Day 5 : Epic camp 1 Grinder 0 #meltdown

After a fitful sleep in what felt like the furnaces of hell with the soundtrack of quarter hourly church bells, I woke around 6 ( also to a text from animal management re my dog. Well my nasty neighbour obviously hasn't realised I'm on hols and the dog has been at the kennels for the last 10 days...go pick on someone else you odious twat. And a non text from someone else, just to improve my mood !!! ) ....

So... got up and into running gear, found coffee downstairs ( score) then ready to run at 7 for our eliminator competition.

we ran a ~ 2 /3km is h warm up then it was elimination by 500m, handicap and I was off on zero.
I was eliminated by second 500 as had nothing in the tank this morning and hadn't wanted to eat anything as was a bit sick of food anyway. We still had to make it up to 10 km so I enjoyed a pleasant trot along the river trail listening to music and enjoying the slightly cooler morning.

Brekky was pretty good here in Sort, I felt terrible this morning ( grumpy AF) and yes, I know that's to be expected but I felt weak as if I hadn't had enough salt yesterday as was craving some salty chips.
Anyhoo, off to the pool for next eliminator round, me knocked out after first 1000m ( SURPRISE!!!!!) then on to tack on some extra swimming; lets just say the lane ropes ( all 2 of 'em) were a bit useless and a few locals complained about us ( apparently ) so we had to keep to one half of the pool ( outdoor 25m). The water gets super choppy and its not too much fun to swim as well as the fatigue from riding makes you feel like a sinking stone......
Banged out 2300 then got out, into bike kit and wolfed down half a tub of salty pringles..... ride for the day was to take us to Andorra, starting with a 19km climb out of Sort.

Think 36 degrees, bright sun, no shade ( not even any overhanging trees) anywhere. I took it really easy to start but I couldn't put down any more power even if wanted to...... who climbs at 120 W when you are 60 kg ?!!! I was going so slowly I realised it was going to take me all day which didnt bother me as much as I just wanted to get OUT OF THE FRIKKIN SUN. I found a wee shady spot in a drainage gutter and sat there for a bit, Ian came past in the van soon after so I decided to hop in.
Got driven to the top, lay in the shade and had some fruit then thought right, give it go get down long descent and hopefully come right. I could barely turn the pedals over, bike weaving all over the road so found a tree to sit underhand cool off a bit. Ian came past around 5 mins later so I decided to just quit for the day.

Not in the spirit of Epic camp and I questioned myself that I was being soft, loathing myself for being a quitter but on the other hand I have had slight heatstroke before as well as sun stroke and I didnt want a repeat of that.... it felt more like I couldn't handle the sun, I had been hydrating quite well... I guess I hadn't really unloaded the heat stress from yesterday's ride as we went straight to the pool after riding ( out in the sun!), hot hotel room, out in the sun at the pool before riding... BUT. ( sorry boys am gonna talk periods here....) I noticed on my Garmin connect app that I am on day 26 of my cycle which, according to Stacy Sims is the worst time of month for training due to high hormone levels and also less ability to deal with hard efforts and the stress of heat. Lets not mention the big mood swings today...!!!!
So maybe that has added to it too ( not forgetting 30 hours of training in the last 5 days.....)

I'm not looking for sympathy though, I choose to do these things and hey, am in Europe with a bunch of great people in the middle of summer. ....could be waaaayyyy worse.


On a brighter note, we are in Andorra for 2 nights.....in some plush 4 start hotel called the Princesa parc. White bathrobes, kettle in the room, slippers and a huge big 3 person sized shower.
They just need to turn the air con up a bit tho as its a teeny bit warm....

Tomorrow is a big swim day and a trail run, fingers crossed I have my act together and then I'll be ready to smash out the rest of camp and exonerate myself. Oh and hopefully the heatwave will have abated a little too.....

Epic camp Day 4- Benvenida a Espana!!!

10km run pre brekky with a "guess your time" competition ( John's fave....)
105km ride from Bagneres de Luchon to Sort, 2100m asc of Portillon and Port de Baguieera.

I'll apologise now as my brain is likely a little fried from the 40 degree temperatures outside.

I had a great sleep last night, leggies elevated on 2 pillows to aid recovery and get rid of my heat cankles :-) Woke about 5.30 am then dozed until the alarm went off at 5.45 so up, into run gear, stretch and a snack etc.
We met at 6.30 to start our loop 10 km course with a guess your time. I forgot that the surrounding land is not flat, so estimated 53:30 but took 54:58 in the end. As anticipated I felt bloody terrible for the first 4 km ( tho a marked improvement on yesterday's monolithic state ) but started to come right and pushed the pace a bit more.

Quick shower, brekky then set off just after 9 and straight into the Col du Portillon which is around 9km with the French- Spanish border right at the top of the Col. I have done enough of these camps to know that each day you feel horrendous for the first hour as well as a little sick from riding uphill too soon after breakfast and I made the cardinal sin of eating too much for brekky this morning. Dam French bread.
I set off solo with some tunes in my ears and tootled up the Portillon , no km markers on these climbs ( probably a good thing ) ... started to come right about 50 mins in, turned the corner after a steepish section and lo and behold, at the top !!

Obligatory photo by the sign ( in my polka dot jersey of course!) then a pleasant descent to Bossost and another 14km along the valley to Vielha. Made it through Vielha, no sign of Ian to point to start of climb so kept on rolling, was getting hot and I needed a pit stop so found a service station with nice clean loos and a cold fridge so bought a cold diet coke, checked the route card and saw was supposed to have started KOM in Vielha, oops. Pressed the button from the servo then hoofed my way along the road, saw a sign saying Baquiera 4km ...hmm was that the top? can't remember. Put in a solid effort then saw Ian and support crew who told me it was 8km to the top in Port de Banaguia. Shit!! Hope I hadn't blown my self up.
What a glorious climb and glorious scenery, I was feeling pretty good in the leg department and also had the threat of losing my polka dot jersey looming over me which spurred me on altho somewhat dismayed as I hadn't realised I was technically on the Kon from Vielha and probably had been faffing around a bit....

A tasty lunch was waiting for us at the top, thank you Julie.... stellar job !! Then 51 km to Sort, net downhill... a few switchbacks then the road opened out to glorious smooth, long 60km+/ hr descending. I could feel the mercury rising the further down I got, have a hot spot on my right butt cheek just where the edge of the saddle was so once I was down in the valley things were getting a little uncomfortable. I stopped for some shade and to relieve the pressure on my arse for 5 mins ( sorry Mum if you are reading this!!!) My Garmin said it was 40 degrees.

Anyway, I just had to keep it rolling and it didn't take too long, despite a bit of hot headwind in the gorge and soon arrived at Sort, same time as Thierry and Philinator who had tacked on to get to 120km. We all headed straight to the bar for some limon Fanta with ice. yes, yes I know that stuff is bad for your teeth but

Epic camp day 3 - Grinder by name, Grinder by nature

Well, today dawned bright and early at 4am after a sporadic sleep, similar to that post Ironman feeling.
Quads, glutes and hamstrings felt like someone had taken to them with a baseball bat overnight, rather unpleasant really. No kettle in the room either so couldn't even console myself with a pre run coffee :-(

First up was a run, we were driven part way back up the Peyresourde and dropped off, at small road to run ~ 7km into the start of a small trail which leads to Lac d'Oo. The road in started down hill then was progressively uphill, a treat for stiff sore quads. Some of the group chose to do 20km, I stuck with 10km and avoided the trail as had no contact lenses in and was so tired and immobile I thought prudent to avoid risk of twisting ankles etc.

Once that ordeal was over it was back for a shower, decent brekky, regroup at 11am to ride to the lake for a swim which was ~ 26km away. Sadly had been unable to locate a sheepskin cover for my saddle so had to suck it up. Took a 800mg Brufen instead :-)
It was so warm most of us swam sans wetsuit, which I actually like ( despite being a crap swimmer). We did around 30 mins of swimming then had to state our guesstimate time for 2 laps of the lake ( each lap ~ 500m approx ) Then we all set off to do our two laps ( timed ) and then had tomato it up to 3km of swimming. I could have stayed in there all day, the first time I've been cool for about 30 hours and the soothing feeling of the water lapping my sore muscles.
We had a picnic lunch by the lake and then it was back on the bike home...... toasty toasty! It was 36 degrees up the valley, possibly more with a slight very warm breeze. Altho a lot more loosened off than i was this morning, I was pretty trashed to be honest between the heat and 16h30 of biking with 7260m asc over 2 days.

However, its been nice to have a couple of hours of downtime, rest a bit and have a wee wander around Bagneres de Luchon, its beautiful wee town.

On a brighter note, John informed me that i have the KOm jersey for tomorrow; KOM points worked out on a % of your uphill ftp submitted prior to camp. I was just pipped by 0.1% for the Marie Balnque on Sunday but won the Tourmalet yesterday and was possibly drawn for the Peyresourde. So sorry George Gray to have taken it off you, I don't intend to give it up too easily.........*** think it helps that I am the only person not to have a compact... I run a 52/36 with a 28/11 at the rear. So I have no option but to grind it out........haha.

Secondly I guessed my swim time to within one second so won that one too, apparently my prize is furthest out person cleans my bike. Yes Glenn O, that may be a job for you tomorrow.....!!!


Right enough of that. Its nearly wine o clock here.

Day 2- Cols, Cowbells, Concrete pills + combustion

Eaux Bonnes to Bagneres de Luchon via Cols d'Aubisque, Souloir, Tourmalet, Aspin + Peyresourde

154km 4160m asc ( ride time 8h 57)

You know that thing where you have a bad dream then wake up and realise it was only a dream. Like the torture of climbing for eternity on your legs and having your arse on a saddle for longer than a working day when the previous day had left its mark......

Finally some cream for coffee and also peanut butter with brekky - an auspicious start to the day then a quick delivery of bags to the van, photo op wearing the green jersey and hoping some of Scott Molina's energy would rub off it onto me then ready to depart!
I left about 10 minutes before the grupetto, basically we were straight into the climb up the Col d Aubisque which is 12km with an average of ~7% I think.
From previous camps I knew the first hour or two always feels horrendous and this didn't disappoint, however the last 3km were out of the trees and into the sun and the views were stunning; greeted by a load of friendly horses at the top.

Quick photo op, filled up a bottle as it was getting warm...nice descent which takes you part way down then you climb up the Col du Souloir which is a pleasant 4% wish for 3km, then a nice long descent and a 25km section along a valley which takes you to the base of the Tourmalet. I was having major troubles with bruised sit bones along with some chafing from the day before but flat sections and bumpy roads were causing me strife to the point where I stopped , had a large cry then turned back down the road to the van and asked Ian if I could get a lift up the valley as reckoned it would be ok climbing. Thank goodness....he dropped me off in Luz St Saveur which was packed busy and I met a few of the guys there ( yellow jersey group). I explained my plight and George kindly gave me 2 nurofen which did the trick and took away sit bone discomfort, thank god!
From here the climb up the ( in) famous Col de Tourmlaet begins, 17km at around average 7-8 %.
The gradient felt very pleasnat after the Mari Blanque yesterday but my god it was BAKING hot. Like 32 degrees hot and no shade....just keep pedalling...you pass through a village and then a ski town further up and after that it had begun to cool down a little which made it easier. The last km felt like the steepest one, was met by Olly who gave me a cup of coke , quick photo op by the famous monument altho again, I look slightly retarded in the picture so that one won't be published.....

Lovely long descent then a rolling ~ 7km into Peyolle for lunch which is about 5km from the Col d'Aspin. Riding along that valley in 32 degrees felt like a furnace, so hot with little shade....almost unbearably so, especially when you have come from a Christchurch winter! It was a welcome sight to see Julie and Cath at the lunch stop so had some food, a sit in the shade then on my merry way up the Aspin which was pleasant climb, again ~ 6-7 % wish but it was FUCKING HOT. I mean FUCKING HOT.I stopped a couple of times in the shade of trees to try cool off a bit, when its that hot you have to keep it very steady and it was a bit frustrating but at least a shortish climb. Quick photo op at the top then enjoyed the slight breeze descending altho today was so hot that you could feel the air warming as you dropped further down and once back in the valley t was like being in a fan oven. This must be what hell feels like ?! Hmmmm.

Its about 10km along another sweltering valley and through a pretty little town, at this point I felt like I was actually going to spontaneously combust - being France, nothing seemed to be open but i found a public toilet and rinsed my bike shirt under the cold tap and put it back on to help cool me, met the girls further up to top up a bottle before climbing the Peyresourde and we had a big downpour which altho short-lived, was very welcome!
Last climb of the day was the Peyresourde, 9km at average of 7%. Again a lovely climb which would have been a little quicker and a tad more enjoyable if it hadn't been so hot but them the breaks and I'd rather heat than pissing rain and cold.

The best reward for the huge day was the 14km descent down into Bagneres de Luchon, billiard ball smooth road with some wide sweeping bends, breeze in your face., made the whole day feel worth it just for that... something only those who cycle can understand!!

This is a pretty little spa town, reasonably busy and I suspect probably a ski town over winter. We have amazing accommodation here for 2 nights at the Hotel Alti on the main street, properly functioning air con, decent wifi and crisp white bed linen.
A tasty diner, bit of wine consumption and chewing the fat. I now possess the red jersey as I "won" the KOM on the Tourmalet ( KOM based on % FTP) altho I am not in the lead for the polka dot jersey. ( YET. Yes, its only day 2....I have ambitions...hehe). Forgot that the Peyresourde was a KOM but I was a bit fried by then anyway.

Day 3 starts with a run somewhere up the hill at 6.30am. Forecast to be 38 degrees so better to be done early, then a spin later to swim in a lake somewhere altho was kinda hoping I wouldn't have to park myself on a bike seat today, am in need of a sheepskin cushion :-)

Right better get ready for this run, had the most terrible sleep and woke up at 4am. Quads hurt, back hurts, butt hurts, arms hurt from the descending. Poor old me, what kind of idiot pays to put themselves through this ?!!

Epic camp Day 1- run only equation ( for me) + Biarritz to Eaux Bonnes

173km
3100m asc inc Col de Marie Blanque
7h30 ride time
8km run in morning


An early start of 5.15 to ensure time for coffee then time to get in the van and down to the seafront. Yes, there were as anticipated large breaking waves and it was pretty rough. Yikes.

John took us on a lap of the run course- up a steep flight of steps along and round the light house, back down to the seafront ( ~ 2km /lap).

I had a slight panic attack/meltdown decided i was not going to swim, Olly kindly said he would swim with me so we got wetsuits on and made it down to the beach, I dipped my toe in the Atlantic anyway but being closer to the shore confirmed my decision. Am not going to get yellow anyway!!
I started the run with the first person out of the water, aargh it was hot and tough but anyway 3 laps done so a nice toasty 8km before brekky.

Back to hotel for brekky, pack up, depart wearing our new Epic France kits.....John said it was going to a steady ride for the first 50 km or so but the pace did seem to creep up a little so I was relieved after the first aid station to ride kinda solo with my music for company. I felt horrendous on the first short col and realised I was bonking and probably hadn't eaten enough.
Gorged myself on 3 nutella crepes which seemed to help, then off on my merry way to lunch.
Did go thru a couple of bad patches ,sore back, sore foot etc etc, deep existential thoughts about why i put myself through all this pain and misery?!!!

Shut up and eat up !!

Made it to the lunch stop, ready for some food and a sit down ~ 120 km in, managed to eat some chips and the contents of my baguette then was dropped 15km up the road to ensure I caught up with the boys, a little weaving through a village fete then onto our KOM of the day for the Col de Marie Blanque. It's only 9 km with average of 7.6% but the first 5km average 4-5 % so you know the last few are going to be hideous. Yup. one averaged 12%, one averaged 13%. Jeeeeeeesus, that was a whole world of hurt, all i could think of it was not as bad as climbing Ventoux with a chest infection. Next panic was my gearing being suitable for tomorrow's mahoosive day....I have a 36x 28 as my smallest gearing. Thought it would be fine as managed to grind my way around the Port Hills ok....

Made it to the top, even a few of the boys were there when I got there..... pleasant descent and was even cheered through a little village by locals...!! Then a 2-3km climb to Eaux Bonnes which is nestled at the foot of the Col d"aubisqueand to our hotel.


Today's first world problem is I can't get anything to upload to Garmin connect but everyone else having the same problem..... cos if its not on Strava it doesn't count, right?!!

I have the green jersey to wear tomorrow, not , sadly for any achievements but for photo of the day taken by Julie this morning. Someone had vandalised the building by the sea front where we were getting changed and it said "No Fucking Way" so i am standing beside it in my wetsuit with best angry face; was very apt for the moment but unlikely I'll publish it on the blog!!

Anyway I must get to bed, my legs are aching.......

Epic Camp Pyrenees- Day T -1.

Bonjour mes amis....

Damaged bikes - 1
Fixed bikes- 1
Croissants eaten- 2
Decent coffee- 0 .... ( lets say the coffee is SHIT in France )
Good red wine- 3
Successful attempts at conversation in French - 3
Nutella consumption - 0
Pain aux chocolats- 0


Its that time again, excited and terrified to get Epic camp underway. Currently in Biarritz, which is a beautiful town on the Atlantic coast in the Pays-Basque region so its a fusion of Spanish and French cultures. And lots of surfers.

Travel was uneventful from NZ; scored 4 seats to myself from Singapore- Paris and managed 7-8 hrs of sleep. Luggage and the Em's bars arrived safely so after trying to navigate the maze that is Charles de Gaulle airport, found a place to leave the luggage and then found the Ibis hotel who rent rooms by the hour so was able to get a lie down and a shower, followed by a trip to M+S food ( yayyy), extorted 8Euros for a coffee then pick up luggage and check in for my flight to Biarritz.

Arrived in Biarritz at 5.30 pm, picked up the luggage - weird, everything in the bike bag seems to be moving around, hmmmm..... oh well. Taxi to hotel by airport, short evening walk in the sun then crash out for 12 hours which seemed to have nailed the jet lag.
Aaaaaaargh no kettle in my room.....******. Run gear on and a jog into town to have a look around, find coffee, take photos etc etc. Brekky then back the uphill to the hotel, righto - better get this bike built up.

As soon as I opened the bag and saw that my front forks had been lifted off the skewers of the internal bag frame I knew that what would be in store at the rear would be worse..... yes, derailleur hanger snapped off, chain stays scratched ....FUCK.FUCK. Air France...WTF?!!!!
And guess what I had ordered from the bike shop in Ch Ch but forgot to go pick it up as was too busy....

Slight meltdown later than once together got a taxi to Culture Velo in Anglet and Pete, fellow camper met me there ( thank you so much !! I def needed a bit of moral support ). Amazingly helpful staff, they ordered me 2 new hangers from a website called SOShanger and said bike should be ready by the following day. Phew......

Cut to chase - bike ready Friday afternoon, working perfectly.Morning spent watching bags for John and Peter as they test swam/ran our aquathon course for Day 1. I chose to turn a blind eye to the the large shore break ( my nemesis....see prev posts circa 2012 from Maui...!). Will worry bout that on Sunday morning....
Quick supermarket trip in search of fresh veggies to eat, John set up the maps on my new Garmin 1030 altho I am still not super confident that I won't get lost. Wee spin on the bike and then out for dinner with a few of the campers.

#1 goal for this was to arrive healthy ( compared to 2016) which I have managed, got sick 2 weeks ago instead. #2 goal is always to enjoy it and go through each day with a great attitude.
#3 Get the pink jersey.........which won't be a problem as I'm the only girl competing in the camp which I hadn't been aware of. Rose amongst the thorns eh ?!!


Right, enough waffle....promise these will be more interesting as camp progresses. Time for a pre breakfast spin with a few others.......then try exert some discipline at the breakfast buffet..

A bientôt........

Post Epic adventures: Milan, Morzine and Maseratis.

So, post Epic started with a 4.45am alarm clock and a load of croissants before a 5.15am departure in the van to central Geneva for Di, Z and myself to catch the Ouibus to Milan.

Never, EVER catch a Ouibus ANYWHERE. The bus was scheduled to depart at 7.45am; it was late arriving so we eventually left Genava around 9.15. The trip was supposed to take 4 hours and took SIX GODDAM HOURS due to two elongated border stops ( one with an African woman being deported from said bus) and a traffic jam at the Mont Blanc tunnel. We were sat in the back row next to some Italian youth who was actually in Di's seat but instead it was his then, once we had passed through both borders, proceeded to roll a joint for himself ready to smoke as soon as he alighted the bus in Milan. The fleeting thought passed through my mind of requesting he light up and pass it around alleviate the chronic pain of the bus journey :-)

**** 3 years on I see I never finished this post and blogged about the rest of our European adventure which involved a weeks' stay in Morzine, 8 days in Zurich with an Olympic distance triathlon thrown in followed by spectating IM Switzerland, followed by another arduous train journey involving French trains and bike bags to get us to Lyon Airport to be picked up for our 5 day stay up in Alpe d’Huez , which was concluded with the ADH long course triathlon- and one of my favourite ever races. The bike was HOT and tough, the run is tough and was glad we had had a reece on Epic camp! I managed a decent run and ended up 2nd Vet 1 lady. Highlight the day after was Zarnia and I's trip to the ADH patisserie and finally, after 6 weeks of coveting the goodies in the patissier windows we were able to sample a variety of cream filled delights.
Another long train ride to Paris gare du Nord, a night in Paris then it was on the big bird home to Singapore the next day after a fun filled 6 weeks.
Now Epic camp pyrenees is looming so I have had to resurrect this blog again and I am SO glad that I was resolute with my daily entries last time as I would have never remembered half of the shenanigans :-)