Monday, July 21, 2014

Etape 2014 - ridden

I'll get you a full write up when I'm back in the UK and have access to my laptop and photos, but in the meantime...

Christ that was hard - the weather as much as the roads.

Massive congrats to any of you that finished (Pez informs me, having met people on the day, a fair few of you did). Many, many people abandoned.

I got round with a riding time of a bit under eight hours, and an hour spent stationary in a variety of places doing things like trying to fix my bike, pouring out a bidon, visiting the local shrubbery and sheltering from the cold trying to regain feeling in my hands and stop shivering.

Here are some shots of me suffering (and enjoying the first half) to give you an idea of the bad http://www.maindruphoto.com/en/photos/l-etape-du-tour-2014-pau-hautacam/2279764/7063.html

Chapeau to one and all, and hopefully see you on the road at some point.

6 comments:

  1. Hi James. Cracking effort to finish, I managed a time of 7hrs 10mins. Decent from the Tourmalet was one of the hardest/coldest/wettest experiences of my life. Apparently only 65% of people finished.

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  2. Congratulations on finishing James! We'd love to share your report on the Etape on our website, www.sportive.com. Please drop us a line if that sounds of interest - hope to hear from you, Oisin (oisin.sands@sportive.com)

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  3. Congratulations James - sounds brutal

    Look forward to the full write-up!

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  4. Yep. Chapeau. That was brutal. I met Pez briefly, early on (nice chap) had no idea it was going to be so tough.
    And to think we moaned up 38 degrees last year!

    Grant.

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    1. Did you see the guy complete it on a chopper? 7 hours 51.
      Can't post the link but look for My Performance Coach on Facebook.

      Amazing effort.

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  5. Did it in 9h 16 ehm, ehm, with a whopping hour and 35mins not moving at all. Looking at the forecast the day before, I was kind-of expecting it to be this hard, still left my full waterproof trousers thinking it will not be this bad, almost cost me dearly. I can only blame myself, could have easily done it under 9h, just by cutting the stops.

    *been looking for a blue Felt in my starting pen, but coudn't find you James. I had a black/dark blue Speedster 30 tied with a shoelace to the front right railing, wearing a red jersey :) and you probably passed me at the 2km mark when I stopped to recheck/reset my bikecomputer.

    Kristian

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