Indoor cycling workout and run technique outdoors

Weather is totally bad at the moment so it was necessary to do a workout on the indoor trainer instead of cycling in the rain and cold. I'd forgotten how difficult it is to race against yourself on the computer controlled "Google Earth" course. Despite being very unmotivated I still managed to get to within a couple of minutes of my best time - but it was a real battle all the way with bucket loads of sweat on the floor by the end.

Working on running technique again and made a better video (though Christiane is still not used to using the camera!) The aim here is to be able to see the stride and all of it's components, posture, lower back, shoulder relaxation, inclination, foot strike, placement of the foot (not far ahead) outside edge of forefoot, pronating inwards and then onto the heel, the reach backwards - pelvis included, the lift of the foot (no push off), the pull forwards with the psoas and the posing of the foot below, the placement of the feet one in front of the other, the active use of the arms to counter the legs - and back to counter the forward body lean, hands held strongly - thumb against forefinger. Used the Bikila Five Fingers today because we were on a smooth surface not a trail or gravel. In this clip I'm not getting enough on the forefoot - especially the right foot is landing more mid-foot instead. The left foot is mostly landing on the forefoot but the heel doesn't always come right down. This is why you have to video things. I'm relatively happy with the rest of it. In reality my technique is a pretty accurate representation of ChiRunning because it is based on midfoot striking. I'm personally more convinced that forefoot striking is better - it just makes more sense. I'm also not totally convinced about the requirement of a forward lean - but I seem to do that naturally just now.

It was extremely interesting working on Christiane's running again. With the technical information we now have at our disposal it's now possible to have an intelligent approach to analysing the activity. I could see that Christiane was tilted too forward at the hips and we then realised that she needed to pull up her pelvis at the front to stabilise the spine. At first she locked the hip joints when trying to do this but was soon able to separate out the various joints involved. She also believed that she had a problem with loose muscles failing to support the sacrum but we were able to identify that it is the same postural problem. Correcting this immediately made her back feel better and allowed the body to function as one unit when running instead of something "broken" in the middle. Working on all of the components was perhaps a bit much to think about but good progress was made. It's amazing the contrast between this intelligent and more importantly "mindful" approach to running compared to the normal relatively thoughtless approach where only goals such as speed and distance are considered. She did have sore calf muscles by the end of a brief workout - so I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who is taking time to adapt to changes.

Natural Running Gait

Was able to explain the difference in running technique to Christiane today and it was stunning to see the change in her. The video below is just me demonstrating the "barefoot" or "natural" gait. You can see even from this short clip how comfortable it looks. The forefoot strike looks completely natural.

 

The weather cleared up a bit in the afternoon and so I managed another climb on the bike - just up to Granier because it was too cold to go to higher altitudes. Excess body weight is really slowing me down on the climbs just now and I'm not managing to really get my heart rate up near maximum. I don't really know what's holding me back there. One positive thing though is that there is a real improvement in stamina and the second or third climbs feel no different from the first. That's a completely new sensation for me and some encouragement and reward for all the training.

During the climb I worked hard at focussing on the core muscles - just like in running. It was interesting to notice that if I imagined that the pedal crank axle was actually running though my hip joints - connecting them - and focussed on continuity of power from there, connecting the push of one leg with the pull of the other - then there was a real shift in fluidity and overall power output. I'm sure that just as with running the key is to move the focus and effort to the core and away from the extremities.

Merrell Trail Gloves Test

Tested out the Merrell Trail Gloves on their first ever run. This has to be the best designed shoe on the planet!

There is definitely less sensitivity to the ground than with the Vibram Five Fingers but this feels just about perfect for trail running - at least to me at the moment it does. It may be the protective plate for the metatarsals that makes the difference, but at no point did I feel vulnerable on the trail.

The blossoms that I was photographing only weeks ago have already transformed into fruit.

It was an Oh My God! moment today when it suddenly dawned on me the significance of "not pushing off with the foot" at the end of the stride. 5 days ago when I did this same run I had 4 days of DOMS so today I tried hard to work on continuing to improve my form. I noticed that in both ChiRunning and Pose technique they say not to push off with the foot - that all the propulsion should come from gravity toppling you forwards. It came really clear to me today - clearer than ever before. Your lower leg muscles are small and tire out fast if used to force yourself. Using gravity instead means that you switch to using the biggest of the core muscles - the psoas - instead, just lifting the leg up and forwards and dropping it back down again. It just suddenly became so clear how I was pushing with the leg muscles instead and how tiring that is. The psoas has much more potential and the only job then is to lift the leg - a big muscle for a little job! The 42 minute run felt like I wasn't running at all it was so easy. I've been running all my life but never felt it so easy before. Don't think there will be any DOMS this time as I felt fine after the run. Either that's due to the body adapting or the improvement in technique. Next run will be a little longer again.

The shoes are fantastic - big toe box so the toes splay out and no contact on the front of the shoes when descending. The rest of the shoe fits like a glove - with no socks necessary. I believed that the shoe was too big to start with but then understood that it's because the design is just so radical. Merrell size small so if you are normally a 41 then you need a 42. I actually have other Merrell shoes that are too small at size 42 yet all my other shoes are either 40 or 41 depending on the brands. My VFFs are 41 and if anything are slightly too large but that's not a problem at all for running. You still have to be attentive to where the foot lands and always strike with the forefoot and then coming down on the rest of the foot progressively. I think that this shoe gives the best of both worlds - barefoot and protected. I still like my VFFs for more feedback though and like the separation of the toes. I think that it's good to have both. All my other shoes are obsolete now!

Daily Grind

All the photos and route data in this blog entry come from the new Sony Xperia Arc smartphone!

Woke up this morning to pouring rain and zero motivation to go out and train. It turns out however that the normal Spring weather pattern - where it is bright and clear in the morning and storm clouds build up in the afternoon  - is currently in reverse. Both yesterday and today it cleared up and warmed up nicely by early afternoon and so I was lured out on the bike eventually. 

The following is a trial 3D panoramic photo from the spot where I stop to relax before the final descent home to Aime. Bourg St Maurice is on the left looking towards the valley - with the view passing though Les Arcs, Peisey, Les Coches, La Plagne, Macot and then out of sight down the valley is Moutiers.

Earlier on I'd climbed up to Peisey Vallandry which is the highest village visible on the left of centre of the photo below. The white peak to the right is the Bellecote - North Face.

Despite working out yesterday evening my legs were still up for a good hard 3hr workout and I was surprised to find that on the second climb up from Bourg everything was still good. Last year I remember trying that and finding my legs to be complete mush. Experimenting with the Endomondo app on the Sony Android phone it was really interesting to listen to the audio feedback cutting in over the music on each kilometre split. This is surprisingly motivating and so each time there is a slow kilometre it makes you aware so you change something to pick the pace up again. This will definitely become a permanent feature of my training from now on. I also wanted to use the headset mic button to control the app but sort of botched that up. The advantage is that you can leave the phone in your pocket and control Endomondo with the mic button just below your chin. One long push pauses the timer and a short one gives a status update with heart rate etc. Bottom line is that you don't need to stare at anything on your handlebars which is pretty useful. The new Sony ear-buds stay in place pretty well too. I've removed the auto-pause from the Endomondo because it was misbehaving a little and prefer this easy manual control. Still not sure if it will export fully correctly over to the Sporttracks analysis software (didn't include auto pauses on other workouts!) but I'll find out soon. The app is not ideal yet as it doesn't give real time altitude data - but I'm sure it will have that soon. For the moment I'll use both the old Garmin and the Android phone until a full transition can be made.

Found that the new Decathlon full carbon racing shoes are 70g lighter (the pair) so that's a bonus - especially as the feet are spinning quite fast at times and extra weight there is not welcome. The ratchet buckle is great and the fit is narrower - a really big difference from the mid range shoe I'd been using - much more direct control and feedback. So glad to have waited until this appeared in the shops because I have needed a second pair of shoes for some time now as when they get drenched in the rain it takes a couple of days to dry them normally. You need two pairs if training regularly but there was no way I could accept paying between 200 and 250 Euros for a cycling shoe. Carbon is cheap not expensive so that standard price is a rip off. Thanks again Decathlon!

Terminator day.

Day started great - finished in hospital!

Merrell Trail Glove

Bought the new Merrell Trail Glove shoe when I finally realised that the size available in the shop was perfect - it's just the design is so radical I wasn't "getting it" to start with. The toe box is so big that you can move all your toes around freely - which is great - but the rest of the shoe is like a glove. They are not as sensitive under the sole of the foot as the Vibram Five Fingers and they weigh slightly more. The VFF is 158grams (per shoe) and the Merrell 186grams - but they will probably do as designed and cope with rough trails better. The people in the shop selling them are totally clueless and had them under shoes meant for water sports - they just can't get their head around a running shoe with no heel springs.

Decathlon competition cycling shoe

I walked into Decathlon and saw one pair of a new full spec carbon racing shoes at only 99 euros (similar spec with a fancy name costs 250 euros) and the pair turned out to be exactly my size. In Merrell I need 42 or bigger in Decathlon bike shoes it's a 40. So much for standardisation.

CO2 gas tyre inflater

Next on my shopping list was a CO2 gas inflater and I found an extremely lightweight one by Zefal. Realising that mini pumps are useless, unless you want to spend 30mins getting your tyre up to 60 psi, I went for the lightest CO2 solution that could be found and got rid of the pump. CO2 gets the tyre up to 125 psi in 5 seconds.

Workout

There appears to be a lull in the horrendous weather so when arriving back home I chose to go out for a workout on the bike with a couple of hill climbs in it. The three day break since Sunday's big race seems to have done me good and despite having serious calf DOMS from the running that hurt when walking there was none of that evident on the bike. Started out by breaking my personal best record up the first hill climb and felt very good once the legs had warmed up. The drop in weight is already paying off big time and climbing feels so much better and more enjoyable. (Was 71kg this morning - and dropping...). 

One advantage with the mega dump of snow and the big storms is that there are a few less insects to collide with on descents. I don't mind them hitting off my skull too much when they go through the air vents on the helmet - as long as they are not still wriggling around up there too long. On most runs recently I've been stung or bitten by something at least once - but today it was the turn of something much more worrying to sink it's fangs into me!

Passing though a little industrial village called Pomblieres there is a connecting road to the foot of the steep 11km climb up to Notre Dame du Pré. One feature of this passage is a house with a garden fence and two aggressive dogs contained behind it - at least one of which is a Doberman. Today as I came around the corner a small boy was heading off in front on his bike. The gate to the house was open because it seems he had come out of there. Apparently they hadn't thought to secure the Doberman because the moment I arrived it shot out across the road in front of me barking and growling. I stopped because I didn't want it to rip my legs apart so instead it reached up and bit me on the forearm as I was still holding the brakes. Fortunately it backed off after that but the damage was done. The owner couldn't have cared less and showed no concern whatsoever other than calling his dog. Unfortunately that's why dogs become uncontrollable - when they have owners with less intelligence than they have themselves. The bite sunk in quite deep through the skin and it bled a reasonable amount plus the hand became a bit hard to use - but the additional adrenaline really helped for the 11km climb and I finished the workout in record time over 4 mins ahead of the previous personal best despite the dog attack. When bitten I was still wearing a thin waterproof rain/wind jacket from the previous descent. Interestingly this jacket is not only waterproof it is dog proof because the teeth didn't penetrate the fabric despite sinking well into my arm - which could have protected me from all sorts of exotic microbes. Unfortunaltey the hospital didn't want to know about that - so it was a tetanus injection in the bum - and the other bum too because the first one didn't work. Plus another tetanus jab in the arm. The bite wound had to be opened up with proper surgery - slicing the skin open to look underneath to inspect the tendons etc. It was exactly like that scene out of the original Terminator film when Arnold has to fix his own arm. Slightly worrying was that it finished in exactly the same way too - leaving the wound wide open. Apparently they never close bite wounds in case there is some sort of infection - they are just left wide open and left to heal like that - despite the hole being somewhat enlarged by an enthusiastic surgeon's scalpel.

Tomorrow morning - off to the pharmacy, infirmary (change dressing) and then the Gendarmerie with the medical certificate to file the complaint. I'm not letting this guy off - even if the dog is terminated - because if nothing is done then the next victim could be much worse off than me. I'm just wondering what's going to get me next when I'm out there.

Born to Run

Yesterday was a "running" day, while the body was still very much in recovery mode from the tough Vercors cycle race a couple of days before.  Last week I'd managed over 30 minutes running with a forefoot strike and there was no traumatic effect on the calves. I'd put that mostly down to improved technique on how to control and modulate the landing of the foot. This time I stepped up the run to over 40 minutes and felt perfectly fine throughout the run which was over a combination of trail and tarmac. Immediately on stopping though I could feel my calves - so this is obviously my current limit. There is definite progress though and the DOMS (Delayed Onset of Muscle Soreness) today are not as bad as I could previously experience from even a 15 minute run like this. The damage done over a lifetime of running and walking with heels and soft shoes is pretty clearly going to take a while to correct in my case.

This was also a day for testing out new technology - the photo of my leathery looking neighbour below was taken on a new smartphone though a protective polythene waterproof bag. Amazingly the touch screen also works though the toughened polythene and the GPS signal is clear.

I really like snails in garlic/persil sauce but apparently they are protected so you can't just scoop them up. They also have to be boiled alive and they really stink - a process which definitively puts me off. If I was starving though then my nomadic neighbour would be in the pot - mobile home and all.

The telephone tracked me accurately with the GPS and dumped the workout over to the internet automatically. I can see that this little device will soon take over as my main piece of training equipment. It even gives audio feedback and coaching with split times on set distances. Taking photographs/HD video or listening to music or incoming telephone calls doesn't interrupt the training. The device even has a built in ANT+ chip that picks up low power digital transmission from sensors - so I collected heart rate from the chest strap and cadence from the foot pod (accelerometer). Google maps are used for tracking in real time and even 3D satellite views can be used. Everything was visible straight away on the internet at home after the workout - including altitude data. Only thing so far I couldn't find was the cadence data. This is all so new though (and free) that I'm sure the programs will evolve rapidly. The telephone can do all of this and it still isn't even active on the telephone network - my new subscription starts in 3 days time. I'm just using wifi at home to set things up - that's all. 3G internet will really bring this thing to life in a few days time.

Just about finished "Born to Run". It's the most entertaining and informative book I've read in a very long time. This is destined to become a real classic. No one interested in endurance sport should fail to read this.

Persistence in training is finally starting to bring its rewards - my body weight just over a week ago was over 73kg and today had dropped to 71.4kg for the first time this year. Early May saw the depressing figure of 74.7kg on the scales - at least 10kg (22lb) over my ideal fighting weight. It's taken a big effort to reverse this upward trend. Interestingly, in the Born to Run book the author is dealing with the same issue and is assured by his coach that increased running distance will take care of his eating habits automatically. This is pretty much what I'm finding. When you do more serious endurance work then your desire to eat completely changes. I don't know why this is so, but you just don't feel the need to fill your face all the time any more. Should note also at this point that my resting heart rate is 40bpm - that should drop considerably as training steps up in the summer.

Woke up this morning (June 1st) to the extraordinary sight of snow dumping down and collecting everywhere on the ground. Yesterday the thermometer was over 30°C outside and this morning it's 3°C. Luckily this didn't happen on Sunday because I don't think I'd have survived racing over the mountains for 100 miles in those sort of conditions

View from home (Aime 700m altitude) this morning around 10:30am ...

Le Challenge Vercors

Le Challenge Vercors 168km 3200m climbing

Result: 222 out of 331 overall. 45 out of 72 category. 06:33:32 hrs, Ave Speed 25.15 kph
Ave HR 148 bpm, 10160 calories, 72.3 kg

The Vercors

The Vercors is an amazing mountain range sprouting up from the plains near Grenoble. It is both wild and inaccessible with steep cliffs and impressive gorges all around. Those qualities made the Vercors a major centre for the French resistance in WW2  - the "Maquis de Vercors" who were destined to distract and slow down the German forces in preparation for D day - but who were ultimately abandoned by the allies and suffered heavy loss of life as a result. Cycling around the Vercors and enjoying the great beauty and majesty of the area it's hard to imagine any of this troubled recent past.

The Vercors appears to have it's own micro climate so despite generally warm weather we awoke to freezing cold and ice on the tents. The beads pictured on the tent below are not water they are solid ice. Normally ice forms crystals and fern type patterns so it was unusual to see round beads like this. One advantage of the ice is that it seemed to shut up the frogs. The same "duck" sounding frogs that were at the Ventoux were also beside this camp site. There was a small stream - passing close by and it was great to see that it was full of trout and life.

Preparation
Finding a place to eat was not a problem here - the only restaurant visible (L'Etale) was empty at 7:30 pm and it was a pasta resaurant. We both opted for seafood salads and then pasta & bolognaise. The quality was excellent for a change at one of those remote venues and I walked out of the place with my stomach feeling distended but very satisfied and set up for the following morning. I'm probably going about this all the wrong way because as usual ended up with gut ache throughout the start of the race - but never bonked - so I don't know. Chris got to watch the European cup final in an empty bar and as much as I found it boring I tried to take an interest. Why does the entire management team sit on the sidelines wearing grey suits and chewing gum constantly with their mouths open? They must be uniformly moronic. Football is not a sport - it's a game and not a particularly good one at that.

It was already chilly walking back to the camp site and tents for the night. Fortunately I'd taken Christiane's advice and put socks on before going to sleep. Apparently sleep is just impossible if your feet are freezing - it seems to be an automatic response of the body. My sleeping bag is down filled although it is a lightweight "summer" one and so my only problem was sweating and condensation inside the bag. Chris in his tent was freezing and didn't sleep apparently - but I heard him stirring at 5:45am and starting to cook his breakfast. I'd cooked my own breakfast at night because I didn't want to mess around with cooking in the morning. The grass and earth was a bit lumpy but I'd stabilised the porridge/banana mix on the gas stove and had it cooking nicely. Turning towards the tent for a minute and then turning back I was gutted to see the stove burning grass and porridge already feeding the worms. Grass being relatively clean it was all scooped  back into the pot and the cooking resumed. At least the most messy job was done and out of the way for morning. 

Morning temperature was 2.5°C at 7am and so it wasn't appealing for the start of the race. It took quite a while for the sun to reach the valley floor where the campsite was situated but even when the sun was up it remained at only 5°C. With clear skies this would obviously change quite soon. Decisions had to be made about what to wear. In the end I opted for no extra clothing - just tee shirt and shorts and it was fine. The adrenaline in the race had me warm within 5 minutes of the start - or at least oblivious to the cold. General tiredness had me feeling slightly cold and shivery until a couple of hours from the end - but I don't think that was due to weather.

Race

There were only two options for distance - either 100km or 168km. Either too short or too long! The only sensible option really was the long course because we are preparing for long races in July anyway. 168km over a mountain range would be a much greater challenge than 86km over the Ventoux the previous week - and that seemed to have stretched me to my limit then. My body was a bit tired from all the training during the week and I did not feel confident at all about racing such a long distance (100 miles) over mountains. Mentally, there was not a lot of positive dialogue going on inside my head - but quite a lot of excuses instead. I could think of many reasons for bailing out but ultimately it would be the best training option no matter how it was looked at. 332 participated in the long course with over 400 in the short course but as usual there was no way of identifying who was on which course. Everyone starts together in a mass start and much later the route bifurcates separating out the competitors. Chris and I started somewhere towards the back of the bunch because due to the cold we had no intention of turning up early. 

Right from the start it was obvious that Chris was on fire and was not suffering from the same negativity as I was. I just stuck close by but couldn't get into it at all - every effort seemed to come against my will. Chris was climbing fast so I just kept by him and we overtook a lot of people in the first couple of hours. My unconscious brain had clearly decided that it was not cooperating with my intentions - it just wouldn't let me get into it - probably due to a combination of tiredness from training and the knowledge that this was going to be a very long day in the saddle hauling excess fat up steep hills. It's like the brain establishes your permissible parameters in advance and there's no way to override it - other than training. Chris had left me behind by about 50m on the second col, just before the major descent off the edge of the Vercors down to the plains below. My extra weight as usual kicked in to good advantage on the descent and I soon caught up and started overtaking everything in sight - including cars and anything else that got in the way. There was one plateau and luckily I'd found a partner to share the work and slipstream but we soon came to the bifurcation and everyone around us went left - on the short course - and I alone turned right into a very long tunnel going downhill. I could see a group in the distance inside the tunnel so that confirmed that no error in direction had been made and so I had to step on it to try to catch them - but they were fast! After the tunnel there were some bends and on each bend the group slowed a little so it gave me the opportunity to gradually catch them without expending too much extra energy. This was an excellent move because eventually we arrived on the flat plains with a long stretch ahead of us and with this group being large I could just tag on the end anonymously and be pulled along. When you are not feeling too good then there is no motivation to go to the front and work hard. Chris had a similar experience at the bifurcation. He was with a good group and they all went the other way leaving him on his own - but completely isolated. He went though the monster tunnel thinking that he'd made a big mistake and was going the wrong way - there were no other cyclists in sight. Eventually Chris was able to spot us from above but my group was by this time half a kilometre ahead of him. Apparently my bright La Plagne colours were visible and he could see me tagging along at the back of the group. Chris wasn't standing for this humiliation so he powered on by himself fighting to catching up with this group - which is extremely hard with no one to provide slipstreaming and a period of recovery for your legs. Arriving at the end of the plains and the bottom of the Col de la Machine - the major climb of the day - Chris caught up with us seconds later. I knew however that at this point I'd have to let eveyone go because I'd not manage to sustain the power output to hoist my excess flab up that hill at the speeds we had been going at without completely exploding. Rather than Chris speeding off ahead I deliberately slowed down to a speed that my body and brain could tolerate - which was not the sort of speed you really need for a race like this. When hovering around 9 or 10 kph on a steep climb then this is survival mode. At 12 to 14 kph that's reasonable. At 7 to 8 kps then you're in trouble. I settled into the 9 to 10 kph mode and still couldn't get any sort of positive dialogue going on inside of my head - it was just going to be an unwelcome grind.

Plateau on the Col de la Machine

Carrying extra weight produces a really disadvantageous power to weight ratio - which is demoralising. People that you can keep up with easily anywhere else just leave you standing still on the steep pitches and there's nothing you can do about it. I slogged all the way up this 12 km climb and then after a small plateau the climb resumed but was not quite so steep. Somehow at this point the feeling of mental "resistance" disappeared and I accelerated up to 14 kph - but not just due to the slightly less acute gradient - it was a mental shift too. From that moment on I was "in the game" or "in the zone" and I have not a clue as to why this should happen after 4 hours of unenjoyable effort. I covered two cols at this higher velocity and then teamed up with a couple of others to fight our way against the wind on the return stretch right up the middle of the Vercors. Half way along this stretch a big steam train of about a dozen riders tore past us - so we jumped onboard and ramped up the speed once again. Now I could rest anonymously at the back again and didn't have to pull at the front. Unfortunately there was a very steep 10km climb still to confront after this long haul. The first 6km were the steep ones and people were off their bikes walking - lying on the ground - grinding to a slow crawl - everything you might expect to see due to exhaustion. I had to slow down again due to the steepness but mentally it wasn't such a struggle as earlier on. I dropped into bottom gear and managed to keep up a good fast cadence trying to spare the muscle power of the legs. Occasionally I'd dropped down to 7 to 8 kph but not for long and managed to stay between 9 and 11 kph. One cyclist overtook me on this climb on a bike with straight handlebars and a very high seat post. I could see that he was pulling up completely on one side at a time - like I did last year. He was young and probably has good back health so was getting away with it - but although it gives much more power it does wreck your back eventually. It was good to be able to recognise the pattern though. During the final 4km of the climb I was able to attack again and catch some of those who had dropped me on the steeps. On the descent from this col I encountered another fast descender and we stuck together for the next 20 km until the end of the race with good pacing and teamwork to get across the flats and climb the remaining more open and faster gradients. I seemed stronger than he did and enjoyed working in front after each recovery period slipstreaming. It felt like an effort that was being rewarded as we wound in two other competitors and dropped each of them behind.

It's a strange feeling making those alliances with complete strangers who you never see again after the race. Part of the attraction of the racing is the party atmosphere - the coming together of people to share and motivate each other. There was a lot of chatter on this course with many a friendly comment from passing strangers.

Chris finished 15 minutes ahead but had seriously bonked during the final climb and couldn't get his heart rate over 110bpm again despite stuffing himself with sweets at the final refreshments stand half way up the climb. I'm glad that I'd moderated my pace because it was enjoyable during the final few hours right up to the finish line - but this wasn't really a conscious decision - I'm not sure what it was. Getting off the bike I felt fine. Last year my legs were often in serious pain for 10 minutes forcing me to sit down - but now even with much greater demands there is no post race trauma like that any more.

The long course was won overall by Nicolas Ogier from the Macot La Plagne club. It's a strange club to be in because it just seems to exist around this one successful rider and his family. There is nothing organised between other members - just the wearing of the La Plagne colours sponsored by the ski station - which slightly offsets the cost of participation.

Lose weight fast!

This week had taught me that I understand absolutely nothing about endurance training. After Tuesday's big workout that removed at least a kilo of fat from my body I was feeling seriously "abused" and thought that recovery would be difficult. Only one full rest day for recovery and then I went out and equalled my own record on a 50 minute hill climb and had the best "sensations" that I've felt all year! Not only that but I'd raced on the Ventoux just two days before that big workout. The previous week when I'd trained less hard I was completely tired out. I really don't get it.

One thing I do get though is how to lose weight fast. One day's really hard workout with about 5000m climbing (16,400ft) and a complete kilo of fat has gone. No mystery to that. Apparently one pound of fat yields 3500 calories so when you do a workout that burns over 10,000 calories then the fat is going to fall off fast. I'll aim for one workout at this level per week now until my weight is reasonable - which for my height is 67kg - but for a pro cyclist would be a shocking 58kg !!!! The scary thing about this information is that only 3500 calories will put on a pound of fat - that's only a couple of kebabs!

Received a new telephone yesterday which I'm hoping will replace the Garmin GPS eventually. It will take a week until the SIM card is active but I tested out the GPS yesterday with the Endomondo app and it was very impressive. This is definitely the way to go. One lightweight device for communication, GPS navigation/tracking, HR, cadence, Power sensor logging, music/radio, camera/video - all simultaneously - and it works! Even more impressive it updates in real time on the internet - so anyone watching at home can see where you are in a race etc. This is obviously the way things will move in the future and even though the apps are a bit primitive just now they will develop rapidly. The telephone is the Sony Xperia Arc, but most of the recent Sony smartphones have ANT+ technology in them - some of the older phones only need a firmware update to activate the chip. I'm not impressed however by the camera technology, but it's reasonable for snapshots - better than any other phone camera I've seen yet, but that's not saying much.

This is  a sample Xperia Arc photo taken during a thunder and lightning storm that cut the workout a bit shorter than planned. I was unable to capture the menacing darkness of the clouds and rain and the detail of the village in the foreground is poor despite the original image being a supposed 8 mega-pixels.

No more cycling now until this weekend's 168km race over the Vercors mountain range. This is going to be a tough one and I can't see myself "competing" over that distance at the moment. It is more likely to make a good training session than a "race". Saying that - if anyone thinks that "cyclosportives" are not really racing then it's interesting to notice that doping tests are now taking place for winners and other targeted individuals. I intend to have a couple of "barefoot runs" in the two days leading up to the race instead of cycling. This should especially give my bum and back a bit of a rest from the strain of sitting on a saddle all day. Last week was the first time ever that I'd managed to run barefoot on two consecutive days without any calve pains at all - plus the times are now at between 20 and 25 minutes per run instead of 12 to 15  - so the adaptation is finally starting to take place. It just feels great running this way.

Just found out from a magazine article that numb fingers/hands on the bike is caused by pressure on a nerve in the wrist. Yesterday on the bike I deliberately changed the grip so that the wrist wasn't "kinked" and sure enough there was no numbness. That's useful to know because my left hand has being going numb regularly and although it recovers quickly when swung around in circles it wasn't clear what caused it in the first place - I'd thought it was due to the shoulder or upper back but it was is fact more direct.

Dark side of the Col de la Madeleine

For some weird reason I got it into my head today to start from home in Aime and cycle over the 2000m Col de la Madeleine, down to La Chambre at the bottom on the other side for a break and then climb back over to return home. Most sensible people are content to climb just one side of this monster - which is a 26km climb from the Tarantaise valley side (home) and an 18km climb from the Maurienne valley side. I was curious as to what would happen tackling both sides though.

On the way up towards the col on the Tarantaise side there is a ski lift at Celliers around 1600m heading East over a ridge to join up with Valmorel ski station. Over the other side of the col on the way down to La Chambre there is a full blown ski station called Saint-Françoise-Longchamp which extends all the way up to the col.

Starting the training session I could feel that my legs were still tired from the Ventoux but gradually that sensation disappeared as the legs warmed up. The legs were probably still tired but I just couldn't feel it any more. The Tarantaise climb is 26km but the steepest part is at the beginning - up to Bonneval. The col is over a range that separates two major glaciated valleys - Tarantaise and Maurienne. Those major glacier flows have produced steep sides to those valleys at lower altitudes and this makes the entry to a passage like this quite challenging. You know that the distance is 26km so you want to attack straight away - but that's a mistake because the steepness just leaves you exhausted and there is nothing left in the legs by the time you reach high altitude. It's best to take it easy for the first six or seven kilometres until it flattens out a little and then pick up speed. Today I controlled the situation quite well and so when nearing the top I was able to avoid exploding - but it still hurt and it was good to get to the summit - where I paused to take some photographs and enjoy the scenery, sunshine and atmosphere.

The restaurant at 2000m is not open yet despite the road being open for a week now. 

This is the classic French business model.

This view is back towards the Tarantaise valley. The sad looking snow plough is probably there for working with the restaurants on the Col during the ski season

The rest of the views are from the Col de la Madeleine towards The Maurienne valley.

Arriving at La Chambre - the town you can see in the photo above, I'd hoped to have a spot of lunch. It was about 2:15pm so it was still early enough and there is a bar/restaurant right at the bottom of the descent which had its menus displayed outside. Asking the woman if I could eat I was greeted with the typical F****d up French response: "NON" - meaning - you can only have a greasy, nasty "croque monsieur" piece of crap to eat. I removed myself from this enterprising restaurant and sat alone on a step to eat two small protein bars and fill my water bottles at a drinking fountain. Surprisingly I didn't feel like eating any more than that anyway so found another bar and had a couple of coffees instead - once the staff had finished eating of course - and grudgingly decided to serve me. I put the extra sugar cubes in a pocket just in case I had a sugar low on the return climb - but in the end they weren't needed.

The climb back up to the col was hard - once again being steep at the start, but now also extremely hot in the baking sun - probably around 34°C out of the wind - which is amazing for Springtime at altitude. The road had been recently patched up which had already meant a hairy descent due to loose gravel all over the place. Now on the climb the tar on the loose chips was wet and they stuck to my tyres like pins attracted to a magnet. It's tough climbing when tired anyway but this sort of irritation can quickly become a torment. I stopped and picked up a twig that could be used to reach down and scrape the tyres clean while riding the bike. This certainly made the situation more tolerable and removed the sensation of being in Fred Flintstone's Flintmobile with half the flint chips on the road becoming part of the bike. From about 1200m altitude the air was cooler and more acceptable, but the flint chips were still uncooperative. About this time I was overtaken by a younger rider heading over towards the Tarentaise. No doubt he had circled around the valley bottoms and was returning home over the col - which is the typical route. He was keeping a good pace, showing up my tired slow pace. I really wanted to shout to him that he was a wimp because this was my second time up the col today - but didn't have the energy. About 3km from the summit I was overtaken again but this time enough was enough and I stepped on the gas. Surprisingly there was something still in the legs. At this altitude however there was a strong headwind each time the road turned to the North West - which was most of the time - plus the incline was averaging around 8% so it was a real battle to the finish - the battle being against the wind not the other cyclist who I'd managed to keep at a stable distance. I discovered last year that when there is 3km to go to the end of a climb you can attack as hard as you like because you can sustain it no matter how tired you feel. It's like the brain decides that it's going to give access to the reserves that it's been locking away until it knows that you can't really do any harm.

All winter I'd worked at developing a riding position that allowed use of the core muscles - particularly the psoas - without destroying my back. It had become clear that you need to contract on the "pulling" side while you extend on the "pushing" side. On the first climb today I suddenly felt the hamstrings during the pulling up phase. The main power was still from the psoas but as the knee flexed it's like the hamstrings started to be activated by reflex. Now I know why people say that the pull up is from the hamstrings. It's the psoas that's the key though - you just feel the hamstrings as more clearly identifiable. My own hamstrings have always been quite weak with all of my sports seemingly prioritising the quads instead. Perhaps this new sensation is due to the hamstrings naturally strengthening due to the new lower position on the bike linked to the "pull up". I know that I can generate more climbing power with the saddle higher and yanking up hard on the pedal with the entire side of the body - but it destroys the back. Perhaps by developing a more all round musculature - including hamstrings - then this situation will gradually change.

The descent back into the Tarantaise was cold due to the the North Eastern ridge on my left blocking out the sun for long stretches. It was time to put on the windbreaker for the first time today. The biggest problem descending was that I couldn't stop yawning. It seemed that all my body wanted to do was to go to sleep now. Arriving at 6 hours in the saddle and everything was starting to hurt, neck, back, hands - everything. My bum was surprisingly okay though - the bum bones were a bit uncomfortable but not as bad as on shorter rides only a few weeks ago. The body adapts quickly. Getting to the bottom of that descent was the second most welcome feeling of the day. Wow it was great to be on something flat again for a while. Off with the jacket and now the intense heat was back and with it a strong thirst - but no water left. At Aigueblanche I passed a water fountain and although it was not indicated whether or not the water was drinkable I had to fill up a bottle and drink. The other option was to head for a shop because they were still open, but I really wanted to press on and get home plus I hate the idea of leaving an unguarded bike outside any shop. That's probably the biggest advantage of training with others - there is more security in every aspect. I drank the water and pressed on. Several kilometres later when passing through Moutiers I started to feel indigestion - a heartburn feeling. That never happens to me on a bike so I guess the water was not good after all. Thirst overcomes all inhibitions though and when essential I had another mouthful - there was still a fair amount of climbing to go to get home but in the end I only drank half the bottle. All I had wanted since passing the col for the second time was to get home and the last stretch seemed like the longest. After 7hrs 24mins in the saddle and feeling pretty horrible it wasn't even a joy to finally arrive - the body felt terrible even off the bike now. Clean sweetened drink, a couple of biscuits and a shower and already the body was starting to recover. About 30 minutes after arriving home I felt fine, but the body was generally throbbing - especially the "core" which is probably a very good thing. Sleep was easy coming but as usual when the body has a lot of repair and building to do it didn't last all night. It'll take a few days to get over this one - which was almost the equivalent of the extreme "La Marmotte" in terms of climbing and time. The goal here though is to get the body to adapt to such demands PRIOR to entering any such competitions in future; In other words: "Train Hard, Race Easy!"

Note: After burning over 10,500 calories on this ride it was no surprise to wake up the following morning a kilo lighter. It's interesting though that this doesn't make you more hungry it makes you less hungry.

Mont Ventoux - Froggie Odyssey

Mont Ventoux, the Giant of Provence - what an exceptional venue for the first race of the season! Scary to begin with such a monster climbing event though.

Preparation

The van is dead so the carefree days of just turning up and sleeping in a nearby car park are over at least for the time being. Organisation and timing were required instead of spontaneity - but that's probably a good thing. Expenses are quite high for those events if you want to do them regularly - 70€ fuel, 50€ road tolls, 35€ entry fee - if you add to that food and accommodation it's not really sustainable to be doing this every week. I decided to help reduce the cost by camping - and for only 36€ bought a "pop up" tent. The design of the tent is quite incredible, a really excellent piece of design making basic camping simple and rapid. One slight worry however was a rather large notice inside the tent stating "This Tent Can Burn" - I guess this is a risk you take when you buy a cheap tent made in China.  

Driving alone without someone to read a map for you is when the GPS really does help. The distance was 336km and due to leaving at 3pm on Friday and the camp site closing at 7pm it meant that I couldn't hang around. Negotiating the speed traps is perhaps the worst part of driving in France - even on the expensive toll roads the gendarmes are out with mobile units trying to boost their income at your expense. Driving has simply become unpleasant since speed traps started to appear everywhere - you can't focus on driving because you have to be paranoid about your speed and forever looking at the speedometer. Arriving with plenty of time to spare I staked out my spot at the municipal camp site of Beaumes de Venise a beautiful ancient village where the race was to begin at 08:30am the following morning. Camps sites like this don't take advance bookings so if you are working on Friday there is no way that you can turn up late in the evening and get access - this is the classic way that the French do business - making it as awkward as possible. I popped up the tent and went into town to sign up for the race. The emplacement next to mine had a camper van with an enclosed awning, table, chairs and even flowers. There's something completely incongruous about domesticating a camp site location to this extent. Unfortunately camping in the wild is pretty much forbidden throughout France. There should be a law allowing anyone to put up a tent anywhere for a night - as long as they move on the next day.  

Local small businesses do well out of those events with several hundred people attending over the weekend. Regardless of this fact - as usual - it was impossible to find a restaurant willing to adapt and provide meals that would permit carbohydrate loading. Everything was meat and sauce oriented. Eventually I had to settle for a pizza. One thing really hits home in this area of France and that is despite its great beauty and warm climate it is very poor. The only business in the area (other than tourism) seems to be the vine yards and wine making - which doesn't seem to sustain a whole population. You wouldn't want to leave your car parked alone with all you gear in it for too long and it feels more like being in a dodgy banlieu of Marseille.

The bike was fully prepared in advance with the only requirement being to pump up the tyres to 110psi in the morning and oil the chain with special nano tech oil - which I'd left off for transporting the bike in the car. Racing tyres and tubes were fitted in advance and the gears adjusted to operate smoothly.

My Garmin Forerunner 305 is starting to have battery problems so to be sure I'd brought my laptop to use for charging the unit. In the tent I ended up leaving the computer operating on standby all night so that it properly had the GPS unit charged in the morning. I don't think I'll buy another Garmin because not only do they not upgrade firmware as well as they could but they have put this unit on the market without the ability to change the battery.  The Garmin also computes distance using horizontal distance and not slope distance - basically it doesn't take GPS altitude into account when computing distance. This isn't a problem where there are long inclines but when topography is very changeable then it does accumulate a significant error. The 305 can record distance from an odometer sensor but the idiotic Garmin engineers did not allow the unit to record distance from both GPS and odometer so that comparisons could be made - likewise when you enter a long tunnel the GPS stops but the odometer can't take over. Garmin=Stupid Design. The dedicated cycling GPS units look quite impressive but the maps are really expensive and I don't even want to find out what level of stupidity Garmin has engineered into them. We'll just have to wait until smart phones evolve a little more and then Garmin is dead. The latest Sony Xperia Arc phone has a built in Ant+ chip for working with sports sensors - heart rate monitors etc.

Before going to bed I cooked my porridge and mixed the chocolate high energy goop so that there was no work to be done in the morning. Almost immediately on going to bed (on a good thick auto inflated expedition mattress) there was a loud cacophony of what sounded like demented ducks or geese. The noise was loud but tended to die away after a while - it wasn't constant. I imagined a duck pond close by and perhaps a fox or cat tormenting them - but then an owl joined the chorus. Eventually it seemed that the owl would start hooting and then the ducks would react. Something else flew overhead making a sharp rasping sound but I've no idea what it was. It was to this ongoing symphony that the night passed in an uneasy sleep awakening at 6am to a bright clear day, an hour before the set alarm.

The sky was so clear that it was worth the risk to leave any extra clothing behind even though the Ventoux is almost at 2000m altitude (from 85m at Beaumes de Venise). This would be the first race wearing the colours of La Plagne and all that was needed in the pockets were a couple of small energy gels and a spare tube. The two 500ml water bottles had a protein/energy/isotonic mix added. It was the first time using new Camelbak bottles. Camelbak have as usual stepped well ahead with design - the bottles were great. No more opening and closing - they remain permanently open but only release liquid if you squeeze or suck - plus there is a lock that makes them properly drip proof for transporting. The plastic is also free of the harmful ingredients for which hard plastic bottles have developed a bad name recently - and along the same lines there is no plastic "taste". I also appreciate that the filling hole is wider than normal which makes it much easier to ladle powder mixes into.

Race

Prior to the race it's important to take some time to warm up the muscles. The problem is that if you do this close to the time of the race departure then you are guaranteed to be behind several hundred others at the start. If you go to the start too early then you have a long wait and the muscles cool down. During the warm up I could feel that my legs were not strong. Only two days earlier I'd been ridiculously slow on a climb but continued just to keep the legs working. It had been impossible to recover from a monster workout on Monday. I'd been hoping that the legs would still recover in time but although they were a lot better they were not great. The start was divided into two groups - those on the long course (about 300) would begin in front and the rest behind (about 350). I ducked under the tape and joined about a half way though the second group because I had opted for the short course, this being the first race of the season and my training not going very well so far. Basically I was confident that I'd find fast enough people to work with regardless of where I started and because over an 86km course it would climb about 2700m, it would be mostly up and down anyway, so slipstreaming isn't so important. The timer was electronic and attached to the bike frame.

The start of the race was fairly uneventful - no pileups or crashes, perhaps because it began straight away with a climb. There would be about an hour of riding with one col to pass before arriving at the foot of the 20km climb up Ventoux itself. I remember one woman dressed in rose and white starting just ahead of me and was interested because she had a much faster cadence than most and seemed to be doing well due to her light body weight or good power to weight ratio. Unusually for me I don't recall much of that first hour of cycling except that I already noticed a tendency for me to overtake a lot of people on the descents and then for some of them to catch up again on the climbs. That's what happens when you are too fat! The weakness in the legs was also noticeable during some of the climbs near the start - but not disastrously so. This was also the first ride this year over one hour where my heart rate would average 83% (158bpm). That was the average over almost 4 hours so this was really ramping things up a lot. Both the increased intensity and the leg weakness would be hidden to a large extent simply by the adrenaline created by the race. That first hour involved a lot of overtaking in general - perhaps catching a lot of the slower people who were heading out on the long course which only split off after the upcoming Ventoux climb.

Shortly after the start of the Ventoux climb the woman in rose and white from the start overtook me again and this time I was not going to be able to stay in contact. Most people who passed me however were only crawling ahead of me and not opening up too big a gap. In general I was holding my own quite well. The pizza from the evening before was still giving me a sore stomach which was not aided by all the rest of the carbo loaded junk I stuffed myself with in the morning. The feeding strategy, however unpleasant, seemed to pay off because there was no need to eat during the race and no loss of concentration or hypoglycaemic dip. Drinking the sugary/protein mix however did cause me to burp a bit - but it's simply hard to drink when you can't relax your output level. About the only time you can relax properly is when slipstreaming on flatter ground - and there wasn't any of that until about half an hour before the end of the race.  Near the middle of the climb the gradient hits 11% and stays like that for 3 kilometres. It's probably this section that gives the Ventoux its fierce reputation. One bystander, intending to encourage me announced "c'est plus facile aprés" which when directly translated says "it's easier after". I replied to him "It's always easier 'after'!" Quite a few people commented on the "La Plagne" club colours as we passed - always friendly of course. One guy on seeing the name as I overtook him said that I'd be able to climb this "tout seul" - that it would "happen by itself". However I could feel the lack of strength in my legs so just focussed on compensating as best as possible through good technique and keeping good efficient form. Quite a lot of people were cracking, clearly dropping back or actually stopping. I knew there was no danger of that for me, but was just disappointed at my lack of conditioning, uncomfortable stomach, over large stomach and slight kidney ache. The last few kilometres near the summit are tough because you can see them way above you and my legs were just starting to tie up by this time, plus there was a slight headache that goes along with prolonged over-exertion. To my own surprise though I got up off the saddle and accelerated for the last few hundred meters overtaking several others who had been grinding slowly past me on the way up. It's amazing the reserves that can remain when you think that you are done. Passing over the top there was a sense of relief more than anything else. 

It takes me a while to recover enough from climbing to be able to drink properly so I just focussed on catching people up and overtaking - especially on the bends. Most people cannot judge corners very well - perhaps they don't get much practice. Some guys are fearless descenders and can leave me behind - but they are few and far between. During the descent on the main road I overtook perhaps a dozen riders, until the bifurcation for the two courses. When we hit that point I was suddenly abandoned on my own - the group that was around me were all going on the long course. For a while I continued the descent alone and then someone ripped past me on a gentle gradient so I accelerated and slipstreamed until we got to the main descent and narrower winding roads. This guy was a good descender so I was happy to sit behind him. He couldn't judge the bends very well though so while he pedalled like mad to get ahead on the straights I'd just relax and get right back up to him on the tight bends. He had a good attitude though and didn't hesitate in overtaking cars and any obstacles that might have slowed us down. Overall we tore past another dozen riders who had not been even visible ahead of us prior to this section of the descent and a tidy group formed for working together on the plateau ahead. The group turned out to be quite fast and this really upped the pace on the return leg - until we came to another col to climb over. There was a lone rider ahead who must have been quite strong and we had been catching him gradually but he was good enough to keep us at bay. Eventually on the climb I knew that I just couldn't keep this pace up and had to let the group slip away. They caught up with the lone rider a short while later and all pulled away together during the climb. I was happy to let them go because it was just overdoing it too much for me to stay with them - even if the climbs were likely to be quite short. Before reaching the top I saw that even the lone rider had been left behind by the charging group. 

Looking around me there was no one behind so I felt that I'd be completing the course on my own now having lost the group - but surprisingly only seconds later just before the top of the climb I was overtaken by a guy who kept on looking behind. I'd jumped on his tail to try to motivate myself up the rest of the climb but he didn't seem to want to cooperate and work together. Eventually his partner caught up and this was what he was concerned about - he didn't want to team up with anyone else but her - yes - it was the woman in rose and white again. Somewhere along the way - I'd overtaken her again and didn't even notice. She couldn't have pulled that far ahead then on the climb up Ventoux. There was a young guy in tow behind her so for a while I pulled in behind them and we completed that small climb together. It was boiling hot now and though I was feeling a bit thirsty it was hard to drink much just because of the exertion level. Descending on the other side it became clear that she was afraid of the tight bends and couldn't keep any speed up so I had to leave them and go ahead. Later at the next small col the situation repeated itself, this time the narrow descent taking us onto the main road and about 5km from the finish. Coming around a corner I found a long straight road ahead, perhaps 2km long and directly into the midday wind. I attacked as hard as possible sensing that the finish was close but after a while it felt like climbing up the mountain again just from driving into the wind. I could see the lone rider way ahead now, probably about 500m and even the group that had dropped us was still visible. Just then the team behind me came ripping past with the guy pulling the woman in rose and white at a good speed and also another two strong riders who had joined them. Clearly they were able to work together on the flat and really ramp up the speed. I stepped on the gas immediately and got in behind - it was a major acceleration. By the end of the straight we had almost caught the lone rider but now entering a build up area there were some tight bends to negotiate and the woman was struggling again. This time the other two young guys pulled away and left the rest of us. I didn't want to get stuck behind the woman who couldn't turn so put my hands on the drop bars and sprinted to bridge the gap to the young guys and made it - ramping my heart rate up to 175bpm for the first time in the race. They were now on a mission to get to the finish and about 200m from the end we overtook the lone rider who was a bit disturbed to lose three places right at the end but he had nothing left to give. Only tactics and some luck got me past him in the end. I came in 16 seconds ahead of the woman in rose and white but was very happy with that because she had her own personal team assisting her for the whole race. Ultimately, my climb was 12 minutes slower than last September but I had been 7 kilos lighter then and had the entire season behind me, plus I'd had a bad few weeks training recently and still had breathing problems from the cold virus. This time with all that extra weight was probably a better performance than last September - but it's made me decide to never let this weight problem be an issue in future. I'll get rid of this fat and not let it come back again. 

About half an hour after the race when talking with my neighbour in the camp site - the domesticated one, (who turned out to be English) I started to have some minor breathing difficulties. It was the sort of asthmatic feeling that occasionally hit me after a very hard sprint. It was stiflingly hot and I was dehydrated despite drinking half a litre of diluted orange juice. I'm certain that the brief breathing trouble was caused by hyperventilation. I'd noticed myself breathing poorly and rapidly through the mouth during the race. This has been going on since that viral attack in April but I'll have to focus on nasal breathing for a while now to sort this out.

Results

126th out of 363 on the short course and 17th out of 74 in my age group in 3hrs 57:45mins. That's reasonable for the first race of the season and it will get better from here on in. 

Nicolas Ogier, also from the La Plagne club was 11 minutes behind me! However he was on the long course - about 50km longer!!! He came 4th overall on the long course. He is as skinny as a rake though and probably doesn't need a house because he lives on his bike.

Leaving the camp site I asked the attendant what sort of birds were making all that noise at night and she asked me if it sounded like ducks. I answered yes so she corrected me and told me it wasn't birds at all it was frogs! Unbelievably they sound exactly the same and because this is their mating time they are at it all night.  There is a river runs beside the camp site and it used to be used for swimming - an old photo from the 60s in the camp site office shows how it was back then. Now there is a dam upstream and swimming is forbidden - isn't it typical how good things get destroyed? It must be a million times better to swim in a river than some horrible chlorinated town swimming pool. Perhaps that's what the frogs were making such a fuss about.  French people must eat them because they think they are ducks. I suspect that the owls were also eating the frogs and perhaps the high pitched squawk was a frog flying off in the talons of an owl. (Please note that those frogs do not "croak, croak" as they do in the UK - they go "quack, quack")

Driving home I thought about eating some chocolate covered protein bars and fruit that I'd brought along with me. Stopping at a petrol station I had a look for the insulated bag that they had been stored in but just couldn't find it - though I was sure about leaving nothing behind in the camp site. Searching back in my memory the last place it was seen was inside the tent - because it had better ventilation than the inside of the car. It then dawned on me that when I'd folded up the amazing pop-up tent all the squidgy food had been left inside it. In fact I'd knelt on top of it forcefully to compress the tent into its small packing case. Perhaps this could start a new trend where not only is the tent pop-up but all the contents along with it. I did have the impression that my domesticated neighbours were that sort of product anyway.