Day 6. An appalling display....

Day 6, 27 June 2013, Aix en Provence to Montpellier, 176 km 1xcat 4 climb.

At 06:00.Mr Wates senior joined Nick and Matt’s table for breakfast and was unfortunately subjected to the appalling display provided by Nick trying to get enough food into himself as rapidly as possible before the start. Nick had fruit, a salami sandwich a cheese baguette, an egg sandwich, a bowl of cereals, a pancake with jam, and a large cup of coffee. Mr W was very understanding when Nick tried to explain his frenetic consumption whilst simultaneously stuffing bananas into his cycling jersey. It is possible he has seen demoniacal eating behaviour  many times before on previous events.

A 40 minute bus transfer was required from Marseilles to Aix en Provence where the stage 6 route started. The “athletes “ mounted the coach and were carried to the start where they met their bikes and then set off.

On paper the day looked as if it might be quite quiet only 178km (110miles) with only one climb a category 4. The riders were planning to use this as a gentle recovery day after the previous day’s climbs.

 

Unfortunately it did not go to plan the Mistral was blowing and the riders were subjected to very strong winds. As they made their way across the Var bridge they were almost fell a yard in one direction as they moved behind a pylon and the y were then buffeted in the opposite direction as they moved out from cover.

Mainly flat today only one biggish hill the col de Vayade, this was easilly dealt with.

Col de Vayade

Extreme co-operation was needed and the riders formed into groups taking turns in front to battle the wind. Unfortunately both of Matt’s legs are a problem now and they have started to swell. But luckily the TdF has an expert physiotherapist “Jen” and she has some very advanced techniques to manage the problem.

Swelling reducing dressings - look cool

This required an extra bandage session after the first feeding station which meant all the other riders had long gone so Nick and Matt had to really turn on the pressure to catch up with a group so that they could take a rest behind! This almost undid much of the good work she had done at the feed that afternoon more new riders arrived in Montpellier to cycle the trip to the end of the Pyrenees. Despite the hard day

TdF Support team in action in hotel car park

Matt finished in surprisingly good spirits, so they lubricated their bikes, did the washing then got ready for dinner and an early night. They will have a lie in tomorrow as breakfast is at 06:30 but it will be the hardest day so far as they will really ramp up their efforts to ride through the Pyrenees,

 

Day 5, 26 June, Cagnes-sur-mer to Marseille

139 miles 2,689 metres of ascent at an average moving speed of 14.9 mph.

 

This was a Long day, with 5 climbs. Today’s route took us through Lorgues and the Lorgues’ cycle club joined us for the ride. They came to Nice by truck and rode all the way to Marseille with with the Tour de Force riders.

Approximately halfway to Marseille the cyclists entered their pretty village where the host club had prepared an excellent cyclist friendly lunch outside the Police station and Town Hall.

The Mayor spoke a few words of welcome on arrival. Later that night a considerable number of Lorgues riders stayed on for dinner and then they presented the William Wates Memorial Trust with a cheque for 300 euros.

Andrew Wates  – the most senior member of the Wates family rode part of the route too and this was a formidable feat as he is no spring chicken (written by someone who is also no spring chicken but nevertheless quite a bit younger).

 

The route provided fantastic views with quaint Provence villages. Nick and Matt found a wayside water fountain which Nick found very useful for useful for helmet cleaning and cooling.

 

Both of Matt's knees are hurting now and his legs are swelling. Ice, physiotherapy, ibuprofen, and paracetamol is in use.

I was worried all day thinking about the boys and Matt's knee and especially so when I didn't get my early evening phone call from them. I half expected a call saying that he couldn't carry on so it was a relief really when the phone rang at 9-30.

They hadn't finished their day's riding until 7pm and consequently had to go straight into dinner followed by a 2 hour briefing session. It had been a 'bad' day in Nick's words, 250km over 4 smallish mountains/massive hills. They were shattered, hadn't had time to do their washing and to cap it all they have to be up at 5-30am tomorrow for the next day's ride which is 100miles has only one mountain/massive hill so it should be a shorter day.

But.........I was so pleased to hear that Matt's knee is slightly better if any thing - it must be all my healing thoughts I'm sending starting to work! 

Day 4 The 4th day already

25 June 2013 Nice to Nice 25km time-trial no mountain climbs

We arrived in Nice at about 06:30 from the ferry and the city seems to line the bay forming a lumpy contrast to the turquoise sea. The riders disembarked and regrouped to form a 90 man/woman procession through Nice along Le Promenade des Anglais, through Boulevarde de Georges Pompidou and towards the outskirts on Route de Grenoble. Next Phil Deeker inserted a modification to the Tour route which doubles back on itself, but since the return leg along the Promenade required the use of a cycle path on the far side of the road the riders took a different return route over the mountainous backdrop of Nice (groan this was supposed to be an easy day). 

Phil Deeker's briefing


In effect they followed the outward trip along the waterfront and returned over the hills. The distance covered was the same but more climbing was needed than on the professional's route.

Nice is a lovely city, as the boat docked the city was basking in sunshine. The riders made their way along the waterfront promenade where natives were everywhere, walking, jogging or cycling in the sun. The time trial had finished by 11:00, which left time to eat drink and be merry and to get the washing and blogging done. Matt went off for another session of physio. Apparently last year there were about 10 lifers with knee problems in the first few days. The constant pain when cycling really is starting to get him down and he is becoming quite miserable but at this stage there is very little anyone can do to  improve his knee now other than ice, physio and pain killers.

Matt's swollen knee

It looks like he will need to go onto the 3 hourly medication  regime of alternating paracetamol and ibuprofen with some voltarol gel too. It is very hard for him now as he knows that the riding will ramp up in difficulty and exertion. He has made adjustments to his cleats and the patella is less tender than it was, so it may be that things are improving. Nick had a terrible pain in his right knee during the LEJoG  ride so he really knows just what Matt is going through.
 

Day 3 The best day ever on a bike! (For some!)

Day 3  24 June 2013 Ajaccio to Calvi 145 km 6 mountain climbs 1x2 1x3 and 4x4 cat.

The strategy was to slow down and to some extent this has worked for Nick but Matt’s knee is still worse. He has seen the physio and has fiddled with his cleats. It is strange before he left it was his right knee causing problems, now this is OK but he has pain on the left. Today’s ride was shorter but with about 2.5km of vertical ascent it was just what a rider needs for a bad knee!

Many of the riders said today was their best day ever on a bike. The weather was a little cooler but it was mainly sunny.  Look out for day 3 on the real Tour de France, if the weather is good it will make a sunning spectacle. The multicolored peloton flashing along the deep orange cliffs atop turquoise water will really show off the magic of Corsica.

One of the other riders crashed and wrote off his bike whilst descending a col and 6 other riders all from the same group all picked up punctures from tacks on the road. I am not entirely convinced that they like cyclists here, some drivers toot their horns and shout encouragement and others are less helpful.

Nick had a very scary moment coming down the Col de Marsolino today. Fortunately he was on a straight bit of road when at 40+kph, there was a noise like a can of Coke opening -  he knew it was a puncture but he did not know which wheel so he waited to see how the bike would respond then applied rear brake to bring it under control.  He found a large hole in his inner tube of his front wheel but could find nothing in the tyre. He has resolved to come downhill much more slowly in future.

Day 2 - The worst day so far!

Day 2,  23 June 2013, Bastia to Ajaccio, 154 km 4 mountain climbs 3x3 cat and 1x2 cat

Information, information, information.

Tough but beautiful. Four categorized climbs and now the riders are starting to appreciate the enormity of the task. Both Nick and Matt have decided to go slower, Matt to conserve his knee and Nick to conserve his energy otherwise these is no way either of them will cope with the last four days of the Tour in over 2 weeks time.

Roadside view

The aim is to ride themselves fitter and to keep energy expenditure to a minimum. Today’s route was spectacular with the weather hot and sunny. One rider was very late back, a psychiatrist called Adrian. He said he had been in a bad place all day but still did all the miles.

View of Ajacchio from halfway down the last climb
 

Sarah and I flew back from lovely warm Corsica today (Sunday) and it felt quite sad leaving the boys behind and worrying too. I try not to think about the ride too much, Matt has had so much trouble with his knee and then a really heavy cold just when his knee was sorted out so he hasn't been able to train as much as he had hoped. Nick has done masses of training so he's really 'flying' at the moment but his age is against him and it's not like we've got lots of hills in Norfolk to train on.
Nick phoned tonight after I'd got home and he sounded very tired. The route was much hillier today, like doing  Cheddar Gorge in England four times! Matt was more upbeat despite the fact that his other knee is playing up now! TdF have got a physiotherapist with them so he had seen him and was hoping for the best and I am too.


I must just mention our week staying in the apartment in Porto Vecchio which I couldn't before because we were all away from home. We actually arrived in Corsica a week before the start of the ride which Nick felt was a good move because the temperature in Corsica was 30 degrees and it meant that both the boys had a bit of time to acclimatise before having to cycle up mountains!

 

They didn't do any training in that week but just relaxed in the warmth, swam in the beautiful pool where the swallows were doing high velocity dives to steal a drink, and ate food which we mainly prepared ourselves in the lovely modern 2nd floor apartment with its large balcony. It was very hot so the air conditioning was useful in order to get a good night's sleep.Every night an army of little frogs appeared round the base of the big globes set in the manicured irrigated lawns, out to catch a feast of insects attracted to the lights. The week went too quickly and in no time at all we were saying goodbye on that last evening. 

Service will be resumed if at all possible!

Finding the time to do the blogging has been a bit difficult anyway but as the ride goes on it will be even more hit and miss. On arrival at each new location there are 80 riders all trying to get internet access and update blogs which overwhelms just about any hotel wifi. Also the riders are exhausted in the evening so there may be a minimalistic approach to writing both in the spelling and punctuation departments!

Information will sent from the riders to Michelle by phone or loaded onto the blog directly so keep your fingers crossed.

There is a link to follow the Tour de Force riders’ peloton.

http://www.tourdeforce.org.uk/live-tracking/

It will go live when they set off but unfortunately if our riders get left behind this may not be totally representative of their progress!

Day 1 "Few plans survive contact with the enemy"

Day 1, 22 June 2013, Porto-Vecchio to Bastia, 212 km with 1x 4^th cat mountain climb.

First food stop

A long flat day covered at great pace - average over 18mph! The first part of the trip down to the South coast was the most attractive and then the riders passed up the west coast to Bastia. The busy road made this quite challenging. Accommodation in Bastia was a bit limited but the meal was great. Nick and Matt had it in mind to take it really easily but didn't as there was degree of natural exuberance and all the riders seemed to be tanking along. Things will likely settle down over the next couple of days.

Bastia Hotel

 

We didn't see the boys when they set off this morning as they stayed at a hotel down near the marina with all the other riders, they were up for breakfast at 6-30 though and set off before 7-30. They seemed excited last night when we went for a final drink with them after their 'does and don'ts' meeting where they were told useful things like how best to wash their clothes 'en route' and more importantly, how to get them dry. They were also given advice on riding in groups and in twos so as not to irritate drivers.

When they phoned tonight after their first day riding which finished at around 4pm Matt sounded very tired but Nick was fairly upbeat and pleased with how things had gone. Lets hope it stays that way!