Day 1

We didn’t have internet access yesterday so here is the day 1 report. No files yet either. I’ll add these as soon as I can.

Swim 3km sea swim incl 2km race

Bike near Aix en Provence to Vaison la Romaine ~170km with 3300m climbing incl Mont Ventoux.

Run 10km cruisey run at Vaison la Romaine. 

Holy crap that was a big day at the office. As Lou DiGuissepe, who has been on multiple camps, said “that was the hardest opening day ever”.

This morning we met at 5:30am in the lobby for a 30min drive to a beach for a 2km race then tack on until you reach 3km or 50mins (whichever comes first). After swimming at the beach on Friday for 1.2km sans wetsuit in calm conditions I’d told the troops it would be pretty straight forward. However the water has dipped by at least 2c (was probably ~16c) with some really sold chop. We had buoys conveniently to give us a 1.2km lap however due to the chop I couldn’t see a bloody thing. So much so that on the first lap I went to the wrong buoy at which time Shannon got the jump on me after sitting on my feet. About 700m later I caught back up and it was a drag race to shore. I got about a body length but then made another navigational howler and had to chase again. The final 100m was side to side stuff and without a clearly defined finish I stupidly stopped at the beginning of the stones but Shannon pushed out of the water to take the win. Adam K, who’s gear has not arrived, braved the waters for a brief time but is was not to be and hyperthermia would have ensued. John Ballard looked like he did have hypothermia with his sleeveless that I had incidentally said should be fine. Finally it turns out those buoys were markers for some fishermen who turned up towards the end of the swim with tail ender Zarnia Morrison taking an earful for being in their space.

Everyone was nervously excited about today’s ride which included Mont Ventoux. The course profile showed the huge lump that is Ventoux but did not really give credit to the 112km approach which included continuous up and down including the Col du Mars @ 600-700m .

I opened up the ride at a tempo that was too hard for me and probably too hard for many in the group. But it is epic camp after all not easy camp. With today being navigationally a difficult stage I had my garmin permanently on maps so was riding by feel but when I did look I was seeing Half IM power. That would come back to bite me later in the day.

This riding in the approach to Bedoin which is the base town of Ventoux was spectacular. Loads of beautiful villages, some great climbs and smooth roads. Adam K, myself and Peter Mills (who is celebrating this camp as his 50^th birthday present to himself) were doing the lions share of the work - as we should have being the stronger riders.

It was bloody hot (at least for us kiwi’s) and we were battling strong head winds most of the day. I was actually a little concerned that Ventoux might be closed. In retrospect most of us did not drink enough as the wind was drying us off all the time. When we rolled into Bedoin I was feeling pretty spent but still optimistic of a strong climb. My plan was to start conservatively on the easier grades at the bottom, steady through the forest to the 13km mark (of 21km) and then ideally bring it home well in the final 6-7km above the tree line.  Based off my training I was thinking that if I started ~260w and built to 270w that would “easily” be doable – that’s around Half IM effort.

The opening km’s are low grades before you hit the forest. The total climb is around 21km at an average grade of just under 10%. Given the opening ~5km is much less than 10% we had very long periods of 10%+. Everything was going to plan on the power front but my HR was too high due to the heat. I passed Adam K to hit the lead midway through the relenting grade of the first. My god it was tough, there was no respite to recover, it was 9-12%+ all the way.  Towards the top of the forest the wheels started falling off. I was praying Ian or Julie our support crew would be there and they were. I wanted to stay off coke but I knew if I did not get sugar fast I was not going to make it. So I stopped and Adam came past. The rest of the climb was torture. From sitting at 270w earlier I was struggling to hold 200w, it was pure survival.  My guts were a mess, my legs were full of lactic acid, I had impending cramps and was beginning to weave over the road. Walter passed me with a km to go and I did not have the fight to go with him.

When I made the summit I was a total wreck and had to sit down for a long time. I had overheated and my stomach had shut down. I was in a dark hole and had been taught a good lesson on  how to deal with a long, hard hot day.  I think my time was around 1hr40 with the best time on Strava being 1hr flat I think. Had I rode a strong ride I think sub 1hr30 is doable. As usual with mountains I have a new respect for the Tour riders who “race” up there.

I was so smoked I did not enjoy the descent as much as I should. I was almost falling asleep on the bike at times. It was incredibly fast but great smooth roads.

On arrival Adam and I did a bit of a Zombie 10km run around town. We were sitting ~4:45/km when not sight seeing and we finished the run by checking out the medieval castle about out spectacular hotel. I have a bit of a rule of not running slower than 5min/km and will stick to that as long as I can.

It’s 10:30pm now and time for sleep. I’ve only been averaging 4-5hrs a night since leaving NZ 5 days ago but I don’t think tonight will be a problem getting some more.