Day 5 Tidbits

Ok, so you read the update, now for some stuff I found funny and some stuff I thought you'd find interesting; hope you enjoy…

Laundry...

With 5 days in and 4 days riding, it was time to do the laundry. I had been stuffing the spent rounds into a plastic hotel laundry bag for the last 3 days. I threw the bag in the closet in the room. After today's ride, I decided it was time to do laundry. I opened the closet and the stench nearly knocked me through the wall. So, it was time. I collected my stuff (use another word here, it is likely more appropriate) and headed to the elevator. Fortunately, no one else was on the elevator, the smell would have killed them. I asked the front desk, in my best French (which is English), for directions to a laundromat. The desk clerk knew, immediately, how badly I needed to find the place. She gave me very specific directions to the nearest place; only a 15 minute walk. Guess what, all up hill! Damn!

Crazies on the Hautacam…

The first few climbs did not feature the day's Stage Finish. Hautacam did. More whackos, fewer Rastafarians; the cops were everywhere. But, it did not stop the dudes dressed up in lingerie from exposing themselves to EVERYONE. Ugh, could have done without that sight, especially when I am totally in the red on effort. The one cool, humorous event came from a group of boys about 10-12 years old. I rounded a hairpin turn, the road tipped up significantly. I was giving all I had. My face was dripping with so much sweat, it was as though I had a bucket of water dumped on me. The boys ran alongside me (they really could have walked, but pretended to be running to help me feel better), shouting "allez, allez, allez." One boy put his hand on my hip and pushed for several strides. I smiled and gave back an exhausted sounding "merci" as I exhaled (or rather panted). The kids and their parents all rolled with laughter. I smiled again, for only two or so pedal strokes, when Ms. Hautacam rudely reminded me that I had not finished my work for the day.

Freezing at 60 degrees...

On the climbs, you are putting out so much effort you are totally soaked in sweat from head to toe, at least I am. You feel like you are in 100+ degree heat, digging a ditch. When you peak the summit, imagine a 55-60 degree day, with wind blowing at 15-20 mph. You are freezing. That is why you see the pros putting on coats and all sorts of gear for the descent. I am averaging approximately 30 mph on the descent. The pros are doing 40+. This compounds the chilling effect. Now, do this at speed, shivering like mad trying to corner. Takes a fair bit of concentration, but well worth it.

Profound respect...

I thought I was in shape and prepared for this trip; scratch that, I know I am. I started training last November, after my other broken collar bone healed (also bike crash related). Since then, I have logged more than 5,000 miles on the bike; and most of the training has been pretty intense. I race locally and have ridden with some of the best riders in the area. The top riders in our area have always impressed me with their aerobic capacity and ability to ride fast and corner. After experiencing these climbs and watching the pro riders on the same routes, I am stunned. These boys are flying up the hills and still have the mental faculties to be mindful of attacks from other riders, respond to those attacks, watch for crazy fans, and contemplate their own moves. When they crest, they do not stop for water, apuse to catch their breath, or take pictures; they immediately head down the other side at breathtaking speeds; requiring even more mental focus, as they need to stay ahead of the road to anticipate the hairpin corners and faster descending riders. I may be a little biased, but this has to be the hardest race in the hardest sport I know. The aerobic capacity, raw strength, ability to process/execute team strategy and intra-race tactics is unreal. Now that the sport is cleaning up its act, I am hopeful more folks will gain an interest in the sport. The element that strikes me the most about these guys and the sport is the need to FOCUS; on the training, diet, race, proximity of other riders (elbow to elbow at speed), etc. If you get nothing else out of this blog, or from trying to catch some TdF time on the television, I'd like for you to appreciate what these guys are doing and try to study their faces.

These boys are clean...

One of the guys in the group with which I am touring is the physician who developed the drug testing protocols for Team Garmin (formerly Slipstream) and Team Columbia (formerly Team HighRoad, formerly T-Mobile, which had some drug testing problems). Both Garmin and Columbia are US based teams. He has talked about it quite openly and believes the sport is nearing the point where we are getting all the drugs out of the sport (now that I say that, watch someone bust). He also commented, and it may seem biased, but that it took the US based team's to lead the way. From the white face and blank stare on Mark Cavendish's face on the Hautacam, I would say that he is one sprinter who is not doping. Cavendish is a sprinter for Columbia and has won 2 stages in this year's race. On the climb up Hautacam, Cavendish had a teammate with him to nurse him up the hill. His teammate was screaming at him to get up the hill; he looked more rubber brained than I felt after the Tourmalet.

Taking pulls...

"Taking a pull" is cycling lingo for taking a turn on the front. The second rider in a line of riders uses about 23% less energy to carry the same pace as the first guy in the line of riders; the second rider uses about 30% less than the first rider. The benefit of being more than 3-5 back is not all that much more significant, but a 23-30% discount in energy used is a pretty good benefit. On the Hautacam, a group of 5 riders, pretty well off the back, came trolling up the hill. The lead rider was a fella from Team Cofidis. As the turned the corner on which I was sitting, the Cofidis looked back at the other 4 riders and yelled: "Is somebody else going to take a f!*^ing pull." No one came around. So, the Cofidis rider tried to put in a dig (put a gap on the other 4 riders); he failed, and the others did not respond - they were all too far back for it to matter.

Lantern Rouge...

The Lantern Rouge (Red Lantern) is the last guy in the race, both on the stage and across the combined 21 stages. The Lantern Rouge for the Houtacam stage was a lonely fella from Agritubel (a French agricultural organization). When he rolled past me, again a secluded area, he pulled off the road to, ahem, relieve himself. He must have consumed a ton of water on the day's stage, because it was a good long "relief." He then remounted his bike and proceeded up the hill. The funniest thing about it all is that the end of the race has about 4 cars filled with race officials and media. They all had to stop and wait. I love this sport!