Stage 13 - Rodez to Revel (181km)

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Today really was a day for ‘active recovery’! The real Tour follows a route from Rodez to Revel that covers 196km, but the last part is a loop on a big motorway. Not having the roads closed for us, and already being well in credit for additional kilometres our route was shortened to lose the loop and finish at 145km. Great news!

The stage was again hilly for the first half of the route (but nothing serious) before plunging down into the Tarn valley for a more rolling section to be negotiated.

Again, the countryside was fabulous and we passed through some picturesque villages, such as Senaux, along the way.

It was again an absolutely roasting day, and several of the ‘day trippers’ (people only out for a couple of stages, and often not fully prepared for the intensity of the days) found themselves dehydrated or suffering from heat exhaustion pretty early in the day. A few jumped in the van...

As we did yesterday Williams and I took it very easy with one eye on the next three days of punishment. We were really just out for a ‘walk on the bike’ keeping the heart rate right down. I like my stats and my heart rate seems to be staying a lot lower on average and I have found the last few days relatively easy. Strange when 145km on a bike over some decent hills no longer troubles you. That said, the next 72 hours are going to really deal out some pain...!

We arrived at our hotel in Soreze, a gorgeous old monastery, at a very respectable time finally allowing some free time to relax.

Tomorrow is the beginning of the end; the Tour arrives in the Pyrenees!

Blogs are likely to become shorter or be saved for the rest day over the coming evenings.

S

Time: 6hrs 25mins
Distance: 141.6km
Av Speed: 22.1km/h
Total Ascent: 1542m
Av HR: 108bpm

Etape 12

Etape 12 by sgcbrown at Garmin Connect - Details

Stage 12 - Bourg-les-Valence to Mende (209km)

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Today we headed from the Drome to the Ardeche, via the southern Massif Central. We travelled through an area of France I had never visited before and it was stunning.

We cycled out alongside the Rhone first thing in the morning and knowing that three brutal days in the Pyrenees loomed in the near future I decided that today might be a good day to spend with the back markers of the peloton. A couple of members of the group were struggling and it was good to be back with them to pull them along.

The pace at the back is noticeably slower and gave me a chance to just spin the legs and take it easy, all the time taking in the scenery around. The pace at the back meant I was riding well within my comfort zone and I really enjoyed the first two-thirds of the day, however, as the back group began to tire the pace naturally dropped and I began to feel a little like a coiled spring. That said, what was supposed to be a relatively big day (210km with a decent number of hills) turned out to be a good opportunity to rest my legs and overall I had a great day of cycling.

There were a number of climbs throughout the day but the best was saved for last. The Cote de la Croix-Neuve Montee Laurent Jalabert up to Mende airport, the stage finish, can only be described as a wall. Ridiculously steep, but thankfully relatively short at only 4km. Glad I had a lot left in the legs for it. Will be interesting to see the Pros tackle it.

As well as the newly tarmaced roads we are encountering on our way (which often feel like they are meting under your wheels as you roll over them) a lot of the towns have various Tour related decorations adorning lampposts, roundabouts and the like. Some are just bikes, flower shaped bike or similar and some are just plain weird... dancing sheep wearing coloured cycling jerseys? It’s clear that a lot of the towns are really proud that the Tour passes through.

Tomorrow is a shorter day, so hopefully will have another chance to rest the legs... they will need it.

S

Time: 9hrs 45mins
Distance: 209.3km
Av Speed: 21.4km/h
Total Ascent: 2985m
Av HR: 114bpm

Etape 11

All downhill?

Etape 11 by sgcbrown at Garmin Connect - Details

Stage 11 - Sistron to Bourg-les-Valence (175km)

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Today we headed from Sistron to Bourg-les-Valence, a route that took us out of the Alps and into the Drome region. One of the Tours ‘easier’ days, but as we are all fully aware of by this stage there really is no such thing as an easy day!

Williams and I study the route profiles (the gradient profiles in the pictures at the top of each of these posts) each night before turning in and we were definitely looking forward to today and had even started referring to it as the ‘Downhill Day’. One relatively flat section, a straight forward climb up the Col de Cabre and then downhill for the rest of the day.

The day started well, a quiet flat section of road surrounded by the mountains and the an initial short spell of climbing before a drag up the Cabre. The view of the Alps from the top were fab, and the descent down on newly paved roads (again in preparation for the Tour) was sublime. The general downhill nature of the stage continued and we rattled along at a good speed until around midday when we were confronted with a massive headwind that would stay with us for the rest of the day, turning what should have been an easy run in into something much more challenging.

Even though the roads were still either flat or generally downhill the headwind meant that we had to maintain a single file line all the way for the afternoon with the person at the front battling the wind whilst the others hid behind them. To do this effectively requires a lot of concentration as you need to be very close the rider in fronts rear wheel. Most of the afternoon was spent looking at tarmac and a rear wheel or fighting the wind at the front... the countryside passed us by. People were already tired and this type of riding is pretty mentally draining.

To compound this we faced temperatures of around 35 Celsius for the majority of the day. Again hydration was very important.

A stage to easily forget.

We did, however, manage to arrive back at our hotel in very good time (by 5pm) and found that we were staying in a villa complex that had a pool. Result!

After arriving back yesterday Beard pedalled out with us this morning. He hadn’t ridden a back since heading home last week and the doctor’s prognosis wasn’t promising. By the time we reached the first feed station he was already struggling and he attempted the Col de Cabre in a lot of pain. After a descent (no pedalling) he had to jump in the van. Poor guy has booked himself out on the first train home tomorrow morning. He has taken it remarkably well, but must be gutted.

Beards trip did mean that Williams got his replacement bike. A nice Specialized Tarmac a slightly more aggressive looking bike than his (stolen) Dutch style Roubaix. Looked good.

Tomorrow is (another) big day... no surprise there though.

S

Time: 6hrs 57mins
Distance: 177.7km
Av Speed: 25.6km/h
Total Ascent: 1208m
Av HR: 116bpm