Etape Tour 2013

[Thomk]

I'm thinking of doing this but need to know now:

1. If i've bit off more than I can chew
2. What I need to do to be ready and avoid the embarrassment of the broom waggon
3. Have you done it and was it worth it
4. Is it a good idea to hire a bike

I'm in my mid 40s, weigh 13 stone and have only been cycling for just over a year from a low fitness base. I now do about 4 - 500 miles a month but am not fast, averaging about 15 - 16mph. I've done two 100 mile rides, during a short tour with pannier and a sportive (Shakespeare 100). I averaged 13.5mph and 15.5mph for the two rides.

I know I am a long way away but can I be ready for next year and what do I need to do?

 

[black'n'yellow]

training, training and more training. Join a club and start getting some regular distance in your legs would be a good start...

 

[Monsieur Remings]

I'm thinking of doing this but need to know now:

1. If i've bit off more than I can chew
2. What I need to do to be ready and avoid the embarrassment of the broom waggon
3. Have you done it and was it worth it
4. Is it a good idea to hire a bike

I'm in my mid 40s, weigh 13 stone and have only been cycling for just over a year from a low fitness base. I now do about 4 - 500 miles a month but am not fast, averaging about 15 - 16mph. I've done two 100 mile rides, during a short tour with pannier and a sportive (Shakespeare 100). I averaged 13.5mph and 15.5mph for the two rides.


I know I am a long way away but can I be ready for next year and what do I need to do?

Yes you can mate. I did the 2012 edition, the Pyrenean act over the four major Pyrenean passes and it was tough but do-able. I'm forty in February next year and have been road cycling seriously again for around 4-5 years. Like a lot of riders I improve as time goes on but I found that this season my focus was all about the Etape and because it was a mountainous affair, that meant long hours in the saddle, lots of hill climbing repeats and a general focus on endurance over speed which sounds remarkably like what you're doing already.

400-500 miles a month is a good start and by the time you hit next May, a few months before the Etape, you'll be wanting to push it to nearer 900 or so a month and keep your focus; eat well, fuel during the ride and use recovery formulas so that the body is ready to go out the next day or the day after. Learn to relax when you're climbing and get into a rhythm sat on your arse, not bouncing side to side like Contador!

The first thing to do is find out what route there is and which one you fancy...last year, both were mountainous, so one was the Alps and the other the Pyrenees but in other years they haven't always been so.

This is a good place to start ...http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&sqi=2&ved=0CCoQFjAA&url=http://www.etape.org.uk/&ei=cO1YUKTKC-Ox0QWqmYHAAQ&usg=AFQjCNHcPaqDFR_0F5FUKWuyBVZLl7cfYQ

I booked through this organisation and was able to secure tickets because I was riding for charity but there are other options including other charities and various packages. Try and get one of the front pens - psychologically you're way ahead of the broom wagon.

Best of luck and drop us a PM if I can help any further.

 

[endoman]

Did Acte 2 this year after one year's cycling. It's ver possible but you need to put the hours in. I joined a club, very handy, and rode lots. Also got a plan from a coach that got me through it with plenty time ahead of the broom wagon. You need to be able to sustain long efforts near threshold, and repeat when fatigued. I'm lucky to live near the Peak District so used the hills lots, but they are nothing like a Tourmalet or an Aubisque! Loose as much weight as you can, take your own bike, enjoy it. I'll be having another go next year, hopefully starting further forward now I've got a finishing time.

Learn how much you need to eat and drink, I did 4 * 100 hilly sportives in prep. Be comfortable in a group, don't go mad at the start, learn where your threshold is and keep under it.

 

[Thomk]

My lowest gear is 34/27. Will that get me through a hilly Etape?
There aren't a load of stonking hills around here. Is riding at an equilavent intensity on the flat almost as good i.e. pushing out the same watts as hill climbing but (obviously) faster on flat or undulating ground? So, I guess what I'm trying (badly) to say is - if an Etape hill is likely to take me 1.5 hours, can I, as part of my training, do 1.5 hours on the flat at high intensity to mimic the effort required for the hill?

 

[endoman]

I did it on 34:28, it depends on the route but you should be fine. Yep training to mimic the sustained effort close to threshold, doesn't have to be on a hill at all.

 

[Thomk]

I did it on 34:28, it depends on the route but you should be fine. Yep training to mimic the sustained effort close to threshold, doesn't have to be on a hill at all.

What is the effort required to climb a typical hill from last years Etape? Obviously it will vary and depend somewhat on rider weight, bike etc but is 200w over an hour or 1.5 hours in the right ballpark?

 

[endoman]

Don't have a power meter, but Strava tells me this 213 W avge, 258 up Aubisque, 235 up tourmalet, 228 up Aspin, 210 up Peyresourde. I knew I would make it once Aspin was done, so didn't push too hard on the last one, probably couldn't even if I'd tried though!

I passed people up every climb and finished 1510 in climbing, despite too many comfort breaks on the climbs. My training was targeted on threshold efforts and then doing the same while fatigued. So the day after a long ride instead of a rest I'd be doing intervals! I understand why now.

You can save loads of time by not stopping at every food station, I probably drank too much, but better that than not enough. As it wasn't hot I don't think I needed the volumes I consumed. I had 40 minutes total non moving time.

 

[oldfatfool]

My lowest gear is 34/27. Will that get me through a hilly Etape?
There aren't a load of stonking hills around here. Is riding at an equilavent intensity on the flat almost as good i.e. pushing out the same watts as hill climbing but (obviously) faster on flat or undulating ground? So, I guess what I'm trying (badly) to say is - if an Etape hill is likely to take me 1.5 hours, can I, as part of my training, do 1.5 hours on the flat at high intensity to mimic the effort required for the hill?

Yes 34/27 should be ok I managed with a 38/34 on a fully loaded touring bike.

I disagree, riding on the flat at any intensity is nothing like riding 10~20km at 10% You really need to find some hills and practice and practice some more. The best bit of kit I ever bought was a Tacx VR turbo, yes they are bloody expensive but not compared to paying out for a weeks holiday in the south of France and being unprepared.

 

[Monsieur Remings]

Yep, agree with oldfatfool that riding hills will prepare you better, repeats preferably.

My lowest gear was 39-28 and whilst it wasn't a struggle, I'd have preferred a compact but for the fact I wouldn't use a compact elsewhere, so seemed an unnecessary expense.

 

[endoman]

Well I'm training for 2 hill climbs at the moment, and none of it from the coach involves going up a hill. It's pretty hard for me to avoid them where I live, but I can see the benefits of the specific training. I can just about find a 4 -5 mile long hill out of Sheffield, and I do use it on long commute home. Will see how the hill climbs go, all new for me again! Very different hills to an Etape though, hence totally different training.