With a return to running I'm planning a revisit to the seven hills of Edinburgh which I've not been to in a while. This was third attempt at a good run around Blackford and the Hermitage taking in the walled nature garden. Previous attempts cut short by a need to get back to the toilet. Reminded how fabulous the views are from the summit and enjoy the flow of running on trails - something I rarely feel when on the bike. The walled garden was looking OK - quite a wild look with a lot of herbs.
An early start for a 7 am check in to get kitted up in turquoise volunteer kit. After a bit of standing about got asigned a job at a crossing point just before the start near the parliament building. Not a huge crowd out as not really that exciting to watch the start of the event. Start was at 9.30 and I was pretty much finished by 10 am so not very taxing. Some freebies of coat, shirt and bag for my efforts.
Cycled down to Figgate Park for this park run. Felt very slow at first before finally feeling like a decent run pace in the last lap of 3. 25 mins and 6 seconds which isn't a very fast time but not terrible.
Some more rough weather for an easy Sunday run in the Pentlands. A group of 15 gathered at Craigdon for a slow trot to Caerketton, Allermuir, Woodhouse Lee and return to Craigdon. It was wet and it was windy but really nice to be on my feet in the hills. Rain eased a bit at the end as we found a way through the cows and their pats. Around 6 miles in 2 hrs with around 500m climb.
A welcome return to running with my first race of the year at the Holyrood Park parkrun. Not very fast with bike fitness not really helping running speed. Nice to be racing again though.
Final serious bike ride before switching my focus back to running and orienteering. Not aiming to be competitive at this after the hard effort yesterday - just looking for a nice enjoyable ride to finish my cycle season. Unfortunately the weather was pretty terrible - continuous heavy rain and strong winds. I was well wrapped up for the conditions so coped pretty well. Took it very easy at the start, worked hard up the very steep Druidsdale climb, pushed on to keep warm on the mountain top and the return to Ramsey. Not a lot of fun while doing it but satisifed to get round feeling reasonable strong at the end.
My big athletic goal of the year was to qualify for the Gran Fondo Time Trial World Championships in Glasgow. I never really had an expectation of qualifying other than perhaps by accident if I found an event with few enough participants. The two UK qualifying events are Cambridge and IoM with the latter being much more hilly and hence favouring me as a lighter rider.
A drive down to Heysham for the IoM ferry across. Not at all impressed by the ferry company - seemed very disorganised and not a great boat for the longish journey. Nice hotel in Ramsey.
TT day saw OK weather with the threatened rain holding off for us. Some serious competitors and bikes on show. The check in guys had a laugh at me being the only competitor with a bell on the bike. Every gramme counts! It was a tough enough climb of about 10 km and 400 m ascent following IoM TT motorbike race mountain course. First 6km or so was typically around 7-8% with an easing to lower slopes near the top and then a short -1% km to the finish. Full on effort with HR above 160 all the way. Don't think I could have done any better. 152% of the winning time which I'm pretty pleased with. 61st of 73 competitors. 7th of 7 in the M55-60 category. The old guys are still very fit and fast with the winner in this category second overall.
Enjoyed the event and the experience of trying to perform on the bike.
A brief visit to Northern Ireland on 3 - 5 July with the main purpose to accompany Maxwell to the dentist to get a crown fitted. The dentist appointment was quick and easy. Travelled by air this time which was certainly quicker and easier than travel by car and boat with the only irritation being a long queue for the car hire. Took Maxwell for lunch at the golf club on Tuesday and went with Liz and Maxwell to RUYC on Wednesday. Got a few jobs done round the house and some tidying of the garden.
Big climb up Alpe D'Huez. Consistently steep at generally around 10% compared to the typical 8% on other climbs. Had a silly cleats stuck in pedals static fall which required a visit to the repair shop at the top of the hill - had a second look at the brakes and rear pads replaced which was good.
A big clim up the Col de L'Izoard - around 1250 m of climb to a summit height of 2360 m. Not easy but legs were feeling pretty good and the temperatures were cool which probably helped.
Afterwards a fairly unpleasant drive through the mountains to my next stop at Bourg L'oisans ready for Alpe D'Huez tomorrow.
A flat ride of about 30 miles from Arles. Pleasant enough but not terribly photogenic as very flat with few long vistas.
Drove out of town to start the ride. Effectively two out and backs from a central point and both on very good cycle paths well away from any traffic.
Firstly out towards Narbonne Plage first along canal and past lagoon and into a summer resort that was still off season but a good number of runners and cyclists.
A 2 hr drive onwards to Arle and a walk into town and a wander. Really nice relaxed and pretty town centre.
Nice ride in the morning. Keeping it easy today with a simple out and back as far as I felt going. The Canal du Midi was relatively busy with boats of various types tackling the locks along the route. Had hoped for a coffee and cake at the furthest village on the ride but sadly there was nothing open. Stopped in modern central Carcassonne on the return for coffee and pastry.
Quite a long ride in the morning from the edge of Toulouse into and through the centre of Toulouse. Another town with a great network of cycle paths which were extremely busy this morning which I guess was around commuter rush hour. Eventually moved onto less busy canal side paths getting around 20 miles of of Toulouse before turning and taking a cross country route back towards the parked car. Around 46 flattish miles on this ride.
After that I drove onwards for about an hour towards Carcassonne and another fairly poor Ibis at the edge of town. From there I cycled into the old Citadel for a wander around and attempt to get some decent photos which proved quite challenging. A beautiful well preserved citadel but fairly tacky inside. Found a nice square to sit in for dinner choosing a very meaty and delicious cassoulet with a glass of wine.
Final climb in the Pyrenees was the very pleasant Col D'Aspin from Arreau. A slightly short ascent than some recent climbs and not a ski resort route although there were quite a few well behaving motor bikers out as well as the pedal cyclists.
After the Tourmalet climb I knew I wouldn't be on good form today to drove a substantial part of the way up to Lac de Cap-de-long. A remote area with no through traffic and the focus on the large lakes and reservoirs rather than the skiing so narrower roads and little traffic. The shortened climb was still heavy going and the old times from the local cycle club were passing me on the road.
Packed up from the nice B&B in Adast and drove through to Luz Saint Sauveur and arrived ready to ride around 9 am. Big one today up the massive Col du Tourmalet with around 1500 m of climbing.
Was progressing quite well as I headed into the small town of Bareges when I heard a pop from the saddle and it had moved to a distinctly upward facing position. After a few hundred metres passed the town it had got worse and I knew I wouldn't make in onwards without fixing it. Stupidly I didn't have my tools with me and there were no cycle shops in the town. It was still easy to go down so I did so back to the start to do the repairs and drove back up to where I had got to and continued the ride.
It was a long hard slog in great weather to the summit which was a bit of a building site for the most part. They are going to have to work quickly to be ready for the Tour de France in July. The weather started to turn at the top so I wrapped up and made the long rapid descent.
Attempted the ride up to Hautacam ski resort but legs were not in the mood and after about 30 mins of climb decided to call it a day and do a flat ride along a cycle path towards Lourdes. Stopped there for a coffee before a return and along the cycle path and a nice lunch of trout and veg in Argeles-Gazost.
A big day on the bike with a climb up three classic cols. The first was up through fairly pastoral fields and didn't feel too bad or two remote. A descent down the other side before a very long climb up Soulor. This was challenging with the added interest of a large group of Spaniards passing me on the way up.
Stopped for a while at the col for a coffee and pondered the route closed sign towards the Aubisque. Plenty of cyclists were doing it and the reports back were that it was fine - just some loose fallen stones in the road in a few places. This final climb wasn't too long but the last section felt tough in tired legs. About 3.5 hours or so in total to get to the summit.
Headed quickly downwards as the weather was starting to change with spots of rain although by the bottom it was feeling hot again.
A bit of a stressy drive from Irun to Luz Saint Sauveur. Fine at first on the motorways but Lourdes proved very tricky to get through and stopping in Argeles Gazost was tricky with limited parking and roads closed for the market. Stopped there to visit a bike shop to get my brakes tested before the mountain climbing.
The weather predictably changed somewhat in the mountains with more cloudy sky and intermittent rain. From Luz Saint Sauveur I cycled up to Luz Ardiden which was pretty hard going with the gradient fairly consistently above 8% for the 1.5 hours it took to get to the top. A few speckles of rain but generally not bad conditions.
Stopped for a while in the village before heading on to the bed and breakfast place on the outskirts of Argeles Gazost. Just took it easy in the evening ready for a big bike day tomorrow.
Cycled straight from the hotel through Irun across the border into France and to Hendaye and the along the coast to Biarritz via Saint-Jean-de-Luz. A stunning day with very nice riding for the most part keeping to marked cycle routes.
