Beating them at their own game!

Congratulations to Steve and Carla who both achieved top 10 results in the French national mountain biking championships at Mazamet last weekend!

Getting through to the national championships in any sport is going to be tough. Year round training, year in year out, base training, specific training, then first to get through department championships followed by regional championships, route reconnaissance along the way. Then to get a top 10 result in the national finals. You would have thought this would have been hard enough in your own country,  but to achieve this in a foreign land, that land none other than France, the birth place of cycling, is a hell of an achievement. Beating them at their own game… well most of them!

And if you thought that was it! Well no it does not stop there!! Then multiply all that by a factor by two, as not only did one person achieve this but two, then for two people to be married to each other, what can you say?

Check out there stories at www.stratobiker.com and www.limousinlife.com you won’t be disappointed.

 

 

Cycling lodge for sale in the Pyrenees – are there any takers?

In 2003 inspired by a couple of books, a friend and work colleague, organised a cycling trip for a number of us which would takes us from the Pyrenees to Lyon climbing Mont Ventoux en route. The first of these inspirational books was ‘Put me back on my bike’ by William Fotheringham the second was Tim Moores’ ‘French Revolutions’. The first book was the motivator to climb Ventoux, the second to stay in the same cycling lodge as Tim Moore did when he passed through the French Pyrenees as he shadowed the route of the 2000 Tour de France. This lodge would be a base for us to get some miles under our belts riding in the mountains, acclimitising to the heat (as it was one of the hottest summers on record) and enjoy good food, modest amounts of beer and red wine. After that we would embark on the journey that would eventually get us to and up Ventoux and beyond. The host in those days was Nick Flannagan an energetic ex pat, a keen cyclist and great cook. I have fond memories of him cooking French classics, Cassoulet, Confit of duck and some non French dishes too. He would often start cooking quite early in the day, red wine in hand. As the cooking progressed he would be gradually be getting more intoxicated as the time went on, occasionally to the extent we werent offered a dessert course. His son used to serve the meals, all of 10 or 11 years old, he whizzed around on roller blades between kitchen and table, he was like a little whirlwind! The lodge is run by another couple nowadays, Sally and Austen Roe, but they have decided to call it a day too. Going by the photos on the website they looked to have given the place a bit of a face lift since the days we were there.

Anyway last night whilst on the Internet I came across the very same lodge ‘For Sale’  and I got to say I was tempted!  Set in beautiful surroundings, in a valley, mountains all around, a river at the bottom of the garden, well almost. A ready made business, potential to expand the accommodation. The business caters for cyclists but could easily accommodate those in search of winter sports, mountain walking, etcetera. Wow what an opportunity!

From a cycling perspective: Suited for road or mountain biking, there are lots of routes to choose between, The Tour de France has passed the door here before, in fact only last year, I believe? One of the biggest cyclosportive held in France L’Ariegeoise is also based in the area. What could be more perfect?

So today when on my 90km weekend training ride all I could think about was this lodge and the possible opportunity. The 3.5 hour ride flew by!

Well back in the real world, I don’t have the funds at hand and even if I did it would be a haul to get up and move from here in the Limousin. But had this opportunity come up when I was still in the UK, well who knows. I’m sure I will chew over a bit more in the next few weeks? Maybe there is some like minded person out there who is in a better position to make ago of it, maybe its you?

 

La Saint Juniaude

The ROCC Equipe - Left to right: moi, Glibert, Graham, Patrick, Stephan, Olivier, Pierre, Guy, Jacques, Jacky et Gaby.

The annual demi journee is one of those nice events a lot of French cycling clubs like to hold. They are generally open to all, for a nominal fee, with vehicular assistance, a refreshment stop and are riden regulated at a pace which suits the majority. The Saint Junien clubs event was no exception, the weather was kind and the general camaraderie was excellent. Cyclists from a number of clubs were there including Limoges, St Laurent sur Gorre as well as our club Rochechouart.

Our club met a little earlier than normal at the Chateau and cycled the 10km to the St Junien. So with a 110 km circular route from St J and a return to Rochechouart it was going to be a long afternoon. The route would head north, over the Monts du Blond And after the refreshement stop toward Neuil finally back to St J.  

The terrain was a good melange of hills and flat. With motorsed support vehicles at the front and rear and 30 or more cyclists between them theres a good feel about it and after last weeks 34km/h average at Royan this felt like a walk in the park! 

Jean Jacques; Graham; Jacky; Gilbert et moi! I dont know what happened to the rest of our club?

Our club were given a trophy for the most represented riders, I think we were close to out numbering the hosts roulers! 

Merci Saint Junien! 

La Jacques Bossis 2008

 

La Jacques Bossis – This cyclosportive is situated in the Charente-Maritime and starts and finishes on the seafront of the town Royan. The course comes with a bit of a reputation for crashes and spills, it’s a fast route along coastal roads and although generally flat it has one particularly nasty hill called the ‘Tire Cul’. There are rumours that this year is the last time this event is being run.  So with this considered and the fact that a few years before moving to France we holidayed in a town on the route I could hardly pass the opportunity by.

 

It was 7.15 am and already it felt warm certainly 3 or 4 degrees warmer than the previous day at that time when I did my final preparation ride, it was going to be a hot one! I rode the 6km to the start and made my way to the front of the pen I was due to start in. My race number was 891, so I was in the fourth pen and at the start would have at least 800 riders in front of me.

 

The minutes quickly ticked by and we were sent on our way. My game plan was to get as far forward in this oversized peloton in this first 30 or 40 minutes. At this point the peloton will be no more and will have divided up into a number of smaller groups with riders jumping from or falling off the group there in. I was hoping to be in the former of these groups.

 

We soon left Royan and headed in to the country. I gained places taking care not to overcook it so early on. I followed other similar minded cyclists at times and some followed me. Occasionally, I could see the front of the group some distance away, each time the numbers of riders in front appeared less but the distance to the front increased.

 

Eventually the fragmentation began: tight corners, narrow sections through towns and railway crossing slowing everything down. Following this were the inevitable attacks at the gaps were created or grew. So now I had to get from group to group. I took every opportunity to get on the wheel of anybody who passed me, if this did not happen I initiated it, if they took the bait I relaxed and let them past and would only go to the front if the pace slackened.

 

After about an hour I found a group where I felt comfortable in and settled down to enjoy the scenery, miles of grape vines and gentle rolling countryside, the sun was now up and the heat was tempered by a gentle off sure breeze, perfect! It soon started getting hilly and I felt strong and even led the group up a couple of them. The kilometres passed quickly, 33km/h average after 3 hours.

 

At about this point the race headed back toward Royan. The wind was behind us, this is normally a positive but now there was no natural cooling and it soon it became tres tres chaud.  I still had one full bottle and hoped this would last. We were now on a long narrow flat road, marshland on both sides. At well over 40 km/h we approached the port of Mortagne, where I had holidayed years before. Unless you had been here before you would not no what was now imminent. Shit! There sending us up the steep road out of the port. Although I knew, I got caught out, not by its steepness, but by the abrupt drop in pace. There followed a rapid changing down of gears, a cyclist fell, others wobbled, I got blocked in and lost my momentum. Not long but steep, so is this it, the infamous ‘Tire cul’? No longer had we reached the top than the route took us back down to the other side of the port and we continued again along the marshland.

 

The group was blown, 5 minutes ago a tight homogenous bunch now a long broken line of riders in various states of recovery.  Within a couple of minutes the road rose up again and you could see it was climbing up the limestone cliffs which formed a border to the wetlands. An initial short haul followed by a switchback led up onto a gradient close to 1 in 5. On this left hand bend the spectators told us to keep to the right as the road was less steep. If the last hill was steep this even steeper, I was wrong about the last climb this was the ‘Tire Cul’. This would be hard at any time, let alone after nearly 4 hours it was hell! People were getting off by the dozen, others were being pushed along by spectators, my legs were cramping, would I make it? I made no ground on others but I ground upward slowly, then the gradient lessoned and I knew it would be OK.

 

A group quickly formed and off we went. I did less than my fair share; I wanted something in reserve for the final few kilometres. The pace was fast but sustainable, and nothing much happened until we hit hills 10 km form the finish. Two of us broke away on the last hill and headed on to the seafront of St Georges de Didonne. If all went to plan Helen and Claudia would be along here somewhere and as if my magic they appeared their cheers were encouraging and I dug in. We climbed the last hill and I managed to brake away.

 

I increased the speed on the descent onto the promenade at Royan and caught a rider dropped from another group 500 meters from the line. My legs were going and I just got caught by 4 riders from the group I was in a few minutes ago. Otherwise the finish was fantastic; it could have been the end of the Paris – Nice or even a stage of the Tour de France, without the crowds.

 

Hot and drained I could not stomach the post ride free meal which was put on by the organisers. So after catching up with a couple of club mates I rode back along the route to St Georges de Didonne, passing many riders still making there way to the finish.

 

For the record my final time was 4h:23m:13.03s some 30 minutes behind the winner. Average speed 34.192km/h.

For me most importantly I gained nearly 500 places to finish in 313^th position.