As a cycling athlete I have a natural tendency to check out men (and women, you’ll be glad to know) in tight shorts when I see them. It was thanks to this habit that it slowly dawned on me yesterday afternoon that, ‘Toto, we’re not in the Etape anymore!’. Everywhere I looked were slim guys with that serious cyclist’s air to them. It’s hard to explain, but once you’ve seen it, you know it.
Yes Dorothy, I was back to local France racing.
This short race, you’ll remember from my last post, was a 28km pound up to the summit of Mont Aigoual, some 1200m of elevation gain. The particular nature of this race, therefore, was tailor-made to the slim and serious cyclist. Fearing I belonged to neither group I found a spot in the front of the starting pen to gain every advantage I could.
Here is a shot, taken by Shoko, of the starting village – Valleraugues – a pretty place in a very pretty area for cycling.
Back to the race: getting myself near the front at the start is the opposite of my usual ‘strategy’ of being late for the race and starting behind, then fighting my way through the ranks of riders till I find my natural spot in the peloton. Here, I was already up front and found myself struggling from the beginning to hold on for dear life. I did for probably the first 8 km or so, then the race went vertical and some natural selection was quickly established.
It was odd though, because although I drifted back from the front group, I wasn’t passed by many behind – a sort of limbo that I’d never experienced before. The rest of the race I just tried to keep my heart from exploding and enjoyed the mostly-tailwind we had all the way up. I had little dramas, like being dropped off the back of a group, then, surprisingly, being able to fight my way back, only to be spit out again.
There were successes, too, however. A group of three caught me and decided I was the right speed for some wheel sucking. I pulled them up for a long while, listening to their breath with great curiosity (and wondering how they could be breathing like a hoarse banshee and still have the legs to keep up the pace). I picked up my speed, thanks to a favorable gradient (my favorite – around 6%) and listened as the breathing behind me turned to spitting, hacking and swearing. I had managed to lose only one of them after 2 or 3 km of this and wondered at the ability to suffer of the hacker behind me. Then, as he passed me and took up the pace making, I saw that he was a kid – probably 19 or 20, tops. I wasn’t sure if I should be amazed at his stamina or mine, given the fact I’m 25 years older. In the end I ‘let’ the new generation take its place and he (along with another young gars who had come up behind) finished 30 seconds ahead of me.
And the result? First the good news: Even with an all-uphill 28km course I averaged just over 21kph, something I couldn’t have imagined before the race. The roads were very good and nothing was very steep, though, I’ll admit. I finished 58th out of 135 overall, which puts me in around the top 40%, a far cry from the near-top ten of the Etape. Where are you, chubby foreigners, when I need you!?
Finally, a video taken by Shoko of the before and after. If I’d known the camera was rolling I might have managed a wittier finish. I’ll try harder next time.
The Vicious Cycle 
Nice going. You still finished in the upper half, and it’s near impossible at our age to keep up with the young bucks. I’m a reasonably strong rider, but they drop me on climbs in a heartbeat.
I also know from around here that all uphill races usually draw the cream of the crop. Sounds to be the same up there.
I’ll have to try a ‘normal’ race and see how it goes then. Good thing I’m not that fast yet anyway. There’d be no reason to train in 2013!
Congratulations. Young people have elastic legs which isn’t fair. You’ll have to work on your finishing remarks though as you said. ‘I owe it all to my team’ has been very popular lately.
Thanks. I’ll double the dose of fish oil before the next race to see what I can do about the elasticity.
Well done – again! Seems to be no stopping you these days.
Thanks, Steph. My knee hurst now, so that could stop me. I hope not…
wow, great effort Gerry. 21kph uphill average. Say no more.
you’ve read http://www.amazon.fr/The-Rider-Tim-Krabbe/dp/1582342903 presumably?
Damn, I totally forgot to mention that Aigoual was featured in that book. I’ll have to write another article just on that…and read the book again, now I’ve done it. See you Wednesday!
Great ride Gerry. It seems quite the opposite over here in Canada. The larger races seem to attract a lot of those “skinny butt types” from all around the region (US and other Provinces), while the local events are full of the slower wide butt varieties. Knowing this fact makes it ideal to cherry pick a few local races just to boost one’s ego.
The trouble is here I need to choose big, tough ‘international’ races, like the Etape, for my ego boost. Maybe I should just get faster and save myself the trouble…
21 kph …Great ride!
Not just bmi, but there is something about the way pros, and very serious racers sit, hold, perch on their bikes, even when stationary, that is, somehow, noticeably different.
Dare I say it, is that a … gasp… woman I see in the group photo;>) ??
Kudos!!
I was going to comment on that as well, Suze. ‘New York Steve’ (I have many Steves in my cycling life, so I must categorize them by country or city) has a very cool way of ‘being’ on his bike, whether he’s standing or sitting. It’s an aura of being totally at home with his bike that I may never have. Maybe there’s a course we can take…?
And yes, there were a couple of girls. A couple.
Good ride and write up of what must be a tough event, is there also a tour or race based around Mt Aigoual, from the book it sounds as if the author based it on a road race event, and there was an article in Rapha by Tim Krabbe about the basis for the book (the link is in my review of the book http://www.oxfordsportive.com/2010/03/the-rider-tim-krabbe/)
Nice timing on that article because I’m going to be riding the exact route next week, with a client (except in reverse), that he describes in the beginning where he meets the ‘man with dog’. I’ve often wondered about the Tour du Mont Aigoual, as well, and the internet doesn’t seem to shed much light on it. His comments in the Rapha article do seem to suggest there was something that existed of that name, but everything I’ve read about the book appears to call it a ‘mythical account’,etc. You’d think it wouldn’t be a hard mystery to solve…I’ll ask around the neighborhood!
He did mention in the Rapha article that “Dutch enthusiasts organized a five-day cyclo around Anduze and Meyrueis, crowned with the Tour du Mont Aigoual” and then goes on to say he has ridden this event each year sine then. But as you say there is no mention of the event on the internet which is strange.