6 October 2014

TGS Raid Pyrénéen - Day 1: Cerbère to Ax-les-Thermes

Distance / Ascent – 193km / 4221m

Cols – Col du Pere Cornere (69m), Col de las Portas (77m), Col de Ternere (240m), Col Saint Pierre (240m), Col de la Quillane (1714m), Col de Trabesses (1920m), Port de Pailhères (2001m)

Checkpoints – Cerbère, Prades


Flat, flat...Up!
The first day of a trip like this is always a bit of a shock to the system and waking up at 6am is never much fun (especially when time zones mean it's really 5am). Today was no different. We woke with a sense of apprehension, as we all knew that it was going to be a long day in saddle!

A consequence of completing the ride within 100 hours and across five days riding is that Day 1 is always going to be the biggest day of the trip (and mainly uphill, as you approached the Pyrenean foothills, for good measure). And so it was, Day 1 was the biggest of the five both in terms of distance (193km) and ascent (RidewithGPS was spitting out 4222m, slightly on the high side as it turned out). The first major climb of the trip, the hors catégorie Port de Pailhères, coming at the very end of the day. People were right to be worried.

#kitgrid

After making one of the most important decisions of the day – deciding what kit to wear – we headed down for a big breakfast and some final bike tinkering before getting the first stamp in our carnet (or in Gibson’s case a receipt – having already contrived to have lost his card before even setting off).

Bike faff

There was some gaming of our start time – a later start on Day 1 meant more time to arrive in Hendaye on Day 5 but also arriving potentially quite late in Ax-les-Thermes at the end of Day 1. With a mixed ability group there was some balancing to be done here and we eventually ended up rolling out a little before 8.30am.

Control 1

Looking at the profile at the top of this post we had convinced ourselves that the hard work wouldn't really start until approx. kilometre 80 and the first part of the day would be a flat roll-out towards the Pyrenean foothills. It was, therefore, a little bit of a shock to go straight into a climb as we left Cerbere and then to head up and down the hilly coastal road. Fabulous views, but a little tough on the legs so early in the day.

Into the mountains...

It wasn't long however before we found some respite on (false) flat roads as we motored as a group towards our first planned stop in Prades – a chance to refuel and get our second stamp of the trip.

Control 2
Style!

In keeping with TGS food stops, there was a fair amount of faffing and a healthy amount of junk food (several pizzas, bowls of fries and cans of coke) thrown into the mix as we took over a local cafe to the bemusement of the locals.

The faffing and the second round of drinks/food (and Paddy 'losing' his gloves in his jersey pocket) were probably a unconscious delaying tactic as Prades really did sit at the base of the Pyrenees and the 'real' beginning of the trip. The gentle false flat roads would quickly be replaced with a long drag up to Mont Louis and the Col de la Quillane.

Having set off together from Prades the slowly ramping climb to Mont Louis was soon upon us and the group, weighed down with doughy pizza, began to fracture. Will, Gibson, Hankey and I were towards the front tapping out a good rhythm as we pulled away from the rest.
As the road started to ramp up even more, so did the temperature. Soon we were riding on wide roads under the baking midday heat, as the tree cover retreated from us. I found myself riding, chatting with Hankey as we continued to keep a good pace and left Will and Gibson slightly further back on the road.

As we chatted Hankey dropped back to let some traffic pass. After a few minutes I turned round; she was gone – something not lost on Will as him and Gibson caught her a short while later. Hankey would continue to push herself just a little too much for the rest of the week, gradually, bit by bit taking herself down both physically and mentally…

As I continued alone, the heat intensifying, the road surface worsened. My bike bounced along the striated concrete road surface, gravel flicking up everywhere. The heat so oppressive and the road so boring now that with my head down, focussing on the patch of road five yards in from of me only, I almost took myself out as I clattered into a roadworks sign!

As the climb shallowed and came towards its end I passed through the tourist site of Mont Louis and on towards Col de la Quillane – our agreed lunch stop off point. Unbeknown to me I had passed Steve, who had been waiting at Mont Louis, on my way through. Arriving at Col de la Quillane to find nothing, not even a mountain refuge shack, I continued down the other side of the climb and on towards the next town.

Hearing my phone ring, I stopped to check my voicemeail and found that everyone had stopped in Mont Louis for lunch…! Faced with the prospect of heading back up the hill to meet them I decided to wait it out in the main square of the small town of Formigeurres.
Wait it out I did, for two whole hours, before Will, Gibson and Hankey finally arrived and we descended down the base of Port de Pailhères together.

The first challenge of the trip.... #baaw
Lots of yellow that should be red.....
I have fond memories of my first climb up Port de Pailhères in 2010 – rain, electrical storms, hail stone,s the sixe of sugar cubes hiding in a ditch, Phil getting knocked off his bike by a cow, but mainly just the rugged beauty of the road and climb. We had actually included the Port de Pailhères as an ‘additional extra’ to avoid spending the whole day on busy main roads (and to trim some distance off the day) and I was glad we did despite it being a brute of a climb. It really is the archetypical Pyrenean climb – varying and inconsistent gradient, narrow roads, rugged landscapes and sheep and cows roaming free across the roads. Climbing at my own pace, I eventually found myself alone on the road with the sheep.

Out of my way sheep!

I hit the top as the light began fading and took in the great views briefly before heading down on a fast and exhilarating descent.

Up, Up, UP!
19km to go #baaw
As I dropped like a stone down the side of the mountain, suddenly I couldn’t steer my bike. My front tyre had burst and my front wheel had no traction at all. I hit the brakes hard as I dared and slowed across the road and into the grass verge.

Quickly replacing the inner tube I was on my way again and shortly arrived at the hotel in Ax-les-Thermes just in time for dinner (having received an email from the hotelier – concerned that we were not going to turn up).

Over the next hour and a half the rest of the group rolled in, exhausted but buoyed by the day’s achievements!

Dinner was literally (in its newly ordained meaning) hovered up before we all retired to our rooms for the evening.

3 October 2014

TGS Raid Pyrénéen - Day 0: Spanish warm-up

This year's annual TGS cycling trip was a break from the norm.

Unlike previous trips, we wouldn't be basing ourselves in one location and completing a series of out-and-backs or loops (or not as has been the case), returning each day to the comfort of a familiar hotel, rather we would be going point-to-point as we traversed the length of the Pyrenees between Cerbère on the Mediterranean coast and Hendaye on the Atlantic (ultimately ending up in Biarritz for a celebratory blow-out).

We were taking on the challenge of completing the Raid Pyrénéen – a 720 km route passing over 18+ cols to be completed in under 100 hours – and we had each contacted the Cyclo-Club Béarnais to obtain our official  "carnet", which we would get stamped at various control points (cafés or shops) along the route.

For many (read most) of the group the sheer volume (distance and ascent) of cycling, on back-to-back days, was something that they had not, or had the inclination to, undertake before. The levels of training reflected this and the group turned up at the Stansted Airport looking leaner and more prepared than ever before.

A set of kit for every day, naturally
Our departure from Stansted to Perpignan was at an uncharacteristically sociable hour for a sports trip and I even had time to spend the morning with Vicky and Edie (I would be leaving poor Vicky with our gorgeous 8 week old daughter for the duration of the 6 day trip – a very understanding wife – and I would miss them terribly) before driving to the airport. After an uneventful flight (with all bikes safely loaded onto the plane) we soon had a fab view of the beach/Mediterranean that we would be so briefly staying with and the foothills of the mountains we would soon be meeting.

More 'energy' than a man could need (and a slight OCD tendency)

On arriving in Cerbère we met up with Steve, who would be driving our support vehicle for the duration of the trip, and quickly put together our bikes to head out for a short test ride.

I am pretty sure the test ride was at Steve's suggestion as, having seen our woeful attempts to put together our bikes and the clear variation of ability levels in the group, he was no doubt slightly concerned about how long he would be out on the road with us for the next five days.

Thankfully our short climb up to the Spanish border did something at least to convince Steve that we could, in fact, ride bikes and that we were not complete jokers. Or he was simply too polite to say anything.

Cerbère - not much going on!
A huge carb loading dinner at our hotel (to compliment the pizzas we had snaffled an hour prior whilst building our bikes), was followed by a quick dip in the Med before we all headed to bed to get some much needed sleep.

Day 1 would be a big day (the longest) and storms were being predicted.