Raid Pyreneen 2007 – My first two days !!!

Well, things didn’t start too well for me ! My first flight was from Newquay to Standstead so that I could get the plane to Biaritz the following morning. The thing is, I missed the flight ! So, after looking at all the other airports for flight options Mel found me a bus that left Exeter at 2 a.m. and arrived at Stanstead at 8:30 a.m…great. So, some thirteen hours later I arrive at the hotel in France, a town called Hendaya on the Spanish border where I was to meet James Marshall, Dave Stone and the rest of the group.

James and Dave had already been there a day (they didn’t miss their flight) and were just getting back from a ride when I arrived……..Dave was in a hell of a state ! He was talking of a ridiculous hill that he couldn’t ride up and Vultures soaring above him as if waiting for the inevitable to happen. I think they must of found the steepest hill in the whole of Europe and from that Point onwards Dave was worried to death about what was to come !
That evening we had a briefing with the emphasis on the fact that this is one of the toughest rides in Europe and that we shouldn’t over do it on day one or we may not survive the week.
Day 1 – 100 miles

So it was about midday on day one and there is was, head down, arse up and giving it everything to stay in the chain of riders I was with, dreaming of the pending Tour De France stage win that was sure to be mine if I kept it up….trouble is, I couldn’t and my legs went to jelly, my lungs could do no more and my bum was already feeling the pain despite the liberal dosing of sudacrem that morning.

Oh no, I thought (words to that effect), what the hell am I going to do now with about sixty miles still to ride and I’m Knackered ! Then I heard chattering in the distance, two men both talking to each other at the same time…...it could only be Dave and James, and it was, they had finally caught me and took the opportunity to remind me what was said at the briefing !
So, for me day one was tough and I was glad to get off the bike (and day one was only the warm up)

Day 2 – 80 miles

Well this was to be the tester, it may only be 80 miles but it has two of the biggest Cols on the trip (a Col is a high mountain pass). The morning started with a thirty or forty mile ride to the first of them, the Col D Aubisque which was about 10 miles of climbing. I let James and Dave go on ahead (to give them a head start!!!) and settled into a slow but steady rhythm, keeping an eye on the roadside markers which countdown the kilometres left to the summit. I made it and did so in good shape, meeting James and Dave at the top for a coke and some photos….Then for the descent, all 10 miles of it, what a feeling clocking up speeds of around 45 – 50 mph we soon made it back down. Then came the big one, Col de Tourmelat, one of the most revered climbs on the Tour De France. Nearly 20 kilometres of climbing! but the official start of the mountain is about 10 miles up a hill !!

Again, I let the others have a head start and I tried to settle into the rhythm I had found previously. But it just wasn’t there and at the halfway point in a small town I was ready to collapse. So I had to get off the bike. Delirious, I didn’t know what to do with myself and ended up crouched on a small wall with my shoes off, desperately trying to cool down……….it wasn’t working and I was feeling really fatigued. Then the support van pulled up to see how I was and advised me to go and sit in the water fountain in the town square about 100 metres up the road. So, off I went, found the fountain, which was surrounded by families having their lunch, and I proceeded to take my shoes off and literally sit in the water for about ten minutes! They must of seen it all before because they didn’t bat an eye lid.

Well, it worked, my body temperature was somewhere near normal and I eventually found the rhythm again and actually enjoyed the final ten kilometres to the summit. Everyone had found it tough, I got to the top shortly after Dave who had spent the final 4k coaxing one of our group up after he too had nearly collapsed. James was already up there but had also had a really tough time mentally and said that it had been the most gruelling experience he’d ever had on a bike! In the café at the summit everyone was overcome with emotion and adrenaline, surrounded by photos of all the cycling greats conquering the mountain we had a cup of tea in good English fashion before we nailed the descent.
We’ll leave the other three days for another time ! to be continued?

The raid Pyreneen starts on the French atlantic coast near Biaritz and runs over the backbone of the Pyrenees mountains covering 18 Cols and 500 miles finishing near Perpingon on the French Mediterranean coast. The challenge is to complete the ride within 100 hours, including sleep and we did this with about an hour to spare.

Thanks to Dave Stone for the idea and to both James and Dave for encouraging me on when I was really quite low.