Etapes 2012

cyclingsheep

My first Etape and I really enjoyed myself. After the reports of last years weather extremes for the 2 Etapes I packed for every eventually. Not a fast time at 10.13 but before the start I just wanted to complete ahead of the broom wagon and I achieved that with ease, so much so that on reflection I should have pushed harder. I loved the descents but did see one girl crash hard in front of me coming off the Soulour. I stopped to check she was ok, she was a bit shaken up and had lost a bit of skin on her elbow but otherwise seemed ok. All in all I had a great day and loved every minute.

oneof1982

Got back yesterday after an eventful 10 days in France. Some of you will recall we had the car accident on the M1 one hour after setting off last Thursday. Abandoned one car and driver and picked up two spare bikes (one of which is specially adapted, so he ended up with his old steel frame with old gearing). In short this got him up the Glandon and no further. The other four of us all finished, well ahead of the broom wagon but not in times that will impress against some of the fine efforts reported above!

Big beef about lack of proper food at end of stage. Last year there was sausage and mash. This year an apple and a packet of cakes. We were also left waiting for our abandoned colleague and the broom wagon which didn't get in until something like 8 o'clock. By the time we drove back to start to collect hire car, it was nearly midnight when we got back to our hotel in Chambery. Didn't get a proper meal!

However, 4 days down on the Med coast, eating sleeping and watching tdf on telly got two of us back in the frame for a bit more of the same. 8) We took the line, with 2 others supporting and promising to meet at the finish with some roast chicken and decent grub. Once again the objective was to finish. Got up and over the Tourmalet over 2hours ahead of bw, albeit in the worst conditions ever - worse than Acte 2 last year, and made it to the food station. (managed to hit the slurry in La Mongie and descend sideways but still stay upright :roll: ) Set off for the Aspin, and then my chain broke. Having resigned myself to a cold wait for the wagon, and having established that in France, the Urgent phone line people and the various motor cyclists do not talk to each other, the yellow man from Mavic finally arrived, and with a cliched Gallic shrug set about changing my chain.

Having lost exactly one hour at the road side, a quick look at the clock suggested I was still in the race. Fired up like Lewis Hamilton after a pit stop I flew up the last two climbs (complete poetic licence here - I've seen the video) and finished in time to be presented with a cold roast chicken by our two supporters. Fat bloke on bike completes 2 Etapes in a week, and I still don't know what the broomwagon looks like. Result!

t5nel

oneof1982 wrote:

Got back yesterday after an eventful 10 days in France. Some of you will recall we had the car accident on the M1 one hour after setting off last Thursday.

Set off for the Aspin, and then my chain broke. Having resigned myself to a cold wait for the wagon, and having established that in France, the Urgent phone line people and the various motor cyclists do not talk to each other, the yellow man from Mavic finally arrived, and with a cliched Gallic shrug set about changing my chain.

Well done chap! Sounds like a massive triumph over adversity! I am getting tempted to have a look at both next year if the logistics are ok. I have to say that I hoped we would hear a 'happy' ending after reading about the M1 incident just before I set off myself.

I was fortunate that there was a group of 40 of us doing it from work + 10 or so supporters so there was often a friendly face and extra food. Additionally we stayed in La Toussuire so whilst this was a PITA for the start, it made the evening pleasant.

Tim

xscreamsuk

First one for me on Saturday in Acte 2, not much to add, got round in 10.25 but many calls of nature in that and dressing and undressing due to the weather. Was just like The Peak in January, we also have a local descent covered in cow much so even that felt like normal. Thought the organisation etc was first rate, loads of food at stops and space blankets handed out to many after the first descent, the last climb was tough, but I knew I had plenty time so didn't push it too much. Having started in the next to last pen I did find myself overtaking people up every climb and was not passed by many which was good for morale,

Also nice to get together with cyclingsheep afterwards for a beer, even though we couldn't find the pub we were after, I did find it the next morning though. Had a great time, will do it again next year, hope for some views.

xscreamsuk

Ron Stuart wrote:

I respect the spirit of those that haven't had a lot of history at doing major European Sportives but want to give it a try.
Some of the blunt advice has more than an element of experience and also hard truth to them, could have been better put but none the less to a large extent true.
It would be a much better bet to make the Etape a goal a bit more into the future for some who have only just recently got into endurance cycling, work the events around measurement goals that suit the progress made in fitness terms. For some this would mean an aim to do the Etape in 2013 or even 14, if you are anything like me you would like to do the event in reasonable shape and not crawl through the later stages on all fours virtually or worse still have to retire.
Do some good base training upping mileage and gradients interspersed with events that are a chance to measure the gains, after some time then try a hard lumpy job in the UK in the first season, depending on age and potential it will take years to achieve the best level of endurance riding. Try an intermediate sportive around say the Limousine Region of France, excellent value for money and it will give experience of riding around other foreign nationals etc.
Better crawl, walk and finally run in that order rather than run, walk then crawl. Maybe in second year try a holiday in the Dolomites July is great or the French Alps try out a few stand out climbs interspersed with a leisure day or recovery ride.
Then try the Etape de Tour 'mon brave homme'

Well I managed Acte 2 after one year cycling as stated earlier in the thread, 10.25 so well inside the broom. Just took a lot of training and dedication but it can be done from a fat unfit bloke to completion in a year and a bit. Now next year I will know a bit more, have another winter my belt, a few more kilos off and be able to push a little instead of simply getting round. If you feel you are ready then my advice is go for it, but you do have to put the miles in, the Etape took me over 4000 for the year.

wallace_and_gromit

oneof1982 wrote:

Got back yesterday after an eventful 10 days in France...

...Fat bloke on bike completes 2 Etapes in a week, and I still don't know what the broomwagon looks like. Result!

A result indeed. Good work.

beefonabike

A first time poster but I have very much enjoyed and appreciated the comments and advice on this thread.

My 2p worth on the first time/fitness/weight. 4 of us did Acte 2, 2 of us for the first time. Both of us were born big lads (110kg+), me an ex-rugby player and my friend a 6ft 6 basketball player. We both did what we thought was a lot of training (him more than me if I'm honest) and were completing long sportives (100m +) in the UK in silver times. But we were not prepared for the length of the ascents and the prolonged power output required to haul our heavy weights up those massive climbs (according to my Garmin I burnt well over 5000 calories with an average HR of 155 over 7 hours). Anybody reading this thread and thinking about doing this sort of event be warned - it is very very tough.

Needless to say we both got swept in the end - me half way up the Tourmalet and my friend at the bottom of Aspin.

Our other two friends (smaller and lighter and not Etape virgins) completed in unexceptional times.

With the benefit of hindsight I would have focussed more on losing weight early on in training, I would have started my serious training early (April is not early enough) and I would have focussed more on climbing, which is hard in the UK but not impossible.

Luckiliy it has not put either of us off - I thought the trip was a great learning experience and still great fun - and we will both likely have a crack at another one next year or beyond.

Road Red

beefonabike wrote:

My 2p worth on the first time/fitness/weight. 4 of us did Acte 2, 2 of us for the first time. Both of us were born big lads (110kg+), me an ex-rugby player and my friend a 6ft 6 basketball player.

Phew, bet your mothers were glad when those births were over.


You've hit the nail on the head though, weight and hills. Much less of the former and a lot more of the latter.

If at first you dont succeed......

il_principe

Congrats to all Etapers!

I'm not sure about the "hills".

A little aside regarding prep and training. I did the Etape in 08 - Tourmalet/Hautacam being the big climbs. I trained with 2 guys who were also training for Ironman. Training involved lots of short sharp Surrey Hills and some good sessions in Wales as well as some Sportives. I trained hard, or at least it felt like I did. On the day I struggled badly, partly because of a nasty crash, but partly as I realised this year, because my training was all wrong. IMHO you cannot train for the Pyrenees/Alps by trying to hit climbs in the UK, or by training with other people. Taking a tow every few minutes is not helpful when it comes to training for big climbs!

Went to the Pyrenees again in June this year, but I changed my training completely. Rather than hit short sharp English hills, or even longer, shallower Welsh ones, I just went for flattish rides and slowly ramped up the mileage and effort from Jan onwards. Eventually this meant riding between 60-100 miles every weekend at as fast a speed as I could manage (so averaging 18mph and up). I also threw in morning laps of Richmond Park, again done at a good clip. I then topped off with 3 days of riding in Cyprus' Troodos mountains. Nearly all my riding was done solo, so I had nowhere to hide.

The result? My climbing was about 100% better than 08, the difference was stark, despite my bodyweight being about the same both times. In 08 the Tourmalet nearly killed me, this year I did it in 1:21 from Luz, and loved every second of it. It's definitely about getting the training right, rather than focusing on quantity. HC climbs require the ability to put out good, continuous power for anywhere from 45 mins to over 1 hour. As far as I can tell, the only way to simulate this is to find a flattish loop and hammer it as hard as you can for up to 100 miles or so. I just set myself a target of a 20mph av and tried desperately to stick to that. Tough when you have to cycle in and out of traffic choked London, but as a regime, it definitely paid dividends.

Be interested to hear how Etapers trained this year, and what regimes people think worked (or didn't) for them. I was very unscientific, no power, not much effort to stay in any HR zones, just mileage + effort.

skippa76

Well my Etape ended on the slopes of the Tourmalet with a broken spoke. You may have seen me on the roadside waving my wheel at the passing support motor bikes!

When the spoke snapped I was only about 2-3 km up the Tourmalet, and 90 mins ahead of the sweeper so I opened up the back brake caliper as far as I could and I gingerly free wheeled down to the water stop in Luz to see if I could find anywhere to get it fixed. I was pointed to two different bike shops: one didn't do repairs and the other was closed.

After a while I managed to stop one of the mechanics on a Mavic motor bike, he tried to adjust the tension on the other spokes but the wheel was well and truly buckled, so I waited for another Mavic mechanic to come along with a spare shimano wheel. The second mechanic turned up about 10 minutes before the sweeper was due and time was getting tight. To the mechanics credit he tried frantically to get me back in the race, but unfortunately whilst he was putting my 11/28 cassette on to the spare wheel the Sweeper rolled in and it was game over... To say I was disappointed is an understatement. Whilst I only managed to complete about 65 miles of the course it was by far my best cycling experience EVER.

Huge congratulations to everyone who finished it and to the Organisers for putting on such a superb event.

oneof1982

skippa76 wrote:

Well my Etape ended on the slopes of the Tourmalet with a broken spoke. You may have seen me on the roadside waving my wheel at the passing support motor bikes!

Bad luck mate. Though it took and hour to get back on the road, I was obviously one of the lucky ones - see above.

proto

First Etape for me, and at the grand old age of 59, have to say rather pleased with myself. (Fat old bloke, High Wycombe CC kit and red/black Look 586). My only ambition was to get round without being swept up, and although I wasn’t very speedy, I was in no danger at the end.

Finished with a very modest time of 11h 24m. which put 3189th out of 3829 finishers (and 4696 starters). My climbing, although pitifully slow, was better, 5h 8m which put me 2827th . According to my Garmin, my actual riding time was 10h 28m, which tells a story. But, all in all, more than happy.

Felt a bit concerned that I was a late starter in pen 8, too close for comfort to the broom wagon, and needed to crack on for the first 20 k to open a bit of a gap. I was also worried that it might be too hot, and I would really struggle with that, but I never envisaged that the cold might be my undoing. After Aubusque I had to stop and thaw out at the feed station and repeat the process after Tourmalet. I’m normally a demon descender but I was very careful on those two - very poor visibility, useless brakes, twisty road, freezing cold, 100 metre drops – what could possibly go wrong! Arrived at the bottom of both with cramp in arms, shoulders and hands from the tension of it all.

Grovelled up Aspin and arrived at the feed station before Peyresourde in a bit of a mental trough. If someone had offered me a lift back to Luchon I’d have taken it. Felt awful, legs shot, and in desparate need of a toilet, feeling sick and bunged up from the sugary crap I’d been eating all day. Sorted the latter out, blagged a coffee and some food then relaxed and recovered for ten minutes. Fellow High Wycombe rider pitched up and he didn’t want to stop so we headed off once more.

Amazingly felt much better on the last climb, very few overtook me and even though I was slow, I overtook plenty. (actualy saw one bloke fall off climbing near the top. Just going too slowly, he wobbled and ended up in a heap in the road). The summit seemed to take forever to come though, the camper vans remaining very elusive. Over the top and I absolutely hammered the descent, only one crazy Frenchman went past me, I was sprinting out the saddle out of the bends and into town. What a brilliant reception at the finish area.

Lessons learned?

Better kit. I had a gillet but it wasn’t enough I needed a jacket. Should have had gloves.

Lose more weight. I’ve lost a few kilos, but another three or four would have made a difference

More training, more long sportives. I’ve done 4 x 100+ milers this year. It’s not enough.

Don’t stop at feed stations unless you really have too. They are too cosy and you can waste loads of time just faffing around.

If mates stop, don’t wait with them. I lost a good few minutes with one who stopped twice before I decided to push on.

Don't be embarrassed by low gearing. I was very pleased I'd fitted a 12/29 cassette. Lifesaver.



Fantastic event, loved it. Superb organisation, crowd support brilliant. Halfway up Aspin I vowed ‘never again’, but now I can’t wait for the next one!!!

proto

Skippa, very sorry hear about your spoke. Very tough luck. Amazingly I saw a plain looking silver spoke laying in the road on one climb (Tourmalet I think).

I also saw a fellow brit walking, he'd broken a rear mech hanger. Game over. Rotten luck.

xscreamsuk

Looking on Strava it seems plenty people managed this with zero stop time or limited to less than 5 minutes. How on earth do you do that? I stopped for around 40 minutes total, purely to get liquid and food, put clothes on / off and to answer calls of nature. Went past many of the feed zones, but had several roadside comfort breaks as I was making sure I remained full of liquid.

cyclingsheep

I must say I was amazed at how little guys in the earlier pens had in their pockets. Mine were stuffed full of food in an attempt to avoid stopping at the feed stations but still ran out by half way up the Tourmalet.

Rodrego Hernandez

xscreamsuk wrote:

Looking on Strava it seems plenty people managed this with zero stop time or limited to less than 5 minutes. How on earth do you do that? I stopped for around 40 minutes total, purely to get liquid and food, put clothes on / off and to answer calls of nature. Went past many of the feed zones, but had several roadside comfort breaks as I was making sure I remained full of liquid.

Practice. Stopping in the cold makes you cold. Quick stop to refill bottles and grab a snack then hit the road. Spent very little time stationary in Etape 2. Etape 1 was nice stopped in the sun

xscreamsuk

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

xscreamsuk wrote:

Looking on Strava it seems plenty people managed this with zero stop time or limited to less than 5 minutes. How on earth do you do that? I stopped for around 40 minutes total, purely to get liquid and food, put clothes on / off and to answer calls of nature. Went past many of the feed zones, but had several roadside comfort breaks as I was making sure I remained full of liquid.

Practice. Stopping in the cold makes you cold. Quick stop to refill bottles and grab a snack then hit the road. Spent very little time stationary in Etape 2. Etape 1 was nice stopped in the sun

that's what I did, but four lots of top on and off, bottles, loo *8! Maybe I had too much liquid. Certainly more than on 100d's here, but all the advice i had was eat and drink loads to get you round, it worked, now next time I will target a better time.

cyclingsheep

I must say I'm loving watching the big boys on the Act2 stage. A little embarrassed that they are going up hill twice as fast as me but I guess that's why they get paid the big bucks. I bit jealous as well with their weather, particularly on the descents as the best/fastest bits seem to be at the top (where on the Tourmalet we could only see 20m in front of us at some points)

caledonian1

Acte 2 was my first Etape and I am still on a high having finished...ok nae quick but my only aim was to complete and stay ahead of the broomwagon. I was 3200th...sounds ok but only 3,800 finished . I am actually a little surprised at those saying conditions were horrendous...i didnt think they were too bad until I saw all the people shaking at the first feed station. It was pretty much the conditions I trained at home although the gillet and arm warmers were a godsend.

I have lost 1.5 stone over past 3 months but at 14st still far too heavy to do this with any comfort.....L'Aubisque was ok and pleased to reach the summit of my first ever HC col with out getting off was a success...Tourmalet just went on and on and the last 3 or 4 km's were sheer hell...loads overtook me. Aspin was surprisingly ok after my nightmare on Tourmalet then Peyresoudre was hell again and yes the camper vans just never seemed to get any closer. hardly anyone overtook me on the descents and I just grew in confidence with eachbend....Aspin and Pyresoudre were the most fun I have ever had on a bike. The last 9 miles to Luchon were sensational......I was in tears on at least a couple of occasions......I dont even consider myself a cyclist..never joined a club just wanted to get fit by doing a challenge that would require loads of training and so tough it would test my will power to its max...I even shouted out "Ive done it.....I have done a stage of the Tour" as I reached luchon...then I heard the crowd they were so enthusiastic and it dawned on me that it was me they were cheering....i broke down again at the finish line

on saturday night i though...I have now done a stage of the Tour what next...by Sunday I was thinking...I wonder what stages they choose for 2013 as i want that experience again...but maybe at 12 stone something rather than 14stone....I kept looking at those passing me and saw they were in similar gears but the extra effort I needed was so painfull....

what a wonderful experience

cyclingsheep

Chapeau Caledonian1. I have to say I also was getting a bit emotional at the top of the Peyresourde as I realised all the sacrifices made by myself and especially my wife and new daughter hadn't come to nought. Looking forward to my next event (Etape Cymru) as I now know I'll be able to fly around and bring on next year with a decent winter of training as well as all the good work I managed to do this year.

willy b

Just got back, as I stayed out for a few days after for some more riding (in the sun). Was a good race, a hard ride mainly due to the conditions, I didn't have gloves or a jacket, which was a mistake :shock:

I was happy with my result of 464th with a time of 8:34. Rode the Aspin and Pryensourde the day after in the sun just to see what we missed and it was so different, much quicker and nicer!

davidof

El Vino wrote:

Only there for the weekend so didn't find this one only thing I did was the Col Du Grand Cucheron and half the Madeleine before the event itself.

Lacets du Montvernier is their official name, just along from la Chambre in the Frejus direction

Rode up the Col du Grand Cucheron today, but from the south side, very hot.

Fogliettaz

On the new green bike?

el_vino

davidof wrote:

El Vino wrote:

Lacets du Montvernier is their official name, just along from la Chambre in the Frejus direction

Rode up the Col du Grand Cucheron today, but from the south side, very hot.

Just seen a picture of them, look amazing, is it possible to cycle up? What's the gradient like?