Glendene CC - 2005 Race Reports Archive (September)

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President: E E Moss
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2005 Race Reports Archive - September

25/9 - La Stephen Roache Sportif [PS]

lastephenroche.com (D'etails des bosses - description of climbs)

On the morning of the 24/9/05 a handful of cars packed full of Glendene riders left Essex to conquer 'La Stephen Roche - 2005' - according to their itinerary this is a 157.7km Sportif (but let's call it a hundred miler). This write-up is from the perspective of my esteemed training partner 'Matt Anderson' and myself 'Paul Saunders'. Our only previous experience of riding in large groups has been from several visits to North Weald this season where (apart from the first time) we have both comfortably ridden with the 3rd cat. group. Our long training rides normally consist of 60/70 milers at a fairly good pace over the weekends, but before doing this we had completed a 100 miler just for the peace of mind that we could complete the distance and to know where we might start to struggle.

So with the knowledge that we could both go the distance the next obstacle was what do you eat on these longer rides as it is unlikely the whole group will stop while you have a cup of tea and some bread pudding. After discussions with various experienced riders we decided that the more food we could cram in to our pockets the better. This consisted of Bagel Quarters* (peanut butter and Jam), fig rolls, malt loaf*, bananas and flap jacks. Some loose and some wrapped in cling film*. We also had a couple of GO Gel packs with us (tested and used on previous TT's) and two water bottles each filled with the highly recommendable Powerbar mix (available at all good Bike Trax stores).

The journey to Cergy St Christophe was pretty unadventurous and we arrived on the outskirts of Paris a couple of hours ahead of the main group so we decided to shoot out on the bikes for 45mins to get the legs loosened up for the following day.

That evening we sat down to a reasonable pasta meal at the hotel a group. The riders taking on the challenge/race the following day were as follows;

Tony Woodcock
Mick Gray + Friend
Brad Lamb
Anthony (cracked frame) Miller
Matt (Prickly Legs) Anderson
Paul Saunders
Bryan Hodges
Colin Mannakee (aka Colin Bent Forks)
Phil
Colin Jinks (referred to as Jinksy / Elvis in the rest of this)

Then it was an early night in anticipation of a Hard Days Ride......

THE RACE
Race Start was 0830 so it was an early start to give a full breakfast time to digest. Due to the large number of riders they were separated up in to pens depending on assigned race number. Tony and Mick were in the lead pen as they had preferential entry following the previous years result. The rest of us hovered in a side turning just near the start, not wanting to get too caught up in the ravages of the mass start.

Fortunately as the race started the weather was fine and all Glendene riders got away safely. As expected the first 7/8 miles set off at a blistering pace, weaving through the streets then on to the dual carriageway out of Cergy. The 'Road Furniture' caused several pile ups, fortunately all avoided by Glenedene CC, however I know Brad had someone crash right next to him near the start. I managed to get on the wheel of Tony Woodcock and what a wise choice that was, he navigated me through those first few miles with sheer precision, and following a few shouts I had ascertained that Matt was also right on my wheel. My thoughts of getting food in early popped in to my head, so I shouted to Matt to grab a flapjack out my pocket as he cam alongside me. He did so and kindly crushed it in to a palm shaped ball, ready for me to eat. I did offer to share but Matt gracefully declined.

We then hit the much talked about '1st climb' this was supposed to be the sorting point where the wheat and chaff separated like oil and water. At this point my legs were feeling like they had just done a 10 mile TT and the prospect of forcing them up this very steep climb was daunting to say the least. I dropped in to my 39 despite many of the riders around me grinding up in 53's (however I'm sure that paid off later) that was the last I saw of Tony's wheel as he pulled away. I also saw Anthony hook in to the 2nd group and stick with them. I couldn't see anyone else at this point. There was also no respite as the 1st hill led straight in to a 2nd equalling taxing climb and by the end of this everyone was well and truly sorted. The moment of realisation was then there, my legs felt ready to explode, the fig roll I had just forced down was making me choke and I was really wishing I hadn't eaten the coco-pops for breakfast. I commented to Matt at the end that I was glad not too have my HRM on as I'm sure I would have stopped then and there. I had a couple of retching moments, sat back down and just got on with it. I then hooked on to a relatively small group of about 5/6 riders and soon got back in to the rhythm of things. The terrain seemed to settle down at bit and although undulating there were no more serious climbs for a while. The group I was with really started rotating well and it wasn't long before we pulled in a larger group. In this group were Colin Jinks and Brad Lam. Although normally very jovial I now realise not everyone likes chatting and joking whilst climbing up hills, it was only later Jinksy told me he had only been riding again for just over a year, with that in mind much respect is due. We rode together like that for some time; however I kept on eye on the guys that I was with when catching up this group. When we started hitting a few climbs again they were off and fortunately I was there with my bungee on one of their seat posts ready to be pulled up and stay with them (if only) but I did stay with them and it wasn't long before we'd made a significant break and were again out on our own as a group of about 7/8 this time. The pace really did heat up and after about 20 minutes of leg burning work we pulled in the next group. This is the group where Anthony was residing and I think he was quite pleased to see a friendly face or maybe just someone who spoke English. We had a quick chat about how we were feeling and things settled down nicely in that group.

Prior to the race Colin Cleminson had warned of a major landmark in the event, a winding mountainside road that offered a serious challenge to all riders. This was approximately half way in to the race and fortunately I had just taken one of my gels 5mins before hitting this. The weather had also changed by now. We were about 2hrs in, the clouds had come over the sky had gone grey, the temperature dropped rapidly and the rain started coming down. The arm warmers we had decided to wear (Matt and I) were invaluable and a definite must for future events. We hit the hill feeling quite refreshed from the rain at this point and the push was on. Surprisingly there were riders still attacking the hills in the big chain ring (foolish I though), before we hit the first corner I had created a break over the front of this group (60/70 riders) and the legs were feeling great. Those months spent cycling to High Beech and up and down those climbs were finally paying off (Matt's gonna love this I thought). At this point it was impossible to see how many turns there were before hitting the summit so I stayed seated, kept the cadence nice and high and apart from a handful of riders, made a massive break away from the rest of the group by the time we hit the top of the climb. However the descent on the other side was a different kettle of fish, we then had that many riders hurtling down towards this village topping 45mph in the pouring rain, not putting on the brakes is so difficult and against everything your brain is telling you. At the bottom was a fairly sharp turn and by this time the majority of the group had come back together again.

During this raining period there were various incidents. One of the descents was down a fairly steep winding road with several severe switchbacks on. When I came down this the chap next to me broke whilst turning (MISTAKE!!!) how his bike missed mine I don't know but he slid round the back of me as I made my left hand turn, discerningly shaking my head like some old pro :) This is where Colin M came a cropper also I believe, as a rider in front of him made a similar mistake however Colin wasn't so lucky and he was sent hurtling from his bike and left sitting in the rain for an hour nursing his wounds waiting for him and his bike (with one very bent fork) to be transported back to the HQ.

The last 20 miles of the course turned out to be the most strenuous (for me anyway) with a couple of cat 1 climbs thrown in and numerous cat 2's. The last cat 1 was 5 km's from the end and by the time I hit the top of this I was well and truly spent. I was also then completely on my own. The two French guys I had been riding with obviously had a plan to drop me and did so with ease. I then weaved my way bike in to Cergy with the roads all to myself and the local constabulary holding traffic for me as I made a lonely and what felt like a very slow arrival back at the HQ. Where I was greeted by a crazy French woman wanting to know how I was feeling. I pointed out very loudly that I was English, very tired and relieved to be back at the compound. I sat here for a while on my own before the other riders starting coming in from Glendene. The full list of times can be seen on the website. It turned out Anthony was only a minute behind me and had a very quick ride back in to town with several other riders working well together. He also had a very snapped frame with his seat post only just being held in for the last 20 miles or so with some severe movement. Then Brad and Jinksy came in, still in the same group, with Bryan not too far behind. Everyone wanted to shoot back as they were getting cold but I was determined to see Matt come in, just hoping he hadn't had a major tech / or lung breakdown. He didn't disappoint and came in within the next few minutes and we were both ecstatic with our times. I had broken the elusive 5 hour mark (for me) and did a 4:46; Matt (including a puncture) did a 5:15. Our top rider was Mick Gray, with Tony Woodcock also finishing in the top 100. Tony also won his category with a fantastic time.

I also finished with all my bagel quarters and malt loaf still in tact (as did Matt) and learned a valuable lesson not to take things that cannot be easily accessed (not wrapped in cling film) and digested. Fig rolls are awesome!

The meal in the evening was the mandatory Chinese (nice buffet meal) and Jinksy was on top form. However everyone was shattered and it was not long before everyone was ready for sleep.

Definitely a must for next years calendar, hopefully we can influence a few more people and have an even bigger Glendene CC presence there next year.

ps. The ride in to work on Tuesday was torture

RACING & RESULTS