L'Etape du Tour 2008

A chance conversation with a client on a project I didn’t want to be on, and a very bad first cycle up a Pyrenean mountain in my middle chain ring are what I have to thank (blame) for completing and coming 13th in my category (!) in l’Etape du Tour 2008 on the 6th of July. For someone who bought my first bike in January 2007 to "try" triathlons, that is not bad at all.

I know nothing about bikes (I had to ask what size inner tube to buy last week), and I am not a cycling enthusiast. I know nothing about Tour de France, and the names Tourmalet and Hautacam meant nothing to me. I signed up for l’Etape du Tour in February because it sounded "challenging" and seemed like an opportunity of a lifetime, being based (against my will) in Pau, France, the host venue for the event in 2008, on an assignment. This was all the information I had when I signed up:

What followed next was 4 months of random triathlon training (2-2-2 split between running, swimming and cycling), a comedy of errors of cycling accidents (including falling off because I'd jammed the brakes too hard), blazing through some 10k run races...

...and the Etape Caledonia...

...and finally cycling up 3 quarters of the Tourmalet to find myself too knackered to cycle up the last 5km, let alone another mountain (Hautacam).

This was the beginning of June, and I decided it was time to take this Etape training a bit more seriously. I abandoned my 2-2-2 routine, and started cycling 3 times a week. 1 fairly fast, undulating 40-50k evening ride, 1 hill rep ride and 1 long ride. Being a so called triathlete I felt compelled to run and swim once in between all that as well. All in all, a rather tiring lifestyle.

Consulting a friend, it turned out that struggling after three quarters of the Tourmalet might have just been due to lack of fuel (low heart rate and no power). Whew. I can deal with eating more, much easier than finding new legs. But I was taking no chances, and did a few more long rides, including the Hautacam, and to and from Spain via two mountain passes.

6th of July arrived and I’d done the whole route, albeit in bits. I’d done all I could do (within the one month of serious training), eaten all the pasta I could eat and called around for as many good luck wishes and charms I could get. This was it, the Big Day after months of anticipation and a week of being highly strung and nerve wrecked. I even had homebaked cookies baked by Riss and packed by her mum...

My number was 7046, which means I was the 2nd last batch to leave. Not a good start seeing the broom wagon (the bus that sweeps up the too-slow riders) left soon after I did. Waiting around in a crowd of 7500 people was rather exciting...

I nearly forgot to take a picture of my bike at the start but Caragh reminded me to:

I started off at a reasonable pace, latching on to faster riders coming by me and being towed along shamelessly. I was half the size of most people there, so it is allowed in my opinion. Leading group looked like this:

There were 3 small hills before the big climbs. I found myself spinning quite easily in my granny wheel going up hills while the big boys huffed and puffed in their compact, or worse, double chain rings. I even felt compelled to smile and wave at the camera at this point...

A more serious view...

My support team, Chris and Riss, had come along to the first hill to cheer me on, despite the rain (check out their colourful jackets)!

Then came the Tourmalet…

I spent the first 5km or so wondering why the climb was so tough. I’d bought a new bike the week before, and thought that perhaps the new gear ratios were catching me out. Uh oh, I’d barely started the climb.

It was only when I looked down that I discovered my mistake. I was in the MIDDLE ring, and not the little one. That would explain why it seemed so tough. Down to my granny wheel and life was fine. It was a fairly long climb (16.9km) but didn’t knacker me like it did the first time.

I stopped for water a La Mongie (4km from the top), and munched on a ham and cheese baguette whilst walking a few hundred metres, much to the amusement of other cyclists and on lookers. Back on the bike and made it to the top without stopping.

Looking at the clock at this point of time, I was 1 hour ahead of the broom wagon, and for the first time, I knew I was going to make the finish without being swept up. It was an emotional moment. But, no time for that, don a jacket and away we go. 38 km of downhill to the bottom of Hautacam.

And this, according to my timing chip, was about to become the biggest achievement of all in the entire race. I arrived at the bottom of the Hautacam to hysterical cheering because I was a girl. Being gallant and competitive, I felt compelled to cycle faster to "thank" them for their encouragement. A few km in and I realized I really needed to conserve my energy to finish the 14km of uphill.

Annoyingly, everyone seemed to be cycling really slowly. The road was narrow, with half of it being coned off for people coming back downhill after finishing. I spent much of the 14km practicing my French saying "Pardon" and "A gauche" and "Attencion" in an attempt to avoid getting knocked over. Surprisingly I only took 1:16, as opposed to my predicted 2 hours. According to the results I overtook 700 people on that climb, over 10% of all finishers (6178).

The final outcome…. 13th in my category (out of 78 who signed up), 33rd woman (out of 200+), and 2627 overall (out of 8550 who signed up). At 7:51:30 I qualify for a silver certificate, certainly more than I expected, seeing I wasn’t even confident I’d beat the broom wagon! A happy picture at the finish with Caragh, without whom I would probably never even have bought a bicycle!

I will be carrying my souvenier bag and bottle everywhere, showing off to anyone who cares to notice. 7 hours and 51 minutes of cycling, 6 months of training, I think I am entitled to it!