So, as you all know now, I’ve been training for the biggest challenge of my life, and it all started back in September 2014. See below pic of me with my bike, about to go training!
I first applied to enter the Haute Route Alps 2015 challenge in September 2014, nearly a year out from the event.
This year’s event is the fifth time it has been run, but is the first time for it to run south to north from Nice to Geneva. Over the seven days, riders will race over 780km and 21900metres of ascent, crossing classic alpine cols, including the mighty Col du Galibier and Col de la Bonette – both of which are over 8500ft high.
So with this in mind I had to start training and maintain a reasonable level of fitness through the winter. Cyclists can be every bit as weight conscious as fashion models as you don’t want to carry any extra weight up 21900 metres! At the start of the year, I weighed 10.5 stone and at the moment my weight has come down to 9.75 stone.
Between November and March I rowed 450,000 metres on my Concept2 indoor rower (or ‘erg’ as some people like to call them, see below pic), and from a low of only 150 miles cycled in January, I’m now up to over 600 miles a month, with nearly 2400 miles cycled this year to date and 155,000 feet of it up-hill!
It’s been tough at times, whilst the winter was relatively dry, the spring has felt long and cold with very few days of warm sunshine. Seeing and hearing my first migrants of the year such as willow warbler, chiffchaff and swallows has certainly helped motivation in recent weeks, and I know I’m on the right track now and feel a bit more in control.
In setting out my training for the route this August, I signed up to a number of ‘sportives’ in the UK, from the Wiggle Wye Valley Warrior (101 miles) to the Forest of Dean Classic (at 91 miles), then the Tour of Wessex (335 miles over 3 days) and Velothon Wales (87 miles).
I’ve now completed a few, so I thought I’d share how they went with you. On 3rd of May I completed the Wiggle Wye Valley Warrior which was 101 miles across the Forest of Dean and rolling Monmouthshire. This was hard going because it was the first time I'd ridden a century this year, but I completed it in 6.5 hours without the two brief food stops.
The next day I took part in the Forest of Dean Classic at 63 miles. This was tough as I’d done 101 miles the day before (and 73 miles with a friend on the 2nd of May!!!) So this was a real test of my endurance, going up the very steep climb in Symonds Yat, for the second time in two days and over 5700ft of ascending in total – it was tough.
I also did the Tour of Wessex over the bank holiday weekend (23-25 May). This was a three day event covering 335 miles, with classic climbs including Cheddar Gorge, King Alfreds Tower, Lulworth Ranges, Quantock Common and Porlock Toll Road.
By next week, I’ll be able to really decide how the training is going and whether it needs to be altered in any way in the final 10 weeks.
If you would like to sponsor me and raise money for an important project please go to my fundraising page https://www.justgiving.com/Cellan-Michael1/ and follow me on Twitter #hauteroutecellan
Thank you / Diolch