Andrew and Ben's 2008 Etape Challenge - The Odd Couple

Training Ride Seven

2007-10-03T13:04:00.001-07:00

After the weekends activties I feel like I have thrown away a weeks effort. Fell into bed at 5.45am on Saturday – obviously I drank and smoked myself into a stupor. Lots of calories to shed and puff to get back into my lungs.

Monday came and went as the only day I could run at work – funnily enough it went without my breaking into anything other than a hung over heebie jeebie sweat, which is not going to assist me climb mountains in July.

By Tuesday I was feeling strong enough to tackle the bike once more and this time it was the Hidcote loop. One largish hill this time – it seemed bigger than Welford but I will need to check that with Andrew. Either way I got to the top without too many problems and felt fit enough to tackle the easier inclines after that. I feel that I may be making some progress on the hill climbing front. I am even bold enough to suggest to Andrew that I think I am ready to return to the first hill that we took on.

Had a chat with Andrew about music when we set off. Some common ground on that front as we are both big fans of Kings of Leon. I must start trying to go to a few live gigs.

Also discussed training. I think I am going to have to buy a turbo trainer and start doing some sessions in the garage with Andrew as I can’t see how I can find the time to train without cutting out helping with the kids. I don’t want to start letting this whole Etape thing become one sided, leaving Liz stuck with the kids two or three mornings a week, so the only option is training inside at night in my view. Added to which it wont be so bloody cold.

Andrew has a DVD which outlines a training programme for stationary bikes. It sounds like a good idea as I could see myself sitting on a bike and pedalling constantly for 2 hours and not pushing the heart rate up as I should.

Worryingly it looks like this might be my only ride for the week – could be a right off from a fitness perspective unless I can find a couple of hours on the weekend.

Not sure how far this loop is.

Clayton's Training Ride Six

2007-10-03T13:03:00.000-07:00

Down to Bidford and back to see the Doctor, but with no car I decided to ride. I am still getting constant headaches, which I hope is not high blood pressure.

Rode with the I Pod for the first time, which makes it a bit more fun at times, especially when you are grinding up inclines and you have some Powder Finger blasting in your ear to encourage you to slam down on those pedals. Shame the inclines would not even register on most riders vision as a slope at all.

I wonder if I will ride with an I Pod in the Etape – its going to be a long 12 hours ad it might break up some of the monotony on the inclines. Not a very sociable thing to do I guess and God knows it blocks out sound so there is a significant risk that I won’t hear my fellow riders as they seek to wend their merry way past my back wheel.

I also found that my desire to sing along with Bernard Fanning at full tilt meant I was hoarse by the time I got home. Maybe its not such a good idea after all.

Not sure exactly how far today – my guess is around 12 miles.

Have managed to get three runs in this week – so that’s another 15 miles under the belt. Every little bit helps.

Training Ride Five

2007-10-03T13:02:00.000-07:00

Training Ride Five
Not much to report – the Welford loop once more. Still have not got those gloves – had to put my hands under the tap for 10 minutes when I got home to get some feeling back.

Training Ride Four

2007-10-03T12:59:00.000-07:00

Bright blue sky this morning is glorious. Jenny has joined us this morning for a little last minute preparation for the weekends triathlon. The cold was murder on my hands, so a pair of gloves has to be the next acquisition.

Jenny rightly pointed out that if I continue trying to ride up hills in a big gear whilst standing up, I am going to end up with weight lifter’s thighs and have the power not the stamina to climb hills. Best start riding smart.

16 miles again!

Training Ride Three

2007-10-03T12:56:00.000-07:00

Welford loop in reverse, less cross winds but the cold and lack of light are not my friends. Added to which Andrew has had the temerity to go out over the weekend on two rides with his brother. Clearly not fair. I am destined to spend only the shortest time in his company during the Etape.

Another 16 miles.
A couple of runs this week – so chalk up a further 10 miles fitness

Training Ride Two

2007-10-03T12:55:00.001-07:00

First early morning ride, this time the Welford loop, so only one small and gradual hill to circumnavigate this time. If only the tectonic plates were quite this inactive in France – the race would be a doddle.

Mind you it was my first day on the bike with any form of cross wind and it’s clear that no matter what you do riding into the wind is hard yakka and is going to be my most hated of training conditions.

Clearly my greatest asset and disadvantage remains my weight. 95 kgs is still too much to be hauling up a hill, but its great fun of the way down.

16 miles completed today.

Training Ride One

2007-10-03T12:53:00.000-07:00

I put in a perfect pre first training ride preparation watching the South Africa v England rugby world cup around at David Lees house. A balanced intake of sausages and mash, runny cheese and cake, washed down with multiple beers, a bottle of red and a visit to the pub for a few pints of Guinness and half a packet of cigarettes. Returned home to find Elizabeth and Tina still up and found myself having a further three glasses of red to make sure I had properly done a number on myself.

Strangely enough I awoke at 6.30am to the dulcet tones of Harry, feeling less than refreshed. After choking down a few panadol and drinking copious amounts of water all morning, I began to think the challenge of my first ride was not beyond me. Mind you, the reaction I received from Tina and Liz when I had put on my new riding kit was not one of wholesome support, not unless they were laughing at something other than me, clad top to toe in body hugging lycra. I began to fear that my new found confidence might be misplaced.

Determined to ignore their taunts I went for a quick ride around the block to accustom myself to riding in proper bike pedals and of equal importance to remind myself of the mechanics of a bike. This presented two problems – first of all it took me at least five minutes to get my feet into my new pedals, which I only prayed was a practice issue. More worryingly I couldn’t work out how to change down the gears and was faced with the prospect of having to admit my complete riding incompetence to Andrew even before we set off.

Once Andrew arrived and I confessed my ignorance in the use of the new gears, he provided a quick tutorial, which made blinding sense and we set off with the giggles of Liz and Tina ringing in my ears. Obviously Andrew was not convinced I was going to survive the gentle first ride and he decided to take me around the block first, which was a good idea as it enabled me to sort out gear changing and adjust my seat to the right height before we set off on the ride proper.

The route for the day was a loop from Pebworth to Chipping Campden and back. All seemed to go reasonably well for the first 30 minutes as we travelled along a series of gentle inclines and descents enabling me to get a feel for the bike and assess how much puff I had that day. Unfortunately I was soon to realise that Andrew was a master of the understatement as he told me to take a left up a very unassuming road, which somewhat worryingly appeared to disappear up a hill. As soon as we reached the first part of the incline Andrew drifted past me, chatting quite happily and oblivious to the look of consternation and concern on my face, informing me glibly that I shouldn’t worry as it flattens out at the top. He singularly failed to tell old fat boy that there was another kilometre to the top and a 12% incline in between. Rest assured, 12% may not seem a lot to non riders, but to a novice who was just reacquainting himself with a trusty treadly, it looked as steep as the north face of K1. As I watched aghast as Andrew remained seated and disappeared in front of me as if he was riding on the flat – no unnecessary energy expended and keeping everything neat and tidy. Behind him my breaths were coming in ever erratic gasps and the concept of remaining similarly seated to Andrew was a forlorn one. I quickly gave up trying and stood up and vainly started pedalling up this mountainous of slopes. Sadly even going to such lengths was no guarantee of achieving the required go forward and my progress gradually became more of a weave, than a ride. Despite all efforts to resist the temptation to stop, my progress had almost ground to a halt and my breathing was all over the shop, so with a despairing grunt I conceded defeat on my first climb and walked the remaining 250m to the top of the steepest part of the incline where I found Andrew waiting patiently and probably with a look of exasperation that he had picked such a lemon of a training partner, although to be fair I was too stuffed to notice.

The remainder of the ride was less stressful and involved a few very enjoyable descents – clearly my favoured direction on a bike. By the time we made it back to home we had covered 25 miles and I had already begun to forget the horrors of the hill and start seeing it as an excellent training opportunity. How wrong am I?

Sponsorship

2007-10-03T12:52:00.002-07:00

Clearly I should be doing this for a cause, not sure which one yet. The heart strings say the heart foundation in memory of the old man, but I really liked being involved with the Starlight Foundation back home, so will look that up and see what they do locally. Maybe I could ride the race in a Captain Starlight suit?

More Kit

2007-10-03T12:52:00.001-07:00

The winter weather is going to kill me – I must invest in a Turbo Trainer soon and get inside
Can’t stop ogling at bikes on the internet – what I would give for a carbon framed monster.

How I Got Involved

2007-10-03T12:51:00.001-07:00

Like most things in life how I became involved in the Etape was a mixture of self inflicted braggadocio and interest in challenging my aging bones to one last adventure before more sedate pursuits took precedence. Andrew was the father of one of kids at our local school and we are at Ian Bolger’s house, enjoying a fantastic afternoon late lunch, celebrating our wives completing their first Stratford triathlon. Andrew and I got talking about sport as blokes do and started telling me about his passion for riding bikes. This logically led on to me discussing my time on a bike and recounting a few stories about the triathlons I had completed. I think I may have been a little hazy on dates, in fact I think I may have failed to mention dates at all, which was a good and bad thing as my bike riding exploits were circa 1990. And yes a lot of beer had travelled under the bridge since then. During the course of our discussion Andrew gave me a run down of the Etape, which sounded fascinating but for someone like me participating in the next fun triathlon seemed to be the next realistic challenge. We parted company, a friendship formed based on a common interest in sport.

It was not until the following week when Elizabeth and then a fellow Pebworthian, Jenny Hoskins, said that Andrew had talked about getting me to do the Etape with him that I started worrying about exactly what I had said the previous Sunday. Did I have more of the personality juice on board than I remembered? What was more worrying was Elizabeth was actively encouraging me to do it.

Eventually it dawned on me that this was more than just an excuse to get fit and the event itself would be something that would stay with me for years to come. After a few more chats with Andrew and the offer of a free training bike, I had the motivation and the means to commence my journey and decided it was time to commit myself to this odyssey.

Clothing Adventure

2007-10-03T12:50:00.000-07:00

If I wasn’t going to get the bike, I could at least look the part, so it was off to Evans Cycles to get myself some biking clobber. The young punter who served me was very polite and helpful until I felt the need to start my usual verbal down load, filling him in with all sorts of unnecessary detail, before finally confessing slightly furtively that I had been convinced to take place in the 2008 Etape. Rather than the response I hoped for, ‘that’s great Ben, I really want to do that, it would be a great challenge’, I was met with a polite, non-committal smile, as I felt a heavy cloud of condescension enveloping our previous bond of bonhomie. It was clear that I was not the first customer on the wrong side of 40 to come into his shop and get kitted up for the Etape. Clearly many of these didn’t get far beyond buying some new outfits and taking a few wobbly training rides around the hills of Bristol and as such were not genuine riders in his eyes. Our relationship quickly became one purely based on the commercial transaction.

The first item to purchase was shoes. Having being unusually organised by my normal standards I had googled Evans website before I arrived and identified the shoes I was after based on shape (I have very broad feet) and cost. Funnily enough they didn’t have any of the shoes I was after in stock, but they could be couriered down in 5 days. An impatient consumer at the best of times I knew I couldn’t wait that long so I invited him to bring me some shoes of comparable quality. He returned with three sets of shoes, Nike, Specialised and Shimano. Who wrote the first law of retailing that the when give a choice of products the one that appeals most will always be the most expensive? A very clever draftsman nonetheless. You guessed it, I went for the Shimano option, convincing myself it was because of the fit – didn’t want my heel coming out of the shoes as I toiled up and down the Cols in France. But the little retail devil sitting on my shoulder knew the truth. It was the cool little strap on the shoe that let me ratchet the shoe tight and the fact that they were silver that sealed the deal.

Next it was onto shorts and shirts. Shorts were relatively straightforward. Sadly they yet again failed to have in stock my chosen make, but never fear they had my secondary options. I retired to the change room to model the various options. Upon putting on the first couple of pairs I decided that I must need to go for medium rather than large as they all seemed to have this non lycra hem around the bottom of the short which didn’t hug my legs like the rest of the short. Having dropped down a size it sadly dawned on me that the problem lay not with the shorts, but with their occupant. Having gradually reduced my sporting activities to a couple of gentle runs per week and the occasional game of golf, I had begun morphing into my father and was developing chicken legitis. This wasn’t as dispiriting as it first sounds as I know from my previous time on a bike that I have a propensity to develop weight lifter thighs, so I knew I could fit into this make of shorts in the foreseeable future, but for the time being I decided to change make and go for a shorter short and avoid looking like Big Bird in training shorts.

Now it was onto the shirts – or to use proper biking terminology – jerseys. By this stage I was beginning to get little hot, with all this changing in a confined space, and being one to break into a sweat with the slightest of provocation, the concept of pulling on tight fitting lycra jerseys was starting to lose appeal. One look at the colourful jerseys on display wiped any such doubts out of my mind and it was off to consume once more. I decided the blue back colour combination was the most understated yet cool of the options and grabbed myself a jersey to try on. I returned to the changing stall and took off my shirt, being careful to suck in my stomach and look straight at the mirror, as the side on shot put my man boobs into too much relief. On with the shirt then. I knew I was in trouble early as I struggled to pull it down over my chest, getting hotter and sweatier with every grunt and strain, but medium was my size and I was not about to admit defeat just yet. Eventually I had tugged the shirt to somewhere approximating my waste and turned to face the mirror and take on the next challenge of doing the zip up that ran from my navel to my neck. Given the two sides of the zip were at 45 degrees to one another I was faced with a task much akin to packing a suitcase for the family summer holiday – how do I close a zip on such an overstuffed body? Not to be deterred I sucked everything and with a few very firm tugs managed to get the zip from my navel to my neck. Hot, sweaty and puffing more that I care to admit I was nonetheless satisfied with my exertions and turned to view the outcome in the mirror. What I saw horrified me. I resembled a bike riding version of the gay welsh character out of Little Britain. The lycra fabric hugged in all the wrong places and worryingly made my man boobs look quite pert, whilst highlighting my well earned love handles. Furthermore all my exertions had made me puce in the face. This would not do, it was off with the jersey and up two sizes to Extra Large. There lies the rub. What was hard to get on, became immeasurably harder to get off once I had got all hot and flustered. Having tugged down the zip and released myself from the corset like constraints of the jersey, I had managed to get the top to somewhere near my shoulder region. Sadly that is where it remained for the next five minutes as I struggled around trying to get it over my head. What the staff thought God only knows, but the muffled expletives, grunts and groans emanating from the change room, with the occasional random limb appearing from behind the curtain must have presented quite a sight. After much grappling and showing little respect for the fabric of the brand new jersey I finally managed to pull the offending item of clothing over my head and cast it down in disgust to the floor, at which stage I had to spend a couple of minutes sitting on the chair to regain my composure before I re-entered the shop floor pretending that I had not just battled with a mythical changing room octopus. I pity the punter who next tries on that particular jersey. I can guarantee, regardless of what non man made fibres it contains, it will not have retained its original shape.

Having regained some of my composure I exited the cubicle, leaving the offending jersey battered and defeated on the floor and calmly took an Extra Large jersey from the rack and proceed to the check out, where my original budget of £100 had been miraculously blow by £100. Departing the shop I was confident I would now look the part, even if I couldn’t ride to save myself.

The Bike

2007-10-03T12:49:00.000-07:00

Like all boys once the seed of an idea had been planted in my mind it gradually germinated into an idea and evolved eventually into a commitment. Once I had worked through those evolutions the next focus became equipment and I challenge any bloke who says that once they decide on a new venture, then it justifies throwing as much money as possible at it. I am no different and once I had a rough idea of the specifications for the type of bike I would need it was onto the internet to start googling the alternatives. For some reason I had the figure of £500 pounds in my head, even though Andrew had already done some research for me I found what he called pretty good bikes at around the £1000 mark.

It quickly became apparent that I had no idea what I was looking for and it took a number of conversations with an increasingly exasperated Andrew to finally get a picture of what things to look for. Funnily enough none of the options seemed to come in at the budget figure I had in mind and I became disheartened that I would not be able to take part in the Etape with a shiny new machine. However, given I was still wavering about whether or not I would be prepared to commit to the training required to make participation worthwhile, it was beginning to present itself as a viable excuse for not taking on the challenge. Fortunately for me, Andrew then remembered that he had his old training bike, a Harry Hall Special (an ironic name for a bike for all those Adelaidians reading this blob, especially as the bike is built around the concept of slim lines!). So I have taken on the Harry Hall as my chariot and have promised myself if I am still pedalling next April when my first bonus cheque should arrive, then I will invest in a new machine then when I know participation is guaranteed and the investment is justified.

A Very Funny Summary of 2007

2007-09-25T02:41:00.000-07:00

SaturdayCatch the plane and meet a few eager beaver cyclists on the flight. "Are you doing the etape?" Exchanged stories about training schedules, which were a lot of words from them (Tour of Wessex, flew out to do the Pyrenees pre race, are you really 93kg?! etc. etc.). And from us? Well, we did about 15 rides around the infamous "Surrey legs of steel" circuit. Heard of it? No, thought not...
SundayHave to cycle 20k from lodgings to registration point. First time I've been on a bike in a month. Tried to adjust odometer sensor 500m in and it gets caught in the spokes. Fall off bike. Chase the "peleton" and find that once caught I'm knackered keeping up. The rest of the team can't even feel it. Oops, this isn't good...
Thankfully on the way to overnight bike storage, worked out that I was using an inefficient gear… Riding wasn't so difficult. But annoyingly, we're told that overnight storage is 10k from the start. How do you think we are supposed to get from there to the start tomorrow? You've guessed it. 199k challenge for the day becomes 209k. Excellent.
Win the eating pasta competition in the evening. Sipping fluids all evening then go to bed. Can't sleep, but that's a good thing - I'm visiting the loo every few minutes.
The stageA 199k stage with 53k climbing over 5 mountains (3.5k gross vertical ascent) - 8,500 entries had dwindled to 7,000 starters, by all accounts because a lot of the amateurs think this year is just too damned difficult.
http://www.letapedutour.com/2007/ETDT/presentation/fr/parcours.htm Monday7a.m. We're off! 6 minutes to cross the starting line and we're into the stage proper. Saddle bag stuffed with gels, water bottles full, spirits high. Hoorah!
First 16k on the flatAll looking good - working the big gear and for the first time enjoy haring down a motorway on a bike. Bring on the mountain!
11.4k ascent (at 5.3%) of the Col de Port (category 2 climb)Well, here's my first real ascent, yes, even longer than Surrey's Ranmore Hill (2k). The big boys (well, make that actually very light boys, but on very expensive bikes) are screaming past and have leg definition like not previously seen. Still, a few of the poor b@st@rds have punctures so get past a few of them (Nelson laugh). Bad karma however, and immediately overtaken by a flurry of women and geriatrics. Have had bigger morale boosts...
Manage to make the ascent in a little over an hour and feeling fine. Time for first descent. 2nd bend on the way down and the marshals are doing some good windmill action. Some poor guy is holding his head in the middle of the road. Salutary reminder not to get too clever.
A few more bends down see a dog (maybe the same one that took someone out of the peleton proper the other day). Lot of shouting of "chien" - 3rd year French comes flooding back… I thought it would be funny to shout "cheval!"
Quite a long run in to the first food stop and manage to get on the back of a peleton that's got a head of steam. Interesting dilemma - work a little harder than you think you should, to get the benefit of some serious slipstreaming (and hence time), or conserve energy? Reckon the speed comparison was 27mph to 18. Wind resistance (or avoidance of) is what the sport's all about so go with the peleton and make some great time.
Arrive at Revitaillement 1 to wolf some coconut / oat cakes and take on some water. Rejoin Pete and Andy who had gone ahead on the first climb.
Bit on the flat to hill 2Andy / Pete put on a good turn of pace leaving Rev 1. Too much for me in fact. Heart rate's at 170, so drop back. Now I'm effing lonely. The various peletons flying past are just too quick to latch onto, and I'm in no man's land in the frickin' wind and inefficiently burning precious energy. Eventually draft some frog for 45 minutes before he gets properly p1ssed off with me (when he slowed I slowed - in hindsight I think it was a cue to take a turn in front).
Get to the base of hill 2. 5.7k ascent (at 6.9%) of the Col de Portet D'aspie (category 2 climb)Can't remember a single thing about this hill. Can't have been that bad. 7k ascent (at 8.1%) of the Col de Mente (category 1 climb)Sadly the sun comes out - we have had 7 to 11a.m with lovely cloud cover but now it's over and conditions are testing. See Andy taking water 100 yards ahead and join him for the last 3k of a pretty tough ascent. Take a wobble getting of the bike (ahh) at the top as Revitaillement 2 makes a welcome appearance. Try to eat some more coconut / oatcakes but they now physically repulse me. Only thing I can stomach are bananas and jelly cubes. Take 3 bananas in double quick time and remount for the descent.
Flat en route to climb 4Mentally just thinking "2 hills to go" but the flat seems to stretch out interminably and there's a strong headwind. No-one's out on their own now and the esprit de corps seems to have vanished from the peleton. No bashfulness up front in suggesting it's someone else's turn. I stay safely out of sight at the back and thankfully have Andy for a bit of company (he's also another 14/15 stoner and is quite nice to pedal behind!) Notice the frog I drafted 2/3 hours ago - couldn't resist jumping off Andy's and onto his wheel, just until he noticed me.
See Andy's bird at the foot of climb 4 and he stops for a chat. Apparently a guy with one leg was seen only a few minutes behind us at this point...
19k ascent (at 6.2%) of the Port de Bales (out of category (i.e. difficult) climb)Now I was rather done in by climb 3 - mentally was thinking that while climb 4 is twice as long as 3, at least the average gradient was 2% less. Sadly it's not an "out of category" for nothing. The first 7k were at 2/3% with bits at 0%. This was fine. Sadly however, 1st form maths tells you that means the average for the final 12k on this ascent therefore had to be much higher. And 1k into the last 12 the legs stopped turning. Dead. Genuinely thought the dream was over. 11k to the summit, and a 10k mountain after that, and the legs were well and truly shot. You could say a low point. Looking around though, could see some clowns walking their bikes up, so decided to do the same while contemplating life and a course of action. And then met some top Welsh blokes (up until that day an oxymoron!) who recommended doing it in bite sized chunks, so remounted on a shallower section and managed another k. Walk a hundred metres, ride a few hundred metres. And so on. The kilometres ticked by, those with average 10.5% were less enjoyable than those at 7.5% but made it to the top (and revitaillement 3) in 2 and a half hours. Tired, but thankfully, unlike some others, had yet to throw up.
Allowed gravity take the bike back down to earth and went in a demented search for bananas. Knocked back numbers 8, 9 and 10 and took on board 3 for the descent and final climb. There were a lot of broken men taking in the evening sunshine, but one guy lifted spirits when he said the sweeper was 20 minutes behind. "You could walk up Peyresourde and still make it" he ventured. So the objective changed back from finishing, to finishing inside 12 hours (time cut off) and jumped on the bike with renewed vigour.
Starting to get quicker on the descents now as the margins became quite tight. Fly past the lightweights down the mountain (93kg finally having an advantage) and make it to the bottom of Peyresourde...
9.7k ascent (at 7.8%) of the Col de Peyresourde (category 1 climb)I now can not feel my nuts or any other part of my genitalia, or the outside of my palms or the ends of my toes. It is hot, and I welcomed the soaking the girl with the hose offered. Think about showering her face with something from my hose, but back to the work in hand, so to speak. I have 1 hour 20 to get to the finish.
Thankfully there is one quite long and quite steep bit to Peyresourde, so get a lot of walking out of the way in one go. And on y va. Ride, walk, ride etc. Now knew I could get to the finish but could I do it inside 12 hours? Felt sorry for the guys lying flat on their backs under the trees (don't know whether mechanical, physical or mental breakdown) as it must have been soul destroying. Turned up the pace for the final k (that'll be 3mph to 4mph then!) and hit the summit at 11h52 official (11:46 from crossing line). Just the final descent! If I could average 40mph (hmm?) could do a sub 12h official time, but 25mph gets me inside 12 hours from the start line...
Coming home!Safe to say the descent was quick. Couple of hairy late braking moments but all fine. Heart breaking moment at the bottom, when look up and see a few cyclists 20m higher than me (is there a mini climb?), but thankfully it's just a small ramp. Hare it over the line (clock at 12h 3m, start to finish 11h57), then some quivering bottom lip as given finisher's medal and shaken warmly by the hand.
And now for the bad news. While times are adjusted for the time it takes from the gun to crossing the starting line (to prevent jostling / risk taking at the start), this only applies to persons finishing inside an official time of 12 hours. For some reason 1m 6 seconds latitude was given (to Bruce Mackie), but that was not sufficient for me, so you won't see me in the annals. Shame but I'm quite sanguine about it. Right! Now planning the firebombing of Mondevelo's headquarters!
4357 official finishers - I'd unofficially be 20 or so behind. As for the others, Pete did 10:55 and Bruce 11:20. Andy was swept 3k from the final summit, poor s0d. He appreciated the irony in only seeing septuagenarians upon being loaded onto "the wagon". Not brave enough to ask if he was exaggerating.
And as for the nuts? Well, full sensation happily returned in 2 days. Too late for any finishing celebration and, interestingly enough, about the same time I stopped cr@pping banana sludge

An Introduction

2007-09-25T02:25:00.000-07:00

Having decided to take on the challenge of the 2008 Etape, I promised myself that I would keep a blog to record my trials and tribulations. One and a half weeks into my training with the whippet - Andrew Wright - I have got myself sorted and will start blogging consistently and keep you all abreast