Archive for the ‘Etape Du Tour’ Category

l’Etape du Tour: Final Preparations

Thursday, July 7th, 2011
This is the fourth in a weekly series by guest blogger, Michael Lowe, leading up to his Étape Du Tour ride on July 11th:

I’m all packed up and ready to go. My bike is in its box. I have my fingers crossed that Delta (i) accepts it without any hassle, (ii) gets it to Paris without a hitch, and (iii) it arrives in one piece – or at least not broken, since I already took it apart to get it into the box.

I’m about as excited as I can be. I drove back from Bristol to my main home in Louisville, just around the corner from Jeff and Kathy – who operate this great site. I’m supposed to get a good night’s sleep since it’s hard to sleep on the plane, but there’s too much adrenaline pumping through my system!

I’d love to take a ride, just to get tired so I can sleep, but I needed to get the bike securely in the box in advance of tonight. I last rode on Tuesday evening and won’t ride again until Saturday or maybe Sunday. Not the best of last minute preparation, but it will have to do!

There is one thing I have not detailed, and that’s the cameras I will use on the ride. I usually carry a small Canon Elph in my jersey pocket. I can pull it out, turn it on, point and shoot, all with one hand, while riding my bike. I use the photos to create mini-travelogues and post them on Facebook for my family and close friends to see where I’ve been riding. I will be carrying it in my jersey pocket during l’Etape and taking lots of still shots.

I thought about using a “Helmet Cam”. So I ordered a Contour HD video camera that attached to my helmet. It had a 140 degree fixed wide angle lens and filmed at 720 dpi (HD). I was hoping to turn it on at the start, film the beginning of l’Etape, and then record as much of the ride as I could. However, after the initial excitement of its arrival and several training rides, I learned that without anti-vibration the picture quality was just not acceptable. So then it started to look like one of those pieces of equipment that looks good in a catalogue (think “collapsible LED backpacking lamp”) but do you really need it … and the weight … and … so I packed it up and sent it back. My little Elph will need to do the job!

All right. Time to sleep! (If I can.)


Michael Lowe splits his time between Louisville, KY (his home) and Bristol, VA (his workplace). He's an avid cyclist, and also enjoys writing, photography, gardening, travel and hiking. He's hiked portions of the AT inside GSMNP, but completing a thru hike of the entire AT remains on his bucket list. His notes on l'Etape were written as a friend in support of this site, and we'd like to say thanks by pointing out that if you're a fan of adventure fantasy, we recommend Michael's books Wizardmont and Bryunzet, the first two parts of his Promise of the Stones series. If you're a fan of history, check out Charlotte's Story, the true story of how Michael's mother survived as a young girl in Berlin, Germany between 1943 and 1951.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Bryunzet, Charlotte's Story, Etape Du Tour, Michael Lowe, Tour de France, Wizardmont, bike, cycling | Comments Off

l’Etape du Tour: The Cherohala Challenge

Thursday, June 30th, 2011
This is the third in a weekly series by guest blogger, Michael Lowe, leading up to his Étape Du Tour ride on July 11th:

The l’Etape ride is only 67 miles and arguably one could train at that distance or even a little less and then do the ride. I believe, however, that it helps to train at a further distance, prove I can do it, and then tackle the shorter distance with more speed than I might otherwise have attempted. It’s all about the mental aspect. “It’s only 67 miles. You’ve done much more.”

With that in mind, I tackled my first century (100 mile ride) on May 28. A local ride, it started just north of Louisville at the entrance to the Clark State Forest near Henryville, IN. My goal, since I expected the ride to be mostly flat or rolling, was to average 16 mph or better. The first 50 went just fine. In fact, I ripped off the first 15 at about 20 mph. From there, as the day heated up, and the fact that I had not slept much the previous two nights started to catch up to me. By mile 80 I was toast. But just like a hike on a loop trail, there’s only one way back to your car … you gotta ride. At the finish I clocked out at 6 hours and within my 16 mph goal. Not the best century, but it did remind me of the importance of sleep, good food on the ride, and the need to KEEP TRAINING!

Ergo – three weeks later – the Cherohala Challenge. 113 miles, 7200 feet of climbing, several steep two and three mile climbs and one long climb of 12 miles at an average grade of 5.5% (but with several much steeper ramps. Not quite l’Etape, but as close to it as is available in the Appalachians. In fact, the Challenge starts in Tellico Plains, just below the Smokey Mountains, at the western terminus of the Cherohala Skyway. It heads north towards the Smokey’s, then cuts east on 129. It does the complete “Tail of the Dragon” (motorcycle heaven) and then climbs up the eastern side of the Skyway, topping out at 5,341 feet, before dropping the 32 miles back to Tellico Plains. If you’re visiting the Smokey’s, it’s a nice ride just to the south of the park.

So, how did it go? Well, it was certainly a “challenge”. The day started out bright and beautiful and cool. It stayed that way until about 1 pm, when a thunderstorm appeared over the Skyway, just as I reached mile 65 and started up the climb. Rain, thunder, lightning – and some ramps that were 8 – 10% in grade. As all you hikers can appreciate, it takes a long time to go 8 miles at 5 miles per hour. At the very top (5,390 feet) it was foggy, windy and wet. Standing around made me cold. So I started down with a sheet of cardboard under my jersey to reduce the wind chill. Brrrr. But I made it, notwithstanding two more bursts of rain. 113 miles in 8 hours. Proving I was ready – which was the whole point!


Michael Lowe splits his time between Louisville, KY (his home) and Bristol, VA (his workplace). He's an avid cyclist, and also enjoys writing, photography, gardening, travel and hiking. He's hiked portions of the AT inside GSMNP, but completing a thru hike of the entire AT remains on his bucket list. His notes on l'Etape were written as a friend in support of this site, and we'd like to say thanks by pointing out that if you're a fan of adventure fantasy, we recommend Michael's books Wizardmont and Bryunzet, the first two parts of his Promise of the Stones series. If you're a fan of history, check out Charlotte's Story, the true story of how Michael's mother survived as a young girl in Berlin, Germany between 1943 and 1951.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Bryunzet, Charlotte's Story, Cherohala Skyway, Etape Du Tour, Michael Lowe, Tail of the Dragon, The Cherohala Challenge, Wizardmont, bike, cycling | Comments Off

l’Etape du Tour: Training for the Mountains of France

Thursday, June 23rd, 2011
This is the second in a weekly series by guest blogger, Michael Lowe, leading up to his Étape Du Tour ride on July 11th:

Only eighteen days to go before I tackle l’Etape.

When I closed the introduction, I had deferred a description of Alpe d’Huez to this installment. That’s because it is probably the most celebrated modern finish in the French Alps. A relatively new addition to the Tour, it arrived in 1952, but it arrived with a huge splash. 1952 was the first year with televisions mounted on motorcycles. It was also the first time a stage had ever finished on a mountaintop. And the winner was Fausto Coppi, 5 time winner of the Tour of Italy and 2 time winner of the Tour de France. With 21 hairpin turns on its 13.8 km (8.6 miles) to a ski resort (avg gradient 7.9%), it is a climb made for television and movies. Add as many as one million fans (the number who were there when Lance Armstrong won in 2004), and you can see why it is such a success – and such an icon.

I’m looking forward to riding the same roads as many of my cycling heroes have ridden - Andy Hampsten, Bobby Julich, Levi Leipheimer, George Hincapie, and Joop Zoetemelk. Who? A Dutch rider who won in 1979. Out of the first nine times Alpe d’Huez was included, the winner six of those years was from the Netherlands – which has no mountains. Thinking of Joop gives me confidence that if he could do it, with no mountains upon which to train, I can make it!

Training. When you ready yourself for a hike do you train? Stairstepper at the gym? Up and down the library steps like Rocky? Through the neighborhood park with your pack on your back and everyone staring at you? (“Call 911 dear, it’s a homeless man in our park!)

My training started last fall. Instead of getting off the bike on November 1, I kept riding, trying to maintain as much of my base from the 2010 season as possible. Whenever the weather allowed, I was out on the road. In early February, tired of riding the trainer in my living room while watching old Tour video tapes on the television, I started looking for outdoor rides in North Carolina. My first was in Winston Salem, followed by one in Greensboro, and then Statesboro. One of the benefits of these rides is getting to see terrain and towns and roads I would never otherwise see. With fellow riders on the roads and a set course to follow, these “tours” proved to be great motivators for early season training.

By early April I was ready for some long rides and I signed up for Cycle NC – this year held in Oriental, on the Atlantic coast. 50 miles the first day and 70 miles the second, with the first half of the 70 head on into a 15 mph wind. My ability to finish both days in good shape gave me confidence that my early training was on target.

The rest of April and most of May was spent doing 40’s and 50’s as often as possible, keeping the speed in the 16 – 18 mph range, building endurance. However, most of my rides up to this point were flat or rolling. It was time for some mountains, and there are mountains all around where I work in Bristol, Virginia. On May 21 I set off from Bristol to Elizabethton, TN, and then turned north on US 19, slowly climbing up the 5.5% grade to Shady Valley, then hanging a left and climbing over the top of Holston Mountain. 70 miles with 4,000 feet of climbing in 4 hours and 15 minutes. Not too bad.

Next up – my first century of the season, followed by the big test – the Cherohala Challenge. But I’ll tell you about those next time.


Michael Lowe splits his time between Louisville, KY (his home) and Bristol, VA (his workplace). He's an avid cyclist, and also enjoys writing, photography, gardening, travel and hiking. He's hiked portions of the AT inside GSMNP, but completing a thru hike of the entire AT remains on his bucket list. His notes on l'Etape were written as a friend in support of this site, and we'd like to say thanks by pointing out that if you're a fan of adventure fantasy, we recommend Michael's books Wizardmont and Bryunzet, the first two parts of his Promise of the Stones series. If you're a fan of history, check out Charlotte's Story, the true story of how Michael's mother survived as a young girl in Berlin, Germany between 1943 and 1951.


Jeff
HikingintheSmokys.com

Posted in Alpe d’Huez, Bryunzet, Charlotte's Story, Etape Du Tour, Michael Lowe, Tour de France, Wizardmont, bike, cycling | Comments Off