It’s on, I booked a place for next years Étape du Tour between Annecy and Montée du Semnoz, around 130km in distance and approximately 4,500 metres of climbing.
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Tag Archives: Etape
Ten Hours of Utter Pain
Switchback on the Col De La Madelaine
I’ve been through emotional turmoil in my life, but the things going through my mind on the final climb of this years Étape up to La Toussuire are not things I’ve commonly encountered before, my brain was in utter meltdown. In truth I don’t know how I found the mental strength to get up that last climb, I think I knew it was the quickest way to get it over and done with, although certainly the most difficult.
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Etape Acte I 2012
Profile of the 2012 Etape Acte I
So I signed up to do a stage of the Tour de France again, Étape Acte I between again Alberville and La Toussuire in the Alps taking in the Col de la Madeleine and the Col de la Croix de Fer en route.
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The Étape, Done and Dusted
Col Du Galibier
I have to say that my ride in the 2011 Étape du Tour from Modane to Alpe D’Huez was a pretty epic experience, the atmosphere was great, the weather was pretty much perfect and the scenery absolutely stunning, but it nearly didn’t happen!
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Weather Forecast Fail
Forecast failure
It’s always a good idea to check the weather before going on a long cycle ride, which is precisely what I did yesterday. Cloudy and 18 degrees Celsius for the next 8 hours seemed like pretty reasonable conditions to get a decent ride in, so I headed off into Kent to find some hills.
King Of The Downs
Aerial View around Yorks Hill
With my Étape du Tour ride up the Telegraph, Galibier and Alpe D’Huez just over 6 weeks away I’ve been trying to do as much structured training as possible.
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Étape Training – 12 Weeks to Go
View from Box Hill
It’s mid April which means it’s now twelve weeks until the day I’ll be donning way too much Lycra whilst attempting to beat the broom wagon cycling through 109km of French mountains from Modane to Alpe D’Huez as part of the Tour de France Étape.
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Étape Training Update
Roehampton Gate, Ricmond Park
I finally managed a 100km road cycle on Saturday, taking in a few laps of Richmond Park along the ride.
I had planned to ride a 100km the previous weekend but the weather forecasters forgot to mention anything about rain, maybe it just arrived on a bastard plane from the land of Pissing It Down Completely Unannounced? Either way I was totally unprepared.
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Étape Training Commences
Traing route on Garmin Connect
Been doing a bit of training for the Étape later this year but nothing particularly planned, just getting some miles into the legs.
Mindful that I need to do some more structured training I thought I’d invest in a Tacx Sartori trainer and a Garmin Edge 800 computer, both of which I set up properly over the weekend.
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What Am I Getting Myself Into?
Acte I Étape profile 2011
I’m getting myself into trouble is what, having signed up to participate in next years Étape du Tour between Modane Valfréjus and Alpe d’Huez.
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