[gandberg]

Here is a question. Training for the Etape is never going to be a doddle. And over here we dont get the same kind of mountains that one would encounter during an Etape, so my question is this:

What is the equivalent distance to build up to riding next years Etape route?

I mean, I know the total distance is about 108 miles, but this includes three significant mounds, with about 3500m of climbing. So what I’m getting at, in a muddled rambling way, is that is it possible to just train for, say, 150 miles in a day and would that be an acceptable level of fitness to take one up the three hills? I’m sure some of you can render this into sense and give me science based answers. Everyone like quantites and figures, these prove things with reason and enable us to sleep better. Without science we’d all still be going to Church, praying the sky won’t fall in, things like that. Wouldn’t we?

Anyway, I look forward to your answers.

Topic

[Fringe]

24 km..thats 14 mph in old
24 km..thats 14 mph in old money, ive not done it but say you go some on the downhills and can chaingang it a bit on the flats then you can rest easy(!?!) on the ups..

ive not done it myself so all based on hearsay, but nonetheless with some good training under your belt most reasonably fit people should be okay.

[Dude]

After reading your reply i
After reading your reply i did some basic math. looking at the profile of the Etape, I essentially calculated things as follows:

1. working back from (what I hope are super conservative paces on the climbs), to figure out how much time is left, i estmated 1hr for climb one (10K at 10kph), +/- 1 hour for climb two (13 km, but +/-15 kph), and 2.5 hours for the Col du Tourmalet (24km at 10kph). That adds up to 4.5 hours of climbing.

2. To avoid broom, I estimate one needs to come in under 10 hrs or so (Per your advice). if that’s the cale, it leaves 5.5 hours for descents and flat stages. These add up to roughly 128 k. Which means one has to go at a minimum pace on those stages at 24 KPH.

What am I getting wrong, based on your experience? Thanks!

[Dude]

Thanks, Dave. That’s already
Thanks, Dave. That’s already helpful. And obviously, it raises even more questions. Like, ‘Old Cranky’ and you are right to point out that you have to do really well on the flats. he’s suggsting a lot of wheel sucking/paceline skills, which are fine when you’re coming with a group of friends. In your experience was there a lot of ‘on the fly’organization of pace groups for that purpose when you did this? And Holy Cow! To learn you can’t necessarily make up the speed on the downhills because of bottlenecks really stinks.

[dave atkinson]

you’re right Dude, it’s not
you’re right Dude, it’s not obvious at all, mostly becuase the etape don’t necessarily release the data. historically you need to be able to complete in 10-11 hours, which generally works out at around 17km/h average, but that includes all the faffing at the start so budget for a bit quicker. However, the broom wagon often moves more quickly on the opening sections, as the warm-up to the climbs is normally flat(ish) – it is this year. this year’s etape is on the short side (~160km i think) but it packs some pretty serious ascending in, about 4,500m

[Dude]

This brings up the most
This brings up the most crucial question of ALL, folks, and I can’t seem to find an answer anywhere. At what pace do we need to go in order to avoid the broom wagons on the Etape. I’m going too, and while I’m hopeful of being able to complete the distance and the climbs, I’m not sure about the speed. To be frank, I’m a 50 year old guy who has no aspirations to have a great time. I just want to avoid utter humiliation. Does anyone have info on that?
:/

[dave atkinson]

good luck keeping up your
good luck keeping up your 20km/h on the marie-blanque 👿

[vorsprung]

Old Crankys post seems the
Old Crankys post seems the most interesting. It almost makes me want to do the Etape

If I was doing it I would look at it this way. The total amount of climbing as distance is 70km. Then there is a 100km of descents and flatter stuff. The ascents will be at 20kph average and the flat /down stuff at 35kph
So that’s a total time of just over 6 and a half hours. So aim 1) is to be able to ride for 6 and a half hours at pace

Aim two is to be able to ride at max power output for all of the climbs. The longest one seems to be 30km and as such I guess it will take 90 minutes. A normal time trial distance for 90 minutes is approx 35 miles

For aim 1) I’d do tempo rides at 80% for increasing durations
For aim 2) I’d do time trials of increasing distance aiming to do the 35 miles within a good time

Also I’d aim to loose weight, as much as possible. A realistic weight loss plan (for me) is a Kg a month starting at xmas

[gandberg]

Instead of losing weight, how
Instead of losing weight, how about training with an additional 20kgs in panniers or some such get up? Come July 18th, I’ll feel light as a feather. Maybe.

[cactuscat]

DaSy wrote:’Mental note to

DaSy wrote:

’Mental note to self’ – do not argue with Gandberg!

…or challenge him to a downhill race 😉

[Old Cranky]

A few pointers from my
A few pointers from my experience in 2008:
* get a triple chainset and 12-27 cassette
* buy a Garmin or similar with heart rate, av speed and cadence
* keep your fingers crossed that you get a low start number – you’re further ahead of the broom wagon and 1,000’s of other riders. Narrow roads often leads to bottlenecks and cyclist grid-lock.
* go on a strict diet – you will climb faster
* analyse the route, in particular the ascents. Be aware that you will need to travel at an average speed of over 12.5mph to avoid being swept up. Tourmalet is 32km of climbing, so you may need to average 18+mph on the flats. Don’t count on being able to descend fast as the weather could be bad
* join a cycling club and learn to ride in a group and practice wheelsucking.
* alternate your training rides to get the miles, the speed and hill repetitions (find a nearby hill, ideally long and between 7 and 10% and go up and down it repeatedly – find out what gear per %incline is best for you while maintaining a high cadence and reasonable speed).
* find energy bars, gels and isotonic powders that suit you
* register for as many sportives/ride it events as you can. You’ll learn not to go off too fast, pace yourself on your heart rate, eat and drink frequently, ride and work with a group and find out what works well for you.
* make sure you can fix a puncture quickly – carry new inner tubes, park tool patches, good tyre levers, a CO2 pump and spare cannisters and an emergency pump.

[Anonymous]

‘Mental note to self’ – do
‘Mental note to self’ – do not argue with Gandberg!

[Old Cranky]

20kg between now and July –
20kg between now and July – good luck 😉

I dropped 12kg to complete the 2008 Etape and it was hard work – up at 5am every other morning for a 15 mile ride before work, small bowl of bran flakes for breakfast, soup (no bread) and yogurt for lunch and the “small plate” dinner. A lot of evenings and rainy mornings on a turbo trainer doing interval training and 100 mile sportives nearly every Sunday.

Basically you’ve got to prepare your body and mind to 8.5hrs or more of cycling fast and up crippling cols.

Keep a training log and set yourself goals for each month. If you reach your targets then reward yourself by buying the kit you’ll ultimately need.

I’m doing the Marmotte next year, so I’m happy to swap training/diet notes with you over the next 9 months. :B

[gandberg]

I know. To complete the Etape
I know. To complete the Etape is going to require major effort. I’ve never going to be thin, and I’m not even that fat really. Losing 20kgs is a goal though.

[Barry Fry-up]

135kg eh? well speaking from
135kg eh? well speaking from experience (not of the etape but other big rides) the best thing you can concentrate on for now is losing some weight. Forgetting everything else, losing 20kg of that mass will transform your climbing. Okay you’ll still be a big lad and you’ll never be a mountain goat (and neither will i, sadly), but I’ve found that losing a couple of stone has done more for my riding than any number of dull turbo sessions ever has.

I don’t doubt that I could get round the etape route but i’d never beat the broom wagon round unless i lost at least another stone. No matter what else you do, if you’re carrying extra weight then it’ll cost you on the climbs

[gandberg]

Everytime I think about the
Everytime I think about the task ahead I lose weight and do exercise. Mainly sprinting to the toilet to drop some brown bombs…

Still, weight is down to 135kgs (!) and in relation to the other thread, my thighs are 72cm. I think. I know because I wanted to go to ‘go ape’ but my thighs are too big. Grrr.

[Author]

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