 |
 |
|
We have 7 guests and 0 members online
Welcome Guest, become a member today.
|
My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch
-- Rich Jeni, Montreal comedy festival
|
Select interface language:
|
|
|
On Saturday the 4th you'll be able to see my progress updated live on this website (My entry number is 148423, but my race number is 6023 which is the one I think you need to use)
And now you will be able to see video near-live (3 mins after passing) at three spots (Valloire / Bourg d'Oisan / Alpes d'Huez) here. The video may be near-live, but I'll be going at a snail's pace so you get plenty of time to see the agony :)
Just starting to panic somewhat now.
Forecast is 31 C and 40% change of rain & thunder...
I've uploaded the course GPS route here: GPS route
Note: Updated to add links to tracking and near-live video
|
comments?  
|
 Cycled in & out of work all last week. On Saturday I did my last training ride to Geoffrey Butlers bike shop in Croydon to get my free first service for the bike.
So the bike should be all go for the big race. Not sure about the rest of me though!
Unfortunately I spent the rest of the weekend doing paperwork. OK, well I did manage to go to Chantal's bbq birthday party, but apart from that it was all boring paperwork. Might just make the filing deadline
I just hope the time spent wearing Chantal's thigh length kinky boots doesnt affect my cycling... or that she has any photos of that. Even worse the barbie was also my last beer until the Marmotte is over. Not sure where I'll get my carbohydrates from instead...
This week I'll actually have to find some time to figure out what I need to take, pack my bike box, drag it from Epsom to work, and take a proper look at the actual course I'll be riding.
Will fly out Thu after work.
Reached 88% of the target now, see here; thanks to all those who have helped me reach it.
Wish me luck for Saturday,
Menno
|
comments?
|
 70% of the target and only a few weeks to go! If you haven't yet, you can help me reach the target here. Thanks to all of you who got it to 70%, EveryChild will be well chuffed.
Things have been super hectic lately, so not had time to update my exciting training blog. But in a word, cycling! All free time has been cycling :)
Two weeks ago, along with my cycling buddies from work and some fellow Marmotters, I successfully completed the HighClere sportive. That was a long time in the saddle, almost 8 hours and after 205km it was nice to see the finish line. But with heavy rain predicted all day, thunder & lightning all night and pouring rain while we drove there, we were really lucky it stayed dry, apart from a short spell of hail.
The route climbed 2500m, so not a bad training ride for the Marmotte. Since then I've just been cycling into work as much as possible.
No other training rides planned yet, but not long to go, and after all this cycling I think I did slightly underestimate how much training was involved to even attempt the Marmotte!
PIctures to follow soon.
Rides done in Switzerland can be seen at the below links, any excuse for a new gadget :)
Day1 (includes half km from velodrome next day, as I was figuring out how to
reset the route...)
Day2
Day3
Day4
|
comments?
|
Swiss mountains
Posted by: menno on Sunday, May 31, 2009 - 11:55 PM (17 Reads)
|
Thanks to all of you who have generously donated already, >50% of target reached so far. If you haven't yet, you can help me reach the target here.
This weekend I spent most of it swashbuckling through the undergrowth in my garden. It has been neglected due to all the cycling. So not a single minute on the bike this weekend. I shall be making up for it by cycling into work in the coming week.
Last weekend was a different story however. A posse of us flew to Champery in Switzerland to get some real mountain training. 4 days of cycling and 355km later, I slowly came to the realisation just how difficult this Marmotte malarkey is going to be...
About a month left now, and a lot more training is required. The Swiss climbs were tough, but great training, and getting experience of the descents was also valuable, and scary! 70km/h downhill was the top speed reached.
Will post a map of thr route and photos when I get time. Things have been a bit hectic the last month.
|
comments?
|
Thanks to all of you who have generously donated already, 50% of target reached so far. If you haven't yet, you can help me reach the target here.
Last Sunday I put a stop to the road cycling craziness and returned back to mountain biking madness, just for the day. Together with Kean, Sam & Dave, I entered the Bucks offroad sportive, 121km of undulating climbs, and some great singletrack. Gav and Susan also joined and did the 67km route. Was a looooong day, 9 hours from start to finish. We did stop off in a pub for lunch and a quick pint (it would have been rude not to!)
The last week has been a bit of a write-off in terms of training. Last minute trip to NL due to family crisis meant I didn't get to do much riding into work, or sleep. So decided to rest and recover this weekend.
Friday was the only day I could cycle into work on the bike. Typical then, that the heavens opened up on Friday evening, along with a howling gale. To top it off a car overtook on a downhill, turned left, cut me up, leaving me with nowhere to go, but sliding along the side. The driver switched on his indicators as I hit the car, and the only time he looked at his mirror was as I slammed into it!
Luckily managed to stay upright, and no damage done, part from a bruised shoulder where I hit the mirror. Did explain to the driver the need to look out for cyclists, especially as he just passed me, indicate, use mirrors, etc. Passenger asked why I didn't break faster!
Ten minutes later, a girl clad in ninja-black and high-heeled boots ran through moving traffic, direct into my path. Rather than running onto the pavement, she just saw me and froze on the spot, leaving me with nowhere to go, as I had a car next to me also slamming on the brakes. Luckily managed to not skid in the rain, and came to a stop right in front of her.
She was so shook up, she actually grabbed hold of me after I had stopped. I think she was about to topple over on those high heels. I told her to be more careful next time, but just got abuse back, as she rushed into the kebab shop, more worried about getting rained on than getting run over.
That's the joy of London traffic for you!
|
comments?
|
|
|
| Monday, May 04 |
| · | Forest of Dean done (0) |
| Saturday, April 25 |
| · | Legs are mush (0) |
| Saturday, April 18 |
| · | Experiment to further medical science completed (0) |
| Friday, April 17 |
| · | How many bikes does one man need? (0) |
| Thursday, April 16 |
| · | La Marmotte training update 1 (0) |
| Thursday, April 09 |
| · | La Marmotte 2009 (0) |
| Thursday, March 26 |
| · | One day (0) |
| Tuesday, February 10 |
| · | All change (0) |
| Wednesday, January 16 |
| · | Belated (0) |
| Monday, April 16 |
| · | Spam attack (0) |
| | Older Articles |
|
|
| |
