The Road to Ventoux: Part IV

As I'd done with previous long rides, I'd mentally broken up the Etape into 30 mile sections, and treated them each as individual 'easy' training rides...starting again once I'd got to the end of each little section.

It had worked really well with the Dragon Ride, where I'd felt really bad during the third 30 mile section, but convinced myself that if I could get to the end of that bit, then I'd pretty much finished. Effectively, I'd turned a 120 mile ride into a ninety miler, which seemed to make things a 'bit' easier.

With the Etape, I'd split the ride into; three 30 mile sections, an insignificant bit to get from the bottom of the Col des Abeilles and then the Ventoux. I'd always figured that no matter how hard the Ventoux was going to be, it was only 21km, and I'd somehow find a way to get there. I just had to get there without being eliminated.

So, a few miles after the feed station at Buis les Baronnies, I was into the crucial third 30 mile section. On previous rides, this is where I'd struggled with nausea and fatigue. There was obviously a bit of fatigue, but as I'd forced myself to eat a 'Go' Bar fairly early on, I never hit the

nausea stage.

I always find it difficult to eat on a long ride, and I actually find gels a bit more palatable.

However, I'd realised after the Dragon Ride that if you're on the bike for that length of time, your stomach just needs something to 'work on', even if you're not getting your main source of calories from the solid food.

So, overall I was feeling good, but the ride started to get tricky as it came round to noonish, and the temperature got up. The next climb, the Col de Fontaube, is only 4.7km at 4.3%, but it's part of a long stretch between Buis les Baronnies and the Col des Abeilles which is almost continuously uphill. This is really strength and mind-sapping, and coupled with temperatures up above 30 degrees, things were starting to feel harder.

I was pleased to get to the top of the Col de Fontaube, but I was surprised when there didn't

seem to be any kind of descent to follow. I'd forgotten that it's followed after a couple of miles by the Col des Aires, so I had to put in another short effort to get to the top of that which was very unwelcome.

Eventually there was a descent, but that only took me into a section which proved almost the hardest for me...along the Sault valley. It's not even categorised as a climb on the route, but again it's a long, constantly uphill drag. Because it was in a valley, it was shielded from any wind, so it was hot and airless. The locals obviously new it was tough, because as they shouted

enouragement - 'Courage!'...we were getting regular updates as to how far it was until it got flat again....'le village est a deux kilometres...c'est plat!'

By this time, it was starting to get uncomfortably hot, so I stopped off at a fountain, in Aurel I

think, and splashed water all over my head and face. A guy who was taking photos nearby clearly found this amusing, and asked me to do it again - I was happy to oblige!

There was another drag up to Sault, and an extra water stop - which worryingly was starting to run out - then a short descent to the base of the Col des Abeilles.

Everything I'd read and heard about this had warned me that this climb wasn't to be underestimated and that it could potentially take a lot out of you. I'd say this was a fair assessment. It starts with a wide, steep ramp - probably around 10% - as it curves up to the left along the side of the mountain. It's very open, as it's cut along a kind of escarpment and for whatever reason, this openness makes it feel even harder than it actually is.

Having said that, I was still feeling pretty much together, and although it was tough, it wasn't a real struggle. There's a sting in the tail as you get to the top, although thankfully I was prepared for it. You get to the top of a big incline, which looks like a summit, but then you drop down a fair way at 8% before rising up again equally steeply. Once would have been annoying...doing that twice felt unnecessary!

There was a huge reward once we did finally get to the top though, because it was the beginning of a fabulous descent. A big, wide road with a steep, but not precipitous, gradient and fantastic views combined to create a fantastic sense of exhilaration.

Part of this was the enjoyment of the descent, but also a feeling that I really was going to do it now. I knew now that I just had a short section of flat into Bedoin and that would be the end of my final 30 mile section. I'd still got the Ventoux, looming up on my right, to tackle - but I'd find a way.

As I was enjoying the descent of the Col des Abeilles a guy with a couple of bunches of flowers stuck in his helmet made me giggle. 'Chapeau!' for the Chapeau I thought...

When I got down into the valley, there were a few beautiful villages with tree lined roads joining them, raising the spirits, and as we got to Mormoiron I started to look around for my folks. I'd arranged to meet them somewhere here, and I'd texted my sis to tell her that I was doing a steady 15mph average to give her an idea of when I'd be there.

I got to what looked like the centre of the village, but nothing. I thought maybe they'd found a quieter spot a bit further on, but then I got to the sign with the village name crossed through - signifying the end of the village.

I stopped to call my sis...'where are you, I'm here?'. It turned out they'd been delayed, and had been expecting me much later anyway. Luckily, they were close to Bedoin, so I said I'd try and catch up with them there, although I was a bit worried about missing them in the food stop

chaos.

As we rolled into Bedoin, with Ventoux rearing up above us, I was chatting to one of my Sky team-mates. It turned out this was lucky, because my folks had turned up at a junction just before the village about 20 seconds before I got there, and had recognised my voice. Luckily, I heard their shouts just as I went past and executed a quick U-turn to get back to them.

The first thing I did as I hopped off my bike was to check the route card we'd got with our signing on materials, which helpfully had all the elimination times on it. I was amazed to see that I was now almost an hour and a quarter ahead of the broom wagon - but this made sense when I checked my Garmin and saw that I'd been doing an average of exactly 15 mph after just over 90 miles - exactly what I'd been hoping for in my most optimistic plans.

I thought this meant that I had plenty of time to stop and

had a chat, and I offloaded a lot of my excess drink powders, gels and bars - knowing that any weight I could get rid of before the Ventoux would save me energy.

I hung on to a couple of caffeine gels and a regular one, and feeling that I was a bit sick of sugary drinks, I also got rid of my 'Go' Electrolyte powder, feeling that I was gonna be ok with just water. For the last couple of hours, I'd been keeping one bottle to just water anyway, so that I had stuff to squirt over myself when I got a bit hot.

After 20 mins or so, I set off into Bedoin to the feed station - just to refill my bottles - and then it was off to take on the Ventoux. As I rolled out of town it was clear that everyone was reining back their speed, to try and keep as much as possible in reserve, so I did the same. There were lots of people by the side of the road, many with big bottles of water ready to throw over you if you wanted. It felt great when they did, but it was just so hot by now that the water

evaporated within minutes, meaning you were soon hot again.

One of the peculiarities of the Provencal climate is that it actually gets hotter as the afternoons go on, as the land 'bakes'. It was now about half past two - and I knew that I was going to be climbing the Ventoux in the hottest part of the day. This was going to be tough.