Raid Corsica; 1st to 6th October 2018

After finishing the Raid du Massif Central in early June 2017, I only did one ride over 80 miles in the rest of the year. So, my thinking for 2018 was to go on a trip in the autumn. This would keep me motivated and riding all summer in preparation. As it turned out, it was too long a wait, the summer dragging on once the great weather was over.
Still, it did keep me motivated and I’d cycled over 4,000 miles prior to the Raid. I was also a lot fitter, having trained generally harder and shed some weight which improved my climbing. I was reasonably confident of blending into middle-of-the-pack obscurity, even allowing for taking lots of pictures.
A bonus this year was that one of my cycling friends, Alison, was also coming on the trip; we ride together fairly often, so it was good to have company.

For the first time on a Raid, travel to the start was easy. Easyjet fly from Manchester to Bastia where it starts, so it was a simple trip logistically. Unfortunately, baggage handlers somewhere along the line managed to break a couple of the bike box clasps – I took some photos & Ali reckoned that I could get a replacement clip easily enough so I decided to run some running repairs with gaffer tape on the way home and worry about mending the box later. The damage turned out to be worse once the box was opened – a previously dodgy wheel was now properly broken and the corner of the box split at that point. I have to be honest, I unpacked the bike and left the box behind for the week, something to worry about later.

With our bikes built and lunch eaten, we headed off up the local hill for a quick spin. We only rode 11.5 miles in total but climbed nearly 500m to a village, before a steep descent down into Bastia. The weather and views were great; the coast to the north where we’d be heading in the morning, then views down to the port and, looking south, the finish of the Raid, along an isthmus similar in looks to Chesil beech.

Here's the map of the trip, different days being in different colours. Bastia is top right, the red line is day 1, heading north to start. The fact that the ride circumnavigates the island was the main thing that attracted me to it.


 
Day 1 – Bastia to Calvi; 118.1 miles, 3000m ascent, 8:55 ride time
This was the longest day of riding and as tough a day in the saddle as I’ve ever experienced. The wind, which was blustery heading north, turned nasty near the northern cape, Cap Corse, and we had a massive headwind for most of the afternoon. I expended more calories on this day than on the Coast to Coast in a Day which is 32 miles further and with 500 or so more metres of ascent. My comment on Stava was that it was an “ugly motherf*cker of a day”.

This wasn’t obvious early on though. We set out in formation until I stopped for my first photo and the faster riders disappeared. This was when I realised that my shades were missing – a call to the guides had them scanning the hotel car park with no joy – I worked out later that they’d bounced off the bike on the very bumpy road out of Bastia (when it’s not bright, I tend to stick an arm down the side of my bar top box). Ali and I rode together for a bit but the various photo opportunities of coastal scenery, small villages and martello towers meant we were generally slightly separated. I missed the first validation stamp Macinaggio as I went through my kit looking for a spare set of shades – I hadn’t brought them. Then it was onto Cap Corse and some gusts which nearly blew us off our bikes.
There was a team of 7 on the trip who rode together all week (which was great for them but made it hard to get to know them, I never did get to grips with many of their names) – they zoomed past us and Ali decided to tag on. I let them go and met up with a pair of Finnish guys, Tomi & Hannu, who were a similar standard but generally ahead of us as they were more organised at food & coffee stops. We got stuck behind a German coach which took up a lot of the road and was moving very slowly but eventually made it to lunch in St Florent. We’d ridden 63 miles and had only 55 or so left – as we sat down to lunch I said to Alison that we’d be comfortably at the hotel by 5pm, which of course turned out to be the silliest observation of the week.
A burger & frites later and we set off up a 350m climb, straight into the wind. We’d hooked up with Julian on the climb (who couldn’t keep up with his friend Nick) but I’d dropped back taking photos which turned out to be a mistake as we hit a wall of wind over the ridge and I couldn’t catch back up. I fought into the headwind until I felt the horrible thump-thump-thump of a puncture. To be honest, it was a relief to stop. I was behind a tree so had a bit of respite and I knew it was only 3km until a turn inland where the van would be waiting. I was just pumping up the tyre when Nick (different guy, from Guernsey) rode up and stopped. I had thought I was last on the road and it turned out he’d missed a turn after lunch and done an extra 20km in all – he didn’t have a Garmin so was happy to wait for me. With the wheel pumped up enough to get to a track pump on the van, I put everything away but couldn’t find my helmet. I’d put it on the wall against which my bike was leaning; peering over I saw it in a bramble bush about 5m below. To his credit, Nick didn’t laugh and waited whilst I walked round the wall and through a small jungle to retrieve it.
Then it was back into the wind, up a horribly steep and busy road to a left turn away from the traffic by the van. With some food eaten and tyre back up to full pressure, Nick rode up the hill with me (he was a fair bit faster normally). The summit was only 509m but marked the high point of the day, thankfully the wind was off to the side now so much less of a problem. The top was quite isolated with a terrible road surface and Nick didn’t stop. I’d been guzzling water all day so filled up my bottle, had a quick chat with Neil about next stop being the hotel and set off on the last 40km, more or less all downhill.
Thankfully, the road surface soon improved and I quickly dropped down to a sharp bend in a mountain village. To my surprise, Ali & Julian were there with a couple of the gang of 7. One of the latter had trapped their chain and nobody could free it; they’d been in touch with Graham in the front van but couldn’t get hold of Neil. I told them he’d be along in a few minutes but he didn’t turn up. We assumed he’d taken a different route back (actually, his van had suffered a puncture) and after about 20 minutes, Ali, Julian and I set off to make sure help arrived; there wasn’t anything we could do by waiting.
We arrived at the hotel at 6:45 and slowly the story became clearer. The guys with the chain problem managed to fix it after another effort and pedalled in just before dark. Neil had to wait for roadside assistance and made it back just before we went to bed.
All in all, a full on day.





L to R from the top; Ready for the off, Martello tower; Ali climbs to towers at the top of the first climb; typical coastal view; tomb; beach; heading towards the hills; evening sun on the final descent

Day 2 – Calvi to Calacuccia; 94.1 miles, 3280m ascent, 8:12 ride time
Day 2 started with a choice - the very scenic coast road, albeit with a dreadful road surface or a slightly shorter inland route over a 450m col on a newly surfaced road. It had rained during the night so the majority surmised that the holes on the coast road would be full of water and hard to gauge - Ali and I took the inland route without much deliberation, I hate gravel after all. It was quite misty and very pretty in its own right. Back at the coast for a coffee stop, we found we’d done about 10km less and maybe 250m more climbing – we were ahead of those on the coastal route so clearly had taken the easier option.
A short climb brought up the first col selfie (there were very few col signs and no km markers at all), before a quick descent to one of the trip highlights, “Les Calanches de Piana”, an out and back climb through a landscape of rock spires.
I say a short descent but actually it was the scene of a major mechanical for Alison. She’d been saying that something didn’t feel right and thought the bottom bracket might be loose but half way down, her freehub sheared. Graham diagnosed the fault quickly and got Ali onto one of the spare bikes but we lost about 40 minutes by the side of the road. It turned out that the hub was meant to be through axle only but had been sold with a skewer … the mind boggles.
Lunch was at Piana so we pushed on with Julian who’d waited with us. It was a lovely day with decent food on an outdoor terrace. The rock scenery on the climb was spectacular, sadly with lots of tourists to dodge.
The rest of the day was taken up with the longest climb of the trip, the 1477m acent of the Col de Vergio, spread over 33km. We took it steadily and had a quick coke at a village half way up. The mechanical delay meant we were worried about the time so didn’t stop for long. Also, the weather was deteriorating and it got very misty soon after. I dropped back to take some wild goat pictures and because of the curves in the road, very quickly became convinced that I wasn’t keeping up. I caught up with a couple of cyclists with panniers but couldn’t quite pass them, probably a combination of the altitude and them speeding up when they saw me. The woods we were climbing through were ghostly as the mist thickened and it was pretty cold at the top where Graham was waiting; I was only 200m behind so had been keeping up, just out of sight of the others the whole time; we were all tired after two tough days.
I devoured all the remaining fruit cake and got a quick pic of the surroundings before donning warm layers for the 23km descent. It was really cold, I had to constantly flex my fingers to stop them freezing and with a wet road surface, I descended carefully. Finally, at nearly 7pm I got back to the hotel. No doubt the exertions of day 1 had had an impact on the afternoon along with our long morning delay but this was definitely proving tougher than expected.




L-R from the top - the first climb & shot up National Park sign; one of the only col signs … woo hoo; on the way to Piana; Les Calanches de Piana; on the Vergio; 2 pics on the Col

Day 3 – Calacuccia to Santa Maria; 80.6 miles, 2600m ascent; 6:47 ride time
Today was more straightforward, thankfully. 5 cols through the central mountains sounded harder than it turned out, since only two were over 1000m; that compares to 5 cols over 1000m in the Massif Central before lunch on day 3 which was very tough.
It was a great day for weather and the views were spectacular, my only quibble being that they were a bit samey, the variety of the Massif Central certainly wasn’t there for me. That said, it was a tremendous day with nothing to worry us apart from the cycling.
Two early morning cols of about 200m came and went, the second was a little busy but then we turned away from the traffic and onto the longest climb of the day, the 850m climb up the col de Sorba. We caught Tom and James here, a couple of pals from London – Tom was quick and very competitive, James more relaxed and having to work hard to keep up. They were both tired and so we soon moved past. The upper slopes were open, rocky and really lovely after which we rolled down to lunch.
The afternoon flew by, the 1289m col de Verde didn’t leave much impression but we had a lovely ice cream in the village of Zicavo where we had to get our route cards (“carnet” in French) stamped. This type of ink stamp is known as a ‘tampon’, leaving much opportunity for schoolboy humour. You need to get all the stamps to prove you’ve completed the official route; amazingly, I only missed one all week, the very first when I was looking for the non-existent spare pair of sunglasses.
There was one more climb before we rolled down to the village of Santa Maria and a very esoteric hotel. Finally we had an early finish (5:15), a good thing too as I needed to wash some kit.




L-R from top left: descent down first gorge, Ali on the next climb, 2 views from the cols before lunch, another tomb, afternoon view; Julian & Ali

Day 4 – Santa Maria to Sartenne; 97.2 miles, 2554m ascent; 7:36 ride time
Waking up after an easier day was refreshing. The profile looked to be a similar level of difficulty; longer at nearly 100 miles but flatter, under 800m altitude all day and moving from the centre of the island back to the coast. The main concern was the out and back along a busy dual carriageway to the capital city, Ajaccio to get a stamp.
First up was a trip to the mountain village of Bastilica, via a small col. We pedalled past the road to the coast for a stiff little climb up to the village, which had a heroic statue in the square. Our coffee and stamp stop was enlivened by an old geezer regaling us with famous cycling stories – the madame rolled her eyes … “every time” she said.
Back down the hill we met the van at the turn and headed for the coast via a beautiful, but very rough, road that contoured round the hillside, past a dammed lake and great views of the rocky landscape, with frequent villages hugging the hillside and then views down to the sea as we set off on a long, pretty descent. Suddenly, it all ended and we on the dual carriageway into the capital. Julian led most of the way as we TTed along, to be honest I was too scared to pull out to get to the front. It was a long, unpleasant 10km to the filling station that marked the first business with a stamp. Here we met with the faster riders and the van and agreed to ride the 10km back to the coast road in formation. After a quick fanta and some fruit from the van, 13 of us set off back the way we’d come, single file along the hard shoulder. The gang of 7 arrived as we left, a couple of their team were struggling with the effort of the Raid so far but they were determined to stay together.
The 10km back went more smoothly, the wind was now behind us and the faster riders pulled us along. Leaving the dual carriageway, we fiddled round a few roundabouts and quickly stopped at a Boulagerie to buy food for a picnic lunch atop the next climb. First though we had 20km of flat road round the coast – Suzanne stayed with us for this section; a decent rider on the flat, we had only seen her briefly on the climbs, her power to weight was stunning and she’d be out of sight almost as soon as she passed us. I led much of the way here which probably tired me out for later on but it was quite fun.
After cycling round a long crescent shaped beach, we headed back inland up the Coti Chaivari, memorable for statuesque trees with peeling bark on the lower slopes. At the top the vans were parked up with a great view over the village church and coast in the distance. A wide wall to sit on completed the scene, perfect for our lunch. The weather was great and we only had 55km left so took our time.
The descent was undulating and unremarkable, followed by a long flat section where the highlights were an old style pontoon bridge and a very low, wide rainbow above flat fields. The finale was a 300m climb up to the walled town of Sartene. Julian’s friend Nick rode back to join us at the bottom and paced us up. Ali stayed glued to his wheel and after dropping back a bit I decided to up the effort and re-joined them by the hotel, leaving poor Julian to slog up a couple of hundred metres behind. We ate in a restaurant in the town that evening, the walls and old buildings were cleverly lit, highlighting its medieval appearance.





L-R from top: collapsed barn; beautiful riding; the heroic statue; the dammed lake; rock scenery; views on the morning descent; Church from lunch stop; rainbow


Day 5 – Sartene to Aleria; 115.7 miles, 2552m ascent; 8:45 ride time
Another long day, with an unusual altitude profile, all the significant climbing being up the 1218m Col de Bavella in the middle of the day, the remainder being made up of undulating roads. We were expecting some rain but the day started off bright enough, though with the steepest climb so far out of Sartene – one of those where you go round a bend and suddenly the gradient goes up exponentially. After that, we had 50km to Bonifacio at the southern tip of the island and teamed up with the Finns for a very pleasant couple of hours, with the great coastal views we’d come to expect. At Bonifiacio, we had a coffee and got to admire the large yachts of the super wealthy in the harbour. Then it was back to reality and another fast 30km to the town of Porto-vecchio where the big climb of the day began.
Once again we bought food for a picnic lunch and were promised spectacular scenery on the plateau at 950m and on the col itself. All was well for the first half of the climb, then it started to spit and, as we gained altitude, it turned to proper full-on rain. Closing in on the first col, it was getting very wet indeed and Graham made the decision to take the van down and provide us all with warmer clothes. Already soaked, I struggled into lightweight cag and winter gloves before pushing on up to the intermediate col.
The scene was chaotic as all 20 cyclists were trying to get out of the rain a little and find their own wet weather kit. I pulled on a base layer and my goretex before setting off alone on a slightly downhill 25km to the mountain village of Zonza. I can’t recall the last time I was this wet and, at over 900m altitude, it was pretty cold too. The rain was everywhere, most notably running down my arms and into my gloves; regular squeezing was necessary to keep fingers from squelching too much. The scenery was probably better than I saw, woodland and rocky outcrops passed in a haze as I concentrated on not shivering and keeping moving at a decent pace.
Finally, Zonza arrived and I dripped into the café. The owners were surprisingly accommodating of about 10 cyclists leaving pools of water across the floor. Ali got me a hot chocolate which was lovely and, as the rain finally eased a little, I retrieved my pizza slice from the van and had a decent munch, then managed to get the ends of my gloves inside my cuffs (with help it has to be said), not that it made much difference to how wet my hands got. In the chaos Ali and I then set off without Julian – it was raining again – and pedalled up the remaining 400m to the proper col. We look like very cold, drowned rats in the photos that I insisted on.
The descent was 25km, and the roads were soaked so I took it very steadily. Julian had rejoined us by now – he and Ali are both better at descending than me so I made no effort to keep up as I cornered very carefully. I passed Nick who’d had a puncture and then as we got lower, the rain eased and incredible rock spires started to appear out of the mist. I stopped a few times to try and get some pictures; pretty much everyone came past whilst I did so, presumably thinking I must be mad – thankfully I got a few worthwhile ones which highlight the conditions as well as the beauty.
At the bottom, I caught up with everyone in a big layby by the coast. And when I say everyone, all 20 cyclists were there at the same time. Anyone who’s been on one of these trips will realise how unusual this is. Certainly the conditions played a part but it also highlights that the standard here was pretty decent. We knew that we had 25 flattish miles to go so were quite surprised when everyone else disappeared, leaving the three of us with our last bits of kit adjustment. We rode back as a three up, taking 2km turns, along a long, straight, fairly busy road (it was rush hour after all). We worked together well and bombed along at 20mph, no mean feat for day 5 of a Raid (for me at least), with 90 miles already ridden. At the hotel, Julian tore a strip off Nick for not waiting and it turned out that there’d been some conflict with the gang of 7 not wanting to work with other people. I steered clear of all that, pleased to still be riding strongly, especially given the challenges of the week. With one easier and much shorter day to come, I went to bed thinking it was in the bag … as if …




L-R from the top: Early morning coastline; Bonifacio; starting up the Col de Bavella in the dry; at the col (note Italian naming on the sign); two views of rock peaks on the descent

Day 6 – Aleria to Bastia; 84.2 miles, 2209m ascent; 6:34 ride time
It was a relief to see decent weather in the morning. With just 3 cols, a maximum altitude of 819m and 133km to ride, this was set up to be a relatively relaxing day. We were told to expect narrow mountain roads and I’d been told by someone who did the Raid in 2017 that the steepest col of the trip was on the final day so relaxing was clearly a relative term!
We set out through the first vineyards we’d seen, with lovely views of mountains in the distance. After a few flat miles, we started a gentle climb up to the first col. It was a really beautiful 20km, never steep and with great views of villages perched in unlikely locations. We had to be careful though as yesterday’s rain had washed a lot of debris onto the road. On the next climb Ali had pulled ahead a bit when Julian had a puncture. He was right next to the support van for another group of cyclists so I sped on the catch Ali and then soft pedalled to the first spot with a good view to wait. Ali was nowhere to be seen and had in fact turned round so I sat in the sun for 20 minutes waving at the rest of the team as they went by, along with the cyclists from the other group.
Back together, the three of us pedalled up to the high point of the day, the col de Arcarotta. Once again, we were treated to beautiful views and several encounters with local livestock; cows, goats & pigs were a regular feature of the trip and added considerably to the local ambience. Over the top we stopped in the small village of Piedicroce for lunch. There was a beautiful terrace but the restaurant owner insisted we eat inside. With just one col to go, the gang of 7 were having wine, Julian and I opted for our own bit of decadence by having steak.
Thinking we were going to have a relaxing afternoon, we set of on the remainder of the descent but, on the hairpins out of the village, I went over a piece of debris that was obviously very sharp and punctured. No bother I thought and quickly changed the tube. Ali and I both had a CO2 canister and both failed dismally as the valve jammed. My little hand pump wasn’t working either and a couple of the gang of 7 stopped to help. After a couple of minutes, I got the valve to work and sufficient air into the tube to continue carefully until Graham passed us with a track pump. Cornering was really challenging and I was pleased the roads were so quiet as I regularly couldn’t stay on the right. Finally, the van passed but more disaster struck as, with the last stroke of the pump, the inner tube exploded. That was both my long stem tubes gone but luckily Ali had one and Graham took over to pump it up. Setting off again, I still had a problem – bump, bump, bump, every wheel revolution. I stopped and checked the outside of the tyre carefully, and found a huge split that had caused a big flat spot. Poor old Graham took over again and changed the tyre, luckily there was no damage to the inner tube.
With a hour lost, we were now at the bottom of the final col in mid afternoon, some easy day. Given that this was the last one, it wasn’t hard to work out that it must be steep … and boy was it steep. Ali went for it and I followed; after the first couple of turns I looked back but Julian was already out of sight (it turned out he’d lost his chain). We worked hard all the way up to the top of the Col de St Agostino, more like a day ride at home than day 6 of a Raid. The gradient eased higher up but it was a decent challenge. Graham was at the top, no doubt relieved that all was well and he took a couple of ‘final col’ shots of us before Julian arrived.
The final col is always a moment to savour but it was past 3pm and we still had 50km to ride; a 15km descent and 35km back along the isthmus to Bastia. Back at sea level we found Nick waiting for us, no doubt stung by Julian’s words the night before. I was impressed, he’d left the lunch stop well before us and so must have been waiting in the café for nearly an hour and a half. Any hope of an easy tow went out of the window as he was such a strong rider, even when backing off to our level. I’d been looking forward to great sea views on this last section but actually it was incredible dull, only once did the road run alongside a beach, the rest of the time it was just head down and pedal.
By the time we got to the outskirts of Bastia I was blown and fell back on a climb along the very busy main road. After catching up we worked our way into the old port for an ice cream and the final stamp (we’d started just north of Bastia so didn’t get this one at the start). The ice cream shop didn’t have a stamp so we walked over to the bar next door and had a beer instead. It was time to reflect on what had been a memorable week, not always for the best of reasons. Ali’s freehub had broken, Nick had sheared two of the large cogs on his cassette and I’d had 3 punctures after only suffering one previously all year. Julian’s single puncture, normally about as bad as it gets, paled into insignificance. We’d had dreadful weather on the two longest days as well, all of which added up to this being a very tough trip. I suspect that in ‘normal’ conditions this Raid would be much more relaxing.
With beers drunk, we rode the final couple of km back to the hotel where it all began. The traditional champagne was quaffed & bikes packed before our final meal and of course, plenty of wine. I managed to drag myself to bed at 11 before getting too sloshed which made the return journey much less horrible.





L-R from the top: 2 early morning views; livestock; village; on the way up to the second col; goats; Ali & I on the final col

Overall, I’m still not entirely sure how much I enjoyed the trip. No doubt I preferred the scenery and variety of the Massif Central but of course that’s a very personal view. I think it boils down to the fact that the week was so relentless, it never felt like we could just relax. This was odd as, for the first time on a Raid, I was never in any doubt that I’d finish. Even two weeks later, as I write these final words, I’m struggling to put the trip into context. Perhaps I just need to accept that it’s an outlier, a one-off set of circumstances that made a challenging but not overly difficult trip, into something an order of magnitude more intense.

As always our guides, Neil and Graham, were incredible. To say that they had their work cut out this week is a massive understatement. As always, they handled everything thrown at them with good grace and a smile. Ali and Julian made great riding companions and never complained about my constant photo stops and careful descending; we kept each other smiling all week which was great.



Stats
590 miles
46 hours, 49 minutes ride time
16,477m of ascent

Resting HR increased by +7bpm over the trip. Last year it was +13 bpm over the same number of days. In 2016 it was +13 bpm as well, but with 1.5 fewer riding days.
So, basically, I’m fitter now!

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So, I’m cycling about the same in terms of volume but now it’s 18-19 miles each way on the commute and a weekend ride if we’re not busy. Doing fewer long rides doesn’t seem to be affecting my stamina and riding the much heavier bike is helping my strength. I had worried that doing the same ride repeatedly would get boring very quickly but actually it’s been fine. Just need to psych up for some winter commuting now!

I’ve had a couple of good outings in the past month. First, the Coast to Coast in a Day was on the longest weekend. Six of us from the tri club rode together (with the usual separations and regrouping). This was my longest ever ride at 150 miles and pretty hilly at c3700m. I’d not been over Hardknott and Wrynose since 2006 (when I did the Fred) and was quite nervous, especially for what I remembered about the descents. There was a bit of walking on Hardknott but Wrynose was fine and to my surprise, both descents were very straightforward, makes me realise how much I’ve developed over the years. In fact, some of the single track descents in NE Wales are much harder and I do those regularly.
There’s a big climb out of Kendall after the first feed station (the food on this ride is superb BTW) and you hit 2000m of climbing very early on. Then it’s mostly very fast until the North York moors where there are 3 or 4 nasty climbs in the final 20 miles, one of which required a bit of walking – my right knee had got very sore by this point as I probably pushed a bit harder during the day than I should have. The finish in Whitby was superb and this is an event that I’d thoroughly recommend. The logistics are complicated but the route is very beautiful.
Overall, I averaged about 15mph, 10 hours ride time, with about 2 hrs pottering about in feed stations.


Selfie at the bottom of the Wrynose descent; group pic at the finish; with my hero Captain James Cook

Then last weekend I hiked from Ogwen to Conwy across the Carneddau with one of my old climbing mates, Woody. It’s about 18 miles over 7 of the 15 Snowdonia peaks above 3000ft in altitude – we then extended it to over 20 with a side trip to Yr Elen which adds a fair bit of effort but is worth it for spectacular views. The walk is very remote, I suspect that the half way point is pretty much the furthest from human dwellings that you can get in England and Wales; there are no roads that cross the range so it’s proper wilderness. The weather was gorgeous, too hot really and we were certainly footsore by the time we dropped off Conwy mountain. Even then we had a long round trip to pick up the car from the start so the evening curry was very tasty indeed.


Woody looking majestic on the summit of Carnedd Dafydd or Llewellyn (I forget which); selfie, the beautiful summit of Yr Elen; on the long descent with views to die for

So, now I have a couple of months before my trip to Corsica for the Raid which I’m really looking forward to. Henry is just finishing his reception year at school and is turning into a great kid, being a dad can be tough at times but it's the best job in the world really.]]> http://www.tritalk.co.uk/forums/blog_posting.php?b=149&t=37991

Now I have over 2 years of data I've been doing a review of longer term trends. The thing I was most interested in was resting HR variability because mine seems to go up and down like a yo-yo. Here's the graph of my resting HR by date with 2016 / 2017 and Q1 2018 overlaid on each other.



As I was fitter in 2017, I had expected to see a drop but this didn't happen, in fact, my average resting HR was almost identical to 2016:
2016 - 54.2
2017 - 54.6
2018 - 53.8 (first 100 days)

I am still a little surprised that the variability is as high as 10-15% but a quick search didn't reveal any data on what's normal and since I've been pretty healthy over the period, I guess it's to be expected.
The stats geek in me made me do some further analysis which showed a standard deviation of 2.2 bpm. This means if things are well controlled, there should be barely any readings below 48 (lowest is 49) or above 61. Here there are 14 data points but they are all associated with an assignable cause (my one period of significant lurgy in Feb 2016 and both of my multi-day cycling RAIDS). So, stats geek can go back in his cage :) .
One last thing I looked at was more useful, this being to take out some noise by averaging by month and quarter as shown in this graph:



Here you can see that there was an initial drop as I started back on the road to reasonable fitness, a climb to a peak around my second RAID in June 2017 and a gradual drop since then. Since the gradual climb was from 53 to 55 bpm and the subsequent drop has been back to 53.5, the effect is obviously very small. My take is that I spent a year and a half building up strength and have probably been recovering more quickly since then for the volume / intensity of cycling that I'm doing.

My main measure is still calories burnt and this remains encouraging as my enthusiasm for cycling has stayed high. Focusing a little more on performance since last summer has helped to get me a little trimmer, along with the training benefit of having a heavier winter bike.



Enough on Fitbit then, still loving mine and the data it gives me.

Q1 has been pretty dreadful weather-wise but I've managed to get out a lot and am averaging 111 miles a week to date, well above my 100 mile target.
My fairly ambitious target of 100km vertical ascent is a little behind but as the weather improves I'm catching back up with more hilly rides into Wales. Currently I'm averaging 1894m/week against the target of 1923.

My first century ride of the year was at the Forest of Bowland epic sportif on Sunday. I perhaps shouldn't have given blood on the Friday evening but was still happy with 7hrs 24 mins given a very strong headwind for the first half of the ride. It's a very pretty ride with several long and surprisingly steep hills in an area that I don't really know - there were no stand-out views so that probably explains it, especially with the Peak / Lake Districts and Snowdonia as alternatives.
Being back on the summer bike now I can really see an improvement since last year. My priority is to focus on enjoyment but it's reassuring to see myself getting a bit faster.

I also managed to get out for a hike with Darryl (Daz) as we don't live very far apart nowadays - as we both have young kids, it's all a lot more fun than in the 'old' days.


Snowy Mc Snowface & Muddy McMudface


Daz in the snow, hiking in Shropshire


The sun comes out on the tough climb up to the Llangollen panorama

2 months now until Coast to Coast in a day, plan to put in another couple of hilly century rides before then. :)]]>
Record high bike mileage – 5241 miles, just under 101 miles per week
Record low run mileage - 35 miles over 11 runs
Record low swim mileage - I think about 3000m (not counting splashing with Henry)

Bike stats in more detail (includes turbos):
146 rides; 2.8 / week
84500m of ascent; 1625m / week
350 hours in the saddle; just under 7 hrs / week

The bike target was 100 miles a week and I was very happy to hit that, mainly down to getting onto the turbo in the hotel when I was working away these past few months. The Raid du Massif Central was a real high point in my cycling life but, with the benefit of hindsight, doing my one big event at the end of May led to a very low key second half of the year. I was up to 3000 miles after 5 months and only did one ride of over 80 miles after that. Still, the main thing was that I enjoyed it all and so long as I can keep on doing that, life will be relatively un-heavy, which is the ultimate aim.

I expected to mix up my summer activity with swimming but never felt the love. After my first 2km river swim when I got back from France, I got back in the following week but turned back half way and that was the end of that. There will come a point when I want to swim again, it’s just not now.

Running has been underwhelming. I ran in 2 blocks during the year, 6 runs in Jan/Feb and 5 in September, all under 4 miles. I keep hoping that things will suddenly get a bit easier but once I get over 3 miles, the ankle starts to hurt and any attempt to run twice in a week results in more pain than I want to deal with. I suspect that I could push through this if I really want to – when I first started running after my accident, I would be barely able to walk for 1-2 days after a race or hard training run. In comparison, the pain and stiffness now is very mild but the determination is just not there. Little things like giving Henry a piggyback up or down stairs become difficult when the ankle hurts and I worry about falling and him getting hurt, so it just seems easier to give it a miss.

So, basically, I’m a cyclist for now. The secret for me has been to vary my routes as much as possible, whilst maintaining some continuity in order to see myself progressing as I’ve got fitter. When I look back to my tri training, I had a very limited range of routes which I think reflects that cycling was very much my least favourite discipline. I think 2009 was a previous high point and I added up the total distance to about 3,500 miles – however, what I’d never appreciated fully was that once Norseman was over in early August I only cycled a couple of hundred miles in the remainder of the year.
I avoided Strava for a long while but signed up in a very low key way during the summer and have to say it’s been well worth it. Whilst some of the data is a bit naff, I can see where on rides I could work harder and have made things a bit more structured as a consequence. Seeing other peoples’ training has also given me ideas to keep my own routes fresh. All in all, helpful for the type of pedalling I do now.

For 2018, my main target is to beat my 5241 miles cycled in 2017. I’m also going to try and hit 100km of ascent. The first 6 weeks have gone well so far and motivation is high – long may it continue.
I have signed up for Raid Corsica at the end of September, which should keep me motivated all summer – it’s a bit less hilly than my previous two trips but distance per day is further, 1000km in 6 days! Going further always seems harder for me than more ascent so I expect this to be a decent challenge.
I’ve also signed up for Coast-to-Coast in a day which at c150 miles will be my longest ever ride. Quite a few from Chester Tri are doing it so should be a good day out. Also on the list is the 100 mile Forest of Bowland sportif as a warm-up and I might do the 103 mile Peak District epic as well.

All in all, should be a busy year.]]> My friend Woody (Ian) moved up from Wiltshire to Abergele last year and we started talking about doing it. Then Woody broke his foot and what with winter and his recovery it was only last month that we seriously started looking for a date. Thankfully, once we got serious, that didn’t take long.
Our friend Trev drove up from Coventry and the three of us shared a few beers the evening before driving over with a target to start walking before 10. Woody directed us through the small village of Nebo down a single track road and practically the end of the final descent at the western end of the ridge – result. With my car dumped we drove north, then east through Nantlle village and a spectacular valley that I’d never visited before. We were aiming for Rhyd Ddu, a village I know well, lying as it does on the Snowdon marathon route and the old Llanberis half ironman bike route. In the end we found a layby about a km before the village which was the perfect place to set off from.



The first hill is one of several Y Garn’s in the area. At 633m, about 450m above the valley floor, it is the lowest peak on the ridge but being the first, involves the most climbing.


Y Garn - From the start of the walk; on a rocky section, just before the summit plateau

First impressions showed it to be shapely and with the hint of a path snaking up its flank. The fact that, from below, it was all green, with no sign of serious erosion of flagstones was a clear indication of the lack of traffic. We set off earlier than we’d hoped, at 9:35 and showed our combined years of experience by taking it very steadily – a pace that feels slow but you know you can keep it up without having to rest. There were foot holes in places and exposed rock on steeper sections but in the main it was never too taxing. Higher up we curved round and hit some scree before reaching the summit plateau and great views north and west.


View north west from the summit

All the subsequent peaks had their summits in the mist and it was rolling over the ridge, clearing briefly and then rolling in again as we had a bite to eat. The next peak, Mynydd Drws-y-coed is the most impressive to look at, with its sheer north face. The third, Trum y Ddysgl was hidden behind it slightly but we did get occasional views of the monolith on top of the next, Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd.


Mynydd Drws-y-coed, you can see the monolith on the far right of the picture

This in turn hides the fifth and final peak on the official ridge, Craig Cwm Silyn which is also the highest at 734m. We were intending to carry on to Garnedd-goch, which comes before the descent path and if time allowed, to Mynedd Graig Goch which would extend the route a fair bit.
The map here and a detailed altitude profile and route description are from this weblink:
https://www.ukhillwalking.com/logbook/r/?i=386

Mynydd Drws-y-coed is approached via a wide, flat ridge which soon narrows and steepens into rough scrambling, not hard but requiring a little care to pick a good line.


Scrambling up Mynydd Drws-y-coed

The climb is short, only about 50m of ascent but even so, we were in the cloud at the summit, needing to drop down a little to see the fantastic ridge leading up to Trum y Ddysgl, essentially the a second high point on the same northward facing cwm.


Trum y Ddysgl; looking back at Mynydd Drws-y-coed and Y Garn

It’s easy walking to get there before a longer descent to a col and the short climb to the monolith. The col is a fairly narrow tongue, quite impressive to look at but with the mist I didn’t really get a good picture. It’s easy enough to negotiate before an easy climb up to Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd and more great views out west.


Happy Cobbie; Woody; the misty tongue at the col beneath Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd


The climb up Mynydd Tal-y-mignedd; Trev at the monolith on the summit

Up to now, the walking had been really very easy but the climb to Craig Cwm Silyn was longer and harder. Woody stuck to the ridge all the way, whilst Trev and I started out on a lower path, to avoid an outcrop, only then realising that this larger path avoided the lower section of the ridge entirely, ho hum.


Craig Cwm Silyn; the slog up to the ridge

It was a bit of a slog up the hillside and back to the ridge about half way up where we waited for Woody.


Great shot of Woody on the ridge

From here on we were properly in the cloud almost the whole time. Cwm Sliyn has a couple of decent crags on its north-west flank but it was foolhardy to try and get a peek at them with such poor visibility. The descent was actually quite rocky and being damp required our concentration. After things flattened out, we ran up against the top of an outcrop and took a bearing to make sure we were on the right track, it was a pretty featureless plateau.

The climb to Garnedd-goch was along a very gently sloping saddle, a mix of tufty grass and shattered rocks until we hit a dry stone wall which we followed to the summit cairn.


The summit of Gernedd-goch in the mist

From here it was a gentle descent to the path which took us down northwest. We bumped into some chatty blokes and an old man of the mountains who regaled us with tales of his obsessive peak bagging, all based on different definitions of how much vertical ascent was required for a peak to be called a peak. Marilyns, Hewitts and Nuttalls; I had no idea there were so many different ways of classifying them. I’m relieved, obviously that I have no interest in such trivia, in fact we had been laughing earlier on the walk about how I’d refused to walk over the newest of the Welsh 3000ers because it wasn’t a real peak, just a bump on a ridge.


The descent

Anyway, Trev had slightly twisted his knee and was finding the going harder and I needed to get home for a date night so we struck off downhill on what was a surprisingly small path but well marked with cairns. Once down onto the gentle ridge that you can see middle right in the final picture, we ambled along a faint path, past cotton grass and then the dam wall of the reservoir in the picture. All in all a lovely day out, recommended. Total walking time for us was 4 hours, including stops.]]> Raid Massif Central; 28th May to 2nd June 2017

After completing the 100 Hour Raid Pyrenean last summer, I was keen for more. Knowing that I needed a challenge to keep motivated for fitness, Lynn was amenable so I looked at my options. I was keen to do a logical point-to-point journey akin to the Raid Pyrenean, travelling as it does from Atlantic to Mediterranean, but wanted something a bit more varied in nature. Two options stood out, these being the Raid Corsica (which circumnavigates the island) and the Raid Massif Central which traverses several regions in south-central France, from Lyons down to the edge of the Pyrenees. In the end the choice was made for me as none of the Raid Corsica dates were feasible.

I was a lot fitter for this, having ridden through the winter for the first time, typically 2 rides a week, increasing to 3 from March; I wasn’t much lighter but was a lot stronger. This trip was a step up so I needed to be; 6 days instead of 4½ on the bike and hilly all the way. In total, I cycled about 1000 miles more than pre-Raid in 2016.

Travelling out from the north of England was just as awkward as in 2016, not helped by Flybe cancelling suitable flights from first Manchester and then Birmingham. In the end I flew both ways with BA via Heathrow and decided to travel out a day early and spend a morning sightseeing in Lyon before a lunchtime transfer to the start in Roanne. It wasn’t ideal but turned out to be a good choice due to the BA baggage system failure which meant 3 cyclists arrived a day late.

Once at the hotel, with bike built, there was plenty of time to get to know a few people. Some were clearly very strong, others like me more interested in having an experience on a bike. A very pleasant evening saw us all getting along well and it was a happy group of cyclists who lined up for the team photo in the morning. It was clearly going to be a hot first couple of days so I made sure I slapped on plenty of cream.

Here is the altitude profile for the trip. This is the original profile before the route was modified so it's not quite what we did in the last couple of days but it gives a pretty good idea of what the trip is all about:



Note that photos with the Marmot logo were taken by our excellent guides, Gavin and Tim :)


Day 1 – Roanne to Issoire; 96 miles, 2900m ascent, 7:40 ride time
The first day had a tough first half; 2000m of climbing in the first 50 miles and 4 cols, rising to the Col du Beal at 1390m. The weather was lovely and we passed through vinyards and open countryside on our way up the first climb, the Col du Bouchet (752m). As we got higher, we moved into the trees which provided some shade as the temperature hit 30°C before lunch (and touched 40°C in the afternoon!). Things opened out at the top of the Col de la Loge and Col du Beal but in a very pastoral way; this was very much an aperitif through the foothills. I made sure I kept a lid on my power after going a bit too hard on day 1 in 2016. The gradients were very steady, 5 to 7% mostly and only once did I see anything over 8% on my Garmin all day.



Left to Right - Ready for the off, fields early on, one of the early climbs
War memorial, castle, high point of the day,

My main memories are of the lovely villages we pedalled through and I made sure I captured a selection with my phone; I was a lot more organised for photos this year, keeping the phone in my bar-top box made for much quicker snaps. The afternoon was mostly downhill, with our first proper ‘control’ in the small village of St Dier d’Auvergne. All the shops were shut but the guides managed to find an old lady at a filling station who stamped out carnets in her front room. After one last small climb, we reached our hotel in Issoire which was great. There were a few classic British red faces, arms and legs on show but everyone seemed very happy.



Two more rural views; riding with Andy & Say



Day 2 – Issoire to Salers; 105 miles, 3100m ascent, 8:30 ride time
Day 2 started with a long, steady climb to the Col de la croix St-Robert, at 1426m, our high point of the day. This was actually the only significant col, the large amount of climbing being made up of many small ups and downs. It was hot again and I pedalled with Andy and Say. We’d been joined by 3 more cyclists who’d arrived late because of the BA baggage problems so there were now 12 of us. The pattern of riders on the road was also now clear. There was a group of 4 at the front (Ian, Jem, Simon and Aidan), followed by David and Lucy who would set off later than everybody else and overtake all bar these. Diane, Ian’s wife, was very strong on the climbs and would move forward and back through the group depending on how often she stopped. The remaining 5 of us (myself, Andy, Say, a second Ian and James) and Diane would generally see each other multiple times depending on how we were feeling. With all bar one having been on a Marmot trip before, we all knew the drill with van and café stops so they were much more efficient than I remembered from 2016.


Moving into volcano territory; cows

The scenery up to the Col de la croix St-Robert was beautiful and we got our first views of snowy peaks and rocky cliffs. I was generally slightly behind Andy and Say due to the photos I was taking but we were always close and I discovered over the col that I was somewhat faster on the descents. We re-grouped at the bottom and turned into the town of Le Mont-Dore to buy food for a picnic lunch. Lumpy riding took us to a small village where a café was open; they were happy enough for us to buy drinks to have with our food and the guides laid out some fruit. It was pretty hot by now and we still had a lot of riding to do but we definitely all lingered in what was a very pleasant spot.


View on the long climb; on the Col de la Croix St-Robert

Back on the road, there was only one significant high point, the Col de la Basseyre which we made soon after lunch; the sign was in a shale bank, listing and looking somewhat forlorn. After that I just remember lumpy riding until a left turn with 15km to go put us onto a nasty climb with 200m steep ascent, followed by a more gradual 200m ascent. I think we all found this tiring so late in the day and once at the top I just spun my way back the final few miles to the rather lovely village of Salers, where we were staying.



Sculpture; Farm building, the unloved Col de la Basseyre sign; Salers town square


Day 3 – Salers to Aumond-Aubrac; 89.3 miles, 3200m ascent; 7:55 ride time
This was undoubtedly the hardest day of the trip, with 5 cols over 1000m, all before lunch! The weather had changed too, being overcast and threatening as we set off and with thunderstorms forecast.
The first col (Col de Neronne) was a 300m climb, nice and gentle, with ever improving views. Until now, the colour palette of the trip had been predominantly green, today it changed to feature more and more yellow gorse. The terrain reminded me a lot of North East Wales (although with longer climbs!); a feeling of being slightly remote from the modern world, small communities in a fairly harsh landscape.
After a short descent, we were onto the Pas de Peyrol, without doubt the toughest climb of the trip, a 400m climb over just 5km. I fiddled about at the bottom to video the climb which started easily enough but then reared up for a very steep final 2km at 13%. I put a foot down a few times to prevent myself overheating as it was pretty muggy, even this early in the day and I was definitely feeling fatigued from the cycling I’d already done. It was one of those climbs where you glimpse the road ahead, high above and note how little distance there is between where you are now and where you have to go! Initially in the trees, we soon pulled out onto barren terrain, made ethereal by mist blowing in over the col. The fast boys overtook me, mostly stomping away out of the saddle and certainly making it look easier than I was. However, it wasn’t that long a climb and soon enough I was at the summit.



2 views of the Col de Neronne; at the bottom of the Col du Pas de Payrol;
Approaching the Col; At the col

After a quick photo and carnet stamp, I headed off down into a misty valley, made interesting by a herd of cows heading up to their summer pasture. The old dude leading them was as crusty a traditional picture of French peasantry as you could hope to see. That brief interlude aside, we were soon down in the valley where a left turn led onto the next climb, the Col de Perthus, about 400m ascent. An old French cyclist stopped and told us that the climb was steep but not too long and he was right.
Setting off up the climb there were 8 of us together, though not for long as the fast boys pulled away. I started to find the going tough and dropped back a bit, regaining contact at the summit where the van was a welcome sight.



The volcano Puy Mary pokes out on the descent; cows heading up to pasture; two views of the steep climb to the Col de Perthus

The sun had come out on the climb but now the sky darkened and it started to spit on the descent, turning into a full scale rainstorm by the time we reached a lessening in gradient and a left turn onto a main road. I took my glasses off but the rain was stinging my eyes so much that I had to put them back on again. Finally resigned to the fact that this was going to last, I stopped in a lay-by and pulled of my cagoule. After 5 minutes of fighting with the zip, it stopped raining and the sun came out – I took the cag off again without having pedalled a single revolution. Several of the team had passed by this time and I might have been bringing up the rear so I got going again, keen to make it to the restaurant on top of the 5th and final col of the morning, the Col de Prat de Boc, which at just under 1400m was the second highest of the day. The climb was10km long, 500m ascent at mainly 6-8%; it was pretty steady all told and less humid after the rain. A pretty village low down was followed by open meadow as we moved back into more pastoral scenery. I remember chatting with the younger of the two Ian’s who was always splendidly turned out but there’s no doubt that I was in real need of a decent lunch. My col selfie is definitely more of a grimace than a smile but a decent burger and frites soon had me going again.


3 increasingly tired col selfies!

I remember very little about the afternoon, the few photos I took just show green fields akin to the scenery on days 1 & 2. There was a long 40km descent, followed by a very gentle 30km climb where I started to get a lot of foot pain. Andy & Say kindly waited whilst I took my shoes off to stretch; I think this was a combination of feet swelling in the heat, pushing hard on the pedals during the climbs and general fatigue - I kept the tension on the dials lower from then on which helped. We made it to the pilgrimage town of Aumond-Aubrac in good time, well before my target of 6pm at least and were rewarded by the sight of hikers in a variety of garb on their way to Santiago, some in traditional brown robes. I had time to wash some kit and it was an early night all round; I wasn’t the only one who felt whacked.

Day 4 – Aumond-Aubrac to Mayrueis; 101 miles, 3000m ascent; 8:25 ride time
One of the best few days I’ve ever had on a bike, the scenery was so stunning that I took about 90 photographs and my Garmin shows that I was not moving for almost an hour all told. I started out on my own in misty conditions past several short climbs, through small villages and a combination of forest and cow pasture, the cow bells clanging away merrily. Before too long, there was a descent into the sizeable town of Mende where we had to navigate our way through roadworks and past an impressive cathedral. Straight after, there was the very stiff climb up the Cote de la Criox-Neuve, 2km at 12-15%. I was feeling much better after a good night’s sleep but even so, I was surprised to make it up without stopping. Annoyingly, there was no col sign, just the cross that I presume gives the climb its name.



Church in the mist; gorse and woods; bottom and top of the Croix-Neuve

The descent here was very steep, with a particularly nasty sharp right hander that was very easy to miss. I tend to put my Garmin on map view for the descents so I saw it coming but apparently someone did crash on the first Marmot trip last year – not nice.
At the bottom, it was straight into the 1200m Col de la Loubiere, a nice steady climb through the trees, with another cross at the top. Tim caught me on film with a couple of good shots on this climb (thanks :) ) – Gav was my normal contact in the rear van but I was going strongly enough this morning to see more of Tim.


Two views of the Col de la Loubiere

The main col of the day was now upon me, the 1541m Col de Finiels, around 600m of ascent up to a high upland plateau. It was beautifully bleak towards the top and then an amazing descent down through a rocky landscape, reminiscent of Dartmoor, to Le Pont-de-Montvert for lunch. Here we landed at the slowest restaurant I can remember (outside of Argentina obviously). The madame visited our table several times without taking our order, despite us being quite pushy after a while. Eventually I did get some chicken and tagliatelle and very nice it was too before setting off into the Gorges du Tarn.


Ruins, steep section low down on the climb; at the col; on the descent

The last 70km of the ride were spectacular all the way with superb rock scenery down the gorge for about 40km before a left turn over the bridge at Saint Enimie took us onto the Col de Coperlac.


The Gorge du Tarn, turning onto the Col de Coperlac

This was one of those climbs that you can see contouring along the hillside ahead with spectacular views in all directions. The views back down into the gorge were particularly good and only improved as we got higher so we were all pretty happy when we met the van at the top. It was only 907m but a perfect late afternoon climb.


Gorges du Tarn from high up; at the col

It took me a while to get my col photo so I was alone by the time I set off, along a very straight road across a plateau bordered by poppies, a total contrast to what we’d just seen but equally lovely. I was slowly catching those in front but another small climb took me to the top of the Gorges de la Jonte and more spectacular rock architecture – I stopped and took more photos. Whizzing down the gorge to our hotel was simply amazing, a lovely way to end a fantastic day.



Poppies; two views of the Gorges de la Jonte


Day 5 – Meyrueis to Lodeve; 88 miles, 2400m ascent; 7:05 ride time
The day started in lovely bright conditions and as is often the case I was the first to be ready to go. Setting off though, my Garmin went against the route description. I carried on for a bit, past a roundabout signposted to Mt Aigoual but it didn’t reset itself so I went back. After some discussion we all agreed that the directions were not quite right so most of us set out together in the opposite direction, placating the Garmins, back the way we had come to the edge of town, past a wicker horse sculpture and onto a different start of the climb to Mt Aigoual.
One of the features of this trip was that, despite a lot of total climbing, most climbs were 400-600m rather than the longer 1000m+ climbs in the mountains. In fact, only the Col de la Croix-St-Robert on day 2 had been over 1000m ascent. This climb was about 900m so the second biggest of the trip. It was very steady, never above 7-8% and with a little plateau half way up. There were a number of subsidiary cols marked on the route but none were really worthy of note. Instead we were treated to a lovely varied climb, first contouring round the hillside with views of the Gorges de la Jonte, then through woods before breaking out onto a barren plateau for the last couple of km to a proper summit, just off the main road, with a small castle on the top. It was too misty for any great views (apparently you can see Ventoux on a clear day) but still worthy of clambering up the metal steps to the turret viewpoint.


Leaving Mayrueis; two views low on Mt Aigoual; at the summit; the castle turret

It was quite windy so after a few minutes I clambered back down and found the café for the carnet stamp before heading off. It wasn’t long before I was back in the forest, nearly missing a sharp left turn. The descent was a bit tricky so I didn’t rush and James came past although having done so, he didn’t pull away. I always find it easier to follow someone but in this case it was quite gravelly so I’m sure he was being careful too.


Descent from Mt Aigoual

It was straight into the next climb at the bottom, a 300m ascent which had hairpins at the bottom and then opened out beautifully. David and Lucy came past at the bottom and I saw some of the others below me as the road came round in a large loop near the top. Then it was a short descent into St Jean du Bruel for lunch – my first omelette/frites of the trip in a lovely café courtyard. Everyone was having a good day I think so it was a very relaxed atmosphere.


The route worked it’s way from gorge to gorge (2 pics); viaduct

After lunch we went through more gorges on very minor roads, under an impressive viaduct at one stage before climbing up through what looked to me like parts of the Yorkshire Dales; small cliffs with a narrow road snaking beneath.


The climb to reach the cirque (heading up and left); on the way to the cirque

As the road climbed I was treated to ever more impressive views before a short flat section which led to the Cirque de Navacelles. This very impressive gorge has an unusual feature, this being a dried-up, ox-bow lake (they normally form on much flatter terrain, I’ve never heard of one in a gorge before), it’s bright green surface standing out against the stark background. The descent into the Cirque was via many very tight hairpins.


The spectacular viw down into the cirque with the climb out behind; at the top of the climb looking back down

I passed Diane who was being careful as usual and who of course then breezed past me on the climb back out. This looked steep from the way down and so it proved to be; 11-12% for about 1.5km but incredibly spectacular. At the top it was mostly flat for nearly 20km but into a headwind and I really suffered. The younger Ian, resplendent in a very bright Namibia jersey came storming past but I couldn’t hang onto his wheel. My foot pain was back as well so I made the decision to slacken off the tension as much as possible and just took it easy. Soon enough I was onto the 15km descent into Lodeve and our hotel beside a river.


Day 6 – Lodeve to Mazamet; 82 miles, 2200m ascent; 6:28 ride time
One thing I’ve not yet mentioned is that the Marmot trip is longer and harder than the Raid requirements, making it more of a balanced and challenging route. This final day was the shortest and least hilly of the trip – a change from the original route tested in 2016 which was 50km longer! I think we all agreed that finishing earlier on the final day was a sensible move.
My backside had been sore since day 3 and at times I’d been finding it hard to find a comfortable riding position. After doing almost all the climbs in the Pyrenees seated last year, I’d come to the conclusion that I needed to get out of the saddle more to use different muscle groups and this strategy worked really well in the Massif Central. However, settling back into the saddle was sometimes losing me any additional momentum I’d built, day 3 being particularly bad. Having ridden into the climbing on days 4 and 5, things were a lot better but I was definitely ready to stop pedalling.


Setting off on the final morning; on the Col de la Baraque de Bral

The day dawned bright and cool again and we went straight into the 400m ascent of the Col de la Baraque de Bral. The first climb of the day had typically been lovely but this was probably the best, full of the scent of wild flowers and over too quickly really. The main climb of the day followed 20km later after one small climb and some quiet rural roads.
The Col de l’Espinouse was just about 900m of ascent, spread over 20km and for me the best climb of the trip. Periods through forest were interspersed with beautifully open climbing, with great views of craggy rocks and gorse strewn upland. The climb worked its way up into a small forest on a subsidiary peak before descending to the final few km to the top. I was just behind James lower down, a tiny bit faster but with my photo stops, not catching him until he had a longer van stop. It was a very satisfied Cobbie at the top, barring a couple of 100 to 200m climbs, it was now downhill to the finish.



4 views of the Col de l'Espinouse

The last col sign was the Col de Fontfoide, just 100m of climbing and then a descent into Le Salvetat at 85km for lunch. The café was in the middle of a road remodelling scheme so we had to walk the bikes there and then watch a completely overwhelmed waitress trying to cope with more than one customer. The poor woman looked new to it all and was obviously struggling – in the end the cook came over to take our order whilst she got her head round the fast boys paying separately when she’d added up the bill for the whole table. After a lovely omelette & salad leaves I set off, planning to ride gently and savour the last 50km. James whizzed by soon after, clearly keener than me to get to the end and soon after David and Lucy.


A profusion of gorse; village cross

I passed by a large lake, about the only one I can recall from the trip and then was onto the last col (Col de la Tranchee), where some guys out on a club ride came by. They were resting at the rather underwhelming summit as I came past, after which there was just one more short climb before a 20km descent to the finish in Mazamet. The traffic there was awful and I had someone overtake me pointlessly, on the outside, on a roundabout where I was turning left (the 3rd exit when riding on the right!). As safely as possible, I made my way gently uphill to the finish which was just on the pavement outside the hotel and celebrated with the obligatory glass of bubbly.
David and Lucy had just finished so we did some photos and savoured the moment. A quick shower and I was down just as Andy and Say were finishing before another glass and then the usual flummox to pack the bike, buy Henry a present and finally sit down for a beer. It was a lovely final evening and to our surprise, the great and good from the Mazamet Cycling club turned up to present us all with a medal and certificate. I drank far too much but did at least stop and go to bed before things got too ugly.



Overall, the trip distance is 562 miles / 905km with 16,300m of climbing in 6 days - harder than the Raid Pyrenean so it was a good thing that I was fitter and stronger. I think at last year’s fitness levels, this would have been quite a struggle. Having a great group of people to cycle and socialise with also helped a lot, it really was a very friendly bunch.

I have nothing but good things to say about Marmot, there’s a real concern about good customer service in general and the guides are great, giving support when needed and leaving you alone when not. With 3 people left behind in the UK due to the BA baggage handling problems, the owner of the company rang round to find alternative flights and help get them out to France the next day. Our guides, Gavin and Tim were excellent and great company.

A final word, this trip is a wonderful journey across one of the lesser known parts of France and whilst it lacks the grandeur of the big mountains, the variety is tremendous. It deserves more attention.]]> Having been working with Bupa for over a year at this time, I was used to seeing people wearing Fitbits and I had a couple of marketing types prod me about getting one. As Christmas drew near, I had a look at the range and put one on the list, without any real sense of excitement. As it was, the Fitbit proved to be a catalyst to a great sporting 2016.

I’ve not looked around for reviews or articles like the one I’m going to write so I don’t know if this is already common knowledge. The reason for writing is to put my own feelings and thoughts down on paper. In other words, this is for my benefit; if it helps anybody else then that’s great but this is largely an introspective blog.

What is a Fitbit
I suppose I had better assume that this requires a brief commentary. Fitbits are one of a growing group of sports watches which focus on step counting. This particular brand have a range from basic step counting, through to GPS enabled.
The one I was given was the Charge HR, which measures steps and heart rate, using a light to measure capillary expansion as heart rate increases. As with other devices, it uses this data to calculate calories burnt, steps climbed and length of sleep. It can track exercise in a rudimentary fashion and the software provides the ability to track calories taken in.
In terms of looks, it’s a simple black band with one button which activates a display. It’s well designed and fits my wrist very snugly. Each time you press the button it scrolls through the 5 key data items; steps, heart rate, floors climbed, calories burnt and HR. It also displays time and date so you can wear it as a watch. Recharging takes under an hour every 4 or 5 days; I tend to do it in the car when I’m (obviously) sitting still.
I’ve been wearing mine on my right wrist. As I’m right handed and would normally wear a watch on my left hand, it has been knocked a lot. I may change over to my left wrist at some stage and wear instead of a watch but haven’t done so as yet for consistency reasons. As you can see it’s pretty banged up after less than a year of use; the screen is heavily scratched and the band has delaminated below the disply.


Step Measurement
The first thing to say is that step counting is a pretty inaccurate measure and as far as I can see, all step counters are pretty poor at counting steps accurately. Doing the washing up, dancing, cycling; any activity where your arm moves suddenly in fact, adds steps to the total. I’ve heard of people using this to cheat which seems pretty pointless but that’s definitely possible. On the flip side, activities such as cycling on the turbo and gardening clock up very few steps as there’s infrequent acceleration or none at all. All my highest stepping days of 2016 have been century bike rides, each turn of the pedals counting as a step.

Floor counting is worse. Initially, I couldn’t work out why a day at home gave me fewer floors climbed than a day at work. The answer was simple when I worked it out – at home I have a right handed flight of stairs and tend to put my hand on the bannister; this means no steady accelerations and hence little or no credit. At work, left hand stairs meant the fitbit worked as you would expect. I had a similar experience cycling. Hilly cycle routes clock up a lot of floors climbed but my day on the Tourmalet stands out as being much lower than other days of equivalent ascent; I put this down to the fact that my EIA meant that I took it very gently and hence the acceleration on each pedal stroke was too little to be recorded as ascent.
After reading that, you might wonder why have I found it helpful? I have two answers for this – firstly, if you consider steps as a proxy measurement for total activity, then it’s not too bad. Secondly, the HR measurement gives a reasonably accurate measure of calories burnt.

Heart Rate
The Charge HR optically senses capillary size, by measuring the relative amount of red and green on your skin. So as heart rate increases, higher blood flow is picked up by the sensor. I don’t think it’s great at picking up short term changes so I wouldn’t recommend as a sports solution. However, I’ve had more problems with chest strap sensor accuracy than the fitbit and haven’t used HR as a primary measure for sport for over 10 years as it’s so unreliable. For use in calorie counting however, it’s great. The only problem I’ve had is low HR on the turbo which turned out to be caused by the fan blowing cold air onto my wrist … doh!
Within a month, I’d realised that calories burnt is the key metric to follow; this does pick up non accelerating activities (classed as ‘workouts’ by the software).
I spent a little time correlating calories burnt against power meter data and was pleasantly surprised at how close they were. I deliberately didn’t pursue further as there are so many other factors affecting calories burnt on the bike but there’s a clear correlation between the two.

Other “Measurements”
The sleep measurement isn’t something I’ve paid regular attention to, I guess it combines lack of steps and low heart rate to decide. I’ve certainly seen times where I’ve woken early and lain quietly in bed where the device has classed me as being asleep … however, given it has no intelligence, this is probably what you’d expect. Overall though, it does seem to be roughly correct and does pick up on ‘restless’ sleep pretty well. I have used the data to identify that 7 hours seems like a good amount of sleep for me (simple qualitative review of feeling no better after much longer sleep and being more tired after a week of less sleep). Here the data helped by just being proper data. Realising that I’d never been very disciplined about bedtimes, I have made an effort to ensure that I get 7 hours and I think that’s been worthwhile.

Calorie intake you have to enter yourself. I did this for a month in February and it’s hard work; very easy to miss stuff and difficult to be accurate if you cook from fresh. There’s a decent database of food items on the App but it leans towards processed food. For example, if I cook a chicken Balti, the only processed ingredient is the Balti paste; however, the database really only covers processed ready meals, meaning that I had to add each ingredient from scratch to work out total calories which is a pain and no doubt leads to other errors unless every item is meticulously weighed.
It was helpful to learn roughly how calorie dense various things are, not something I’ve ever done before and I have slightly modified my eating habits as a result. However, now that I know roughly how much I eat, I feel it’s enough to judge this against calories burnt and actual weight.

Key learnings
So, given the number of issues, erroneous data etc., why have I found the Fitbit so helpful? Basically, it’s made me aware of how active or inactive I am. In the days when I was clocking up 10-15 hours of exercise a week (if not more), this wasn’t of any interest. Now that I’m a busy dad, with limited time to train, it means much more.
For the first time in my life, I’m able to judge whether I’m doing enough to keep weight on an even keel. I estimate that my normal day in 2015 burnt about 2300-2500 calories. This year, my average is above 3000 calories. Apart from being generally more motivated, the Fitbit nudges me towards being more active.
At first I started walking up stairs rather than using the lift, going for a walk at lunchtime and just generally being more active. Once we got into March I started cycling again and I’ve kept that up and enjoyed it all year. I think Henry getting older and more active has also helped.
In terms of weight, I started the year at 88kg (yuk!), was about 78-79kg after the Raid Pyrenean and have settled down at about 81kg since then. 80-81kg has been my ‘steady’ weight since my peak exercise years so that’s fine and will no doubt drop as we move into next spring and I clock up more miles on the bike as things warm up.

One last thing to point out before a few graphs. The continuous nature of the Fitbit data is quite different to what I’d consider to be coming from a sports watch. It’s very much about life in the round rather than just sporting activity. Basically, this is not a sports watch, it’s a life watch.



First up let’s look at resting heart rate. You can see your HR trend over every day and a breakdown of HR zones during that time which can be pretty helpful. For example, after the first day of the Raid Pyrenean I noticed that my HR had been higher when cycling than I wanted, up above 140 bpm for over 3 hours. I think this was down to me being well rested and also the very hot weather we had that day. I made a very clear decision to be more conservative – looking at the data, I spent the rest of the week working between 120-140 bpm. In this instance working to HR would have helped but given that I don’t, the Fitbit gave me access to data which was actually pretty useful.

I’m not entirely sure about the science behind resting HR, my take is that it’s a consistent number from day to day which gives me something to use as a comparative measure. The graph shows how this dropped from around about 57bpm until March, down to roughly 52-53 bpm until late September as I got fitter. Since then it’s been a bit higher as I’ve had low level autumn lurgy of one form or another for a couple of months.

You can see two very obvious peaks around my two big cycling trips. This was somewhat unexpected and I think is simply over-reaching; the impact of multiple hard days without recovery.



Here’s the calories burnt graph. You can see how closely it correlates with bike rides; of course it would be much the same with other exercise. You can see clearly how my build-up in distance is reflected in energy usage and how this has dropped off as I’ve gone back to typically two weekly rides of 30-40 and 50-60 miles. My focus has moved to maintaining effort over flatter rides and this has also dropped the total calories compared to the spring where most rides were hilly. It’s also worth pointing at the difference between now and the start of the year. I’m still having plenty of 2500-2600 calorie days, but there are also lots of days above 3500 calories. This is where cycling works really well, the longer exercise time allows for more calories to be burnt, even if the cals/hour is lower than for running. So long as I can continue to find the time amongst other commitments, I think my weight and fitness should continue to improve.
The graph for steps is very similar in profile to the calories graph, as you might expect. However, the relationship between steps and calories burnt is not that great for all the reasons I’ve mentioned.



You can see that there are fewer low days and more high days since the start of the year but the overall profile basically shows when I’ve been cycling.

Finally, to remove the noise, I’ve graphed my weekly average calories burnt. This is now pretty much the only thing I’m tracking regularly, as I aim to maintain an average of 3000 calories burnt per day.
Since the start of April I’ve been above this every week apart from four; the weeks before and after my Raid, a week at the start of October where I was pretty active but didn’t get time to exercise and last week when I was ill. Pretty happy with that.



Summary
I like my Fitbit, it’s been a great addition to my life and I’ll certainly continue with it into 2017. I do wonder whether the battering it’s taken will cause it’s demise before 2017 is out but it’s not showing signs of electronic wear, just physical bumps.

Things I would suggest you think about if considering getting one:
• Calories burnt is the important number, a step counter without it is money wasted IMHO (i.e. get one which measures HR)
• Great for recording life outside sport
• Recording calorific intake is time consuming and inaccurate. However, worthwhile for a period of a month or so to learn how calorific different foods are and how to make sure your calorie consumption is sensible]]> In the end I managed to do a couple of sets of 1500m (3 steady sets of 500) in the pool on two separate occasions as I recovered from the cycling. By not pushing too hard and not worrying about speed I was surprised at how well I was swimming after pretty much zero pool time in 2016.
With a week to go I had a decent 2km swim in the river with full-on angler anger – why do these people think they own the river? Then crap weather meant I did another 2km two days before the race, nothing like a bit of last minute cramming.

The Dee Mile has grown massively over the years, over 300 people started the 2km race last weekend. When I first did it, back in 2001, it was basically 50 odd triathletes dodging rowers and that was a big improvement on the days when wetsuits weren’t allowed. It’s a funny thing but allowing wetsuits has led to far more non wetsuit swimmers, even before the boom in open water swimming of the past couple of years. I even did it non wetsuit once myself back in 2004.

Anyway, these days swimmers walk from the finish to the two starts (there’s a 1km race as well), all very civilised. Once in the water there’s loads of canoe cover and red and yellow buoys to mark both sides of the course. I swam hard and must have paced it reasonably well as I was still going strong on the final sprint to the finish.


Great shot of the business end of the race - massively foreshortened

Overall, finished in 60th position, just in the top 20% - times are largely irrelevant as the amount of current varies from year to year. That compares to 25th in a slightly smaller field (top 9%) two years ago when I was swimming regularly. At least I now know the value of more training!

All in all, a lovely outing on a beautiful July afternoon. Top efforts from all the canoeists, volunteers and organisers. For me this is what swimming is all about.

A short film of the start

Some general photos here:
From the Dee Mile facebook page
Dee Mile artwork]]> In the first couple of months of the year I became more active; going to the gym a bit, doing a small amount of running, some turboing but mainly walking more. Several kg had dropped off by the time I started taking the bike out as spring approached. Then, by a series of unexpected conversations, the Raid Pyrenean raised itself as a possibility and I signed up at the start of April; the Scotland trip had become an appetizer for the main event!
For those not familiar, the aim is to cycle from the Atlantic Coast to the Mediterranean, over the Pyrenees in under 100 elapsed hours. Here's the map:




My training was limited to 2/3 rides a week but went really well. I had some longer rides in all weather conditions and the Scotland trip was incredibly successful; great riding in unbelievably good weather. A final century with nearly 3000m of ascent 10 days prior to the Raid, plus a fast, flat 70 mile club ride left me feeling I was in decent enough shape. I was weighing in at 80kg, higher than I wanted but still 8kg down on the start of 2016, had done 3 century rides and 4 more 70-90 milers. Given the time available, I couldn’t really have hoped for better.

Getting to the start from the north of England isn’t simple. I’d picked Marmot Tours for support and have nothing but good words to say about the support I got prior to leaving and from the two guides, Graham and Gary, during the trip. They recommended flying out to Bilbao and back from Barcelona which worked out OK. From Bilbao airport you get a bus to San Sebastian and then a train to Hendaye. The ticket office wouldn’t sell me a ticket to France (they even made out that the train didn’t go there!) so I paid about €2 to get to Irun on the Spanish side of the border and stayed on the train … integrated border crossing this was not. Graham gave me a lift to the hotel and I had a relaxed afternoon building the bike and getting ready with a light spin over to the beach for a snack. My aero set-up drew several surprised comments from the other 7 riders in the group; I pointed out that this was the only bike I’ve got but I’m not sure that really registered with some, nor the fact that I’ve been up and down an awful lot of hills over the years. Such is life.

Day 1 – Hendaye to Lurbe St. Christau
101 miles, 2200m ascent
A generally uphill day with a couple of small cols. We pedalled gently over to the official start at the coast, with obligatory photos in the Atlantic before the official start at 9am.
Rolling out of Hendaye up the first hill, I found myself 5th of 8 but only Mark was pulling away from the rest; he basically did his own thing all week in a cheerful way, easily the strongest cyclist. After 40km we stopped for coffee and I teamed up with Neal who was just ahead of me for the bulk of the day. The scenery was unremarkable but we rode through many very pretty, small villages. It got very hot and humid by the afternoon and the ascent of the 500m Col D’Osquich I found tough – it was in the trees and full sun so I sweated my way up to land at the top in an undignified heap. Thankfully, this was forecast to be the hottest and most humid day of the week.



Our hotel was in the middle of nowhere but had a pool so I dipped my legs in as recovery and got an early night after a good evening meal.

Day 2 – Lurbe to Bagnerres
90 miles, 3600m ascent

This looked to be the biggest day of the Raid, with both Aubisque and Tourmalet to climb. It was cold and misty setting off, downhill at first, then gradually uphill to the foot of the Aubisque at 30km. We’d been following brown “Route du Fromage” signs up to now, from here on it would be much more up and down.
I realised very quickly that I’d forgotten to take my asthma inhaler but the cool weather meant it wasn’t a problem and I thought I’d just grab it at the first stop after 30K; of course I forgot which had a big impact in the afternoon. I set off up the Aubisque, knowing I’d be steady at best and I took regular stops whenever the view looked good enough for a photo. I met an Australian about half way who was cycling up after having had both knees replaced – chapeau – and after some while emerged without drama at the summit restaurant for my second omelette & frites in two days. I was second last at the top but it was clear that one of the team had been pretty freaked out; he’d been grumbling when passing me just before the summit and then complained of having reflux problems over lunch. I suspect the scale of challenge got to him as he pulled out at this point; hopefully some more training will give him the confidence to try again.


It was still very misty for the descent so it was on with the arm warmers and jacket (my old emergency fell running jacket in fact) for a short descent and climb to the subsidiary col du Soulor. I had to walk up a small rise to get my bike against the sign here which lodged some mud in my cleats so I did the main descent with my left shoe unclipped. I stopped at the first village and removed my jacket, whilst digging out mud from my cleat with the arm of my sunglasses. We were due to meet the van at 80km at an animal park but having arrived at the summit a little later than the others I didn’t appreciate that I might need more detailed instructions. By the time I realised I’d missed the stop, I was at the bottom of the Gorges de Luz so I pedalled up to Luz St Saveur where I met Graham and bought a cake and a coke.



By the time the rest of the team rolled in, I was nearly ready to go. My Symbicort was now on its way to the hotel so I made do with Ventolin which I only use for emergencies these days; its effect doesn’t last long and tends to make me feel worse once it wears off. There was a certain sense of foreboding as I set off as it was now very hot and humid, the worst weather for my asthma symptoms as well as for sporting performance. I stopped every km or so depending on shade to drink, take a photo, squeeze sweat from my helmet and generally count down the kms to the climb being over! The Tourmalet might be famous but it’s not a very nice climb, for me the least good of the big climbs on this trip. At least an occasional breeze sprang up as I got higher and near the top we moved once again into the mist. Support from Graham and Gary was great and I managed to keep smiling, at least until the last km which kicks up to 10% average. I was barely moving by the top but eventually I rounded the final bend to see the famous sculpture and get some very atmospheric photos. There was no point in hanging around, just get my carnet stamp, wrap up warm and set off carefully down.





With visibility down to about 50m it meant brakes on for a large part of the descent; at one point I stopped in order to put my Garmin onto map view so that I knew roughly when bends were coming up. Gradually visibility improved and I was able to speed up, until a left turn at St Marie de Campan where we headed away from the Raid route for 10km to reach a modern hotel. I’d been on the go for about 11 hours, 8:45 riding time for 90 miles. A blast of Symbicort showed my lungs to be well down on normal capacity which was worrying but I was hopeful of an overnight recovery and decided to ride with the inhaler for the rest of the trip.

Day 3 – Bagnerres to Massat
108 miles, 3200m ascent
As hoped, I felt much better in the morning, although my legs were a little tired, to be expected of course. I gave the bike a quick hose down following the wet roads of the day before and set off a little before 8, ahead of the others who I knew would catch me. There were 3 big climbs to do, the Aspin & Peyresourde back to back in the morning, followed by the steep Col du Portet d’Aspet after 70 miles.
It was grey all the way up the Aspin, which was a lovely steady climb. My breathing was back to normal so I was a very happy Cobbie and the team descended in a loose group.



At the bottom, I pushed on up the lower slopes of the Peyresourde where the sun broke through to give me my best photos to date. This was another lovely climb, busy with other cyclists and with a great view to the col in the last 2km. We reached the top to find the Tour setting up for the finish that Froome won 2 days later and I had yet another Omlette / Frites for lunch in lovely sunshine.



Then the best descent of the trip, fast and open to an excellent road at the bottom with lovely views to mountains ahead. We had to negotiate the small Col d’Ares (800m) which was memorable because of roadworks which we had to dismount for, the hot tarmac sticking to my tyres. At the top there was a café where it was ice cream and coke all round. By now the weather was warm but not too humid, as good as I could hope for. I found out here that Doug had abandoned – he’d crashed badly on the Peyresourde in 2015 and having descended successfully today and banished his demons, decided to stop. This meant I was likely to be lantern rouge on the climbs, not that I minded.



10km of riding from the descent of the Ares and we reached the Portet d’Aspet which I’d been psyching up for all day as it contains sections of 14%. The average gradient was 10%; basically the ramps round the bends are very steep with the straight sections around 8%. I passed the monument to Casartelli low down – I’m sorry to say I was so focussed on cycling that it barely registered. Then it was just a case of pedalling steadily, out of the saddle on the steep ramps and with the occasional stop to take on water and squeeze sweat from my helmet. In the end it wasn’t as hard as I expected and with only 5 steep km, nowhere near as tough as the Tourmalet and I wasn’t even last as Michael dropped behind me. There’s a sheltered horse trough at the top which I guess must be famous in these parts; some of the guys dunked themselves but I was fine so just had some fruit and a drink.



The climbing was now done for the day but we still had 60km to go. The first 30km was downhill and Michael surprised me by coming past after the descent, going like a train and way too fast for me to keep up. I wondered about the sense in that but presumed he knew his body well enough. Anyway, I was going fast enough for little effort so just settled down on the bars and enjoyed the views.
With 30km to go (145km) we stopped at a café in St. Girons to get our carnets stamped and a bottle of coke. We were all knackered and a couple of the team had a beer. I was feeling very frazzled and not looking forward to 30km more, gently uphill. It was really tough, I was too tired to keep up so had to plough on alone along what would have been an easy road at the start of the day. Most was along a wooded gorge, quite pretty probably! Finally I reached Massat and nearly had to stop on a tiny incline into the village. Our hotel was beautifully situated with a large veranda for beers and later a huge beef bourginon. One more hard day to go I thought as I drifted off to sleep.

Day 4 – Massat to Prades
90 miles, 3400m ascent
For all the accumulated weariness, I felt better again today. The weather looked set fair and once again I set off a bit before the others, through the village and straight onto the Col du Port. This is a lovely climb, averaging 5-6% for 10km, then dropping off for the last 2-3km. It was misty low down, then I broke through above the cloud and near the top had views of distant mountains.



After a quick stop at the van, I headed off as the others were arriving. After the descent, it’s gradually uphill on a busy road to Ax-les-Thermes where we stopped at a café for a bite and to buy a sandwich & drink for a picnic atop the upcoming Col du Pailheres. We were joined by Gary the guide’s wife in a camper van (they run a B&B in Ax) and she provided added support on what I think was the toughest climb of the Raid. There’s a few steepish bits low down but lots of shade, followed by a couple of easier km. After that however, it’s 10km of mostly 9-10% and very open; thankfully it wasn’t humid. As previously, I took it nice and steady, stopping for a drink regularly and gradually whittling down the miles. After passing a small lake and ski station, there’s a series of hairpins before a long drag up to the col which seemed to be doubling as a horse sanctury. I was still smiling at the top, some way behind the front 4 who’d already polished off their lunch under the camper van awning. Michael was still climbing so his friend Richard rode back down for company, a nice move.



One sandwich later and I was raring to go again; the descent is long and very twisty, hairpin after hairpin before some intricate route finding and then straight into the final 3 cols of the trip. I had these to myself for the most part and they were very pretty, with more flowers and a different feel to the air. Crossing the watershed at the Pailheres had brought a Mediterranean feel to the Raid and at mostly 5-6%, the next two cols were very enjoyable.
The Col des Moulis is actually a subsidiary of the higher Col du Garavel but at 1100m still worthy of the name. It’s only a short descent before the higher climb which has a lovely summit and tricky descent through a gorge. Then it’s a straight into the Col du Jau, the final major col and at 600+m of climbing, no pushover. There are sections of 8-9% but it never felt that hard, which probably means I was getting used to it. It’s mostly in the trees, which was helpful in the heat of the afternoon and it was very noticeable how much tougher things got on the few occasions when the road moved out of the shade. I had a real sense of achievement at the summit, this was easily my toughest cycling challenge and barring accidents, it was in the bag.



We still had a very long descent to get to the hotel, however, so concentration was needed, especially as there was fresh gravel on some of the bends. It was narrow and technical for the most part and quite bumpy, not what I needed after another long day. The views were fantastic though, we passed through a beautiful village and then a fortified one which I should have captured on film but the road was very steep and twisty which meant I just took it in as I passed.
After that I was practically down, just some intricate route finding on the outskirts of Prades before reaching the hotel where the proprietor handed me a glass of sangria on arrival. That evening was very relaxed, we knew all the really hard work was over.

Day 5 – Prades to Cerbere
59 miles, 600m ascent
It was a wet start and for me, some disappointment as Michael decided he wanted to “smash it” to the coast, meaning that the vague agreement to stay as a group today failed before it began; such is life. I pedalled off but only made it 1 mile before stopping to get my rainproof off, Pyrenean rain is a lot warmer than Welsh rain! The riding was gently downhill, first on the main road to Perpignan, then back to quieter, more scenic countryside. I passed the Col du Ternere (233m! but someone was proud enough to put up a sign) and was going strongly before disaster struck in the form of a puncture going through a small village. You have to ride the final 95km before 1pm to complete the Raid in under 100 hours so the margin for error is small. I used all my Andy Wilkinson knowhow and got the tyre off without levers for the first time ever, at the same time calling Gary in the van who’d only just passed me – I had a CO2 canister but a track pump is much more reliable. I couldn’t find anything on the tyre so forced myself to carefully check again, still nothing so back on with the new tube, again no levers needed and Gary returned just in time to use the pump. He then stayed behind me for a couple of miles to check all was OK which I was grateful for and once again I started to relax. I was maintaining 30kmh and even with my most pessimistic projections I had 3½ hours to do 60km, under 20km per hour.
The route follows a couple of ring roads round small towns and the sun came out as I approached the coast. I was confident enough now to stop for a couple of minutes to eat a cereal bar in a lay-by where there was a lovely view over fields to distant mountains before hitting the first coastal town and mad traffic / pedestrians. It was still pretty fast to the resort town of Argeles where the traffic was snarled up behind a furniture van; I ended up on the cycle path dodging beach balls for a bit here! The next section got a bit complicated and saw the only real error with the Garmin route, both Mark and I heading separately up a steep little hill instead of skirting round through a port road. I remember thinking I could almost certainly carry on to re-join the route but bottled it and went back, there might be no immediate time pressure but it wouldn’t take much to change that.
The final section along the coast involved a couple of stiff little climbs and was lovely in a very different way to all that had gone before; twisty roads contouring the coastline. Mark overtook me with about 5 miles to go, still pedalling effortlessly and I upped my own power to keep him in sight round a couple of headlands and then onto the final descent into Cerbère and the finish line at our hotel at about 12:20. The Marmot crew had set up a finish line banner and we got our photo taken before getting the final stamp and official recognition that we’d joined the 100 hour club. Graham poured us a glass of champagne and I sat down feeling very content. Neal and Alex rolled in at about 12:30 and Richard and Michael with about 15 minutes left, with Michael clearly exhausted – they’d stopped for coffee which allowed me to overtake without realising.



I had a steak for lunch and a couple of grande pressions before packing up the bike and watching Froome win over the Peyresourde, more special having pedalled over it myself. We had a final group meal, a huge paella and Michael told me that when he saw my bike before we started, he thought there was no way I’d finish. I suppose it was a backhanded compliment of sorts but given it’s a high quality road bike, just with different handlebars, I was left bemused as to why he’d think that. Rather than get annoyed, I bought him a beer.

Next morning, I had a very early start at 6am to start the journey home. Gary gave me a life across the border to Portbou to avoid the challenge of crossing the ‘open’ border on a train. It turned out to be a relatively easy trip, just a change of train in Barcelona to get to the airport and a flight back to Manchester.

Overall, the trip distance is 450 miles / 720km with 13,000m of climbing in 4.5 days. A week later I’m still buzzing about it so it looks like this type of thing might be my sporting future for a while, let’s see.]]> The trip was organised by Chester Tri’s Andy White and owes everything to his foresight and organisational ability.

Here’s the itinerary:
Day 0 – Park up at Wemyss Bay and cycle 18 miles to Ardrossan. Ferry to Campbeltown
Day 1 – North from Campeltown via east coast road to Lochgilpead and then minor roads up the west side of Loch Awe to Oban. 101 hilly miles
Day 2 – Start & finish in Oban. 35 miles north to Corran ferry; then 45 miles west along the north side of Loch Sunart to Kilchoan ferry to Tobermory on Mull. 20 miles east brings you to the Craignure ferry back to Oban. 100 miles, less hilly than day 1
Day 3 – Oban to Bute via Inverarray. An easier day but still 89 miles. Ferry back to Wemyss Bay from Rothesay to finish.


Day 0
It’s a flat, fast road, under an hour’s cycling for 19 miles. Then buy a ticket and get on the ferry for 3 hours to Campeltown. We stayed in the backpackers which was great; the town itself is underwhelming.

View towards Campbeltown from the ferry

Day 1


After the obligatory team photo, I set off with the faster cyclists. The road up the east coast of the peninsula is single track from the start and follows the contours of the land – in other words it’s lumpy all the way. Lots of short, steep climbs were followed by nasty, steep descents; my carbon rims were squealing under braking a fair bit on tight hairpins and sharp bends to cross streams. After 10 or 15 miles, I decided to back off and joined up with the steadier cyclists; after all, there were still 85 miles to go. There were 16 of us I think and all of a decent standard; the slower group was just less testosterone fuelled.

We eventually joined the main road and much faster cycling to Tarbert at 38 miles, where we found an excellent café for lunch with view over the harbour. The weather was already great and set fair for the whole weekend.


Tarbert harbour

Soon after Tarbert, we had team disaster No1 when Cara suffered a broken gear cable. Thankfully, there was a bike shop in the next town (Lochgilphead) and they replaced the cable in under 15 minutes, result! Back on the road with little delay. Soon after, we once again launched into single track territory up the west side of Loch Awe and more steep, lumpy cycling. On the longer, steeper climbs I was finding the going tough but recovering quickly – still too heavy but getting fitter and stronger. On the longest climb we could see a tough section and I heard a terrible crack as Mark’s bike came to a grinding halt on a hairpin above me. Team disaster No2 was much more serious, a broken hanger. We flagged down a car which happened to be going to Oban and they agreed to give Mark a lift (he managed to hire a bike on Sunday and borrow one on Monday so it worked out OK); result No2! Luckily, team disaster No3 never happened.
After a café stop at 70 miles where there was a festival going on, the ride continued in the same lumpy fashion up to the A85. If anything, the road surface deteriorated and there were more worrying gravelly descents. Still, we all remained upright and avoided the increasing traffic. The view towards the A85 had been stunning and we now turned away from some lovely looking hills for a mile on the main road before joining another remote single track, with a long climb up to moorland and a photographic encounter with a herd of hairy cows with big horns.


View north over the A85


Hairy Coooos

After that, a big swoop down into Oban and we were done for the day. 101 miles with our detour to the bike shop and a solid 2400m of ascent, about 7.5 hours on the bike for me. When you consider that the high point was just 200m above sea level, you get an idea of just how up and down it was.


Sunset over Oban

Day 2
Today was less hilly but required a higher pace to make some tight ferry times; miss the first ferry at Corran and it would be tough to make the second over to Mull. That in turn would mean not getting back to Oban on the third ferry until nearly 8pm.
Not surprisingly after that tough first day about half the team decided on an easier ride. That wasn’t really an option for me with the need for Raid Pyrenean prep so I determined to set out as soon as possible after breakfast to ensure making that key first ferry without stress. Oban youth hostel doesn’t start serving breakfast until 7:30 so I wolfed it down and was out of the door at 7:50. 35 miles to do in a little under 2.5 hours isn’t that challenging but I had to be careful not to go too hard too early, hence my plan to keep away from the faster people! After the initial climb out of Oban, this was a great ride, pretty flat, good road surface in general and increasing lovely views out west across Loch Linnie. I remembered the old trick of walking up the steps to the Ballachulish bridge and took a few seconds to take in the amazing view.


View over Loch Linnie from Ballachulish bridge

Then it was just a few miles to the Corran ferry which I reached at 9:50, giving me a decent opportunity to rest and eat – there were no cafes on this route until Tobermory at 80 miles. The rest of the crew rolled up soon after 10 and Steve and Ali, who I’d travelled up with, agreed to cycle with me to the next ferry. The crossing was only 10 minutes so we were cycling by 10:25, giving us 3hrs 20 mins for 45 miles. Given that the first section was pretty flat, I was expecting this to be tougher.


On the Corran ferry

Initially, it was very fast but soon enough there was a stiff climb before we reached the village of Stontian where Steve screeched to a halt at an unexpected shop. We bought an ice cream and relaxed for a few minutes by the loch; the weather was great and the scenery superb. I pondered on whether there were originally 90 houses which had decayed to 88 over the past 29 years and soon enough was itching to be off. As the weakest rider, I wanted as little stress as possible and we were now on a straightforward 15mph schedule.


View from our ice cream stop

The next 90 minutes along the loch were lumpy, continuously up and down with a couple of stiffer climbs thrown in. Steve stopped regularly for photos, Ali sometimes, while I just rode. Timing was looking good but I knew there was a long climb before the ferry and soon enough we were heading steadily up and inland. After looking out at the loch for so long, this was totally different, bleaker moorland scenery and a steadier, more continental gradient than we’d experienced so far. Steve and Ali pulled ahead whilst I kept up as good a tempo as I could, more and more certain that we were just going to miss the boat. I went over the high point with no sign of the others and pushed as hard as I could down to a plateau and then … aarrgh … another climb. I cursed the ice cream stop, certain now that I wouldn’t be quite quick enough. But then the descent began in earnest and the miles fell away before a small ferry sign at a left turn where the others were waiting. A mile later and we were on the ramp, 7 or 8 minutes early; high fives all round but no sign of the faster group. They still weren’t there when we boarded and we thought they wouldn’t make it. But then, just as the doors were about to go up, Pete arrived after time trialling the final 20 miles – the fast group had found a café off the main road and stopped for too long! He thought the others were 5-10 minutes back and after a bit of pleading, the ferry operators agreed to wait a few minutes. The doors had been raised when Andy arrived but to their credit the crew dropped them again and 2 minutes later the whole team were aboard.


The ferry to Tobermory


Tobermory

30 minutes later we were in Tobermory with its colourful sea front. It was heaving and the queue for ice cream was so long that I gave up and got a sandwich from the co-op. The final stage was 20 miles so I set off just after 2:45, giving myself 80 minutes to catch the 4:10 ferry back to Oban. There’s a stiff climb out of the town and at the top a road sign told me I had 21 miles to go – oops, suddenly I needed to pedal at 18mph. To my surprise, the road carried on going uphill across some moorland where Andy and Pete came past. Not long after that, I passed them at the bottom of a steep descent as Andy had a mechanical problem (turned out to be a chain issue). Finally it was flat again and I pushed on, briefly drafting Steve and Ali but not strong enough to keep that up. Still, after 190 miles in 2 days I was going strongly enough, 20 mph for the most part and as with the previous section, it suddenly looked like the ferry was in reach; in fact I made it without drama, although we then discovered that it didn’t leave for an hour so we could have taken it easy after all!
My Garmin came up with 99 miles (most others had just over 100), 1700m ascent and 6 hours 15 minutes cycling time. Not bad after only 2 months back in the saddle and actually my first ever back to back century rides.


Helmet hair on the ferry back to Oban

Day 3
I didn’t sleep well, coughing during the night with what I took to be EIA and somewhat wheezy in the morning. What with that and the hassle of packing up, I was one of the last to leave on another beautiful morning.



We had to reverse the final 10 miles from day 1 which meant a long initial climb back past the hairy cows. I was soon on my own and feeling drained so took care to manage my effort. We had 89 miles to do and the profile was fairly flat with about 4 set piece climbs, the one out of Oban being the first. It was already hot by the time I reached the A85 and much easier riding round the north end of Loch Awe. Lots of signposts reminded me of the West Highland way nearby, now 9 years since Lynn and I trekked that.
I was feeling tired and a bit saddle sore so the views didn’t inspire me in the same way as on the first 2 days, this was a case of just getting through the day safely. Soon enough I turned onto the A819 to Inverarray where we were stopping for lunch and surprised myself by catching some of the team. It didn’t last long though as we hit the next climb but I got into a nice steady rhythm, much to my surprise. After that it was a long swoop into Inverarray which I remembered from the Chester to John O’Groats trip in 2011. The castle was a grand place for lunch; as I was feeling a bit delicate, I just had a cake and bottle of coke before setting off again on the final section, 40 miles to the Bute ferry, then another 8 to the final ferry back to the mainland.
Some of the team soon caught me and I surprised myself by keeping up, the stop had obviously helped. We had some lovely cycling around the head of the loch, then a long, steady climb of 2 or 3 miles in hot sun as we turned away from the ‘Stop and be Thankful’ pass towards the ferry at Colintraive. We were aiming for 3pm but were a long way ahead of schedule; as it turned out, the whole team made the 2pm boat. It was another 10 minute ferry and now we just had 8 miles to cycle. I tagged on the back of a group and we were steaming along until Ali punctured but that was quickly fixed with a team effort and we were soon all on the 3pm ferry, some final views out over the Forth of Clyde and a sunny drive back home to Chester.


On the final ferry

In all, this was some of the best cycling I’ve ever done and a great weekend away after not seeing most of my club mates much for several years. Andy White once again organised an amazing trip, we’re lucky to have someone of his capability to do that.
In all I pedalled just under 310 miles with some 5500m of climbing. It turned out that my final day of EIA was actually caused by a throat infection which has stopped me doing much this past week; the coughing got so bad that I was evicted to the back bedroom for a couple of nights! Now I’m feeling good again and planning a solid 4 weeks leading up to my Raid Pyrenees at the start of July.]]>