Al and Grant as we approached St Pancras Station. Thought we had lost Al at the lights.
Checking in at Eurostar at St Pancras. The guy at the counter seemed to be more interested in mountain biking and was a bit of a cheeky .....but we like cheeky :))
The quick dash into Pret to get some croissants and coffee for the train journey.
Not sure exactly what Grant was doing, but he was definatley re-packing something.
Al eating her breakfast in the comfort of Eurostar and then discovering she has a spot on her nose. Of i tried to take a picture.
We arrived at Gare Du Nord and had acquired a travelling companion in the name of David.
He was coming up from Wales and had decided to do the same as us and cycle across Paris.
Little time for sightseeing, but this is Al with Notre Dame in background.
and Grant with a large building in background, but no idea what it was.
Arrival at Montparnasse - it was an interesting ride across paris and we did have to ask a few people directions - though battling through the traffic was fun.
This is where the fun began - not. We had booked our bikes on the train for the journey to Pau. We asked the information desk which carriage we were to put our bikes on (this was indicated on the ticket but we wanted to make sure). So we headed towards carriage 11, but on entering the carriage could not see a place for the bikes, just four people sat down by the window. We did however notice a large area on our left, still in carriage 11, but in the 1st class section. Well it seemed obvious to us that this was were we were to place our bikes. Unfortunaltey there was a man sat on there using a computer, but as we had booked our bikes we just piled our bikes up in front of him, much to his displeasure.
We then sat down in the small 2nd class compartment with the four people sat opposite us. It was only after a while we realised that the four people sat opposite us were actually sat in the area reserved for our bikes. Mmmmmmmmm, but how were we going to tell them and that poor man in 1st class that i had completely dismissed as being in the wrong - mmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. Well we sat in our seats and chatted for a while, trying to make light of the situation.
As we pulled into the first stop on route for Pau, we noticed a disabled gentleman waiting on the platform. Now this was going to throw everything into chaos and we would finally have to confront the people opposite and move our bikes quickly, as we had actually taken up the disabled area unwittingly. Oopppppppps - and the poor man i had dismissed in first class - oh well - he can complain to TGV :)))))))
We quickly moved our bikes and basically ousted the people from their seats. It wasn't pleasant, but it was necessary in order to allow the disabled man to get on the train in his wheelchair, so wasn't feeling that guilty. After a short period of panic we had acheived our objectives and were all able to settle back for our 5 hour journey to Pau. Oh what fun.
This was the small sign we hadn't noticed in the 2nd class part of the carriage.
It was hot, stuffy and was going to be a long journey. There are only so many times even I can read Cycling Weekly.
Pau
We were met at the station by Pierre, our host for the weekend. He put our bags in his car and we cycled a few miles behind him through Pau to get to his house. It was great to be finally there and Pierre and his family could not have been more generous with their time and hospitality. We were shown our rooms and then Pierre and his parents prepared our dinner. It was a great start to our trip. We were shown to our rooms - i ended up with a lot of plush toys.
The next morning it was off to get registered.
and then off to pick up our very own Pope mobile. Grant and I were heading up towards the Tourmalet so we could leave the car at the drop off point in Bagneres de Bigorre.
Al was calling Raph - a little nervous about taking Pierres car into Pau, but was soon off for a nice relaxing afternoon with Denzil and Raph. Did I say relaxing...
... while Grant and I were running around the sports stores looking for:
A) a pair of shoes
B) new cleats for Time RSX Racer pedals
and here is a nice picture of Al and raph relaxing and buying sandwiches at the village. Did I say relaxing...
While we hunted for cleats and shoes - well we bought the shoes, but no joy with the cleats and we did stop at every bloody shop we could find. We bought the shoes as we had realised we had forgotten to take shoes with us (in the car) and we would need them for driving back after the race. Something i pointed out to the guys while waiting for the bus to take us back to Pau (yes, they had also forgotten to take any).
The bus took us back to Pau and we then headed back to the village.
Grant was eventually able to get some cleats from a stall in the village and then we
headed off into Pau to find somewhere to eat. It was getting late and we struggled to find anywhere until finally running into what seemed to be the only place still serving food. We fell lucky though and had a great three course :))))
It was then back to Raph and Denzils hotel - see picture below - yes,
the beauty that is Trinquet. We sat and chatted to the guys for a little while and then Al, Grant and I headed off to the Pasta Party back at the village.
This is the crew before we headed for the Pasta Party.
The Pasta party was not that eventful apart from one guy - yes, one guy wearing lycra and what appeared to be a large, or should i say very large sausage stuffed down the front. Grant and Al had noticed this and were transfixed. So much so that they watched and waited for him to stand up again. Sadly i had missed the spectacle but on leaving i pulled Al towards me and gave her a big hug, just as the guy started to walk out towards me - and there it was in all it's glory.
As a man i felt i should go up to him and shake his hand - yes, his hand, as he proudly swaggered across the hall floor. There were nudges and glances form others in the hall as he blatantly paraded his monster member for all to see. Jealous mmmmm like hell yes. :)))))
Once back to Pierres we needed to get the bikes sorted for an early morning start.
Some of us were more organised than others, but all of us were starting to feel the nerves.
I seem to remember Grant swearing at me at this point telling me not to take pics.
He wasn't looking happy.
Al - looking like a seamstress was fixing her number onto her cycle top
and getting her kit together. Before we hit the sack Pierre drove Al and I out to show us the route back into Pau and round to the start position so we would have a better idea of where to go in the morning. An early night was called for and we were off to bed by 10.45. (that wasn't early :((((()
ALARM, ALARM, ALARM - get up at 5.30am.
OMG this is it - the day has arrived. First port of call the toilet.
Breakfast was a quiet affair. Al made the coffee, Grant made the porridgeand I mmmmmm poured the orange juice and laid out the yoghurts. Eating as much as we could before we needed to head off in the dark and oh yes, heading to the loo yet again.
It was strange leaving in the dark, but we headed out at 6am fir the 4 mile ride to the start. There were lots of other cyclists heading to the start, so we followed them for a while and then took Pierres route straight to the start of our pen in front of the Hotel de Ville.
The start was at 7am - nerves gone and now on our bikes - we are off.
The Event
100 years ago, the Tour de France took cyclists to the high mountain for the first time. It was during a long stage (325 km) between Bayonne and Luchon. Octave Lapize, the first cyclist who climbed the Tourmalet, with a 12 kg and single speed bike, didn’t stay on his bicycle.
On the 18th of July, 10000 riders started from the city of Pau ready to climb 3 monuments of the Pyrénées : col de Marie-Blanque, col du Soulor and the Col Du Tourmalet.
The distance total was 181 km (113miles) with imposing landscapes such Plateau de Bénou, Gorges de l’Ouzom and Gorges de Luz, summit of Soulor.
The Map
http://www.letapedutour.com/2010/ETDT/presentation/docs/parcours_EDT10.pdf
| Col de Marie-Blanque | 9,5 km à 7,5% |
| Col du Soulor par Ferrières | 22 km à 4,9% |
| Col du Tourmalet par Barèges | 19 km à 7,4%
|
Some interesting links
http://www.letapedutour.com/2010/ETDT/presentation/us/index.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_du_Tourmalet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_Marie-Blanque
http://www.climbbybike.com/climb.asp?qryMountainID=6706
Photographic Evidence
Andy
Grant
The Solour
Denzil
Al making her way over the finish.
Denzil making his way over the finish.
Denzil and Raph under the sign at the Col du Tourmalet.
and Denzil and I under the sign by the finish.
The Results
| Number | 7650 |
| Category | C |
| Name | Meldrum, Grant |
| Time (total - brut) | 11.59 |
| Time (total - net) | 11.39 |
| Number | 7650 |
| Category | G |
| Name | CAWLEY, Annlouise |
| Place (total - brut) | 5395 |
| Place (total - net) | 5229 |
Time to get to summit
| 02:13:38
|
| Place (H/F - net) | 5395 |
| Place (cat. - net) | 68 |
| Time total (net) | 10:18:41 |
| Times total (brut) | 10:38:17 |
| Number | 3796 |
| catégorie d'âge | C |
| Name | JENKINS, Raphael |
| Place (total - brut) | 6129 |
| Place (total - net) | 6373 |
Time to get to summit
| 02:59:24 |
| Place (H/F - net) | 6129 |
| Place (cat. - net) | 2256 |
| Time total (net) | 11:03:17 |
| Time total (brut) | 11:07:39 |
| Number | 3808 |
| Category | C |
| Name | JENKINS, Denzil |
| Place (total - brut) | 5938 |
| Place (total - net) | 6190 |
| Time to get to summit | 02:51:20 |
| Place (H/F - net) | 5938 |
| Place (cat. - net) | 2191 |
| Time total (net) | 10:55:12 |
| Time total (brut) | 10:59:34 |
| Number | 7652 |
| Category | C |
| Name | WALKER, Andrew |
| Place (total - brut) | 3816 |
| Place (total - net) | 3579 |
Time to get to summit
| 02:07:55 |
| Place (H/F - net) | 3816 |
| Place (cat. - net) | 1297 |
| Time total (net) | 09:23:46 |
| Time total (brut) | 09:43:19
|
My Sports |video of Anne Louise CAWLEYMy Sports | video of Denzil JENKINS
After finishing the race we had to head down the other side of the mountain to go and collect the car.Another 20 or so km downhill, making the grand total of 135 miles for the day. We then had to drive back to Pau and once back Pierre cooked us steak and chips - perfect end to a long but amazing day.
The Return
We cycled back to pau station having dropped the car back at the hire centre.
Time for some coffee and cake before we boarded the train.
And here comes the train - we were very concerned we might not get the bikes on the train
We managed to get the bikes on this time - though it wasn't easy as some plank had taken up most of the bay with a very large bike bag.
Grant and Al were playing with the water bottles and then when tried to get some sleep they decided to balance a bottle on my head - funny :)))
This was Al attempting to recreate the complete route finishing up the Col Du Tourmalet.
Having arrived back at paris we had to navigate our way back over to Gard Du Nord.
Having dropped off the bikes at the Eurostar large luggage area we headed back
to go through passport control and the final leg of our journey.
Charity
