,465 metres climbing
The last day of this section. After a quite subdued final evening together, ( all three of us probably a bit sad that this collaboration was coming to a (temporary?) end) the Dream Team enjoyed a more upbeat breakfast this morning before Claire drove Giles to the station.
He was on his way back to England with over 100 Cols in his bags in 7 days, having had, in his words, the best cycling ‘holiday’ of his life. A strange choice of words, you might think. The term ‘holiday’ is the last word Claire would use to describe July 2007!! But Riders would understand.
I was on my way, at 9am, for a relatively ‘easy’ day ahead.Back to my just my own breathing for company, but it wasn’t hard. Giles was still there in spirit with me all day. I check my riding style. ( His parting advice being : “The most important thing is to try to look like a pro”.) You’re so right Giles! Clothes can only do so much. Your style and speed have to do the rest. Of course it’s all relative, but boy does it feel good when you’re firing on all cylinders!! I could still see his wheel in front of me and in his honour I actually did mini-sprints up to the top of Cols. At last I was winning! I have promised to ride the Ventoux ‘for him’ and hope to use tomorrow’s transfer day to get some rested legs for THE MOTHER of all climbs. ( Could arrange for a blood transfusion too…Nah! I told you, this is 100% Me!)
An unexpectedly beautiful last day’s ride to Cluny via stunning forest roads around the Mont Rigaud, climbing almost back to the 1,000m alititude we had been at for so many days. Bagged just one extra Col and kept up a fast pace all day. I seemed to spend the whole day in forests on good roads where yet again cars were noticeable by their absence. (I did have one surprise section of a couple of km when I was back on gravel/stone track, pleading my bike to be patient once again with this rough off-road stuff. It came through with dignity unblemished.)
One BIG difference today was that I had to navigate once again if Redcar wasn’t around to help. Oh, the stress! Giles had taken over this role and I had been so happy to just (try and) follow his instructions. He would have been happier if I had actually listened to what he was saying before saying “Yes,yes”. Now I had to concentrate once again. All went (quite) well until in the early afternoon I managed to loose both route directions and map photocopies from my back pocket. Redcar had said “ C U Later” and was heading for the hotel. Claire had to text me directions for the rest of the day and I only had to ask locals three times to eventually find the hotel. The last time I asked for the hotel the puzzled passer-by just asked me to turn round and look up at that sign on that building what I was standing in front of! Jeez, all energy is obviously being sent to the Legs Dept. and not much seems left for the Head Dept.!!!
The Club de Cent Cols have done such a good job defining these itineraries: they have taken us along roads that have served us stunning views in abundance, have shown us some of the remotest corners of France and they have chosen roads that are a pure delight for all cyclists. Fine work. Thank you so much.
One great climb of just over 1km of non-stop 15-20% in the forest. To be able to do this at 10-11kph all the way up shows me just how well my body has adapted to this incredibly hard regime of the last 24 days.
Thank You. I am so grateful to Life to have been able to do this.
The pain, the exhaustion, the stress, the lack of sleep, the hostile weather – none of these took anything of the incredible beauty of Nature I have seen away from me. None of these stole an ounce of the pleasure of riding my bike up mountain after mountain. I understand the Great Explorers and Adventurers. Challenges like this take you outside of yourself. Beyond your imagined limits. Thank You.
A day on 4 wheels tomorrow and then a highly-anticipated last 3 days riding in the Alps and the Vercors. Bring it on!!
Day 27
11 Cols 221km 9.17 hours in the saddle 4,760 metres climbing 83 kph max.
Look at those stats.! No wonder I feel tired tonight. Temperature in the high 30’s too. BIG climbs today, one after the other, relentlessly.
After a busy transfer day – driving, cleaning the beautiful bike, e-mail work and even getting a quick dip in the hotel pool – this morning I decided to start at a civilised, sociable hour. Well, actually, there was a Col to go and get 9km up the road from the hotel, so I sorted that one out before coming back to the hotel for breakfast with Claire. I was savouring the anticipation of the Ventoux climb.
Please bear with me here. I will try and be as concise as possible in trying to explain why this climb, my 286th of this Tour, remains No 1 still on my list.
From Venasque, where we were staying, the beautiful Ventoux dominated the landscape : as it does for miles around here. As I approached Bedoin the mountain seemed to stand up and look down at me from an even higher standpoint. This mountain is so unlike any other. It is a pure loner. It is not part of any range, any group. It does not soar dramatically upwards towards the sky. It sits there contemplating and quietly assessing those who are thinking of climbing it. Only then, when you settle in to climb it, will it reveal its true might. Then it lets you into its secrets forever and you will never be able to look at it from a distance again with indifference.
I had decided to ride this ‘for Giles’, so The Rationals had a lie-in today, leaving Competitive Mind in complete control. I timed myself from Bedoin village square, hoping to climb the 23km from the square to the top in less than 1 hour 30. I settled into a good pace early on, holding the bike at between 14-16kph. Before I realised it I had got through the infamous steep wooded section and I hadn’t dropped below 11.5 kph. I could go on for hours about this climb, but I won’t here. ( In a special issue of Procycling magazine that listed the ‘best’ 50 climbs in the world, this is the climb that topped the poll….of course!) But I must just mention the magic of the moment when, after the Chalet Reynard where you say goodbye to trees and hello to a mineral, lunar sun-scorched landscape, a Rider only then has his first view of the climb : Provence – miles and miles and miles of Provence. Unforgettable.
I maintained my speed right up to the Tom Simpson memorial where it feels as if you are almost there. But there must be still 2 km to go and they get steeper, just when the summit looks deceptively close. I was giving it everything I could, despite the thinning air ( 1,900 metres at the top). I had not been overtaken once so far, but when I glided past a boy who looked no older than 16 years old, he came back on my wheel with a smile and after we exchanged a couple of short sprints he pulled away from me. With 100 metres left to go from the top, Giles himself seemed to have burst into Control Room : I click up 3 gears, stand on the pedals and sprint up to and past this kid and manage to maintain my speed up round the bend and ramp that leads to the ‘finishing line’ 20 metres later. As I do this I even let out a loud battle cry YAAAAAH!!, truly Giles-style. (What’s going on here – such an extravert, un-British demonstration of joy has never happened to me before : thanks Giles!) But then I realise the kid has responded and I just have to let him cross the line first : not so Giles-style! We shake hands and have a laugh. A few minutes later I think I’m going to be sick. I understand why I had been so emotional at the top : I’ve done the 23 km from the square in 1 hour 19 minutes, my best yet – a little over 17 kph average. I had done the Ventoux justice. I still have 9 Cols to do and another 160 km!! That’s what this challenge is about!
(I must just mention this : On my way up Claire was particularly proud when, as she waited by Redcar to take a photo of me, a rider ( little ‘r’, definitely) carried his bike up to her, seeing the spare bikes on the roof and the general ‘Rider-Support Aura’ of the car, asked if she could help him out with his ‘major mechanical’. Claire soon diagnosed the problem ( amazing, innit?!) and….. put his chain back on for him. This was a full-grown man with a brand new posh bike and Claire swears she is not making this up- she was as proud of herself as the little-r rider was ashamed of himself. He’ll have to wait a while before becoming a ‘R’ider!)
At the top of the next Col (d’Ey) my parents are waiting. They have come down for the last 3 days. My Mum bursts into tears with emotion. I nearly do too. A big hug with my Dad and then it’s back to business. The Soubeyrand, the Roustants – more HARD climbs, and it’s hot. At the top of a Col after Roustants another Rider is waiting : it’s my brother-in-law, Peter. He’s decided to have an afternoon ‘warm-up’ with me before riding the full length of the last 2 stages. The warm-up became sweltering after 5 minutes and then turned into a blazing inferno when we began the last climb of the day : Col de Pennes. From the south side it’s a 7km climb and pretty much 9-11% all the way up. It’s hard and I’m worried for Pete. He’s breathing louder than a steam train and turning the pedals very, very slowly. But through sheer determination he makes it to the top. Full respect!
This stage is definitely up there in the top 5 hardest. My last day riding alone. It’s taken us through the Drome and landed us on the doorstep of the Vercors, a region I know little of and I relish the prospects of tomorrow’s ride : the penultimate day! Definitely a bitter/sweet moment when I think about it…
Day 28
10 Cols 9.16 hours in the saddle 199km 3,840 metres climbing
The penultimate day and I really am feeling mixed up. This last month has been so hard, so intense and so emotional. It has lifted Claire and I way beyond our perceived personal limits. We have been part of such extraordinarily beautiful landscape for weeks now, passing through but absorbing so much. We are laden with so many images in our minds and are afraid of losing some of that baggage as soon as this is over. I had wanted to do something that I would remember forever. Done!
Pete and I set out together just after 7am and it’s straight UP into the rocky but wooded monumental landscape of the Vercors…for 20km! It’s a long climb up the Col de Rousset and Pete does well to stick at it. The views are a reward enough for anyone to be able to bear the pain. He’s infected, totally, even though his body can’t really cope. He wants more of this medicine, but wisely chooses to rest up after 80km, wanting to save himself for the last day.
As it happens, he quit just in time to miss the Killer Climb of the day : a climb of a good 12km up the Col Toutes Aures and on to the Praletang, at 1200m high. Steep, hot, relentless and yet my body coped once again. Even I am impressed! I held the bike at 11kph or more, despite the gradient often more than 10%. I had thought that it might have been a slightly easier day. Now why would I have thought that?! There are NO EASY days on this trip!
Our travelling team now consists of three support cars and six support crew – quite impressive for one Rider! We are all totally shocked by the immensity of the Combe Laval that reveals itself to us unannounced round just one corner after the Col de la Machine. It is one Mother of a hole : must be at least 1km deep, straight down. Vertigo victims stay away – you don’t stand a chance! The whole team agree that their trip down has been worth it just for this. Pete reckons it’s more impressive than the Grand Canyon. Words aren’t enough for things like this, once again.
I arrive tired from the heat and the distance – once again two 200km days back to back. A couple of calls to organise things for tomorrow. We enjoy together a very good example of excellent French home cooking : no menu, just each dish presented to us as it’s served. A few reflections on the journey. My mind is on tomorrow. It seems unreal. Tears will be shed. True Riders can cry and still look like Real Men! I consider myself a True Rider now.
Total stats predicted by the end of tomorrow :
Cols climbed : 319
Distance ridden : 4,580km
Height climbed : 82,300 metres
Hours in saddle : haven’t worked that one out yet
26 riding days out of 29 ( 2 transfer days, 1 rest day)
Day 29. Final Day
Cols 168km 3,457 metres climbing 7.19 hours in saddle
Today Claire and I have a timetable to respect. The Cent Col Club members of Annecy have organised the formalities of our arrival. This is definitely the beginning of the end of 29 days of freedom. We have lived with the mountains. Our lives have been governed by their rules. Harsh rules at times, but ones we never questioned. They have allowed us into their timeless world of infinite beauty because we have accepted their terms : we have shown patience, determination, strength, tolerance and belief in ourselves. They have given so,so much back in return. ( And return we certainly will!!!)
But now it’s over : we are heading back to the world from which we came and so we have a timetable.
I clean the bike lovingly and even put on a new pair of red tyres to match Redcar – oh the vanity : yes we really are heading back into the world from which we came!! I worry about being late…
Pete, my brother-in-law, has decided that if he wants to ride with me without messing up the timetable, he’d better give himself a head start. So he leaves an hour and a half before me! Good man!
Once on the road, I am back in the blessed state of grace as I look up at the mountains bathed in the morning sunlight. Just because it’s my last day though, don’t mean it’s easy : there are a few big lumps in our way before we get to Annecy. On one of the first climbs I am joined by Julien, a soft-spoken local from Chambery. Slim, young, totally relaxed on his bike, but totally in control as he climbs so gracefully and effectively up the climbs. This guy has Super-Rider aura. It turns out that he is training for his next race : although he races on his bike, he also uses his feet too ( ouch, the pain!). He will be trying to run 90 km at altitudes above 2,000m on gravel mountain tracks in under 11 hours. He’s hoping 10 hours 30!
We ride a good pace together and catch up Pete at the foot of the Maroclaz. Problem : the road is shut for repair work to a bridge. Yeah, but nothing’s shut to cyclists! So we head on up until a local shouts out to us that not even cyclists can get through : they’ve put up a 5 metre fence. Very clever – they know that a mere 2 metres would be no obstacle to determined Riders, despite the almost deadly risk of torn Lycra in the process! Pete decides to take another route directly to Talloires. Julien takes me along back-roads to re-join my itinerary and even sets me off up a replacement Col before leaving me. But I have lost a tired and tearful Claire, have no phone signal and it’s a 9km climb. And today I have a timetable. I start up it nonetheless. It beckoned me up its winding road! But nearly half-way up, and having got phone contact with Claire again, I make the very,very painful decision to come back down. I’ll be back…
After a couple more long climbs I have my first view of Lake Annecy from the top of Mont Revard. Breathtaking beauty. Another view that deserves a thousand words to try and describe. But even then… The first of a group of Cent Col Riders is waiting at the top and welcomes me to the Club. Nice touch! We ride together to the last Col of the ride. There a larger welcome group applaud my arrival and my sons are there too. Emotional hugs, eyes wet. We all coast down to the exact town square where Claire, Claudiu and I set off from 29 days before. Unreal.
First a filmed interview with a local journalist. Then photos. More photos. Then into the ‘Mairie’ for a series of speeches and a questions/answers session. All very flattering but my mind is still really up there in the mountains. I wonder for how long!
The nicest touch of all was the speech made by the Founder-President of the Cent Col Club who began by saying “Member number 5,002 is Eddy Merckx. Member number 6,011 is Bernard Thevenet (another former Tour de France winner). Member number 6,391 is Philip Deeker” Yeah, I was proud for brief second!
I am surprisingly empty of emotion. A week into this ride my eyes would fill with the tears at the thought of this moment. But now they are dry.
All the joy, the pain, the sense of achievement had been expressed in that one very loud battle cry at the top of Mont Ventoux. Soaked in sweat, on my bike and surrounded by other cyclists who had all achieved their goal too. That was the best place to celebrate. I always knew it was going to be and had planned the ride round that. But that outburst of emotion was still a surprise to me.
One primal scream at the top of Mont Ventoux, in front of bewildered onlookers, had said it all.
I spoke about the work MAG do. I spoke of how fortunate I had been to have had no accidents, illness or technical set-backs. Yes, it had been hard. Yes I always believed I could do it. But that was all. Words are pretty insufficient when trying to express what I have been through.
For 29 days I had been an Extreme Rider. Now I was looking forward to becoming a Husband, Father and a Son again.
Until the next time…!
