Etape 2018

dastardly00

@ 07Lapierre

Great post! Very enjoyable to read and informative.
Would you recommend Sports Tours International for the Etape or would you book it all yourself if you were doing it again?

07Lapierre

Yes I would recommend them. using a travel agent is the lazy/expensive way of organising these type of weekend trips. For me, it just makes the whole process much easier. The hotel we stayed in was a 3 star hotel. Nothing fancy, but it was only 2k from the start line. The food was good, the staff were pleasant and the whole weekend passed off without a hitch.

Another advantage of using a travel company for the Etape is that they will have their own food stops along the route. With hindsight, I think we should have skipped the official stops and went for a "two stop strategy" using STI stops only. No queues, they were fully stocked with water , energy bars, gels etc. And after all, we'd paid for them! Definitely the best way to get a good overall time.

dastardly00

07Lapierre wrote: »

Yes I would recommend them. using a travel agent is the lazy/expensive way of organising these type of weekend trips. For me, it just makes the whole process much easier. The hotel we stayed in was a 3 star hotel. Nothing fancy, but it was only 2k from the start line. The food was good, the staff were pleasant and the whole weekend passed off without a hitch.

Another advantage of using a travel company for the Etape is that they will have their own food stops along the route. With hindsight, I think we should have skipped the official stops and went for a "two stop strategy" using STI stops only. No queues, they were fully stocked with water , energy bars, gels etc. And after all, we'd paid for them! Definitely the best way to get a good overall time.

Cheers for the feedback. I did the Paris-Roubaix sportive with Sports Tours earlier this year. I was doing it on my own so it was great to have the reassurance that everything was organised etc.

Wishbone Ash

Great write up A. Well done.

We'll have to get you to do the Boards Evil Ride. No faffing about with flights, hotels or starting pens!

07Lapierre wrote: »

.... I wasn't early enough as "spokes of glory" had already left the hotel for his 7am start. Of the three of us, spokes is the mountain goat.....

Ah, so that's who the 'spokes of glory' is. Often heard of him but didn't realise who it was.

...so I kinda knew I'd probably have to wait until we got back to our hotel after the event to hear how he got on. Sure enough that's what happened, as he was finished at least an hour before me ...

Those lads would sicken you alright. When I finished Liege Baston Liege a few years ago i was delighted with myself only to learn than one of our group finished 3 hours ahead of me and he's only an 'occasional' cyclist and did it with a 39/25 as his lowest gear. How he got up some of those 20%+ gradients is beyond me.

07Lapierre

Wishbone Ash wrote: »

Great write up A. Well done

Ah, so that's who the 'spokes of glory' is. Often heard of him but didn't realise who it was.


Those lads would sicken you alright. When I finished Liege Baston Liege a few years ago i was delighted with myself only to learn than one of our group finished 3 hours ahead of me and he's only an 'occasional' cyclist and did it with a 39/25 as his lowest gear. How he got up some of those 20%+ gradients is beyond me.

Yeah spokes, that's him...the ugly fecker!

terrydel

ballyharpat wrote: »

Loved it, great location, very well organised, took it pretty handy, went off in the 3rd wave and came in in the top 1000. The spectators/cycling fans are great. I enjoyed it more than last year, but that was for personal reasons more than the event itself. Did it with two friends at diffferent cycling levels and they had a blast as well, I'd definitely recommend it.

Still over in Annecy until Thursday, did semnoz while I was here-both sides, and Col du Faucile and doing Alpe dhuez and deux alpes tomorrow. Then traveling North for 5/6 days. 

official time 6:45
Moving time 6:16

position 969

Truly amazing time mate, hats off.
7h42m for me, was on target for under 7 hours up til Romme and then just died a thousand deaths! At anywhere near my normal climbing speed I'd have got very close to or under 7h but the heat and possibly not getting enough gels and food in cost me.
Great day tho, and an achievement for anyone who got thru it!

terrydel

@07Lapierre - great read, brings back all the pain in vivid detail! :P

07Lapierre

terrydel wrote: »

@07Lapierre - great read, brings back all the pain in vivid detail! :P

Now relive the pleasure!

https://youtu.be/NRtbroHHUZ8


Part 2 - The dash for the line..

https://youtu.be/bh00Xa2Y_7Y

The Noble Nudge

What stage in the TDF is it lads ??

07Lapierre

Stage 10.

jimbobaloobob

Lads well done to ye all that did it. Its never an easy feat and impossible to compare year to year.

Out of interest what was your gearing? Last time I did it I had 39 x 25 as lowest gear, had a tougher year of training (as in got less done) and found I could have done with lighter. Have ye found any ratio to be too light in that your doing more spinning than driving on for the want of a better word.

Ill be going back next year all going well.

terrydel

jimbobaloobob wrote: »

Lads well done to ye all that did it. Its never an easy feat and impossible to compare year to year.

Out of interest what was your gearing? Last time I did it I had 39 x 25 as lowest gear, had a tougher year of training (as in got less done) and found I could have done with lighter. Have ye found any ratio to be too light in that your doing more spinning than driving on for the want of a better word.

Ill be going back next year all going well.

I rented a bike with 34-32 as the lowest gear. I'm much more of a spinner than a power climber. I'd consider myself a decent climber and would probably survive with a 28 for the most part but on the Glieres and Romme which average 10-11% the 32 was deffo needed especially given the heat on the day.

07Lapierre

Just a heads up....Tomorrow the pros (Both male and Female) tackle the Etape route....I for one am looking forward to it!

Borderfox

Should be a good one tomorrow given the descriptions back from our particpants, for those that did it what do you think will be the firecracker point tomorrow

07Lapierre

i suspect the col du Romme and Colombiere will be where the attacks come. With a 16k descent I’ll stick my neck out and say it will be froome who summits the Colombiere first and then descends like a stone to the finish. I think the other climbs come too close to the start of the stage and there's plenty of time for any escapee's to be reeled in before the Col du Romme.

More importantly...All my Strava PB’s will be dessimated tomorrow!

FastFullBack

Just watched highlights of stage 10. Fair play to any of ye that finished that. Some of those climbs looked brutal!!

Boscoirl

So jealous of ye that have done it. Would love to be able watch a stage and go I have ridden that!

It’s on the bucket list to do before i am 40, need to get better a hills, got dropped tonight at n a club spin on only what could be called bump in the road

Ps how close to Aliphilipe’s time were ye?

07Lapierre

Aliphillipe- 4:15..... me... 9:40! ��

The pros make it look sooo easy...oh to be 20 years old again!

jimbobaloobob

Alaphillipe won that stage (very similar route all the same climbs in the tour l'avenir ) few years ago
13/2 he was before that stage.

The Noble Nudge

Dont be too hard on yourself sure socialising was much more fun than cycling back then Lapierre !!...
3 category 1 climbs along with a tour stage has to be a life experience moment.
Did you do the gravel part as well??
The motorbikes kicked up a lot of dust they would have been getting a nice wave on.
Scenery around Anncey looked good enough to put on the list for a visit.

07Lapierre

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Dont be too hard on yourself sure socialising was much more fun than cycling back then Lapierre !!...
3 category 1 climbs along with a tour stage has to be a life experience moment.
Did you do the gravel part as well??
The motorbikes kicked up a lot of dust they would have been getting a nice wave on.
Scenery around Anncey looked good enough to put on the list for a visit.

Yeah we did the same route, gravel and all. there were no vehicles with us, so we had it a bit easier as there was very little dust kicked up.

As for the scenery...i had to watch the Highlights on Eurosport and ITV4 yesterday to see most of it, as all i saw on the day itself was the few feet of tarmac in front of my front wheel!

ballyharpat

The Noble Nudge wrote: »

Dont be too hard on yourself sure socialising was much more fun than cycling back then Lapierre !!...
3 category 1 climbs along with a tour stage has to be a life experience moment.
Did you do the gravel part as well??
The motorbikes kicked up a lot of dust they would have been getting a nice wave on.
Scenery around Anncey looked good enough to put on the list for a visit.

The scenery around Annecy is beautiful, spent a week around there, very friendly area and reasonably priced, even in the peak season.