Day 3 - Embrun to Le Grave

Finally some time to breath and we did not need to extend the time cut today.

Run – 2.5km warm up

Aquathon race – swim ~1.5km / run ~5km

Bike – Embrun to Le Grave 112km (plus 8km tack on) incl Col D’Izoard + Col Du Lauteret.

Racing is always a fun part of Epic Camp and no mater how tired athletes are they always can lift for races. That is where the real mental strength comes from these camps.

Poor Adam K still does not have his bike (he’s be using a loaner) or his wetsuit and given he is fighting for yellow I wanted it to be a fair fight. Especially as he had already lost out on points from the swim race on day 1. So I decided to go non wetsuit for the swim. There was no issue with the temperature of the water but obviously without a wetsuit you are around 10sec/100m slower. Thankfully Lou was bang on the pace I could hold and I stuck to his feet like glue until he decided to go awol and turn at the wrong marker point (a jetty). He chased me down though and passed me so I got back on for the tow. Then it was decision time, Lou was going awol again. The sun was right in our eyes but I could still just see where we were supposed to be heading and it was not the way he was going. I decided to go solo without the draft and swim the best line. We came out together but had a massive deficit to Shannon. The run was 2 laps of the lake on a nice shingle track. I backed myself to catch Shannon no problems but she was not even in sight. After finding my feet in the first 1km I though I was running well and was working hard but the 2^nd km I didn’t even crack 4min/km pace. As I passed the finish for the 2^nd lap I think I was still 50sec down so I really upped the effort and started running ~3:50/km and I finally caught sight of Shannon but it was still a big gap. In the final km I put in a big effort and probably caught her with just a few hundred metres to go. I reeled off the last near 1km at 3:35/km pace. Far far harder than I had anticipated running. Shannon was 2^nd and Adam 3^rd. It sounded like Peter Mills has a blistering run average 3:45/km which is impressive.

Our ride today was shorter but more or less climbing all day long. The Philinator Phil Paterson made a suicidal move at the first roundabout of the day to attack on what was a 40km approach to the bottom of the Izoard. It was his only chance to get a KOM but he paid for his efforts on the main section of the climb.

There was some dubious behavior before and at the base of the Izoard which meant I was starting the climb well behind all the contenders. So I had two choices, get angry and chase them down or settle in and enjoy the climb. I chose the later and really had a nice time on what is a brilliant climb with lots of changing scenery, cool villages and a spectacular summit. I wasn’t really focusing on power at all but it ended up being similar to Mont Ventoux but how I got that power meant I was pretty fresh at the top – at least as Fresh as you can be after a 14km climb to ~2300m. It  was another stunning day on the weather front. Probably mid to high 20’s and hardly a cloud in the sky.

The decent was just awesome. Nice wide smooth roads and not much traffic. I had a blast and caught up to one of our granny descenders Walter McCormack. He is one of several athletes on this camp who almost go uphill as fast as they go down. He’s a big strong guy though and has been 2^nd on both KOM’s so far. We teamed up for the climb of the Lauteret which was a good 30km long.

For almost the first time of the camp we had some tail winds which was nice. So whilst the gradient was low we were tapping out a nice pace for not much effort. However once we got to the final 10km the wind turned slightly and the grades increased to mostly 5-6%. I was happy on the front just sticking to a comfortable effort but I can’t say I was suffering in silence. Every few minutes Walter would let out a groan of the slow torture he was going through. When I asked if we could stop so he could take a picture of me with the amazing snow capped mountains in the background he looked at me like I was some sort of nut job. He said if he stopped he seriously didn’t think he could get moving again. Finally we rolled over the top and our legendary support crew of Oli & Tim were waiting with refreshments and a nice piece of quiche. All that was left was a 10km decent to Le Grave where I blitzed past an entire tour group of ~30 who were clearly not allowed to pass their tour leader. It’s obviously different rules to epic camp.

Our accommodation at Auberge Edelweiss has the most amazing outlook over a glacier & rock face. We’ve just finished one of the best 3 course meals I’ve had in a long time.

Tomorrow is a broken tri up Alpe D’Huez. I’m looking forward to it.

The Bellwether performance of the day goes to Julian Stockwell after a bout of GI issues was back on his bike doing today’s ride solo and unsupported.

I’m still in yellow with the Holy Hammer Murray Lapworth in red for the over 50’s

Our internet over here has been very patchy to put it mildly but I have finally got some files up on Strava.