Etape: Riders List…
The Etape organisers have list of registered entrants over the last few weeks and they have now managed to add me to the list.
So,
The good news is that I am now officially in.
The bad news is that I have been allocated Bib No: 8005. This means that I start in the last pen (8001-8500), behind at least 8,000 of the 8,500 entrants. This is pretty dishearttening. I have always thought that completing the Etape would be incredibly tough but this makes it a lot harder. It’s not my ability to do the mileage that has been causing my angst – despite the fact that I have yet to do the full distance – but more particularly the fear of being swept up by the broomwagon.
For those not in the know the ‘Authorities’ eliminate riders from the race if they fall behind a target schedule. This is done in two ways: (i) a caravan of busses (broomwagons) follow the riders from the start and ‘sweep up’ any riders that fall behind the predetermined schedule (see above) and (ii) there are two ‘Elimination Zones’ (at 70k &132k) where any laggers will be stopped by the Gendarmes. They take your timing chip and point you towards a waiting coach with its giant bike rack for the ride to the finish.
To start with the broomwagon's bumper nudging my rear wheel seems less than ideal...
I think that the climbing is really going to make or break this event for me and the fewer extra pounds that I have to haul up these five mountains the better the chance I have of outrunning the broomwagon… So I am going to focus on my diet for the next ten weeks (there is plenty of opportunities to catch up on the pizza & currys after July 17th) and loose more of the excess pounds that are currently sitting round my midriff and not helping one bit in powering the bike.
So,
The good news is that I am now officially in.
The bad news is that I have been allocated Bib No: 8005. This means that I start in the last pen (8001-8500), behind at least 8,000 of the 8,500 entrants. This is pretty dishearttening. I have always thought that completing the Etape would be incredibly tough but this makes it a lot harder. It’s not my ability to do the mileage that has been causing my angst – despite the fact that I have yet to do the full distance – but more particularly the fear of being swept up by the broomwagon.
For those not in the know the ‘Authorities’ eliminate riders from the race if they fall behind a target schedule. This is done in two ways: (i) a caravan of busses (broomwagons) follow the riders from the start and ‘sweep up’ any riders that fall behind the predetermined schedule (see above) and (ii) there are two ‘Elimination Zones’ (at 70k &132k) where any laggers will be stopped by the Gendarmes. They take your timing chip and point you towards a waiting coach with its giant bike rack for the ride to the finish.
To start with the broomwagon's bumper nudging my rear wheel seems less than ideal...
I think that the climbing is really going to make or break this event for me and the fewer extra pounds that I have to haul up these five mountains the better the chance I have of outrunning the broomwagon… So I am going to focus on my diet for the next ten weeks (there is plenty of opportunities to catch up on the pizza & currys after July 17th) and loose more of the excess pounds that are currently sitting round my midriff and not helping one bit in powering the bike.
Posted by Richard Allen
3 Comments:
Bummer.
Who did you get your place with? Sport tours? Baxters?
It doesn't seem fair that there is a 40 minute cushion at the front ... but then 8,500 cyclists is a lot of cyclists - if you've ever done the London to Brighton you'll know what an achievement it is to get 8.5k riders away in such a short time period (they take HOURS to do 27k)
And hey, I'm still waiting for my bib no. :-( Booked through Sports Tours International - hope they haven't forgotten me....
Got my place with Wheel2Wheel.
I agree that it doesn't seem to be fair that there is a 40min cushion but I can't think of any other way of doing it. I know I would have certainly rather had 5000+ riders behind me and between me and the broomwagon...
I am particularly worried about congestion on the quite narrow ascent of the Col du Port.
No need to be too worried about congestion versus starting place. I can be pretty sure that even if we'd started off in spots 1 and 2, we'd still have been overhauled by a road width's worth of cyclists by the Col de Port.
Anyway, with a calculated average speed of 7km/hr up that section, I reckon we'd be quicker running it.
Magnus
Post a Comment
<< Home