Forest of Dean done Articles / La Marmotte - 174km cycle, 5180m ascent Date: May 04, 2009 - 06:30 PM Editors note: Bit of a long post, short version is that I completed the race, it was tough, but this was nothing like what I will face in the Marmotte.. Quite frankly I am wondering what I was thinking when I signed up!! Firstly, for full disclosure, I realised I forgot to mention last week that I completely bonked (aka ran out of energy) on the last hill just coming back to the Epsom Downs. Was most annoying, only ten mins away from home. I struggled up that last hill slower than a snail. Luckily that didnt happen on the Forest of Dean ride. I was feeling quite lousy in the morning. Have been suffering from a cold all week, which meant I didnt do any cycling to work; Thursday's ex-Iris drinking session probably didnt help matters :) To top it off the meal the night before didnt go down very well. That and the cold meant a very restless sleep. We ate at the Harvester next to the Permier Inn we stayed at. Surf and Turf was my choice. Kieran & Chris did tell me steak was a bad idea, because it's supposed to digest slowly, but hey, when did I ever listen to them. The morning's three trips to the toilet to empty my stomach might mean they're right though... It could have been the three pints of Speckled Hen as well though. Anyway, started the cycle off feeling real lousy, but managed to ride through it and felt much better after the first hour. The next five and a half hours, described below, where tough, but went fine. I did keep thinking that there were an awful lot of hills though! Met up with Roddy & Ross, my Marmotte mates, at the start. They'd been waiting a while (I was some time in the toilet!) so they set off few mins ahead of us, but we caught up. Stayed together for a while and then Chris sped off ahead. Must have been his special jelly beans. Kieran went for the slow and steady approach, and I rode most of the way with Roddy and Ross. We started taking turns at the front and then droping back like you see real pros do, so we're getting there :) Their families surprised us about half way along the route, lots of encouraging support and sarnies, grapes and biscuits, which was great. It was a sunny but windy day. Cold wind. I didnt have the right clothing. Was far too hot on the climbing, but cold coming down hill, so couldnt take of my winter windproof jacket. Think I lost too much in sweat. A windproof gillet, will definitely be my next purchase. A useful thing to learn for this novice roadie though. The last two hills slowed me down somewhat. Roddy & Ross were ahead off me after the second last hill, managed to catch them up again after a very windy road, which was tough going without anyone to ride with. The last hill was very steep, and narrow, with loads of traffic blocking the road, and with my now tired legs I zig-zagged up it. My 25 teeth sprocket just wasn't large enough, and I will definitely get a cassette with 27 teeth, for when the legs are tired. Unfortunately I had no idea whether it really was the last hill, as I hadn't seen any signs; there was a bit more uphill to go, but luckily it really was the last hill before the final descent back into Monmouth and over the finish line. Very tired, but finished, very finished. My first sportive under my belt. Great training. But it is now starting to dawn on me, just what I signed up for. And just how much I am going to suffer, considering this was 137km and 2370m ascending, whereas the Marmotte is 174km and 5180m... This article comes from Jansz.Com http://www.jansz.com/ The URL for this story is: http://www.jansz.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=News&file=article&sid=79