Supplements

Two days since the monster St Carlos ride and I unexpectedly felt like a blast up to La Plagne –  4,600ft climbing. Normally this would still be a recovery situation so that was unusual to start with. The climb straight up to La Plagne is pretty soulless and it can feel like mental torture grinding your way up there and that’s what I expected. Instead, the feeling was good both physically and mentally. The only thing that appears to have changed all of this is the food supplements. There was no tiredness following the St Carlos ride and recovery seemed to just happen quickly. Today I started consuming the potion every 20 minutes from the start. 90 grams this time – a bit higher consumption rate than the last time. Salt was slightly reduced  due to there being less heat and much more lemon juice was added. It tasted delicious and was easy to swallow. Amazingly the climb pace was close to a personal best despite being overweight. All very odd that only changing feeding during workouts can make such a dramatic difference – but so far this does appear to be the case. Once again there has been no sleepiness to follow the workout. I read that EPO is supposed to give an improvement of 5% to elite athletes. Just mixing maltodextrin and fructose and making it easy to use seems to have given me about 50% improvement.

I also read that amphetamines give about 5.5% improvements. That means that all the athletes before the Lance Armstrong era were getting an even bigger advantage from doping! The hypocrisy in using him as a sole scapegoat is just unbelievable. Every French cycling hero that existed should be dumped or they should back off and reinstate all the rest including Armstrong.

Blood Sugar, Fatigue

Colle St Carlos

Yesterday was the first really big “climbing” ride of the year with 3100m accumulated climbing including the steep Colle St Carlos in Italy. The start of the workout was my “recovery” ride from last week’s race because I hadn’t been out once since. Despite resting for a week after cramping the legs enough to hurt the muscles for the next four days the legs were not responding to begin with so the first climb – 30k up to 2200m altitude from Bourg St Maurice to the Col de Petit St Bernard was just a warm up. It’s not like there was a choice. My heart rate stayed around 145bpm and the legs slowly got used to working again riding all the bad memories out and getting the blood flowing again.

“DOF”

The day was never going to be easy for a combination of reasons – lack of fitness, excess weight and slightly inappropriate gearing. My small chain wheel is 36T instead of 34T and being oval it’s equivalent to pushing a 38T on the down stroke. I’m about 10 kilos overweight just now and not working out nearly as much as I should. Part of the reason however for not training is the demotivating effect of tiredness. People talk about “doms” – delayed onset of muscle soreness – but strangely they don’t have an equivalent term for tiredness; for which I suggest – “dof” – delayed onset of fatigue.  A lot of people seem to get this, which renders them practically useless for the rest of the day after endurance exercise. Problems often begin during the exercise not just after. The first sign is a dull headache and then an inability to concentrate, a sort of “brain fade”; another of my personalised terms. Normally this leads to a plodding pace which could go on forever but which proceeds in a dense fog of negative thoughts and feelings. Sometimes there is no sign of fatigue during the workout, especially if it is short, but then an hour after completion you just fall asleep or become unable to concentrate of anything. There is almost a state of complete forgetfulness induced – as if you were drugged. This doesn’t seem to affect everyone the same way and is probably a result of differences in metabolism. There may also be psychological factors – not regarding the tiredness but regarding the stigma of discussing it. How can you possibly  be a “hard case” if you fall asleep systematically after your workouts? Better to call it a “nap” and pretend that it’s normal and a choice! Not so easy if you have a demanding intellectual program ahead of you though – like studying music or writing – which ends up being completely forgotten about.

The answer is too simple – food!

During yesterday’s monster session there was no headache, no brain fade, no stomach cramp, no fog of negativity and especially no “dof” – delayed onset of fatigue – despite the session involving 6 hours of intense heat in the sun and temporary cold in the wind at the high altitude mountain passes. After finishing at 7pm the rest of the evening until 2am was energised, not tired. What made the difference? The answer is too simple – food!

Exercise draws blood away from the gut and curbs your appetite. Add to this the difficulty of swallowing and breathing when running or cycling and cause of the situation regarding food begins to become more obvious. Once fatigue sets in and concentration becomes difficult then even the simple act of reaching for a gel in a pocket, opening it with your teeth and trying to swallow it seems like a strangely insurmountable task.  Gel is a pretty horrible goop at the best of times and humans don’t normally like things that resemble frog spawn so I have no idea why they add soluble fibre to make “gels”. Eating solid foods is even harder. The athlete tends to simply ignore the issue or delay eating as much as possible and keep it to a minimum. Often in a long workout only a few small gels are consumed. Adding powders to water bottles can be complicated and also drinking sticky water eventually becomes unpleasant. Gels and energy bars are stupidly expensive too – another reason to avoid them. Stuffing yourself with porridge and flapjacks just leads to a bloated gut and you can only really manage that a few hours before a session and not during it. So what’s the answer to all of this? Make your own energy supplements!

Perhaps after many years or a lifetime of training the body adapts to low sugar levels but for most mortals we don’t seem to have the means of getting to this point without sacrificing everything. It’s not even clear if such an adaptation actually takes place – but the body usually does adapt in positive ways to exercise. meanwhile the answer does appear to lie in food supplements and how they are delivered. Research appears to have converged on a certain formula of sugars – analysed for improving performance, but from my own brief experience giving a stunning solution to the “fatigue” problem. The problem is multifaceted in that it concerns:

1. rate of absorption of carbohydrates from the gut
2. quantity of absorption of carbohydrates from the gut
3. metabolic processes
4. ease of consumption
5. motivation for consumption.

First of all here is the recipe: all ingredients can be bough online at www.myprotein.com 

Flexible flasks with nipples that can be opened and closed with the teeth can be bought from www.raidlight .com or other more compact reusable ones can be found at www.wiggle .com sold with supplements inside (squeezy lemon)

Per hour/flask:

• 60 grams maltodextrin (High glycemic index 150)
• 30 grams fructose (Low glycemic index 19)
• 2 grams sea salt (Guerande – for quality)
• 0.4 grams multivitamin/mineral (50% RDA – to be reduced if more than two flasks are to be consumed))
• 0.2 grams caffeine (50% RDA – to be reduced if more than two flasks are to be consumed)
• Lemon Juice to taste
• Water – (total mix volume approx. 110ml) leave overnight to dissolve completely after stirring

 

Rate of absorption of carbohydrates from the gut

The two different sugars are absorbed in the gut through different pathways. It appears that Fructose is not completely understood in this respect. Maltodextrin is glucose molecules chained together. Both glucose and maltodextrin have the same rate of absorption (GI 150) but maltodextrin has one specific advantage – it requires only 1/6th of the water that glucose needs to be absorbed. This water requirement becomes critical when trying to avoid stomach bloating and pains during exercise. (Another name for glucose is dextrose.) The fructose (GI 19) is absorbed much more slowly.

Adding electrolytes to water causes the water to be absorbed more rapidly. Whether or not that causes the sugars to also be absorbed faster is not clear. What is clear is that you don’t want water bloating the gut for any reason. Electrolytes apparently won’t slow rate of absorption of carbs.

Quantity of absorption of carbohydrates from the gut

With the two sugar" digestion processes being different it allows the body to assimilate up to 90 grams of carbohydrates per hour total compared to the usual maximum of 60 grams. No doubt this also has an effect when smaller quantities are being consumed – simply being a more efficient absorption process.

Metabolic Processes

Maltodextrine (glucose) uses insulin when being metabolised. A rapid release of glucose into the blood will cause an insulin spike and then be followed by a blood sugar low due to excess insulin. One way to prevent the fluctuations in blood sugar is to keep up the intake of carbs every 20 minutes once you have started to use them. Fructose does not use insulin when being metabolised. Having a steady input of slower absorbed fructose should act to stabilise blood sugar levels regardless of what is going on with the glucose. Interestingly, when excess glucose is consumed it is converted into subcutaneous fat but fructose is converted into fat around the internal organs.No doubt that is why high fructose drinks such as sodas cause a big belly.

Ease of consumption

Gels are very expensive and difficult to use. Tubes end up thrown on the ground during sports events and anything that goes back into the pocket with an unsealed opening will make a seriously sticky  mess. Packets of gel are really difficult to open with the teeth and have to be consumed entirely. Food bars have similar issues – which could easily lead to loss of control of a bike at higher speeds or through hitting a pothole while attention is distracted. Gels can be horrible in the mouth due to their consistency and solid foods can seem to be too dry and difficult to chew and swallow. Reusable squeezy flasks are really easy to use and mess free. Bulk ingredients for supplements are cheap. Mixing with water only makes a runny liquid that is both compact and very easy to swallow in any desired quantity. When kept apart from drinking water the water bottles can be simply full of refreshing water. Each time you swallow some supplement you can take a drink of fresh water to clear the mouth and provide the water for digestion. Due to the maltodextrin there is no need to drink excessive amounts compared to when using glucose (dextrose). This makes the entire organisation simple and flexible. Even for those who have trouble drinking plain water (me) this issue is dealt with due to the sugar sill in the mouth.

Motivation for Consumption

When you know there is no expense, no difficulty, no mess and swallowing is easy then you feel encouraged to make the effort to consume the supplement according to protocol – that means “even without hunger or thirst”. You know that it will make life much better for you later on during the workout and in the recovery period. Flavouring can be added to taste with lemon juice being ideal but also freshly squeezed orange juice. Electrolytes can be altered to taste. Isostar provides 800mg of sodium per hour – which is the equivalent of 2 grams of sea salt. I use sea salt because it has no additives and still has its trace elements such as iodine, zinc, potassium and magnesium. This is quite a lot of salt replacement and so probably erring on the high side. It makes the supplement taste like toffee but doesn’t spoil the taste. If the weather is colder then clearly this can be lowered because there will be less sweating and water replacement needed – so as well as being able to adapt flavouring to your needs you can also modify the contents appropriately. This makes the whole system much friendlier, more relevant and more suitable.

Conclusion Regarding Food

Just a short spell with using this procedure has demonstrated a remarkable difference. Instead of being dominated by blood sugar induced fatigue during performance the limit is now simply fitness. After the race or training session there is a feeling of energising instead of the dreaded “dof” and consequent zombie act.

Cycling Technique

Chi-Cycling technique has now become the default coordination for me. In the past the monster Colle St Carlos circuit has always brought on some manifestation of sciatic issues for me – usually loss of feeling on the outside of my left foot – related to an old and failed lower back operation. Yesterday, despite forcing as hard a possible in sprints during the downhill sections in top gear and labouring on the steep St Carlos there were absolutely no issues with the back. This is clearly completely down to technique. The transfer of upper body weight over the pedal also removes all the weight from the other pedal automatically – so it’s easy to mistake the Chi coordination for a simple displacement of the upper body – but the motion is much more sophisticated and specifically involves the core muscles.

Resonance

Climbing the steep St Carlos with gear ratios that were not big enough (for my weight) posed an interesting problem. It became clear that rather than resorting to inefficient weaving on the road it would be better to focus on more efficient pedalling. Correct coordination of the hips – pulling back the hip on the side where the foot is pushing forward at the start of the stroke (apparently moving the body over to that side) – made it possible to keep constant and smooth pressure on the pedals – one taking over immediately from the other. This smooth pressure would prevent little accelerations and decelerations – very critical to efficiency on a steep climb. The oval Rotor 36T chain wheel seemed to help organising this process a great deal – because the oval form causes a significant reduction in the size of the dead spot between each push. This is supposed to allow you to train the more appropriate muscle groups. It’s certainly easier using a 34T chain wheel but the oval 36T is probably much better than a standard 36T – even though it’s acting effectively as a 38T during the smooth and constant pushing.

The key to all of this appears to be “resonance”. It’s not about using force, it’s all about timing. Resonance is where the effect of a small impulse in a system is amplified – because it is in tune with the system. When effort is out of tune, even slightly, then most of the energy is simply absorbed and wasted. Instead of using force and strength it seems more important to be sensitive to tuning in to the system.  When the timing of the push (forward then down) is correct then it all connects up through the core muscles and there is a continuous muscle activity involving the whole body – especially the largest muscle groups. This allows a sort of overall relaxation instead of a fighting because there is no stress focusing on isolated muscles. There is a sort of relaxing spread of effort over all the muscle groups. If you watch the climbers in the Tour de France and in the time trials you see an enormous amount of body motion. People always criticise this but the best riders performing at their best do exactly this. This year on his historic victory on Mont Ventoux Chris Froome looked like a fish wiggling his way up there. They do not immobilise the body – especially the hips and pelvic area.

La Bourgui 2013

Motivation

Cold bugs, lack of training and excess weight made the thought of participating in the brutal Bourgui less than appealing. This is one of those races that attracts only a small field of enthusiasts. In the past I’ve only tackled the long course which passes down into the valley and then climbs up and down to a total of three ski stations – utterly destroying you. This time, not being in such good shape, the only option was the short course of 80km with about 2000m climbing. The reason for participating is simple. There is no better way to get motivated for pushing yourself hard and improving fitness. Racing is just an enhancement to training. Too many people take their results too seriously. Sure, the results are important, but only as a motivational factor. There has to be a mental dissociation between the stimulus of racing and the utter meaninglessness of the actual results. If results are taken too seriously then obsession sets in and it always has a destructive element. Those winning become stupidly egotistical and those losing become discouraged and give up. It’s fun and that’s all there is to it – unless of course you chose to make a living from it. My motivation for racing is that it helps to keep my body and brain functional – and to keep doctors well away. It’s fun and it’s shared by nearly everyone participating.There are a few around who don’t get it, but not many.

Race Start (8am) - Saint Martin de Belleville 1450m – Ski Station

For once this race would not begin amidst thunder, lightning and torrential rain. It was a T-shirt day even at 7am at St Martin de Belleville (1450m altitude) where we started only 7.5km down the road from Les Menuires. The following night brought major thunder storms but for once the Bourgui would be in sunshine – which of course brings its own challenges. Personally heat doesn’t bother me, cold does, so I was happy. I was also under no illusion about how difficult this short course was going to be. Even the descent to Moutiers at 530m altitude involved long “faux plat” sections which meant working very hard from the beginning. In fact the start is a 1km steep climb – when you are not even properly warmed up. This climb is to sort out the pecking order from the start and to avoid a totally mad pack of cyclists with different levels all bombing straight downhill together and ending up in a heap at the first hairpin bend.

The Descent to Moutiers

The problem with descending at up to 70 km/hr is that there is only one proper safe racing line through a tight turn – which is exactly the same as that for a racing car. You have to start from the outside, cut the apex close to the inside and then go back to the outside to finish. It’s also advisable to get all of your weight on the outside pedal (same as in skiing) and not on your saddle – if you want to be able to stay upright in the event of a skid. The road isn’t closed so this line is not always possible of course but when you can see clearly then it’s the safest and fastest option. Unfortunately not everyone is aware of this so often when you move to the outside some muppet will try to cut to your inside – with the risk of skidding, a “toute droite” or failing to brake and taking you out in the process. The least effect it has on you is that you are forced off your line and have to go all the way round the outside of the bend. The safest way to tackle tight bends then is to start from the outside and then only cut to the apex if there is nobody to your inside. If there is someone to your inside than you will still be faster because he will have to brake a lot more. The danger is real. Already this year one cyclist died on the descent from the Glandon during the Marmotte – and that descent was already neutralised for safety reasons. On the Tour de France there was also serious carnage on that same descent. It’s always a sense of relief when you get to the bottom of a fast descent fully intact no matter how brave you are when the adrenaline is up..

Moutiers is right at the apex of the Tarantaise valley system. “Tarantaise” is very difficult to define. It appears to encompass everything including the Three Valleys (Val Thorens, Meribel, Courchevel) and Pralongion, and then the Haute Tarantaise with  La Plagne, Les Arcs , Tignes and Val d’Isère. This is perhaps the world’s premiere ski area but it’s seldom seen in this geographical context all put together.

Valley circuit

There is a long stretch along the valley from Moutiers to Cevins where drafting would be essential – both there and back. Prior to this there is a 200m climb towards Naves. 200m is a short climb, but not when you are trying to go fast to stay with a peloton. Managing to stay with a fast group would be rewarded by a good speed inside the peloton for the rest of the valley circuit. I knew that this would destroy my legs but didn’t care. Going slow is not and interesting option and although unpleasant it’s always better to go too hard than to regret not trying hard enough at the end. Those who are sensible and know their limits do their best to avoid pulling in front of the group but I managed to make the mistake of ending up in front several times. Eventually it became clear that I couldn’t stay with the group on the small hills if I didn’t get positioned near the front anyway – with a view to ending up at the rear by the top of each climb. My power to weight ratio was so far off the mark. At 74kg I’m 10k over the weight that starts to give reasonable race results. It was very clear that remaining with the group until the start of the big final climb up to Les Menuires would be fine – but that I’d be dropped right at the start. The high speed through the valley would have given about a 20 to 30 minute advantage at the start of the climb, but most of that could be rapidly lost. There would at least be the satisfaction of having lost the time due to genuine exhaustion and not because of taking it easy.

Sports Nutrition

The climb to Les Menuires began as predicted. Painful from the beginning. The route is an old steep one on the East side of the valley with endless hairpin bends. Fortunately the sun was still not high in the sky so nearly all the race up until now had been more or less in the shade and in reasonable temperatures. That was about to change and the heat was now on – literally. I just tried to settle into a pace that my legs would accept. There was a feeling of nausea but the main issue was the legs tying up after such hard work on the flats.  During the first hour of the race I’d started to consume a sweet mix from re-usable flasks in my back pockets. Instead of using gels or drink powders this was an experiment with special sugars to try to increase the levels of carbohydrates consumed. Normally the body can only digest 60 grams per hour during exercise, but there are ways to increase this to 90 grams. Speed of digestion is one issue, but also the amount of water required in the process is important. The third consideration is also the rate at which water itself is absorbed. Glucose (Dextrose) is the fastest assimilated sugar in the intestine, but it takes a lot of water and leads to bloating. In my case that gives nasty stomach pains. Glucose also comes in the form of maltodextrine and this version is absorbed at the same rate (Glycaemic Index 150) but only requires 1/6th of the water in the intestines. Maltodextrine is the major ingredient needed. This is best mixed at at ratio of 2:1 with fructose. Fructose has a low Glycaemic Index of only 19 and so is absorbed more slowly but it uses a different mechanism that is apparently not fully understood. The two sugars together permit 90 grams of carbohydrates to be absorbed per hour instead of only 60 grams. Glucose (from maltodextrin or otherwise) uses insulin to metabolise so could cause an insulin spike and associated sugar low to follow – however the fructose does not use insulin to metabolise so this probably stabilises the blood sugar level somewhat. Excess glucose in the body is converted into subcutaneous fat whereas fructose turns into stomach fat.

To help absorb the water faster – and probably the sugar too,  it’s useful to include electrolytes in the mix – particularly Sodium, Potassium and Magnesium with several trace elements. Good quality raw sea salt seems to fit that bill very well – like Sel de Guerande.

Metabolism of the sugars seems to benefit from a range of B vitamins so adding a good multi-vitamin/mineral  powder to the mix is also very useful. There are also antioxidant advantage to be considered with vitamin C – but this quantity has to be limited due to the effect of vitamins preventing mineral absorption.

Caffeine powder is another very useful additive as it definitely stimulates the metabolism of sugars – however not in the form of coffee or tea – where other chemicals do even more to prevent the metabolism and cause overall lower blood sugar levels. Flavouring if required can be just something simple like lemon juice or perhaps freshly squeezed orange. I like the idea of being able to chose my own flavouring and knowing there are no weird chemicals there.

Ordering from www.myprotein.com  I chose Maltodextrine, Fructose, Multi-Vitamins/Minerals, Caffeine and bought the Sea Salt locally.

This would have been perfect except I didn’t check my post box and although it had all arrived before the race it was only after the race I found the stuff. Meanwhile I’d improvised by filling flasks with an obnoxious concoction of similar – but nastily flavoured stuff with many E additives from Decathlon and a few other dubious sources.

During the race the interesting thing is that there was no stomach pain, no headache and no bonking. In revenge my legs were absolutely destroyed!

Les Menuires

Being unfit and fat is not a recipe for great performance, but it is one for pain and discomfort and that came in abundance during the climb. The big gap behind was quite a good shield so that not a lot of people would overtake me during the climb - but the climb is a monster by any standards and it's not nice feeling the legs complaining from the very start. For the first 3 km I kept a normal climbing pace of between 12 to13 km/hr. When light I can manage closer to 17 km/hr on an isolated climb but at the moment around 11km/hr is sustainable on a long session. Unfortunately there was a sudden drop off with the first feelings of cramp - to between 8 to 9 km/hr. This wasn't a "bonk" and there were no headache symptoms. The legs were just hitting their limits. Bonking would have caused an even greater drop in speed and a real plod at another 2 km/hr slower. While the energy and head were still there the strength wasn't there in the legs. The sugar goop I'd prepared tasted horrible as expected and was slightly nauseating, but it didn't cause any stomach pains and was easily swallowed and washed out of the mouth with fresh water.

At 11 am  (3hrs after the start) I was at St Martin de Belleville around 7.5 km from the finish. Deciding to put the left foot on the ground while drinking and refilling a water bottle the  leg went immediately into cramp - mainly the quads. Just the simple act of putting body weight on the leg was enough to cause this. For the next half kilometre it was a struggle to ride through cramps on both legs - but particularly the left one. Eventually this died down and a rhythm was found again. 3 km from the finish there was a slight steepening of gradient that I didn't even spot, but my legs certainly did. Violent cramps hit both legs this time and it was very obvious that there would be no riding through this one. Getting off the bike was no great solution either because the load of standing up set off even greater violence with the muscles spasming - quads and hamstrings for both legs. Luckily there was a wooden barrier at the roadside that I could sit on and this immediately released the cramps slightly. Attempting to stretch was a waste of time because the muscles on the opposite side of the leg would just cramp even more. I tried massaging the quads but resigned to losing time. While this was going on and I was clearly in agony a French family thinking that I might be dying came running across the road, mother and children together all looking extremely concerned. I immediately told them that it was nothing serious, just cramp and that it would pass. However I had no idea if it would pass or not and whether the last 3 km would be possible as it was all still uphill. I accepted a drink of water from them even though I had my own - more to show my appreciation of their concern than through necessity. After about 5 minutes (I think) it was time to get back on the bike and give it a go. The timing was good because a few hundred metres down the hill somebody was catching me up. Surprisingly, not only were the legs fine but I was able to keep a higher pace for the rest of the climb even going head on into a very strong wind most of the final stretch. Odd! Guess it will take forever to even being to understand the body.

Results

105th out of 147 and 18th out of 33 in age category. Not a total disaster but not far off! Next target is to lose another 10 kilos. The race was great though – motivating! There is no way to get this level of motivation alone in training or to self-inflict so much pain. The satisfaction of finishing and overcoming personal limits  is enough recompense. The perspective this gives on the need to use and develop the body intelligently is priceless. No more cheese for a while then.

 

The overall dual winners of the long course (which fortunately ended after I had finished and not before). Ogier (left in photo) normally wins it anyway.

 

 

 

The prizes are impressive - carbon bikes and trophies - but none for overweight plodders. There should be weight categories instead of age categories. "Power to weight" would be even more accurate. Yes I'd love to organise one of those races to my own rules - but administration is definitely not my cup of tea.

Actually, everyone was presented with a smart set of frameless sunglasses which are surprisingly good and fit properly. (Very unusual for a freebie)

I'd most of all love to add 20+ kg of ballast to the skinny rats who win those events!

JPP 4th Edition

Preparation

It’s always a carry on getting everything together for a race which involves an overnight stay. Racing inevitably starts early so you need to be well organised to be in an optimal and relatively unstressed situation in the morning. I planned on this occasion to stay in Cluses town centre for the night so that there would a a  café open at around 7:15 am for both caffeine and toilet facilities. Sleeping in the car on my inflatable “Mammout” mattress  is more comfortable and much more convenient than a hotel – not to mention the cost. Just prior to leaving home when checking out a weird noise coming from the car I found that the bracket attaching the front left suspension arm to the frame was snapped through. The main  part of the suspension arm however (which holds the wheel on) was intact so I decided to drive anyway – but with no rally type cornering while going over the mountains through Mégève to the Chamonix valley towards Cluses. The car held together.

At Cluses the first task was to register, collect the race numbers and this year’s JPP cycling shirt. Back in the town centre there was a full blown televised music festival starting up – free to the public. Staying in the town for the night was clearly a bad idea but there were food stands serving delicious Indian meals with all the trimmings for only 8 euros. Sleeping would be better back out of town at the registration site which is also where the race begins in the morning. There was no one else there because most of the 790 participants in the 4 different courses (65k, 90k, 110k and 130k) were relatively local – the Etape du Tour (At Annecy this year) absorbing 13,500 other cyclists and the previous day (Saturday) the Marmotte at Alpe d’Huez having 7000. Smaller events are much friendlier being are more like real races. You don’t feel crowded at any stage during the race – though you can get isolated occasionally and the risk of being last is very much higher. Despite being away from the festival noise it was still very hard to sleep due to the heat in the valley at 500m altitude. Sleeping was effectively impossible until 2am when the temperature had dropped but on awaking at 6:30am I felt surprisingly well rested. The other problem was a cough due to congestion from the cold I’d contracted two weeks ago exactly. One week was spent with the virus hitting organ after organ and since then recovery had been slow. My local short training loop had slowed down from 43mins to 51mins the day before the race after missing over a week on the bike and then just managing this short loop a few times as preparation.

In the morning I was able to use the toilets/bathroom in the sports centre at the start where some people were there early to register. They had prepared coffee for the workers and kindly allowed me to have one – after I politely asked! Lack of provision of coffee at both the start and finish is the only weakness of otherwise excellent organisation!

 

Race

8:15am, waiting in the starting area for an 8:30am race start, it was already hot enough for the sun to make us sweat. It was a neutralised start with a car leading us out of the town so that would make do for a reasonable “warm up”. Each course length had a separate start about 10 minutes apart – beginning with the 130k which had the mythic Joux Plaine climb towards the end – being the only difference from the 110k. Both the 130k and the 110k would start (real start) immediately with the 15% gradient up the Col du Romme – the one which caused both my legs to cramp up solid within seconds last year during the Grand Bornand race. The shorter courses missed out both this 1000m climb and the Joux Plaine. I felt that coming back from a cold and with very little training the 90k would suit me better but that there wasn’t enough climbing in the short courses. The best option was to go for the 110k and just deal with it.

At the start my heart rate was 90bpm before moving! Considering that my resting heart rate is 42bpm it shows just how much the mental side of competing prepares the body for action. During the neutralised procession through the town and out into the country I slipped back to near the end of the 210 strong group. Knowing that I wasn’t in great condition, plus being overweight I’d resigned to some extent that this is where I’d probably remain for the whole race. The only worry was that if the climb was slow then with still around 100k to go it could be very difficult without any fast or strong riders to draft with on the long flats and “faux plats” against the inevitable wind.

The start of the climb was predictably tough but feeling fresh it didn’t seem to be anything special. Feeling surprisingly strong I overtook about half the pack on the first half of the climb. There was no point in taking it easy on this climb – it was probably a suicide mission, but that’s racing. Saving yourself might spare some pain and discomfort later on but it guarantees a slow time – but pushing hard can always lead to surprises. Only a couple of kilometres from the top I started to slow down and some of the others overtaken earlier then caught up and started to go past again. Going over the col I was in 124th position at 0:52:24. Despite this not being great it was much better than being last as had been expected. Most of the climb my heart rate had been around the lactic threshold mark of 168bpm. Going over the col there were lots of warning signs for gravel on the road and some were descending frustratingly slowly and blocking the way for others. It took about a third of the descent to get free from them and descend properly. Prior to picking up speed in the descent I stuffed a 40 gram energy bar into my mouth – impossible to eat in chunks. The bar was  forced mostly into the left cheek like a hamster so as to allow breathing and eating without choking. It was a new type of bar that had all the right ingredients and plenty of calories but was a serious effort to chew and swallow. This nauseating experience was required in the name of assuring a good level of sugar in the blood.  During the descent  someone yelled at me for overtaking him on a bend bouncing through a pothole – thinking that this was being dangerous. I dismissed him because not only was I nowhere near him but was perfectly within limits. He was just a rubbish descender and whingeing French tw@t. Oddly enough there are quite a few like this and you wonder why they cycle. Most cyclists are pretty hardened to risk and pain so they don’t whinge too easily. Perhaps it’s because France hasn’t won the Tour de France since 1986 and even then it was certainly with heavy doping even though Lance Armstrong is supposed to be the only doper the race – the planet even - has ever known.

Reaching the flats back down in Cluses there was no slowing down. Much to my surprise and relief on this day I ended up in a really fast train of a handful of strong riders that had gravitated together during the descent. For the next 45 minutes it was a flat out effort just to be able to draft with them. I spent a token 4 minutes in front but knowing that they would eventually dump me at the first steep climb it was wise to accept my limits and stay towards the rear. During this battle it wasn’t noticeable that it was climbing the entire time. Long sections like this are a complete nightmare if you become isolated because after a few minutes on your own the brain plays tricks on you and slowing down is almost automatic. The group kept on catching others along the way but didn’t grow massive because an equal number seemed to drop off the back. This group held together until Onnion where there was a check point where I was now in position 112 – so a dozen places had been gained without realising it. This is where my legs started to refuse to cooperate, so before the second climb was completely over I was already off the pace. The following rolling up/down stretch continued to be relatively strong, working with various individuals in small groups and never being isolated but at the start of the third climb at 66k the game was over. Despite eating another horrible energy bar and forcing drink down my neck there was no force left in the legs. Climb three was slower though not totally bad. Some of the 130k riders had been caught up by this time – having started 10 minutes before us and yet to break off for their extra climb of the Joux Plaine. (The first one was overtaken way back half way up the very first climb – doubt if he finished). This is the point where the suffering feels intolerable and you ask whether you can possibly go on for another 44k, imagining even more horrible sensations along the way. Already my head was not functioning, stomach was in pain and legs were gone so it was becoming a real grind. Somehow after this unintentional easing up for a while and recovering the energy started to return to some extent.  Just a small acceleration meant catching up and overtaking others – especially 130k racers who might have been pacing themselves more carefully. Time to stop for a water bottle refill at the top. Only one bottle and been consumed so far but it was still time for a refill with my own sports drink powder added. I knew that thirst would kick in soon and I’d begin to drink much more so it was important to have full bottles.

Somehow there was still some life in the legs. Once on the flat again after the third climb I became isolated for a while but then number 554 appeared and sat on my tail for a while. He eventually came up and asked what our distance was and I was able to tell him from my phone GPS. He then took the lead and as I wasn’t strong enough to rotate the drafting duties I made this clear to him. He was French but enjoyed practising his English. Once again this saved me from a long demoralising slog against the wind. When the next feeding stand came up we both stopped and I filled another bottle but this time with plain water because the heat made drinking sticky sugary stuff eventually intolerable. 554 was left behind at this point as he wanted to eat. Once again I was isolated and wasn’t even sure if it was the right road at one point – but not for long. 554 popped up again and cheerfully said “I’m back” then took over the job of pulling me along again. At 18k from the finish the final climb began and this time I said goodbye as 554 and another disappeared on up the hill ahead until out of sight. I was dreading another steep climb but fortunately it wasn’t too steep being a ridge going all the way up to Les Carroz. Several of the 65k riders were struggling up the hill and one was stopped at the roadside with cramps in both legs. I just plodded on but with a surprisingly reasonable pace. When the climb plateaued out and started to descend slightly it looked like it would be downhill right to the end as the kilometers were rapidly being ticked off. Someone in a black outfit overtook quite fast so I responded by accelerating and decided to use up any remaining energy. Going on the attack I overtook the guy in black and then a couple of others, until the road came to a junction and re-joined the main steep climb up  to Les Carroz. When Black caught up with me I told him that I’d underestimated the distance and he laughed. It turned out there was 3.5k still to go and all steep climbing. I decided to keep the accelerator on and use up any gas that was still in the tank. This plan almost didn’t work as both legs started to have spasms of cramp – which often happens when going back into a climb when the legs are near their limit. The cramps never took over and then died away as the legs got used to digging in again so I kept up the pushing. Much to my surprise there was 554 again just 20m in front of me and when I came along side I said “I’m back” to him this time – to which he exclaimed “good stuff”. 554 was struggling now but I was fine so just powered on and kept up the attack all the way to the finish line. Sure enough 554 finished about half a minute behind and when we got to the drinks stand at the end we both raised our glasses to each other in respect.

Recovery

It was baking hot and there was no shade at the finish line. The only people with shade to sit in were the ambulance and hospital staff! My cold congestion made breathing hard for a while after stopping without a warm down but I knew, even in the heat, that nasal (restricted) breathing would take care of that. I found a bench in the shade and sat there recovering for about half an hour with cold drinks from the food stand. Eventually I found the energy to cycle down to the hall where the “pasta party” was taking place and put the bike in the security pen. Eating is always slow and hard to do after a really tough workout.

The descent and return to Cluses to get back to the car took 33 minutes – but this was a nice post race recovery ride in the sun.

In the late afternoon I only had to drive to Chamonix but was almost falling asleep at the wheel. I stopped in Cham for a couple of coffees on arriving there. Coffee had not been available at the meal without paying and nobody was carrying money!

Next day I was tired all day and with a lost voice and dodgy throat again – legacy of the already two week long cold virus. The following day I went out for a recovery ride and was actually a minute faster than on the training ride a day before the race – the bug had tired me out so much. The race itself had not had any negative effect though and my voice recovered in a couple of days.

Technique

Throughout the entire race I was pedalling with a clear “chi” coordination – which had now become completely automatic for me. Sometimes I was conscious of this and used it to lighten the recovery foot and leg and to try to work from the core. That’s hard to focus on in a race though. The most striking thing however is that both during and after such a seriously demanding physical effort I have had absolutely no back pain. I had back pain all autumn and winter and finished the ski season in pain when mixing both cycling and skiing but having developed the mechanics and coordination just a bit further seems to have properly sorted this out.

Result

117Th, Race No 60, BEVERIDGE Ian, Col du Romme 124 0:52:24, Onnion 112 1:58:35, Finish 4:42:33, Diff winner +1:19:55 Speed 23.358, Cat28 HD

 

1 Jour / 1 Col

Savoie is doing its bit to promote cycling by taking advantage of all the mountain passes now being open. Each day they are closing one col and only allowing cyclists to use it  “1Jour 1Col” - supplying drinks and food for free. Sunday was their day for the Cormet de Roselend with most people starting at Bourg St Maurice (830m) at 9:30am and climbing the col (2000m) from there. Chris, myself and two French cyclists, Richard and Marcel were planning to continue from the col down into Beaufort and the full 115k loop. All of those guys has just completed a massive training week in the Ardeche with 9000m climbing in three days so they were definitely not going to be ambling along at my usual pace.

I set off deciding to just climb the col at an easy pace so as to save the legs for completing the loop. Attacking the col would definitely mean running out of steam before the end of the loop - with empty legs and a headache. Clouds covered most of the lower part of the valley so I'd put on a base layer and arm warmers with a strong waterproof in a back pocket. I'd two bottles of sports drink and two packs of powdered refills plus two gels that could either be eaten or added to water. The climb up the col began very slowly as it wasn't a race and people were just warming up. This felt great to be just pottering along for a change. Within a few minutes accelerations began and separate groups started to form. At this point I was still in touch with the lead group but I knew that when they got properly up to speed I wouldn't want to stay with them. Richard actually arrived at this point because he'd started from his home about 20k from Bourg so that he could also cut off there early towards the end of the loop.

(Being “supermoon” week – with the moon the closest to us that it will be for some time I decided to take some hand held photos in the bright moonlight…)

The real climbing begins around Bonneval with about 15k to go to the summit. There is a 6k steep section there starting off straight and following the river for 2k but then ascending a cliff with hairpins for the next 4k. The straight section is deceptive because it doesn't look hard. When you are not fit this part hurts a lot. I got into a good rhythm and stuck to my plan not to overdo it. There was a guy following me who clearly also didn't aim to stick with the lead group but didn't want to go too slowly either. When we arrived at the hairpins another guy in a fancy white (red logo) Val d'Isère jersey and shorts went past the two of us and the guy following me jumped ship and went with him. I have an intense dislike of the logo and eagle symbol of Val d'Isère because the place has developed into a vile money grabbing hole with the worst of humanity behind it all. Skiing is not important to them - only money grabbing. I just continued my own pace and they slowly pulled ahead to perhaps about 150m. This would have been fine except the Val idiot kept looking back at each hairpin to check my position and that started to annoy me. The skinny guy who had gone with him just minded his own business and never looked back once. I decided to have some fun with Val d'Isère and psyche him out. Each time he checked me out I'd wait until he had finished that then accelerate and closed the gap a bit. Steadily the gap reduced but each time he turned I was just pedalling in a relaxed manner. This continued until on the last hairpin I passed him and accelerated off ahead on the flat.

All the way up this 6k of hairpins we were confronted with wave after wave of morons in sports cars or motorbikes. At least 50 Porsches bore down on us, usually in waves of 6 or 8. Between each wave of Porsches there would be a train of bikes. Noisy, stupid bikes! This was topped off by a couple of convoys of Ferraris. I guess this is what you have to do if you waste your time and money on that crap. Fortunately the road was closed by the time we got to the top section of the climb.

Well, my plan to conserve energy was shot but at least I was having fun. It was now hard work and the next 3k was a "faux plat" where I had to work hard to keep up speed. I could hear gear changing behind me so knew that someone was drafting but I had no intention of looking behind. If they were stronger they would overtake and pull me for a while and if not I'd just keep at it myself as long as possible. The final climb is 6k ( now counting down to the summit) with the steepest parts being from km 5.5 to km 3.5 where the gradient moderates somewhat. I know the route well so exactly at km 5 the gradient ramps up to a demoralizing degree and that's where it will get you if you are not up to it. I was on good form so powered on with no issues and my invisible companion remained behind until km 3.5 and then took over the front. It was "skinny" who already showed that he had a good pace on the gentler gradients and he sensed me easing off after the steeps. This was good because it pulled me along for the next 2k. Val d'Isère had cracked and was now out of sight behind. Yes! That really pleased me and there was no question of easing up now. At km 1.5 it gets a bit steeper again so I took over and pulled skinny along. 100m from the top we both eased off and exchanged comments for the fist time. It had been a good climb and I'd done exactly the opposite of what I'd intended with a heart rate well over the red line at 171 bmp at times. Oh well!

There was hot tea and food at the summit. I didn't eat but had some sweet tea and enjoyed the break. The sun was out and I'd pulled down the arm warmers during the second phase of the climb, but the air was still fresh at 2000m. At this point I was still deluding myself that we would all stop after the descent to Beaufort and I could have a hot Beaufort cheese tart and drink in the sunshine on the terrace. I'd clearly forgotten I was with a bunch of manic hardcore cyclist who only live for pain. Without a word the French guys were off. I saw Chris heading off as I was putting on my windbreaker for the long descent but he wobbled between waiting and catching up the others. It was clearly a "no prisoners" event from here on in. To my surprise they actually stopped and regrouped at the Roselend lake where there is a plateau in the descent. This did make it appear that there was some sort of "group" awareness. It was a fast descent from there to Beaufort with a lot of cyclists now climbing the other way. Arriving at Beaufort I could only look longingly at my favourite boulangerie as we floated on by. There was not going to be a tourist pause today. I still hadn't really met Marcel, it was such a friendly bunch (sarcasm), but I'd have preferred lunch.

From Beaufort the pace was ramped up on the flat. I was just hanging in behind Chris but realised I'd be expected to pull my weight in the front. There was going to be no way of sparing my legs for the home stretch. Sitting at the back and wheelsucking when you are not exhausted will only send you to Hell in the eyes of the group. This worked out pretty well because we formed a proper rotation and kept the train motoring along. About 10k further on we overtook a solo cyclist who jumped on the train and pulled his weight all the way to Albertville - giving is a 5 strong peloton and making it better for everyone. It's this spontaneous side of road cycling that's interesting and entertaining. Nobody knew this guy but he just joined our team and everyone benefited – especially him. There was one climb before Albertville and I attacked it from the front. It wasn't steep so I stayed in the big chain wheel and was still strong at the top. The descent into Albertville was slowed a bit by traffic and Richard, who likes to lead the descent was reluctant to overtake. I really enjoy the sport of overtaking cars so I went to the front and launched myself past the vehicles. All the time I knew that my legs would eventually die and my head would go, but I'd resigned to making the most of it while it lasted.

There is a very gradual climb of about 125m altitude from Albertville to Moutiers, with a lot of additional humps along the way, so it's always hard work. The drafting and rotation continued but we were now back down to four. I was enjoying it and got a bit too enthusiastic at times and managed to drop the others without realising it. I was using the Chi technique to maximise power and it was working. Each time I dropped those behind I'd slow down until it was sorted out. Cevins is a watering hole for filling bottles and so Chris and I stopped there but the other two continued at a reduced pace. I'm not keen on this sort of disorganisation personally but I'm even less keen on wasting effort dealing with preventing it. I used my sports drink powder and so Chris started off again before me - once again torn between catching the others or waiting. That's when the inevitable happened - flat tyre! The others were all ahead and so unaware there was a problem. I'd been carrying around a canister of foam for a year now and so was glad for the first ever opportunity to use this high speed and efficient repair solution. I'd have just as well carried a canister of shaving foam because it was completely bloody useless. The foam went in the valve and pumped up the tyre but then spurted out between the valve and the rim! Foam was everywhere except inside the tube apparently. Giving up in disgust I removed the tyre with bare hands and could find no problems with either the tube or the tyre and no explanation for anything that happened. Chris telephoned to ask where I was and as Richard was the only one with a spare tube and CO2 inflation kit so he was sent back about 10k to deal with it. See! Disorganized! The day before I’d had a gear cable snap inside the gear shifter mechanism and spent the evening repairing it – so after going well into the 4th year with not a single mechanical issue ever it’s weird that two happen on consecutive days!

The remaining humps before Moutiers were fine but when I felt in my pocket for another gel I realised there were none left. I'd counted on my Beaufort tart that we had bypassed. In addition those silly gels had been only 67 calories each! So on a 4500 calorie workout I’d managed to only bring 134 calories of fuel in addition to my sports drinks! Short on sugar my legs started to go and suddenly dropped off the pace just before the Tunnel du Saix. It was annoying because I knew that by holding on just a bit longer I'd be able to draft the next 2k including the tunnel and then have the fast descent around Centron. Richard cut out after the climb following the descent around Centron to return home and the others waited there for me. It was hard maintaining the pace now even without the hills so at Aime, knowing there was a climb to Macot I suggest to the others to go at their own pace. I didn't want to hold them back. Marcel however was happy to slow down a bit so with another water refill at Macot we kept together and I started to recover enough to stay at a good pace. I had forced myself to drink more knowing the bottles had sugar and minerals still there and this seemed to help (much more sugar than my actual gels – as I now know). My head was really gone though. Back at Bourg we must have sat at the Tonneau bar for about 2 hours. The circuit had taken 4:32hrs and normally it takes me 5hrs when going as hard as possible. By this time the ability to eat was crushed and only Chris could manage to swallow a sandwich – which he always manages to do.

Sleeping at night was destined to be a non-starter. When the body has been pushed to this level it rebels and the aches seem to reach deep down into the bones. Predictably the night was short, going to bed about 1am and rising restlessly at 7:30am after waking at 6:30am. The recovery workout later in the afternoon was however very surprising. Normally my energy levels are like a completely flattened car battery after a day like that - but astonishingly I felt quite good and was able to reach 150 bpm heart rate when climbing. Normally about 138 would be the limit. Clearly there was an underlying tiredness though and a slightly sore throat. On going to bed this following night, I'd entered the room in the dark and gone straight under the covers. Meanwhile Christiane was sitting upright on the end of the bed doubled over with a stomach pain and I'd walked past her an inch away without seeing her. She became angry with me and so jumped up on the bed as I went under the covers, spreading her arms and growling like a mad bear. I was already instantly blissfully asleep though and didn't hear any of it! She gave up.

I notice that as well as my fitness level improving in terms of performance and recovery there is also a metabolic shift. After several months of constant weight gain suddenly the weight is falling off – two kilos disappearing in two weeks (after re-hydration). Looks like I need this level of aerobic activity to have an efficient metabolism or else I just grow fat. Encouragingly, Marcel who was fitter and stronger than me is aged 65 – so it shows that age is not the critical factor in this game!

The mobile ant colony was last seen hanging on to the roof of the car. It seems they were feeding on sticky stuff falling from the trees onto the roof and then using this to help hang on when I was driving. Either they now go into hiding when I approach the car or they have abandoned the car completely realising that the world is perhaps not ready for mobile ant colonies.

Ants

Folded up the back seat of my car to make space and found a new ant’s nest just starting up. They were building quite a colony. Would have been a surprise for any back seat passengers I might have taken. Just cleaned it out with a brush but might have to put some chemicals down or something. No idea where the entry point is but I’d only been parked there a short while and they must climb the wheels to get in. Very odd!

Recovery Workout

 

Just did a little test with the chi cycling on a recovery ride. There’s a section of hill climb that I can’t make all the way at high power output. Usually about 50m from the top my legs give out. I brought in the chi cycling as developed on the last big workout – and easily made it to the top. This was then repeated on a sprint to the top of the climb which I also can never finish. There is a definite massive increase in efficiency using this modification to technique – so I’m logging it here for the record.

Even wilder water today due to violent storms.

Cormet de Roselend

 

Due to the complete absence of a Springtime the mountain snow is now being subject to a sudden Summer heat wave and this is flooding the gorges with dark sediment laden water in spectacular fashion.

The water photos taken here were at Bonneval on the climb up to the Cormet de Roselend. Somewhere outside of the Alps there is going to be a massive build up of silt this year when it all settles down  to the river bed. I didn’t get close to the water because although the ambient air was in the 30°C range the water would probably be close to freezing.

The actual workout up the mountain was yesterday in 35°C and having made another big climbing trip two days earlier I took it relatively easy – staying aerobic, drinking and eating at the top of the climb. It’s nice to be out in the sun and for it to be hot even at 2000m altitude. My quad instert on both knees was painful (since Time Mégève) at the start of the ride but the pain gradually vanished and never returned – even after the 115k trip.

The workout started with nasal breathing but with the heat and relative tiredness that was soon abandoned. (I’d done another 75k workout two days earlier). Focus went on to simply managing drink and food issues and also on good technique. Altogether on the 5hr 13m trip I drank 2 litres of sports drink plus a Coke and ate cheese quiche tart in Beaufort (evening meal!) This allowed me to feel strong for the entire workout – instead of arriving back home at Aime exhausted as usual with my head and body totally wrecked. It was a nice feeling. I think it was the combination of staying sub lactic acid threshold and managing the food and drink correctly. I was tired to start off so in theory the workout should not have gone so well (according to past experience).

Chi Cycling

I focused a lot on technique – specifically chi technique during the climbing. I’d noticed that top climbers actually move around quite a lot and get their head above the foot pushing down on the pedal.This allows the other leg to remove weight from the upwards pedal very easily. The “push” and pulling back of the hip on the same side helps the body move over that pedal while the pulling of the of the other hip forward (as that leg flexes and pulls up) also helps to get the weight shifted over the weighted pedal. 

Later, when back in the saddle I suddenly felt that the same amount of internal motion felt like releasing a brake! When this action is used strongly in skiing it’s actually invisible to any observer when is not fully aware of the outcome – so it surprised me when the penny suddenly dropped that it was the same here and that much more internal body movement was required than I might have considered. It felt like the engine had now shifted to the spine instead of the legs. I can see now why a rigid motionless position with the legs just pumping against this – is isolating the leg muscles unnaturally and overloading them. This is probably what causes leg cramps and pain.

 

On the later “photo” expedition we saw the sheep being led to their Alpine pastures for the summer – three weeks later than usual!

At 2000m the snow was just clearing so the special “vernal” flowers were popping out. Those flowers are always the first to appear when the snow clears…

 

 

 

 

Once the grass grows back the pastures take on an extremely rich allure…

Silty water powering through the Bourg St Maurice kayak slalom course…

Time Mégève 2013

The Time Mégève is the first real all-out hill climbing fest of the season – which makes it one of the toughest too if you are not well prepared. We had to get up pretty early to get there on time – Chris about 4:30 am and Me 5:00 am – which is hard for me due to being a night owl type. At least the temperature was reasonable and rain wasn’t forecast until later.

On the way to Mégève, while in the Gorge d’Arly we spotted an extremely large rodent which had just become another road-kill statistic. Stopping to investigate we discovered that it was a beaver. We were both extremely surprised to find a beaver at altitude in the Alps – especially Chris because he didn’t know they existed at all in Europe.  Hopefully it would be the only road-kill today!

Today’s race had a famous sponsor – three times Tour de France winner Greg Lemond (Age 51) who would also be participating – on the short course. He’s gained an awful lot of weight and had done no training so hopefully this kick-starts him towards getting back in shape. It’s a shame how people who reach the competitive summit of a sport when they are young seem to just give up afterwards – as if there’s nowhere else for for them to go. Perhaps it’s better to never be too successful – or perhaps competition should never be the goal – just something to motivate you towards a healthy and active lifestyle in general. Anyway it was very brave of him to participate and shows that he is a much bigger than his ego.

I’m struggling with weight myself at the moment – being about 20 kg above racing weight – so it’s like throwing out an anchor at the beginning of every climb. My fitness hadn’t been too good either with such poor Spring weather I’d only ridden about 500km in May. However I’d recently adapted and started doing short and more tolerable workouts focusing on hill intervals and maxing out. This approach raised my max heart rate by 5 bpm in only  a week – up to 177 bpm – and with almost two weeks of this daily the fitness difference was quite surprising – even if there was no weight change.

Race

The descent at the start of the race was neutralised due to dangerous road conditions so it was much calmer than the usual start.  Starting the climb up to the Col des Saises ski station I felt fine and managed a reasonable pace. It’s still horrible having a lot of people overtake you – especially in a competition with about 1300 people overall. There was one route with two early cut offs for shorter versions. I was going for the shortest one – at 80km with 2100m climbing – because I’d not climbed even close to this amount in training with having to heave my gut uphill and none of the cols actually having been open until now anyway. Chris was going for the medium course – but being in good shape he would do well there. I had no idea how I’d cope with the climbs. The first climb should in theory be fine but I was expecting trouble on the second. On the way up I kept on passing a guy in the Greg Lemond Team and somehow he kept on passing me again – unseen. It was always a surprise for me when I’d overtake him again. There wasn’t much to see due to clouds (fog), which is a shame because there is spectacular scenery normally. At the top of the col I made myself eat a gel and drink. For once at least this vital aspect wasn’t going to be completely neglected. My new phone app – Runtastic Bike Pro – had screwed up 2 minutes before the start of the race so I had no feedback about heart-rate. The recent interval training however had taught me how to gauge my heart-rate level with my breathing level – so I knew when I was around the lactic acid threshold of 168 bpm – which was most of the time. At that pace breathing is hard work but sustainable.

The descent all the way down to Beaufort was fast but not enjoyable with too many cyclists being present. It’s not really the numbers but the lack of road sense that some of them seem to have – especially during fast technical descents where people can get killed. There are simply places to overtake and places not to. Likewise if you are slow there are lines you can take to safely let others past. After a short stretch of level ground on the valley floor it was straight back into the second climb to the Cold des Saises – from the other, steeper side. We were attacking that at about 24 km/hr and my legs almost went into cramp as the sometimes do when firing up again. This was a tough climb as expected. One girl from the Macot la Plagne club overtook me near the start and said hello on the way past. Otherwise I was overtaking more numbers than there were overtaking me. The steepness was getting to some now. Around about 5 km from the top was when bottom gear started to not feel low enough. It’s always horrible when you go for another gear to find out there isn’t one. The gradient was up to 16% in places. It’s hard to see that so I had thought that I was just getting tired – but was surprised to see others struggling worse than me. When the gradient eased off a little I seemed to be holding up a pace of around 13 km/hr even in bottom gear – which is almost double the speed I’d expected to be on by this stage. Astonishingly the interval training seemed to have done the trick and to my surprise things were still going strong after 2000m of climbing. In fact I was almost wishing that they weren’t because it would have been nice to be able to just give up and cruise. It’s almost like extra fitness is a curse in a way. I just kept on reminding myself that if I felt bad then so did everyone else – so just get on with it.

At the summit there was the obligatory gel and drink – starting the second water bottle. The only refreshment stand came and went but I didn’t stop because I had enough fluid with me. The lower temperatures are an advantage regarding fluids!  There is very long descent down back to Flumet (where the first climb had started) but it also has a couple of short climbs and a long section where drafting is very useful. As luck would have it I managed to find a wheel to draft on that long stretch – a stronger guy who I just let go near the end where there was a los a short climb. There was a fast and manic descent – with a few vehicles in the road – down the side of the Gorge ‘d Arly into Flumet and then for me it was time to peel off to head back to Mégève. This is the point where the course had it’s first split – continuing on for the others up the other side and the Col d’Aravis. Once at the col there would be another split for the long course. My legs were just holding out and the regular feeding meant that despite a high heart rate I had no headache for a change. In fact strangely enough I’d not had any aches other than expected from tiredness. On the long stretch back to Mégève I was quite strong and only one person, with perfect timing, overtook me – giving me a tow at a critical point against the wind just as I was starting to flag a bit and slow down.  The last bit into Mégève allowed me to overtake again and keep up a good speed all the way to the finish line. Trying to switch off that stupid phone app at then end almost made me run straight into a metal barrier – which was only avoided in the nick of time. It was strange to finish this race feeling positive – no leg pains and no breathing problems. The breathing problems only seem to happen on big hill top finished though.

Technique

The chi-cycling coordination has become completely automatic now so perhaps that explains why there is no pain anywhere. I can’t guarantee that this is the “best” way to move – but it’s clearly not holding things back and if there is no back, shoulder, knee or foot pain then something must be right.

I noticed the day after this race that my resting heart rate has dropped to 42 bpm. Last year I never saw it below 48 so this is interesting. No doubt it’s due to the interval training. I’ve also completely eliminated fluoride – that is in drinking water, toothpaste and mouthwash. Turns out it’s a very nasty toxin affecting everything from the brain to the thyroid. Within a week of total elimination I felt significant changes – but it’s a bit hard to tell if that’s imagination (placebo) or not. The feeling of well-being however has been consistent for several weeks now.

Results

176 overall (out of 501) and Category 36 (out of 129) –  Time of 03:08:04 (overall without the neutralised portion  03:30:18)  (Top of second col 02:39:21 195th)

Interesting to see that I gained 21 places on the descents and other sections – compensating a little for the weight disadvantage on the climbs. Altogether this was a much better result than expected.

For those who were still out there there was unfortunately a torrential downpour to go through. Some were out for over 7 hours on the long course – so not so much fun! We were home safe and dry – thankfully – because the descents were already terrible with potholes all over the place. There were a lot of victims of punctures. One surprise hole that I hit and survived had several people repairing punctures at the side of the road.

Chris came a superb 67th on the middle course. John Thomas (Macot La Plagne) came 3rd on the short one.

Recovery

Next day – a rainbow in the valley following another rain shower. Just an hour’s recovery ride. It’s actually quite hard to do anything other tan this because the body won’t let you work at a level that lets the heart rate climb – even when you try.

Valmorel Froome Special

Unfortunately we missed this actual finish by ten minutes – but arrived just in time to see Chris Froome receiving his yellow jersey on the podium for the 5th stage of the Critérium Dauphiné. That’s Alberto Contador in second place behind him. I think our own battle getting to the this location was definitely more difficult than his!

6 kilometers from the finish line – with about an hour in hand before the arrival of the racers – we were stopped by a brutish looking policeman who insisted that we couldn’t cycle but could only walk the rest of the way. When one disgruntled French cyclist asked why the policeman responded “Because I say so"!” in typical celebration of the abuse of public authority.

Chris, and the others walked a bit and then tried to proceed on their bikes – but getting to the end was never going to happen. Lesley decided to follow my suggestion of crossing the valley and finishing the climb on the other side of the valley using my GPS. The only snag was that it was a deep valley and there was only a dirt path on the map for the crossing. When Lesley stopped to debate the point about walking with another policeman she ended up having to let him lift her bike to feel the weight and to discus her own weight. I was shouting for her to get a move on, knowing that time was limited. We had to cut through a field to find the path and go through an electric fence. I’d thought that was our main obstacle but instead the occupants of the field turned out to be a rather belligerent herd of cattle who stampeded over to us and gave us a rather nasty eyeballing. Lesley pretended to be an even noisier cow (literally – mooing etc) and psyching out the main aggressor, while I hid motionless behind my 6.3kg bike. Eventually it was clear that we could move on and through the fence again – but this time I managed to get zapped while squeezing beneath it. Then is was a disconcertingly long hike down into the valley through mud and gravel in our cycling shoes and cleats! Perhaps this is a good introduction to the sport of cyclo-cross? The hike back up the other side was tiring as it was steep and long again. In all it took 25 minutes from the time we were stopped by the police to completing the crossing so that wasn’t too bad. Chris was frantically calling on the phone to find out what was happening with us but we were past the point of return. They had abandoned their efforts and settled down at a roadside bar to wait for the racers to appear.

We resumed the climb on the bike and had some challenging climbs to negotiate – reaching 35% gradient at one point. It was more of a climb than we had bargained for really. Eventually Lesley noticed the sound of the helicopter approaching so we knew we weren’t going to make it to the top in time though we pushed on. Suddenly the road evaporated into a dirt trail again and got steeper so we stopped to look across the valley and watch the leaders of the race passing in the distance. Having come this far we really had to continue so we walked about another three or four hundred meters uphill and eventually could get back on the bikes again – dismounting only to walk over a muddy construction site in Valmorel itself – it was endless! A brief descent and then walk with the bikes on the main road alongside some racers arriving and then up a few staircases through the village and we made it to the finish line – just a minute before Chris Froome stepped up to the podium to collect his famous yellow jersey for taking the overall lead in the competition having just won the stage from Alberto Contador in second. I was amazed how skinny his legs are! The vast bulk of the racers were still to arrive and did so in three or four large pelotons well behind the winners.

After a rest and a Coke on a suitable terrace we raced the team busses back down the main road and it was probably the only time ever that we will have had the opportunity to overtake all the top cycling teams in the world on our bikes. The sun stayed out all afternoon and it was boiling when climbing – a sharp contrast to the consistently cold Spring that we have suffered this year.