Etape 2008

popette · May 2008

ded wrote:

2 months before I can get the treatment done ... so I won't be finishing the Etape this year

Unlucky Popette, I know how you feel - I wasn't supposed to be Etaping but Marmotting, but I too am out of action (see this thread). I hope everything goes OK for you - I should be fully patched up by mid-July or so (but no significant bike until then - can't hold the bars!) so I too am aiming for a late season sportive comeback!!!

Ah, Ded, sorry to hear about your accident - sounds really bad that and you're certainly worse off than me as at least I can still ride a bit, even if slowly. Take care - what you planning for the end of the season then?

Muzak · May 2008

pedylan wrote:

Muzak wrote:

Hi

How are people getting out of Hautacam at the end other than leaving a car there the day before? Assuming it is not possible to be picked up by a car on the day due to the road closure / sheer number of people etc.

Thanks [/quote

I'm not that clear either, we do need some definitive info. When I first had my entry confirmed I emailed Cyclomundo to ask if it was true there was only one road up and therefore no cars at top. They emailed back to confirm this will be the case. They suggested either using car park at bottom or parking in a gite they are renting near the foot. These could be a problem with congestion as you say.

Either way, when will bikes be allowed off the mountain? Presumably they can't have finishers hurtling down when others are toiling upward?

Thanks for your reply. As you say, it would be great to get some definitive info. Given the one road to Hautacam and the previous experience of another poster on this thread it seems fair to assume that getting picked up in a car at Hautacam on the day is not going to work on several levels. That leaves a choice of leaving a there the day before or freewheeling down the mountain to somewhere more accessible.

rendo · May 2008

Are you all aware of the free vehicle drop off the day before the event. i think they have a large parking area, but its at the bottom of the hautacam (thats how i remember it), with a free bus service back into Pau. all well and good if your staying overnight in Pau.

i don't think you want to have a car at the top, if you are even allowed.

I'd suggest get down of the mountain when you can, if you aren't on a coach, and are getting picked up. Get to them wait out of town on the road to lourdes. this road i doubt will be closed, and it should mostly be downhill, there are a couple of routes out of this area you could take.

kmahony · May 2008

I read somewhere that the main village, parking etc would be at the bottom. If this is the case, I'd expect a quick turnaround at the top and some kind of one-way system on the Hautacam?

It's all getting close now. Less than 8 weeks!!!!

dombo6 · May 2008

Fit cyclocross tyres at the top of Hautacam and take the scenic route

Hugh A · May 2008

I think Rendo is right about the parking arrangements - they will almost certainly be at the bottom of Hautacam.

The Etape bus service runs the day before - so you drive to the car park at the finish, leave your car there and the bus brings you back to the start village, assuming you have accommodation or more transport nearby.

They will probably keep the road up to Hautacam closed until most of the riders have gone through and then let start letting the finishers ride down again. They may even wait until the broom wagon has reached the top. If not, hopefully they will split the road a bit so those going down can't ride into those coming up. We'll see..

portuguese mike · May 2008

according to the itinerary i have from cyclomundo we're meant to meet them at the foot of the hautacam where they will provide drinks and snacks before taking us back to our hotel at 7pm. i hope that is what's happening or it looks like i'm cycling back :oops:

popette · May 2008

portuguese mike wrote:

according to the itinerary i have from cyclomundo we're meant to meet them at the foot of the hautacam where they will provide drinks and snacks before taking us back to our hotel at 7pm. i hope that is what's happening or it looks like i'm cycling back :oops:

hiya Mike, when did they send you the itinerary - was it ages ago or is it something new?
I'm now wondering about the logistics for supporters - does anyone have a partner going to watch? What are they planning to do?

portuguese mike · May 2008

hiya Mike, when did they send you the itinerary - was it ages ago or is it something new?
I'm now wondering about the logistics for supporters - does anyone have a partner going to watch? What are they planning to do?[/quote]

Its the itinerary included in the various packages that you get to choose from: in my case a 3 night guided package. it could of course be horribly out of date

I think i'll e-mail cyclomundo and check.

ps it really sucks that you're not going to be able to ride it this year but there's always next year (sound like my mum - i'll stop).

pps did you know they were taking 'moody' black & white shots of you all for the C plus feature?

SunWuKong · May 2008

Hi Popette

Sorry you're not riding this year. My wife is going to watch. As of now she is planning on driving up to the finish. Where are you staying, we're staying in Lourdes, I'm sure she'll give you a lift. It's what we did 2006,

Incidentally, people were descending down Alpe d'Huez whilst plenty were still going up. No road splitting just keep your eyes open. :shock:

popette · May 2008

SunWuKong wrote:

Hi Popette

Sorry you're not riding this year. My wife is going to watch. As of now she is planning on driving up to the finish. Where are you staying, we're staying in Lourdes, I'm sure she'll give you a lift. It's what we did 2006,

Incidentally, people were descending down Alpe d'Huez whilst plenty were still going up. No road splitting just keep your eyes open. :shock:

I'm staying in pau for the first two nights and then lourdes after the event. I'll have my car but may take you up on that offer of a lift - just depends if Colin wants to come down on his bike or in the car. Thanks

It is actually going to be quite a lovely day for me - I'll watch you all start then go to Hautacam and I think I'll just read a book in the shade, explore the town, eat a very expensive and lovely meal, drink a few glasses of wine and then wait for you all to come back. It'll be a rare treat for us to be away together so there's still lots to look forward to.

Peakraider · May 2008

I'm told that the no riders' cars will be at the top. You make your way down to the parking at the bottom.

A few ideas for parking:

1. When you get to the bottom, to the south is a long road that heads back into the canyon (and tourmalet). It's flat and long and there will be plenty of space to park along that. I'm assuming the shuttle on the Saturday will leave from that area (probably the picnic ground right at the foot of the climb)

2. That same road continues north of the foot of Hautacam. It turns into a back way into Lourdes, etc. Will probably be less congested than the one above, but might end up being a quicker way out.

3. Argeles is another place to park -- other side of the valley, though, so you'd have to walk over to the shuttle on the Saturday.

pedylan · May 2008

I've checked the emails I exchanged with Cyclomundo earlier this year.

There is definitely only one road up and down. This makes Hautacam different from finishes in other Etapes where there was multiple access roads and therefore cars could be allowed to drive to the finish. So there will be no private cars at the finish this year.

So there's a couple of scenarios. If you are on your own and have a car, looks like you need to drive to the foot of Hautacam on the Saturday to the official parking area and get the bus back to Pau. This can be booked on registration day and costs 12 euros according to EdeT web site. I guess you do need to be staying in Pau for this option rather than too far afield.

If you have support then they can see you off at the start in Pau and then attempt to drive to foot of Hautacam and park anywhere there is space. Then after finishing (we are going to finish aren't we!

) you cycle down to meet them where they are waiting with chilled champagne and sudo creme!! (Whichever is your tipple of choice.

Sabrina at Cyclomundo (does she exist or is she a cyber nom de plume like Annanova?) did say in her email that all Cyclomundo entrants' support could park at a Gite which they are renting near foot of Hautacam and await riders return there.

I haven't seen anything resembling portugese mike's itinerary, though I am on an entry only.

We're arriving on Thursday night and intend to recce foot of hautacam on Friday (I had half a thought to take the bike up it - is this foolish?).

Cheers to all. And Popette - we'll be thinking of you too - especially that fine food and wine bit when we're expiring on some foreign road side!

Rich.H · May 2008

I had always planned to ride back down the Hautacam to meet my wife after the finish. I hope she will get to see me ride through Lourdes and at the foot of he Hautacam before then. I had already assumed that we could not get the car to the finish proper on the day.

I have booked entry only with Cyclomundo and will probably speak to them at the start village with regard to their parking arrangements near to the finish.

I wonder what sort of provision there will be at the finish proper for the riders? Some shade and a cold beer would be great

If they wait for the broom wagon before allowing us to descend, that will be after 17.20....

Rich

Rich.H · May 2008

Oh, and Popette, really feel for you at the moment...

Its great that you are still looking forward to getting out there and being part of it - I am sure you will look forward all the more to riding the event in the future

Rich

Floodcp · May 2008

Rich

I am thinking the same as yourself. My wife is hopefully dropping me in Pau and then maybe see her in Lourdes to shed some clothes etc and then at the bottom of Hautacam. hopefully she will remeber the gels this time!!
I hope to ride back to our campsite near Argeles gazost. Think its all downhill or at least hope it is

Flood

kmahony · May 2008

Did any Etapers do the Fred Whitton last Sunday? How did you find it?

Anyone know if the Etape is much harder?

[Deleted User] · May 2008

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7kg · May 2008

100 miles then Hard Knott was pure pain, but I found the descents the scariest.

Never again I said two days ago, but lads want to do it again!

I also doubt Etape will be harder than FWC but its a different type of ride.

Smartbike · May 2008

I did the FWC on Sunday and I've done the last three etapes.

You don't want to hear this but in my view, the etapes were harder.

The etape climbs are nowhere near as steep as Hardknott, Wrynose or Honister but imagine a climb of Winlatter and / or Newlands gradient, multiply the distance by 7 or 8, increase the heat to say 42C (that's what it was on the 2006 etape to Alpe d'huez), the effect of altitude and you have a typical etape climb.

These factors alone make the etape a completely different challenge but the real factor (if you are a first time etapper, concerned about the broom wagon) is the time limit. I don't know what time you did the Fred in but I did very little training for it and crawled around in a rather dismal 9 hours - that pace would probably have seen me eliminated on the etape.

As far as overall altitude goes, I made the climbing on the Fred around 3200m as compared to well over 4000m for the last two etapes and ~3500m for 2005.

Having said all that, if you got around the FWC on Sunday in one piece then it will have been great training for l'etape and there's still more than enough time to get the extra kms in the legs before the big day so keep at it. In my view, the biggest challenge for l'etape is the mental one and providing you put in the work beforehand and prepare properly, there's no reason why you can't have a great ride on 6 July.

urrrrrrrrrs · May 2008

bad luck popette,such a shame !!!!

well i completed my first 100miler at the weekend in preparation for the etape, the Dartmoor classic,what a f***** that was, tough,in the heat,almost 3400 meteres of climbing,102 miles with 2 1in5 climbs towards the end.

what made it difficult was that you were constantly changing gears the whole time ,even on the hills and couldnt get any rhythym going,

at the 2nd feed station (110K) i so seriously wanted to give up,but remember my nephew telling me that i must complete the course,so struggled on,those 2 1in5 hills absolute beasts,so much so that some walking was involved and my cleats wore out and have devloped 2 nasty heal blisters OUCH !!! and very pussy

so what were my stats?

distance 163k
elevation 3369 metres
time 9hrs 49mins 20secs( including 30 minutes at the 2 feed stations)
calories burnt 8905
Max Hr 99%(2hrs 55mins in own limit zone 128-146)
fluid drunk 9 litres
max spd 65.9kph
avg spd 17.7kph

well my next adventure is the recce to the Etape course next week .so we shall see !!! apparently i will be climbing the tourmalet & hautacam twice

:shock: :evil:

:shock:

kmahony · May 2008

Smartbike, thanks for the info (kinda what I was expecting to hear). I made the FWC about 3260m of climbing, so about 900 short of the Etape. I think (hope) I can go quicker. 7 weeks left to put some more miles in and lose some weight. (hoping to hit the start line with 5000km in the legs and 12kg less on the belly, since the new year)

Phips, I've done some of the long alpine climbs. Find them ok as you can get in a nice rhythm, but I'm slow (Ventoux took 2:30 ish) and I've always started with fresh legs. A lot fitter this year.

Urrrrrrrrs, looking forward to hearing how you get on with the etape climbs.

Muzak · May 2008

Based on the official elimination times published on the website and erring on the side of caution by making an allowance for an actual start-time from the grid of 7:30am, I make the average speeds required across the 5 main sections of the Etape as follows:

1) Start to Loucrup (49.9 miles flat) = 16mph avg
2) Loucrup to Sainte Marie (13.9 miles steady climb) = 14.8mph avg
3) Sainte Marie to summit of Tourmalet (10.6 miles hard climb) = 4.4mph avg
4) Tourmalet to Arbouix (23.1 miles downhill) = 19.8mph avg
5) Arbouix to Hautacam (7.6 miles hard climb) = 3.5mph avg

These averages do not allow for any food/wee/puncture stops so in fact we will need to faster. In particular the Loucrup to Sainte Marie section looks very fast already. :shock:

However, I've heard someone say you only need to do 12mph to the base of the Tourmalet to avoid the broom wagon. I'm pretty sure my numbers are correct so can anyone either verify them or shed some light on the real story?

markmanner · May 2008

Hello. Speaking of stopping, this is my first Etape, so I wonder if those familiar with the route (or Etape practice in general), could comment on whether it is easy to find a spot to stop for a bathroom break. I find that on 100 mile rides I need to stop about every hour for a couple of minutes to maintain my fluid balance. Will I be arrested in France if I do this? Thanks very much for any experience here. Best regards, Mark

Peakraider · May 2008

Another question -- anyone going from Manchester airport (or any other in/around the northwest)?

If so, how are you getting there? Airline, etc. If I can avoid 10 hours in various European airports on the Friday before, I'd love to.

Thanks

Smartbike · May 2008

Markmanner, far from getting you arrested, you will find that regular urination or worse on the side of the road is positively encouraged in France - particularly before and during an Etape.

At the risk of lowering the tone further, the combination of massive pre-race fluid consumption and standing around in a cold start pen for an hour or more means you may well find yourself cycling through a yellow river for the first 500m.

Ken Night · May 2008

urrrrrrrrrs wrote:

i completed my first 100miler at the weekend .........the Dartmoor classic,what a f***** that was, ..................so what were my stats?

distance 163k
elevation 3369 metres
time 9hrs 49mins 20secs( including 30 minutes at the 2 feed stations)
calories burnt 8905
Max Hr 99%(2hrs 55mins in own limit zone 128-146)
fluid drunk 9 litres
max spd 65.9kph
avg spd 17.7kph

well my next adventure is the recce to the Etape course next week .so we shall see !!! apparently i will be climbing the tourmalet & hautacam twice :shock: :evil:
:shock:

You're going great guns urrs-keep the weight coming off, without compromising the miles-you need lots now

You should enjoy the Tourmalet/Hautacam,...lovely climbs, and much easier in many ways than Dartmeet

Make sure you locate the water taps in Campan when you do your recce-2 of them by the church, could be a timesaver on the day

I don't think the previous poster above is right about the difficulty of the Etape/UK rides

I've also done the Etape 05-07, FWC last year in 7h 12m, the DC last Sunday in 6h 17m.

I suggest that to ride something like the Etape, is just as much about pacing yourself up the climbs, as it is up Hardknott or Dartmeet. The French climbs are easier, require less brute strength, but the same mental strength. You only get to understand that by riding lots of miles or with good use of an HRM and even with that you still need to use experience and judgement

Group riding skills and avoiding faffage at stops, will also save you so much effort/time, that they are key to Etape success-I did ride a lot on my own because I didn't hook up with anyone, but spent less than 10 mins off the bike on Sunday

Will you all stop worrying about the broom wagon please-I know the prospect of it isn't nice, but I believe it's easy to fall into the mistake of psyching yourself into it-either by aiming low, or by starting to accept unconsciously, that it's inevitable.

Muzak · May 2008

"Will you all stop worrying about the broom wagon please-I know the prospect of it isn't nice, but I believe it's easy to fall into the mistake of psyching yourself into it-either by aiming low, or by starting to accept unconsciously, that it's inevitable."

Very good point. It does help to know the average speeds required though!!!

Smartbike · May 2008

Work on averaging more than 19kmph and you should be ok

Muzak · May 2008

Smartbike wrote:

Work on averaging more than 19kmph and you should be ok

Hi, thanks for the reply.

Allowing for a start by 7:30am latest, I make it an average of 17.2kph (10.7mph) across the entire course. Taking your suggestion of 19kph would make good allowance for stops too. However, the overall average can be misleading as it does not apply to individual sections as far as elimination goes and the early sections are much faster requiring nearly 26kph average. Does that sound right?

Etape 2008

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