Stage 5 (Wednesday): ... and Ice Cream

Stage 5 was our first real hilly day and it started out with my spirit at its lowest point so far this tour.

As I mounted my bike, I was full of anxious anticipation. I wasn't sure I could handle a harder day than the last four, to say nothing of the upcoming Stage 6, which I believe is one of the more difficult Stages on the tour.

I rode for about an hour, keeping to myself and thinking about where I was and what I was doing. "You’re in France Carmen, riding the f-ing tour. It’s supposed to be hard". That was the voice in my head, over and over.

I had decided that today was going to be a conservation day: slow and steady. I spoke with my team and let them know that I was going to go at 20% less effort today. I felt my body needed to heal and rest. They all understood – two deciding to ride ahead, and two deciding they felt the same way I did. So three of us rode together as a smaller team, each looking out for the other.

The conversation on our long, slow 5 km climbs became very personal, each of us sharing details of our lives with the others – strangers until a few days ago – the three of us bonding through pain.

The unexpected happened. This became, by far, my favorite stage so far. I felt stronger and lighter in spirit as the miles passed. After we completed the third of four climbs of the Stage, I was on a complete high. Everything but my butt felt great. The climbs were feeling easier.

Unfortunately, the fourth and last climb reverted back to feeling really hard (I figured it was an end-of-the-day thing), but we were done and we rode to our hotel. I saw a pharmacy along the way and yelled out that I needed to stop. My lips were very swollen from sunburn and I was in need of something balm-like.

While I was in the drugstore, Nick, one of my bookend riders today, darted off to the store across the street and returned with vanilla ice cream bars. The three of us sat on the steps of the pharmacy, enjoying a moment of friendship, camaraderie and relief.

Is it too much to say that it was the best ice cream bar I’ve ever eaten?

Stage 4 (Tuesday): Ups and Downs

When you train for something like this you try to factor in everything you can: strength, cardio, gear testing and retesting, etc. Sleep or the lack of it was not something I was prepared for. I am averaging a maximum of 6 hours a night, if I’m lucky. My body is in need of healing time and it's not getting what it needs.

We have late dinners with next day briefings, and then early morning starts with buses and transfers to the next region. My state of mind is now my main focus. Staying positive for what lies ahead is becoming harder.

My coach is sending me daily inspiration quotes, and as I sit on a bus heading out for day 5 feeling completely exhausted and down, it lifted me up:

“If you really want to do something, you'll find a way. If you don't, you'll find an excuse.”

Wow, that choked me up a little. Thanks Tara!

Yesterday had its ups and downs (literally and figuratively). My team is working well together and I feel we have each other’s backs. There have been loads of laughter and pockets time with total silence, and we keep working together in a pace line. The terrain is stunning, the villages we ride through are spectacular.

On the downside, as we were travelling through a very busy town, one of the guys hit a curb yesterday and crashed onto the pavement. He was behind me and the sound of the bike and his body hitting the pavement had me believing that he was hit by a car. I stopped and ran to his aid (he is alright). I was overcome with panic. We are so exposed out here in the hills and mountains of France.

These past four days have been a challenge. Flat stages are not flat and we always seem to have a crazy-hard climb after riding over 200 km in the wind and heat.

We have now crossed over to a more difficult part of this first leg before our first rest day, which comes after stage 10. My heart is still in this, but it’s getting a little harder due to sleep deprivation and fatigue. I know I will find a second wind. I just hoping it’s come soon.

Stage 3 (Monday): Puncheurs! On your marks….

Need to sleep :) 

Pictures below in the meantime. 

Note the picture of the yellow-striped cap. On each stage someone is awarded the yellow-striped cap for a noteworthy achievement. Today my team nominated me for all the pulling I did on Stage 3, and I won!!!

Another great day. What an unbelievably beautiful country!

Notes on today’s ride:

The route of the Tour de France’s 3rd stage runs on flat roads leading to a hilly finale for ‘puncheurs’ (a Frenglish name given to a road bike racers who specialize in rolling terrain with short, but steep, climbs.)

The last 50 kilometres of Stage 3 feature a series of sharp climbs…

• At 173km into our ride we reached Cote De Nanteuil-La-Foret. This is where we climbed our first real hill. It’s 1.1km long with a grade of 6.8% (category 4). Three more climbs to go at this point.
  (Category 1 hills are the hardest, if you’re not familiar with the nomenclature.)

• Second climb of the day was a category 3 at Cote D’hautvillers – a 1km long, 10.5% grade at 185km into our ride.
• Third climb was also a category 3, at 190km into the ride, and is almost 2km long with a 6.6% grade.
• Fourth and last climb was a killer 12.2% grade for 1km.

This really is the land of bicycles :)

Hotel Suggestion Box: Elevators?

Happy Canada Day everyone!

Stage 2 (Sunday): Get it done! (Time trial proxy day)

The Tour de France's 2nd stage is a time trial of 28 kilometres in the city of Brussels, Belgium. The route features four gently sloping stretches all at around 4%. Well, at least that’s what the brochure says.

Our day was very different. The Tour de France closes all the roads for its event, which only makes sense. Le Loop doesn't swing that kind of clout (yet). So our route today was heavy on bike paths designed for Sunday strollers and baby carriages. We were also treated to lots of downtown road that we had to share with Sunday drivers, Sunday trucks and really big Sunday buses.

Today was not a fun day.

A high level of concentration was required to avoid hitting or being hit. Thankfully, it wasn’t a long ride. Just one of those ‘get it done’ kinda things.

That all said, when you’re tooling around town, you do get to take a lot more pictures…. :)

Tomorrow we leave Belgium for France and Stage 3 of the Tour. 

Two of my teammates...

With Deirdre and Roger!

Stage 1 (Saturday): Day One Done

Stage 1 of the Tour de France was advertised as a flat, 194.5 km course south of Brussels in the middle region of Belgium, featuring one notable climb: the iconic Mur de Grammont. Turns out, flat does not mean flat in the Tour. In total, I climbed almost 2,000 meters today, but that wasn’t the challenging part of the day.

Stage 1 Route Map

The cobblestone on the route was the challenging part – an unpleasant surprise and a significant hurdle that I didn’t see coming. My first exposure to cobblestone was shortly after we departed from our hotel. Riding cobblestone for five hundred meters may not seem like a long distance but when your entire body is bouncing – no, scratch that – your entire body is crashing up and down on your bike, you feel every centimeter. I was glad when it over but as it turns out, it was only a small taste of what lay ahead.

Me, at the top of 'The Wall'

The Mur de Grammont ('Mur' means 'Wall') was my second exposure to a cobblestone road and what crazy ride that was. Short and a little tricky, this famous climb almost had me popping unwanted wheelies at the 20% pitch point. I made it to the top in one piece and the view of the city was worth the effort. At this point into the ride I was really having a lot of fun.

Still early in the day, the weather was not yet a factor but, as it turns out, it soon would be. A heatwave has settled into Europe and the forecast for today was 37C (in the shade). Dehydration was a real issue for all riders, some even suffered dizziness and vomiting. Thankfully my coach and I discussed this the night before and the plan she laid out worked brilliantly. I took salt pills every hour and drank pretty much non-stop. Even then I believe I was borderline dehydrated.

How the pros climb 'The Wall'. The fans pull them :)

But the 9.5 hours of blazing heat was still not that hardest part. Nor was getting lost twice and adding 20 km to my already very long “flat” ride. The hardest part was a dreadfully lengthy, very steep descent on, you guessed it, cobblestone. This technically challenging slope is not on the tour. It was a detour due to road maintenance for the Tour. Argh! I was petrified the entire time, which felt like forever. The uneven narrow road, the descending grade, and my lack of experience on cobblestone had me freaking out. My wrists hurt like hell from leaning forward and carrying my entire weight, and my fingers were seizing up from hammering on my brakes the whole way down. This one bit of the ride would become the highlight or, I should say, the lowlight of every rider on this day.

You would think that was end of it, but unfortunately it wasn’t. There was still one more crazy, incredibly long flat stretch of that evil stone. Cobblestone should be banned from the earth. All in all, my takeaway from cobblestone riding is I would rather climb it or even ride it on the flats (as painful as that was), but descending cobblestone is strictly for crazy people.

With all that said, I had an absolute blast today. Yes, it was a hard day but I found a good group of guys to ride with. Five men from all over the world who let me tuck in behind their wheel and who were pleasantly surprised that I could pull my share too.

Day one done.

Stage 0: One more sleep…

It’s the day before the Tour begins and my anxiety is starting to grow. I had been pretty good up to this afternoon when I got my bike labelled and tagged by the Le Loop organizers and then completed my last 30 minute bike test ride. 

But the more I think about the days ahead, the more anxious I get. I want to study the climbs, the grade, the distance, and just where those crazy mountains are, but the enormity of it all freaks me out, so I switch it off and find something else to do. Pringles anyone?

On the plus side, the short ride I did today was surreal. As noted, I’ve been training six days a week for over six months with barely any down time. My muscles, especially my legs, had been in a constant state of ache. No surprise.

But this last past week I was happily in TAPER!!!  I loooove taper.

So after almost a week of not riding, my muscles have healed and all the fatigue has left my body. I got on my bike today for the first time in several days and WOW, nothing barked at me. It was like I was flying. 

I hope to hang onto this feeling for as long as I can. I like having wings.