By 6am we were ready. It was still raining, but nowhere near as bad as the middle of the night. Cold enough for the jacket, but to be expected this early. The excitement grew in the ride up to the start line. At each crossroads we were joined by other groups till we became a large, slow moving peloton. The start village, much like registration the day before was super efficient. Within 10 mins, we halfway down the starting pen (fenced in areas of 1000 cyclists allocated by your race number).
Then the waiting began. Probably little over 30 mins, but felt like hours as the contemplation of what we'd got ourselves into was beginning to hit home. Seemed like such a good idea in the pub last October.
At 7am the race started. 7,500 cyclists fed through the start gate. By 7:10 we were on our way. Slow and cautiously making our way out of the start zone, then a sharp left turn onto an empty 4 lane road. Empty, except for thousands of cyclists at ever increasing speeds. Although quick, the sprint down to Rebenac, was much more comfortable than expected. Plenty of groups to get into (it was almost one big group of the whole field), but also plenty of space when required. At Rebenac (25km), there was a tight left turn onto a narrow hill. Short, but quite steep. Everyone was forced to go slower which suited me. As we passed through the town the hill kicked up again into the forest. 29km complete in the first hour. Within another 40 mins we're on the climb to Lambatmale (the first categorised climb of the day), which seemed simple enough.
Then through Lourdes, a place I visited as a kid. Didn't think I'd ever be back, let alone flying through at 30kph on a bike. Despite the bad weather there were big crowds lining the route. A couple of cyclists crashed on the wet road markings in front of me, but I managed to stay up and weave my way through. I skipped the first feed stop of the day, the colder conditions meant plenty of drink left. Shortly after Lourdes came the second categorised climb of the day Loucrop. Again simple enough. Still raining, the weather's not gonna improve. I'm taking it easy. There's monsters ahead. Passed a few riders walking. Their day would not last much longer.
Once over Loucrup, we began the long gradual lead up to the Tourmalet. It was 20km at around 2-3%. Surprisingly simple to keep up a good speed, but without realising I was slowly expiring the energy in the legs. As the Tourmalet loomed in the distance (although with the weather we couldn't see it), the crowds seemed to get bigger. The first 100km complete in well under 4hrs. Quick stop to remove the jacket for the first time of the day, then the climbing proper began. 
If the truth be told, I hadn't given the Tourmalet enough respect. I'd climbed a few mountains like this in the past (most notably Ventoux). I figured the long constant gradient would be my friend and I'd quickly spin my way to the top. I learnt early on this would not be the case. The first couple of km at 5-6% and already I was in my lowest gear. This was gonna be a long, long slog. I'd like to think if the weather was better so we could see the amazing views and I wasn't feeling so sick that this would have been an enjoyable climb, but with 100 quick kilometres in the legs, this was never gonna be easy. Ticking off the distance became a chore. I started dreaming I'd passed signs saying 5km to top only to discover 15 mins later that there was still 8 to go.
However, 1h20 after starting the climb I arrived a La Mongie, the second feed stop of the day. An ugly ski resort. By now I needed to refill and take a break. I had 25 mins on the broom waggon, but by the time I left, it was down 10. The final 4.5km of the climb were even tougher, but by now the thought of being swept up by the broomwaggon was pushing me on. I knew if I made it to the descent, I had a chance.
Hit the summit a couple of mins later. Quick stop to put the jacket on, then over the top. I needed to make some time up to get a buffer on the Hautacam and this 35km descent down to the valley was where I'd planned to do it. Visibility was nearly zero. The cold magnified by the speed. Plenty of sharp turns and blind bends. Nowhere near as fast as I expected, but still seemed to be going faster than most.
Eventually I was out of the mist and clouds. It was warmer and most importantly I could feel my hands. I tucked in and hoped for the best. Topped out at a meagre 76kph, but by the valley, felt I'd made some time up. The valley was warm. The slightly hilly run up to the Hautacam made me realise there was little left in the legs. This was now down to will power alone. And so I hit the Hautacam. A narrow road up to the ski station, made even narrower by the road being split to allow the finishes to come back down to the finish village. This did have the bonus of being shouted on by those on the way down, especially the few I knew.
I won't lie. I didn't fly up in a blaze of glory, stomping to victory. I mostly suffered. For the first time in day I walked a bit. Not far as it was still quicker to ride and time was not something I had to waste. It wasn't until about 5 km to go, that I felt confident I'd make it. I found a rhythm, put my head down and ticked off the distance to the finish. At the start of the day I was ticking off each 20km, on the tourmalet I'd mentally broken it down into each kilometre, now I was staring at a digit on the computer and ticking them off, a slight double take when I realised these were 10 metre chunks. Found some legs for the last couple of kilometres. Going under the 1km banner it almost seemed to level off. I didn't sit again till the finish and crossed the line with my arms held high 9 hours 50 painful minutes after I'd started. No pictures at the top, visibility was about a meter. I quickly picked up my medal, a couple of bottles of water and queued for the descent. Was surprised how few were still on the way up. I'd cheated the broom waggon by 20 mins and only 70 finished after me. 1,400 didn't make it.
I'd love to say that in hindsight I'd forgotten the pain and it was a really enjoyable day, but it's still mostly a blurry memory of pain. It would be great to finish this blog with wild stories of us drinking in celebration till the morning, but the truth is I packed the bike, got the coach back to hotel and slept till the morning. The day itself was so tough. Under prepared for the weather and as sick as I've ever felt on a bike ride. But I made it. I have a shinny medal and some very grey looking photos (not just the weather) to prove it. Turns out the six months of training was probably the real enjoyable part. Will I be back next year? Almost certainly unless we decide to take on something harder (these things happen after a few beers in October)!
A week later the professionals took on the same stage in near perfect weather. I won't embarrass myself but comparing the times, but the first two finishes - Piepoli and Cobo have been sent home. Yes, that did make me feel better!
Will post full summary once recovered!
17.2km at 7.4%. It's a very steady climb, maximum is little over 10%. For some reason the second feed stop is at La Mongie which is 3km from the summit. 
In total it's 15.3km at 7.2%. The final significant cutoff will come at Artalens, 9km from the summit. Need to be there within 8h15 which is an average of 19.4kph. Then try to keep the legs turning till finish.
- 169km / 105 miles
