SOME STATISTICS
Kathmandu
Days riding : 2
Distance :
Height gained :
Tibet - Lhasa to Kathmandu
Days riding : 15
Distance : 695 miles
Height climbed : 11,781m (38,650 feet)
Weight lost : 8lbs
Seat pins broken : 2
Punctures : 2
See more of my photos at : Tibet photos
Saturday, 25 October 2008
Wednesday, 22 October 2008
MONDAY
Really early up next morning as we had to get our bags into lorry so it could get onto the road before it closed at 7.00, then we had a couple of hours to kill until it got light, as we could use the road anytime.
Fantastic ride out, dropping down on tarmac road, and then it turned into one big set of roadworks, as we plummeted down the beautiful valley full of waterfalls, absolutely brilliant riding. 30 miles of bumpy scary downhill along a steep gorge brimming with waterfalls.
At the bottom, the border… and some breakfast!
For some reason you can’t take vehicles over the border so all our luggage, bike boxes and camping equipment had to be unloaded and carried the 1km over the boder by a hoard of porters, most of whom were women. Astounding seeing how much each of them could carry.
On the other side clocks went back 2 and three quarter hours so it was only ten o’clock or so, nevertheless we settled down for some lunch. Not surprisingly, none of us were hungry, however, Russel and I had a couple of beers knowing we only had 25 miles of downhill to our campsite and all day to do it. Encouraged by a couple of bottles of Lhasa beer, Russel and I decided to remain for some more beer while everyone else headed off.
We then had a leisurely cycle down the mountain stopping at various local ‘bars’ on the way chatting to locals. Arrived as it was getting dark at the campsite….
Really early up next morning as we had to get our bags into lorry so it could get onto the road before it closed at 7.00, then we had a couple of hours to kill until it got light, as we could use the road anytime.
Fantastic ride out, dropping down on tarmac road, and then it turned into one big set of roadworks, as we plummeted down the beautiful valley full of waterfalls, absolutely brilliant riding. 30 miles of bumpy scary downhill along a steep gorge brimming with waterfalls.
At the bottom, the border… and some breakfast!
For some reason you can’t take vehicles over the border so all our luggage, bike boxes and camping equipment had to be unloaded and carried the 1km over the boder by a hoard of porters, most of whom were women. Astounding seeing how much each of them could carry.
On the other side clocks went back 2 and three quarter hours so it was only ten o’clock or so, nevertheless we settled down for some lunch. Not surprisingly, none of us were hungry, however, Russel and I had a couple of beers knowing we only had 25 miles of downhill to our campsite and all day to do it. Encouraged by a couple of bottles of Lhasa beer, Russel and I decided to remain for some more beer while everyone else headed off.
We then had a leisurely cycle down the mountain stopping at various local ‘bars’ on the way chatting to locals. Arrived as it was getting dark at the campsite….
Sunday, Day #14
Very very cold this morning, minus 15 degrees at breakfast! And was first night that I felt slightly chilly in my four seasons expedition sleeping bag. First half hour very uncomfortable as my fingers were so cold I seriously was concerned about frost bite, but then got into the sun and started the first of our two final climbs. I felt remarkably good and got into a good rhythm. Soon I was overtaking people, Alvis, Woolfgang and Heidi. I was first to the top after the three fast boys, feel I have established my natural pecking order!! The second and fin
al climb of the trip was more boring, just a long more or less straight grind. However, a real sense of elation at the top as it was the final pass we had to cross.
Then began the downhill… first, fantastic open bends unfortunately not tarmaced, but great fun. Terrain kept changing but all the time going downhill… going through a village I heard a loud bang as my back tyre punctured… I was soon on the road again after a roadside repair watched by a gang of small urchins. Unfortunately, a couple of miles down the road I snapped a second seat pin… the terrain was very rough and could not cope with the bumps. I tried to continue with no saddle but there were too many little climbs so I was forced to abandon. In some ways just as well as it was a long ride and fairly tough by the end. So I missed out on about 15 miles, but claim mechanical problems that could not be fixed.
Tibetan guides worked wonders in Nylam and found a bolt of sorts to fix my saddle, so I was fine for the final two days cycling.
Nylam was a fairly big town and we stayed in a guest house, I was down to share with Mark, but realised that this was just down to penny pinching – we were supposed to be camping but the road was closed… all day everyday, for resurfacing. So I paid up and got my own room.
Internet café and local restaurant for some food with Russel and Derek while the rest eat usual camp stuff.
Very very cold this morning, minus 15 degrees at breakfast! And was first night that I felt slightly chilly in my four seasons expedition sleeping bag. First half hour very uncomfortable as my fingers were so cold I seriously was concerned about frost bite, but then got into the sun and started the first of our two final climbs. I felt remarkably good and got into a good rhythm. Soon I was overtaking people, Alvis, Woolfgang and Heidi. I was first to the top after the three fast boys, feel I have established my natural pecking order!! The second and fin
al climb of the trip was more boring, just a long more or less straight grind. However, a real sense of elation at the top as it was the final pass we had to cross.Then began the downhill… first, fantastic open bends unfortunately not tarmaced, but great fun. Terrain kept changing but all the time going downhill… going through a village I heard a loud bang as my back tyre punctured… I was soon on the road again after a roadside repair watched by a gang of small urchins. Unfortunately, a couple of miles down the road I snapped a second seat pin… the terrain was very rough and could not cope with the bumps. I tried to continue with no saddle but there were too many little climbs so I was forced to abandon. In some ways just as well as it was a long ride and fairly tough by the end. So I missed out on about 15 miles, but claim mechanical problems that could not be fixed.
Tibetan guides worked wonders in Nylam and found a bolt of sorts to fix my saddle, so I was fine for the final two days cycling.
Nylam was a fairly big town and we stayed in a guest house, I was down to share with Mark, but realised that this was just down to penny pinching – we were supposed to be camping but the road was closed… all day everyday, for resurfacing. So I paid up and got my own room.
Internet café and local restaurant for some food with Russel and Derek while the rest eat usual camp stuff.
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Saturday, day#13
Woke up early after a good night’s sleep and watched the sun appear over Everest and the Hymalayas.
Long flat ride along the Freedom Highway today, n
ot tarmac but hard packed dirt. Day of two halves, cycled morning with Russel and had a good time, just before lunch went off piste to a ruined fort made of clay – fascinating. After lunch, however, got very tedious and I got very tired. A combination of yesterday’s great ride and the food being so bad I suspect.
Anyway just about made camp, feeling tired. Lets hope tomorrow is better as we are camped at the bottom of our last pair of passes.
Woke up early after a good night’s sleep and watched the sun appear over Everest and the Hymalayas.
Long flat ride along the Freedom Highway today, n
ot tarmac but hard packed dirt. Day of two halves, cycled morning with Russel and had a good time, just before lunch went off piste to a ruined fort made of clay – fascinating. After lunch, however, got very tedious and I got very tired. A combination of yesterday’s great ride and the food being so bad I suspect.Anyway just about made camp, feeling tired. Lets hope tomorrow is better as we are camped at the bottom of our last pair of passes.
Friday day #12, 40 miles
A fantastic day. Woke up feeling really fit after a good night’s sleep – think I was suffering from altitude yesterday. Headed off on my own before the rest as I like to do. Weather was wonderful with a beautiful clear blue sky and Everest in the background as I slowly cycled up the valley on a rough road, climbing about 500m in 5 miles. Road was packed dirt with some parts covered in rocks but for the mainpart a good surface. Some very steep but short bits that I managed pretty well. Crept up past some little villages to the top of the pass then flat/downhill all the way. Road got a bit more rocky, and sometimes pretty scary as it hung to the hillside high above the river. Came upon a heard of yaks which looked fantastic down below us at the water’s edge, their Sheppards were busy putting away their tent.
Some v steep downhills and at one stage the road veered off to the left with the old road going straight on, I went straight on and found myself going straight down a very steep rocky incline, to meet the diversion at the end. Exhilarating!
More cycling on my own then met up with the car for drinks. At this point we could see what I was told was Tingi, so I headed off on my own across a huge rock field plain. When I got to what I thought was Tingi, I got mobbed by a crowd of very pushy children who kept following me around while I looked for the internet café I was longing for. It should have been obvious to me (a) this was not Tingi and (b) there was not going to be an internet café as I rode up narrow streets with cows wandering around.
Finally left and then saw in the distance Tingri. When I got there it was not much better though it was on the Freedom Highway, just half a mile of shops and hotels selling not much. I had expected it to be tarmaced here but unfortunately not, don’t think we are going to see any tarmac until we get to Nepal.
So, back in camp, feeling tired but happy with the effort I put in today – really have not felt that strong all trip. Feel great.
Some v steep downhills and at one stage the road veered off to the left with the old road going straight on, I went straight on and found myself going straight down a very steep rocky incline, to meet the diversion at the end. Exhilarating!
More cycling on my own then met up with the car for drinks. At this point we could see what I was told was Tingi, so I headed off on my own across a huge rock field plain. When I got to what I thought was Tingi, I got mobbed by a crowd of very pushy children who kept following me around while I looked for the internet café I was longing for. It should have been obvious to me (a) this was not Tingi and (b) there was not going to be an internet café as I rode up narrow streets with cows wandering around.
Finally left and then saw in the distance Tingri. When I got there it was not much better though it was on the Freedom Highway, just half a mile of shops and hotels selling not much. I had expected it to be tarmaced here but unfortunately not, don’t think we are going to see any tarmac until we get to Nepal.
So, back in camp, feeling tired but happy with the effort I put in today – really have not felt that strong all trip. Feel great.
Wednesday, Day #10 25 miles - Up to Ronbuck and Everest
Short ride today, only 35miles, up to Ronbuck but on very rough roads and rising 700m. I decide to take it easy and admire the view. So Russel and I sauntered along taking
pictures. First 20 miles were great but having run out of energy bars I suddently started feeling very tired. As we arrived at lunch there were a goup of gypseys there as well, looked like Danniel had encouraged them by giving then food.
Rongbuk was not what I expected – not a town at all, just a monastery, which is now an hotel, another hotel and a few other buildings. Next to it on a steepish slope is the campsite, and along with us were the large Austrian group of cyclists and the small (8 or so) Dutch cyclists. Russel, Derrek and I went down to the hotel to see if we could get a beer. Great little spot, with a magnificent view of Everest, beer an unbelieavle 8y a bottle, about £1. Imagine what that would cost in the alps. We decided to return at 6 for some dinner to make a change from the vegetarian/carbohydrate stuff we have been getting every evening.
In the middle of the room was a large range, next to which was a big box of Yak dung, which was often shovelled into the burner.
Turns out Daniel took it apon himself to cycle up to base camp on his own, Sterling not pleased as apparently the Austrian group had been found one thousand dollars for wandering off the route. Our Tibetan guide not happy either.
pictures. First 20 miles were great but having run out of energy bars I suddently started feeling very tired. As we arrived at lunch there were a goup of gypseys there as well, looked like Danniel had encouraged them by giving then food.Rongbuk was not what I expected – not a town at all, just a monastery, which is now an hotel, another hotel and a few other buildings. Next to it on a steepish slope is the campsite, and along with us were the large Austrian group of cyclists and the small (8 or so) Dutch cyclists. Russel, Derrek and I went down to the hotel to see if we could get a beer. Great little spot, with a magnificent view of Everest, beer an unbelieavle 8y a bottle, about £1. Imagine what that would cost in the alps. We decided to return at 6 for some dinner to make a change from the vegetarian/carbohydrate stuff we have been getting every evening.
In the middle of the room was a large range, next to which was a big box of Yak dung, which was often shovelled into the burner.
Turns out Daniel took it apon himself to cycle up to base camp on his own, Sterling not pleased as apparently the Austrian group had been found one thousand dollars for wandering off the route. Our Tibetan guide not happy either.
Spent the evening in the hotel which made a very welcome change from the campsite regime and wandered back
around 9.30. Very cold.
Got straight into bed, someone said it was minus 15, I can believe it, my water in the tent was slightly frozen next morning. Group of gillies working for the Dutch next to my tent and insisted on singing Tibetan folk songs way into the night as well as hoiking up all over the place. I had to get up in the middle of the night for a pee – astounding display of stars. You need to be really desperate to get out of your sleeping bag at minus 15!
around 9.30. Very cold.Got straight into bed, someone said it was minus 15, I can believe it, my water in the tent was slightly frozen next morning. Group of gillies working for the Dutch next to my tent and insisted on singing Tibetan folk songs way into the night as well as hoiking up all over the place. I had to get up in the middle of the night for a pee – astounding display of stars. You need to be really desperate to get out of your sleeping bag at minus 15!
Tuesday, Day #9, 48 miles - the dreaded Pang La
Some nice texts from R last night suggesting we go to Cork at half term for a few days with Maeve, good omen!
Feeling a bit tired from exertions of yesterday but lovely bright start to the day, 10 miles mainly downhill to the Everest base camp check point. Here we have to show our passports and a little further along the Freedom highway is the turnoff to Everest base ca
mp… unfortunately the road is not tarmac and is very rough. 4 kms gently rising takes us to another check point which I get to first and am told to wait.After that comes 18k climb rising 700m to Pang La at 5200, reasonable gradient, however, the road surface and the fact that the oxygen content of air here is only63% of that at sea level makes it tough going. There are supposedly 50 hairpin bends, I gave up counting but would not be surprised. After 4km of climbing I get a puncture and as my bike climbing configuration does not include a bag on the back do not have the wherewithal to fix it. However, some of the Aussies club together and give me the necessary. Unfortunately, the tyre levers are very lightweight and not up to the job so I have to wait for the backup vehicle. Which takes a while as Bec is crawling up the mountain. Eventually it turns up and I plus Bec get in. We drive 7km up the hill to lunch where David kindly fixes my puncture. He’s amazed that I have got a puncture with the tyres I’ve got but then discovers that my rim tape was not covering a spoke.
I get on the bike and complete the climb, which is not too bad. At the top an amazing view of the Hymalayas and Everest, takes your breath away. Took a few photos and then started a hairraising descent of 1000m on a rough road. Very scary, nearly lost it a couple of times on some corners. At the bottom a few flat difficult kms on the rutted road. 4x4s for some reason turn the road in to something resembling corrugated steel. Really jarring on the arms and wrists.
But all in all a fantastic day, with the views of Everest really memorable.
Monday Day #8, 40 miles
Today’s ride was the most knackering ride I have ever done, by the top I was nearly crying it was so difficult but I made it! Unlike the first big climb this was not through a series of hairpins up a big mountain, rather it followed a river through a gorge, rising at 5-6%, over 14 miles a total of 1,100m. The top of Gytaso La is at 5160m and we were promised a view of Everest, however when we got there were told it was in 10ks time, typical misinformation.
Ride down was unbelievably windy and cold over 25 miles of mainly descent. We stopped fairly soon and I put all the cycling clothes I had with me on and was still a bit cold. The wind was so strong that one of the guys turned round and said it was easier riding up hill than down.
Stirling decided that it would be better if we sheltered behind one of the jeeps and cycled in their slipstream, however, after half a mile it was clear that only he, Danie
l and David had the strength and skill to do this so the rest of us fell back. I ended up cycling with Mark and Alvin, not much fun but the three of us got a little peleton together and managed to get to camp before everyone else.
Soon, the boys arrived behind the jeep. I pointed out (impishly) that officially they had not now really cycled Lhasa to Kathmandu as they had been mechanically assisted. Daniel, who has no sense of humour was distinctly unimpressed as, to a lesser extent were the other two. The good natured discussion continued over tea, with me bringing in the tour de France rules.
One thing that is really good is the quality of the road. All the guide books refer to rough roads but we have been cycling on fresh new tarmac with very little traffic, in fact could have used my Cervelo most of the way so far. The answer is that the Chinese took the Olympic flame to the top of Everest earlier this year and to do that and look good in the eyes of the world they tarmaced the entire road. We’ll find out tomorrow if they tarmaced up to Everest base camp, I suspect they did.
Ride down was unbelievably windy and cold over 25 miles of mainly descent. We stopped fairly soon and I put all the cycling clothes I had with me on and was still a bit cold. The wind was so strong that one of the guys turned round and said it was easier riding up hill than down.
Stirling decided that it would be better if we sheltered behind one of the jeeps and cycled in their slipstream, however, after half a mile it was clear that only he, Danie
l and David had the strength and skill to do this so the rest of us fell back. I ended up cycling with Mark and Alvin, not much fun but the three of us got a little peleton together and managed to get to camp before everyone else.Soon, the boys arrived behind the jeep. I pointed out (impishly) that officially they had not now really cycled Lhasa to Kathmandu as they had been mechanically assisted. Daniel, who has no sense of humour was distinctly unimpressed as, to a lesser extent were the other two. The good natured discussion continued over tea, with me bringing in the tour de France rules.
One thing that is really good is the quality of the road. All the guide books refer to rough roads but we have been cycling on fresh new tarmac with very little traffic, in fact could have used my Cervelo most of the way so far. The answer is that the Chinese took the Olympic flame to the top of Everest earlier this year and to do that and look good in the eyes of the world they tarmaced the entire road. We’ll find out tomorrow if they tarmaced up to Everest base camp, I suspect they did.
Sunday, day#7 - 40 miles
Another beautiful morning and I am feeling really well. Nice flat riding for the first half hour or so then a climb of 300m over about 5 miles. We could see the top from the beginning and I felt fine the whole way up, with three gears to spare.Yulong La (4950m). Hung around a bit at the top then another great descent over 5 or 6 miles, sweeping roads with almost no traffic – getting much better on the corners.
Rest of the day fairly flat and easy, with a half hour stop in Lhartse which was a one street town with a rumour of an internet café, unfortunately it had closed down. Al
so in town were some guys in vintage cars who were doing Amsterdam to Shanghai over three years.
Strange how altitude is affecting my heart, it is staying really low. On the climbs it is around 120 where at home it would be 135/140. I assume I am going correspondingly slowly. Today, for instance did 40 miles and 400m of climbing and my max rate was 121 with an average of only 101.
Rest of the day fairly flat and easy, with a half hour stop in Lhartse which was a one street town with a rumour of an internet café, unfortunately it had closed down. Al
so in town were some guys in vintage cars who were doing Amsterdam to Shanghai over three years.Strange how altitude is affecting my heart, it is staying really low. On the climbs it is around 120 where at home it would be 135/140. I assume I am going correspondingly slowly. Today, for instance did 40 miles and 400m of climbing and my max rate was 121 with an average of only 101.
Saturday, day #6 - Shigatse to just below Yulong La, 4950m, 60 miles
Lovely sunny but cold day and we head off the 50 miles to Tso La. Mainly flat open road but no organised chain gang today, instead I rode the first three hours with Derek and Russel then had lunch. After lunch supposed to be 12 miles to go, turned out to be 22 miles. I was feeling good and even broke away from the bunch soon after lunch to be the first man over Tra La (4505m), a short and not very steep climb.
Found myself with Russel, Derek, and Heidi working against a headwind, after a while R&D fell behind and I was left with Heidi. We worked really well together but both were getting tired. Finally found the car stopped with most of the group. A discussion ensued about how far was left – estimated ranged from 2 to 7 km, in fact it was more like 15km. The extra 10 miles over what we were expecting was a really big deal when you are as tired as we were.
Heidi and I finally made camp and sat down for a cup of tea. About 20 mins later a very irate Russel came into the tent and made his views clear to team leader Stirling – don’t tell me its 5k when its 15k, I’m knackered and have run out of water. Stirling really is showing how not to be a leader – he has no information about length of rides so takes what the guides say and passes it on to us. I suggest he tell them to measure the distance tomorrow in the truck which goes ahead then phone it through so we can be told an accurate distance at lunch time. He seems to think this is a good idea.
Two days till first sighting of Everest… I’m very excited.
Found myself with Russel, Derek, and Heidi working against a headwind, after a while R&D fell behind and I was left with Heidi. We worked really well together but both were getting tired. Finally found the car stopped with most of the group. A discussion ensued about how far was left – estimated ranged from 2 to 7 km, in fact it was more like 15km. The extra 10 miles over what we were expecting was a really big deal when you are as tired as we were.
Heidi and I finally made camp and sat down for a cup of tea. About 20 mins later a very irate Russel came into the tent and made his views clear to team leader Stirling – don’t tell me its 5k when its 15k, I’m knackered and have run out of water. Stirling really is showing how not to be a leader – he has no information about length of rides so takes what the guides say and passes it on to us. I suggest he tell them to measure the distance tomorrow in the truck which goes ahead then phone it through so we can be told an accurate distance at lunch time. He seems to think this is a good idea.
Two days till first sighting of Everest… I’m very excited.
Friday, 3 October 2008
INTO THE WILDERNESS
Now in Shitgase, second biggest town in Tibet, having cycled here... 60 miles on an almost completely flat route. Raining as we set out but after an hour sun came out and was as hot as all the other days.
Again fairly demoralising long straight roads, however, I organised 7 of us into a chain gang as Rupert, Paul and I discovered in Tour of Ireland. Surprised most of them had not done this before, but they are mainly mountain bikers. They took to it well and we covered the 60 miles at an average of 16mph which is pretty good for mountain bikes with nobbly tyres.
Great fun, I realise I am a roadie at heart.
Tomorrow we are of for 10 days straight camping before we return to Kathmandu so afraid this will be last post until then. Its going to take us five days to reach the Hymalayas, and before that we have to go up the most scary pass, 1,300m of climb with 50 hairpin bends - Alpe D'huez eat your heart out. I hope (a) to be fully aclimatised by then (b) to have got a bit fitter and (c) have lost a bit of weight... so might be in with a fighting chance. When you get to the top though, you are rewarded with your first sight of Everest and the mighty Hymalays!!
Now in Shitgase, second biggest town in Tibet, having cycled here... 60 miles on an almost completely flat route. Raining as we set out but after an hour sun came out and was as hot as all the other days.
Again fairly demoralising long straight roads, however, I organised 7 of us into a chain gang as Rupert, Paul and I discovered in Tour of Ireland. Surprised most of them had not done this before, but they are mainly mountain bikers. They took to it well and we covered the 60 miles at an average of 16mph which is pretty good for mountain bikes with nobbly tyres.
Great fun, I realise I am a roadie at heart.
Tomorrow we are of for 10 days straight camping before we return to Kathmandu so afraid this will be last post until then. Its going to take us five days to reach the Hymalayas, and before that we have to go up the most scary pass, 1,300m of climb with 50 hairpin bends - Alpe D'huez eat your heart out. I hope (a) to be fully aclimatised by then (b) to have got a bit fitter and (c) have lost a bit of weight... so might be in with a fighting chance. When you get to the top though, you are rewarded with your first sight of Everest and the mighty Hymalays!!
Camping has started
Well here I am four days into the ride after three nights camping in an hotel in Gyantse (look it up on Google maps). Real one yak town, but fgamous as the place Younghusband based his army when the British invaded Tibet in 1904. I've just cycled over the Karo la pass (4960m) where Younghusband engaged 5000 Tibetans which still counts as the highest battle ever fought by teh British army. The poor Tibetans had bows ands arrows and a few old riffles as well as a personal amulet from the Dalai Lama guranteed to fend off Brittish bullets. It didn't and teh British light artillery and maxim machine guns slaughtered 700 Tibetans in 4 minutes.
Anyway, hotel has no wi-fi so no pictures as I am in the only internet cafe in town surrounded by adolescents playing computer games.
So, what's happened so far... well, first we all cycled to the Potala for a group photo before teh start. Then teh cycle out of Lhasa was fairly tedious as it was on the main road and far too much traffic to cope with. The fact that th last 10 miles was traffic free and through beautiful scenery did not stop me having a crises of confidence the following morning when I woke up in my tent and thought why on earth am I doing this?
Luckly though, the sun was out and we started immediatelyon a 15 mile 1,200m climb with a steady 5% gradient up to the top of teh Gampa La (4794m). Absolutely stunning scenery, flet good over teh first 5 miles in just under an hour and teh second was pretty good too. However, things got harder with the final 5 miles and in the last three I was stopping every 500 yds or so. On one of these occassions a bus load of Chnese stopped right in front of me adn got out and so0tensibly started taking photos of the scenery. Given it was a completely deserted road I realised they really wanted to photo me! Taking pity on them I gestured for them to take my photo, which 15 of them promptly proceeded to do.
Anyway, made the top in just over three hours, which I was very pleased with givn the lack of oxygen at nearly 5000m and the fact that I had not aclatimised yet.
Fantastic views from the top of Yamdrok-Tso, a huge lake at 4000m which is famous for being a fabulous shade of deep turquoise (pictures to follow!)
Following a beautiful ride around the lake we ended up at teh campsite set in a lovely location on the lake shore. On the way saw a number of Hoopoe - last time I saw one of those was no Alresford watercress beds in about 1985.
The next morning I felt like a bit of sloitary riding and set off 10 mins before teh rest of the group, First 10 miles although through beautiful scenery was demoralising as it is a series of very long flat straight roads. THe next 10 in contrast are fantastic, rising fairly gently up to the Karo La pass mentioned above. A fast descent brings us to another lovely campsite next to a river.
The next day work up feeling really well, despite it being -6 degrees. WHen hte sun came out it warmed up a bit but not much. THere followed an easy and beautiful ride of about 40 miles with one little 200m climb to Simi La pass. Got some great photos at the top then a fantastic hairpin descent with almost no cars don to Gyantse (which I had the R3 here).
Well here I am four days into the ride after three nights camping in an hotel in Gyantse (look it up on Google maps). Real one yak town, but fgamous as the place Younghusband based his army when the British invaded Tibet in 1904. I've just cycled over the Karo la pass (4960m) where Younghusband engaged 5000 Tibetans which still counts as the highest battle ever fought by teh British army. The poor Tibetans had bows ands arrows and a few old riffles as well as a personal amulet from the Dalai Lama guranteed to fend off Brittish bullets. It didn't and teh British light artillery and maxim machine guns slaughtered 700 Tibetans in 4 minutes.
Anyway, hotel has no wi-fi so no pictures as I am in the only internet cafe in town surrounded by adolescents playing computer games.
So, what's happened so far... well, first we all cycled to the Potala for a group photo before teh start. Then teh cycle out of Lhasa was fairly tedious as it was on the main road and far too much traffic to cope with. The fact that th last 10 miles was traffic free and through beautiful scenery did not stop me having a crises of confidence the following morning when I woke up in my tent and thought why on earth am I doing this?
Luckly though, the sun was out and we started immediatelyon a 15 mile 1,200m climb with a steady 5% gradient up to the top of teh Gampa La (4794m). Absolutely stunning scenery, flet good over teh first 5 miles in just under an hour and teh second was pretty good too. However, things got harder with the final 5 miles and in the last three I was stopping every 500 yds or so. On one of these occassions a bus load of Chnese stopped right in front of me adn got out and so0tensibly started taking photos of the scenery. Given it was a completely deserted road I realised they really wanted to photo me! Taking pity on them I gestured for them to take my photo, which 15 of them promptly proceeded to do.
Anyway, made the top in just over three hours, which I was very pleased with givn the lack of oxygen at nearly 5000m and the fact that I had not aclatimised yet.
Fantastic views from the top of Yamdrok-Tso, a huge lake at 4000m which is famous for being a fabulous shade of deep turquoise (pictures to follow!)
Following a beautiful ride around the lake we ended up at teh campsite set in a lovely location on the lake shore. On the way saw a number of Hoopoe - last time I saw one of those was no Alresford watercress beds in about 1985.
The next morning I felt like a bit of sloitary riding and set off 10 mins before teh rest of the group, First 10 miles although through beautiful scenery was demoralising as it is a series of very long flat straight roads. THe next 10 in contrast are fantastic, rising fairly gently up to the Karo La pass mentioned above. A fast descent brings us to another lovely campsite next to a river.
The next day work up feeling really well, despite it being -6 degrees. WHen hte sun came out it warmed up a bit but not much. THere followed an easy and beautiful ride of about 40 miles with one little 200m climb to Simi La pass. Got some great photos at the top then a fantastic hairpin descent with almost no cars don to Gyantse (which I had the R3 here).
Sunday, 28 September 2008
IN LHASA
Fantastic flight to Lhasa over the Himalayas and we were blessed with perfect weather to get a great view of Everest (see photo from plane window!). Chinese airways a bit rickety, and the seats are so close together I could hardly fit in. In flight food was laughable apart from what looked like a bag of sweeties… I popped one into my mouth only to discover it was yak jerky, yuk jerky more like :-))
Fantastic flight to Lhasa over the Himalayas and we were blessed with perfect weather to get a great view of Everest (see photo from plane window!). Chinese airways a bit rickety, and the seats are so close together I could hardly fit in. In flight food was laughable apart from what looked like a bag of sweeties… I popped one into my mouth only to discover it was yak jerky, yuk jerky more like :-))
Arriving in Lhasa everyone concerned about altitude so a beer free disastrous meal in the hotel, yak tongue and yak tripe on the menu, had a bit of the former (tasted like smoked duck) but gave the latter a miss.
The next day off to the Potala which has got to be one of the most impressive buildings in the world, really takes your breath away as you come round the corner and see it for the first time, weather a bit cloudy but still managed to get some good photos, see below. I was quite keen on all things Tibetan as a schoolboy and had read Seven Years in Tibet, so it was really exciting to wander round the palace where Henrich Harrier had had his meetings with the Dalai Lama.
First we looked round the Dalai Lama’s apartments on the top of the White palace (the rest of it is closed by the Chinese) and it was spooky to see microphones all over the place listening to what we were saying. This is the most politically sensitive area as it is where the last and current Dalai Lama’s held court. On the left of the throne is a portrait of the 13th Dalai Lama but notable by its absence on the other side is the corresponding portrait of the 14th Dalai Lama.
The off to the red palace where you can wander around all the chapels showing throne rooms and resting places of all the Dalai Lamas since the 5th who built it all in the 16th century.
Off to The Jokhang in the afternoon which is the most holy temple in Tibet. Very few western tourists here, place is filled with Tibetan pilgrims walking clockwise around the temples with their prayer wheels, or even prostrating themselves all the way round and Chinese tourists, blissfully unaware of the irony of wandering around temples their parents tried to tear down (bit like German tourists visiting St Pauls…).
Spent the afternoon wandering round the old part of town, absolutely fascinating once you get
away from all the stalls selling tatty prayer wheels to the Chinese tourists. One of the few decent things to buy here is a thanka, a religious painting on cloth done by the monks traditionally. Difficult to separate the authentic ones from those mass produced in Nepal. However, trusting the lonely planet guide I visited a shop they recommended and bought a beautiful geometric Thanka, used to aid in Tantric meditation – the more usual ones showing Buddhist gods were not to my western taste. So, lets hope I can get it home in one piece.Tomorrow we start our main trip with a very gentle 50 miles of flat riding and three nights of camping. Which means that the next update will be a few days away.
Friday, 26 September 2008
FINALLY SOME RIDING
On thing is becoming very apparent – we have a very ineffectual group leader. Affable but useless – a south African who was a client on a similar tour in India last year and is now having a go at leading for himself. The main problem is he can’t make a decision and when he does it’s a bad one. The real decisions are made by the local tour organisers represented by a very smiley Tibetan called Loki.
There are various levels of anxiety in the group about altitude sickness. Heidi, vegetarian Ausie triathlete doctor quietly concerned but personally content as she is taking drugs to fend the symptoms off. Main complainer is Wolfgang, genome scientist and erstwhile mountaineer, who keeps banging on about there being no effect under 2500m. The fact that he has a strong Professor Heinz Wolf accent (remember The Great Egg Race?) somehow adds to his credibility. The plan is to head up to 2000m and cycle around there hoping it will do some good. Wolfgang is volubly sceptical.
Night before the first ride everyone clustered around a large table peering at maps, there then follows a classic case of what happens to a group if the leader has no idea what he is doing… various plans emerge to ensure maximum aclimisation, the favourite being: lets take the bus up there and then start cycling straight up to 3,500m. I realised that it was a waste of time getting involved so I grabbed Russel and Derek and headed off to find a beer.
A couple of beers later we headed back for dinner at 6.15 only to find all the mad plans had to come to nothing and we were indeed going to do what was originally planned – cycle north about 35miles up to 2000m. So no surprise there then.
By the way, I was in a separate hotel across the road from everyone else due to lack of rooms… on the way over there I walked on one of the concrete blocks supposedly covering
up the main drain only for it to give way and me fall in (see photo of offending item). Could have broken my leg, but fortunately only some cuts and bruising – but would have been a terrible way to end my Tibetan adventure. The other group anaxiety is about infection, everyone has a bottle of hand wash that they use all the time and which, luckly for me, Ros gave me just before I left. So I washed it all down and poured disinfectant all over it .
So, back to my room for an early night, 8.30 except for the lottery kiosk below my room blaring out Hindi pop music till god knows when. At 5.00 am the next morning rudely awoken by the hotel shutters being opened. Nothing for it but to head off to breakfast.
Which takes us to Wednesday and the cycle up north. Cycling out early at 6.50! The road goes gently up then there is a taste of what is to come with a short steep hill on broken stones, an interesting interlude, I mistakenly think. From here on the rocky road continues with no tarmac at all as it winds up through tiny villages of unbelively poor people – astounded to see people sitting on piles of rocks and smashing them in to chips with hammers
Unbelievly hard cycling, as I got higher the sun disappeared and it started to rain, then the mist came in too. Finally after 2 hours of pain I come across a number of parked busses and people running around in a dither. Apparently there had been two rock slides about 8km apart making the road impassable. What should we do? Our intrepid leader decides we should take enough clothes for 2 days in rucksacks and continue cycling on as intended while the bus would return down the mountain with the rest of our gear. The deficiencies in this little plan were too many to mention so I simply told him I would be taking the 3 hour ride back down the mountain in the bus. Sense prevailed and everyone else decided to join me.
At the bottom of the mountain after a very hard day’s cycling with 10k to go, Heidi, the NZ doctor stops the bus in order to run back!! Locals very confused seeing her running after the bus, thinking we had left her behind.
Turns out we were going to stay in a different hotel as the Aussi women thought the communial lavatory/shower was not up to scratch in the other one and a cat had used Russel’s cycling hat for a dump… unfortunately, I’m beginning to realise things are not that easy here, we turned up tired, wet and hungry to be told they did not have 8 rooms as we had expected but they did have 8 beds in three rooms… even the Aussies voted to head back to the original hotel.
Thursday
Feeling tired from yesterday’s exertions, but fantastic scenery as I climbed up the mountain. Bottom getting a bit sore and as I got higher it started to rain, had to stop every half hour for relief. Finally called it a day 10 miles from the top. However, got back on the bike and headed down into the valley. Fantastic descent, when suddenly my seat pin cracked and I found myself without a saddle - not the best thing to discover heading fast downhill on a rutted road with mad bus drivers coming towards you…
Back in the hotel more shambolic leadership with confusion about which bags can or can not go to Tibet in the van.
There are various levels of anxiety in the group about altitude sickness. Heidi, vegetarian Ausie triathlete doctor quietly concerned but personally content as she is taking drugs to fend the symptoms off. Main complainer is Wolfgang, genome scientist and erstwhile mountaineer, who keeps banging on about there being no effect under 2500m. The fact that he has a strong Professor Heinz Wolf accent (remember The Great Egg Race?) somehow adds to his credibility. The plan is to head up to 2000m and cycle around there hoping it will do some good. Wolfgang is volubly sceptical.
Night before the first ride everyone clustered around a large table peering at maps, there then follows a classic case of what happens to a group if the leader has no idea what he is doing… various plans emerge to ensure maximum aclimisation, the favourite being: lets take the bus up there and then start cycling straight up to 3,500m. I realised that it was a waste of time getting involved so I grabbed Russel and Derek and headed off to find a beer.
A couple of beers later we headed back for dinner at 6.15 only to find all the mad plans had to come to nothing and we were indeed going to do what was originally planned – cycle north about 35miles up to 2000m. So no surprise there then.
By the way, I was in a separate hotel across the road from everyone else due to lack of rooms… on the way over there I walked on one of the concrete blocks supposedly covering
up the main drain only for it to give way and me fall in (see photo of offending item). Could have broken my leg, but fortunately only some cuts and bruising – but would have been a terrible way to end my Tibetan adventure. The other group anaxiety is about infection, everyone has a bottle of hand wash that they use all the time and which, luckly for me, Ros gave me just before I left. So I washed it all down and poured disinfectant all over it .So, back to my room for an early night, 8.30 except for the lottery kiosk below my room blaring out Hindi pop music till god knows when. At 5.00 am the next morning rudely awoken by the hotel shutters being opened. Nothing for it but to head off to breakfast.
Which takes us to Wednesday and the cycle up north. Cycling out early at 6.50! The road goes gently up then there is a taste of what is to come with a short steep hill on broken stones, an interesting interlude, I mistakenly think. From here on the rocky road continues with no tarmac at all as it winds up through tiny villages of unbelively poor people – astounded to see people sitting on piles of rocks and smashing them in to chips with hammers
Unbelievly hard cycling, as I got higher the sun disappeared and it started to rain, then the mist came in too. Finally after 2 hours of pain I come across a number of parked busses and people running around in a dither. Apparently there had been two rock slides about 8km apart making the road impassable. What should we do? Our intrepid leader decides we should take enough clothes for 2 days in rucksacks and continue cycling on as intended while the bus would return down the mountain with the rest of our gear. The deficiencies in this little plan were too many to mention so I simply told him I would be taking the 3 hour ride back down the mountain in the bus. Sense prevailed and everyone else decided to join me.
At the bottom of the mountain after a very hard day’s cycling with 10k to go, Heidi, the NZ doctor stops the bus in order to run back!! Locals very confused seeing her running after the bus, thinking we had left her behind.
Turns out we were going to stay in a different hotel as the Aussi women thought the communial lavatory/shower was not up to scratch in the other one and a cat had used Russel’s cycling hat for a dump… unfortunately, I’m beginning to realise things are not that easy here, we turned up tired, wet and hungry to be told they did not have 8 rooms as we had expected but they did have 8 beds in three rooms… even the Aussies voted to head back to the original hotel.
Thursday
Feeling tired from yesterday’s exertions, but fantastic scenery as I climbed up the mountain. Bottom getting a bit sore and as I got higher it started to rain, had to stop every half hour for relief. Finally called it a day 10 miles from the top. However, got back on the bike and headed down into the valley. Fantastic descent, when suddenly my seat pin cracked and I found myself without a saddle - not the best thing to discover heading fast downhill on a rutted road with mad bus drivers coming towards you…
Back in the hotel more shambolic leadership with confusion about which bags can or can not go to Tibet in the van.
Monday, 22 September 2008
DAY #2 - KATHMANDU
Bad start to the trip when Gulf Air asked for 12g of exess baggage payment, £240!! A bit of haggling later plus removing various bits and pices from my bag got it down to £60. Still not what i wanted and bodes badly for the flight up to Tibet not to mention the return trip home. Talking to people here it seems to depend on which check in person you get and its all a bit of a lotery. However, after my 2 hour wait at Bahrain
I was delighted to discover that for no aparent reason I had been upgraded to 1st class, seat 1A. Surprising as there were plenty of seats in the rest of the plane and nobody else up front with me at all. Perhaps they felt guilty at charging me excess for my bike. Anyway, had a couple of hours sleep on the flat bed then woke up for lunch which was delicious and waited on by two hostesses exclusively for me. Not a bad way to arrive in Kathmandu.
The airport is as mad as you might expect but got my bags and waded through the crowds to our mini bus, and was told I had to wait for five more of our group. While I was waiting badgered by locals who said they helped in putting my bags in the bus... told them I had no change, but they insisted and eventually were happy to take a pound coin. I got off lightly, two of the others were persuaded to hand over £20 each!
Today went on an organised tour in a mini-bus - just the sort of thing I dread and was tempted to do a runner, however, really glad I didn't as we had a
brillliant visit to the Holiest Hindu temple in the world (apparently) followed by a less impressive but nevertheless well worth seeing Budhist temple.
Was absolutely stopped in my tracks as I approached the temple when I realised the small crowds of people on the other side of the river were actually creamating their relatives, and that there were more bodies wrapped in orange robes lying in a row waiting for their turn.
What seems to happen is that the relatives first wash the body in the river then wait their turn for a funeral pyre to become available. Then they set fire to the body, starting at the mouth. Ideally the eldest son should do this which is why, we were told, Hindis really want to have sons.
After that we headed off in the interests of religous balance to see a Bhudist temple... impressive in its own way, we wandered around it the correct (clockwise) way spinning prayer wheels (the Bhudist version of rosary beads), all the time under the gaze of the all seeing eyes...
Tomorrow off on a four day cycle tour up into the foothills to try and get a bit of aclimatisation before heading up to Lhasa on Saturday. We should have been going on Wednesday but Chinese authorities insisting on five rather than three days to issue the necessary paperwork.
Bad start to the trip when Gulf Air asked for 12g of exess baggage payment, £240!! A bit of haggling later plus removing various bits and pices from my bag got it down to £60. Still not what i wanted and bodes badly for the flight up to Tibet not to mention the return trip home. Talking to people here it seems to depend on which check in person you get and its all a bit of a lotery. However, after my 2 hour wait at Bahrain
I was delighted to discover that for no aparent reason I had been upgraded to 1st class, seat 1A. Surprising as there were plenty of seats in the rest of the plane and nobody else up front with me at all. Perhaps they felt guilty at charging me excess for my bike. Anyway, had a couple of hours sleep on the flat bed then woke up for lunch which was delicious and waited on by two hostesses exclusively for me. Not a bad way to arrive in Kathmandu.The airport is as mad as you might expect but got my bags and waded through the crowds to our mini bus, and was told I had to wait for five more of our group. While I was waiting badgered by locals who said they helped in putting my bags in the bus... told them I had no change, but they insisted and eventually were happy to take a pound coin. I got off lightly, two of the others were persuaded to hand over £20 each!
Today went on an organised tour in a mini-bus - just the sort of thing I dread and was tempted to do a runner, however, really glad I didn't as we had a
brillliant visit to the Holiest Hindu temple in the world (apparently) followed by a less impressive but nevertheless well worth seeing Budhist temple.Was absolutely stopped in my tracks as I approached the temple when I realised the small crowds of people on the other side of the river were actually creamating their relatives, and that there were more bodies wrapped in orange robes lying in a row waiting for their turn.
What seems to happen is that the relatives first wash the body in the river then wait their turn for a funeral pyre to become available. Then they set fire to the body, starting at the mouth. Ideally the eldest son should do this which is why, we were told, Hindis really want to have sons.
After that we headed off in the interests of religous balance to see a Bhudist temple... impressive in its own way, we wandered around it the correct (clockwise) way spinning prayer wheels (the Bhudist version of rosary beads), all the time under the gaze of the all seeing eyes...
Tomorrow off on a four day cycle tour up into the foothills to try and get a bit of aclimatisation before heading up to Lhasa on Saturday. We should have been going on Wednesday but Chinese authorities insisting on five rather than three days to issue the necessary paperwork.
Wednesday, 17 September 2008
ONE FINAL ADVENTURE TO CLOSE THE YEAR OUT.
Was going to close this blog down having completed the Etape, however, have just decided to cycle Lhasa to Kathmandu before all the fitness I gained training for the Etape finally disappears. Not sure what is facing me as a lot of it is new to me: never cycled at altitude before; never camped before and never had three weeks without a beer before. The final one I'm not so sure about , though, as there is local beer in Lhasa but I have been heavily discouraged from drinking during the trip as alcohol encourages altitude sickness :-((
Here's details of the trip: Tibet to Kathmandu
Original plan was to spend three days in Kathmandu to obtain the necessary visas then four days in Lhasa acclimatising before heading off for the two week cycle down to Kathmandu via Everest Base Camp. Unfortunately, teh Chinese are being difficult post Olympics about visas so we now have to stay a week in Kathmandu. So now, we are spending four days cycling around Kathmandu hoping to acclimatise a bit before flying up to Lhasa for only one day of sightseeing before heading off on the cycle which is now two days shorter - we loose the rest day and the final two days have been condensed into one... so all in all, a bit tougher.
Preparation has been a bit rushed... so far, bought a four seasons sleeping bag plus fancy silk liner; two expedition mountain bike tyres ; a pretty cool rear rack and bag for putting my camera in and a polarised filter for the camera which is supposed to give better pictures of mountains, sky and lakes. But apart from that not much other prep...
With three days to go another bike maintainance incompetence story... given all the focus on road biking this year its been some time since I rode my mountain bike, so it took it out for a spin and, of course, the chain snapped. Off to wiggle for a replacement, can't be that hard to fit surely?? Reached for my chain-splitting tool, never used one before b
ut there is always a first time. Bit fiddily but soon new chain was on the bike. Just assumed it would work so with three days to go went for a short ride with Ros. I was consious of an unusual noise coming from the chain area, but as always ignored it and hoped it would go away... it didn't and half a mile from home the chain snapped. Looks like I did not install the rivet correctly. Just got some new pins and have had another go... but not feeling confident. In the local bike shop yesterday, however, they gave me a very clever little chain link meant for Sram chains, which is a link which does away with the need for revits... got to be a good idea, I'll take it with me just in case.
Was going to close this blog down having completed the Etape, however, have just decided to cycle Lhasa to Kathmandu before all the fitness I gained training for the Etape finally disappears. Not sure what is facing me as a lot of it is new to me: never cycled at altitude before; never camped before and never had three weeks without a beer before. The final one I'm not so sure about , though, as there is local beer in Lhasa but I have been heavily discouraged from drinking during the trip as alcohol encourages altitude sickness :-((
Here's details of the trip: Tibet to Kathmandu
Original plan was to spend three days in Kathmandu to obtain the necessary visas then four days in Lhasa acclimatising before heading off for the two week cycle down to Kathmandu via Everest Base Camp. Unfortunately, teh Chinese are being difficult post Olympics about visas so we now have to stay a week in Kathmandu. So now, we are spending four days cycling around Kathmandu hoping to acclimatise a bit before flying up to Lhasa for only one day of sightseeing before heading off on the cycle which is now two days shorter - we loose the rest day and the final two days have been condensed into one... so all in all, a bit tougher.
Preparation has been a bit rushed... so far, bought a four seasons sleeping bag plus fancy silk liner; two expedition mountain bike tyres ; a pretty cool rear rack and bag for putting my camera in and a polarised filter for the camera which is supposed to give better pictures of mountains, sky and lakes. But apart from that not much other prep...
With three days to go another bike maintainance incompetence story... given all the focus on road biking this year its been some time since I rode my mountain bike, so it took it out for a spin and, of course, the chain snapped. Off to wiggle for a replacement, can't be that hard to fit surely?? Reached for my chain-splitting tool, never used one before b
ut there is always a first time. Bit fiddily but soon new chain was on the bike. Just assumed it would work so with three days to go went for a short ride with Ros. I was consious of an unusual noise coming from the chain area, but as always ignored it and hoped it would go away... it didn't and half a mile from home the chain snapped. Looks like I did not install the rivet correctly. Just got some new pins and have had another go... but not feeling confident. In the local bike shop yesterday, however, they gave me a very clever little chain link meant for Sram chains, which is a link which does away with the need for revits... got to be a good idea, I'll take it with me just in case.
Wednesday, 27 August 2008
MONDAY 7th July, All over... Done it!
Miles last week 50 (50 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 6,300ft (2,000m)
Weight : 14st 7.0lbs (+2.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
Done it! Well all three of us did it: Paul broke the 8 hour barrier by 54 seconds and remarkably came 222nd of his ager group (the fittest 20-30 year olds), Rupert came in next with 8hr 18 minutes followed by me in 9hrs 16mins. 6,178 people finished from a total start of 7,500 which means a drop out of 18%, much less than last year's 40%!
Absolutely brutal, nothing can prepare you for doing one of those Cols without having done one already.
came with the extenders (what tool??) to loosen them, then insert a 3mm hex wrench into the extender in order to remove them. Then to replace simply reverse the process remembering to put plumber's tape on the original valve threads first in order to ensure an air tight fit (pretty important on a tube pumped up to 8bar I would have thought). Not what I wanted to find out 3 days before the Etape. Managed to find someone who stocked said extenders and fitted one to my spare tyre, but not feeling at all comfortable.
A very early start on Friday saw Paul and me at Gatwick waiting for the 7.00 BA flight to Toulouse. Unlike budget airlines BA does not charge for bikes, unfortunately, this means they don't know how many bikes will be on a particular flight... sitting on the plane the pilot came on the tannoy to explain that the reason we had been delayed 40 mins was that they had expected 5 bikes on the plane when in fact there were supposed to be 67. These would not fit in the hold of the original aircraft so BA changed the plane... unfortunately, all the bikes could not fit in so about 20 of them had been left behind.
A very stressful flight followed by an even more stressful wait in baggage hall but fortunately Paul and I got all our bags straight away. All the BA bags turned up later, but as every flight was overbooked some bikes did not turn up until Saturday evening... but at least they did turn up, unlike a distraught chap we met at registration who travelled with Easyjet and whose bike never arrived along with plenty of others. So there is a difference between BA and the budget airlines.
Showing that cycling has the socio-demographics that skiing had 30 years ago, two blokes drove down to our hotel in a Porsch 911 with their bikes on a roof rack... unfortunately, forgot about the bikes as they drove into the carpark, consequently ripping them off and opening up the Porsch like a tin of sardines. Very unhappy fellows, however, they did manage to hire a couple of replacements... not sure about the car though.
Paul and I popped out for a short 25 mile warm up on Saturday which took in a couple of hills while we waited for Rupert to arrive. In direct contrast to our arrival on Friday to clear blue skies and temperatures of 35 degrees we were woken during the night by the sound of a thunderstorm, come 5.00 it had abated but was still raining. Slight drizzel, we thought, was better for us than the heat we had seen on Friday. Only barely light at 7.00 we headed off in the rain through Pau and the closed roads. Paul and I were together and we kept up a very respectable 20mph for the first 15 miles, then we hit the first hill and slowed down a bit. Even so, the first food stop at Lourdes turned up at 40 miles at 18mph average, dead on schedule. By this stage Paul had left me and I was nipping in and out of various slip-streams all the way to the bottom of the Tourmalet at 72 miles. The first few miles are pretty flat but then it kicks up and for the next hour or so its just a steady grind away on constant gradient.
The biggest disappointment with the weather was that we were surrounded by mist all the way up so did not get the fantastic views back into the valley and the sense of achievement that would bring. The next feed stop was at La Mongie, 2 miles from the summit. Got there feeling wet, cold and knackered - a real bun fight for drinks and food, though they did have some ham sandwiches among all the energy gels which were a welcome change. The next two miles were misery, but after what seemed an age I turned a corner to see the famous statue of the cyclist - I had done it! Conquered, albeit slowly, the feared Tourmalet.
After a short stop I headed down the pretty steep and winding road... as I mentioned above, I seemed to be going twice as fast as everyone else - suddenly pay back time for all those that had overtaken me on the way up. Just under an hour and 23 miles later after a fantastic blast along a beautiful gorge I found my self at the bottom of the Hautaucam. I was 45 mins ahead of the dreaded broom wagon and feeling a bit refreshed after not having to pedal for the previous hour. 97 miles done only 8 to go, surely I can do this??
There's an immediate 8% climb and then it goes up and down relentlessly, some very, very steep sections. After about 20 mins of very hard climbing I realised that due to delirium I had not realised that I had four more gears left and had been struggling up in far too high a gear. Instead of treating myself to a series of down shifts over a period of time, I crashed through the gears down to my bottom ring... joy. But not for long it soon started feeling as bad as ever. I was going slowly, but was going.
The road was littered with people pushing their bikes (I can tell you, no matter how low your gear is, you can still cycle faster than walk up a mountain). Some were stopped at the side of the road with their heads slumped over their handlebars, completely exhausted, and I saw three people fall off their bikes into the ditch at the side of the road as they tried to get off but fail through tiredness to get their let over the saddle. The carnage continued as tired people started to wobble their bikes from side to side and run into each other causing some very unsavory exchanges in French.
But finally the finish and my little medal before having to come back down the road I had just climbed up. By this stage very cold and I reached the bottom in early stages of hyperthermia, met up with Paul and back on the coach for a celebratory dinner with Rupert.
Miles last week 50 (50 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 6,300ft (2,000m)
Weight : 14st 7.0lbs (+2.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
Done it! Well all three of us did it: Paul broke the 8 hour barrier by 54 seconds and remarkably came 222nd of his ager group (the fittest 20-30 year olds), Rupert came in next with 8hr 18 minutes followed by me in 9hrs 16mins. 6,178 people finished from a total start of 7,500 which means a drop out of 18%, much less than last year's 40%!
Absolutely brutal, nothing can prepare you for doing one of those Cols without having done one already.
Stats
Pos Pos in age grp. Adjusted time
Me 1202 5606 9hr 16mins 24secs
Paul 2940 222 7hr 59mins 04secs
Rupert 3727 1318 8hr 18mins 29secs
Overview
Absolutely brilliant experience, only downside was the weather - rain all day and thick mist on the mountains which meant that we missed out on the fantastic scenery and the sense of achievement as you gained more and more height. 
Although I was pretty slow going up hill, I discovered a talent for coming down... absolutely exhilarating experience coming off the Tourmalet. I seemed to be going twice as fast as everyone else and overtook what seemed like hundreds during the 20 mile descent. I suspect being more experienced they knew how dangerous it was in the wet with limited viability but it could have been a combination of my very fast bike and my superior weight... Anyway, over the steepest first 12 miles, I averaged 30 mph hitting a maximum of 51mph!
Detail
On Thursday decided it would be prudent to check how quickly I could change a tube on my new high profile zipp 404 wheels. The tubes need to have 'valve extenders' fitted and in my naivety I assumed it would be a simple task to simply unscrew these and fit them to the new tube as part of the puncture repair process... wrong. I could not figure out how to detach valve extensions.
So a quick plea for help on the Cervelo forum elicited a reply that made my blood run cold... apparently, it was pretty straightforward, all you had to do was use the little plastic tool that
came with the extenders (what tool??) to loosen them, then insert a 3mm hex wrench into the extender in order to remove them. Then to replace simply reverse the process remembering to put plumber's tape on the original valve threads first in order to ensure an air tight fit (pretty important on a tube pumped up to 8bar I would have thought). Not what I wanted to find out 3 days before the Etape. Managed to find someone who stocked said extenders and fitted one to my spare tyre, but not feeling at all comfortable. A very early start on Friday saw Paul and me at Gatwick waiting for the 7.00 BA flight to Toulouse. Unlike budget airlines BA does not charge for bikes, unfortunately, this means they don't know how many bikes will be on a particular flight... sitting on the plane the pilot came on the tannoy to explain that the reason we had been delayed 40 mins was that they had expected 5 bikes on the plane when in fact there were supposed to be 67. These would not fit in the hold of the original aircraft so BA changed the plane... unfortunately, all the bikes could not fit in so about 20 of them had been left behind.
A very stressful flight followed by an even more stressful wait in baggage hall but fortunately Paul and I got all our bags straight away. All the BA bags turned up later, but as every flight was overbooked some bikes did not turn up until Saturday evening... but at least they did turn up, unlike a distraught chap we met at registration who travelled with Easyjet and whose bike never arrived along with plenty of others. So there is a difference between BA and the budget airlines.
Showing that cycling has the socio-demographics that skiing had 30 years ago, two blokes drove down to our hotel in a Porsch 911 with their bikes on a roof rack... unfortunately, forgot about the bikes as they drove into the carpark, consequently ripping them off and opening up the Porsch like a tin of sardines. Very unhappy fellows, however, they did manage to hire a couple of replacements... not sure about the car though.
Paul and I popped out for a short 25 mile warm up on Saturday which took in a couple of hills while we waited for Rupert to arrive. In direct contrast to our arrival on Friday to clear blue skies and temperatures of 35 degrees we were woken during the night by the sound of a thunderstorm, come 5.00 it had abated but was still raining. Slight drizzel, we thought, was better for us than the heat we had seen on Friday. Only barely light at 7.00 we headed off in the rain through Pau and the closed roads. Paul and I were together and we kept up a very respectable 20mph for the first 15 miles, then we hit the first hill and slowed down a bit. Even so, the first food stop at Lourdes turned up at 40 miles at 18mph average, dead on schedule. By this stage Paul had left me and I was nipping in and out of various slip-streams all the way to the bottom of the Tourmalet at 72 miles. The first few miles are pretty flat but then it kicks up and for the next hour or so its just a steady grind away on constant gradient.
The biggest disappointment with the weather was that we were surrounded by mist all the way up so did not get the fantastic views back into the valley and the sense of achievement that would bring. The next feed stop was at La Mongie, 2 miles from the summit. Got there feeling wet, cold and knackered - a real bun fight for drinks and food, though they did have some ham sandwiches among all the energy gels which were a welcome change. The next two miles were misery, but after what seemed an age I turned a corner to see the famous statue of the cyclist - I had done it! Conquered, albeit slowly, the feared Tourmalet.
After a short stop I headed down the pretty steep and winding road... as I mentioned above, I seemed to be going twice as fast as everyone else - suddenly pay back time for all those that had overtaken me on the way up. Just under an hour and 23 miles later after a fantastic blast along a beautiful gorge I found my self at the bottom of the Hautaucam. I was 45 mins ahead of the dreaded broom wagon and feeling a bit refreshed after not having to pedal for the previous hour. 97 miles done only 8 to go, surely I can do this??
There's an immediate 8% climb and then it goes up and down relentlessly, some very, very steep sections. After about 20 mins of very hard climbing I realised that due to delirium I had not realised that I had four more gears left and had been struggling up in far too high a gear. Instead of treating myself to a series of down shifts over a period of time, I crashed through the gears down to my bottom ring... joy. But not for long it soon started feeling as bad as ever. I was going slowly, but was going.
The road was littered with people pushing their bikes (I can tell you, no matter how low your gear is, you can still cycle faster than walk up a mountain). Some were stopped at the side of the road with their heads slumped over their handlebars, completely exhausted, and I saw three people fall off their bikes into the ditch at the side of the road as they tried to get off but fail through tiredness to get their let over the saddle. The carnage continued as tired people started to wobble their bikes from side to side and run into each other causing some very unsavory exchanges in French.
But finally the finish and my little medal before having to come back down the road I had just climbed up. By this stage very cold and I reached the bottom in early stages of hyperthermia, met up with Paul and back on the coach for a celebratory dinner with Rupert.
Monday, 30 June 2008
MONDAY 30th June - 1 week to go
Miles last week 50 (50 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 6,300ft (2,000m)
Weight : 14st 7.0lbs (+2.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
A week in sunny Mallorca celebrating 25th wedding anniversary. I had thought it would be a bit cheeky to take my bike, but Ros insisted! So I had a couple of great short but
high rides over Soller (500m) and Orient (500m), with Ros picking me up afterwards for lunch. Mallorca really is a lovely island and perfect for cycling. We stayed at The Residentia, a beautiful hotel in Deia, a small town built into the mountainside by the sea. We were there for Spain v Russia in the semi finals of the European cup and watched it with a crowd of locals in a local bar - must say, they were all very subdued compared to pub crowds I have seen in UK...
Then back for Paul's stag night... not the best preparation for the Etape but there you go. Turns out we were staying in Southampton with a day trip across to the Isle of Wight. the round the island race was on (nearly 2000 boats!) so there was plenty of post race revelry to join in with. Here's a picture of us waiting for an hour outside a curry house.
Today (Monday) just been out to Box Hill where I did 8 repeats, 24miles and 3000 feet (900m). Felt good, though only 6-7% gradient good preparation for this week. Bike in for a service tomorrow, then off to Henley on Wednesday with a little ride Thursday morning before packing bike away.
So, only a week to go, worth having a round up of how I have been doing since the start of the year:
Weight - feeling great to have lost over 2 stone, however, still nearly a stone over my target of 13st 7lbs, going to notice that on the way up the hills.
Mileage - Well, I've done 2,408 miles since the start of the year which I think is a reasonable amount of training. Plus I have managed 121,400 feet (37,000m)! of climbing.
Miles last week 50 (50 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 6,300ft (2,000m)
Weight : 14st 7.0lbs (+2.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
A week in sunny Mallorca celebrating 25th wedding anniversary. I had thought it would be a bit cheeky to take my bike, but Ros insisted! So I had a couple of great short but
high rides over Soller (500m) and Orient (500m), with Ros picking me up afterwards for lunch. Mallorca really is a lovely island and perfect for cycling. We stayed at The Residentia, a beautiful hotel in Deia, a small town built into the mountainside by the sea. We were there for Spain v Russia in the semi finals of the European cup and watched it with a crowd of locals in a local bar - must say, they were all very subdued compared to pub crowds I have seen in UK...Then back for Paul's stag night... not the best preparation for the Etape but there you go. Turns out we were staying in Southampton with a day trip across to the Isle of Wight. the round the island race was on (nearly 2000 boats!) so there was plenty of post race revelry to join in with. Here's a picture of us waiting for an hour outside a curry house.
Today (Monday) just been out to Box Hill where I did 8 repeats, 24miles and 3000 feet (900m). Felt good, though only 6-7% gradient good preparation for this week. Bike in for a service tomorrow, then off to Henley on Wednesday with a little ride Thursday morning before packing bike away.
So, only a week to go, worth having a round up of how I have been doing since the start of the year:
Weight - feeling great to have lost over 2 stone, however, still nearly a stone over my target of 13st 7lbs, going to notice that on the way up the hills.
Mileage - Well, I've done 2,408 miles since the start of the year which I think is a reasonable amount of training. Plus I have managed 121,400 feet (37,000m)! of climbing.
MONDAY 23rd June - 2 weeks to go
Miles last week 80 (80 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 5,000ft (1,500m)
Weight : 14st 5.0lbs (-0.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
Weekend of the annual RPRC summer outing to the Pyranees, plus a trip to Ascot with Paul, Isabel and Ros. Came back early from weekend in order to head out to Mallorca with Ros to celebrate 25th wedding anniversary (more of that next week), which meant day of trains, planes and automobiles on Sunday when up at 6.00 to get train to Toulouse for flight to Gatwick and train to Guildford in order to re-pack to get back to Gatwick for evening flight to Palma, phew... still I am getting pretty used to packing and un-packing my bike.
Great day out at Ascot, against expectations weather was sunny but a
bit windy which meant hats flying everywhere and the added bonus of dresses too... Specularly bad at betting but Paul proved a bit of a dab hand - Isabel refused to bet, saying that as a dealer she spends all day betting but only when she has the right information... sensible girl. Here I am with Ros and Paul...
Then on Friday off to Pyranees for some hills... along with: Pete, Rupert, Gareth, Alan and Matthew. Bit of a trek to get there, only arriving after 10 to find most of the place closed, however, gite owner managed to get a local pitzeria to stay open for us. Next day off for a great ride, starting with a five mile 1000m climb at 5%. Then some beautiful rolling cycling to a lunch stop at a little French restaurant. Rose was the wine of choice, so said Pete, and Rupert was nearly convinced but so convinced that he did not order his own personal bottle of claret. A little sluggish after lunch but some very fast riding along the flat.. eventually finding ourselves at a hill top village where we stopped for a refreshing beer and some supper. Probably stayed a bit longer than we should have and found ourselves lost and cycling back in the dark... eventually Mattew talked us in by phone and off to bed... Next day I was off before the rest got up but by all accounts Rupert sorted out a challenging ride for that day too...
Miles last week 80 (80 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 5,000ft (1,500m)
Weight : 14st 5.0lbs (-0.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
Weekend of the annual RPRC summer outing to the Pyranees, plus a trip to Ascot with Paul, Isabel and Ros. Came back early from weekend in order to head out to Mallorca with Ros to celebrate 25th wedding anniversary (more of that next week), which meant day of trains, planes and automobiles on Sunday when up at 6.00 to get train to Toulouse for flight to Gatwick and train to Guildford in order to re-pack to get back to Gatwick for evening flight to Palma, phew... still I am getting pretty used to packing and un-packing my bike.
Great day out at Ascot, against expectations weather was sunny but a
bit windy which meant hats flying everywhere and the added bonus of dresses too... Specularly bad at betting but Paul proved a bit of a dab hand - Isabel refused to bet, saying that as a dealer she spends all day betting but only when she has the right information... sensible girl. Here I am with Ros and Paul...Then on Friday off to Pyranees for some hills... along with: Pete, Rupert, Gareth, Alan and Matthew. Bit of a trek to get there, only arriving after 10 to find most of the place closed, however, gite owner managed to get a local pitzeria to stay open for us. Next day off for a great ride, starting with a five mile 1000m climb at 5%. Then some beautiful rolling cycling to a lunch stop at a little French restaurant. Rose was the wine of choice, so said Pete, and Rupert was nearly convinced but so convinced that he did not order his own personal bottle of claret. A little sluggish after lunch but some very fast riding along the flat.. eventually finding ourselves at a hill top village where we stopped for a refreshing beer and some supper. Probably stayed a bit longer than we should have and found ourselves lost and cycling back in the dark... eventually Mattew talked us in by phone and off to bed... Next day I was off before the rest got up but by all accounts Rupert sorted out a challenging ride for that day too...
Monday, 16 June 2008
MONDAY 16th June - 3 weeks to go
Miles last week 36 (36 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 2,600ft (800m)
Weight : 14st 5.0lbs (-0.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
I know I should be entering the 'tapering' period of my training regime, but this is ridiculous... 36 miles in a week is nowhere enough, even though one outing was a trip to Box and Leith Hills with Paul and the other a trip to Highgate with Darren for a full hill repeats. Paul and I decided we should do some hills so headed over for a 30 mile circuit, with two trips up Box Hill. Came at Leith from the North this time which was surprisingly easy, hit the top without realising... box hill also fairly straight forward - exactly 1.5 miles and 7% all the way up. Eight of those should equal almost a Tourmalet!
Then Darren and I did some hill repeats on the Hill east of Highgate West Hill, only half a mile in length but averageing 9% with 15% near the top. Debriefing in the pub afterwards Darren was all for joining us on the Etape.... even decided to have his bike serviced.
Weekend saw our yearly company awayweekend - this year just outside Lisbon in Portugal, a great weekend but no cycling and not the best preparation for the Etape...
Miles last week 36 (36 road, 0 indoors)
Climbing 2,600ft (800m)
Weight : 14st 5.0lbs (-0.0 lbs)
Body fat : 24.5% (0%)
Tantia body type 2 (obese)
I know I should be entering the 'tapering' period of my training regime, but this is ridiculous... 36 miles in a week is nowhere enough, even though one outing was a trip to Box and Leith Hills with Paul and the other a trip to Highgate with Darren for a full hill repeats. Paul and I decided we should do some hills so headed over for a 30 mile circuit, with two trips up Box Hill. Came at Leith from the North this time which was surprisingly easy, hit the top without realising... box hill also fairly straight forward - exactly 1.5 miles and 7% all the way up. Eight of those should equal almost a Tourmalet!
Then Darren and I did some hill repeats on the Hill east of Highgate West Hill, only half a mile in length but averageing 9% with 15% near the top. Debriefing in the pub afterwards Darren was all for joining us on the Etape.... even decided to have his bike serviced.
Weekend saw our yearly company awayweekend - this year just outside Lisbon in Portugal, a great weekend but no cycling and not the best preparation for the Etape...
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