Just how far will you go for T d F ?

Well done to everyone who completed the 45M training ride around Windsor today - good work, especially those who breezed up the bijou hill-ette out of Marlow. Bonus points for those who took the inside line on the hairpin bends!

Many thanks from us all to Mark for the route and for hosting the ride, and for the cafe in Windsor for some very tempting toasties and carrot cake at the end.

Keep up the miles !

John

aka 'The Terminator'

I upped the distances on my regular rides and was lucky enough to find a group called the "Over the Hill Gang". This is a group... http://www.roberttdf.net/post/2012/02/10/January-Snow-Recovery.aspx

Loving the blogs everyone.....nothing like reading everyone's mileage and efforts to get you out on the bike.......peer group pressure or shear fear of the challenge ahead! :-)

Am in France for a couple of days (without my bike and it's minus ten outside), so thought I would add a report on January:

Fat is more important than fit?...

A summary of what I've been up to in January

Olympic velodrome ticket up for grabs....interested?.....yeh thought so :-) ...read on in that case!

Spur of the moment decision to do something other than Richmond Park laps reveals a long lost gem!

A good challenge for anybody in the South of England on Sunday 27th May is the Chiletrn 100 Sportive. Starting and finishing in Amersham and 177 kms , 2620m of climbing on 21 sections with many over 10% - it is a big challenge coming at a good time before TDF.

I'm in on the long one - be good to see others there.

Alan

Some Great News !

First hopefully of many posts, but warning, I'm starting with a rant!

When seeing clients been using business card format

Can't beleive hit pot hole in gym car par

Currently weighing in at 103 Kg 

I thought it would be a good idea to buy some weight loss.

Chris Ball : Apex Bio - Bike Fit

How can you justify spending £200 ?  

I spent the money and would recommend the experience !

Just a reminder of that lovely quote by Greg LeMond...

"Cycling doesn't get any easier as you get fitter - you just go faster"

The first ride of the New Year and new training plan...

A relatively modest 45 mile jaunt around the coast of South East Cornwall with a good cafe stop, great company and a taste of things to come in the 20% hill (OK, so it was only a short climb!).

Tough headwind at times, anyone know where it disappears when it should be a tail wind?

Over 100 miles on New Years Eve and New Years Day saw my season off to a great start.

I knew I should've Used My Winter Bike...

It was so mild - I just had to go out and get some post-Turkey miles in!

I haven't ridden for about 3 weeks due to the Frost and a really horrible cold ...

...it's the time that every santa has a ball
 

Introducing myself and a site link;

http://sites.google.com/site/joeonletour/

I am a warrior - weekend or otherwise...are you out battling the elements and getting your training underway?

Can someone have a word with the chaps at Le Col and do me a special uniform !

A little fun............afore the real work does start!!

How does a Spinning® instructor attempt to maintain his fitness when doing his 'other job' as a touring 'monk'? You might well ask...

 Have you entered any events next year to build up to the Tour de Force?

See my company e-card which will be sent out to customers and suppliers.

I will also make up a personal e-card to send out to family and friends.

Some experience that might help.....

I found Roberts blog of 3rd December helpful and informative.Especially as I discover there are more audax rides than I would ever have believed possible which start around 3 miles from my house and will definitely form part of my preparations.

So,rather than spend forever googling to find out information I thought it would be a lot quicker and easier to tap into the combined  cumulative knowledge and experience of everyone taking part in the TDF to answer some questions that have started to present themselves. 

 There's no doubt that completion of the entire Tour de France route is challenging for even the most experienced of cyclists. So some level of serious preparation is required.

I prefer to have a program of events, these provide mini-goals as one builds up to the main event. If you've never cycled in a group before, they are a good way to gain experience of this too. There are two main types of event I like to use if I need to prepare for a major event:...

Today is a rest day........

 Weather Warnings and work issues.

 It's always a surprise (though maybe it shouldn't be by now) to see events promoted as being "adrenaline producing". At the Tour de Force presentation I attended (which was excellent) that adrenaline word was mentioned several times in a positive way as if it was an added attraction of the event....

Thought it would be a clever idea to put a bigger ride this Saturday, having spent the week cramming a few quick 15/20 milers in. Saturday came, together with the high wind, so tried to choose a route heading out into the wind which seemed like a good plan.

About 4 miles in the wind direction appeared to change, but put that thought into my head that as i am on the way back home it is bound to be a headwind all the way (and surprise surprise it was)

All in all the distance was 66 miles, with the last 20 being particularly hard due to the headwind. But overall a great few hours on the bike, seeing areas around me i have not riden before. Will come back round these lanes and hills again.

Onward and upward to the next longer weekend ride - will aim for 80 miles on that one.

 Before becoming aware of the rider profiles and blogs of the TdF site, I set up a personal blog site for the ride: www.roberttdf.net ...

The start of things to come

training and general ramblings

Here it starts!

Stages 12 and 13 - not exactly flat, or short ... but no point in doing things by half - that's what I say!

I've got my place as a ‘lifer’ so I’m sure I will come across those of you who you are riding part and all of the tour.  Those of you who are looking to support me and therefore the William Wates Memorial Trust, I've set up a few web pages to help me get some fundraising underway. Firstly I’ve got a page with Bmycharity, this is simply a way in which you can leave a donation and also keep a track on how my fundraising is going!
 

It's one thing to think about entering the TdFo, but now the deposit is paid up and my place (hopefully) secured, it's all suddenly feeling very real indeed!

Things can only get better !

Between building the most fantastic registration packs and preparing for sales going live on Friday (gulp) - the bikes rides have involved lots of  heather, mud, blood, new wheels and lots and lots of Rapha kit! Read on Macduff...

I'm not daft - when I agreed to take on the job of administrator for the Tour de Force, I made darn sure I negotiated a deal to cycle one or two of the days with you all. I suffer from what a friend calls FOMO - Fear Of Missing Out. Now, there was a time when I wasn't too shabby on the old bicycle, but it's been a while since I clocked up more than a couple of hours on the bike. Reality is now dawning and I admit, I'm beginning to wish I hadn't been quite so cocky!

What is it about the Tour de Force that makes it so special? I have pondered this on many occasions and, of course, it is not one single factor but a combination of many.

To ride in the Tour de Force is a huge commitment. It is not just the physical endeavour required on the chosen stages but also the months of training beforehand. All of the riders are amateur and are fearful of the challenge that lies before them, be that a single stage, a few stages or the whole 3600 km Tour route.
 

‘Ah’, a lie in I thought while sipping on a pint in the bar of the hotel with the worst service so far on tour – welcome to the outskirts of Paris! Sarah blew that idea out of the water with one of her beautifully crafted firm but fair guidelines of the day to follow. Another six thirty wake up call was ringing in my ears as I tootled off to the local village for dinner and wine with a few fellow revellers – it was clear to some of us the end was near.

Is there a better way of celebrating the beginning of the end than to cycle through the famous vineyards of the Medoc? Add a great lunch in the charming town of Pauillac and you have 70 very happy cyclists! Our route took us out of Bordeaux and past the prestigious buildings that line the Garonne. After a brief dip into the industrial areas we hit the Route des Chateaux and soaked up (some literally) the most prestigious of the Bordeaux vineyards

Today was quite simply the most extraordinary experience of my life – as a first timer (aka NITS which means rather cleverly ‘New In Tour’) I had no idea what it would be like, what would happen, would we finish, would we fall off, where would we go to the loo (in the bushes it turned out)?  So many questions mixed up with nerves at 6.30 in the morning after a night celebrating Spain’s win over Germany (not voluntarily but the proximity of the room to the road meant that we were very much involved most of the night) meaning little sleep was had.  Everything was answered, not as I’d imagined but we all finished despite the incredible challenge that was Stage 18.

When a group of strangers met in a bar in Rotterdam they were told by their lithe and understated tour leader that ‘It is all about reaching the Tourmalet’. It is all about being at the top of that mountain on the evening of stage 17. One hundred years ago the tour organisers were described as ‘assassins’ for including this long climb and in 2010, to maximise the drama they have included the viscously steep Marie Blanque and the leg sapping Soulor prior to the ascent up the Pappy of the Pyrenees.

We achieved something amazing yesterday and we celebrated overcoming a significant hurdle on our journey,  in our rest town of Pau. After dinner the bar was full, the stories were tall and the hotel ran out of beer! However everyone is being very careful not to drop their guard. We have one mighty stage to go and then 3 stages which will require all our concentration to get through safely. We are a long way from Paris yet.

If cycling was always as good as it was today then our sport would be even more popular than it already is.  We had the most amazing day of high mountain climbing, riding the route of the hardest stage of the 2010 Tour, the so-called ‘Circle of Death’, which took in the four iconic Pyreneean cols of the Peyresourde, Aspin, the mighty Tourmalet and the Soulor/Aubisque.  There was a tangible sense of nervous anticipation outside the hotel, as riders contemplated the enormous task ahead – 120 miles and around 4,500 metres of vertical ascent.  It was going to be a long day, but the weather looked like it was going to be in our favour, with early cloud cover expected to break into warm sunshine later in the day. 

At last after 3 1/2 days of my exposure to the TDF the sun shone on us. Having joined on Stage 1 and 2 and come back to tackle the Pyrenees through to Monday the weather this morning and yesterday’s storm had me worried that I would be thrown off the Tour for being a bad luck charm.  The sun came through in the afternoon and so I get to stay. Wouldn’t miss it.

This was a day that grew in stature as the Pyrenees loomed impressively into view. It started flat, then began to roll and it was only after lunch that it really became exciting. The peloton arrived happy and relaxed into Axat for lunch. The sun was shining and the foothills of the Pyrenees were shrouded in light cloud. A beautiful stretch of road along the river through the Gorges de St Georges followed lunch and the riders geared themselves up for what they knew would be a daunting climb up the famous Port de Pailheres. This was to be their 1^st true Pyrenean climb. What they didn’t know was just what an incredible experience this would turn out to be…

With a 5.30 am start again and some battle worn riders from the previous day it was a very quiet start on the transfer and it was only a matter of minutes before everyone was asleep!The bus arrived at Rodez which was our starting point for the day’s mission. With so many people spending so much time together it is clear that the airs and graces have long since disappeared which Sandy proved changing in the middle of the car park.

This was a cracking day from start to almost finish. There are not many more beautiful part s of the world than the route we took from the vineyards of the Rhone valley, over the Massif Central to Mende in the foothills of the Pyrennees. Unbelievably picturesque, particularly as you look across the valleys from the top of the main climb. Less beautiful of course, if your sunglasses have steamed up and you are breathless beyond measure having climbed the thing on a bike. For an amateur who signed up to this stage having read the guide which described gentle climbs this was a bit of a shock. A 20 odd kilometre “hill” definitely felt like a mountain to me and it will teach me not to trust the bumph written by the professionals.

At the outset, can we put our hands up and say we have only been part of the tour for a mere 2 days, which counts for peanuts [n.b newbies: very good source of energy and replenishes lost salts], and recognise we are in the shadows of some very seasoned veterans. This does make us feel a touch fraudulent, but whoever actually reads this blog,  a) will ask themselves who we are [answer; there’s now only one Rory and one Jim in the team; and if you’re still wondering, the picture below from the Col du Noyer should shed more light] and, b) by the time you read it we will be sitting in a Lyonnais brasserie, feeding our tired limbs with the culinary specialities for which Lyon is uniquely famous. (Anyone who wants to know about the andouillettes need only ask).

After an Epic mountain stage the previous day that saw people drag themselves into the hotel in an often delirious state the 5.45am alarm was probably not what anyone wanted to hear. Today – Chambery to Gap. An hour transfer took us to Chambery and offered us a chance to sleep and run through yesterday’s awards. The Terminator took the tassels for being beaten by a girl in the Mountains and Steve Young took the pig for his Tommy Simpson moment (immediately saying ‘put me back on my bike’, or something to that effect, after a crash with a car in a tunnel).

Stage 9: HC – Huge Climb; Humbling Crawl or Hell Calling?…Reporting in from the hotel bed in St Jean de Maurienne – cold bath ritual completed; hot shower ritual – check; dinner shovelled in. Marvellous. Even more fantastic and somewhat surprising is that we all completed the ‘Queen of the Mountain Stage’ that consists of many alpine climbs. Trust Leader Phil to make it sound like some sort of glamorous regal treasure hunt maybe with prizes, joy and fun bits in there somewhere.

Today is a rest day but not for all of us. With 10 bikes stolen last night the Classic Tours team have been at full stretch filing police reports and sorting replacement bikes for us. Their already busy schedule has been put under considerable pressure and, as always, they are delivering superbly. Huge thanks to them for that. The bike issue is frustrating and to have them disappear before our huge stage on Monday is a concern.

Epic – with all the negative and positive connotations of that one word, probably best sums up yesterdays brutal, elated and terrible journey into the heart of the French Alps by bicycle. The description provided by Phil, our chirpy and experienced Classic Tours Guide on the TDF literature sums the 210km stage from Les Rousses up to Avoriaz via Morzine as “The First of The Mountain Stages” and if this is the first, then God help me on the next three days through the Alps!

Well, what a day.  The cycling was awesome. Today was to be our first taste of the mountains, cycling over five categorised climbs, getting progressively harder thougout the day; Cat 3, followed by 4, then 3 and finishing with three Cat 2 climbs (the lower the number the harder the climb). This is the perfect stage to help us grow our mountain legs without toasting us in the process.

We celebrated Mark Pittaccio’s birthday last night with a candle in a very small cake and a rousing rendition of  “Bon anniversaire a toi”. He made an excellent speech before handing over the Horn and Tassels to Model Sam. The speeches are getting longer and the nights rowdier! The party in Paris could be interesting as alcohol tolerance is getting lower by the day and cyclists are notorious lightweights as it is.

Well  – I have been elected to do the blog for day 4 on the basis I think that I am one of the family (Rick’s big brother) and also I am in and out for one stage so I am getting an outside impression – perhaps also because the hard core riders are ABSOLUTELY knackered! The good things about the stage are that the weather was glorious – lovely sunshine and 22 / 23 degrees – glorious.  We also moved away from grim urban landscapes to really beautiful and uncrowded French countryside.  Lovely villages, very green- picturesque. 

We were up at the crack of dawn this morning in order transfer across to the start of the next stage by bus.  The modern eco-friendly hotel that had been a major plus point at the end of a very hard day yesterday, sadly proved not be very ‘washing-friendly’. All my hard work last night in hand cleaning my kit for the next day was still in a soggy mess in the bathroom.

Oh dear, our Tour Leader is in disgrace. Not Sarah, our Logistics Tour Leader who remains the apple of our eye, but Phil our cycling Tour leader. Here's why..

The six a.m. start is something that we are all going to have to get used to. We rise, wipe the sleep from our tired eyes and curse the railwayline that is 6 meters from our window, the rooms were unbearably hot and there was an antica........pation second only to Christmas morning. No one slept well! A genuinely good full English breakfast was much heartier than our national football teams performance the night before and we settled down to a briefing from our tour leader Phil.

Well we've arrived in Rotterdam and the team is gradually coming together. It feels like the first day at school and all the cyclists are fussing about  like 1st years worrying  about kit, skin lube, day bags, weather, bike, nutrition. Any excuse to worry in fact! Well I am anyway. Given that I've been planning this event for a year and a half you might be forgiven for thinking that I should have thought about all this in advance.  In stark contrast the Classic Tours team are zipping about in a business like fashion which is very reassuring. The Tour de Force van looks very smart with it's WWMT branding.

Welcome to the Tour de Force 2010 Blog!The blog will be the number one way of following the trials, tribulations and triumphs of our epic event. It will be a no holds barred, gloves off expose of what it's like to take part in one the toughest challenges on earth. You will get exclusive behind the scenes access, there will be tears, laughter, pain and joy all captured through the words of our riders, video and photography...