Countdown to Lac Leman

Next Sunday I am riding the Cyclotour du Leman, a 180km sprint around Lake Geneva.  I participated last year but encountered several issues including punctures, replacement tubes with insufficient valve length, venturing off the course, and bonking.  Needless to say I didn't post the fastest time, 7hr 47min to be exact.  A time I was disappointed with at the time, and one I hope to put right this year.  I had targeted 5hr (36km/hr), but I think that is too optimistic so have reset my goal time as 5hr 30min (32.7km/hr).

Follow my progress on twitter.

Link to Blog entry for 2008 : tête de la course - not quite.

King of the Downs - Followup

Turns out I wasn't alone to quit at the half way mark.  In the post of the official times for the event (Evans Cycles Ride It!: Rider Times), the organisers announced that 500 people who had enrolled for the full distance did the half distance instead.  Only 200 people went on to complete the full distance - hats off to them.

My official time was confirmed as 3hr 35min, which was in the top quartile of results.  Not bad given that I did stray from the course and added about 9km to the 53mile route.  For example, taking 10min from time would have placed me approximately 100 positions higher.

King of the Downs

An early start this morning for the King of the Downs this morning.  05:00 alarm followed by 05:53 train trip to Gatwick Airport.  I wasn't alone, there would have been 30 or so other riders with their bikes.  So many that the train guard deemed it unsafe and ordered all of us off the train.  Not a great start to the day.  Anyway we got there in the end, thanks to the Gatwick Express agreeing to give us a ride.

The start was Evans Cycles HQ - registration was in the Merckx room, which I thought was pretty cool.  After fiddling with the extremely short cable-ties to fix my race number for what seemed an eternity, I was on the road and very soon I was alone.   I felt really good, and was ready for the challenge that lay ahead:

• 110 miles (approximately 180km);
• 9,000 vertical feet (approximately 3,500m);
• Leith Hill, Pitch Hill, Combe Bottom, Ranmore Common, Box Hill, Tulley's Farm, Weir Wood, The Wall, Yorks Hill and Titsey.

However something didn't seem right.  I was literally by myself.  I wasn't catching riders and I wasn't being caught.  A quick look at my Garmin and I realised why, I was heading south when I should have been riding west.  I was literally miles off course.

I did make it back onto the course outside Ewhurst but by this stage I had missed the first hill - Leith Hill and added quite a number of miles to the already lengthy distance.  It was at the point the condition changed significantly.  While climbing Pitch Hill the first drops of rain started to fall.  This made the climb even harder, as my rear-wheel struggled for grip as I got out of the saddle, and the descent on a narrow country lane rather precarious.

The light rain gradually got heavier and heavier.  Eventually I was soaked through.  I didn't have my rain jacket, overshoes or my winter gloves.  Simply put I was not equipped for a long ride in the rain, and consequently got very cold very quickly.  My toes and fingers went numb.  At this point I decided my ride would finish when we passed back past Evans Cycles HQ.

I enjoyed my climb of Box Hill - which according to Cycling Weekly is Surrey's answer to Alpe d'Huez, with its two switchbacks and average 5% gradient - but not so much the slog back to the finish.  It was disappointing to bail out at the half-way mark, as I had been really keen to see how my legs would cope with the distance and climbs but I know I made the right decision.  Getting sick wouldn't be good for anyone.