I hope my legs feel better on the day of the Marmotte than they do this morning! After a hard ride with Matt at the weekend and racing at Crystal Palace on tuesday, yesterday’s ride in to work over Boxhill was particularly tough.

Sundays ride turned out to be a bit of an epic. Having had the sniffles for most of last week I was relieved to see that the forecasters had got it wrong again and rather than the predicted heavy rain we were treated to blustery winds, the occassional shower and even some sunshine. Matt and I met atop Boxhill and continued via Leith Hill, Holmbury Hill etc etc along the route of the Surrey Hills sportive. All in it turned out to be 143 km with almost 3000 metres of climbing, how accurate the altitude reading is on the computer I’m not sure but it sounds good. Anyone interested in the route will find it here http://www.westsurreyctcda.org.uk/events/Tour%20of%20the%20Hills%20Route%202004MW.pdf

Stopping to fill up our bottles on Boxhill it was great to see the amount of riders out. The proliferation of road cyclists over the last few years is incredible - mostly thanks to the popularity of sportive events such as the Marmotte. For riders such as myself and Matt it is a strange experience, suddenly we are part of a mainstream sport - long may it continue but when will motorists treat us with the respect our fellow cyclists on the Continent receive?

Tuesday night saw the usual suffering at Crystal Palace - legs screaming and almsot dropped a couple of times. Watch out for a young lad called Felix English, only 15 but allready winning adult races, having made the mistake of going away with him for a lap his strength is evident.

With just over a week to go I’m ready for a rest so this weekend will see a short ride and a bit of time cleaning the bike and putting on new tyres. I’ve been using Michelin Pro Race 3’s this year and they seem excellent - lightweight, good cornering and pretty tough.

Gearing wise I have decided to stick with my Chorus 50/34 compact chainset and a 11-25 cassette - I’m just hoping that the combination will see me through, if not I will be cursing my obstinance in not switching to a wider ratio cassette. Apparently there is a shop in Bourg D’Oisans who will build up any combination of cassette, I’m sure they do good business!Â

With a week to go I am getting hooked on Marmotte forums in an attempt to find any nuggets of information I can, the best I have found is run by a guy in Grenoble and is well worth checking out for anyone heading down to the Alps on a bike http://www.grenoblecycling.com/

Last sundays road race proved a blast - great racing with loads of attacking riding, a good pace and we even avoided the showers.
I was fairly pleased with my ride. Having missed all the breaks the previous week I was pretty keen to take a more aggressive part in the racing. After a couple of laps a couple of guys got off the front so I jumped across and we managed to hold out for 6 miles or so but the bunch chased and i guess we weren’t going quick enough! In the end the only break which stayed away was the one that went just as I got caught after a futile solo effort, so no podium finish this time.
Riding out to the event and back again allowed me to rack up 110 miles with a fair few hills thrown in on the way home - a good day out. With the rest of the family out I had an hour or so to wind down from the ride which always seems to help alleviate sore legs in the days after a big ride - drinking a good recovery drink within 20 minutes certainly helps a lot as does lying flat with your legs in the air for 10 minutes or so to allow the lactic acid to drain out.
Raced at Crystal Palace on tuesday where I learned two things 1 - that I can hang on to be there for the sprint at the end. 2 - I can’t sprint!

The plan this weekend is to ride the route of the Tour of Surrey Hills sportive with Matt. I did the sportive a few years back (it’s held in August) and discovered there were more ways up Leith Hill than I had ever imagined, with over 2000 metres of climbing in 11o km it’s a tough ride and probably about as good a preparation for the Marmotte as one is likely to get within easy reach of London.

The LVRC (League of Veterans Racing Cyclists) promotes racing for the 40 year old plus rider and do a splendid job in an area where British Cycling seems disinterested. The racing tends to be of a good standard as most of the guys have been racing for a fair few years and it’s quite acceptable to ride with an older group if you are new to the sport or simply haven’t got the necessary training miles in your legs. So a good place to start if you fancy giving racing a go (and you’re over 40) for more details check out the website http://www.lvrc.org/

In three weeks time I will be lining up along with 5,000 fellow sufferers for La Marmotte - 107 miles in the French Alps starting in Bourg D’Oisans and finishing atop Alpe D’Huez with the Col du Glandon, Col de Telegraph and the Galibier in-between. Reckoned to be one of the toughest sportives on the calendar it has long been on my list of ‘must do ‘ rides but as July 5th races towards me worries about fitness, gearing, de-hydration etc crowd my mind.
My previous two wheeled Alpine experience is limited to a bike business ‘jolly’ last year courtesy of Litespeed which saw a bunch of bike shop owners pedalling up the Col du Glandon followed by an even more leisurely lunch in the cafe on the summit of the Croix de Fer. All very nice and I loved being in the mountains but I feel the Marmotte will be something alltogether different.
Riding with long time cycling buddy, Matt, will be great apart from the fact that he is still a superfit First Cat racing cyclist and I have long since lost the right to such a title! I am counting on my residual ability to get up hills and (more importantly) his patience to get us through.
Training has been a mixture of local races, a handful of Sportives (Tour of Flanders being the highlight) and rides in the Surrey Hills augmented by a week of hilly rides in the Mallorcan mountains (not quite the Alps but at leat you get the chance to ride uphil for 50 minutes).
This weekend it is a Veterans road race in Surrey which I will ride to, so should get in 90 miles or so. Here’s hoping for a sunny weekend.