Signed up for the Etape by mistake.

Canny Jock

A part time cyclist friend (he's a rugby player really) kept going on about doing the Etape next year, and I kept telling him he wouldn't make it - he's 15 stone and the biggest event he's done previously is the London to Brighton.

I did say to him though that if he did sign up I would go with him - well it's happened and now I'm in too! We're doing the first of the 2 which is a mere 86 miles and 3 mountains.

http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/index.ht ... .html~main

I ride fairly regularly but will need to do a lot of training. As well as the commute I'll be doing 50-60 miles in Kent every Saturday, spinning classes, core strength and hill repeats, but has anyone else got some good training plans that fit with a busy job and family?

Any other commuters stupid enough to do it?

iPete

Excuse my ignorance but is it really that hard? I guess it depends if your plan is to finish or set a decent time!

By that I mean your regular commuting and long weekend rides should be more than enough to finish comfortably... if not, refer to my first statement..

Canny Jock

One of the problems is that there is a strictly enforced time limit which means you can't take it too easy. I have done rides that long before but not with remotely that much climbing. If the weather is dodgy then over 50% of people can fail to make it.

An 86 mile ride on the flat would finish me off at the moment.

cjcp

You'll be fine.

Have a look at the "Marmotte 2012" thread in Sportives etc for lots and lots of good training tips.

cjcp

Canny Jock wrote:

One of the problems is that there is a strictly enforced time limit which means you can't take it too easy. I have done rides that long before but not with remotely that much climbing. If the weather is dodgy then over 50% of people can fail to make it.

An 86 mile ride on the flat would finish me off at the moment.

You won't be able to replicate the length of climbing over here, so focus on riding at intensity. Paging JG; JG to the thread, please...

Don't dawdle up the climbs; just go for it. You can recover on the descents and seek shelter amongst groups on the flats between the climbs.

Canny Jock

Thanks cj, I'll head over there and check it out.

phy2sll2

Congrats, I'm sure you'll enjoy it!

In terms of training, I found joining a club:
a) added a bit of variety, which might help you get in all the miles that it sounds like (you think) you need
b) made me push myself a bit more
c) offered a routine (i.e. club runs at weekend, chaingang on Wednesday, etc.) which made it a lot easier to negotiate with SWMBO!
d) meant I found out about local events (e.g. sportives) that I wouldn't otherwise have heard about

Gussio

I'm signed up for Acte 1 on 8th July and am really excited about it. Best bit will be watching le Tour on 12th July when they ride the same stage. "Oh look how easy they make it seem..."

Christian Prudhomme’s Analysis
Twenty years after the Winter Olympic Games, the riders will set off from Albertville for an alpine stage with a substantial agenda and marked out on a shorter distance. During 140 km, the peloton will go over the Col de la Madeleine, the Col de la Croix de Fer and the Col du Mollard before tackling the climb towards the resort of La Toussuire. This will certainly single out the potential winners.

Gazzaputt

iPete wrote:

Excuse my ignorance but is it really that hard? I guess it depends if your plan is to finish or set a decent time!

By that I mean your regular commuting and long weekend rides should be more than enough to finish comfortably... if not, refer to my first statement..

Bloody right it'll be hard.

It's a day a straight up and down. Look at the amount of climbing involved in a short distance.

There's a broom wagon so you have to set a decent pace or be swept up.

Plenty of advice here in the road section about training. Starting now and laying a base fitness will reap real benefits.

bigmat

Sounds like you know what you need to do. I would second the joining a club recommendation - means there is always somebody to ride with and you can get some group riding practice in as well. DP have quicker rides on Sunday morning / Tuesday and Thursday evening which should push you a bit harder which will be good practice. I'm sure most clubs have similar. A couple of hilly sportives (Dragon, Fred Whitton, even King of the Downs closer to home) will be good preparation for distance / hills (psychologically as much as anything else) but not strictly necessary. There's nothing like the French climbs over here anyway so you just need to make sure you are in best possible shape - losing a few kg usually helps too!

rick_chasey

If you want to replicate climbing a big mountain in the summer, I'd suggest doing the following

Find a nice hot day / turn the heating up in your house to bone-melting.

Set your turbo up. Highest resistance setting, and be slightly overgeared.

Have your gf/bf/husband/wife/friend(s) point hairdryers at you and hurl abuse at you, along the lines of 'you're rubbish, you can't do this, why are you doing this? You're fat, you won't make it, what's the point? No-one cares' etc etc.

Oh, and go flatout in these conditions for 90 odd minutes.

You'll be fine.

il_principe

My advice would be to get out to the mountains sometime beforehand (alps or pyrenees) just to get a col or two under your belt. It's all well and good training hard in the UK but nothing quite prepares you for something like the Tourmalet.

cjcp

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have your gf/bf/husband/wife/friend(s) point hairdryers at you and hurl abuse at you, along the lines of 'you're rubbish, you can't do this, why are you doing this? You're fat, you won't make it, what's the point? No-one cares' etc etc.

That's right, Rick; let it out, get it off your chest, fella. :P

But, yes, I did turbo sessions in direct sunlight (what little we had) and in the conservatory-type thing we have. Try going for two hours plus.

rick_chasey

cjcp wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have your gf/bf/husband/wife/friend(s) point hairdryers at you and hurl abuse at you, along the lines of 'you're rubbish, you can't do this, why are you doing this? You're fat, you won't make it, what's the point? No-one cares' etc etc.

That's right, Rick; let it out, get it off your chest, fella. :P

But, yes, I did turbo sessions in direct sunlight (what little we had) and in the conservatory-type thing we have. Try going for two hours plus.

Hah :P it's true.

I trained very hard for my trip to the Pyrenees which was like the etape every day for 5 days (though without a time limit) and with hindsight, my physical fitness was fine, more than fine, buy my mental ability to deal with the mountains wasn't. Took me a good day or two to learn to deal with the effort mentally. Once I did that I was flying.... Relatively anyway.

londonlivvy

I did the Marmotte this year and in addition to the usual weekend rides / turbo sessions I also found it invaluable to have experience of what it's like to climb for a protracted period of time (particularly protracted for me since I'm pretty slow). Perhaps see if you can negotiate a family holiday to Majorca at Easter - beaches are lovely, it's warm and not expensive to rent a flat. You can then go and ride proper climbs (1hr +) during the mornings and do family sandcastle stuff in the afternoons. The Alps will still be too snowy for riding at that time of year.

t4tomo

I've not done the Etape, but now someoe who has. You do have to maintain a decent pace to keep ahead of the Broom Wagon. He said it took the edge off the experience and enjoyment for him. I think him and his mate got swept up on the last climb you need to be pretty damn fit / experienced to keep ahead of it.

il_principe

Honestly though, so much of it is down to the conditions. Etape I did was hellish, rained all day and was foggy and cold. Really sucked the enjoyment out of it, not to mention the delight of descending in the wet. Whereas riding in the alps last year was perfect, glorious sunshine!

NGale

makes me glad I'm doing a 'simple' 35 miler around the Plymouth area next year. even that's pushing it for me seeing as I was going to enter the 10 mile 'fun ride' instead and was persuaded to go for the 35 mile route.

as for mountains...they can feck right off.

Canny Jock

Thanks everyone, some good advice there although I don't have a turbo and wasn't planning on getting one.

Mat that's a good recommendations for the King of the Downs so I think I'll enter that. I'll also be out most Saturday mornings if any SE Londoners want to join me on a regular 45-50 mile ride through Kent - Mat you'll be pleased to know I'm a bit fitter than last time and know the route/how to use a Garmin now!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1217 ... LYCg.email

bigmat

I think the Garmin was more of an issue than your fitness from what I remember. Hopefully I'll be able to join you for the occasional training ride when it starts to war up a bit!

richa

Congrats. Its a great event. Loads of excellent advice already. I entered the Etape 5 years ago, bought a bike, started training and enjoyed it all immensely. My trials & tribulations from the time: http://etape2007.blogspot.com/.

Train hard & enjoy.

Canny Jock

Thanks Rich - fantastic effort on writing it up, you certainly planned well!

mrc1

Il Principe wrote:

My advice would be to get out to the mountains sometime beforehand (alps or pyrenees) just to get a col or two under your belt. It's all well and good training hard in the UK but nothing quite prepares you for something like the Tourmalet.

CannyJock - If you do fancy/can get permission for an Etape training camp in the mountains then we'll be running them from May onwards - drop me a PM if you want details.

Cheers

Rob

Headhuunter

Canny Jock wrote:

Thanks everyone, some good advice there although I don't have a turbo and wasn't planning on getting one.

Mat that's a good recommendations for the King of the Downs so I think I'll enter that. I'll also be out most Saturday mornings if any SE Londoners want to join me on a regular 45-50 mile ride through Kent - Mat you'll be pleased to know I'm a bit fitter than last time and know the route/how to use a Garmin now!

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/1217 ... LYCg.email

I did almost exactly that ride a couple of weeks ago, I decided not to go up Star Hill and then got a bit lost on the other side of the M25... Let me know when you're out next, I might join you, although I quite often do the DP Sat morning ride which more or less follows that route anyway, although the avg speed has been 18.5-19mph, however that sort of speed is easier when you're in a group

Canny Jock

Thanks headhunter, which way round do you do that route? Clock wise for me but keep meaning to do it the other way. I'll let you know when I next do it, although about 17mph is my best. Would love to get up to about 18 though so if you don't mind taking it easy some company would be great.

Did it this morning and averaged about 16, that's what a week of pre-Christmas drinking does for the legs :-(

cjcp

Canny Jock wrote:

Thanks headhunter, which way round do you do that route? Clock wise for me but keep meaning to do it the other way. I'll let you know when I next do it, although about 17mph is my best. Would love to get up to about 18 though so if you don't mind taking it easy some company would be great.

Did it this morning and averaged about 16, that's what a week of pre-Christmas drinking does for the legs :-(

I know it's the other side of London, but Richmond Park is a great training resource: if you get there early enough, it allows you ride more or less continuously, without the need to stop for lights, ped-crossings etc.

Canny Jock

mrc1 wrote:

Il Principe wrote:

My advice would be to get out to the mountains sometime beforehand (alps or pyrenees) just to get a col or two under your belt. It's all well and good training hard in the UK but nothing quite prepares you for something like the Tourmalet.

CannyJock - If you do fancy/can get permission for an Etape training camp in the mountains then we'll be running them from May onwards - drop me a PM if you want details.

Cheers

Rob

Thanks Rob - would love to but I think permission is the issue - already got 5 days away from the family and have to do a bit of travelling with work. I am hoping to get up to my folks for some practice, they live in the Cairngorms where there are some good challenges. Did the Lecht this year, still nothing like the Alps but better than Kent!

Headhuunter

Canny Jock wrote:

Thanks headhunter, which way round do you do that route? Clock wise for me but keep meaning to do it the other way. I'll let you know when I next do it, although about 17mph is my best. Would love to get up to about 18 though so if you don't mind taking it easy some company would be great.

Did it this morning and averaged about 16, that's what a week of pre-Christmas drinking does for the legs :-(

I do the ride anti clockwise. I have done it at 19mph avg although I've also done it at about 17mph when I haven't felt so energetic! Let me know when you're out...

Headhuunter

cjcp wrote:

Canny Jock wrote:

Thanks headhunter, which way round do you do that route? Clock wise for me but keep meaning to do it the other way. I'll let you know when I next do it, although about 17mph is my best. Would love to get up to about 18 though so if you don't mind taking it easy some company would be great.

Did it this morning and averaged about 16, that's what a week of pre-Christmas drinking does for the legs :-(

I know it's the other side of London, but Richmond Park is a great training resource: if you get there early enough, it allows you ride more or less continuously, without the need to stop for lights, ped-crossings etc.

Canny Jock and I live v close to each other I think and I generally find Richmond Park a bit of a ball ache to get to... It's not impossible but it's just a bit of a drag to have to cycle halfway round the congested South Circular and out to the park to do laps when within 30-40 mins you can be out in the wilds of the Kent countryside... If I lived closer to RP I would definitely go for the camaraderie etc.

cjcp

Headhuunter wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Canny Jock wrote:

Thanks headhunter, which way round do you do that route? Clock wise for me but keep meaning to do it the other way. I'll let you know when I next do it, although about 17mph is my best. Would love to get up to about 18 though so if you don't mind taking it easy some company would be great.

Did it this morning and averaged about 16, that's what a week of pre-Christmas drinking does for the legs :-(

I know it's the other side of London, but Richmond Park is a great training resource: if you get there early enough, it allows you ride more or less continuously, without the need to stop for lights, ped-crossings etc.

Canny Jock and I live v close to each other I think and I generally find Richmond Park a bit of a ball ache to get to... It's not impossible but it's just a bit of a drag to have to cycle halfway round the congested South Circular and out to the park to do laps when within 30-40 mins you can be out in the wilds of the Kent countryside... If I lived closer to RP I would definitely go for the camaraderie etc.

Cama-what now? This is London.

Headhuunter

.

cjcp wrote:

Headhuunter wrote:

cjcp wrote:

Canny Jock wrote:

Thanks headhunter, which way round do you do that route? Clock wise for me but keep meaning to do it the other way. I'll let you know when I next do it, although about 17mph is my best. Would love to get up to about 18 though so if you don't mind taking it easy some company would be great.

Did it this morning and averaged about 16, that's what a week of pre-Christmas drinking does for the legs :-(

I know it's the other side of London, but Richmond Park is a great training resource: if you get there early enough, it allows you ride more or less continuously, without the need to stop for lights, ped-crossings etc.

Canny Jock and I live v close to each other I think and I generally find Richmond Park a bit of a ball ache to get to... It's not impossible but it's just a bit of a drag to have to cycle halfway round the congested South Circular and out to the park to do laps when within 30-40 mins you can be out in the wilds of the Kent countryside... If I lived closer to RP I would definitely go for the camaraderie etc.

Cama-what now? This is London.

Ah yes, it must be dog eat dog out there in RP!