Cold Day In Surrey

Cold, miserable day in Surrey. Cut shorter as it really was too cold and wet.
59km - 150/183bpm - 22.0/17.6kph - 845m - 2460kcal

The Power And The Glory

As well as dropping weight, I'll also be looking to increase the power output. I'll be measuring the power on a set climb (Box Hill - 5.1% - 2.4km) At the moment my highest output has been 301W on 13 Oct 07. Comparing this to the mountains in the Alps, I've been consistently climbing at 65% of the output of Box Hill. Hopefully combining this data with my weight and the climb profile from the Etape, I'll be able to at least know how I'd climb each mountain in isolation.

For example, we know the Hautacam is 14km @ 7.2%. At 100kg and managing 301W on Box Hill, I could predict an average speed of 7.8kph. Losing 10kg would increase this to 8.5kph and then also increasing power to 340W would increase to 9.6kph (overall 1h47 vs 1h27) For the Tourmalet it's 2h17 vs 1h51.

Booked It, Packed It .....

So confirmation has arrived. We're in.
5 of us will tackle the Etape. We fly out Fri 4th July and will stay in Pau.

Isle Of Wight

First big ride since the Etape was announced. We headed over to the Isle of Wight for one lap of the island. Great weather for this time of the year. Tough, but very enjoyable route.
105km - 150/186bpm - 24.5/17.7kph - 1320m - 4200kcal

2008 Tour De France - Route Announced

On 25th Oct they announced the route of the 2008 Tour De France. Stage 10 Pau-Hautacam will be the Etape Du Tour and will take place on Sun 6th July.

It's a good stage. Not as hard as last years, but still very challenging. The stage is set in the Pyrenees and will take a 165km (102 miles) route around Lourdes. There are 2 main climbs At around 100km we'll be staring up at the infamous Tourmalet If we can get over that, there will be a quick descent down to foot of the Hautacam at 152km.