Training Log Archive: fluceluce

Ride from St Medard with Pete once I'd washed the bike. Pete has an electric bike so actually hard effort on the climbs to stay in touch. Good rolling along and down though. And Thule have looked after my lovely chiru :-)

Over night I met another couple of racers, Emily from new Zealand and Klaus from Denmark. They had had to pull out whilst in 3rd on the 115km mtb section after Emily, who is diabetic, had trouble with sugar/water/heat and ended up in hospital. Emily was devastated but the more Klaus described events she couldn't remember the more it was clearly the right decision.... The race doc who was also diabetic advised her not to continue without rest and recovery. We got transported to the last transition at 2am and slept on a bouldering mat which was ace until Thule came in around 7:30am. I was then feeling awake, chatted to racers, hung around etc. By 11am everyone was up and Emily was feeling fine. We decided to take a kayak and do the last stage. What a good way to end the race, gentle but fun flowing river to orienteering and SUP section. Emily taught me proper sup technique and we overtook wodi and team. Completed all orienteering controls which were intended for 4 people to split then paddled and orienteered to the finish which was stunning ! Great end to the race :-)

So morning came after a night of Sleep' on a hard floor (I think I would have preferred outside). Me, wodi and Patrick rode down the short cut road route to transition 7, I was on wouts bike so was pleased it was mainly downhill as it was slightly too big.

Trek up to a canyon, then fantastic fun canyoning back down. Full submersion/swimming and some good abseils into massive caves with stunning rock formations. Brilliant fun!

Straight into a trekking section. Proper spannish terrain now and roasting heat. Set off conservatively as I only had 1.25l of water. Then we got to some via ferrata and I skipped across it. Pushed on up the hill as was having a great time. Emerged on a ridge with brilliant views at which point Patrick handed me the map. Mistake, he now no longer had me waiting to see where we were going. Flew down the rocky trails having a great time (and occasionally waiting to regroup). Had a good day out! And got the water spot on, just! At transition I decided to call it a day as the next section would be riding a too big bike into the night and I didn't see the incentive in potentially damaging myself and staying awake all night...good choice as about half an hour after wodi left it started hammering it down, then hailing....apparently turned the next section into mud that stopped wheels turning.

So, this was the beginning of the end. Off on the first 1200m ascent and into the night. I started to get very tired which is unusual for the first night. But at least was going forward. Half way up si joint became a problem again and I did remember that this is why I don't carry camelbacks on my bike. Decided for the rest of the race I was sticking to bottles(for some reason distributing weight on the sides of the bag is better for me). Not my fastest moment but wout started to suffer more so eventually we stopped to sleep (not in the plan) for an hour about 300m from the top. An hour was more than enough for me and I was right back on it at 4am when we set off again. We summited then set off down the descent that quickly turned to hike a bike down a very steep path. Turns out I'd had good training with Andy Douglas in Chamonix when we went off trail and almost slid our way off a mountain.... Eventually emerged at the bottom in daylight and it was immediately off up a 1450m ascent. And this is where I started to really excel. We were far enough in now that I had settled into a rhythm and I just stuck the chiru in the lowest gear and spun to the top. After 20 mins wodi rode up to me and said he'd struggled to do so, amazing how I get warmed up after a day or so. Unfortunately wout was now in a bad way, Patrick also was suffering and couldn't tow and nobody had any zip ties so I couldn't take a tow off their bike and put it on mine. At the start it had been agreed I definitely wouldn't need a tow as the girl on the team......hmmmm... Instead I got out the emergency gel, shot blocks and some crisps and fed wout, talking him up the climb. The lack of tow was a big blow to the race. This time the descent was more rideable but with sections of hike a bike. I had great fun :-) rolled into transition at around 2pm, having taken 3.5hrs longer than anticipated partly due to the sleep, but mainly the lack of tow and split in the team going uphill. By transition, both wout and Patrick were not in a good way.

C • Weight 3

We sat in transition, wout was sure he did not want to do the high mountain section which we could cut out. Both he and Patrick ate then slept for half an hour to see how they felt. It wasn't looking good for continuing. When they awoke, Wout decided to start the 115km mtb section, which was not what my saddle sore and trench footed body wanted to hear but ok. In the process of transition we talked him round to doing the mtb/ high mountain section instead, yes! A rest from the bike. We packed crampons and ice axe, extra kit including sleeping bag and insulated layers then set off in the hottest heat so far in the race (which is saying something). I still didn't have a tow as we hadn't seen bike boxes. About 6km in, wout stopped and said he couldn't go on. Disappointed we turned around and rode back down the hill we'd just climbed to pull out. Turned out a good decision not to high mountain as it was a bit too serious to get stuck on with someone unable to move,especially at night. Apparently the ice axe and crampons were not needed but a rope would have been nice....back at transition and they suggested we rest until the 8am cut off for the 115km mtb then ride the road and pick up the rest of the race. I thought this was a good idea but wout was adament he was not going on. Thule then came into transition with a completely broken bike. I double and triple checked with wout trying to convince him but he was sure, so the chiru was off on its way to winning a European champs without me.

Raid Aran- european ar champs stage 1 racing with Dutch adventure. 2km orienteering round town then off on the bikes (miscommunication meant running shoes on cleated pedals). Ride was a loop on big trails followed by a break burning bit of fun singletrack (on which the pecking order was established again) to finish. We made a strong start and I was towed on the steeper hills to achieve this. Not sure where exactly we finished but around 5-7th

Stage 2 - trek up a large mountain. This is where we hit our element, strong climb overtaking a good few teams including Swedish armed forces who ended up in the top 5 (this was Dutch adventures target). At the 4hr mark the tow came off and I had warmed up. Down down down over rough terrain again a pecking order established with me not at the back. Individual orienteering round the town and into transition. I had been told that wodi would be the one pushing me to transition fast.....well, whilst I always thought I was not fast, it turns out that might just be compared to a fast team....did my kit faff, filled team water, sorted boxes and we were away.

Stage 3, mtb up to a ski station then down some more good fun single track. Wout was suffering a little on this climb so was on the tow so was under my own steam. I felt good and strong, we were still keeping a good pace. Towards the top of the 1400m ascent the camelback sat a bit funny and started to hurt my right si joint, but shifting the weight sorted it.

Stage 4 - 3km jog with kayak and canyoning kit to start of kayak. Inflated kayaks and paddled down to a high ropes course. Completed the ropes then trekked to the canyon by which time it was about 10pm and just getting dark. Canyon wasn't too deep so mainly wet feet and slippy abseils. Back in the boats to reverse the paddle then reverse the jog back to transition for some proper food as this was the only point we got hot water in the race. Turned out not to be hot water but tea, so veggie hot pot made with tea, a new delicacy!