After 12 years participating in the L'Etape du Tour de France without missing an year, I had decided in 2020 that I was ready to a new challenge. Tired of the same training and 1 day event that usually involved a lot of stress, waking up early and not even riding that much in the week that I was in France. All because we were saving our legs for racing day. So, I didn't sign-up for the race and was ready to hook up with a group of colleagues to do a 12 days race bike cross thru the Pyrenees from France to Spain.
Sadly, between sickness in the family of one of the organizers and the pandemic, the event got cancelled. Most of the guys were coming from USA and that was not possible anymore. The Etape itself got cancelled and all other events. With no race / cycling event to participate, my training start to slack more and more. And if it wasn't for the annual visit to the Alps with a group of friends to force me to go out training, my condition would have deteriorated to a very bad state. I am the type of cyclist that needs to have a goal. But if that is there, I will train at all costs in any condition.
Well, now I have a goal. A real huge challenge to cycle all those 760 kilometers without any assistance other what you can carry on your bike and what you can find or buy on the way. You are not supposed to arrange anything upfront, like hotels or other places to stay. You are not going to be helped by the organization and they will track you whereabouts all the time to make sure you follow the route and rules. You need to be able to carry your food and liquids, navigation equipment, lights and clothing and sleep in the open in some points.
I have never done anything like this. Hell, I only once did camping in my whole life. And that was it the backyard of some people. The wildest thing that day was that those people had two basset puppies that wouldn't stop playing! This is whole new level. Of fitness, mental and physical and of planning and preparation. This whole thing will will require a lot learning.
And that is why I decided to come back and write in this blog after 6 years of absence. I want to document the next 7 months of training and preparations leading out to July 30th and the event itself. All the good moments, frustrations, doubts and hopefully accomplishment of this adventure. And the good news is that I'm not alone. I'm doing this with broader in law, which apart from company and support during the event, will mean I have someone to compare notes during the next training months.
And that gave me a reason to buy a new bike :) some say that was the actual reason why I signed up...
No comments:
Post a Comment