Little over a month
ago I'd been starting to wind down my racing and planning some fun rides before
having a wee end of season break. It's been quite a full on season at times,
but a total blast and so many highlights - but that's a whole other blog in itself!!
Then I received a
phone call that was a total curveball. A good curveball may I add - being
invited to race the Tour of Ardeche with Racing Chance. After being asked to
race with them last year and unfortunately having to turn down the offer, I
knew instinctively that I most definitely couldn't pass up the opportunity
again!
Bike and Ventoux (quite apt!!) kit bag all packed ready to head to France
I would have said
travelling in the van with no air con may have helped the heat acclimatisation
process somewhat, but when you read on it didn't really....in my case anyway!! After
a day of travelling we arrived at the campsite, our home for the week. We were
staying in little static caravans - small but well equipped with a wee kitchen
where porridge was cooked up every morning and it even had a coffee machine! Oh
and air con, a necessity!!
Our home for the week at the campsite in Ardeche
So if you haven't
guessed by now, the daily temperature was on the warm side. In the mid 30s
every day with little breeze to cool things down. I've raced the Tour de
Bretagne a couple of times before so have experienced racing in the heat, but
the Ardeche was much much hotter.
Stage 1 was like a
kermesse. 16 laps of a 4.8km circuit and then a 5km section to the finish. The
plan was simple, no heroics and try not to lose any time. Thankfully the whole
team arrived safely in the bunch gallop to the finish, none of us losing any
time. It had been a bit of a shock to the system, not just with the heat but as
it was my first UCI race in a while, getting used to the large number of riders
in the peloton took a few laps to settle in. Mission accomplished and I was really
glad to get the first stage over and prepare for hitting the mountains in Stage
2.....
Stepping out the car
at Stage 2 HQ, was like stepping into a furnace! It was hot! We tried to limit
the time spent walking around in the sun, save a few trips to the toilet and to
take a look at the classic cars that were the race caravan - driving ahead of
the race each day. Pretty cool! The stage had a fairly long neutralised section
of 5km. Uphill. Then it just carried on uphill for the next 30 or so
kilometres....At first the pace wasn't too mental but as we neared the first GPM
(queen of the mountains prime) it ramped up a bit. I tried to hang on but found
the elastic snapped and I was off the back with a small group. Thankfully I
managed to get back up to the front group again to sit in the wheels and try to
recover a bit. Struggling with the effort and the heat I ended up in a small
group for the remainder of the race. Knowing that there were a lot of hard
stages to come, energy conservation was key so just rode within myself. My back
had also started to seize up so I was extremely glad to climb off at the end of
a long day in the saddle. I'm not sure I've ever suffered quite so much on the
bike as I did that day so it was a mental battle as much as a physical one to
just keep turning the pedals and count down the kilometres to the finish. Then
the rehydrating and refuelling process began as Mont Ventoux awaited us on
Stage 3.....
The race caravan - some cool wee cars!
The transfer to the
start of Stage 3 was fairly long so it was an earlier departure and also
earlier start time for the race. Thankfully the race started fairly steady,
maybe with what lay ahead (Ventoux!!). However the first climb proved to be a
bit of a stinger and with no real effort in my legs, it felt harder than it
maybe should have. This turned out to be the stage that I (unintentionally)
decided to play "how many times can I get dropped in the convoy and get
back on". The key thing if this happens is not to panic!! I learnt that
after a few attempts at getting back on and also advice from Alan and Ian in
the team car to "ride the convoy, don't panic, just ride the cars".
After playing this game maybe 3 or 4 times I finally managed to use the cars to
get myself back up to the bunch. Riding behind one car, taking some shelter to
recover and then moving up to the next one, repeating the process until the
bunch was in touching distance and I just had to move up beyond the comm car. This
had burnt more than a few matches in the process so I was really glad to get
back into the shelter of the bunch, especially as the start of Ventoux was only
5 or 6km away. Thankfully it was mostly a straight, flat road so sitting in the
bunch was possible without too much effort and I could take on some fluid and
fuel and pour a bottle over my neck and back to cool down a bit. Thanks to Ian
and Alan as well for doing the water honours from the car window!
Riding along the road
we caught our first glimpse of Ventoux, in all its ominous yet epic glory! I
just willed my legs to get me up there. As the road kicked upwards, the pace in
the bunch did the same. I knew from past experience that trying to match this
and put myself in the red would be a bad idea so I just tapped out my own
rhythm and ended up in a smaller group. As the climb continued I just kept on
tapping out a steady rhythm and found I'd ridden off on my own. Riders who had dropped
off the main bunch served as carrots to bridge to and definitely helped keep
the motivation on what was a hard, relentless slog. From what I'd been told,
once you reached Chalet Reynard, the worst of the climb was over...Chalet
Reynard was 12km into the climb and an average of something like 8-10%. The
crowds had gathered there though so it was a bit of a goosebumps moment hearing
all the cheers of support and seeing big posters of famous cyclists at the side
of the road. Also pretty much the whole way up the climb are the names of
cycling heroes painted on the tarmac. It's pretty cool to think you're racing
up a climb that so many icons of the sport have raced up in the past and a
great privilege to be racing the first women's race to finish at the summit of
Ventoux! The gradient did relent slightly after passing the Chalet but was
still 5-8% for the last 6km. The final 3km seeming like forever as you could
see the road stretching up to the top that seemed within touching
distance.....Crowds had gathered to line the last 100m in the finishing
straight and provided a much needed boost to reach the finish line. Aiden our
swanny extraordinaire met each of us as we finished with a can of Coke that
tasted amazing (I don't even like Coke...) and water before directing us to the
team van. Despite not really being up there at the sharp end of the race, it
was still a proud moment to finish the stage and be part of the first women's
cycling race to finish at the summit of Ventoux!
As we drove to the
start of Stage 4, with feel good tunes the playlist of choice for the journey,
I felt a bit more optimistic about the day ahead, despite it being dubbed the Queen
stage. At 127km and 2700m of climbing there were 4 categorised climbs (Cat 1,
Cat 2, HC, Cat 1) plus the uncategorised climbs that really sting the legs when
you're not expecting them! However when we reached the start, a wave of fatigue
and nerves hit me and I was really struggling to regain any sort of motivation.
My back and body were aching and I hadn't even turned the pedals....Needless to
say things didn't really get any better. The race started at a pretty nippy
pace. The first sprint came after only 6km so teams were drilling it from the
gun to set up their riders in contention for the sprints competition. As well
as this, the two riders lying in 2nd and 3rd on GC attacked from the gun so it
was a fast and furious start to say the least. I just really really wanted to
make it through the stage but as I struggled to hold onto the bunch this was
becoming less and less of a reality. After only 5 or 6 kilometres I was back in
the convoy, struggling to retain composure as it sunk in that this was going to
be a long lonely day in the saddle but also fighting the thought of pulling out
completely. I absolutely hate quitting and rarely pull out of a race, but my
body was having other ideas and I wasn't sure how much longer I could take the
pain. I knew Aiden would be at the first feed at around 38km at the top of the
first climb so I set myself that as a target to reach. As the team car passed
me I think I was close to hysterical (sorry Alan and Ian) partly due to the
pain and partly the sheer disappointment at going out the back so early on. It
was becoming ever more the reality that I wouldn't be able to finish the stage.
It was a long lonely ride, as much a mental battle as a physical one. This
definitely topped it as the most I've suffered in a race. The 10km climb seemed
to take an eternity and I knew that because I was so far behind there was no
chance of Aiden still being at the feed because he needed to get to the next
feed zone. Still hoping he might be there, my heart sort of sank when there was
no sign of the van. The finish was just a few kilometres down the road.
The race passed
through it and then did a loop before climbing back up to cross in the opposite
direction at the end of the stage. This was where my first Tour of Ardeche was
to end. I rolled up to a marshall and signalled I was pulling out. It took a
couple of times of him asking me if I was finished before I could answer him,
still contemplating in my dazed state whether I could continue...absolutely
gutted that I was a DNF, but also just so relieved that the suffering was over.
I climbed off my bike, sort of crumpled to the ground and jut sat there in a
daze. It's all a bit hazy but I remember the medics were there in what only
seemed like seconds before they fed me a bit of sugar cube (not the most
pleasant thing...) and did some tests. I was put on a stretcher and into an
ambulance. Apparently I slept the entire 40 minute journey to the hospital - I
do say I can sleep pretty much anywhere and any chance to catch an extra few
zzzs!!
The results of the
blood test was rhabdomyolysis - I knew of this from my old job where a rugby
player got it from a hard tackling training session.
I was told I needed
to stay in hospital for 12-24 hours on a drip to receive fluids. That night
Alan and Amy came to see me with my race bag and phone. All I can say is I'm so
glad I put my wash bag in with my race stuff so I had my toothbrush! It's so
hard to make calls to people close to you to tell them you're in hospital and
not worry them, sorry Mum and Dad and co!
To cut a long story
short and without wanting to turn this into a tale of oh woe is me, the 12-24
hour stay turned into 2 days in hospital. It felt like a lot longer but I guess
my petit peu en Français got some practice and the French doctors were
brilliant! Also the kindness from Claude, one of the race organisers, and his
niece and her family was amazing! If you read this Claude, Hélène and family -
thank you so much for everything you did for me those few days, you were all
unbelievably kind and I will never forget it!!
So as I'm writing
this I'm currently resting up, feeling pretty wiped out but being very well looked after by Clover, Sam and
Luella before I feel well enough to drive back up to Scotland. It's been a
challenging few months but another story to add to the collection I guess. If
there's one piece of advice I can offer, if you're ever racing overseas travel
insurance is an absolute must!!! It would have been an even more expensive and
stressful experience without it.
So that was my first
Tour of Ardeche. Not really the way I wanted it to go, or the nicest way to end
what's been an amazing season but all just part of the highs and lows of
cycling. Time for some rest now and then bounce back into winter training next
month.
Would just like to
take this opportunity to say the biggest thank you to Ford UK and Team Ford
EcoBoost for the amazing support this year. It's been absolutely brilliant
racing for the team and I can't wait to see what the future holds!
Thanks for reading,
Jools.
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