Forrest Grape Ride

My goals for the Forest Grape Ride were to ride as well as I could and enjoy the event. I wasn't driven to qualify for the UCI Gran Fondo final so that took some of the pressure off, but I did want to do a respectable ride and try to stay with my age group for the flat first third of the race before the climbs started. I knew I'd be riding at my own pace up the climbs.

We found out when we arrived at the race start that men and women from each age group would be starting together. When I assembled in my age category, I also discovered that even with the men it was a quite small group - only 20 riders all up (note to the organisers - it is very helpful to know things like starting grid order and start list before you arrive on the start line, as it can play a big part in race tactics and mental preparation).

We got the 5 sec countdown and then our age category set off! A very informal race start. I started at the front of the grid, but that may have been a mistake as the other women set off very quick and I was hard pressed to keep up with them. I kept expecting some guys to come past and help but they didn't! So I spent the first few kilometres of the race trying to bridge a gap to the front few riders in my age group, who had already started working together and rolling turns. Eventually I eased off as I was just burning myself up and not making any ground. Then the rest of my age group came past and I managed to get on the back.

The first 15km or so was heading east into a headwind. I was the last rider in our group and it was all I could do to stick with them. I was not right at my limit, but I was certainly working a lot harder than I'd intended for this stage in the race! I'd say it was about equivalent to a C grade race, which is a grade above what I normally race.

Then we turned and headed north, with the wind coming from our right. The thing with a cross wind is that you don't get much protection from having a rider in front of you, so you have to work almost as hard as if you are on your own. And they were still riding faster than I could do on my own - which meant I was working way too hard trying to match their pace so I could have the protection of the group, but not actually getting any protection! So I dropped off the back of the group, and another lady dropped off the group a short time after me.

I wasn't close enough to catch up to the other lady, but then a guy from our group who'd been dropped much earlier caught up to me and I got onto his wheel, then he pulled me up to the other lady and she joined on the back of me. The guy was riding a great pace, hard enough that I couldn't come past to do a turn in front but not so hard that I couldn't keep up. He was also riding very steadily so I was confident sitting right behind his wheel. Kudos to you, man in the navy blue kit!

Eventually the age group behind caught up to us (40-44 year old). I managed to pick up my pace and get into their peloton, and said hello to Sam. I stayed in her peloton for a little while, it was a nice big group so I had a lot of protection from the wind. But they were surging and I had already pushed myself hard to try to stay with my group - I didn't have the legs or the mental drive to dig deep to stick with them, so eventually they surged too many times and I dropped off the back.

I then found myself riding behind the guy in the navy blue kit again, so that was quite nice. I stuck with him until approximately the 35km mark where the first hill into Picton started. He got out of the saddle and started sprinting up the hill, but I knew it was too long for me to be pushing hard all the way up, so I dropped off and let him go.

The next 10km or so were the main hilly twisty roads along the coastline west of Picton. I had decided before the race that I'd be riding this section at my own pace, steady up the climbs and cautious down the winding descents. And that was what I proceeded to do. I got passed by pretty much all the other age group riders along this section, but I wasn't worried. Any notion I may have had of getting a podium in my age category had gone out the window in the first 2km of the race, so it was back to Plan A - enjoy the scenery :) And the scenery was lovely, tree ferns on one side and aquamarine mirror-like bays on the other side.

Near the halfway point (50km) the road flattened off for a nice section along the coastline. It was about this point that a lady from my age group caught up to me from behind. It was the same lady that had dropped off the main group at the same time as me back in Blenheim! I didn't realise she was still behind me. So we proceeded to ride side by side along the flat coastline road and introduce ourselves. Her name was Ruth, she'd come from Auckland with her husband to do the ride. We had a nice chat and realised that we were quite well matched in pace, and established an unspoken agreement to ride together.

Closer to Havelock there were some more twisty hilly sections. I slightly backed off my pace so that I didn't drop Ruth, who had confessed that she wasn't so great up hills. We got through that section, through Havelock, then up a nasty little kick to turn left onto the highway and back towards Renwick.

At this point, about ten people caught us up from behind, so we found ourselves in a nice little peloton. It was great to have a bigger group to draft behind for this highway section, but it didn't last long - they were just a bit too fast for me. Plus the wind, which we'd expected to be a tailwind in this section,  turned out to be a cross headwind. Nasty! After pushing to stay with the group, eventually I had to let them go - and Ruth dropped off at about the same time as me, as well as one other guy. So there were three of us, all pretty stuffed and sore, but all willing to work together to get through the next 20km to the finish.

In the nature of cyclists, without any need for discussion, our little trio started swapping off turns, each of us taking a turn on the front into the headwind, then the next rider taking over as we rolled to the back of the group for a little reprieve. We were working very well together, getting a good break between turns, but it was slow going into the wind and on very coarse roads. At least it was relatively flat, but that also meant there was no hiding from the wind!

I was counting down the kilometres by this time, my bum was sore from the rough roads and I just wanted to be finished. But each time I looked at the distance on my Garmin, less than 1km had passed since the last time I looked! We were also working so hard in the wind and on the rough roads that I couldn't get a chance to swap over my water bottles, and I was running out of water in my first bottle.

Then another group caught us from behind. We got onto that group, what a relief! But again, it didn't last long. The front half of the group had been working hard pulling the rest along, and I think they wanted others to help them out. When no more help came through, suddenly the pace surged - I pushed hard to stay on, as I really wanted to finish with my new mate Ruth. But I just couldn't keep up to the wheel in front. Ping - the elastic broke and I was off the back of the group. Then about two seconds later, I saw a gap open in front of Ruth and I knew she couldn't hold the pace either.

So Ruth and I found ourselves together again, this time with no one else to help. We were both getting quite tired by this stage, about 10km to go, so we just kept taking turns and doing what we could. We could see a few riders in front of us but neither of us had the power to try to bridge across to them. Then eventually we caught up to one guy who I'd seen pass me about 60km earlier. He got onto the back of Ruth and I, and he took the chance to recoup some energy.

After regaining some energy, the guy came to the front to do a turn, but he surged as he came though and I couldn't follow his wheel. Then Ruth tried to bridge the gap but she couldn't do it either. Somehow I got past Ruth then managed to get onto the wheel of the guy, but Ruth just couldn't quite stick there.

Then I saw the bridge that I knew was just up the road from the winery - only a few kilometres to go! This guy was moving pretty quick but he provided a good slipstream so I managed to stay on his wheel. We turned into the winery road, then another big group came past and it all got a bit messy on the twisty road into the winery. Anyway, I wanted to sit up a bit so I could finish close to Ruth.

I came across the finish line and pulled over - I was so happy to be off my bike! Then I saw Ruth finish only moments after me. She came over to me and we exchanged big hugs and thanks and contact details so that we could keep in touch.

Ruth and I finished fifth and sixth out of six women in our age group, which I'd expected. When I looked at the results I was surprised to see the fourth rider in our category was only ten minutes in front of us.

I found the ride surprisingly tough - I attribute this to the rough roads, which are hard on your body and sap your energy, as well as the hard first 20km of the race when I was pushing to stay with my age group.

I was happy with my ride, as I met my objectives to ride hard and pace myself well, plus enjoy the scenery. As a bonus, I got to meet a rider who was almost perfectly matched in pace to me, and have her companionship through most of the ride.

Letape Australia - 3 December 2016

My big comeback ride this year after recovering from my cycling accident in January was L'etape Australia. A distance of 157km with 2,800m of climbing, including two "KOM" climbs - it was a tough one.

I'd been feeling a bit nervous the day before, so I decided to try some visualisation. I spent half an hour or so the day before the race picturing the start line, riding at a comfortable tempo pace up the first climb, working in a group along the flats, and descending with confidence. I also pictured how much I'd eat and drink and which feed stations I'd stop at. The visualisation helped with my nerves as I felt like I had a plan for the race, and more control over the outcome.

It was an early start in the morning, up at 4:30am NSW time to get ready and get to the start line before the road closures kicked in. Good thing I had arrived a few days earlier to adjust to the time difference. Carol and I made our way to the start line and found Sam and Richard, then we were off!

Right off the start line, there was a 3.5km climb to get warmed up. Good thing really, because it was a bit of a chilly morning with fog on the mountains still when we left! The climb also split up the peloton very nicely - I had been worried about starting in groups of 800-1000 riders, but it was very well managed and not congested at all. I settled into a nice steady pace for the climb and was pleased to see I was holding my own - getting passed by some people but passing a number of people myself.

After the climb, we had a lovely 15km or so of mostly downhill, where I recorded my max speed of the day - 75.3kph! I'm super pleased about this highest speed as it has been a bit of a mental barrier to go downhill fast after coming off.

We then went through Jindabyne, and up and down a few more climbs. By this stage I had more people passing me than I was passing, because the groups that started behind me had caught me up. At some point Chris Frome passed me as well but I didn't see him as it was just a blur of fast riders.

After turning into the Eucumbene Road, the road was relatively flat for 30-40km until the sprint point at Berridale.

My race plan was to ride the first section at my own pace, then hopefully get into a group with a few other people for the flatter sections between 40-75km. Thankfully, I was able to execute this plan. I had a group of half a dozen guys pass me on a climb at the start of the flat section. As the road flattened off, I managed to catch back up to them and join into the group.

It was a good group, with the guys in front working in pairs at a solid steady pace then peeling off. I was a bit worried about whether I'd be able to hold the pace when it came to my turn on the front, but the guy next to me was great and we just rode at my pace.

When we peeled off the front, I realised how big our group had become. It was at least 30 people by this time. I went to the back, relieved my turn was over. It was a bit more chaotic at the back though, so I spent the next 20km or so trying to keep a safe distance from the bikes in front and save my energy. I watched the wind direction and tried to stay on the side out of the wind. There was a bit of yoyo-ing - they would speed up going downhill or be a bit strong going uphill, then I'd have to work a bit harder to catch them back up, then I'd be on the brakes again. But I decided it was worth it to stay protected in the group, as most of the time I was spending very little energy.

Then we went around a corner or maybe up a longer hill. The group got away from me and although I was working at around 75% pace, I couldn't catch them. There was me and another girl off the back, and we looked at each other and realised that we weren't going to catch them. This was only about 5km before the sprint point at Berridale, so I wasn't too worried.

We continued to work together and chat a bit until we got to Berridale. I did the slowest sprint I've ever done through the 350m sprint point - I was the 10th slowest female through the sprint segment overall! But I figured what is the point in sprinting when I have mountains to climb, I decided to save my energy.

Berridale was my first planned feed station stop. I considered continuing on, but with the chaos of being in a group I hadn't been able to eat anything much for the first 75km (2 and a bit hours) and I was getting hungry. Good thing I'd done some carb loading the day before to get me through.

So I stopped at the feed station, scoffed a quarter of my vegemite roll, filled my empty drink bottle with water and mixed in my drink powder. It was a quick stop and I was soon back on the road again.

The next 30km until the first hard climb of the day were more undulating than the previous section, so I wasn't too worried about riding on my own. But I was soon passed by three guys who I tagged along with, and for the next 25km I was riding in small groups - moving up to the next group on the climb, or getting dropped on the descent, but mostly managing to stay out of the wind and ride at my tempo pace.

There was a feed station 2km before the hard climb, Col de Beloka. I decided to stop because I needed to go to the toilet and my lower back was feeling a bit sore. Having done a recon ride of the climb a few days earlier, I knew it would be taxing on my back so I took the time to get off the bike and stretch while in the line for the toilet. With relieved back and bladder, I extracted my bike from the bike racks and went on my way.

Everyone was trepidatious approaching the Col de Beloka. At least I knew what was coming: a slight downhill riding in the big chain ring, then a slight corner and suddenly the road points upwards at close to 18% gradient. At this point you really want to have good control of your gears and be able to quickly get into the small chain ring and your easiest gear. You also want to have even more gears!

I'd been having some trouble with dropping my chain in the past few weeks, but I'd worked out how to manage it, so thankfully I had no troubles clicking down through my gears. I was also riding my bike that had been set up for climbing, with compact chain rings and a 32 tooth cassette on the back. Even with my (easy) gearing, my cadence going up the climb was around 50rpm. I was doing much better than a lot of people though - about 2/3 of the riders were walking up! And some of those that were riding didn't look that comfortable, doing the zigzag across the road to try to reduce the steepness of the gradient.

I just kept going at my steady-steady pace, reducing my cadence to keep my power within manageable levels. I did record my highest heart rate for the ride going up this climb though! It was getting quite warm by this time, around 30 degrees, and there wasn't much shade.

The climb is very tough for the first 1.5km, then flattens off for around 1km. There were some people sitting in a ute and cheering at this point, which was very welcome.

The spectators and volunteers were outstanding throughout the course. You'd be riding along a road in the middle of nowhere and there would be a small gravel road with a volunteer stationed there to make sure no cars entered the road! All the driveways in the middle of nowhere also had sandwich boards up to tell the residents that the road was closed. And at all the small towns and major crossroads there would be a group of spectators, most of them dressed in yellow (the colour of the Tour de France) with cow bells and kids yelling "you're doing a great job!" It was a fun distraction from the challenge of the ride, and very appreciated.

The last 800m or so of the Col de Beloka kicked up steeply again to around 10-14%. But it wasn't as long or as steep as the bottom section and I knew it wasn't far to the top.

At the top there was a drink station. I hadn't planned to stop here, but I was hot and I knew the heat could impact my performance. So I stopped, finished off the last of one of my drink bottles, then refilled it with water. I squirted some water over my back and neck to cool off, had another quick bite to eat, then continued on my way.

As soon as I started the descent down from the Beloka Ridge, there was a headwind. I kept down in my drops, trying to stay aero and keep my speed up. I noticed that when guys got to the top of a climb, they would stop pedaling, sit up and have a drink. Whereas when I got to the top of a climb, I'd get straight into my big chain ring, in the drops, and keep pedaling. So I was passing a lot of people on the downhills in this section.

It was about 25km to the base of the next BIG climb, the Col de Kosciusko. I keep up a good tempo pace, riding mainly by myself. My goal was to drink a whole water bottle of drink mix over those 25km, then refill at the last feed station at the base of the Col de Kosciusko. I also planned to get a few snake lollies at the feed station to give me a sugar burst as I was going up the climb.

At the feed station I saw Sam and Richard! It was the first time I'd seen them since they rode away from me heading up the first climb of the day. Sam said she was struggling a bit, and they were just leaving the feed station, so I let them go and got on with refilling my drink bottles.

On my recon ride I'd made it up this climb in just under two hours, so I figured I could do it with one sports drink bottle and one drink bottle of water. I thought I'd appreciate the water to cool myself down or to drink something that wasn't sweet!

Sadly there were no lolly snakes at this feed station, so no extra sugar hit for me. Oh well, nothing to be done but head up the mountain! Looking back at my data after the ride, I was pleased that with four stops at feed and drink stations I was only stopped for a total of 25 min.

So up the mountain I went. I was still feeling ok - not a bundle of energy, but everything was still working well. I knew from my recon that the first half of the mountain climb (12km) would be tougher, with little reprieve, and in the second half there were a couple of downhill sections for a bit of recovery. So I set off at a conservative but steady pace.

I caught up to Sam and Richard somewhere in the first 5km of the climb. I rode next to Sam for a short while, but there wasn't much help I could offer her at this stage. I told her that the smoothest bit of the road was the yellow line markings, I thought this would help her psychologically and give her something to focus on. I then continued on at my pace, sticking to the yellow centre line where possible.

Heading up the climb, I had the pleasure of passing most people. There were a few who kept pace with me, and a few that I played leapfrog with - I was riding at a steady pace, but they would ease off and I'd pass them, then they'd speed up again and pass me. But most people were struggling by this point - quite a lot would stop for a break on the side of the road, and I saw at least two guys vomiting - yuk! I also was very satisfied to recognise a few guys who I'd seen riding away from me in the first 10km of the race - now I'd caught them and I was riding away from them 😃

It wasn't easy going though - I was in my easiest gear, and every so often I'd get out of the saddle for a bit of relief. It was hot, so I'd also spray myself down with my water bottle when I got the chance. There were also SO MANY flies that I was riding holding the handlebars with one hand and swatting flies with the other hand. Then I'd turn a corner and be confronted by a headwind. The wind was actually nice because it was cooling, and it was strong enough to blow all the flies away.

Approaching the first proper downhill section on the climb, I was a bit nervous as on the recon ride we'd had a crosswind on the downhill sections and it was strong enough that I'd been nervous and on the brakes for fear of getting blown off the road. But today we had a proper headwind - I'd never been so pleased about a headwind! I wasn't getting blown off the road, and if I felt like I was going too fast I could use the wind to slow me down. No braking on the descents for me today!

I enjoyed the brief respite on the downhill sections. At the 5km to go mark I was still feeling good and thought about starting to push on harder. But 5km is a long time when you're averaging 13kph going uphill, so I contained myself and kept on at a steady pace.

At 2km to go we went through a small town called Smiggin Holes. There were groups of people sitting in deck chairs on the side of the road, cheering us on with the good news that it was only 2km to go, and the last 1km was downhill.

Another 500m or so up the road, I looked at the time - it was 1:59pm. We'd started at 7am so I thought "now it is time to push hard and see if I can get under 2 hours". I didn't have a lot of extra energy at this point, but I picked up the pace gradually to the top of the hill. Then the downhill started - I was straight into the big chain ring, into the drops, and pushing as hard as I could. I didn't have the legs to get out of the saddle to sprint, and it was 500m to the finish line, so I just went as hard as I could.

I finished at 2:01pm, but as we had a rolling start for 500m or so before the start line this morning, my official race time was 6:58. This put me in the top 40% of females in terms of total finishing time, but for the two KOM sections I was in the top 27% of females (ranked 33 out of 132). Across the whole field (including guys), I was in the top 46% overall finishing time, and the top 28% for the two KOM sections. I was super happy to finish under 7 hours, and even happier to see that my climbing was my strong point in the ride.

This was a very well organised event and the local community really got behind it with decorations in the towns and lots of cheering as the ride went past. There were also loads of volunteers who did a great job. The other highlight of the event was the course, it was very scenic, diverse and challenging, and it was such a pleasure to ride on fully closed roads.

Adventures in Western New South Wales

I have spent the past three weeks based in Broken Hill, doing some secondment with with the NSW Mines department. The work has involved doing site inspections of closed mines, to see if any further rehabilitation work is required. Some photos from my adventures ate included in this post. 

I have travelled around the western half of NSW to do this work, from almost the Queensland border to across the border and into Victoria. The places I have visited include Silverton, Mount Robe, Cobar, Bourke, Wilcannia, Menindee,  Ivanhoe, Hay, Goolgowi, Balranald, Moulamein, Touleybuc, Robinvale, Mildura and Wentworth. I have racked up more than 3200km in travel, which has been interesting to see places I've never been before but it has been tiring and not conducive to riding my bike!

As I was away for three weeks, I did bring my bike with me because I didn't want to go that long without riding. However, due to the long days and the amount of travel I've been doing, I think I've only ridden six times in the past three weeks. Usually I would ride six times in one week!

I have discovered that the social part of riding is important to me. It is much more fun to ride with someone. It is not so much fun to ride on straight flat roads by yourself, particularly when you don't realise there is a tailwind until you turn around after 40km and you are struggling at less than 20kph into a head wind ....

I have also discovered that doing more physical work makes me less inclined to ride, as I'm already tired. Also that sitting in a car for hours saps me of energy. Cycling and being active gives me more energy. I also eat much better when I'm riding. I eat because I'm hungry and I need to refuel, not just because I haven't eaten for a couple of hours.

I have really enjoyed my time in Broken Hill, it is a nice sized town and everyone is very friendly. I've enjoyed living in a country town again. But I'm happy to be heading back to Perth, back to my own place, and to catchup with family and friends.

Lessons Learnt and New Experiences

Things that I have learnt / discovered on this trip:

1. Mountains are hard.

2. To effectively climb mountains requires a good power to weight ratio. I have not enough power and too much weight to be competitive in this environment (Europe). I need to lose at least 5kg and increase my power threshold.

3. To ride mountains, get into the easiest gear as early as you need to (for me, when the gradient is higher than 6%). Start at a power level below threshold that you can maintain for 2 hours, and use your cadence to adjust your power output to remain within this level. Enjoy the scenery. You'll have plenty of time to look at it.

4. I still love Italy and the Italian attitude. Unconcerned with rules and authority yet steeped in tradition that would be unquestionable to violate. For example: pasta is a first course, not a main course. Early evening is for socialising and enjoying the day with a promenade or an Aperol Spritz and a light snack.

5. I love Italian food and could eat pasta twice a day without getting bored. I don't love French food. Too much cheese and cream. Not enough fresh fruit and vegetables.

6. I do love my bike and love riding. I like the social/community aspect of it most of all, then the freedom, and finally the sense of achievement and competition.

7. I love my family, friends and community.

New experiences on this trip:

i. Riding up and down four major mountains: Port du Bales (Pyrenees), Allez d'Huez, Passe della Herbe (Dolomites) and Mount Bondone. See (1) above.

ii. Representing Australia in an international event.

iii. Visiting France.

iv. Ticking off some more World Heritage sites: Albi, Avignon, Pont du Gard, Carcassonne, Roman amphitheatre in Orange and the Dolomites.

v. Racing 140km through rain and thunderstorms, riding 20km down a mountain while shivering uncontrollably and unable to feel my hands. Climbing my first mountain (and my second, third and fourth). And finishing fourth female. Thanks, Val d'Aran Cycling Tour. It was a challenge, a learning experience, humbling and character building.

vi. Adopting macciatto as my coffee of choice. It works in Italy where the coffee is good, but in Perth where the coffee is questionable ... Sometimes the extra milk and chocolate sprinkles are needed to disguise the flavour!

All in all, it has been a great experience. Not exactly a relaxing holiday, but a good break and an amazing experience. 

Now to lose those extra couple of kilos, and get back into a training routine in Perth. I definitely want to do the UWCT again, but next time I want to be more competitive - in the middle of the bunch rather than at the end! 

Food and Drink of Italy - A Photo Story

Vino rosso

Deer carpaccio

Spinach gnocchi

Tiramisu

Hot chocolate (incredibly rich and thick)

Cafeteria style food - Italian quality

Prosecco and chips

Gelato

Aperol spritz and a snack

Pizza and Coke

Gli Dolomiti (The Dolomites)

The past two days have been a lot more focused on cycling and resting than the trip to date - which has been a nice change!

I picked up my travelling companion, Kalvin, from Milan airport, and we have been based in the Dolomites. Which is a World Heritage Site, by the way

Yesterday I did a ride down the mountain, along the river for an hour or so, then the 9km climb back up the mountain. The climb went well; I have realised that when I'm feeling fresh at the start of a climb I need to watch my power output and keep it within sustainable levels, otherwise my power profile graph tends to go in the opposite direction to the elevation - downhill.

In the afternoon I did some yoga on a terrace overlooking the mountains, had a quick dip in a lap pool, then decided to take the plunge and get naked so I could fully partake of the "spa". I spent some time in the steam bath, hoping it would help my cold. Unfortunately my cold has not improved. Although that may have something to do with being conquered by another mountain today ...

After my success riding the first 9km of the mountain yesterday, I decided to try to tackle the whole climb today. The weather was idyllic and I figured I may as well practice climbing mountains while I have the chance.

The route was called the Passo della Erbe, and I had read that it was scenic and not too steep, apart from a section just above the town we are staying in (San Pietro). That was true ... But the steep section was ridiculously steep (14-16% for tens of metres and the rest >10%) and a lot longer than I had hoped - it took me almost half an hour to get past this section to the easier part of the climb. And by this stage it was just survival mode, keep going pedal stroke by pedal stroke, counting down the km to the top.

I eventually made it to the top after two hours and 21km. My average speed was 11km/hr, which I was actually pleasantly surprised about. 1km can be a very long way when the gradient is >10%.

Happily the descent took me less than 1/4 of that time, even though I was riding like a grandma due to factors such as blind corners, oncoming traffic on a road only wide enough for one car, angular gravel, cow pats and potholes. At least I was warm with my Aussie team rain jacket on!

Luckily I managed to find a cafe in town that was still serving food at 2:30pm and I got the ham and cheese roll I had been anticipating on the descent. Recovery food European style!

The afternoon was spent resting and watching the Vuelta a Espana being fought and won on a mountain even steeper than what I had been riding!

Oh and there are cows here - with bells on! ��

Three Days: Five World Heritage Sites and One Mountain

ne of the things like to do when I travel is to visit World Heritage sites. In the past three days I have ticked five more sites off the list. Admittedly they have been brief visits but that still counts!

First was Albi, the city I stayed in on Sunday night. The whole historical centre of the city is a listed site. Some of the key components are the Pont-vieux (old bridge) built in the sixth century, the Sainte-Cecile Cathedral, built in the 8th century, and the Bishop's palace and gardens.

After a relaxing meander in Albi on Monday morning, I drove down to Carcassonne. However, while in Albi I was bemused by the school kids I saw sitting around in the mid morning outside their school, clearly on a break for an hour or so, openly smoking. Firstly, when are these kids actually in school?And secondly ... Don't get me started on the smoking. It is still ingrained in the culture over here.

So anyway, Carcassonne historical centre is also a World Heritage Site. It is basically a fortified town that is now solely a tourist area. They sell souvenirs and local food and crafts, you can take a ride in a horse buggy, etc. I justwandered the streets and saw the main areas. I was Ppretty tired and short on time by this stage, I think you would need to do a guided tour to truly appreciate Carcassonne.

I then drove to Avignon, where I stayed for two nights.

The next day was my sight seeing by bicycle day, I visited the Pont du Gard. This was great to see in real life and it gave me a better appreciation of the engineering feats of the Roman empire.

That evening I visited the historical centre of Avignon, which is also a World Heritage Site. Again I was quite tired and refused to pay more than ten Euros for entry to the palace and bridge. However I did see the church and palace facade in beautiful evening light and treated myself to a three course dinner in the square overlooking the palace.

The next day I packed up and left Avignon in the morning, and drove only half an hour up the road to Orange. Here I visited the fifth World Heritage Site, a Roman amphitheatre. This time I paid the entry fee and even took an audio guide. I learnt a lot about Roman history, but spent more time here than I had planned (1.5 hours instead of 30min!), which put my timing out for the rest of the day.

Next stop was The Mountain - l'Alpe du Huez. I figured that seeing as I was in the area I had to climb it. So I parked at the base, got changed, got on my bike, and rode to the top.

Mountains are really hard. I thought I was going well, but hit a few mental walls at the 28min mark, and again at 39min. At 48min I was under a delusion that I was near the top and may have a hope of cracking the hour mark. But no such luck - it was me who almost cracked. I had to ride the last km out of the saddle as my glutes / upper hamstrings were so sore I couldn't put any weight on them. I made it to the top but had to rest and recuperate (and then get cold) before making my way down. Another 20min frozen descent ... I really must wear my Aussie rain jacket next time, no matter how silly it looks, it is all I have with me.

Finally, I drove around and through lots more mountains and made my way to Turin, where I have been put up in luxury and fed delicious Italian food and Austrian schnapps by a friend who I met through work.

Avignon to Pont du Gard - sight seeing by bicycle

After two days of driving and sight seeing by foot, I was tired of walking and tired of being told where to go by the GPS navigator lady. Yesterday I did at least five laps trying to find the right motorway entrance, no thanks to some vague instructions from said lady.

So today I did some sightseeing by bicycle. It has the major advantage that when I get lost I can stop randomly by the side of the road, check the map, and turn around readily if need be. And believe me, it was needed.

Tips for planning a bike ride in an unknown place:
1. Use raceshape.com/heatmap to find popular Strava routes in your area of interest.
2. Map the course using Garmin connect online.
3. Upload to your Garmin.
4. Follow the course as you ride.

Simple and effective. However, you have to make sure Garmin connect plots EXACTLY the route as per the heat map. Don't make my mistake and assume that near enough is good enough. Because near enough today lead me down unsealed tracks, some of them covered in river stones.

I have done a surprising amount of off road riding this trip. Let's be honest, any amount of off road riding would have been surprising. Today I practised my cyclo cross skills on two separate sections, I would say 5-10km in total including a deviation due to GPS error.

It was a good way to travel though. The heat map lead me to quiet roads with little traffic. It was warm and sunny, with enough wind to keep the heat at bay and make things interesting. And I got to see Pont du Gard, a World Heritage Site and a Grand Site of France.

I also discovered that Mont Vontoux is relatively nearby - see the photo showing the view from Avignon. So I had to have the Vontoux Rosé with dinner :)

The challenges of day 1 and the solutions of day 2

I knew there would be challenges at the start. It was just a matter of what form they would take. And it wasn't exactly what I had expected.

The flights were fine. I maintain my dislike of Dubai airport, mainly due to the horrible plastic chairs that are impossible to be comfortable in, particularly when you are trying to sleep. And by this stage it was around 3am Perth time and I'd had only an hour of sleep, so I was not functioning well. Slept most of the way to Heathrow. My last leg to Toulouse was delayed about an hour, but that just gave me more time to doze ... On the comfy chairs at Heathrow!

The first day of arriving in a new country is always an eye opener, you realise how much you rely on common visual cues for finding your way around. Things like the location, size and shape of street signs make it easier to find your way around when they are familiar. Trying to drive in peak hour through an unknown city and figuring out where the street names are, and what all the unfamiliar signs in a foreign language mean, is somewhat stressful! Thank goodness I had a Navman to tell me where to go.

Which brings me to the first challenge of Day 1. The Navman was a faithful companion in Toulouse. But about 20km into the 200km drive to Vielha, the battery died. And for some reason charging off the cigarette lighter didn't work. So I resorted to enabling data on my phone and using Google maps. I was so worried my phone battery would also die, but with some careful management it got me here!

The solution that I have now implemented is to download onto my phone (on free WiFi) the maps for France and Spain and Italy. It looks like the phone will be my travel planning and navigating tool as I haven't been able to figure out why the Navman is not charging.

On a side note, I'm really happy with the hire car. It is a gutsy little diesel with a great turning circle and loads of space ... At least with only 2 bikes in there!

The second challenge of Day 1 was assembling my road bike. Everything was in one piece so I thought it would be straightforward. But when I tried to put the rear wheel on, I discovered the chain had twisted itself in transit. I knew in theory I should be able to fix it with no tools but try as I might I couldn't do it.

The solution I implemented on Day 2: I found a great, convenient bike shop and paid them 10Euro to fix it. I was SO HAPPY and relieved when finally I went for a ride this afternoon.

I met a guy at the bike shop who is doing the race tomorrow and we went out for a 45km spin. We did the first section of the race, 16km of undulation road into a headwind then 8km up a mountain. My first real mountain climb went well, average grade of 7% but up to 14% in places. The descent back down was a bit interesting as parts of the road were pretty crappy condition and there was some gravel, so I took it very cautiously.

The weather is good, hot enough during the day for shorts and tank top, but cold enough at night that you need jeans and a jumper. I did some clothes shopping in Toulouse to supplement the one change of clothes I brought with me, so I now have new jeans, tank tops, skirt and toiletries. This afternoon it has been windy and a few spots of rain, I am hoping the rain holds off for tomorrow.

Right, time to go resister for the race and continue carb loading!

Up up and away

Finally I am on my way. ✈

Two bikes packed in bags and checked in, with some of my bulky gear and things that can't go in carry on. TT bike in the bag was 14kg and road bike in the bag, plus assorted gear, was 18kg. Only 2kg over my weight limit which was better than I thought, but I did leave a lot at home!

My carry on bag they also weighed, it was 12kg which is 5kg over the limit! Thankfully they didn't charge me extra for any of my bags. I really did minimise what I packed, only one change of clothes, two sets of every day riding kit, some bike nutrition for my first event, and everything I need to ride. Oh, I also packed a first aid kit as an insurance policy.

First task for when I arrive in Toulouse is shopping - bike shop, clothes and toiletries.