Scott D

Hi everyone,
 
Thought I would let you know how the sportives have been going. I did the Wiggle Dragon Ride on june 8th with winter clothes on my folding bike and got completely cooked and dehydrated (who would have thought there could be hot weather in Wales!!). Was better prepared for the Quebrantehuesos in the Pyrenees on june 22nd, taking lots of isotonic drinks (had my own salt tabs with me).
 
Then onto the French alpes, for the beautiful week of cycling that surrounds Bourg and Vaujany called La Trophy d'Oisans.
 
Trophy d’Oisans
 
June 28th La Vaujany (176km)
July 03rd Prix des Rousses (40km tt, Alpe d’Huez and Vaujany climb)
July 06th La Marmotte (176km)
July 07th Grimpee des Alpes (14km tt, Alpe d’Huez)
 
 
I completed La Vaujany a few days ago, and I’m sitting here in Annecy typing this buzzing on coffee and chamois cream while my girlfriend and son are sleeping. Had a rest day yesterday, and a ride round Annecy lake today, and it’s the Prix des Rousses tomorrow.
 
La Vaujany
 
http://www.routeyou....e-la-vaujany.en
 
Profile
http://www.sportcomm...fil/profil2.gif
 
This is one of the less well known sportives, probably because it comes close in the calendar to l’etape and la Marmotte, so is often overlooked by tourists in favour of the more famous rides.
 
I drove to Vaujany the day before to register and get my number and timing chip. I arrived at the village just before 2pm and wandered around in the rain holding my umbrella waiting for registration to start. The weather was miserable, the rain constant, and cloud level was around 800-1000m. Temperature at 1000m was 10 degrees, not counting wind chill. The grinning salesman in the merchandise shop was selling Santini plastic bag jackets for €85 and business was steady. I was not looking forward to the ride tomorrow.
 
A detour before heading back to Annecy brought me to Decathlon for a cheap plastic waterproof (€15) to add an extra layer for tomorrow against the rain. Then I dropped the family in Annecy, had some dinner, and sat around reading the weather reports. All the reports said rain, and I thought about the ride tomorrow, while my girlfriend told me to stay in Annecy. You know that moment when you don’t want to do something but you need to do it? Its not bravery or stupidity, just stubbornness.
 
I arrived at the Ibis cheap hotel in Grenoble at midnight, leaving my family in Annecy for the night to have a decent sleep. The drive to Grenoble was awful, through driving rain, my sat nav taking me on detours due to road works. I got in the sterile hotel room, and laid all my clothes by the bedside, and got my head down for a sleep. At 515am the alarm clock went off, and breakfast was some muesli with UHT milk, a banana, a chunk of cheese, and some energy drink. Then it was an hour’s drive to the hydro-electric barrage of Le Verney (near Vaugany).
 
By the time I got parked and cycled to the start it was 0705, with my start at 0715. My number, 344, meant I was in the third pen near the middle to the back by the time I arrived. There were approximately 2000 entrants in 2013, although a few hundred would have been doing the shorter route. It was not raining, although cloud level was still low.
 
The ride to Sechilienne was undulating, generally downhill, until the first climb at 25km. I concentrated on hanging onto wheels at 50-60kmph, trying to avoid the nutters, keep my average speed up, and saving energy for later. The climb to Col du Grand Seare was 14km long, and I was quickly being passed by loads of riders. I was trying to keep my pulse below 85% MHR to ensure I had something left for later. Picking up water at the summit, eating my own gels and bars, and swiftly down the other side. The road undulated before the first proper feed station. The descents were treacherous, I stuffed sunglasses in my back pocket due to the mist on the lenses, and took the corners carefully. Then the climb Col d’Ornon began. Sunshine had arrived, and temperatures were approaching 17 degrees (yippee.. off with waterproof jacket and rolled down the arm warmers). Again I was passed by lots of riders on the ascent, and soon I was riding by myself. I consoled myself that I was past the half-way point, but without going above 90% MHR (threshold) I was unable to keep up with the climbers. By this time all the fast riders were already up the road: one of the disadvantages of the smaller sportives is the need to be properly fit to keep up with le peleton. With the popular mass participation rides (involving 8k-12k riders), if you get dropped by one bunch there will usually be another along in a minute. So despite la Vaujany being easier due to less climbing than La Marmotte, the need to maintain a high pace to keep up with the smaller bunches or ride around by yourself can make it just as painful.
 
From the Bourg valley there was now a climb up the back of Alpe d’Huez (east side), bringing me out at hairpin 5 from the top (about 6km). On summiting my GPS was reading a temperature of 24 degrees, and the clouds had burned away leaving a clear blue sky. Quickly refilling bottles, grabbing a chunk of brie, a slice of orange, and some jelly babies, then it was back in the saddle for a short climb to the top of Col de Sarenne before a descent down the other side back to Bourg. The road surface was pretty awful and I was holding onto the handlebars as the wheels bounced on the uneven surface. (Some time later when I got off the bike and removed the gloves, I discovered my palms were black from gripping the gloves against the handlebars!) The speedometer passed 70kmph and my fingers were feeling numb from the road vibration. I covered the descent and approach to Vaujany alone, and felt cooked on the final 6km climb up to the village, the temperature ticking over 27 degrees, the gradient averaging 10%, I grovelled to the top using my 34x27. Arriving around 7:45 with a gold medal time, then the complimentary pasta, cola, and energy juice, before a 8km cycle back to the barrage of La Verney to pick up the car and drive back to Annecy.
 
More news tomorrow after Prix des Rousses. Hope you find the reports interesting. Scott

http://le-grimpeur.net/
 
An interlude: The (amateur) grimpeur’s manifesto
 
Climb. Lots.
The climb is your friend. It will teach you something.
The point of the journey is not to arrive. It is the experience.
That said, arriving at the top quicker will shorten the duration of the pain.
There are no shortcuts to climbing faster. Absolutely none.
Though shalt not covet another rider’s sub-1,300g climbing wheels.
Use the big ring at least once on every climb.
Lighten yourself before trying to lighten your bike.
We all dream of a 39×23 being our lowest gear and still being able to climb anything.
Race to train. Train to climb.
The only races worth really racing are hill climbs. You should bury yourself.
Race not to best other riders but to best yourself.
If you compete in crits or road races for training, you must attack on every climb. No exceptions. Getting shelled out the back may happen frequently, but at least you animated the race.
Do a ride with over 2,000 metres of climbing at least once a season.
Glory is fleeting. Pain can last for days, or even weeks and months.
There will always be someone faster.

http://le-grimpeur.net/
 
An interlude: The (amateur) grimpeur’s manifesto
 
Climb. Lots.
The climb is your friend. It will teach you something.
The point of the journey is not to arrive. It is the experience.
That said, arriving at the top quicker will shorten the duration of the pain.
There are no shortcuts to climbing faster. Absolutely none.
Though shalt not covet another rider’s sub-1,300g climbing wheels.
Use the big ring at least once on every climb.
Lighten yourself before trying to lighten your bike.
We all dream of a 39×23 being our lowest gear and still being able to climb anything.
Race to train. Train to climb.
The only races worth really racing are hill climbs. You should bury yourself.
Race not to best other riders but to best yourself.
If you compete in crits or road races for training, you must attack on every climb. No exceptions. Getting shelled out the back may happen frequently, but at least you animated the race.
Do a ride with over 2,000 metres of climbing at least once a season.
Glory is fleeting. Pain can last for days, or even weeks and months.
There will always be someone faster.

http://le-grimpeur.net/
 
An interlude: The (amateur) grimpeur’s manifesto
 
Climb. Lots.
The climb is your friend. It will teach you something.
The point of the journey is not to arrive. It is the experience.
That said, arriving at the top quicker will shorten the duration of the pain.
There are no shortcuts to climbing faster. Absolutely none.
Though shalt not covet another rider’s sub-1,300g climbing wheels.
Use the big ring at least once on every climb.
Lighten yourself before trying to lighten your bike.
We all dream of a 39×23 being our lowest gear and still being able to climb anything.
Race to train. Train to climb.
The only races worth really racing are hill climbs. You should bury yourself.
Race not to best other riders but to best yourself.
If you compete in crits or road races for training, you must attack on every climb. No exceptions. Getting shelled out the back may happen frequently, but at least you animated the race.
Do a ride with over 2,000 metres of climbing at least once a season.
Glory is fleeting. Pain can last for days, or even weeks and months.
There will always be someone faster.

Good reports guys. Some other thoughts come to mind which might seem obvious but worth mentioning,
 
- never race with something new on your bike that you have not ridden on before for at least a couple of hours to make sure it works ok. Including such simple things as tyres which might not be seated, bottle cages which might rattle loose, bar tape that might unravel etc
- most races start at a frantic pace, be prepared, be very prepared, with a thorough warm up which includes some full on sprints, it might seem like a waste of energy but its worth it,
- it is worth burning up some energy to be in first 15 before the key points - usually climbs or crosswind sections, but obviously use as little as possible !
- it is worth ending yourself to hold the wheel, the notion that 'I'll drift off the back then catch up over the top' is simply a myth for all but the very strongest. When you lose the wheel you don't get back on to a bunch moving at that speed.
- if there is a gap in the bunch, claim it. Take every possible chance to move forward when little effort required.
 
And you've all heard me preach it before, do short sharp intervals or something like track which gives the same effect. The ability to have short frequent spurts is invaluable in a road race.
 
Hope that helps
 
: banana
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Oh and take your rollers to maintain leg speed, balance and suplesse for the track
 
 

I was thinking of setting up a Whatsapp group for the JWCC Mallorca trip. Whatsapp is the most popular smartphone app that allows people to share photos, comments, jokes, video across any phone platform (blackberry, iphone, nokia etc). If you dont have the app already, it costs 69p from the app stores.
 
Any in favour, pm your email addresses mobile number and I'll set it up.
 
 
 
Edit: It seems it works via mobile numbers, not email addresses, with messages sent/received when the app has an internet connection.

Heres some more useful information about routes around Pollenca, and other practical tips. Credit to Roy Gardiner and www.ciclosuno.com
 
www.roygardiner.com/ciclosol/routes2013.pdf

I would be interested in this also (especially le Vaujany as I've not tried that before, but maybe Trophée de l'Oisans if others are going to la Marmotte).
 
Done some research, and it looks like the only guaranteed way to get a place for la Marmotte is to register for le Trophée de l'Oisans (139e). Price sounds stiff until you realise la Marmotte is 60e and le Vaujany is 37e. The other 2 events (l'alpe d'Huez TT and la prix des rousses 40km, worth 30e total) you could skip if you were not staying in the immediate area.
 
I reckon you could commit to le Trophée, and if you were worried about climbing legs could opt to do the shorter distance on 1 or both events on the day. For example, le Vaujany and la Marmotte both go over l'alpe d'Huez.. and the only difference between the 173km and 109km Vaujany course is a loop around l'alpe d'Huez. So you wouldn't miss anything as you would go up l'alpe d'Huez the following weekend with la Marmotte.
 
See http://www.sportcommunication.info/web2010/epreuve2.php?langue=2&trophee=81
 
Regarding accomodation, its always possible to find something in bourg d'oisans, but more realistic would be the cheapy IBIS in Grenoble with a room price of 40e per night (up to 3 persons) combined with vehicle hire to the start.

Here's a link to some route ideas.. all but 1 starting from Port de Pollenca
 
http://www.globalspokes.com/Mallorca/mallorca-routes.htm