Ardechoise

dag_on_a_bike

For the past 3 years I have wanted to do the Ardechoise but for one reason or another it hasn't happened (mainly prostate related investigations & surgery, then a broken clavicle (and bike). Hopefully I can look to next year without further interruption.

Now the years are advancing and I will be approaching 54 by the time next year's event comes round. While I've done 5-6 hour rides in the Pyrennean foothills, It's been many a year since I did anything approaching 100 miles in a day.

Has anyone else done this event? Any comments or tips? How arduous is it (I want to do the 216km Ardechoise route). What are the hills like? With a reasonable training regime is it realistic or should I set my sights slightly lower?

Thanks for any feedback.

bahzob

Havent ridden it though definitely on list of things to do as stayed in the region several times and love it there.

The route looks tough but given a full year to prepare its quite realistic to train for it. There are lots of hills but none of them are killers.

It looks a great event and perfect one to aspire for and focus on.

Training straightforward, mostly long rides 3-6 hours (key thing. keep effort up throughout ride, no coasting, taking it easy). Use this to check out bike, practice feeding/drinking as well. Closer to event do 1-3 hour efforts as hard as possible while keeping effort constant start>end. If training indoors do 2x20mins trying each time to increase distance traveled in each 20. No need for short,very hard workouts/hill climbs.

Might be worth targeting a sportive in UK beforehand. One of the Tour of Wessex days on the late May bank holiday would be a suggestion.

zoomcp

I've ridden it twice; the 216 Ardechoise and the 223 Suchs (both similar) it's hard and usually very hot but the atmosphere and support from the roadside is superb as is the scenery. And as long as you've done a few hilly Audaxes or sportives over here there's no need for a great amount of training if you just want to get round. I would recommend something like the Dorset Coast 200 or Elenith 300 Audaxes as training rides (sorry but don't know of any really hilly sportives apart from The Fred and that's a bit near to the actual event). Be aware though that as well as being hot the climbs are very long (some are 10-15km) although not as steep as many you are likely to find in the UK. It's fairly common to find riders collapsed in the shade on the longer ones towards the end. Le Col de la Barricaude on the 216 was the ones that got me most; I had to pause in the shade several times on that one.

Probably the best thing about the event is that you choose you distance on the day with transponder mats working out which course you've taken so if you've had enough you can take a shorter course back; if you are having doubts about the 216 after la Col do Mezhillac the Volcanique (170km) is a popular distance which does most of the major climbs and goes past Le Gerbier. And it's usually OK to just camp in the fields set aside as car parking around the start village of St Felicien; they lay on portaloos and it's all well organised. The locals in the villages along the route really go out of their way to welcome you with food and drink (all free) and decorate or paint everything in sight including themselves in the ride colours of yellow and purple.

highly recommended; very French but also very friendly; my 2008 report here

http://www.egcc.net/display-items.asp?i ... ItemID=395

dag_on_a_bike

Thanks for the feedback. I think I will try & commit to it for next year.

Martin, your report suggests temperatures at about 34c. I don't mind warm - 25-30c. Is there that much difference?

As for the climbs, I was doing 25Km+ climbs last September some at an average of 4%. Started off at about 2-3%, rising steadily and getting to around 8% over the last 5Km. Is there anything much worse than that?

I appreciate the advice to ride UK sportives but from what I've seen, most have comparatively short but sharper climbs. Even my local event at Highclere searches out one hill at 15%+. Are they that comparable?

zoomcp

I think it was about 35-40 in the sun; nearer 25-30 in the shade if that helps

here are the climbs of the 216km Ardechoise to give an idea; mostly long and steady as you can see; all the courses' stats are available on www.ardechoise.com

N° Col Altitude (M) Length (Km) Height gain Grad Max % grad average
29 du Buisson (aller) 920 11,5 400 7 3,5
43 des Nonières 671 11,5 298 5 2,6
21 de Mézilhac 1130 22 700 6 3,2
45 d'Aizac 643 3,5 226 9 6,5
33 de la Moucheyre 856 5,1 215 6 4,2
10 de la Baricaude 1232 13,4 732 10 5,5
2 du Gerbier de Jonc 1417 2,5 177 8 7,1
27 de Besses 998 - - -
23 de Clavière 1088 17,3 553 5 3,2
30 de Rochepaule 891 3,8 180 6 4,7
28 du Buisson (retour) 920 6,4 386 15

airwise

I did it this year and the atmosphere was unique. Weather was unusually cold - windproof was essential. Huge fun and the climbing is easy in comparison with many events. One for the randonneur. I went with Gastrobiking and they really made sure we enjoyed every moment.

herlihy

God it was cold. I didn't pack a windproof and thought I'd get hypothermia on the plateau above the Col de Barricaude.

Hard to believe it was Midsummer's day in the ( near) South of France.

But it is a wonderful event. The event is embraced enthusiastically by the local towns. IIn fact on the Friday we were cheered on by local schoolkids who'd been allowed out of class to watch us cyclists as we went through their villages.

It's not a difficult ride. The hills are long but the gradients fair.

cedargreen

I rode it a couple years ago and really enjoyed it. As other posts have said, you can choose your route on the day- and all the routes are a series of connecting loops so if you are riding the 216km route you could switch at 80km at the Col de Mezilhac onto the 171km 'Volcanique' route. This is the one I did and I found it pretty challenging; the earlier climbs are long, the later climbs shorter but steeper and remember the gradients quoted are average and the roads in the Ardeche are not as well engineered as some of the Alpine climbs which have more even gradients. This makes some of the descents quite tricky too and the surfaces are of variable quality.

It was pretty hot but a shower of rain descending from Gerbier made me quite cold. I used a Camelback but there is plenty of water en route and you could just carry gel or bars. Feed stations were well supplied.

Logistically it's easy as all routes start and finish in St. Felicien and you can enter independently. The only problem is that St. Felicien is a small village- you'll need a car and if you don't fancy camping, a hotel in a nearby town.

You can ride it at your own pace and be as competitive as you want, the cut-off times are generous and foreign riders ( of whom there are relatively few) get a place at the head of the start. Enjoy!

sherer

this one sounds pretty good. Might think about this one for next year. I tried an Alpine one this year but the gradients beat me so want something a bit shallower. Am ok on long climbs of 4% but when it gets above 7% i then struggle over the distance so this could be perfect

zoomcp

travel logistics are indeed tricky; 1st time I did it Ryanair flew to St Etienne the nearest airport but I still hired a car; I think there are buses from Valence the TGV station but not from Grenoble airport (nowhere near Grenoble of course!) which is a 51km ride (with a bike bag as there are no facilities for leaving this at the airport)

A car offers the advantage of doing some other classic rides in the relative area (Ardeche Gorge; Ventoux and even Alpe d'Huez) which I've managed to cram into 6 days including the event before

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dag_on_a_bike

Thanks again. I will do my utmost to make it happen, hopefully next year (but prostate problem seems to have made a reappearance so will have to wait & see).

KingstonWheeler, I enjoyed the articles on your website. I hope you don't mind me posting the link here - http://www.kingstonwheelers.co.uk/ardechoise2005.shtml