Day Eight (again)

Start: Geneva   Finish: Chamonix  

Distance: 66miles   Climb: 3,320ft  Moving Time: 4:30   Average Speed: 12mph     Max Speed: 32mph

Apologies for short blog post last night – we were completely shattered. Today, I haven’t even seen my bike and feel like I’ve been really quite lazy, so here is yesterday’s story:

We were in a plush hotel, we’d just cycled two of the hardest days – there was no way we were getting up before 10am. We headed down to a café on the shore of Lake and had a quick coffee and croissant before setting off on our final day! And it was to be only 50miles – what a doddle.

It was a slow grind out of Geneva and the first 10 miles were on Le Grand Route and so unfortunately were quite busy, but progress was good and we smashed through the first 25 miles without much trouble. I got chatting to a French cycling nerd along the way who tried to persuade us to join him for a local Col as a little bit more of a challenge – ‘no thanks mate, I’ve come from London’.

Unfortunately though, after a great lunch with amazing views down the valley towards the Mont Blanc massif, a last minute decision to take ‘the scenic route’ provided us with one of the hardest challenges of the trip. An unbelievably steep set of hairpin turns into the forests above Les Houches took the best part of an hour, but every now and again we got a sneaky peak through the trees and up towards the beautiful snowcapped mountains and glaciers running down into the valley.

Once out of the forest, we had a relatively nice descent into Chamonix. After passing the first sign welcoming us to Chamonix Mont Blanc, Albert was ready to get off and catch the bus into town – but I persuaded him another 1km into the centre of town wouldn’t hurt. Turns out I was wrong…

After 7 days and nearly 700 miles of cycling, and with 100m to go to the high street, I took a final glance up to the top of Mont Blanc…. Next thing I knew, I hit a man hole cover, swerved to the left, then to the right, then ended up on my face in the middle of the road. Cool as a cucumber.

A bit of emergency maintenance to make sure the bike could make the final 100m into town, and we cruised down the high street – where hundreds of people were waiting for us and North Face had set up a huge DJ tent playing thumping drum and bass music. It also turns out it was the North Face Ultra Marathon finals too – with the main event being a 300km race with 24000m of climbing – ridiculous.

We met our fantastic support team and celebrated with a couple of beers. STAGE ONE – Complete. It’s pretty ridiculous to think I left London on my bike only a week earlier. And what a week it has been! Exciting, Exhausting, Hardships and Hilarity – the cycle stage is done and dusted.

Albert left this morning and headed back to Nice. An incredible achievement by him and I really can’t thank him enough for coming along. Cycling alone all week would have been seriously dull! Couldn’t have asked for a better cruising companion. He’s hoping to fly back next week and join us for a summit attempt.

Now to the serious stuff – mountaineering and paragliding!

The mountains are dangerous – and recent statistics not particularly favourable – but I’m absolutely raring to go. I’m confident of physical and mental state – but incredibly nervous about the aspects beyond our control – weather, avalanches, hangovers…

The next few days will be spent acclimitasing, climbing and flying, and keeping our fingers crossed for a weather window. Its due to be stormy over the weekend but we are hopeful it will clear up for Tuesday/Wednesday and we’ll start our climb on Thursday.

I’ll update the blog sporadically over the next few days – perhaps just with photos – but will keep you informed of any big stories! Thanks again for all of your support.

Also – Jenni and Graham, who I am staying with in Chamonix and who are going to be climbing Mont Blanc and flying us off the top will be sharing some stories on their blog – do check it out!

 http://blinkandbreathe.co.uk/

Sam

Albert:

Today Sam's dad squashed a wasp with his napkin at breakfast on Lake Geneva. I didn't get stung once all day. Coincidence? I think not.

So, out of the three of us, only the wasp failed to make it to Chamonix. Although Sam took a fairly spectacular tumble about 100m from the town centre and I nearly had a stroke on the particularly strenuous mountain route Sam chose for us today.

It is beautiful here under the ice-capped peak of the Mont Blanc and I will try to make it back next week for the big push to the top. Thanks for a great trip to team Forman!

 Breakfast spot

 First view of the peak

Probably a little too nice of a lunch before final climb

 Albert completing the Ultra Trail

Our apartment building. The grandest in Chamonix. Jackpot!

Day Eight

Start: Geneva   Finish: Chamonix  

Distance: 66miles   Climb: 3,320ft  Moving Time: 4:30   Average Speed: 12mph     Max Speed: 32mph

We did it!

Cruised into Chamonix around 5pm this evening. A really eventful and fun day – but I’ve had a few and am too tired to write this blog now! Will update you all tomorrow.

Thanks a lot for all of your support so far.

STAGE ONE: COMPLETE

Day Seven

Start: Lons Le Saunier   Finish: Saint Geneva   

Distance: 77miles   Climb: 6,800ft  Moving Time: 7:10   Average Speed: 11mph     Max Speed: 42mph

What. A. Day.

It turns out that the two hardest days – the two that I had been dreading the most – have been by far my favourite of the trip. We really hit the mountains today – huge climbs up to ski resorts, mountain passes and 10 mile high speed descents. Epic.

As usual – getting out of bed was one of the biggest challenges of the day, but we set off around 10am and within 6 or so miles hit ‘the wall’. Nearly 2 miles of hair-pin climbs with a significant amount of 8%+ gradient, but the morning’s adrenalin meant that we absolutely smashed it – ‘is that it? Is that all? What were you worried about?’ – said Albert, the novice. So after a bit of time lying in the sunshine we headed for the next big challenge; a long, slow, grinding 1,000ft climb over about 10miles. We took it easy with a manageable pace, stopped to refill our water bottles, sang some Carly Simon, and before we knew it we were at the top. 

One of my best moments so far happened during the final 10 minutes of this climb – its hard to explain why, but Albert getting stung in the face by a wasp had me nearly crying. I’m sure he uses pollen as aftershave or something.

We were getting hungry and saw a decent looking restaurant just before a long descent back down in to the valley – the only problem was, there were other cyclists there – ‘we hate cycle nerds’. Within 30 seconds of pulling in, we were greeted with ‘wow, that’s an old bike’. The food was great though – and a long decent into Saint Claude allowed plenty of time for it to kick in.

We hit St Claude and started the climb up to the Col de Faucille. Holy crap. Three hours of uphill cycling. THREE HOURS. The road was amazing – but most of the views were behind us! Three hours took its toll – and at points we were in hysterics over absolutely nothing and our duets continue to improve, although there are probably numerous residents of small French towns who would beg to differ. Crossing the Col de Faucille was actually a bit of an anti-climax, but the descent was just as expected. 10km of fast, smooth roads – most of which spent at over 30mph, and with panoramic views out over Lake Geneva and across to the Alps.     

Rolled into Geneva and checked in to a pretty plush hotel, had a sauna and steam, a nice Italian in old town, the first beer in a week, and back to the hotel to chill out.

Our final day cycling tomorrow – up into Chamonix. It’s certainly not an often ridden route – but it should be around 60miles, with some pretty steep steps up to the resort at 3,500ft. We should be able to smash this out pretty quickly, and so plan a nice relaxing morning on the Lake.

Looking forward to several celebratory drinks when we hit Chamonix and Stage 1 of the challenge is complete! I'm gonna miss cycling though - and will look in to some routes to keep the legs moving over the next couple of weeks.

Albert:

Today a wasp finally stung me in the face. So unlucky. It got jammed between my helmet-strap and temple before stinging me in front of my ear.

Apart from this, it was a cracking ride. We have started singing “I’m Pushing an Elephant up the Stairs” by REM which signals a definite mental improvement from yesterday.

There were some very tough uphill sections and some very fast downhill sections. We hit 66km/h going down and about 3km/h going up. It was fun.

 Cycling glove tan

Day Six

Start: Semur en Auxois     Finish: Lons Le Saunier

Distance: 108 miles   Climb:  3,800ft Moving Time: 8:30   Average Speed: 13mph Max Speed: 33mph

Today was great. Long, very long, but great. We continue to be ridiculously lucky with the weather, and the route – once again – was beautiful. We cruised through the 108 miles at a nice easy pace so as to save some energy for the big climbs tomorrow – but it’s important to acknowledge Albert’s achievement: considering he’d hardly done any cycling before meeting me in Arras, to complete a tonne with a big climb in the middle, is very impressive.

As promised, we were up at 6:30(ish) and on our way by 7:15 – and it was freezing! The sun was barely up, there was dew on the ground and it was very misty – and in just our thin t-shirts it took a fair while to warm up. Albert, used to a Mediterranean climate, suffered the most and lost feeling in his feet!

Once warm though – the first 30 miles flew by. We were cycling along a canal path for most of it, so there were no cars and it was pretty flat. In went the headphones and we smashed it. It was while cruising along the canal that I was (safely) checking my emails – and saw that I featured in this morning’s City AM. Great news – despite them using the crappy photo of me with the horses, stealing my Bounty pun and, as a direct quote from my Mum – ‘making [me] sound like a complete wally’.

http://www.cityam.com/article/1377825855/ken-olisa-s-colleague-prepares-climb-mont-blanc-and-fly-down-it?utm_source=website&utm_medium=TD_article_grids_homepage&utm_campaign=TD_article_grids_homepage

A coffee to warm us up and we headed into the hills for the big climb of the day. It was my biggest climb to date – near to 1,000ft ascent in one gruelling long grind, but we dealt with it pretty well and enjoyed a rapid descent through vineyards back down to the canal. We were starting to get hungry and it was time for our daily collapse onto the tarmac. This time Albert actually fell asleep – twice – but I managed to get him up and moving to head into Nuit St George for a great lunch with Mum and Dad. 50 miles by lunch time – and feeling pretty good.

Just before lunch, I had a very embarrassing stationary collapse when my foot got stuck in my back wheel. Much to Albert’s amusement and shouts of ‘Sam, you are a moron’. It was just SO unfortunate that the same happened to him just after lunch.

I’m at my worst straight after lunch and it was a hard couple of hours – but a bit of fun by the river and on a bridge (that I was SO tempted to backflip off!) plus a milkshake and I was good to go. Unsurprisingly – the final 15 miles or so were pretty slow and demoralising, especially when my gps ran out of battery, but we arrived at the hotel by 7pm, ate a huge steak, and are hoping for an early night.

Tomorrow is HUGE. 75 miles, but with over 6,000ft (2000m) of climbing into the Jura mountains before a descent into Geneva. This is what I’ve been scared of! Breakfast is important, as within 5 miles we’ll hit a hill known locally as ‘the wall’, before starting the 12mile climb of the Col de Faucille around the 40mile mark. The forecast is great – and when we reach the top of the Col we should be greeted with amazing views of Lake Geneva and even Mont Blanc away in the distance.

Albert says:

Another brutal day in the saddle.

Today, Sam and I spent most of the day singing and perfecting a duet version of  “You’re So Vain” by Carly Simon, much to the confusion of passing villagers. This gives you an idea of the mental toll this trip has taken on the two of us.

A wasp bounced off my chin today and landed in my shirt. It stung me three times on the chest before I could free it. Possibly trying to get us to stop singing?

Photos:

Day Five

Start: Troyes   Finish: Semur en Auxois  

Distance: 70 miles   Climb:  2,850ft  Moving Time: 5:00   Average Speed: 14mph Max Speed: 38mph

Today was our rest day – an easy 60 miles. The trend continued though – you can generally add 15% to our planned distance and today actually ended up as a pretty solid ride. No problem at all – we arrived in Semur en Auxios around 5:30 and spirits are high.  

We didn’t succeed with the early morning that we had planned. There was no way our legs would let us get out of bed until past 10am, and it was 11am before we started riding. We knew we had a climb to look forward to around 20 miles in and planned to have ‘breakfast’ when we hit the top, so we set off at quite a good pace and soon found the quiet roads we’d be craving (not before the sat nav tried to take us up another farm track).

The landscape is definitely changing – and the hills are starting to come a lot more frequently – and today saw some of the best views we’ve had, and our favourite road, the AMAZING D27. I’ve got some good videos on the GoPro of the descent on the D27 through sunflower fields and past beautiful churches, whilst playing hot potato with the camera and causing Albert to nearly crash.

We’ve really struggled with changing road surfaces – it can make a huge difference, both in terms of speed and comfort – and we were stuck with a gritty and bumpy road for a painful 10 miles today.

About 40 miles had flown by and I was on the phone to Jas a couple of hundred yards ahead of Albert when I heard a shout. I stopped, we chatted, he collapsed in a heap. We’d completely forgotten breakfast/lunch – it was near 3pm and we’d been cycling for over 3 hours. Thankfully we were only about a mile of downhill cruising from the Ancy le Franc. We rolled into town – where, of course, almost everything was shut. The local brasserie had stopped serving, and it took all of Albert’s multi-lingual charm (and some back up from their customers) for them to agree to give us some food. Croque Monsiuer AND some Spaghetti – a cyclists dreamed – served with complete distain by a chef who thought her shift was over.

Lunch provided a massive boost – and we covered the final 30 miles in relative ease, cruising along next to a canal for most of it. We even beat the support team to the hotel.

Now I’ve tried my best not to become a cycling nerd over the last few months – but Albert really called me on it today. Because of time constraints when training – I’ve always had to squeeze as many miles as possible into short periods of time. That isn’t the case with this trip – I’ve just got to cover the distance - and in fact pushing too hard is going to make the following days harder and harder. In Albert’s words ‘Dude – who are you racing? Chill out and take it in!’. Convenient – as tomorrow is a planned 105 miles.

Spirits hit a real high when we got to the hotel and hit the pool – with an array of Waboba balls. It was freezing, but my physio advised that ice baths are the best way to recover and so we spent a good hour swimming, diving and playing catch.

A huge steak later and it’s early to bed – with tomorrows HUGE day we’ve planned a 6:30am wake up and 7am start. Things are about to get very tough - and I really hope the legs hold up for the 2000m+ of climbing the following day.

We’ve had a lot of sponsorship fly in today and we’re very grateful – it was a huge push to get the email notifications mid-ride! Please take the time to sponsor us now if you haven’t already – especially with the big days up ahead. Thanks a lot.

Sam

Albert:

This trip is mental. I mean, really, really hard. I’ve climbed mountains, crossed oceans and once had to do a module in statistics, and this is by far the hardest. It hurts everywhere, it’s bloody long hours and is extremely physical.

I also got stung by a wasp today which bounced off my face and landed on my arm. Good times…  

Photos (click to enlarge): 

 The Dreamy D27

 When we forgot to eat

When we ate

Day Four

Start: Chateau Thierry   Finish: Troyes  

Distance: 78 miles   Climb: 2,300ft  Moving Time: 5:40   Average Speed: 14mph     Max Speed: 43mph

Totally exhausted!

After an early start (well, 9:30) – with a new tactic of picking up breakfast en-route after a couple of hours – we dealt with the early climbs pretty well. As expected, the first was particularly brutal – and despite me guaranteeing Albert that it was all flat from here on out – a fair few smaller climbs seemed to appear out of nowhere. We spent the first 15 miles of so on main roads – where despite it being reasonably busy and constantly undulating, the quality of the surface meant we kept up a really good pace and I hit a tour-best of 43mph.

A decent breakfast and visit to a bike shop in Montmaill left us feeling confident we could smash out the rest without a break. Fools. I had a real post-food lull and was really beginning to lag behind – my legs felt ok but I just couldn’t generate any speed. It was only after Albert slowed down to let me catch up that he pointed out I had a flat tire…

A first puncture! After 1,400miles of cycling – my back tire finally gave way. Obviously, I was not prepared at all. All the gear, but no idea. Albert to the rescue – and with the help of a snazzy compressed gas canister – I was up and running again in less than 15 minutes.

The route still allowed a bit of venturing off the beaten track – probably adding an extra 7 or 8 miles – but it is just so much more enjoyable! Quiet villages, odd farmers, crazy dogs, nice churches – and massive ugly war memorials – photos below.

Finally, the promised descent arrived, and it was a great cruise in to the town of Sezanne through sunflower fields and with great views out over the valley. We then hit the first bit of flat for ages – and, perhaps a little over excited – spent about 45mins averaging around 22mph. We stopped in Angleur for coffee and realised we still had 30miles to go – and both of us felt like falling asleep there and then. It was here that I realised that 50miles in a day is about right for a cycling – leaving you enough time to explore and not being too onerous on the legs. This however, is not a holiday, so we had to drag ourselves away from the comfort of the café and plough through a pretty dull 2 hours of flat cycling into the pretty uninspiring city of Troye.

As mentioned yesterday – it’s M&D’s anniversary today. They spent the morning on Champagne tours in Epernay and Albert and I treated them to a gorgeous meal on the Lac D’Orient this evening. 5 courses and champagne: definitely an indulgent approach to carb loading!

Today I reached the half-way point in terms of distance covered. And I can really feel it. Legs are ridiculously heavy, knee is still causing some issues and for some reason my left little finger has gone completely numb (actually quite annoying when typing!) – but it’s been awesome so far and we’ve been really lucky with the conditions.

From here on out though – it gets pretty serious. A hilly 60miler tomorrow, followed by a 95 miler on Friday in preparation for two huge days in the mountains. Nerves, excitement, dread, fear – all very much present! Its going to be a huge couple of days on the legs – and I can’t wait to hit Chamonix to get a day off before the acclimitastion work starts!

Sleep is calling!

Sam.

….

Albert says:

About 2 hours in, Sam was lagging pretty badly. I mean, really struggling, way behind me.

After a little while, feeling smug and not wanting to humiliate him too much, I slowed, agreed that it was extremely hard going, feigned discomfort and let him pass, enjoying the unbelievably slow pace and my obviously superior level of fitness.

Unfortunately, at this point, I noticed that Sam had a flat rear tyre. It seemed only fair to let him struggle a few more miles before telling him….

.......

Photos from the last day or two (click to enlarge)

 Start of Day 4

 Clueless

 Lac D'Orient

 Carb Loading

Broken on Day 3

Day Three

Start: Peronne   Finish: Chateau Thierry   

Distance: 85miles   Climb: 3,700ft   Moving Time: 6:38   Average Speed: 13mph     Max Speed: 40mph

Wow. I wasn’t expecting that one. Both Albert and I are totally broken!

Great nights sleep in the ever-accommodating Ibis, followed by a huge breakfast, and we set off on our way to Chateau Thierry. We’d planned our route over breakfast – and knew what faced us – 35 miles of fast, flat country roads followed by 35 miles peppered with a number of big climbs.

Whilst our route planning, and my Garmin sat nav, has been pretty good so far – at some points our desire to be on quiet country lanes has meant that we’ve come across some farm tracks that have meant we’ve had to pick up our bikes and carry them! Only about 300m today – but it certainly disrupts the rhythm!

The flat first 35 miles flew by at a good pace – with beautiful quiet roads under a burning sun. At one point – a road closure meant that we really did own the road for a good 3 mile stretch. Most of which downhill, and spent perfecting our handsfree cycling.

We continue to fly through quaint villages, with classic architecture and beautiful churches – and today came across the ruins of a huge abbey, tucked away in the middle of nowhere.

I’m still struggling with timings in France – and am yet to make it to café or restaurant before they stop serving lunch – so we picked up some items from a supermarket and headed for a nearby river. It turned out the river was right next to a huge industrial plant, and so we actually ended up relaxing on the goal line of the town’s football stadium.

When we hit the hills – it got REALLY tough. I hit a real low point around 55 miles and have been struggling with some knee pain, but it’s amazing what a 5 minute break and a banana can do! I’ve been ridiculously impressed with Albert’s efforts. From zero training to an 85 mile ride is no mean feat – and having him with me has really helped pick me up when tired.

I’ve learned a big lesson today though. Up to now, we’ve been planning routes to maximize time on quiet roads and nice views. This is definitely the way forward for the mornings and first 50 miles or so – and makes it a lot more enjoyable. BUT – once you start to get tired, all you want to do is reach the finish point, and really don’t have time for the views! Today’s ride ended up being 10 miles longer than planned – and that really hurt when coming in to the last hour and a few extra ‘bonus’ hills!

The descent into Chateau Thierry though – was brilliant. About 2 miles of downhill, averaging over 25mph. But boy was I ready to put the bike away! Day finished off with an incredible Moroccan tagine and (hopefully) and early night.

Tomorrow – we head to Troyes. Its 70 miles (hopefully!) with a killer climb first thing. I can see the hill and vineyards out of the hotel window – it looks pretty terrifying – but after the initial climb we should have quite a pleasant cruise in. It’s my Mum and Dad’s (read: Support Team) anniversary tomorrow – so I’m pretty keen to get to Troyes in good time so that we can find a great restaurant to celebrate in.

I’ll now pass over to Albert – for an undoubted slating!

Albert:

If any of you out there have ever sat on a very small ergonomically-shaped bicycle seat for 6.5 hours, you will forgive me for spending the best part of the last hour today cursing Sam. It was not enjoyable.

Luckily for him, we parted ways after about 120km, Sam choosing the hilly country lanes that led him in a northerly (wrong) direction, whilst I chose what can only be described as a busy motorway, complete with speeding trucks driven by maniacs and angry Frenchmen at the wheels of unwieldy and unpredictable Citroens. Nightmare.

Apart from the minor setbacks, it was a very pleasant day, cruising through beautiful villages, past white stone Chateaux and across glorious farmland. A very pleasant but long and gruelling ride. Thank you Sam…