Etape 2009
Comments
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First Etape - made it in a tad over 9 hours, following 2 punctures (unlucky) and a massive 45-minute stomach/leg cramping session halfway through the forest (self-inflicted)
Top tip - take the advice to "drink,drink,drink" with a pinch of salt - literally. I was well on the way to advanced hyponatremia (is that how it's spelled?). I had pee'd clear 4 times during the ride, but hadn't taken enough electrolyte on board. Remedied by scoffing 4 concentrated gels without water, which normally is not recommended, but put me back in balance, and enabled me pretty much to power the rest of the way up.
Thinking ahead to next year - who's in? Who will open the etape 2010 thread...0 -
I failed too. Turned back from the forest when I started getting dizzy.
The start was a bit of a mess. Crossed the line at 7:30, then stopped a couple of times in town and on the first descent. Then it was great for a few hours. Top route. Hit the summit of Abeilles with 45 mins on the broom and feeling good. Then ran out of water and struggled on the flat bit before Bedoin. Headed up Ventoux, but time was short and I was out of water again very early. Didn't get that far, but they ran out of water at RC too.
Was disapointed with the lack of drink and food towards the back of the race. More water and water stops could have made all the difference. But also needed to be in better shape.
Met plenty of forum people. Well done all.
Etape 2010? Not sure. I'll keep training so I'm not starting again in Jan, but might look at some other rides (Flanders in April and one of the Italian ones in the summer).
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A great day with some cracking scenery, great ascents and even better descents. The run down from NDdA was awesome - what was it, about 700m vertical descent? Great wide road, scary high speeds (wimped out at 70kph) and fab views. Got to Bedoin in 6 hours, took on a lot of food and drink and made the fatal mistake of having a gel even though I didn't need it. Then felt the effects of the gel all the way up Ventoux. Stopped after an hour in the forest and thought I was going to puke, but managed to get better and carry on. Got a second wind about 5km from the top, but then felt unwell again with 1km to go. Finally made it to the top in a total time of 9 hours, 2.37 of which getting up Ventoux. Nothing in the UK can prepare you for a climb like that. I was amazed at the number of people pulling over in the forest and the number of people collpased over their bars. Well done to all who finished - battling though that heat takes a lot of mental strength, but I think the real key is just drinking enough. All in all a great day and I loved the way in which people turned out to cheer us on, to hold our bikes at drink/food stops and to put up with the mess that we all made. I want to go back and do it all again.0
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Just found the forum by ‘Googling’ Etape 2009 review.
This was the first Etape that I had ridden, although I had ridden Ventoux quite a few times over the last 6 years or so on family holidays so I knew what I was letting myself in for. Chances are, if the Eatpe had not included Ventoux I would not have seriously considered it.
None of us (four social buddies from different sporting backgrounds) are club riders and with a combined age of 195 we are no spring chickens. Cycling was about having fun on a Sunday, shooting the breeze and complaining about work, the world and his wife.
To get ourselves ready we had to put the miles in, stop drinking, go to the gym and start eating sensibly. By the time we lined up on the start line we had completed about 6 * 100 milers since January, including the 11 Cities tour in the Netherlands (150 miles) at an average of 17.5 mph, so we all felt as though we had a fighting chance.
I was in the 7000 group, two of the others were 8000s and one in 4000s. The slowest of the group got to Bedoin in 6 hrs 30, and we all took around 3 hours to get up the mountain, but we all made it. Hugs and kisses all round at the top!
Amazing sense of achievement.
Can’t really add much to what has already been said in terms of the ride: great fun up to the foot of the mountain, and the scenery was breathtaking.
Eating and drinking routine was well practised at home – drink every 15 minutes and eat (gel or piece of bar) every 30 minutes, and for the most part it worked, but the early start did not help the digestion system as it was real difficult to get the solids on board the longer the ride went on.
I honestly thought I was going to get up Ventoux until a guy in front of me fell off – I had to stop and within seconds cramp hit my legs and I thought this is it. Some how I managed to get going again through sheer determination and walking / riding / walking / riding – not pretty by any means, but after CR I rode to the 1 Km marker, a few more steps and back on the bike to the top.
Just looking at the state of some of the guys in the forest was seriously scary: vomiting, exhaustion, dehydration, severe cramp, unconsciousness, I have no idea whether anyone did not recover, all any of us can do is hope and pray that they all did.
Next year…………………… never say never, but at 51 the training regime took the fun out of cycling, but who knows?0 -
I had never cycled a mountain before, but trained with this event in mind since New Year...
Having got to Avignon on the Saturday and had a great time with the registration and general build-up I felt great. However, the night before the race a few gremlins set in and (long story short) I had 3 hours sleep the night before (basically a combination of noise outside our hotel and fear of missing 3:30am alarm call)
I echo the comments about Bedoin basically being the tipping / turning point. Until then I felt under no time pressure as such. I merely(!) wanted to beat the sack wagon and as such I 'paced myself', I think too generously in retrospect. I was enjoying the luxury of closed roads, generally excellent surfaces, terrific cameraderie, beautiful scenery etc, and probably lost the thread a little, when I really should have been going just a little quicker.
Still, with over three hours in hand at the foot of Ventoux I thought I had a better than even chance. In reality, I needed well over 3 hours to make those last 20-odd km. I thought I would be swept up at Chalet Reynard but even though I passed it after 4:30 (the anticipated elimination time) I was not stopped, and treated it as a second lease of life and plugged on. I stopped several times to try and get my resolve together and my heartbeat back down again, and it took a few metres walking each time to get on the bike and get it moving again. I'm not ashamed to reveal my speedo read 2.8mph at one point - I didnt realise even I could cycle so slow!
I could not even get off the bike to climb the steps at the Tom Simpson memorial, I just could not afford those 8 or 10 steps up! (I'm sure he would understand!)
When I eventually made it the elation was mixed with relief and exhaustion. I subsequently realised I was about 100 places in front of the last finisher. So although it was mission accomplished, I am aware that the times were a little more generous than the original documentation had intimated, and I genuinely feel for anyone who DNF - there were still some epic efforts put in by a lot of excellent sportsmen and women who didn't get to the summit. I saw so many people slumped over frames, lying on rough ground, in all sorts of states, so to them I would say take heart, the dividing line between completing and not completing can be very fine indeed!
The organisation from the Etape itself was excellent - stunning in fact - and our operator was very good. We had thought of adopting a DiY approach to save money, but found an option that was a good compromise between a reasonable price set against all the organisation being someone else's headache for the most part.
Riding down the mountain... sorry if this offends, but I thought this was sheer madness and extremely disrespectful of other riders still going up. I could not not believe the number of people I saw doing this and often at high speed. I do hope none of these folk caused any accidents.
On reflection I have passed the point on the Monday evening where I never wanted to cycle again. We did about 12 miles the night after to get a few 'snaps' of Ventoux, and the bug bit again!Have a good time. All the time.0 -
WatfordKev wrote:I
Riding down the mountain... sorry if this offends, but I thought this was sheer madness and extremely disrespectful of other riders still going up. I could not not believe the number of people I saw doing this and often at high speed. I do hope none of these folk caused any accidents.
I had similar thoughts at the time - it was hard enough riding it, weaving around walkers, moving out of the way of the medics, staying upright at 2.8mph (I was about the same speed at times) without having to keep out of their way as well. I couldn't help thinking that they'd had their chance, now let us have our fair crack at it. Most were slow and kept well out the way. However, some were shouting "attention!!" as they flew a long - bit cheeky I thought.0 -
Similar experience for me as everyone else. My story below which was a shameless attempt to extort more sponsor money at work.
L'Etape du Tour - The final chapter
Well I’ve done it. On Monday I completed the TdF stage from Montelimar to Mount Ventoux in 8hrs 11mins in what was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done.
The day started at 4am with an early breakfast and a transfer to the bike store. This got us on the start line for 6am and I was pleased to see that I was near the front of my start pen with potentially 1000 riders behind. This was a big boost in keeping ahead of the broom wagon and I found my self standing next to Chris Boardman ex Olympic Champion, world hour record holder and TdF yellow jersey holder (more about him later).
The starting gun went at 7am just as the sun was coming and it took a further 35 minute before I crossed the start line. The first few kms were very start stop before the road opened up and we were out in the country. I got into a good rhythm and prepared for the first climb. The groups of cyclist got closer and closer together as we climbed and finding space to pass slower riders was difficult as the roads were packed. As we approached the first summit the sound of sirens from behind brought first motor cycles and then ambulances trying to squeeze through to get to what I presumed were crashes on the descent from the top.
I got over the top of the hill and my fears were soon realised with riders strewn all over the road and lying in ditches. I slowed down a bit after that but others continued to fly past into bends at breakneck speeds. The sun was now hot and the scenery tremendous with cliff top castles and villages providing a fantastic backdrop to the fields of lavender and sunflower. With all thoughts of broom wagons gone I made good progress passing many and watching the miles fly by. The atmosphere was amazing as I sped though traffic free towns with locals and tourists lining the streets cheering “bravo” and “bon courage”. I finally made it to Bedoin the last stop before Mount Ventoux after an exhilarating 10 mile descent reaching speeds of over 40mph. I had a huge feeling of relief that I hadn’t been involved in one of the many crashes and had avoided punctures and mechanical problems. I stopped for some for water and a banana and checked my time, 148kms in 5h 20min. If I could get up the last 23km of Ventoux in 1h 45 mins I would get a silver medal. Boy was I in for a shock.
The climb started easy enough and I felt good. I then turned a sharp bend into the forest and all of a sudden the road ramped up steeply. My speed fell to 8 kph as I started to struggle, the temp was hitting 100oF. Before long I was down to 5kmh and starting to feel pretty bad. Others riders had been walking from pretty much the start of the hill and now there was a continuous line of cyclists pushing up the side of the road. I eventually stopped before I fell of the bike and got into some shade. I was feeling ill and seriously considering giving up. After about 10 minutes I felt a bit better and gave it another go. Back on the bike the slope was unrelenting with nowhere to ease up or take a rest. A few miles later and I had to get off again and try and cool down. Sitting at the side off the road I could hear others up and down the road being sick. Again I managed to recover and gave it another go. I was determined that if I was going to get to the top it would be on the bike and not walking.
A few hundred meters further on I looked over to the side of the road to see Chris Boardman sitting in the shade in much the same state as I had been about 10 mins earlier. For some reason this gave me a huge boost and I was able to get up to the final water stop without stopping again. I threw a bottle of water over my head, filled my bottles and stretched. I could see the top now and it was still a long way off. The road however looked less steep and I got going at a better pace.
No sooner than I was back on the bike I felt my legs cramping up. I was in severe pain and had to get off again and stretch. From that point on I had to get off every few hundred metres and it must have taken an hour to do the last 5km. Finally the finish was in site and I managed to complete the last 500 metres without stopping. I turned the last bend crossed the line and practically collapsed. I got off the bike sat down at the side of the road and cried.
It took me a long time to get myself together take in the stunning surroundings and the views and fully appreciate the achievement of completing this. Out of 9500 starters there were 7300 finishers including ex F1 champion Alain Prost, Olympic rower James Cracknell and a host of ex TdF cyclists. I found out later that Chris Boardman beat me by 2 minutes. If you want to see how the pro’s do it the TdF will be completing it this Saturday and it’s live on ITV4 and Eurosport.
Would I do it again? Ask me in a few weeks time.
Thanks again for all the support and sponsorship. If you still haven’t donated and would like to my Justgiving page will be available for another couple of months.
http\\justgiving.com\joestevenson20 -
craigenty wrote:Orange is only 25m asl. Montelimar is 99m.
We're at 360m here in Faucon and only 11km from the bottom of the Col de Fontaube.
It's fairly normal for Orange / Avignon and anywhere on that stretch of the Rhone to be 4-5 degrees warmer than here.
I have a forecast which gives high 20's and moderate winds for Malaucene over the weekend and Monday.
Craig
Ah, I was thinking Bedoin which is ~300 meters. In any case it was hot hot hot as predicted.
Felt great in the morning - legs that is as g-friend is a part time masseuse - chest was not so good. Got to Bedoin in record time and took my sweet-ass time climbing the Mount but was happy with 6:42 overall which kept me just inside silver for the B category. Went extra lentement a travers le foret to ensure that I could turn it on apres Chalet Reynard to attain the time I wanted to. The top 6 was quite nice actually, breeze felt great.
Got a stonking great EUR 135 parking ticket near the top of the round-about at Mt Serein. Shame it was on a rental as I have to pay the bloody thing :-( The post ride food bag was well and truely crap for an event this big and the £130 that we paid...
Every year I swear I'll never ride another, but this was a pretty good, albeit hot one. Next year *should* see a return to the Alpes I reckon, but what I'd really like is un retour to the St Galmier-St Flour ride in 99 which was absolutely wonderful.
Well done all! Keep up the momentum and enjoy the power that the Ventoux gave you! Who said you get nothing back from riding these events?When a cyclist has a disagreement with a car; it's not who's right, it's who's left.0 -
Had a fun day. Crossed the start line at about 7:25am and finished in 07:08. I did a poor climb on Ventoux and at the bottom I was expecting to at worst do 6:40 but c'est la vie
I put a spreadsheet of all the results together. It's interesting to see the "famous" names on the lower numbers. Pretty happy to have come in 20mins after Eric Zabel
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Thanks 4 this. Did not realise there were famous names. I must have passed Alain Prost early on the Ventoux but didnt recognise him without his helmet. And lifelong claims to fame beating Eric Zabel and climbing Ventoux quicker than Cedric Vasseur and Stephan Rooks Martin S. Newbury RC0
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yeah thanks for the sheet-
I cycled with the Mrs shouting encouragement (I think she might have preferred I hadnt!) ...after we got over the start line at 7:39! Should have had a lie in!...and then we had a great day. Left her at the bottom of ventoux so I could burn up some energy but was great cycling with her and she came 18th in womens listing so that was nice since shes only done 3k on a road bike in her life. Went to check her bike to ride the following day and she had a puncture...bloxdy glad that didnt cause any problems on the decent from the top to Maucelene which was just fantastic...for me almost the best bit although I felt bad for everyone trapped in their cars for what looked like was going to be hours..
Poor food/drink chaos was a bit of a let down - 15 euros and twice the participants in belgium and they manage to do it better...but closed roads and weather were really great). Been over to Barconellette for past few days and we cycled the Col Restafond-Bonnette at 28xxm or something which was somewhat bleak at the top and then Col'Allos etc which was fun too. Just back home and work tomorrow - bxgger....
By the way if anyone there in July/August the Col'Allos is closed to traffic fridays 8-11 am - brilliant ride down that one which is too narrow to fly down unless closed...make the most of it...or indeed the other 7 cols0 -
The user and all related content has been deleted.0
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diarmuid wrote:Had a fun day. Crossed the start line at about 7:25am and finished in 07:08. I did a poor climb on Ventoux and at the bottom I was expecting to at worst do 6:40 but c'est la vie
I put a spreadsheet of all the results together. It's interesting to see the "famous" names on the lower numbers. Pretty happy to have come in 20mins after Eric Zabel
That's excellent.
Did Bobby Julich do it on a fixie?
That's not a good time for a former recent pro.0 -
I was wondering the same myself. He probably did it with a mate or wife or something like that. That or he has spent the past 2 years eating cream on chocolate for all meals.Yorkman wrote:Did Bobby Julich do it on a fixie?
That's not a good time for a former recent pro.
Where did you get this info? I must check it out. I have never done Allos so could be a good option.By the way if anyone there in July/August the Col'Allos is closed to traffic fridays 8-11 am - brilliant ride down that one which is too narrow to fly down unless closed...make the most of it...or indeed the other 7 cols0 -
Etape 2009 v. other years?
A question for the multiple Etape people. How did this year's event compare to previous years? Tougher/easier? I presume thay are all very tough in their own way. The stories coming out of this year seem to be more severe than usual though.0 -
I've done 2008 and 2009
I found 09 much harder, but might only be due to heat and lack of water.
On a very small sample, 09 took 30-60 mins longer than 08.
From a number of people, I would think 07 was the hardest. The history is on their site. They started really simple then increased the pain till 07.0 -
Hard this year due to the heat but not as tough a course as last years. The previous year was a harder course with 3 big climbs plus heavy roads. It was a headwind all the way out this year so it wasn't too fast. The Ventoux was the only hard climb as opposed to previous years with multiple cat 1 climbs before the finale.0
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Can you get Velo magazine over here(outside of London)? I seem to recall they're doing a big spread on the Etape in the issue published tomorrow.0
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I left a substantial amount of back, elbow and thigh skin on the road after Nyons when someone hit me hard from behind. Then a tyre exploded on Ventoux to add additional interest to the day. Changed the inner and 500 metres later bang again.
It looked like an even longer walk to the top until I found the Sky sports support team and they flogged me a spare tyre. At that point I was smeared in road crap and blood and incapable of bending over. I asked the guy to hold the bike at 45 degrees so that I could hobble on to it. Couldn't decide whether to say "tis but a scratch, I've had worse" or "put me back on my bike".
The Hospital in Carpentras X rayed my pelvis to confirm nothing broken (am still bloody sore) - well worth the 78 Euros!.
If anybody knows the number of who hit me please advise - I will send the boys around after they have finished with the guy who threw tacks on Etape caledonia.0 -
AlunP wrote:I left a substantial amount of back, elbow and thigh skin on the road after Nyons when someone hit me hard from behind. Then a tyre exploded on Ventoux to add additional interest to the day. Changed the inner and 500 metres later bang again.
Hi Alun,
Glad to see you've been able to maintain a sense of humour after an incident packed day!
I'm the guy who rode with you for a bit just after your crash. I was worried for you for a while there, but when you streaked off down the descent of the Col d'Ey, I figured you were gonna be ok. You clearly did exactly the right thing by getting straight back on before you got stiff and/or miserable, and I'm glad to hear there was no lasting damage.
I had to take it a bit easy on the descents, because I was pretty much without a front brake, but was good to see you 'en passant' at the Cyclefit tent on Ventoux, and I knew you'd make it from there.
I've actually been 'lurking' on here for a while, while blogging on my training for the Etape, but seeing your post inspired me to finally chip in.
Just working on finishing up the blog, but I think my experience was very similar to others'....went really well for the first 94 miles, then hit Ventoux, which was just brutal.
I'd echo the thoughts of other people...by the time I got there, I'd say about a third of people were walking, a third of people still riding, and the remainder collapsed/crying/vomiting.
I had to take 'several' rests, but it was important to me to pedal every inch of the Ventoux, and I got there in the end.
Luckily, I never got into serious distress....for once I'd drunk properly and eaten as well as I could do given the nerves etc. Clearly though, hydration was the key and that would be the biggest lesson I'd take out of the experience. Thankfully, I didn't have to learn it the hard way.
I started out as pretty much a beginner 5 months ago. Before then, the furthest I'd ever cycled was 37 very flat miles. Checking back on my blog, I realised that I first rode my new road bike just four months and a week before the Etape.
I only say that because I've been really inspired by the blogs of Rich and Karen who post here too, and I guess what that goes to prove is that if I could do it, then pretty much anyone can. I've really loved the training and the day itself, and am determined to continue cycling 'properly' because it's given me so much pleasure.
I know some people are a bit sniffy about sportive cyclists in general, and the Etape in particular, but I think cycling's for everyone, and as long as we can all enjoy our own challenges, then I think the more of us that are cycling, the better.
So, if there's anyone out there wondering about doing it next year, who's perhaps not sure if it's worth doing or whether they're physically up to it...I'd just say, go for it! You won't regret it.0 -
Everyone who said hello - was such a boost to hear friendly voices
Poppette - apologies for chucking up in your presence at the top of Ventoux. I think the sheer quantity of sugar had got to me. And the heat. And the most ridiculous climb I've ever done. :oops:
If you fancy joining one of the Wheelers club runs, please have a look at the website and come along. You'd be very welcome.
Tom
(Someone tipped me off who you were on here - promise I'm not stalking..!)
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http://www.cycling-challenge.com/barcel ... -paradise/
general info from helpful bloke
http://www.barcelonnette.com/fr/il4-1_p ... ments.aspx
official info - one of the guides has all te cycling routes/advert for closed col. Note they do the summer closure one morning a week on the Izoard in Briacon arrea too....0 -
TomF wrote:Everyone who said hello - was such a boost to hear friendly voices
Poppette - apologies for chucking up in your presence at the top of Ventoux. I think the sheer quantity of sugar had got to me. And the heat. And the most ridiculous climb I've ever done. :oops:
If you fancy joining one of the Wheelers club runs, please have a look at the website and come along. You'd be very welcome.
Tom
(Someone tipped me off who you were on here - promise I'm not stalking..!)
Aw, I felt so bad for you. You were as polite and as discreet as one could be while vomiting mid conversation. It was entirely understandable - that was a ridiculous amount of suffering. I was glad to see that you got down to the finish village OK.
I was planning to join a club run in a couple of weeks - thought it would be a great way of improving my performance. Unfortunately, my HR did something weird again on Monday night (went about 20 beats higher than my max HR - what it used to do when all was not well) so I'm going back to hospital for a check up. Fingers crossed it will be fine and I shall be on a club run soon. Otherwise, it'll be another few months of slow riding
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Wondered where people got the info on the gold/silver/bronze bands? Didn't see any info about this before or after the event, in fact I wouldn't know it existed unless I'd seen people posting about it on here. Also is there more details on exact result times I can only see one time (I'm assuming total from 7am?) no real time etc etc. maybe that's not been processed yet? I'm not hugely fussed about my times really, I was just glad to get to the end in some kind of semi alive state, but thought I might be missing out on more detailed info somewhere.
Thanks0 -
If you look yourself up on the results page of www.letapedutour.com you should be able to see a certificate with your result/classification etc. You will see a time from 7am start and a time from crossing the line - where you were placed overall and in your age group.alibee wrote:Wondered where people got the info on the gold/silver/bronze bands? Didn't see any info about this before or after the event, in fact I wouldn't know it existed unless I'd seen people posting about it on here. Also is there more details on exact result times I can only see one time (I'm assuming total from 7am?) no real time etc etc. maybe that's not been processed yet? I'm not hugely fussed about my times really, I was just glad to get to the end in some kind of semi alive state, but thought I might be missing out on more detailed info somewhere.
Thanks0 -
Nom BEGBIE, Alasdair
Numéro 4695
Catégorie B
points intermédiaires Temps
top of Mont Ventoux 02:19:40
Total
Place (H/F - net) 1652
Place (total - brut) 1652
Place (total - net) 1533
Place (cat. - net) 482
Temps total (net) 07:11:55
Temps total (brut) 07:31:50
here's yours :-)
I can't see what your medal was because my pc blew up and this one I rigged together doesn't have the right app on to view it yet.
Congratulations by the way - that's a fantastic time :-)0 -
Waow! how d'you that? It didn't feel fantastic when I was lying on the ground shortly before the chalet ready to passout/throwup ( one of many it seems! ) Congrats yourself! and thanks again for all the helpful info on yir blog, and I dearly hope it was just yir HRM going wonky! Cheers0
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Aw, I felt so bad for you. You were as polite and as discreet as one could be while vomiting mid conversation. It was entirely understandable - that was a ridiculous amount of suffering. I was glad to see that you got down to the finish village OK.
I was planning to join a club run in a couple of weeks - thought it would be a great way of improving my performance. Unfortunately, my HR did something weird again on Monday night (went about 20 beats higher than my max HR - what it used to do when all was not well) so I'm going back to hospital for a check up. Fingers crossed it will be fine and I shall be on a club run soon. Otherwise, it'll be another few months of slow riding
Er, sorry again. Once I'd had some salty crisps down in Malaucene, I'd got a hold of myself. TBH, I usually have the opposite problem and don't eat enough when doing sportives. This time, I kept to a regular diet of food and drink, and ended up feeling ropey afterwards. Thanks for the offer of food, but I don't think I'd have held onto it for long..!
Hope you get the all clear from the medics and are back on the bike soon. Come along to a club run any time you like - you and ytour husband would both be very welcome.
Tom0 -
Edit - double post0
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From a number of people, I would think 07 was the hardest. The history is on their site. They started really simple then increased the pain till 07.
Nope - '98 was hardest..........Grenoble > Glandon > Telegraph > Galib > Duex Alp - in 40 deg heat. I know I was there on me touring bike with 28mm tyes, mudguards and rear rack !0
