COLS CLIMBED: Col du Glandon at 1924 metres and Col de la Croix de Fer at 2067 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 173 km's
Average: 23.1 km/h
Climbing: 2422 metres
Descending: 3550 metres
Riding time: 7hr 30min
Temp Min: 6 degrees (Top of Col de la Croix de Fer)
Temp Max: 15 degrees
Number of punctures by Daniel Salter: 19
Number of falls by Daniel Salter: 1 (Low speed and back up in the blink of an eye)
Number of times riders paid out on Daniel Salter for puncturing so frequently: Infinite
Number of times Daniel Salter got a fright over dinner when the hiss of opening a bottle of coke sounded like a puncture: 1 and that would be tonight.
Number of Smiddy riders that can fit in a one-person-phone-box while waiting for yet another Salty puncture to be repaired: 5
Number of times I have paid out on Salty in tonights blog: Coincidentally that would be 5.
Number of times JJ gets up at 3:30am precisely to use the loo before anyone else: 5
Number of Smiddy riders who left their overnight bag at Alp D'Huez, meaning Graeme making a trip back up there to retrieve it? 1 and I believe it was Marky De"Angelis.
Number of loads of washing done when the riders finished due to everything they own being wet from a day in the rain; 15
Number of falls today? 2, First Jimmy, who stopped to help Rowan (who dropped his water bottle) to get back to the peloton and slid out on a slippery roundabout. And Salty of course, when he side-swiped a gutter at low speed, which resulted in a puncture for something different.
For tonights blog I am getting straight into my top list, it is late, I am tired and I think this will capture the day just as well as anything else I write. Hope you enjoy.
Sharky's top observations from a very wet and cold day in the French Alps today:
. The rain started to fall from the time we descended down Alp D'Huez and did not let up for the entire day. We rolled out dressed in our winter gear at 7:50am and finished in our winter gear at 6:50pm.
. The only time I have seen a group of 16 riders do a 28 kilometre climb decked out in all their winter gear, plus rain jackets and still complaining about being cold.
. I have to keep reminding myself that it is actually summer here in the French Alps. I have never been so cold in my life while riding in summer weather.
. So many times in the past seven years have I witnessed Smiddy riders and their determination to get the job done. Today was one of those days. It would have been so easy just to say bugger climbing a col that goes up to 2067 metres in the sleeting body numbing icy frigid conditions. Instead we all stuck to the plan, suffered like a dog with no hind legs and got on with the job at hand. But boy did we suffer - See my next observation.
. The climb up the Col de la Croix de Fer is as tough as they come with pitches from 6% to 15% gradient. The first five unrelenting kilometres averages out at 10%. Then you descend for a couple of kilometres before you hit this virtual wall that rises up, an up, as far as the eye can see. It crushes the spirit if you let it, the legs burn so bad that to turn each pedal stroke is torture and your lungs are screaming out with every stroke to bloody well stop this stupid nonsense! Now on a good day, when it is warm and the blood is actually getting to your legs, it is a slow torture. Now throw in a day where the wind chill factor brings the temperature down to a couple of degrees and this is what happens. The blood is going to those parts of your body where it is needed most, namely the heart, the respiratory system and a small portion is left for those pathetic chicken wing legs we were born with. As for the feet, the hands, your gorgeous face and your private parts, it is as if they fail to exist. No blood means massive shrinkage and pain bordering on frostbite proportions. But besides that we had nothing to complain about!
. As each rider made it to the top, Rowan and JJ had another battle royal for the King of the Mountain with JJ just missing out again, only this time by less than 100 metres. Both of these guys are in no way competitive but boy they sure like showing one another how non-competitive they are by smashing each other into the next universe. I think Marky, Mikey and Jimmy were next, followed by Neil and Graham. Over a two hour period we all finished immensely proud of ourselves for the effort required to get to the top. Graeme, who was driving the van, did an awesome job getting each rider to strip out of their kit, put their dry kit on and civvies over the top and get them in the one and only cafe that is situated exactly on top of the Col to stay warm until all had crossed the line.
. The entire past four days I have been telling the lads just wait until you see the view from the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer. World class, best in the galaxy, very pretty, majestic, that sort of thing. What they got to see was a blanket of thick fog!
. The descent back down the way we had just climbed would normally be a time for celebration for those that like descending. But even Jimmy, Neil, Mark Anthony, Ad's and myself were dreading it. The roads were saturated with running sheets of water at various points and mini rock slides spew rocks and debri out onto the roads. On the way up I would stop and throw any rocks that had fallen onto the road off to the side, as I knew we were coming back down the same way. The entire down section was clear, yet by the time we descended an hour later there was crap all over the road yet again. It scared me to think that if you are in the wrong place at the wrong time when they come tumbling down then it is lights out! But I am so extremely pleased to say that all arrived in one piece, but the skinny amongst us, including your's truly, were a uncontrollable shivering mess. We then had a further 40 kilometres of descending down towards Grenoble to get through in the unrelenting rain and not once, not ever, did I and quite a few others, ever feel a whisper of warmth in our flesh.
. Today once we got down the majority of the descents the priority was to keep moving as fast as possible but without burning anyone. To ride too slow meant the coldness would creep back in. Every stop for a traffic light, for the one puncture suffered by none other than Salty, for a call of nature stop, was enough to start shivering as we were all wet to the skin. I had four layers on and I was soaked from the bottom layer to the top and no matter what the pace was I just could not stop shivering. Anyway the team pulled together as they do in situations like this and I really need to make mention of the huge amount of work done by Ad's, Jimmy and Rowan in putting a hand on the back of Mark Anthony and Smythey and helping them to stay with the group on any of the many climbs to get home. Mark was once again lost for words when he was telling me how much he appreciated their help, as I know Smythey was as well.
. The buzz that went though the group when Neil and Eric turned us onto the road that we knew meant five kilometres to home, was like a jolt of electricity connecting us all to each other's life-force. The pace picked up, spirits lifted considerably and we rode that last section faster than any other of the 173 kilometres that we covered on this toughest of tough days.
. The day for the Smiddy huddle honour was passed over to Eric, who has earned his Aussie monica as 'Uncle Eric', due to his caring nature towards the other riders. Anyway old Unc, at 46 years of age, delivered a bottler of a speech that was welcomed by all the lads. We especially roared with laughter when he commented; "Boys I would go to a strip club with anyone of you!" In Australia speak we would have said; "go to war", but I guess that is how it is done in the States...
. Row read out the excellent blog that he wrote on the Alp D'Huez day and of course the lads all laughed long and hard at the mention he made with regards to my new love in Alyssa.
. One very important thing Row left out of yesterday blog was the 'Shark Attack and Hide Project'. It was successful on day two last year in the Pyrenees', and once again I caught them unaware when at the base of Alp D'Huez I pushed off ahead of the group by a scant 60 seconds, and before even getting to the first part of the climb, hid in the garden of a house, watch the Smiddy peloton float by, then started the climb in last place, which is pretty much where I stayed. Actually I caught Boof and we rode together for 16 switchbacks. Anyway Rowan and JJ were chasing me down but Row said he finally realised half way up the climb that I had done it again. Done deal! Will they fall for it when we run the next tour in Italy in 2015?
. Tonight was pizza night and Eric made his secret recipe of spicy garlic bread that he will not share with anyone unless we accompany him to a strip club. Which translates to that we must ride with him for just one more day -as in going to war- and then all will be revealed. Please cast your mind back to the first tour and do you remember the day we climbed a 14 kilometre wall that I nicknamed 'The Nothing'? Well that is our final day and I am not sure it is worth doing in exchange for a stupid recipe...
Well that is all from me. I am bone dead tired, it is now 11:30pm and my eyes feel as if someone has squirted them with vinegar. I would like to say a huge thank you to Marky Anthony for looking after me, not only tonight, but each night he has done something to help me out. He knows these blogs take me a few hours and has kindly not only done my washing and hung it out, but has made me a cup of tea. It has been an immense pleasure sharing a room with him. Not sure he will say the same of me due to 1. I talk in my sleep. 2. I have been known to pass -only on the odd occasion- a tiny tad of wind from my bottom. and 3. I keep him awake as I tap, tap, tap on this keypad with the light on until midnight. Sorry champ!
Anyway final words from me are I just wish that you could have seen what these lads did today. The guts and determination they displayed was legendary. They not only did themselves proud, but let me assure you they have earned every single solitary donor dollar anyone out there has donated on their behalf. My oh my they did good today and Rowan, Matt and I could not be prouder of their efforts!
Take care my friends.
Sharky
Saturday 29 June 2013
Friday 28 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS - ALP D'HUEZ DAY
COLS CLIMBED: Col de la Placette at 588 metres and Alp D'Huez at 1850 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 120 km's
Average: 20.1 km/h
Climbing: 2495 metres
Riding time: 5hr 58min
Temp Min: 10 degrees
Temp Max: 24 degrees
Here I am sitting atop of Alpe-D'Huez, a few hours after we crested one of the most famous mountains in France. Sharky has asked me to write my first blog in more than seven years - why he couldn't ask me during last month's Midi Smiddy I'll never know. But the Shark has done such a great job keeping our supporters and donors updated on Smiddy's travels in France I can't help feel like he deserves a break from typing to the wee hours of the morning. If it gives him just a few more hours to dream of the new lady in his life I'll feel like I've played my part in a blossoming relationship.
I must thank Mick Harris for ditching co-author duties this evening. The big man was asked to join me in tonights blog but he so politely declined pointing out Seinfeld was only written by one man. Mick, I googled it and Seinfeld was co-authored by Larry David - shame on you.
The lads woke this morning with serious excitement. Today would be our queen stage - Alpe D'Huez. It's a climb on top of every cyclists bucket list. Steeped in legend, it has been a regular stage finish in the Tour de France since 1976. 13.8km at an average gradient of 7.9%. 21 hairpins named after every Tour de France stage winner. I was tingling just thinking about it.
As I looked across the breakfast table Jimmy was forlorn. What's wrong I asked. 'Hilltop finish' he replied. He had to repeat it a few times so I could understand his Scottish accent but finally I realised his disappointment. There would be no descent to reward todays climb to Alpe D'Huez. He was a broken man even before we started.
As we mingled on the lawn prior to departure I took a moment to take in the feeling in the group. Every Smiddy ride is an amazing experience. This is no different - forging new friendships, strengthening old ones and for some lucky ones, the bond of brotherhood grows stronger.
Some riders are new to the sport, others with decades in their legs but the camaraderie is always a special thing. Mick Harris was on the lawn talking big - he would take himself to a new level of purgatory on the famed slopes of Alpe DHuez. Dan Salter was trying to puncture proof his wheels - 3 punctures in 2 days was not a bad start. There was plenty of encouraging words for the big day ahead. Graeme and Neil would be our leaders in the peloton today - Eric the Eel was driving the sag wagon. The man from Alabama would be missed.
As we rolled out today I thought a lot about young Declan Hegarty - we'd only just heard the news of his passing and I wanted to dedicate my ride today to this champion young man. It's the stories like Ducks and the personal stories of the 1000+ Smiddy riders we've had through our annual events that inspire us to keep the pedals turning. To this group I tip my cap - close to $100K raised for cancer research - amazing effort!
The banter was high over the early k's as we knew the road took us to Alpe DHuez. The temperatures have been brisk every morning and it's never long before the call for a pee stop goes out - mostly from JJ who has the bladder of a 60 year old man.
We knocked over the early ks with ease and I must acknowledge the bike handling skills of one Shark and Jimmy on the descent of Col de la Placette - one keen driver thought to play chicken with the boys whilst overtaking another vehicle. Scary stuff but good skills to stay upright men.
It has to be said Sharky appears to be missing his new love interest - he speaks of her so glowingly. Each day as the scenery and landscape amazes us Sharky can be heard throughout the peloton like a homesick puppy saying 'I wish Alyssa was here to see this' or 'the only thing that could improve this right now is being on a tandem bike with Alyssa'. Sharky its a pleasure to see you so happy.
The road to the start of the Alpe DHuez climb was a long, hard uphill slog - I dont know how these pro cyclist ride like they do. Dan Salter got his 9th puncture for the tour and the boys appreciated the rest stop. Our fearless leader Graeme was clearly not impressed and duly time trialled the remaining riders to the base of Alpe DHuez sitting on 45k+ for the 10km stretch.
After a short break to strip off clothing and load up on nutrition the climb was on! The peloton was split immediately as riders made their climbing strategy known immediately. Graeme quickly disappeared up the road to a new PB. Behind, the battle for survival was on and each and everyone of us settled into a rhythm.
For me there wasn't a pedal stroke over those 14ks I didn't think of Declan and his family. Everytime I felt like backing off or stopping I thought of Duck. He had no choice but to fight like hell through his treatment. I thought of his dad Marty, mum Dallas and uncle Tony - all friendships forged through Smiddy. I couldn't imagine their grief right now. It sure put the pain of the climb into perspective.
One by one as we crested these famed slopes we celebrated each others achievement. Our last man across the line was Mark Anthony. He deserved a special cheer - it has been a long held dream to ride Alpe DHuez and today he did it. He got a hug from every man in the peloton and we were so proud to see him get there.
As the sun set over Alpe DHuez we toasted a great day's ride. Someone told me once to celebrate the milestones in life and I felt this was a good one to put on life's timeline. The day couldn't have been done in better company and I look forward to another day in the saddle with this great group of people.
Thanks for your wonderful support for our journey and you'll have Sharky back on duty tomorrow night. See you for my next blog in another seven years.
Row
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 120 km's
Average: 20.1 km/h
Climbing: 2495 metres
Riding time: 5hr 58min
Temp Min: 10 degrees
Temp Max: 24 degrees
Here I am sitting atop of Alpe-D'Huez, a few hours after we crested one of the most famous mountains in France. Sharky has asked me to write my first blog in more than seven years - why he couldn't ask me during last month's Midi Smiddy I'll never know. But the Shark has done such a great job keeping our supporters and donors updated on Smiddy's travels in France I can't help feel like he deserves a break from typing to the wee hours of the morning. If it gives him just a few more hours to dream of the new lady in his life I'll feel like I've played my part in a blossoming relationship.
I must thank Mick Harris for ditching co-author duties this evening. The big man was asked to join me in tonights blog but he so politely declined pointing out Seinfeld was only written by one man. Mick, I googled it and Seinfeld was co-authored by Larry David - shame on you.
The lads woke this morning with serious excitement. Today would be our queen stage - Alpe D'Huez. It's a climb on top of every cyclists bucket list. Steeped in legend, it has been a regular stage finish in the Tour de France since 1976. 13.8km at an average gradient of 7.9%. 21 hairpins named after every Tour de France stage winner. I was tingling just thinking about it.
As I looked across the breakfast table Jimmy was forlorn. What's wrong I asked. 'Hilltop finish' he replied. He had to repeat it a few times so I could understand his Scottish accent but finally I realised his disappointment. There would be no descent to reward todays climb to Alpe D'Huez. He was a broken man even before we started.
As we mingled on the lawn prior to departure I took a moment to take in the feeling in the group. Every Smiddy ride is an amazing experience. This is no different - forging new friendships, strengthening old ones and for some lucky ones, the bond of brotherhood grows stronger.
Some riders are new to the sport, others with decades in their legs but the camaraderie is always a special thing. Mick Harris was on the lawn talking big - he would take himself to a new level of purgatory on the famed slopes of Alpe DHuez. Dan Salter was trying to puncture proof his wheels - 3 punctures in 2 days was not a bad start. There was plenty of encouraging words for the big day ahead. Graeme and Neil would be our leaders in the peloton today - Eric the Eel was driving the sag wagon. The man from Alabama would be missed.
As we rolled out today I thought a lot about young Declan Hegarty - we'd only just heard the news of his passing and I wanted to dedicate my ride today to this champion young man. It's the stories like Ducks and the personal stories of the 1000+ Smiddy riders we've had through our annual events that inspire us to keep the pedals turning. To this group I tip my cap - close to $100K raised for cancer research - amazing effort!
The banter was high over the early k's as we knew the road took us to Alpe DHuez. The temperatures have been brisk every morning and it's never long before the call for a pee stop goes out - mostly from JJ who has the bladder of a 60 year old man.
We knocked over the early ks with ease and I must acknowledge the bike handling skills of one Shark and Jimmy on the descent of Col de la Placette - one keen driver thought to play chicken with the boys whilst overtaking another vehicle. Scary stuff but good skills to stay upright men.
It has to be said Sharky appears to be missing his new love interest - he speaks of her so glowingly. Each day as the scenery and landscape amazes us Sharky can be heard throughout the peloton like a homesick puppy saying 'I wish Alyssa was here to see this' or 'the only thing that could improve this right now is being on a tandem bike with Alyssa'. Sharky its a pleasure to see you so happy.
The road to the start of the Alpe DHuez climb was a long, hard uphill slog - I dont know how these pro cyclist ride like they do. Dan Salter got his 9th puncture for the tour and the boys appreciated the rest stop. Our fearless leader Graeme was clearly not impressed and duly time trialled the remaining riders to the base of Alpe DHuez sitting on 45k+ for the 10km stretch.
After a short break to strip off clothing and load up on nutrition the climb was on! The peloton was split immediately as riders made their climbing strategy known immediately. Graeme quickly disappeared up the road to a new PB. Behind, the battle for survival was on and each and everyone of us settled into a rhythm.
For me there wasn't a pedal stroke over those 14ks I didn't think of Declan and his family. Everytime I felt like backing off or stopping I thought of Duck. He had no choice but to fight like hell through his treatment. I thought of his dad Marty, mum Dallas and uncle Tony - all friendships forged through Smiddy. I couldn't imagine their grief right now. It sure put the pain of the climb into perspective.
One by one as we crested these famed slopes we celebrated each others achievement. Our last man across the line was Mark Anthony. He deserved a special cheer - it has been a long held dream to ride Alpe DHuez and today he did it. He got a hug from every man in the peloton and we were so proud to see him get there.
As the sun set over Alpe DHuez we toasted a great day's ride. Someone told me once to celebrate the milestones in life and I felt this was a good one to put on life's timeline. The day couldn't have been done in better company and I look forward to another day in the saddle with this great group of people.
Thanks for your wonderful support for our journey and you'll have Sharky back on duty tomorrow night. See you for my next blog in another seven years.
Row
Thursday 27 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR - DOING IT FOR DECLAN HEGARTY & COLOMBIER CONQUERED - AGAIN!
COLS CLIMBED: Col Du Colombier at 1501 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:146 km's
Average: 24.8 km/h
Climbing: 2061 metres
Riding time: 5hr 53min
Temp Min: 8 degrees
Temp Max: 26.9 degrees
Declan Duck blog dedication
Today's blog is dedicated to my little mate in Declan 'Duck' Hegarty. Exactly a year ago today, when we were cycling the Pyrenees' in France, I dedicated our day four blog to Declan, who was fighting an extremely rare cancer that attacks the spine. Today Rowan and I received the text message that you hope you will never ever receive. Declan's father, Marty Hegarty, informed us that today his little fighter, Declan Duck, as he was affectionately known by his family and close friends, had passed away. Our little mate was just ten years of age! For me it resurfaces all the old scars of when my mate Adam Smiddy passed away back in 2006, which resulted in the whole Smiddy phenomena being created. I felt angry back then and I feel angry now. I channeled that anger into creating a platform to raise funds for cancer research and I must once again do the same thing here.
Words never seem enough at times like this...
I feel helpless at times like this, what words do you say to grieving parents who have just lost their beautiful son? These parents, Marty and Dallas Hegarty and Marty's brother Tony and his wife Jocelyn Rowan and I know so well. In the past five years these incredible people have helped Smiddy personally raise in excess of $40,000. We are indebted to them and right now there is not one thing we can do to make this right. I know up until Declan passed away his father would read these blogs to his Son, especially the ones were the Duck got a mention and Marty tells me it would always result in a huge smile from the little fella. Once Rowan and I visited Declan in hospital and we presented Dec with a Smiddy jersey signed by all the lads from the NSW Smiddy ride. Declan turned around and gave Smiling for Smiddy and the Mater foundation a cheque for $10,000, which was the proceeds from the charity ride where Marty and Tony did laps of Mt Kootha for 24 hours to raise funds for Smiling for Smiddy and Brain Child. How good is that? Here they were, put in a cruel position where their son was fighting for his life, yet they were still thinking of others! I really don't know what else to say except that to the entire Hegarty family we are all thinking of you at this very moment.
Smiddy bonding amongst the riders a welcome sight
Today was one of those days on the bike where the bonding in the group was at an all time high, mate-ship was at the forefront, riding conditions were perfect and everyone's form seemed to miraculously overnight improve to the level of a European professional! It was such a perfect day and yet somehow, due to receiving the news about Declan on finishing today's stage, did not seem fair that we are entitled to this incredible happiness. Now I know this is silly thinking on my behalf, Marty and Dallas would not want it any other way. But life has a habit of gifting you with incredible highs, then slamming hydrochloric acid down your throat the next day and saying; "there take that you barsted, how dare you be happy!" Well in memory of Adam, Declan and everyone who has ever suffered a loss, never will we let those hydrochloric type days rule our lives. It would be a gross insult to them and their families and our positive attitude in life affects all those around us and that's what we stand for right? Anyway it was such a positive day for the group and it finished with a round of beers at a bar just five-kilometres from home, and then for some, me, a dizzy ride back to our Chateau at St Jean.
Marty Hegarty's email to the riders
Before I get into my top ten highlights for the day I would just like to share this email that Marty Hegarty sent me last year exactly a year ago. Tonight I read this out to this awesome bunch of respectful blokes and then told them the news of Declan's passing. We then had a minutes silence to think about how lucky we are and our thoughts were not only with our own respective families but with Declan's as well.
Hi there Sharky, Rowan and all you guys doing this ride for such a great cause. Thanks for the kind words, thoughts and prayers in your blog, it sure did put a smile on the little guys face. It meant a great deal to us. Declan will fight this with all his strength and everyone's prayers are sure to pull him through. None of us realise the enormity of what you take on when you choose to do a Smiddy Challenge, be it big or small, as I am sure you now all know. None of you who choose to do these rides realise the impact cancer has on us all until you are faced with the epidemic first hand with close friends and family members. But one thing that you are doing and those who have ridden any of the Smiddy Challenges, raised money, baked a cake, washed our riding gear, made our lunches, or volunteered in any way, shape or form for the Smiddy movement, is creating a huge family of support for all of us that have been involved. The money you raise and work you do is working and this might one day save someone very close to you. So keep up the great work and the fight for cures. Stay safe on your journey and help each other out when it gets tough.
Love, thoughts and best wishes to all.
From Declan and the Hegarty family.
Our Smiddy mates are so special
I would just like to finish by saying that tonight Rowan and I are so fortunate to be surrounded by such good people on this tour. Most of the riders from last year remembered the effect that the Declan news had on them, and tonight when we shared the news of Declan's passing, it hit them just as hard as it did Row and I. To all the guys, past and present Smiddy riders in this group, thank you for being so respectful and just for showing that you care. I know I speak on behalf of my mate Rowan when I say we are indeed very lucky to have you guys as our friends.
Sharky's top ten highlights from the day
1. Number one without a doubt was the support shown by the group to Rowan and I after announcing the news about Declan. Thanks guys, words can't describe what it means to have people like you in our lives.
2. Neil, Graeme and Eric, each and every night they cook up this amazing gastronomical delight with enough food to feed a small army. Tonight they outdid themselves when they served up a green and red curry, two types of rice, salad and then washed down with a selection of different flavoured ice-creams. We could not be in better hands then with these three guys. Mark Anthony said to me today; "Sharky you could not have found three better blokes to lead this tour, I am in awe of what they do for us." No arguments there old mate!
3. King of the mountain today was taken out by a Kiwi in our illustrious tour leader Graeme. JJ was second, Row third, Marky fourth and Jimmy fifth, which is exactly the same as yesterday's climb. Right from the get go the big gear grind came out for Graeme and the other contenders were not even remotely interested. Graeme is showing form at the moment that he hopes will see him do his first sub nine-hour time at Roth Challenge in two weeks time, which is an Iron distance event. We certainly wish him the best of luck. So the score so far is JJ, who is an Aussie, (1) Graeme (1). The Alp D'Huez climb tomorrow will see a Kiwi versus Aussie showdown and may the best man win...?
4. Besides the highlight of the climb today the highlight for the group was the rolling 50 kilometres getting there and getting home. The two abreast peloton were like a well oiled machine and the formation was one any pro team would have been proud of. The buzz in the group during those times was like an aura that enveloped the group, an aura of positiveness that generated enough energy to float along effortlessly.
5. The motorists in France are a funny lot, they will risk life and limb of the other motorists heading in the opposite direction when overtaking our peloton, but will not come anywhere near us. Well, like any country, there is always the odd idiot that does not give two hoots. But in general, they will wait until they can get past, trucks included and then pass very quickly indeed. There is very rarely any blasts on the horn and definitely no hanging out the window and calling us Lycra Clad Poofta's, which happens often back home.
6. The stop at the bar just prior to finishing todays ride was such a highlight. We had just finished a magic two abreast section for the past 20 kilometres and spirits were at an all time high. It is not often I have a beer straight after a ride, but I, like everyone else, got caught up in the moment, the awesome camaraderie, and just went with the flow.
7. I figure if I make this one public the boys will have to follow through. You see each May I take off on a different biking adventure that involves motorbikes for a week. The DeAngelis lads are all into bikes. I have suggested we all buy adventure motorbikes and in May 2014 we will all be together again for another awesome week of adventures. Smythey, Salty and Mikey don't know it yet but they are part of this deal!
8. Today, with 20 kilometres remaining on the ride, I asked Row Man if he would do me the honour of writing the day three blog on Alp D'Huez. Well after he very nearly fell off his bike, his reply was; "Sharky in seven years you have never asked me to write a blog, why now?" I replied; " Well you see Row I have been waiting for the right moment and today I felt that moment descend upon me." Now tonight over dinner, after Salty had done an excellent job in reading out the day one blog, I brought it up again in front of the whole crew and suggested that he team up with Solicitor Man Mikey. They both unanimously agreed that it was the best idea that I had ever had and that it would be their extreme pleasure! THanks boys for giving me a night off.
9. How special was the Smiddy huddle today? Well let me tell you... We decided that as the group were splitting up after the beer at the bar, some going to bike shop, some going to not free but is free wifi, and some going straight home, that the huddle would happen at the bar. So while we huddled up and Phil "Slippery" DeAngelis did me the honour of taking on the huddle, the lovely French lady that owned the bar took some awesome photos with my iPhone camera.
10. And finally, and last but not least, and of utmost importance even though it is number ten, is that I christened my old mate Phil with the nickname 'Slippery', and the awesome thing about this is that it is starting to stick. Another day on the road and 'Phil' will be no more. 'Slippery' is moving in and I can't tell you how happy I am about that. Maybe one day I will tell you why he got this most appropriate nickname. But for now Shark must sleep and this blog, I apologise, has once again been too long dear faithful readers.
Take care my family, my friends, my Smiddy mates, my work colleagues and all my faithful readers of these blogs. Please know that on this emotional evening I am thinking of you all and how lucky I am that you are a part of my life!
Sharky.
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:146 km's
Average: 24.8 km/h
Climbing: 2061 metres
Riding time: 5hr 53min
Temp Min: 8 degrees
Temp Max: 26.9 degrees
Declan Duck blog dedication
Today's blog is dedicated to my little mate in Declan 'Duck' Hegarty. Exactly a year ago today, when we were cycling the Pyrenees' in France, I dedicated our day four blog to Declan, who was fighting an extremely rare cancer that attacks the spine. Today Rowan and I received the text message that you hope you will never ever receive. Declan's father, Marty Hegarty, informed us that today his little fighter, Declan Duck, as he was affectionately known by his family and close friends, had passed away. Our little mate was just ten years of age! For me it resurfaces all the old scars of when my mate Adam Smiddy passed away back in 2006, which resulted in the whole Smiddy phenomena being created. I felt angry back then and I feel angry now. I channeled that anger into creating a platform to raise funds for cancer research and I must once again do the same thing here.
Words never seem enough at times like this...
I feel helpless at times like this, what words do you say to grieving parents who have just lost their beautiful son? These parents, Marty and Dallas Hegarty and Marty's brother Tony and his wife Jocelyn Rowan and I know so well. In the past five years these incredible people have helped Smiddy personally raise in excess of $40,000. We are indebted to them and right now there is not one thing we can do to make this right. I know up until Declan passed away his father would read these blogs to his Son, especially the ones were the Duck got a mention and Marty tells me it would always result in a huge smile from the little fella. Once Rowan and I visited Declan in hospital and we presented Dec with a Smiddy jersey signed by all the lads from the NSW Smiddy ride. Declan turned around and gave Smiling for Smiddy and the Mater foundation a cheque for $10,000, which was the proceeds from the charity ride where Marty and Tony did laps of Mt Kootha for 24 hours to raise funds for Smiling for Smiddy and Brain Child. How good is that? Here they were, put in a cruel position where their son was fighting for his life, yet they were still thinking of others! I really don't know what else to say except that to the entire Hegarty family we are all thinking of you at this very moment.
Smiddy bonding amongst the riders a welcome sight
Today was one of those days on the bike where the bonding in the group was at an all time high, mate-ship was at the forefront, riding conditions were perfect and everyone's form seemed to miraculously overnight improve to the level of a European professional! It was such a perfect day and yet somehow, due to receiving the news about Declan on finishing today's stage, did not seem fair that we are entitled to this incredible happiness. Now I know this is silly thinking on my behalf, Marty and Dallas would not want it any other way. But life has a habit of gifting you with incredible highs, then slamming hydrochloric acid down your throat the next day and saying; "there take that you barsted, how dare you be happy!" Well in memory of Adam, Declan and everyone who has ever suffered a loss, never will we let those hydrochloric type days rule our lives. It would be a gross insult to them and their families and our positive attitude in life affects all those around us and that's what we stand for right? Anyway it was such a positive day for the group and it finished with a round of beers at a bar just five-kilometres from home, and then for some, me, a dizzy ride back to our Chateau at St Jean.
Marty Hegarty's email to the riders
Before I get into my top ten highlights for the day I would just like to share this email that Marty Hegarty sent me last year exactly a year ago. Tonight I read this out to this awesome bunch of respectful blokes and then told them the news of Declan's passing. We then had a minutes silence to think about how lucky we are and our thoughts were not only with our own respective families but with Declan's as well.
Hi there Sharky, Rowan and all you guys doing this ride for such a great cause. Thanks for the kind words, thoughts and prayers in your blog, it sure did put a smile on the little guys face. It meant a great deal to us. Declan will fight this with all his strength and everyone's prayers are sure to pull him through. None of us realise the enormity of what you take on when you choose to do a Smiddy Challenge, be it big or small, as I am sure you now all know. None of you who choose to do these rides realise the impact cancer has on us all until you are faced with the epidemic first hand with close friends and family members. But one thing that you are doing and those who have ridden any of the Smiddy Challenges, raised money, baked a cake, washed our riding gear, made our lunches, or volunteered in any way, shape or form for the Smiddy movement, is creating a huge family of support for all of us that have been involved. The money you raise and work you do is working and this might one day save someone very close to you. So keep up the great work and the fight for cures. Stay safe on your journey and help each other out when it gets tough.
Love, thoughts and best wishes to all.
From Declan and the Hegarty family.
Our Smiddy mates are so special
I would just like to finish by saying that tonight Rowan and I are so fortunate to be surrounded by such good people on this tour. Most of the riders from last year remembered the effect that the Declan news had on them, and tonight when we shared the news of Declan's passing, it hit them just as hard as it did Row and I. To all the guys, past and present Smiddy riders in this group, thank you for being so respectful and just for showing that you care. I know I speak on behalf of my mate Rowan when I say we are indeed very lucky to have you guys as our friends.
Sharky's top ten highlights from the day
1. Number one without a doubt was the support shown by the group to Rowan and I after announcing the news about Declan. Thanks guys, words can't describe what it means to have people like you in our lives.
2. Neil, Graeme and Eric, each and every night they cook up this amazing gastronomical delight with enough food to feed a small army. Tonight they outdid themselves when they served up a green and red curry, two types of rice, salad and then washed down with a selection of different flavoured ice-creams. We could not be in better hands then with these three guys. Mark Anthony said to me today; "Sharky you could not have found three better blokes to lead this tour, I am in awe of what they do for us." No arguments there old mate!
3. King of the mountain today was taken out by a Kiwi in our illustrious tour leader Graeme. JJ was second, Row third, Marky fourth and Jimmy fifth, which is exactly the same as yesterday's climb. Right from the get go the big gear grind came out for Graeme and the other contenders were not even remotely interested. Graeme is showing form at the moment that he hopes will see him do his first sub nine-hour time at Roth Challenge in two weeks time, which is an Iron distance event. We certainly wish him the best of luck. So the score so far is JJ, who is an Aussie, (1) Graeme (1). The Alp D'Huez climb tomorrow will see a Kiwi versus Aussie showdown and may the best man win...?
4. Besides the highlight of the climb today the highlight for the group was the rolling 50 kilometres getting there and getting home. The two abreast peloton were like a well oiled machine and the formation was one any pro team would have been proud of. The buzz in the group during those times was like an aura that enveloped the group, an aura of positiveness that generated enough energy to float along effortlessly.
5. The motorists in France are a funny lot, they will risk life and limb of the other motorists heading in the opposite direction when overtaking our peloton, but will not come anywhere near us. Well, like any country, there is always the odd idiot that does not give two hoots. But in general, they will wait until they can get past, trucks included and then pass very quickly indeed. There is very rarely any blasts on the horn and definitely no hanging out the window and calling us Lycra Clad Poofta's, which happens often back home.
6. The stop at the bar just prior to finishing todays ride was such a highlight. We had just finished a magic two abreast section for the past 20 kilometres and spirits were at an all time high. It is not often I have a beer straight after a ride, but I, like everyone else, got caught up in the moment, the awesome camaraderie, and just went with the flow.
7. I figure if I make this one public the boys will have to follow through. You see each May I take off on a different biking adventure that involves motorbikes for a week. The DeAngelis lads are all into bikes. I have suggested we all buy adventure motorbikes and in May 2014 we will all be together again for another awesome week of adventures. Smythey, Salty and Mikey don't know it yet but they are part of this deal!
8. Today, with 20 kilometres remaining on the ride, I asked Row Man if he would do me the honour of writing the day three blog on Alp D'Huez. Well after he very nearly fell off his bike, his reply was; "Sharky in seven years you have never asked me to write a blog, why now?" I replied; " Well you see Row I have been waiting for the right moment and today I felt that moment descend upon me." Now tonight over dinner, after Salty had done an excellent job in reading out the day one blog, I brought it up again in front of the whole crew and suggested that he team up with Solicitor Man Mikey. They both unanimously agreed that it was the best idea that I had ever had and that it would be their extreme pleasure! THanks boys for giving me a night off.
9. How special was the Smiddy huddle today? Well let me tell you... We decided that as the group were splitting up after the beer at the bar, some going to bike shop, some going to not free but is free wifi, and some going straight home, that the huddle would happen at the bar. So while we huddled up and Phil "Slippery" DeAngelis did me the honour of taking on the huddle, the lovely French lady that owned the bar took some awesome photos with my iPhone camera.
10. And finally, and last but not least, and of utmost importance even though it is number ten, is that I christened my old mate Phil with the nickname 'Slippery', and the awesome thing about this is that it is starting to stick. Another day on the road and 'Phil' will be no more. 'Slippery' is moving in and I can't tell you how happy I am about that. Maybe one day I will tell you why he got this most appropriate nickname. But for now Shark must sleep and this blog, I apologise, has once again been too long dear faithful readers.
Take care my family, my friends, my Smiddy mates, my work colleagues and all my faithful readers of these blogs. Please know that on this emotional evening I am thinking of you all and how lucky I am that you are a part of my life!
Sharky.
Wednesday 26 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS - A TOUGH FIRST DAY
COLS CLIMBED: Col Da Couz at 640 metres, climbed twice and Col Revard at 22 kilometres in length at 1590 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:140 km's
Average: 23.9 km/h
Climbing: 2442 metres
Riding time: 5hr 50min
Temp Min: 6 degrees (This was at the top of the Revard)
Temp Max: 31 degrees (This was at the bottom of the Revard)
Sharky personal update
Well what a difference ten days can make. This time ten days ago I was climbing the Revard in 34 degree temperature, I had a head full of snot, a sinus infection and legs that were so fatigued it resembled my first serious bike ride of 25 kilometres back when I started this beautiful sport 30 years ago. This time around I had my health back, I had 700 Alpine kilometres in my legs, my head and lungs were clear, the legs were back to normal and once again the enjoyment factor for cycling had returned. Just to give you an indication of the difference from the last time I climbed the Revard ten days ago to today's effort, my time up here was 35 minutes quicker this time around. I can't begin to tell you how happy I was today! Helped along by the fact I was surrounded by 15 Smiddy mates and we were climbing on a day where the temperature for the climb itself was a lowly 12 degrees at the bottom and just six degrees at the top.
How the day panned out for the group
Neil was kind enough to drive myself down to the wireless hotspot this morning at 7:30am so as I could get the blog out. Accompanying me was Row Man, Mikey, Justin and Tony. Five of us pile out of the van and set up shop at the front of this cafe that is not even open and start using our smart phones, iPads and laptops. Ten minutes later staff open the doors and started setting up shop for the day. Mikey took one for the group and ordered a coffee, so thanks to a couple of Euro and just one coffee, it was decided we had earned the right to continue to use their wifi.
The 8:30am departure was pushed back by half-an-hour when the support van was included as a late inclusion to today's ride. Originally all three lads in Eric, Neil and Graeme were going to ride but due to the size of the group a last minute decision suggested it would be wise to have the van. For which we were grateful, as it meant riders did not have to carry too much on their person. Thank you Graeme for missing out on today's ride to drive the van. The descent down the Revard was crap mate and you would not have enjoyed it anyway...!
50 kilometres of climbing greets the lads
So today's ride included ten kilometres of descending to start with, about ten kilometres of gradual climbing to the top of Col Da Couz and 15 kilometres of descending into Chambery. The actual climb up to Col Da Revard is officially 18 kilometres but you are climbing gradually for four kilometres prior to the official start point. Interestingly this climb will be included in this year's Tour De France, which I am sure we will watch with a different set of eyes as it unfolds on the screen. The descent is 22 kilometres long, then into Chambery and back up for 15 kilometres to Col Da Couz. Finally down again for 10 kilometres and then back up to our accommodation for a further five kilometres of climbing. All up just over 50 kilometres of pure climbing is involved in this 140 kilometre day. No wonder by the end of it we are a tad tired! Anyway to finish please enjoy my top ten list.
Sharky's top ten observations from today
1. The DeAngelis boys in the cafe at the top of the major climb ordering beers while everyone else ordered cokes or coffee.
2. Brendan 'Boof' Foster taking out the prestigious first fall award, when as we waited at the top of the Lavard for the signal to push off, Boof tried to clip in and turn at the same time and had a very honourable dismount. He was up so quick if you blinked you would have missed it.
3. Mark Anthony, my room mate and good friend, takes out the biggest effort award. Today Mark struggled up each and every climb, and there were a lot of them, 2442 metres or around 50 kilometres of uphill. He said to me that he has never been an athlete and never will be. I reminded him of the fact that non-athletes do not climb 2442 metres and ride 140 kilometres in a single six hour period. Mark was last up the climb but he did not give in and was an exhausted man when he reached the top. The descent cheered him up considerably.
4. Justin Jelenkovich, JJ took out the King of the Mountain today in fine fashion. Rowan and Neil stayed with the pocket rocket until five kilometres from the top. But the Jumping Jack Rabbit was having nothing of it and the last time he went, he went full on. Row and Neil decided to save it for another day and JJ cruised to the top with a full five minutes to spare.
5. Marky DeAngelis showed amazing form early in the piece when he went out with the big boys on the climb, hung with them for the first seven kilometres and then held his fourth position all the way to the top. A man to watch over the next few days once we start hitting the major climbs.
6. Jimmy Acomb may be sick with a head cold but he climbed today like he was the next Tour De France contender. Biding his time when the early attacks went at the start of the climb, he then clawed back all but the first four in front of him. If this is his form when he is sick what is to come as his cold disappears? Jimmy is now officially off my feel-sorry-for list!
7. The 22 kilometre descent off the Lavard was out of this world. I was descending with Jimmy and Adam and for 30 minutes we enjoyed each others company as we pushed one another, swapped the lead several times, passed a few cars and generally got our butts safely down the technical descent without any mishaps.
8. The 15 kilometre descent into Chambery was meant to be a group rotation. But as the speed edged up to 50, then 55, then 60 and finally 65km/h the 16 strong peloton imploded! It was immense fun for the ones that hung on and still fun if you got dropped as after all it was a descent right? And descents are always fun as they are always as hard or as easy as you make them.
9. The cafe at the Lavard was the warmest place to be at the top. Ten days ago we were sweltering in 34 degree temperatures, this time every spare piece of clothing was put on immediately upon reaching the top at six degrees. Inside the cafe a young lady working behind the bar warmed the hearts of all the male riders there, which on last count would be 15 of us. I of course -as I am perfect- did not notice as I only have eyes for one girl back home, that would be Alyssa. True story!
10. And finally seeing the new French Alps Smiddy riders in action today, Tony, Daniel, Matty, Mark, Boof and JJ was a sight for sore eyes. Each of them rode their hearts out today and enjoyed the experience immensely. Hearing the laughter in the peloton is music to my ears and I only hope this continues over the next four days as the real climbing begins.
That's all from me. Tomorrow the lads tackle the great Grand Colombier climb and as you know from my earlier blog it is cut-throat demanding to the point that it asks of you blood!
Cheers,
Sharky
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:140 km's
Average: 23.9 km/h
Climbing: 2442 metres
Riding time: 5hr 50min
Temp Min: 6 degrees (This was at the top of the Revard)
Temp Max: 31 degrees (This was at the bottom of the Revard)
Sharky personal update
Well what a difference ten days can make. This time ten days ago I was climbing the Revard in 34 degree temperature, I had a head full of snot, a sinus infection and legs that were so fatigued it resembled my first serious bike ride of 25 kilometres back when I started this beautiful sport 30 years ago. This time around I had my health back, I had 700 Alpine kilometres in my legs, my head and lungs were clear, the legs were back to normal and once again the enjoyment factor for cycling had returned. Just to give you an indication of the difference from the last time I climbed the Revard ten days ago to today's effort, my time up here was 35 minutes quicker this time around. I can't begin to tell you how happy I was today! Helped along by the fact I was surrounded by 15 Smiddy mates and we were climbing on a day where the temperature for the climb itself was a lowly 12 degrees at the bottom and just six degrees at the top.
How the day panned out for the group
Neil was kind enough to drive myself down to the wireless hotspot this morning at 7:30am so as I could get the blog out. Accompanying me was Row Man, Mikey, Justin and Tony. Five of us pile out of the van and set up shop at the front of this cafe that is not even open and start using our smart phones, iPads and laptops. Ten minutes later staff open the doors and started setting up shop for the day. Mikey took one for the group and ordered a coffee, so thanks to a couple of Euro and just one coffee, it was decided we had earned the right to continue to use their wifi.
The 8:30am departure was pushed back by half-an-hour when the support van was included as a late inclusion to today's ride. Originally all three lads in Eric, Neil and Graeme were going to ride but due to the size of the group a last minute decision suggested it would be wise to have the van. For which we were grateful, as it meant riders did not have to carry too much on their person. Thank you Graeme for missing out on today's ride to drive the van. The descent down the Revard was crap mate and you would not have enjoyed it anyway...!
50 kilometres of climbing greets the lads
So today's ride included ten kilometres of descending to start with, about ten kilometres of gradual climbing to the top of Col Da Couz and 15 kilometres of descending into Chambery. The actual climb up to Col Da Revard is officially 18 kilometres but you are climbing gradually for four kilometres prior to the official start point. Interestingly this climb will be included in this year's Tour De France, which I am sure we will watch with a different set of eyes as it unfolds on the screen. The descent is 22 kilometres long, then into Chambery and back up for 15 kilometres to Col Da Couz. Finally down again for 10 kilometres and then back up to our accommodation for a further five kilometres of climbing. All up just over 50 kilometres of pure climbing is involved in this 140 kilometre day. No wonder by the end of it we are a tad tired! Anyway to finish please enjoy my top ten list.
Sharky's top ten observations from today
1. The DeAngelis boys in the cafe at the top of the major climb ordering beers while everyone else ordered cokes or coffee.
2. Brendan 'Boof' Foster taking out the prestigious first fall award, when as we waited at the top of the Lavard for the signal to push off, Boof tried to clip in and turn at the same time and had a very honourable dismount. He was up so quick if you blinked you would have missed it.
3. Mark Anthony, my room mate and good friend, takes out the biggest effort award. Today Mark struggled up each and every climb, and there were a lot of them, 2442 metres or around 50 kilometres of uphill. He said to me that he has never been an athlete and never will be. I reminded him of the fact that non-athletes do not climb 2442 metres and ride 140 kilometres in a single six hour period. Mark was last up the climb but he did not give in and was an exhausted man when he reached the top. The descent cheered him up considerably.
4. Justin Jelenkovich, JJ took out the King of the Mountain today in fine fashion. Rowan and Neil stayed with the pocket rocket until five kilometres from the top. But the Jumping Jack Rabbit was having nothing of it and the last time he went, he went full on. Row and Neil decided to save it for another day and JJ cruised to the top with a full five minutes to spare.
5. Marky DeAngelis showed amazing form early in the piece when he went out with the big boys on the climb, hung with them for the first seven kilometres and then held his fourth position all the way to the top. A man to watch over the next few days once we start hitting the major climbs.
6. Jimmy Acomb may be sick with a head cold but he climbed today like he was the next Tour De France contender. Biding his time when the early attacks went at the start of the climb, he then clawed back all but the first four in front of him. If this is his form when he is sick what is to come as his cold disappears? Jimmy is now officially off my feel-sorry-for list!
7. The 22 kilometre descent off the Lavard was out of this world. I was descending with Jimmy and Adam and for 30 minutes we enjoyed each others company as we pushed one another, swapped the lead several times, passed a few cars and generally got our butts safely down the technical descent without any mishaps.
8. The 15 kilometre descent into Chambery was meant to be a group rotation. But as the speed edged up to 50, then 55, then 60 and finally 65km/h the 16 strong peloton imploded! It was immense fun for the ones that hung on and still fun if you got dropped as after all it was a descent right? And descents are always fun as they are always as hard or as easy as you make them.
9. The cafe at the Lavard was the warmest place to be at the top. Ten days ago we were sweltering in 34 degree temperatures, this time every spare piece of clothing was put on immediately upon reaching the top at six degrees. Inside the cafe a young lady working behind the bar warmed the hearts of all the male riders there, which on last count would be 15 of us. I of course -as I am perfect- did not notice as I only have eyes for one girl back home, that would be Alyssa. True story!
10. And finally seeing the new French Alps Smiddy riders in action today, Tony, Daniel, Matty, Mark, Boof and JJ was a sight for sore eyes. Each of them rode their hearts out today and enjoyed the experience immensely. Hearing the laughter in the peloton is music to my ears and I only hope this continues over the next four days as the real climbing begins.
That's all from me. Tomorrow the lads tackle the great Grand Colombier climb and as you know from my earlier blog it is cut-throat demanding to the point that it asks of you blood!
Cheers,
Sharky
Tuesday 25 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR/TAKE 2 PREP DAY
What's Sharky been up to?
Well it is now Tuesday June 25 and the lads are beginning to arrive for the second tour of the French Alps. Since my last blog a few days ago I have enjoyed three days off the bike, a mandatory kip each afternoon, plenty of stretching, a wetsuit swim in a beautiful lake and a run each day. It has been a relaxing three days and only just today am I starting to get excited about getting back on my bike. It will be interesting the second time around if I ride any better on the climbs now that my health has improved - I certainly hope so! Yesterday was a busy day as Neil, Eric and I prepared the Chateau for the arrival of the 14 lads from Australia. There was three trolly loads of food to purchase, sheets to wash and dry and a very large house to clean. The pantry is now fully loaded with enough food for a small army, the fridge is now fully stocked -mainly with beer and wine- and the chateau itself looks immaculate after a good summer clean.
The lads arrive
Eric and Neil left early this morning to collect the first of the crew. Then at 9:45am Rowan and his brother Brendan Foster, Justin Jelenkovich, Mathew Marshall, Mark Anthony, Adam Young and Jimmy Acomb arrived, all as excited as a Jack Russell on heat. It was awesome to see the lads so happy and I immediately loved having them here. For Mark, Justin, Mathew and Brendan it is their first time to cycle in France. While for Jimmy, Rowan and Adam it was a welcome return from last year's Smiddy Pyrenees' tour.
While Neil and Eric returned to Lyon to collect the second group I had the pleasure of showing the boys to their rooms and giving them a tour of the Chateau. Thankfully all their bikes arrived and they quickly put them together to make sure all was in good working order. The only casualty is Jimmy, who got sick just prior to leaving Australia with a flu. I feel for the guy as he looks terrible and I know what is in store for him over the next five days in the mountains while fighting off a flu - and it aint anything good!
Next to arrive where the infamous DeAngelis brothers, Mark, Peter and Phillip. All from Sydney and all returning again after doing the Smiddy Pyrenees' Tour with us last year. Accompanying them were a few mates from Sydney in Michael Harris, who also did the inaugural Pyrenees' tour last year and Tony Smythe and Daniel Salter, doing their first ever Smiddy tour.
Before I introduce the lads properly and tell you a little about each of them, here is a quick wrap of the afternoon. Just like on the first tour, once all the bikes are built and everyone had arrived, Neil and Eric took us out for a 38 kilometre ride that included the groups first climb up the Col de la Croix at 884 metres. With a peloton of 16 we rode two abreast for the majority of the way and everyone did their own thing on the climb. It was a fun 90 minute ride and everyone seems to be in pretty good shape. I get the feeling this is going to be a cracker of a tour. The stats for today's small ride were 38 kilometre ride at an average of 22.5km/h. We climbed 865 metres and were out there for 99 minutes.
Anyway here are the guys joining us for tour number two:
Embrace Sports Staff
Eric Doehrman you have already met from the first tour, but just a reminder that he is one of the staff helping to run this tour, is American and from Huntsville, Alabama . At 45 years of age he has found his calling working alongside of Neil and Graeme as a coach to the many tour groups they run each year. He lists his interest as a triathlon coach and cat herder!
Graeme Buscke you also know from Tour 1, at 31 years of age and tells me he has the coolest job in the world as the company (Embrace Sports) he co-owns with his best mate Neil Aitken, run sporting tours all year round. Graeme is a Kiwi but has lived so long in England, France, Portugal that his accent has no name... Both Graeme and Neil love helping the Smiddy group achieve our objectives of raising money for a great cause while at the same time experiencing challenges outside the norm. Graeme tells me the strong Aussie mind, linked to the cause, combined with the will to never back down from a challenge, is what sets Smiddy riders apart from other training groups.
Neil Aitken is the other owner of Embrace Sports and is from England, where the company was formed. Neil has been with his partner Debbiie for seven years and they have been planning their wedding for the past five. They have a beautiful baby boy at nearly 3 years of age in Jake. Neil is a competitive triathlete and lists his hobby as a wine connoisseur. Both Graeme and Neil are based in England and kindly ran the Smiddy tour last year for us in the Pyrenees in 2012. This boy can climb and will surely give JJ and Rowan a run for their money
Smiddy riders
Rowan Foster is one of the co-founders of Smiddy, he is 32 years of age, a competitive triathlete and married to his wife Carlene the past 18 months, although have been together for ten years. Rowan is making a return to triathlon this year after a two year absence. His first race back was the Cairns Half Ironman and hopes to complete the Busselton Ironman at the end of the year. Today on the main five kilometre descent he had the misfortune of being struck by a rock in the face by a car traveling in the opposite direction. He was lucky it got him in the cheek bone and not in the eye or his teeth.
Brendan Foster is 29 years of age and affectionally known by his nick-name as 'Boof' Last year he successfully completed the Smiddy Challenge up to Townsville and allowed himself to be talked into this trip by his brother Rowan. Boof said that he doesn't even really like cycling yet is going on to cycle some of the toughest climbs known to the world in France! Boof works in construction management and his dream is to construct a device that turns all uphills into descents! His partner Georgia will join up with him for a further four week tour of Europe once this tour is over. Boof is also the youngest on this trip and must be looked after accordingly with free beers, foot massages and back rubs.
Jimmy Acomb is 35 years of age but only looks 34 and 11 months. He is back from the Pyrenees' tour last year and this man loves to descend and descend fast! His background is a downhill mountain biker and when he goes, he goes! If you stick with Jimmy on a descent be prepared for the ride of your life! Jimmy has just recently opened his own bike shop in Taringa in Brisbane and thinks this will be his last OS trip for a while as he needs to knuckle down to make the shop a success. I sat on Jimmy's wheel on the final descent of todays ride and it is one I want soon forget!
Adam Young at 29 years of age, works as a manager for a window control company. He did last year's Pyrenees' tour and is back for more of what he loves, riding bikes and descending fast while filming it with his Go Pro camera. His partner Margo Mackintosh is a competitive triathlete and they both enjoy traveling to races together to compete. His hobby outside of cycling is wake-boarding.
Mathew Marshall at 32 years of age and his wife Tash, have a beautiful baby girl Beatrice at three years old. Matt will soon commence a new role with the Smiling for Smiddy team at Mater taking over from my good mate Rowan. Matt completed the Smiddy Challenge to Townsville last year and this is his first trip to the French Alps as a cyclist. He's also one of our highest fundraisers on this tour raising close to $8,000 for cancer research. Matt said to me today during our small test ride; "Sharky I'm not sure I want to go home." Of course was referring to the amazing scenery, the beautiful introductory climb and awesome descent.
Peter 38, Phillip 32 and Mark DeAngelis at 36 years of age are a close knit trio of brothers that not only work together in the chain of hotels that they own but play together. The three of them joined us last year on the Smiddy tour of the Pyrenees' and promised they would be back this year for the French Alps tour. These boy are legendary in their ability to not only party hard but back it up the next day and ride hard as well. All three list skiing as their hobbies outside of cycling, although Phil is an avid collector of Superman comics, telling me he has every issue from number one to the present day. Peter very nearly did not make this trip due to a motorbike crash resulting in his leg in a cast up until six weeks ago. The boys lived up to their reputation and partied hard last night in Lyon into the wee hours of the morning. It's great to have them back and riding in the Smiddy peloton once again.
Mark Anthony at 51 just misses out on the oldest man award on this tour by a few days. Yours truly has that honour. Mark is a motor mechanic and married to his wife Suzie and has two grown children in Brenton and Kayla. He is a veteran of four trips to either the Pyrenees' or the French Alps and is the proud owner of a Go Pro camera and also loves to descend fast. He was originally talked into doing this tour by his mate Craig, who then pulled out and he still decided to attend.
Tony Smythe is 35 years of age and music has ruled his life for as long as he can remember. His love for music saw him get into his own community radio station in Sydney called Eastside. Tony is married to Amber and has a three year old boy in Xavier. He was telling me he is relatively new to cycling with just two years under his belt as a recreational rider. Only in the last three months has he stepped it up in the hope he can survive the next five days in the mountains.
Justin Jelenkovich or JJ as he is affectionately called by his friends, is 36 years of age but only looks 20 but carries on like he is 15! His bubbly personality and zaniness is what attracted me to him as a mate and I like him immensely. JJ is married to Tania and they have twin girls Layla and Eva at three and a half years of age. JJ recently introduced me to whisky at a fundraising night that he put on for this trip and that is all I am saying about that...
Michael Harris, or Mikey to his friends, is 34 and a very smart solicitor. I know he is smart because the DeAngelis boys use his services and they don't mess around with idiots. Mikey graced us with his present last year in the Pyrenees' and was known to ride into paddocks, take out wild pigs and milk cows while descending. His skills have improved immensely as I witnessed today on the descent. Mikey is married to Katie for the past five years and also lives in Sydney.
Daniel Salter is also from Sydney and great mates with the DeAngelis boys and Mikey. Daniel is 35 years of age, has been cycling for four years and this is his first trip to France as a cyclist. Married to Emily and two awesome children in Henry, who is three and Charlie who is 18 months. His list skiing as his hobbie and works as a general manager for digital marketing company.
Sharky, that's me. I am 51 years of age, founder of Smiling for Smiddy, been doing triathlons since 1985 and pretty proud of Smiddy raising in excess of $4 million dollars for research since 2006.
Well that's about it for this intro blog, I hope you enjoyed getting to know the crew. Tonight we had our first dinner together, Matty Marshall had the distinction of reading out this blog to the group. We raised our glasses to a successful and safe tour and we are all very grateful for being here in France. To our love ones back home we say to you salut, for without your support and encouragement being here would not be possible.
Until tomorrow...
Sharky.
Well it is now Tuesday June 25 and the lads are beginning to arrive for the second tour of the French Alps. Since my last blog a few days ago I have enjoyed three days off the bike, a mandatory kip each afternoon, plenty of stretching, a wetsuit swim in a beautiful lake and a run each day. It has been a relaxing three days and only just today am I starting to get excited about getting back on my bike. It will be interesting the second time around if I ride any better on the climbs now that my health has improved - I certainly hope so! Yesterday was a busy day as Neil, Eric and I prepared the Chateau for the arrival of the 14 lads from Australia. There was three trolly loads of food to purchase, sheets to wash and dry and a very large house to clean. The pantry is now fully loaded with enough food for a small army, the fridge is now fully stocked -mainly with beer and wine- and the chateau itself looks immaculate after a good summer clean.
The lads arrive
Eric and Neil left early this morning to collect the first of the crew. Then at 9:45am Rowan and his brother Brendan Foster, Justin Jelenkovich, Mathew Marshall, Mark Anthony, Adam Young and Jimmy Acomb arrived, all as excited as a Jack Russell on heat. It was awesome to see the lads so happy and I immediately loved having them here. For Mark, Justin, Mathew and Brendan it is their first time to cycle in France. While for Jimmy, Rowan and Adam it was a welcome return from last year's Smiddy Pyrenees' tour.
While Neil and Eric returned to Lyon to collect the second group I had the pleasure of showing the boys to their rooms and giving them a tour of the Chateau. Thankfully all their bikes arrived and they quickly put them together to make sure all was in good working order. The only casualty is Jimmy, who got sick just prior to leaving Australia with a flu. I feel for the guy as he looks terrible and I know what is in store for him over the next five days in the mountains while fighting off a flu - and it aint anything good!
Next to arrive where the infamous DeAngelis brothers, Mark, Peter and Phillip. All from Sydney and all returning again after doing the Smiddy Pyrenees' Tour with us last year. Accompanying them were a few mates from Sydney in Michael Harris, who also did the inaugural Pyrenees' tour last year and Tony Smythe and Daniel Salter, doing their first ever Smiddy tour.
Before I introduce the lads properly and tell you a little about each of them, here is a quick wrap of the afternoon. Just like on the first tour, once all the bikes are built and everyone had arrived, Neil and Eric took us out for a 38 kilometre ride that included the groups first climb up the Col de la Croix at 884 metres. With a peloton of 16 we rode two abreast for the majority of the way and everyone did their own thing on the climb. It was a fun 90 minute ride and everyone seems to be in pretty good shape. I get the feeling this is going to be a cracker of a tour. The stats for today's small ride were 38 kilometre ride at an average of 22.5km/h. We climbed 865 metres and were out there for 99 minutes.
Anyway here are the guys joining us for tour number two:
Embrace Sports Staff
Eric Doehrman you have already met from the first tour, but just a reminder that he is one of the staff helping to run this tour, is American and from Huntsville, Alabama . At 45 years of age he has found his calling working alongside of Neil and Graeme as a coach to the many tour groups they run each year. He lists his interest as a triathlon coach and cat herder!
Graeme Buscke you also know from Tour 1, at 31 years of age and tells me he has the coolest job in the world as the company (Embrace Sports) he co-owns with his best mate Neil Aitken, run sporting tours all year round. Graeme is a Kiwi but has lived so long in England, France, Portugal that his accent has no name... Both Graeme and Neil love helping the Smiddy group achieve our objectives of raising money for a great cause while at the same time experiencing challenges outside the norm. Graeme tells me the strong Aussie mind, linked to the cause, combined with the will to never back down from a challenge, is what sets Smiddy riders apart from other training groups.
Neil Aitken is the other owner of Embrace Sports and is from England, where the company was formed. Neil has been with his partner Debbiie for seven years and they have been planning their wedding for the past five. They have a beautiful baby boy at nearly 3 years of age in Jake. Neil is a competitive triathlete and lists his hobby as a wine connoisseur. Both Graeme and Neil are based in England and kindly ran the Smiddy tour last year for us in the Pyrenees in 2012. This boy can climb and will surely give JJ and Rowan a run for their money
Smiddy riders
Rowan Foster is one of the co-founders of Smiddy, he is 32 years of age, a competitive triathlete and married to his wife Carlene the past 18 months, although have been together for ten years. Rowan is making a return to triathlon this year after a two year absence. His first race back was the Cairns Half Ironman and hopes to complete the Busselton Ironman at the end of the year. Today on the main five kilometre descent he had the misfortune of being struck by a rock in the face by a car traveling in the opposite direction. He was lucky it got him in the cheek bone and not in the eye or his teeth.
Brendan Foster is 29 years of age and affectionally known by his nick-name as 'Boof' Last year he successfully completed the Smiddy Challenge up to Townsville and allowed himself to be talked into this trip by his brother Rowan. Boof said that he doesn't even really like cycling yet is going on to cycle some of the toughest climbs known to the world in France! Boof works in construction management and his dream is to construct a device that turns all uphills into descents! His partner Georgia will join up with him for a further four week tour of Europe once this tour is over. Boof is also the youngest on this trip and must be looked after accordingly with free beers, foot massages and back rubs.
Jimmy Acomb is 35 years of age but only looks 34 and 11 months. He is back from the Pyrenees' tour last year and this man loves to descend and descend fast! His background is a downhill mountain biker and when he goes, he goes! If you stick with Jimmy on a descent be prepared for the ride of your life! Jimmy has just recently opened his own bike shop in Taringa in Brisbane and thinks this will be his last OS trip for a while as he needs to knuckle down to make the shop a success. I sat on Jimmy's wheel on the final descent of todays ride and it is one I want soon forget!
Adam Young at 29 years of age, works as a manager for a window control company. He did last year's Pyrenees' tour and is back for more of what he loves, riding bikes and descending fast while filming it with his Go Pro camera. His partner Margo Mackintosh is a competitive triathlete and they both enjoy traveling to races together to compete. His hobby outside of cycling is wake-boarding.
Mathew Marshall at 32 years of age and his wife Tash, have a beautiful baby girl Beatrice at three years old. Matt will soon commence a new role with the Smiling for Smiddy team at Mater taking over from my good mate Rowan. Matt completed the Smiddy Challenge to Townsville last year and this is his first trip to the French Alps as a cyclist. He's also one of our highest fundraisers on this tour raising close to $8,000 for cancer research. Matt said to me today during our small test ride; "Sharky I'm not sure I want to go home." Of course was referring to the amazing scenery, the beautiful introductory climb and awesome descent.
Peter 38, Phillip 32 and Mark DeAngelis at 36 years of age are a close knit trio of brothers that not only work together in the chain of hotels that they own but play together. The three of them joined us last year on the Smiddy tour of the Pyrenees' and promised they would be back this year for the French Alps tour. These boy are legendary in their ability to not only party hard but back it up the next day and ride hard as well. All three list skiing as their hobbies outside of cycling, although Phil is an avid collector of Superman comics, telling me he has every issue from number one to the present day. Peter very nearly did not make this trip due to a motorbike crash resulting in his leg in a cast up until six weeks ago. The boys lived up to their reputation and partied hard last night in Lyon into the wee hours of the morning. It's great to have them back and riding in the Smiddy peloton once again.
Mark Anthony at 51 just misses out on the oldest man award on this tour by a few days. Yours truly has that honour. Mark is a motor mechanic and married to his wife Suzie and has two grown children in Brenton and Kayla. He is a veteran of four trips to either the Pyrenees' or the French Alps and is the proud owner of a Go Pro camera and also loves to descend fast. He was originally talked into doing this tour by his mate Craig, who then pulled out and he still decided to attend.
Tony Smythe is 35 years of age and music has ruled his life for as long as he can remember. His love for music saw him get into his own community radio station in Sydney called Eastside. Tony is married to Amber and has a three year old boy in Xavier. He was telling me he is relatively new to cycling with just two years under his belt as a recreational rider. Only in the last three months has he stepped it up in the hope he can survive the next five days in the mountains.
Justin Jelenkovich or JJ as he is affectionately called by his friends, is 36 years of age but only looks 20 but carries on like he is 15! His bubbly personality and zaniness is what attracted me to him as a mate and I like him immensely. JJ is married to Tania and they have twin girls Layla and Eva at three and a half years of age. JJ recently introduced me to whisky at a fundraising night that he put on for this trip and that is all I am saying about that...
Michael Harris, or Mikey to his friends, is 34 and a very smart solicitor. I know he is smart because the DeAngelis boys use his services and they don't mess around with idiots. Mikey graced us with his present last year in the Pyrenees' and was known to ride into paddocks, take out wild pigs and milk cows while descending. His skills have improved immensely as I witnessed today on the descent. Mikey is married to Katie for the past five years and also lives in Sydney.
Daniel Salter is also from Sydney and great mates with the DeAngelis boys and Mikey. Daniel is 35 years of age, has been cycling for four years and this is his first trip to France as a cyclist. Married to Emily and two awesome children in Henry, who is three and Charlie who is 18 months. His list skiing as his hobbie and works as a general manager for digital marketing company.
Sharky, that's me. I am 51 years of age, founder of Smiling for Smiddy, been doing triathlons since 1985 and pretty proud of Smiddy raising in excess of $4 million dollars for research since 2006.
Well that's about it for this intro blog, I hope you enjoyed getting to know the crew. Tonight we had our first dinner together, Matty Marshall had the distinction of reading out this blog to the group. We raised our glasses to a successful and safe tour and we are all very grateful for being here in France. To our love ones back home we say to you salut, for without your support and encouragement being here would not be possible.
Until tomorrow...
Sharky.
Saturday 22 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR - DAY 5 Col de la Croix de Fer
COLS CLIMBED: Col du Glandon at 1924 metres and Col de la Croix de Fer at 2067 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 190 km's
Average: 23.1 km/h
Climbing: 2766 metres
Descending: 4216 metres
Riding time: 8hr 14min
Temp Min: 11 degrees
Temp Max: 29 degrees
Avr heart rate: 107 bpm
Retired riders: Zane (Bike and body could take no more)
Stats for entire five days
Distance covered: 747 kilometres
Time on saddle: 34 hours and 43 minutes
Vertical metres climbed: 13,055
Well the first ever Smiddy French Alps tour has come to a close. It is now the next morning after the most epic day I have ever had riding in France. We left Alp D'Huez at 9:20am and did not arrive back to our Chateau at St Jean until 9:00pm as the sun was setting. Here is what happened...
The rain has dissipated overnight and the mountains had that revitalised look that only a good downpour can bring. To wake up on top of Alp D'Huez, while having breakfast with the crew, at our hotel with it's full length plate glass windows and that awe inspiring view of the high mountains was astonishing. I had to keep pinching myself; do I really deserve this? Then I recalled the suffering it took to get to the top in the pouring rain and reprimanded myself for even thinking that.
Zane is finally down and out
The upsetting news on roll-out was the big Zane man was not amongst us. He awoke that morning and could barely walk let along throw his leg over the top bar. On top of this his shoulder was busted up so bad he could not reach forward to the handlebars without severe pain. The fact that he climbed Alp D'Huez with those injuries is testament to the toughness of this dude. Besides his body his biked had actually packed it in as well. The electronic gearing was not operating, the frame had a 10cm crack in the top tube, the headset was stuffed and a bulge was discovered in his carbon fibre front wheel. To descend on it would have been suicide. I felt for the big fella; he felt he was letting me down, which is so not the case. I could not have been prouder of Zane and his incredibly brave efforts over the past four days. It was disappointing for Zane not to ride but it was the right thing to do.
The descent off the Alp D'Huez
So off we went and the joy of descending down the great Alp D'Huez has to be experienced by oneself to fully appreciate, not just the actual speed at which you can descend, but the mind-blowing views as you are descending. What to do? Look at road ahead to stay alive, or look at view and hope that you stay on road and stay alive? It is just not fair! How dare a countryside be so beautiful that you have to make a decision. Anyway the 90 minute climb takes just 15 to 20 minutes to descend and at the regrouping at the bottom saw some pretty happy smiling faces.
The majestic climb up the Col de la Croix de Fer
If ever you are fortunate enough to get to France to do any of these amazing climbs, be sure to add the Col de la Croix de Fer to your A-list. Without a doubt the beauty of this magic climb, the surrounding mountains and lush green countryside was magnified by the fact that snow was still present everywhere on these mountains. The winter snows have held on longer than normal and for that we were extremely grateful. On this climb alone I counted in excess of 30 waterfalls; some as high as 1000 metres and a gushing torrent, while others just a trickle and 100 metres. Snow was so close that as you rode by it could be caressed with your hand. Like a love-sick puppy I stopped and carved this name, ALYSSA, in a wall of ice that stood next to the road. I got glen to take a photo with me and have sent it to my girl. Glen and I hung out for nearly the entire 28 kilometre climb. We stopped often to take photos and share the joy and our amazement of what we were seeing. Thanks Glen for making that climb so memorable for me; not just for the scenery and the photo opportunities, but the mate-ship that accompany's such a journey. We both finally got to the top and were delighted to spot Eric and Garath, who were huddled inside the one cafe at the top trying to stay warm.
How did the others fare?
Well Antonia as per usual just keeps plugging away and will always finish anything that she takes on in life. In this case climbing mountains and besides thinking she was lost at one point -even though there is only one road to follow- she eventually crested the top after over two hours of climbing. You would never guess who was at the top to greet her? Yes her Mum! These past two days her Mum just pops up in the most bizarre places and was surely a welcome sight to Antonia. It was Graeme's turn to drive the support vehicle so he and Zane got an armchairs ride to the top of this classic col. The funny thing with this pair of jokers is that both were fully kitted out in their cycling gear and posed for photos beside the 2067 Col de la Croix de Fer sign. Hilarious and cracked the group up as we discussed it over our celebration dinner at 10:30pm.
Getting back to our home in St Jean
From the top of this climb it was now just a matter of a little over 120 kilometres to get home. Now on paper it looked to be a cruisy affair; the first 60 kilometres down to Grenoble all downhill, some of it at speeds of up to 80km/h but the majority of it between 30 and 40km/h. Then we had that mini col du Placette at 580 metres to negotiate and the home run on undulating roads. While Antonia stayed up and shared lunch with her mother, the rest of us descended down to escape the freezing windy conditions to have lunch in the relative warmth of an altitude of just 800 metres. Quite often bikes can descend faster than cars on roads as steep as the Alps. In this case Graeme pushed off in front of the group and I was to catch them a third of the way down the mountain. I passed them and for a few kilometres it was Graeme and Zane trying to stay with me. I stayed in front until it came to one of the small climbs you had to negotiate to get to the next descent and that was the last I saw of them until lunch at the bottom. The funny thing about this story is Zane was telling me Graeme was giving him a running commentary of how to descend and pointing out the things Sharky was doing wrong! Graeme was so extremely jealous as he loves to descend fast and has been my descending partner this entire journey, until today. Next tour mate you can give me some pointers hey?
Getting lost as both Garmin's pack it in
The total distance today was meant to be 165 kilometres. But thanks to Eric loving the day and the French countryside so much, we got to see a lot more of it than planned! An additional 25 kilometres after already five days of riding can take its toll. Each time we stopped for Eric, and Garath- who was awesome at helping Eric make some tough decisions, to check which way to go, the thought was we were not getting back until after dark. Not a lot was said those past 30 kilometres as a quietness descended upon the group. Bodies were tired and hungry, minds had their fill of the French countryside for now and it was just time for the day to end two hours ago. Eric did an awesome job finally getting us home thanks to his mobile phone and google maps. The relief on finishing was enormous and Eric's first words were; "gentlemen and girl I would ride with you guys anytime and anywhere, that was an enormous day!" Too bloody right it was.
Glen does the final huddle
My heart went out to this man who is short in height but tall in stature. When he gets down on the drops the view from behind is one of a professional cyclists that has ridden for decades. He has an ease about him on the bike that suggests the bike and Glen are one! A true gentleman and always the first there to help out if needed. Glen was so shagged from today's ride, hunger flat, shaking and dizzy, that as he was doing the huddle and I was standing next to him, I could feel him shaking. His words were heartfelt and close to tears. This whole week has been a tremendous milestone for this little pocket rocket and I could not have been prouder of him.
Sharky's final words
So that pretty much wraps up the longest Smiddy day on Alps record. The dinner that Graeme and Zane organised consisted of the largest and yummiest hamburgers on record. So big it was impossible to fit one's mouth around them. They were a dripping greasy mess of eggs, pattie, fried pineapple, lettuce and tomatoe, with a side of delicious spicy frites. The story telling, while munching on these gastronomical delights, while recounting our epic day, the laughter, the wisecracks, the exaggerations, the friendships and the longing for it to never end, will stay with us for a very long time to come. Thank you Antonia, Garath, Glen and Zane for coming on board this Smiddy journey. To Jason back home, who never got to be part of this because of the car that took you out and broke your ankle, we spoke of you often mate and know while the disappointment at missing out will be hard to bare, we all felt you were part of the journey anyway. Collectively you guys should be so proud of your fundraising efforts with close to $40,000 being raised from you five alone for cancer research at the Mater Medical. Hold your head high guys, after what you have endured this past week combined with your fundraising efforts, you deserve it! I am proud to call you my friends! Please come and do Italy with me next year so that I can enjoy your awesome company once again?
Zane and Garath left us this morning, to join up with their wives and you will never guess what the girls have got planned for their loving husbands? Yes an adventure tour on tandem bikes! Good luck with that one boys. I would put the girls on front and let them do all the pedaling... Antonia has also left today as her Mum managed to track her down yet again. And Glen I get to have his extraordinary company until he leaves tomorrow.
Graeme and Eric rock and the Smiddy family!
Finally to Graeme and Eric, I know you guys are our tour operators, but what you display each and every day in the way you look after us is the Smiddy spirit. You are one of us and I take immense pride in welcoming you now to the wider Smiddy family. The Smiddy family once consisted of Adam, his brother Paul and parents Maria and David. In 2006 myself and Ron Steel and Oliver Bodak became exclusive members thanks to that first ride up to Townsville. Since that first ride we have now surpassed the 1000 number of people that have done a Smiddy event. 1000 plus in the Smiddy family and I could not think of six more worthy recipients to helps us towards 2000!
Recovery time for Shark's body
I now have a two day break before tour number two begins. My health has improved so much so that yesterday I felt the best I have for this entire trip thus far. I climbed without that debilitating fatigue and I can now look forward to, rather than dread, tour number two.
The good thing about this break dear readers is that you now get a break from me and my words. So have a rest, put your feet up, let your mind relax and get ready for the next onslaught of Sharky tales when 15 riders join us for the Smiddy French Alps Tour take 2!
PS: If anyone out there would like to send any messages to their favourite riders, I will surely pass them on but please send to this email address marksharkysmoothy@gmail.com
Cheers.
Sharky
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 190 km's
Average: 23.1 km/h
Climbing: 2766 metres
Descending: 4216 metres
Riding time: 8hr 14min
Temp Min: 11 degrees
Temp Max: 29 degrees
Avr heart rate: 107 bpm
Retired riders: Zane (Bike and body could take no more)
Stats for entire five days
Distance covered: 747 kilometres
Time on saddle: 34 hours and 43 minutes
Vertical metres climbed: 13,055
Well the first ever Smiddy French Alps tour has come to a close. It is now the next morning after the most epic day I have ever had riding in France. We left Alp D'Huez at 9:20am and did not arrive back to our Chateau at St Jean until 9:00pm as the sun was setting. Here is what happened...
The rain has dissipated overnight and the mountains had that revitalised look that only a good downpour can bring. To wake up on top of Alp D'Huez, while having breakfast with the crew, at our hotel with it's full length plate glass windows and that awe inspiring view of the high mountains was astonishing. I had to keep pinching myself; do I really deserve this? Then I recalled the suffering it took to get to the top in the pouring rain and reprimanded myself for even thinking that.
Zane is finally down and out
The upsetting news on roll-out was the big Zane man was not amongst us. He awoke that morning and could barely walk let along throw his leg over the top bar. On top of this his shoulder was busted up so bad he could not reach forward to the handlebars without severe pain. The fact that he climbed Alp D'Huez with those injuries is testament to the toughness of this dude. Besides his body his biked had actually packed it in as well. The electronic gearing was not operating, the frame had a 10cm crack in the top tube, the headset was stuffed and a bulge was discovered in his carbon fibre front wheel. To descend on it would have been suicide. I felt for the big fella; he felt he was letting me down, which is so not the case. I could not have been prouder of Zane and his incredibly brave efforts over the past four days. It was disappointing for Zane not to ride but it was the right thing to do.
The descent off the Alp D'Huez
So off we went and the joy of descending down the great Alp D'Huez has to be experienced by oneself to fully appreciate, not just the actual speed at which you can descend, but the mind-blowing views as you are descending. What to do? Look at road ahead to stay alive, or look at view and hope that you stay on road and stay alive? It is just not fair! How dare a countryside be so beautiful that you have to make a decision. Anyway the 90 minute climb takes just 15 to 20 minutes to descend and at the regrouping at the bottom saw some pretty happy smiling faces.
The majestic climb up the Col de la Croix de Fer
If ever you are fortunate enough to get to France to do any of these amazing climbs, be sure to add the Col de la Croix de Fer to your A-list. Without a doubt the beauty of this magic climb, the surrounding mountains and lush green countryside was magnified by the fact that snow was still present everywhere on these mountains. The winter snows have held on longer than normal and for that we were extremely grateful. On this climb alone I counted in excess of 30 waterfalls; some as high as 1000 metres and a gushing torrent, while others just a trickle and 100 metres. Snow was so close that as you rode by it could be caressed with your hand. Like a love-sick puppy I stopped and carved this name, ALYSSA, in a wall of ice that stood next to the road. I got glen to take a photo with me and have sent it to my girl. Glen and I hung out for nearly the entire 28 kilometre climb. We stopped often to take photos and share the joy and our amazement of what we were seeing. Thanks Glen for making that climb so memorable for me; not just for the scenery and the photo opportunities, but the mate-ship that accompany's such a journey. We both finally got to the top and were delighted to spot Eric and Garath, who were huddled inside the one cafe at the top trying to stay warm.
How did the others fare?
Well Antonia as per usual just keeps plugging away and will always finish anything that she takes on in life. In this case climbing mountains and besides thinking she was lost at one point -even though there is only one road to follow- she eventually crested the top after over two hours of climbing. You would never guess who was at the top to greet her? Yes her Mum! These past two days her Mum just pops up in the most bizarre places and was surely a welcome sight to Antonia. It was Graeme's turn to drive the support vehicle so he and Zane got an armchairs ride to the top of this classic col. The funny thing with this pair of jokers is that both were fully kitted out in their cycling gear and posed for photos beside the 2067 Col de la Croix de Fer sign. Hilarious and cracked the group up as we discussed it over our celebration dinner at 10:30pm.
Getting back to our home in St Jean
From the top of this climb it was now just a matter of a little over 120 kilometres to get home. Now on paper it looked to be a cruisy affair; the first 60 kilometres down to Grenoble all downhill, some of it at speeds of up to 80km/h but the majority of it between 30 and 40km/h. Then we had that mini col du Placette at 580 metres to negotiate and the home run on undulating roads. While Antonia stayed up and shared lunch with her mother, the rest of us descended down to escape the freezing windy conditions to have lunch in the relative warmth of an altitude of just 800 metres. Quite often bikes can descend faster than cars on roads as steep as the Alps. In this case Graeme pushed off in front of the group and I was to catch them a third of the way down the mountain. I passed them and for a few kilometres it was Graeme and Zane trying to stay with me. I stayed in front until it came to one of the small climbs you had to negotiate to get to the next descent and that was the last I saw of them until lunch at the bottom. The funny thing about this story is Zane was telling me Graeme was giving him a running commentary of how to descend and pointing out the things Sharky was doing wrong! Graeme was so extremely jealous as he loves to descend fast and has been my descending partner this entire journey, until today. Next tour mate you can give me some pointers hey?
Getting lost as both Garmin's pack it in
The total distance today was meant to be 165 kilometres. But thanks to Eric loving the day and the French countryside so much, we got to see a lot more of it than planned! An additional 25 kilometres after already five days of riding can take its toll. Each time we stopped for Eric, and Garath- who was awesome at helping Eric make some tough decisions, to check which way to go, the thought was we were not getting back until after dark. Not a lot was said those past 30 kilometres as a quietness descended upon the group. Bodies were tired and hungry, minds had their fill of the French countryside for now and it was just time for the day to end two hours ago. Eric did an awesome job finally getting us home thanks to his mobile phone and google maps. The relief on finishing was enormous and Eric's first words were; "gentlemen and girl I would ride with you guys anytime and anywhere, that was an enormous day!" Too bloody right it was.
Glen does the final huddle
My heart went out to this man who is short in height but tall in stature. When he gets down on the drops the view from behind is one of a professional cyclists that has ridden for decades. He has an ease about him on the bike that suggests the bike and Glen are one! A true gentleman and always the first there to help out if needed. Glen was so shagged from today's ride, hunger flat, shaking and dizzy, that as he was doing the huddle and I was standing next to him, I could feel him shaking. His words were heartfelt and close to tears. This whole week has been a tremendous milestone for this little pocket rocket and I could not have been prouder of him.
Sharky's final words
So that pretty much wraps up the longest Smiddy day on Alps record. The dinner that Graeme and Zane organised consisted of the largest and yummiest hamburgers on record. So big it was impossible to fit one's mouth around them. They were a dripping greasy mess of eggs, pattie, fried pineapple, lettuce and tomatoe, with a side of delicious spicy frites. The story telling, while munching on these gastronomical delights, while recounting our epic day, the laughter, the wisecracks, the exaggerations, the friendships and the longing for it to never end, will stay with us for a very long time to come. Thank you Antonia, Garath, Glen and Zane for coming on board this Smiddy journey. To Jason back home, who never got to be part of this because of the car that took you out and broke your ankle, we spoke of you often mate and know while the disappointment at missing out will be hard to bare, we all felt you were part of the journey anyway. Collectively you guys should be so proud of your fundraising efforts with close to $40,000 being raised from you five alone for cancer research at the Mater Medical. Hold your head high guys, after what you have endured this past week combined with your fundraising efforts, you deserve it! I am proud to call you my friends! Please come and do Italy with me next year so that I can enjoy your awesome company once again?
Zane and Garath left us this morning, to join up with their wives and you will never guess what the girls have got planned for their loving husbands? Yes an adventure tour on tandem bikes! Good luck with that one boys. I would put the girls on front and let them do all the pedaling... Antonia has also left today as her Mum managed to track her down yet again. And Glen I get to have his extraordinary company until he leaves tomorrow.
Graeme and Eric rock and the Smiddy family!
Finally to Graeme and Eric, I know you guys are our tour operators, but what you display each and every day in the way you look after us is the Smiddy spirit. You are one of us and I take immense pride in welcoming you now to the wider Smiddy family. The Smiddy family once consisted of Adam, his brother Paul and parents Maria and David. In 2006 myself and Ron Steel and Oliver Bodak became exclusive members thanks to that first ride up to Townsville. Since that first ride we have now surpassed the 1000 number of people that have done a Smiddy event. 1000 plus in the Smiddy family and I could not think of six more worthy recipients to helps us towards 2000!
Recovery time for Shark's body
I now have a two day break before tour number two begins. My health has improved so much so that yesterday I felt the best I have for this entire trip thus far. I climbed without that debilitating fatigue and I can now look forward to, rather than dread, tour number two.
The good thing about this break dear readers is that you now get a break from me and my words. So have a rest, put your feet up, let your mind relax and get ready for the next onslaught of Sharky tales when 15 riders join us for the Smiddy French Alps Tour take 2!
PS: If anyone out there would like to send any messages to their favourite riders, I will surely pass them on but please send to this email address marksharkysmoothy@gmail.com
Cheers.
Sharky
Thursday 20 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR - ALP D'HUEZ CONQUERED IN POURING RAIN
COLS CLIMBED: Col de la Placette at 588 metres and Alp D'Huez at 1850 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 132 km's
Average: 19.5 km/h
Climbing: 2627 metres
Riding time: 6hr 47min
Temp Min: 4 degrees (This was on Alp De Huez as it poured down rain on the group)
Temp Max: 28 degrees
Crashes now by Zane: Two
As a special surprise to my faithful readers and followers of this blog I want to introduce you to our only girl on this tour and her take of the day. Please enjoy Antonia's words below of our big day of climbing the great Alp De Huez.
The pain of day four and Eric sneaks his bike in!
What a day! I think every day just brings out whole new level of wowness in every facet that you can think of! The alarm went off at 6:00am and as much as I wanted to press snooze and roll over, Alp D'huez was calling. Today started with Sharky's very punctual trip to our local wifi hotspot so that his infamous blog can get out to the eagerly awaiting media/audience. Meanwhile the rest of us were packing our bags for our overnight stay at Alp D'huez. The Van was coming out with us for the first day with Eric the assigned driver. However, tucked a way in the boot, I noticed was his bike! He obviously had that same calling from Alp D'huez! 112km to the base and then a 13km climb! Out and off by 8 o'clock and I don't think there was one of us that wasn't feeling the hurt of the last few unrelenting days. We hadn't long left and I was already hearing comments from around the group such as " I think there is going to be blood in my knicks tonight" " I can honestly say that I have never worked my body so hard in my life" "Geez I love red lights" All things that were buzzing around in my head, but just hadn't verbalised them. As much as one doesn't like to hear that others are going through pain there is also that sense of relief to know that you are not the only one suffering. Although to be honest I think some people were pushing through a higher level of pain than others for obvious reasons (namely Zane and Sharky)
Our first Col felt like a major one
Our first stop was St Laurent du Pont for a loo stop at a public loo, give me a bush over this any day to duck behind. A welcome stop never the less. Not long after we left there we were climbing our first col for the day! "Col de la Placette" Although we reached a mere altitude of 588m, at that point in time it may as well have been Alp D'huez! A quick bite to eat, slap on some sunscreen and back on the bike. No rest for the wicked! A lovely descent soon after which I heard from Sharky's mouth "No more climbing and a tail wind and I think I will be right" No sooner did he mutter these words and we were climbing again.
Lunch was a blessing and we were beautifully catered for as we have been the entire week by Eric and Graham. As per usual it wasn't a leisurely sit back and feet up lunch, it was pretty much gobble and go and of course slap on the suncream for safe measures. Although saying this, Zane did manage to fit in a massage by our in house masseuse in Sharky (well deserved of course)
Zane gets his number 3
They say things come in three's and for Zane this is certainly the case with number three being racked up in spectacular fashion. Not long had we been on the move after lunch when Zane copped another fall, literally shattered body, train tracks and stupidly thin tyres being the culprit. A hard fall, which he described as worse than his high speed gravel flip. The car behind slammed on his brakes to narrowly miss Zane! Wow, it is not as if Zane hadn't been through enough already. Yet, in good old Zane spirit, he was back on the bike again and powering on, all be it through gritted teeth.
From that point on, what was to enter our visual space was mind blowing. These mountains started popping up all over the place. Terrifying is just one word to describe it. I struggled bending my head far enough back just to see the tops, but truly picturesque. My main aim at that point was to enjoy it while I could as I well knew that half way up Alp D'huez wasn't exactly going to be the most opportune moment to take it all in.
The climb we had waited for all week was finally upon us
Finally the base was upon us. The van was parked at the base with no bike and no Eric! He couldn't resist it! We all fueled up with sweets, water and various other things and off we went to climb the famous Alp D'huez! 21 switch backs, all numbered on the way up. I was surprised to begin with how quickly these numbers went down but then all of a sudden they started to slow down, I think rather then them getting further apart it was rather a matter of my legs slowing down.
The top was more than welcome, although I wasn't quite sure where the actual top was, but thought I saw Sharky in the distance so just followed on and up! I didn't mind though as the view was something out of this world! No picture I have taken has yet given it justice. It wasn't until I was descending back to the village that the cold air really hit me. It was a welcome site to see my mum there to meet us, she had been there since 11;00 am waiting for our arrival, time now being just before 5:00pm!
Graeme's words over dinner
Dinner was sensational with the best backdrop I have had to any meal. At the dinner table Graham mentioned something different that he has noticed about the Smiddy groups he has taken out compared to other groups he takes out for personal training, and that is the dedication they show. He says that no matter how much hurt or pain that they are going through, they push on through as it is not for themselves in particular they are doing it for it is for a greater purpose. This rings true with me. I think we have certainly seen this sheer determination within this group as I saw the exact same attitude when I was fortunate enough to do the Midi Smiddy earlier in the year. It is what makes every day really special.
Apologies for the slightly different blog to usual. I must leave the top 10 highlights to Sharky so you don't miss out on some well loved Sharky entertainment for the day!
Antonia no apologies necessary, thanks to you I got an extra two hours sleep, so thank you for your excellent account of your day on the Huez.
Well I am not sure I have much to add but here are just a few highlights and a few special awards as I saw it from today and over the past four days.
1. I was directly behind Zane when he took his second tumble and it was a beauty! He very nearly saved himself by throwing out his left leg to counter balance the bike wanting to fall right. But the big fella's one leg coming out actually catapulted him and his bike sideways and there was serious airtime, prior to the heaviest train track fall I have witnessed, on to his right hip and shoulder. The very same that took the brunt in his first fall. He actually ended up in the middle of the road, the car behind slamming on its brakes, a motorbike stopping abruptly traveling in the opposite direction and a group of French cafe drinkers watching with amusement on the side of the road as if it was all perfectly ordinary. Zane lay there momentarily out of it. Glen and I eventually got him off the road and once he was on his feet his immediate words were; "I think that's me done Sharky." Ten minutes later he was back on his bike and in a world of pain. The guy use to play footy and if not for his incredibly strong build he would have been down for the count long ago. Zane tells me that riding a bike is tougher than anything he endured as a Rugby player. The admiration of all in our select group went another notch higher for this man with the big heart and endearing never give in smile.
2. Antonia is such a tough nut that she probably did not even notice the teaming rain that brought temperatures down to four degrees for the climb up Alp D'Huez today. Apparently it did not rate a mention as nothing was said about it in her blog. Well I am telling you -here and with the utmost certainty- that it rained cats and dogs and mothers and children, it was freezing, great torrents of water were cascading off the mountainside, mini-tsunami's barreled head on into the riders, the wind was cyclonic and landslips forced riders to mount the odd cow that had not been blown off the mountain to help get bikes and bodies through the carnage! Yes it was that bad, although I may have exaggerated a little with the cat quote... Anyway hats off to the crew as none gave in and all made it successfully to the top.
3. The actual finish of the Alp D'Huez climb is at 1850 metres and situated in the village itself. But as I attended a six week triathlon training camp here with the legendary Tri coach Brett Sutton, and his squad in 1993, I knew that you could continue climbing to just over 2000 metres, 2080 to be precise. The rain had stopped and I actually felt okay on the climb for the first time in four days so I continued on. Unbeknown to me Antonia spotted me and followed me and on my way back down there she was coming up. It involved a further three kilometres of climbing, we stopped, had a quick chat, I pointed out the top and off she went. Like I said before, one tough girl that one!
4. The hairiest legs and most fluro bike socks award goes to dual winners in Zane and Garath. I have not mentioned to Garath to shave his legs as this man is already fast enough as it is.
5. The award for most recognizable helmet from five kilometres away goes to Antonia, who with her go pro camera perched high above her helmet on an alien tentacle like monstrosity, scares the bejesus out of me each time I spot her.
6. The most unrecognizable accent award goes to our good old American mate in Eric. Last night Eric was asked to read the blog and we all thought he was speaking another language, not helped by the fact that a few celebratory ales and reds were consumed over a few hours after he had successfully hammered out a 90 minute ascent and descent of Alp D'Huez.
7. The first on the scene award goes to Glen, who was once again dragging Zane's sorry and sore arse off the road and fixing his bike yet again.
8. Having a moment and bitching to Graeme about being sick award goes to Shark, who at the top of today's first Col just needed to voice the demon's in his head. Eric suggested I do some van time, that snapped Shark out of it!
9. The excitement level award at climbing Alp D'Huez award definitely goes to Garath. He spoke constantly of it as the best and hardest thing he has done in his life. He was still talking about it in his sleep. I was in the room next door, solid rock walls, I am half deaf and yet I could make out these words; watch out Cadel, I'm coming to get you!
10. And finally, the biggest and toughest and just gets on with it award goes to good old Zane. Anyone else would have pulled out days ago. The big guy was hurting today after the train track crash, yet he took on and climbed Alp D'Huez, with a hip that is so sore he can't walk without a serious limp. Hats off to you champ. The rider of this tour by far!
Sharky
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 132 km's
Average: 19.5 km/h
Climbing: 2627 metres
Riding time: 6hr 47min
Temp Min: 4 degrees (This was on Alp De Huez as it poured down rain on the group)
Temp Max: 28 degrees
Crashes now by Zane: Two
As a special surprise to my faithful readers and followers of this blog I want to introduce you to our only girl on this tour and her take of the day. Please enjoy Antonia's words below of our big day of climbing the great Alp De Huez.
The pain of day four and Eric sneaks his bike in!
What a day! I think every day just brings out whole new level of wowness in every facet that you can think of! The alarm went off at 6:00am and as much as I wanted to press snooze and roll over, Alp D'huez was calling. Today started with Sharky's very punctual trip to our local wifi hotspot so that his infamous blog can get out to the eagerly awaiting media/audience. Meanwhile the rest of us were packing our bags for our overnight stay at Alp D'huez. The Van was coming out with us for the first day with Eric the assigned driver. However, tucked a way in the boot, I noticed was his bike! He obviously had that same calling from Alp D'huez! 112km to the base and then a 13km climb! Out and off by 8 o'clock and I don't think there was one of us that wasn't feeling the hurt of the last few unrelenting days. We hadn't long left and I was already hearing comments from around the group such as " I think there is going to be blood in my knicks tonight" " I can honestly say that I have never worked my body so hard in my life" "Geez I love red lights" All things that were buzzing around in my head, but just hadn't verbalised them. As much as one doesn't like to hear that others are going through pain there is also that sense of relief to know that you are not the only one suffering. Although to be honest I think some people were pushing through a higher level of pain than others for obvious reasons (namely Zane and Sharky)
Our first Col felt like a major one
Our first stop was St Laurent du Pont for a loo stop at a public loo, give me a bush over this any day to duck behind. A welcome stop never the less. Not long after we left there we were climbing our first col for the day! "Col de la Placette" Although we reached a mere altitude of 588m, at that point in time it may as well have been Alp D'huez! A quick bite to eat, slap on some sunscreen and back on the bike. No rest for the wicked! A lovely descent soon after which I heard from Sharky's mouth "No more climbing and a tail wind and I think I will be right" No sooner did he mutter these words and we were climbing again.
Lunch was a blessing and we were beautifully catered for as we have been the entire week by Eric and Graham. As per usual it wasn't a leisurely sit back and feet up lunch, it was pretty much gobble and go and of course slap on the suncream for safe measures. Although saying this, Zane did manage to fit in a massage by our in house masseuse in Sharky (well deserved of course)
Zane gets his number 3
They say things come in three's and for Zane this is certainly the case with number three being racked up in spectacular fashion. Not long had we been on the move after lunch when Zane copped another fall, literally shattered body, train tracks and stupidly thin tyres being the culprit. A hard fall, which he described as worse than his high speed gravel flip. The car behind slammed on his brakes to narrowly miss Zane! Wow, it is not as if Zane hadn't been through enough already. Yet, in good old Zane spirit, he was back on the bike again and powering on, all be it through gritted teeth.
From that point on, what was to enter our visual space was mind blowing. These mountains started popping up all over the place. Terrifying is just one word to describe it. I struggled bending my head far enough back just to see the tops, but truly picturesque. My main aim at that point was to enjoy it while I could as I well knew that half way up Alp D'huez wasn't exactly going to be the most opportune moment to take it all in.
The climb we had waited for all week was finally upon us
Finally the base was upon us. The van was parked at the base with no bike and no Eric! He couldn't resist it! We all fueled up with sweets, water and various other things and off we went to climb the famous Alp D'huez! 21 switch backs, all numbered on the way up. I was surprised to begin with how quickly these numbers went down but then all of a sudden they started to slow down, I think rather then them getting further apart it was rather a matter of my legs slowing down.
The top was more than welcome, although I wasn't quite sure where the actual top was, but thought I saw Sharky in the distance so just followed on and up! I didn't mind though as the view was something out of this world! No picture I have taken has yet given it justice. It wasn't until I was descending back to the village that the cold air really hit me. It was a welcome site to see my mum there to meet us, she had been there since 11;00 am waiting for our arrival, time now being just before 5:00pm!
Graeme's words over dinner
Dinner was sensational with the best backdrop I have had to any meal. At the dinner table Graham mentioned something different that he has noticed about the Smiddy groups he has taken out compared to other groups he takes out for personal training, and that is the dedication they show. He says that no matter how much hurt or pain that they are going through, they push on through as it is not for themselves in particular they are doing it for it is for a greater purpose. This rings true with me. I think we have certainly seen this sheer determination within this group as I saw the exact same attitude when I was fortunate enough to do the Midi Smiddy earlier in the year. It is what makes every day really special.
Apologies for the slightly different blog to usual. I must leave the top 10 highlights to Sharky so you don't miss out on some well loved Sharky entertainment for the day!
Antonia no apologies necessary, thanks to you I got an extra two hours sleep, so thank you for your excellent account of your day on the Huez.
Well I am not sure I have much to add but here are just a few highlights and a few special awards as I saw it from today and over the past four days.
1. I was directly behind Zane when he took his second tumble and it was a beauty! He very nearly saved himself by throwing out his left leg to counter balance the bike wanting to fall right. But the big fella's one leg coming out actually catapulted him and his bike sideways and there was serious airtime, prior to the heaviest train track fall I have witnessed, on to his right hip and shoulder. The very same that took the brunt in his first fall. He actually ended up in the middle of the road, the car behind slamming on its brakes, a motorbike stopping abruptly traveling in the opposite direction and a group of French cafe drinkers watching with amusement on the side of the road as if it was all perfectly ordinary. Zane lay there momentarily out of it. Glen and I eventually got him off the road and once he was on his feet his immediate words were; "I think that's me done Sharky." Ten minutes later he was back on his bike and in a world of pain. The guy use to play footy and if not for his incredibly strong build he would have been down for the count long ago. Zane tells me that riding a bike is tougher than anything he endured as a Rugby player. The admiration of all in our select group went another notch higher for this man with the big heart and endearing never give in smile.
2. Antonia is such a tough nut that she probably did not even notice the teaming rain that brought temperatures down to four degrees for the climb up Alp D'Huez today. Apparently it did not rate a mention as nothing was said about it in her blog. Well I am telling you -here and with the utmost certainty- that it rained cats and dogs and mothers and children, it was freezing, great torrents of water were cascading off the mountainside, mini-tsunami's barreled head on into the riders, the wind was cyclonic and landslips forced riders to mount the odd cow that had not been blown off the mountain to help get bikes and bodies through the carnage! Yes it was that bad, although I may have exaggerated a little with the cat quote... Anyway hats off to the crew as none gave in and all made it successfully to the top.
3. The actual finish of the Alp D'Huez climb is at 1850 metres and situated in the village itself. But as I attended a six week triathlon training camp here with the legendary Tri coach Brett Sutton, and his squad in 1993, I knew that you could continue climbing to just over 2000 metres, 2080 to be precise. The rain had stopped and I actually felt okay on the climb for the first time in four days so I continued on. Unbeknown to me Antonia spotted me and followed me and on my way back down there she was coming up. It involved a further three kilometres of climbing, we stopped, had a quick chat, I pointed out the top and off she went. Like I said before, one tough girl that one!
4. The hairiest legs and most fluro bike socks award goes to dual winners in Zane and Garath. I have not mentioned to Garath to shave his legs as this man is already fast enough as it is.
5. The award for most recognizable helmet from five kilometres away goes to Antonia, who with her go pro camera perched high above her helmet on an alien tentacle like monstrosity, scares the bejesus out of me each time I spot her.
6. The most unrecognizable accent award goes to our good old American mate in Eric. Last night Eric was asked to read the blog and we all thought he was speaking another language, not helped by the fact that a few celebratory ales and reds were consumed over a few hours after he had successfully hammered out a 90 minute ascent and descent of Alp D'Huez.
7. The first on the scene award goes to Glen, who was once again dragging Zane's sorry and sore arse off the road and fixing his bike yet again.
8. Having a moment and bitching to Graeme about being sick award goes to Shark, who at the top of today's first Col just needed to voice the demon's in his head. Eric suggested I do some van time, that snapped Shark out of it!
9. The excitement level award at climbing Alp D'Huez award definitely goes to Garath. He spoke constantly of it as the best and hardest thing he has done in his life. He was still talking about it in his sleep. I was in the room next door, solid rock walls, I am half deaf and yet I could make out these words; watch out Cadel, I'm coming to get you!
10. And finally, the biggest and toughest and just gets on with it award goes to good old Zane. Anyone else would have pulled out days ago. The big guy was hurting today after the train track crash, yet he took on and climbed Alp D'Huez, with a hip that is so sore he can't walk without a serious limp. Hats off to you champ. The rider of this tour by far!
Sharky
Wednesday 19 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH TOUR - MT DU CHAT TORTURE!
COLS CLIMBED: Mt Du Chat at 1504 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 105 km's
Average: 18.9 km/h
Climbing: 2363 metres
Riding time: 5hr 35min
Temp Min: 14 degrees
Temp Max: 33 degrees
Messages Zane received from well wishers after reading about his crash: 7
Exhaustion on day three hits the group
The first thing you need to do prior to reading this blog is to go back to the stats of the day. Now look closely at the second stat that reads 'average speed'. There was nothing average about today's short stage of just 105km's! Let me share with you my utter exhaustion on returning from our shortest day of the tour. On arriving back to our Chateau at 3:30 I managed to stay awake long enough to shower and by 4:00 I was fast asleep. All I remember is at 3:55 Garath comes into my room and asks if I would not mind massaging Zane's neck, not sure why, but apparently Zane was a tad sore from sleeping with a pillow he is not familiar with. That or a certain crash he went through yesterday, nahhh it must be the pillow... Anyway I said, "no worries mate, send him in." Next thing I know it is 7pm and I awoke not knowing where I was, who I was, or if I was male or female? I quickly ascertained that I was indeed male but the other two took a little longer to work out. I felt bad about letting Zane down, but when I stumbled down the stairs in my dreamy state and found the lads enjoying a few ales, I was immediately cheered at the news I was not alone as all confessed to a bit of a catnap.
Warning, Warning, Warning, read as if your life depends on it!
Now let this be a warning to Smiddy tour number two; all you Smiddy riders back in Sydney and Brisbane, going about your day to day life as your departure date from Australia to France quickly approaches. You need to adhere to these top five Sharky-life-saving-French Alps-survivor tips, or I would suggest bringing a good supply of body bags!
1. You need to bring someone else's strong climbing legs.
2. You need to find the doctor that supplied Lance Armstrong with his vitamin C all those years.
3. You need to not only put on compact cranks but go the triple chainring.
4. You need to get your will in order.
5. And most importantly you need to, and I stress -you 'absolutely' need to- go blind and deaf if anyone ever suggests that you do a climb here that has any of these four letters in it; C or a H or a an A or a T.
Yea shall by known as 'The Nothing'
I can't even bring myself to say the name anymore in this blog, so please see the main heading if you need to be reminded. Should I ever mention it again it will, for the duration of this blog, and possibly forever until time exists no more, be referred to as 'The Nothing'. Not since a climb I did with the Midi Smiddy riders, where we climbed a monster I called 'The Upper', have I hated and feared a climbed so much. By giving the climb this name is my way of dealing with writing about an extremely stressful occurrence...
Well thanks to that little kip I had this afternoon I am so far behind my normal schedule it is not funny. Still I need to pack as we have an overnight stay at Alp De Huez tomorrow night. This blog must be done and Graeme just came in and asked if we could leave at 6am to send the blog as he would like the group to get away by 7:30 tomorrow morning.
So without further ado I am reverting to my old faithful top nine whatever list, that I can come up with in the next 60 minutes.
1. Besides 'The Nothing', today's incredibly scenic route is testament to the hard work Graeme has put into specifically designing loop courses. The views of the snow fed lakes, the quaint French villages, the meandering route through valleys and fields and roads lined with the ever present and fast growing Poplar trees. The sun-kissed fields first thing in the morning are a delight to behold, heck even the fat cows look smug that they have the best eating conditions in the world. If not for the burning in my legs and my ragged breathing I would suggest that todays opening 38km section was as close to utopia as you'll get!
2. As promised I can't mention that name but today we began a climb that tricked us all into believing we were on 'The Nothing'. It topped out at 640 metres and we all celebrated like there was no tomorrow that our tough day just got easier.
3. The descent down into the lakes region of Bordeaux was sensational. One moment we are in a narrow shelf of rock and around a corner appears this view that would bring on a premature delivery of a pregnant women. Hope that sums up the beauty of it as I don't have the writing skills to elaborate further.
4. Stopping at the bottom of the lake for photos and Garath and I were high-fiving our easy day and the awesome views.
5. Two kilometres later we turn from the lake and start to head up and then up some more and up some more. Graeme rides past and said, rather casually, as if it was the easiest thing in the world; "okay Sharky just -and he emphasized the word 'just' with a sweetness to his voice and a suggestion that what lay ahead I could do in my sleep; just 14 kilometres to go."
6. We were now on the true and proper climb 'The Nothing'. A brutal climb that for the entire length of it's 14km's never dipped below 10% gradient, not even the switchbacks. Every corner, every long straight, every sighting of the road ahead showed the same deadpan gradient.
7. I could go on all night about suffering, about heartache, about crying like a baby, about wanting my mummy, about hating my legs, my pathetic lungs crying out for co/2, about getting angry at myself as I was going so slow, about the bloody damn flies, but it is late, I am tired and really who wants to hear me rattle on about stuff like that!
I will say this though; at the top of 'The Nothing' there was one shop. It sold food and most importantly COKE. I love you Coke. Will you marry me? I promise to devour you each and every time I do these ridiculous climbs. I promise to never play up on you by drinking Fanta. And til death does us apart I will continue to respect and pay homage to you. That was pretty much how I was feeling when I got to the top and saw Garath and Glen hooking into their third coke and frites.
8. The descent is why you do it, well it is for me anyway. I hate climbing, but for the sake of earning the right to do a descent, and do it fast, I will endure being tortured for as long as it takes. Getting down the sucker was always going to be an incredible high for each and everyone of us. Except for poor old Zane. Sure he got down it, the repairs to the bike held strong, and while he smiled each time that we did a regrouping, it was more a smile of relief. Under the circumstances the big man is doing awesome and we are all so proud of him.
9.The final one goes to Antonia and Glen, who on finishing today's stage, while everyone else slept, this pair got back on their bikes, descending the 10 kilometres into town to have a coffee and use the wifi. Remember we are situated at 420 metres and while it was fun to go down to the town they then had to ride back up. Unbelievable!
That's me done, now 11:15pm and I have something special planned for my blog tomorrow so stay tuned!
Sharky
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance: 105 km's
Average: 18.9 km/h
Climbing: 2363 metres
Riding time: 5hr 35min
Temp Min: 14 degrees
Temp Max: 33 degrees
Messages Zane received from well wishers after reading about his crash: 7
Exhaustion on day three hits the group
The first thing you need to do prior to reading this blog is to go back to the stats of the day. Now look closely at the second stat that reads 'average speed'. There was nothing average about today's short stage of just 105km's! Let me share with you my utter exhaustion on returning from our shortest day of the tour. On arriving back to our Chateau at 3:30 I managed to stay awake long enough to shower and by 4:00 I was fast asleep. All I remember is at 3:55 Garath comes into my room and asks if I would not mind massaging Zane's neck, not sure why, but apparently Zane was a tad sore from sleeping with a pillow he is not familiar with. That or a certain crash he went through yesterday, nahhh it must be the pillow... Anyway I said, "no worries mate, send him in." Next thing I know it is 7pm and I awoke not knowing where I was, who I was, or if I was male or female? I quickly ascertained that I was indeed male but the other two took a little longer to work out. I felt bad about letting Zane down, but when I stumbled down the stairs in my dreamy state and found the lads enjoying a few ales, I was immediately cheered at the news I was not alone as all confessed to a bit of a catnap.
Warning, Warning, Warning, read as if your life depends on it!
Now let this be a warning to Smiddy tour number two; all you Smiddy riders back in Sydney and Brisbane, going about your day to day life as your departure date from Australia to France quickly approaches. You need to adhere to these top five Sharky-life-saving-French Alps-survivor tips, or I would suggest bringing a good supply of body bags!
1. You need to bring someone else's strong climbing legs.
2. You need to find the doctor that supplied Lance Armstrong with his vitamin C all those years.
3. You need to not only put on compact cranks but go the triple chainring.
4. You need to get your will in order.
5. And most importantly you need to, and I stress -you 'absolutely' need to- go blind and deaf if anyone ever suggests that you do a climb here that has any of these four letters in it; C or a H or a an A or a T.
Yea shall by known as 'The Nothing'
I can't even bring myself to say the name anymore in this blog, so please see the main heading if you need to be reminded. Should I ever mention it again it will, for the duration of this blog, and possibly forever until time exists no more, be referred to as 'The Nothing'. Not since a climb I did with the Midi Smiddy riders, where we climbed a monster I called 'The Upper', have I hated and feared a climbed so much. By giving the climb this name is my way of dealing with writing about an extremely stressful occurrence...
Well thanks to that little kip I had this afternoon I am so far behind my normal schedule it is not funny. Still I need to pack as we have an overnight stay at Alp De Huez tomorrow night. This blog must be done and Graeme just came in and asked if we could leave at 6am to send the blog as he would like the group to get away by 7:30 tomorrow morning.
So without further ado I am reverting to my old faithful top nine whatever list, that I can come up with in the next 60 minutes.
1. Besides 'The Nothing', today's incredibly scenic route is testament to the hard work Graeme has put into specifically designing loop courses. The views of the snow fed lakes, the quaint French villages, the meandering route through valleys and fields and roads lined with the ever present and fast growing Poplar trees. The sun-kissed fields first thing in the morning are a delight to behold, heck even the fat cows look smug that they have the best eating conditions in the world. If not for the burning in my legs and my ragged breathing I would suggest that todays opening 38km section was as close to utopia as you'll get!
2. As promised I can't mention that name but today we began a climb that tricked us all into believing we were on 'The Nothing'. It topped out at 640 metres and we all celebrated like there was no tomorrow that our tough day just got easier.
3. The descent down into the lakes region of Bordeaux was sensational. One moment we are in a narrow shelf of rock and around a corner appears this view that would bring on a premature delivery of a pregnant women. Hope that sums up the beauty of it as I don't have the writing skills to elaborate further.
4. Stopping at the bottom of the lake for photos and Garath and I were high-fiving our easy day and the awesome views.
5. Two kilometres later we turn from the lake and start to head up and then up some more and up some more. Graeme rides past and said, rather casually, as if it was the easiest thing in the world; "okay Sharky just -and he emphasized the word 'just' with a sweetness to his voice and a suggestion that what lay ahead I could do in my sleep; just 14 kilometres to go."
6. We were now on the true and proper climb 'The Nothing'. A brutal climb that for the entire length of it's 14km's never dipped below 10% gradient, not even the switchbacks. Every corner, every long straight, every sighting of the road ahead showed the same deadpan gradient.
7. I could go on all night about suffering, about heartache, about crying like a baby, about wanting my mummy, about hating my legs, my pathetic lungs crying out for co/2, about getting angry at myself as I was going so slow, about the bloody damn flies, but it is late, I am tired and really who wants to hear me rattle on about stuff like that!
I will say this though; at the top of 'The Nothing' there was one shop. It sold food and most importantly COKE. I love you Coke. Will you marry me? I promise to devour you each and every time I do these ridiculous climbs. I promise to never play up on you by drinking Fanta. And til death does us apart I will continue to respect and pay homage to you. That was pretty much how I was feeling when I got to the top and saw Garath and Glen hooking into their third coke and frites.
8. The descent is why you do it, well it is for me anyway. I hate climbing, but for the sake of earning the right to do a descent, and do it fast, I will endure being tortured for as long as it takes. Getting down the sucker was always going to be an incredible high for each and everyone of us. Except for poor old Zane. Sure he got down it, the repairs to the bike held strong, and while he smiled each time that we did a regrouping, it was more a smile of relief. Under the circumstances the big man is doing awesome and we are all so proud of him.
9.The final one goes to Antonia and Glen, who on finishing today's stage, while everyone else slept, this pair got back on their bikes, descending the 10 kilometres into town to have a coffee and use the wifi. Remember we are situated at 420 metres and while it was fun to go down to the town they then had to ride back up. Unbelievable!
That's me done, now 11:15pm and I have something special planned for my blog tomorrow so stay tuned!
Sharky
Tuesday 18 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR - DAY TWO & HIGH-SPEED CRASH
COLS CLIMBED: Grand Colombier at 1501 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:142 km's
Average: 22.8 km/h
Climbing: 2120 metres
Riding time: 6hr 15min
Temp Min: 21 degrees
Temp Max: 40.8 degrees
The lads and Antonia are looking out for me. I promised them when I finished the first day that I would not start today's stage if I thought it would be detrimental to my health. I awoke at 5:30am feeling like death warmed up. At 6:15am Graeme and Antonia and myself drove ten kilometres to a private lake. These particular lakes are fully fenced off and to use the facilities, or even to have a swim, you need to pay. But we were there for one reason, to use the high-speed wifi. By parking outside and with Graeme knowing the password, we spent the next half hour checking emails and posting my latest blog. Unfortunately the chateau where we are staying has no wifi. So the plan is every morning, prior to the ride, we make the trip to the lake, or to another hotspot Graeme knows outside a cafe in town. The blogs must get through! Anyway the point I am trying to make is that by the time we had done this, returned home and had some breakfast, I was feeling a little better and decided to start. Graeme made me agree to a backup plan. Today's ride was 50 cruisy slightly downhill kilometres to the Grand Columbier, an 18km ball-busting climb at an average of 8.5% gradient. A 20km descent and then 50 slightly uphill kilometres back to home-base. The plan was if I felt crap to ride to the base of the climb, wait in town and then ride home with the group once they had completed the climb. I readily agreed and off we went.
Today was always shaping up to be an epic day, the heat was making its presence felt early and all of us knew it was going to be a suffer-fest day to make yesterdays stage look easy. And the day and the course did not disappoint. So with the intro to this blog out of the way let's get straight to the meaty end of this cabana!
Sharky's top ten dramas from day two on the road in the unforgiving French Alps
Zane crashes out doing 101 km/h!
1. Number one, without any doubt whatsoever, goes to my newfound friend in Zane Williams. Before I share this story let me tell you, here and now, how extremely grateful I am that this story has a good ending, as it nearly could have been quite the opposite. So yesterday you will remember Zane had a high speed puncture and managed to stay upright. The descent down the other side of the Grand Colombier is outright dangerous, in just eight kilometres it drops down 1000 vertical metres. The average gradient is 17 to 19%. The road surface is as rough as a downhill mountain bike track and the switchbacks are downright terrifying. Poor Zane had the misfortune of his carbon fibre handlebars coming loose while braking as hard as he could yet still traveling at 60km/h. As the handlebars dropped his lost his grip on the brakes. He flew past Glen doing 80km/h and was clearly out of control. He was hanging on for dear life and Glen could do nothing but watch.
The Smiddy huddle connection
Now the next part of this story is testament to my mate Adam Smiddy. Yesterday when I did the Smiddy huddle for the first time, I explained why I introduced the huddle back in 2007. I told the group it was my way I entrusting the safety of the group to Adam. Not once has he failed me and it is why I am pedantic and maybe a little superstitious not to break this trend. Zane said to me today that he is now a firm believer in the huddle and its protective powers.
Zane's handlebars failed in preciously the right location
Now back to Zane; if his handlebars had of failed on any other part of the descent he would have either gone over a cliff or slammed into a tree or a guardrail. There was one section of the descent where just before a switchback was an open area of thick piles of loose gravel. Zane said he was so scared and the last thing he recalls is taking one last look at his Garmin and it read 101km/h. Fear saved his life, as prior to crashing into the gravel, he passed out, his body went limp and in its relaxed state Zane came out of it shaken to the core, mild concussion and dusty as all hell, but he was alive and nothing was broken! Unbelievable!
Go pro camera captures the action
Glen said Zane slammed into the gravel so fast that the bike dug in, flicked Zane over the handlebars, landing on his head as the bike did a couple of cartwheels. Antonia meanwhile captured everything, before and after, but not the actual crash, on her Go Pro camera. The footage of Zane pulling away as he hit 100km/h was frightening to watch. We watched the footage tonight and it was disturbing seeing the position Zane landed in, a crumpled confused mess, with Glen rushing to his aid, talking to him, asking his name, date of birth, of which Zane remembers nothing. Meanwhile Graeme, Garath and myself are waiting at the bottom and wondering what was taking the four riders so long. I always worry when there is a longer than normal time lag between the first and last descenders. And in this case the worry was justified. Eventually Eric sent a text to Graeme explaining what had just happened.
Zane's rejoins the group
An hour later the seven strong peloton were back together again. Zane, Glen, Eric and Antonia relayed their story of the crash. It was only when I heard the entire version that I realised what an incredibly lucky man our old mate Zane was to be there telling his side of things. We all felt for the big fella, his confidence was shot, we still had ten kilometres of descending to do and a further 50 kilometres to get back home. To his credit he sucked it up, showed guts and a true fighting spirit belying his age and I silently vowed never to mention my incredibly insignificant flu again!
2. The climb up to the top of the Grand Colombier was taken out by Garath, who at one stage stopped for a rest, saw Glen on a switchback 200 metres back, cursed him for being so close, 'and not that he is competitive' but quickly remounted his trusty steed and kept the gap all the way to the top.
3. I decided to tackle the climb and Eric was to be my guardian for the entire 18 kilometres. Thanks for the great stories and for once again looking after me mate. Also to Graeme; who stopped often to give us lollies and to top up our water bottles as needed. You guys rock!
4. Glen was first on the scene today with Zane's crash and after watching the Go Pro footage he deserves to be recognised for maintaining a cool head under an extremely stressful and worrying situation. Nice work champ!
5. Eric for getting Zane's bike back together again. Unfortunately Zane is now up for a new bike when he gets home as the top tub has a huge crack in it. He also cracked his helmet and smashed his new phone! Broke everything but his body thankfully.
6. The 73 year old French man that came out of his house and offered us cold water as we waited for Zane to rejoin us. He was an old cyclist and proudly showed us his bike. He also sported an afro type jet black hair style that looked out of this world on a 73 year old. But each to their own I say. I was the king of mullets right up until my mid 30's!
7. The heat today was so relentless that everyone spent time in the quiet room. Even Eric showed he was human today when with just a few remaining kilometres he started to drift off the back.
8. Antonia might be the only girl on this trip but boy this girl can ride. Her never say die attitude has earned the respect of all on board this tour. Go you strong girl you!
9. Pizza and eight different flavours of ice-cream was our reward today from Eric and Graeme. Going back for thirds was encouraged as all will be burnt off tomorrow they assure us as we tackle a cold called 'Chat', which is apparently as hard, if not harder than the infamous Alp De Huez.
10. Finally the boys have started a see-how-far-you-can-kick-a-ball-after-your-legs-are-fried-from-riding-all-day-in-oven-like-conditions competition. Where the ball lands is marked by an orange disc. Each night you get a kick and at the end of the week the furtherest kicker of the ball wins a free physiotherapy appointment to treat the injured ball kicking leg!
That's it for now, see you all for the 'Chat' blog.
Take care.
Sharky
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:142 km's
Average: 22.8 km/h
Climbing: 2120 metres
Riding time: 6hr 15min
Temp Min: 21 degrees
Temp Max: 40.8 degrees
The lads and Antonia are looking out for me. I promised them when I finished the first day that I would not start today's stage if I thought it would be detrimental to my health. I awoke at 5:30am feeling like death warmed up. At 6:15am Graeme and Antonia and myself drove ten kilometres to a private lake. These particular lakes are fully fenced off and to use the facilities, or even to have a swim, you need to pay. But we were there for one reason, to use the high-speed wifi. By parking outside and with Graeme knowing the password, we spent the next half hour checking emails and posting my latest blog. Unfortunately the chateau where we are staying has no wifi. So the plan is every morning, prior to the ride, we make the trip to the lake, or to another hotspot Graeme knows outside a cafe in town. The blogs must get through! Anyway the point I am trying to make is that by the time we had done this, returned home and had some breakfast, I was feeling a little better and decided to start. Graeme made me agree to a backup plan. Today's ride was 50 cruisy slightly downhill kilometres to the Grand Columbier, an 18km ball-busting climb at an average of 8.5% gradient. A 20km descent and then 50 slightly uphill kilometres back to home-base. The plan was if I felt crap to ride to the base of the climb, wait in town and then ride home with the group once they had completed the climb. I readily agreed and off we went.
Today was always shaping up to be an epic day, the heat was making its presence felt early and all of us knew it was going to be a suffer-fest day to make yesterdays stage look easy. And the day and the course did not disappoint. So with the intro to this blog out of the way let's get straight to the meaty end of this cabana!
Sharky's top ten dramas from day two on the road in the unforgiving French Alps
Zane crashes out doing 101 km/h!
1. Number one, without any doubt whatsoever, goes to my newfound friend in Zane Williams. Before I share this story let me tell you, here and now, how extremely grateful I am that this story has a good ending, as it nearly could have been quite the opposite. So yesterday you will remember Zane had a high speed puncture and managed to stay upright. The descent down the other side of the Grand Colombier is outright dangerous, in just eight kilometres it drops down 1000 vertical metres. The average gradient is 17 to 19%. The road surface is as rough as a downhill mountain bike track and the switchbacks are downright terrifying. Poor Zane had the misfortune of his carbon fibre handlebars coming loose while braking as hard as he could yet still traveling at 60km/h. As the handlebars dropped his lost his grip on the brakes. He flew past Glen doing 80km/h and was clearly out of control. He was hanging on for dear life and Glen could do nothing but watch.
The Smiddy huddle connection
Now the next part of this story is testament to my mate Adam Smiddy. Yesterday when I did the Smiddy huddle for the first time, I explained why I introduced the huddle back in 2007. I told the group it was my way I entrusting the safety of the group to Adam. Not once has he failed me and it is why I am pedantic and maybe a little superstitious not to break this trend. Zane said to me today that he is now a firm believer in the huddle and its protective powers.
Zane's handlebars failed in preciously the right location
Now back to Zane; if his handlebars had of failed on any other part of the descent he would have either gone over a cliff or slammed into a tree or a guardrail. There was one section of the descent where just before a switchback was an open area of thick piles of loose gravel. Zane said he was so scared and the last thing he recalls is taking one last look at his Garmin and it read 101km/h. Fear saved his life, as prior to crashing into the gravel, he passed out, his body went limp and in its relaxed state Zane came out of it shaken to the core, mild concussion and dusty as all hell, but he was alive and nothing was broken! Unbelievable!
Go pro camera captures the action
Glen said Zane slammed into the gravel so fast that the bike dug in, flicked Zane over the handlebars, landing on his head as the bike did a couple of cartwheels. Antonia meanwhile captured everything, before and after, but not the actual crash, on her Go Pro camera. The footage of Zane pulling away as he hit 100km/h was frightening to watch. We watched the footage tonight and it was disturbing seeing the position Zane landed in, a crumpled confused mess, with Glen rushing to his aid, talking to him, asking his name, date of birth, of which Zane remembers nothing. Meanwhile Graeme, Garath and myself are waiting at the bottom and wondering what was taking the four riders so long. I always worry when there is a longer than normal time lag between the first and last descenders. And in this case the worry was justified. Eventually Eric sent a text to Graeme explaining what had just happened.
Zane's rejoins the group
An hour later the seven strong peloton were back together again. Zane, Glen, Eric and Antonia relayed their story of the crash. It was only when I heard the entire version that I realised what an incredibly lucky man our old mate Zane was to be there telling his side of things. We all felt for the big fella, his confidence was shot, we still had ten kilometres of descending to do and a further 50 kilometres to get back home. To his credit he sucked it up, showed guts and a true fighting spirit belying his age and I silently vowed never to mention my incredibly insignificant flu again!
2. The climb up to the top of the Grand Colombier was taken out by Garath, who at one stage stopped for a rest, saw Glen on a switchback 200 metres back, cursed him for being so close, 'and not that he is competitive' but quickly remounted his trusty steed and kept the gap all the way to the top.
3. I decided to tackle the climb and Eric was to be my guardian for the entire 18 kilometres. Thanks for the great stories and for once again looking after me mate. Also to Graeme; who stopped often to give us lollies and to top up our water bottles as needed. You guys rock!
4. Glen was first on the scene today with Zane's crash and after watching the Go Pro footage he deserves to be recognised for maintaining a cool head under an extremely stressful and worrying situation. Nice work champ!
5. Eric for getting Zane's bike back together again. Unfortunately Zane is now up for a new bike when he gets home as the top tub has a huge crack in it. He also cracked his helmet and smashed his new phone! Broke everything but his body thankfully.
6. The 73 year old French man that came out of his house and offered us cold water as we waited for Zane to rejoin us. He was an old cyclist and proudly showed us his bike. He also sported an afro type jet black hair style that looked out of this world on a 73 year old. But each to their own I say. I was the king of mullets right up until my mid 30's!
7. The heat today was so relentless that everyone spent time in the quiet room. Even Eric showed he was human today when with just a few remaining kilometres he started to drift off the back.
8. Antonia might be the only girl on this trip but boy this girl can ride. Her never say die attitude has earned the respect of all on board this tour. Go you strong girl you!
9. Pizza and eight different flavours of ice-cream was our reward today from Eric and Graeme. Going back for thirds was encouraged as all will be burnt off tomorrow they assure us as we tackle a cold called 'Chat', which is apparently as hard, if not harder than the infamous Alp De Huez.
10. Finally the boys have started a see-how-far-you-can-kick-a-ball-after-your-legs-are-fried-from-riding-all-day-in-oven-like-conditions competition. Where the ball lands is marked by an orange disc. Each night you get a kick and at the end of the week the furtherest kicker of the ball wins a free physiotherapy appointment to treat the injured ball kicking leg!
That's it for now, see you all for the 'Chat' blog.
Take care.
Sharky
Monday 17 June 2013
SMIDDY FRENCH ALPS TOUR - DAY 1 REPORT
COLS CLIMBED: Col Da Couz at 640 metres, climbed twice and Col Revard at 22 kilometres in length at 1590 metres
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:140 km's
Average: 21.8 km/h
Climbing: 2379 metres
Riding time: 6hr 22min
Temp Min: 14 degrees
Temp Max: 34 degrees
For some reason I went into today's stage thinking it was only 98 kilometres long. Leaving at 8:45am I did the sums in my head and figured we'd be back in time for a late lunch. I guess when Graeme was giving us the brief last night my cloudy head, blocked ears and profound deafness had me hearing what I wanted to hear. In reality we got back at five-pm and it was a day I will remember for a very long time due to these three things:
Pretty damn stupidly beautiful course; not fair that the French countryside can be so damn gorgeous yet cause one so much pain!
My body said to me this morning sleep; instead I went for a 140km ride that involved 50km's of climbing!
Mateship and Smiddy spirit; I will touch on this later but let me assure you it came to the forefront today.
Sharky's tired ramblings of a strange hallucinating dreamy type day.
Rolling out of home-base this morning the weather was perfect; a crisp 14 degrees, coupled with a downhill start thanks to our Chateau residing at 420 metres and the company of six other fantastic riders, what more could you want for your first day of riding in the majestic French Alps? Well I don't mean to be greedy but to be rid of this damn head cold would be a nice start. Now it has been a long day for all of us and the group just shared a wonderful barbecue dinner as we sat outside in the coolness of the setting sun. Thanks to daylight saving darkness comes late here at half past ten. Thank you to Graeme and Eric for another amazing meal and once again the leftovers will join the other leftovers in the fridge and keep each other company! No-one or no-thing gets lonely on a Smiddy tour... Now when these lads cook they cook as if all the neighbours are going to join us. Going hungry on one of these tours is not an option. Anyway this time during dinner I listened really carefully to the brief that Graeme gave about tomorrow's ride up the Grand Columbier. I listened even more carefully when Glen read out yesterday's blog to the group. And in return the group were at their utmost attentive when I told them the story of the bird I befriended on my lonely climb up the Revard today.(Please see highlights for that story.) Of course they did not believe me and insisted I was hallucinating, but I will let you be the judge of that one.
Sharky's Top ten highs and a few lows of the day:
I always do a top ten when my brain is so fried and I can't think, so here's hoping this all comes out okay...
1. The bike kits are sensational; riding a kit that are in the French colours does exactly one thing when riding a bike in France - French people take notice. There is only one thing more popular than an Aussie or a Kiwi in France, and that is an Aussie or a Kiwi cyclist wearing the red/white/blue colours of France. With five of us in uniform we look slick and heads turn wherever we go and really that is all that matters...
2. The Col Revard is a 22km gradual climb that has an average gradient of just 6%. Truly spectacular views all the way up, good road surface, cold fresh mountain water fountain at the half-way point to refresh one's sweaty brow and under the circumstance would bring to my face a grin from ear to ear. But not today, my body rebelled, my heart-rate plan failed miserably as I could not get it to go above 120 BPM, which brings me to my next highlight.
3. I was last up the climb today, by a long way, nothing wrong with that, just get to the top. But let me share with you just how slow I was going. Now in France there are lots of paddocks, these paddocks attract cows, these cows poo copious amounts, these poos attract vermin, welcome vermin number one- the humble fly. Now flys are lazy, they hate flying and are always looking for a free ride. In my case they had time to not only rest on my back and up my nose and in my ears, but to lay eggs. These eggs then had time to hatch and the baby flys joined the folks and laughed at how easy it was to hang with this dude that was going so slow that time appeared to stand still. The flys celebrated big time and by the time I arrived at the top, not only had my fellow Smiddy riders eaten a four course meal and enjoyed their seventeenth drink, but they failed to recognise me as they thought I had grown a beard, when it fact it was just so many flys had attached themselves to my chin. Now that is slow!
4. The bird story has to be told but first let me apologise as this blog so far tends to favour stories about me. I promise to make up for it when I tell you a highlight about the other riders soon. So five kilometres from the top of the Revard, I am by myself by a country mile, the flys are having a ball, I look down to my right and there is a baby bird. I narrowly miss running over her as she failed to even blink as I went past. I looked back and she was looking at me. I returned, said hello and still she stared. I reached down and she jumped onto my finger. The lads were joking that I was actually talking to my own finger, but I know what I saw! Anyway I lifted that bird up to eyesight and on my finger she stayed. It was not until I reached for my camera that she flew off, camera shy perhaps? That little bird lifted my spirits as if my dream girl had just came into my life, which coincidentally has actually happened thanks to Alyssa coming into my life. I rode off and for the next kilometre picked up the pace to an unbelievable 8km/h!
5. Graeme today was up and down that climb like a bloody yo yo. A welcome yo yo at that. He typified the Smiddy spirit in the way he looked after not just myself but Antonia and Zane, who were all feeling the pinch of that long climb.
6. Eric then came into his own when accompanying Antonia down the long descent and stopping to fix Zane's puncture. He also saved my arse on the final climb up Col Da Couz when I was in a world of hurt.
7. Zane on the descent showed maturity and a got-to-save-my-arse attitude when he successfully stayed upright when his rear wheel punctured while clocking in excess of 70km/h!
8. Glen for saving me today with his salt tablets, Antonia for giving me her last Shark saving gel and Garath for his caring and positive affirmations and attitude when he realised the tough day I was having.
9. Why is it when you go through hell that the human spirit is most vibrant and alive? I hated today for the suffering I endured. I loved today for the kindness shown to me by my wonderful new Smiddy friends. Thank you all and you now have a special place within my heart.
10. That bottle of coke was on my mind for the remaining 14 kilometres up the Revard. Sure the views were spectacular but could not compare to the taste of that coke!
11:11pm - Sleep beckons; first day down, four to go, shared with beautiful people. How lucky am I!
Sharky
STATS FOR THE DAY:
Distance:140 km's
Average: 21.8 km/h
Climbing: 2379 metres
Riding time: 6hr 22min
Temp Min: 14 degrees
Temp Max: 34 degrees
For some reason I went into today's stage thinking it was only 98 kilometres long. Leaving at 8:45am I did the sums in my head and figured we'd be back in time for a late lunch. I guess when Graeme was giving us the brief last night my cloudy head, blocked ears and profound deafness had me hearing what I wanted to hear. In reality we got back at five-pm and it was a day I will remember for a very long time due to these three things:
Pretty damn stupidly beautiful course; not fair that the French countryside can be so damn gorgeous yet cause one so much pain!
My body said to me this morning sleep; instead I went for a 140km ride that involved 50km's of climbing!
Mateship and Smiddy spirit; I will touch on this later but let me assure you it came to the forefront today.
Sharky's tired ramblings of a strange hallucinating dreamy type day.
Rolling out of home-base this morning the weather was perfect; a crisp 14 degrees, coupled with a downhill start thanks to our Chateau residing at 420 metres and the company of six other fantastic riders, what more could you want for your first day of riding in the majestic French Alps? Well I don't mean to be greedy but to be rid of this damn head cold would be a nice start. Now it has been a long day for all of us and the group just shared a wonderful barbecue dinner as we sat outside in the coolness of the setting sun. Thanks to daylight saving darkness comes late here at half past ten. Thank you to Graeme and Eric for another amazing meal and once again the leftovers will join the other leftovers in the fridge and keep each other company! No-one or no-thing gets lonely on a Smiddy tour... Now when these lads cook they cook as if all the neighbours are going to join us. Going hungry on one of these tours is not an option. Anyway this time during dinner I listened really carefully to the brief that Graeme gave about tomorrow's ride up the Grand Columbier. I listened even more carefully when Glen read out yesterday's blog to the group. And in return the group were at their utmost attentive when I told them the story of the bird I befriended on my lonely climb up the Revard today.(Please see highlights for that story.) Of course they did not believe me and insisted I was hallucinating, but I will let you be the judge of that one.
Sharky's Top ten highs and a few lows of the day:
I always do a top ten when my brain is so fried and I can't think, so here's hoping this all comes out okay...
1. The bike kits are sensational; riding a kit that are in the French colours does exactly one thing when riding a bike in France - French people take notice. There is only one thing more popular than an Aussie or a Kiwi in France, and that is an Aussie or a Kiwi cyclist wearing the red/white/blue colours of France. With five of us in uniform we look slick and heads turn wherever we go and really that is all that matters...
2. The Col Revard is a 22km gradual climb that has an average gradient of just 6%. Truly spectacular views all the way up, good road surface, cold fresh mountain water fountain at the half-way point to refresh one's sweaty brow and under the circumstance would bring to my face a grin from ear to ear. But not today, my body rebelled, my heart-rate plan failed miserably as I could not get it to go above 120 BPM, which brings me to my next highlight.
3. I was last up the climb today, by a long way, nothing wrong with that, just get to the top. But let me share with you just how slow I was going. Now in France there are lots of paddocks, these paddocks attract cows, these cows poo copious amounts, these poos attract vermin, welcome vermin number one- the humble fly. Now flys are lazy, they hate flying and are always looking for a free ride. In my case they had time to not only rest on my back and up my nose and in my ears, but to lay eggs. These eggs then had time to hatch and the baby flys joined the folks and laughed at how easy it was to hang with this dude that was going so slow that time appeared to stand still. The flys celebrated big time and by the time I arrived at the top, not only had my fellow Smiddy riders eaten a four course meal and enjoyed their seventeenth drink, but they failed to recognise me as they thought I had grown a beard, when it fact it was just so many flys had attached themselves to my chin. Now that is slow!
4. The bird story has to be told but first let me apologise as this blog so far tends to favour stories about me. I promise to make up for it when I tell you a highlight about the other riders soon. So five kilometres from the top of the Revard, I am by myself by a country mile, the flys are having a ball, I look down to my right and there is a baby bird. I narrowly miss running over her as she failed to even blink as I went past. I looked back and she was looking at me. I returned, said hello and still she stared. I reached down and she jumped onto my finger. The lads were joking that I was actually talking to my own finger, but I know what I saw! Anyway I lifted that bird up to eyesight and on my finger she stayed. It was not until I reached for my camera that she flew off, camera shy perhaps? That little bird lifted my spirits as if my dream girl had just came into my life, which coincidentally has actually happened thanks to Alyssa coming into my life. I rode off and for the next kilometre picked up the pace to an unbelievable 8km/h!
5. Graeme today was up and down that climb like a bloody yo yo. A welcome yo yo at that. He typified the Smiddy spirit in the way he looked after not just myself but Antonia and Zane, who were all feeling the pinch of that long climb.
6. Eric then came into his own when accompanying Antonia down the long descent and stopping to fix Zane's puncture. He also saved my arse on the final climb up Col Da Couz when I was in a world of hurt.
7. Zane on the descent showed maturity and a got-to-save-my-arse attitude when he successfully stayed upright when his rear wheel punctured while clocking in excess of 70km/h!
8. Glen for saving me today with his salt tablets, Antonia for giving me her last Shark saving gel and Garath for his caring and positive affirmations and attitude when he realised the tough day I was having.
9. Why is it when you go through hell that the human spirit is most vibrant and alive? I hated today for the suffering I endured. I loved today for the kindness shown to me by my wonderful new Smiddy friends. Thank you all and you now have a special place within my heart.
10. That bottle of coke was on my mind for the remaining 14 kilometres up the Revard. Sure the views were spectacular but could not compare to the taste of that coke!
11:11pm - Sleep beckons; first day down, four to go, shared with beautiful people. How lucky am I!
Sharky
Sunday 16 June 2013
SMIDDY TOUR OF THE FRENCH ALPS - INTRO
Over the next five days a group of dedicated Smiddy legends will pit their strengths against the might of the unforgiving French Alps. In front of them lie six major climbs, three of them hors category, meaning off the charts. The other three climbs are category one, which is just down from a hors climb. Of course this is just six of many, but it is those six that will either bring us to our knees, or we will rise to conquer them. I suspect the later, as all on board this journey have been affected by cancer in some shape or form. When the going gets tough, our strength will come from thinking of those people climbing their own cancer mountain.
For this first of two Smiddy tours I am delighted to introduce you to the following riders:
Antonia Bigault is our only girl on tour, she is a 34 year old optometrist/geologist who bought her first road bike in 2005 but only more recently got into cycling. Her motivation behind doing the ride is due to a number of people, friends and family, she has known that have had the torture of going through cancer. In 2011 she lost a good friend with cancer and an Uncle in 2012! Cancer is a long hard road, more research is required and she is prepared to do anything required to eradicate it from the world.
Garath Thomas is a 26 year old Executive Manager for a commercial cleaning company based in Brisbane city. After getting back on the bike in 2011 and doing his first Triathlon in 2013, a fantastic opportunity came around to not only live out a dream of cycling through France but to also support an amazing foundation at the same time. Garath can only hope that this can be his way of giving something back to people who are going through a really tough time.
Zane Williams is a 30 year old who is the director of a commercial cleaning company based in the Brisbane CBD. After being a competitive swimmer at school and university a good friend introduced him to triathlons in 2006 and since then has taken part in many races throughout Australia. Zane was introduced to Smiling for smiddy at a GPS charity auction whereby he successfully bid on a spot for the French Alps ride. Until this time he knew little about the charity however after meeting Sharky and Rowan he quickly learned what a great and worthy cause it really was. Zane's Uncle and best friend are going through cancer and he understands first hand the destruction it can cause and how worthy a cause it really is.
Glen Grigor is a 39 year old Industrial Electrician who has worked for Orrcon for 12 years, he has decided to undertake this ride before enjoying his long service leave traveling around Europe. This weeks ride will be good base training leading into a new season of triathlon. The cause means a lot to him as he has close relatives whom have passed away and whom are currently battling cancer.
Graeme Buscke is 31 years of age and tells me he has the coolest job in the world as the company (Embrace Sports) he co-owns with his best mate Neil Aitken, run sporting tours all year round. Graeme and Neil are based in England and kindly ran the Smiddy tour last year for us in the Pyrenees. Both these lads loved helping the Smiddy group achieve what we set out to do. Graeme reckons the strong Aussie mind combined with the will to never back down from a challenge has made him come back to help out again this year. Graeme played Rugby for 20 years, has enjoyed competitive running for the past 12 years and the past four years has been bitten by the triathlon and cycling bug big time. He lists his hobby as big wave surfing.
Eric Doehrman is from Huntsville, Alabama in the good old US of A. At 45 years of age he has found his calling working alongside of Neil and Graeme as a coach to the many tour groups they run each year. Eric is 45 years of age and besides working as a triathlon coach he also has work as a Cat Herder. When I asked him what attracts him to this line of work, his response was this; "There is nothing better than working with athletes to achieve their goals... I love seeing people amaze themselves." His sporting background was Rugby but somehow he fell into ultra marathons and then triathlon. Eric tells me he has had more surgeries resulting from his trail running adventures than the rugby pitch. Gravity is not his friend!
Prep day runs smoothly
Today was all about getting to our beautiful Chateau just outside a very small village called St Jean, which is about 25 kilometres from Chambery, the gateway to the French Alps. The beauty of this place is mesmerising and I feel privileged to be be here. Thanks must go to Graeme for collecting us all from Lyon and getting us and our bikes here in one piece. At four-pm we did a test sort of ride to ascertain bikes and bodies were all in working order. The 37 kilometre ride included a ten kilometre gentle climb up to a col called Col De La Croix, which stands at 884 metres. Everyone rode well while I was the one lagging behind thanks to a flu I picked up just prior to my flight on Friday evening. While I feel pretty ordinary; I have been there before and know that as long as I keep my heart rate below 130 I can continue to ride and my health will improve as well. Anyway that is what I am hoping will happen as there is no way I am missing out! Eric cooked up a storm tonight and there was so much in the way of leftovers that there is enough for dinner tomorrow night. Thanks heaps for an awesome meal Eric. The group have come together well on day one and while it is early days yet, the potential is there for some strong friendships to form. They are a great bunch and I look forward to getting to know them better as the real suffering starts.
Anyway sit back and enjoy the ride through my blogs and thanks for joining us.
Sharky
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