I’m certain lots of you will be familiar with the lycra outfits bike riders wear when racing, but there’s more to it than just turning up and looking lycra-tastic! For those of us who don’t have a team car to call upon to dispense food, drink and mechanical support, we have to carry quite a few extra things with us.
Assembled in the picture below, is typical of what I’d take for a long day’s riding. The clothing includes; base layer and jersey, shorts (with obligatory padding), leg warmers, waterproof socks and cycle shoes, lightweight waterproof jacket, cycling gloves, cycle hat, helmet and glasses.
One of the three jersey pockets will be packed with a multi-tool, tyre levers, spare inner tube, self adhesive patches and pump. Another is packed with energy snacks such as jelly babies, gels and granola bars, and the final pocket will contain my mobile phone, cash and credit card – stopping for coffee and cake at some point is a guilt free pleasure of all the exercise!
That leaves a few things which are then attached to the bike such as the two drinks bottles, the high visibility rear light and the GPS device to track progress and help navigation.
It looks like quite a lot to be carrying, given the need to be as light as possible when cycling up hill so much. What can not be overlooked though is that at 8000ft up in the Alps, it can be snowing – even in summer. It’s been known for cyclists to have hypothermia following a bone chilling descent off cols such as the Galibier. This is why you still see pro-cyclists being handed newspaper at the top of cols, to stuff into their jerseys for the descent!
Pre-packing daily food rations and equipment ahead of commencing the challenge will ensure I can just concentrate on the cycling each day. It will also help maximise the amount of sleep I can get as breakfast will be around 6.00am each morning, in time to start racing at 7.30am. Forgetting an essential piece of equipment or food is all too easy when the mind is tired!
One thing which I’ll have at the Haute Route which not even the pro-riders have, is my family with me. We’ve hired a motor home for the week and so at the end of each day, I am guaranteed plenty of TLC and home cooking!
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