After the last weeks imposed rest I was becoming restless, plenty of icing, physio, stretching and massage on the groin seem to be working. Although sitting in the front room massaging my groin in compression tights each evening must have been a sight for the passers by....
Had a light swim on Friday and it felt fine. So i decided with the Etape looming on Monday it would be a good idea to get back on the bike for a test on Saturday. 58km later, over beachy head and back and no reaction from the groin. Excellent! although the groin support makes for a sweaty bum on the saddle.
I was also particularly concerned about losing fitness - not the case, fitness felt fine and in-fact fresh vigour from the weeks rest. Etape here we come.
Now, it's not really a race, when I was entered it seemed like an ideal workout on the road to ironman, however, it would be rude not to! So, at 7am, i began stage 19 of the "Tour De France" like a cheetah on speed. 10,000 riders, starting at around 6000 I was going to pass everyone by the time we got to Alpe d' huez. The first 14km were flat, but riding with so many people at speed was treacherous and accidents began to happen.
Then, the turning point, out of the valley and straight up the side of the biggest F*&%ing mountain I have seen. "Le Col de Telegraph" was actually the smallest of the 4 climbs for the day at 1700 metres but it looked immense! Traversing the Alpine slopes i got into a good rythm, then disaster! On a steeper section I went to find the bottom gear - nothing.... So stuck with a 22 cog on the back as by best gearing possible I decided to just continue - this was going to hurt!!!! but I was passing people and feeling good about it. 12km and about 50 minutes later over the summit I go - now I am bloody freezing, my sweat drenched body has been thrown onto the shady side of the mountain and I am doing 70km/hr on the descent - still, at the bottom I was dry again, every cloud.... Another clomb and then it was time for the big one.
"The Galibier" - the Grandpappa as the French affectionately refer to it. 2600 metres and a whole world of hurt, i had to keep the rythm going with my vastly inadequate gearing, temperature was now in the 30's and every time I thought i could see the summit it teased me with a few more traverses, legs and lungs were burning. Then some light relief, a young French boys ran beside me with a bottle of water drenching me from head to toe and I felt a fresh 'lease of life'. Eventually the summit came and a very fast descent began with 2000m of cliff edge on one side and no barriers. Didn't stop the crazy Italians from squeezing through a 50cm gap on the outside at 80km/hr!!! New challenges now as after 20km of descending my hands ached like never before from covering the brakes nervously. Fortunately the descent started to flatten out as the guy ahead of me in a screech of brakes and puff of rubber dust decided to attempt a faster route down. I stopped tentatively and looked over the edge. Thank goodness it was only a 20ft drop but he was still unconcious in a mountain stream below. Right, emergency number, no, there's a medic bike, flag them down, down to check the guy, he's coming round, moving his legs, thank F%$£ for that, he speaks, he's English!!!!! Medics are now here, nothing more I can do so back on my bike and off i go (unfortunately having lost 10 minutes and 50 places) Nxt Alpe d'Huez.
Temp was now in the top 30's but i felt good as I went through the first 4 turns, then the wheels began to come off and all that time turning too heavy gear was going to haunt me, appreciated the guys with hoses at turn 17 and in-fact i must say the French support in every village throughout the day was nothing short of incredible.. I was hurting, I started daydreaming, will my legs last, how fast was the winner, what will the Stella taste like at the top... Then I passed a tandem, a serious tandem, but a tandem nonetheless.
My climbing had now slowed considerably and counting each of the 21 turns was just adding to the torture. Eventually 1 hour and 26 minutes after i started the climb "The Summit", through the village and turn left for the finish, the "bastards", they put the finish at the top of a hill - nothing for it, out the saddle and one last immense effort and then I collapsed over my bars. One of the toughest races I have ever done, but a fantastic experience and a good springboard to get back into the training volume now. Swimming and biking seem OK, now about 4 weeks away from being able to run again - the race is 8 weeks away./,!!!
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