Marmotte 2010

The clothes not fitting is quite annoying, I went to get a top from my club and they didn't have one big enough, went back in a month after they had new stuff in and ended up getting the size I was trying on the time before

not just cycling clothes, everything

all my cycling stuff is now baggy and saggy, and i struggle to make trousers fit

cycling is shit, almost as shit as contis

Give me your clothes.. on second thoughts..

Hippy in Rapha

it has been seen before

Re Marmotte 2010

I am thinking we have a few options

get a group of us together and then approach a company who do tours and ask for a group discount

jointly organise a group trip - book accomodation and travel (would have to make choices re do we hire a bus and go together, do we fly and get someone to drive over with the bikes etc etc) - but trying to get lfgss members to act together is like trying to catch semen floating in a bathtub

get one or two people to organise it and let them take a 5 or 10 % commission

let everyone sort themselves out and just meet up in France on the day

other things to learn - cycling eats money, time, social life and body fat - over a stone lighter now and none of my clothes fit any longer

i haven't lost any weight from cycling if anything i have put a tiny amount on.

but you are skin and bones, the classic ectomorph

actually Mrsmyth and I would be a good example of two people who would probably require some quite different training regimes. My physique veres towards endomorph, so I naturally gain weight (either fat or muscle mass) whereas Mrsmyth is naturally skinny.

we would both have very different strengths and weaknesses and training should be focused accordingly

its similar when you come to nutrition. one of my friends uses a lot of energy gels, however for me it causes a massive energy spke and then a huge low, where as my friend does not suffer such a dip after taking a gel. for me slower release carbs tend to work better

that's my biggest concern, how to keep the calorific intake up enough so i don't bonk, eating on the move give me the burps. plus i'm not very tolerant of simple sugars, i don't eat confectionery or drink soft drinks as i end up getting a massive buzz then headache from the sugar

James

Just heard from Jez who you met last Friday before the ride on Saturday.

He writes:

Got back to work this morning. Unfortunately I came down with a nasty chest infection the day before the ride. Woke up on Saturday with leaden limbs, a soaring temperature and a very tight chest. I recognised the symptoms as I had a similar infection a couple of years ago. Despite that I started the ride. BIG mistake. I felt dead on the Glandon and even worse on the Telegraph and therefore abandoned half way round as have never felt that bad on a bike in my life.
Really really gutted; 8 months of training down the toilet, although by abandoning I at least avoided a nasty thunderstorm at the top of the Galibier. Every cloud…
Chris, Mike and Jon completed it and would have made the silver time (10 hours 40ish) had I not held them back. Chris is still pretty sore; he says it's the hardest thing he's ever done but give him a week and he'll say he loved every minute of it!

1. Dancing James
   
2. Hippy
   
3. Cliveo
   
4. zed
   
5. MrSmyth
   
6. fatboyralph
   
7. bringmemymarmotte
   
8. GINA
   
9. Daccordi
   
10. maxl
    
11. claus
    
12. Bareknuckleyellow
    
    1. texas
       
       

i'm down for this next year. i assume someone is going to post, where / how we sign up? also organise my return travel, accomdation, food, what power drinks i should drink at what time, what colour rapha i should wear and - very importantly - what tyres i should fit to my bike?

big mac, knobbly tyres and that rather fetching bright orange rapha gear

travelling by carrier pigeon

travelling by carrier pigeon

had better pack light then. plastic bikes only it seems.

will

see previous post about the arrangements

we will need to come to some kind of consensus

will

see previous post about the arrangements

we will need to come to some kind of consensus

the only consensus that i can see is 'we're going to have to train for this one'
and people making witty remarks about various other posts.
is the consensus that i've got to leave the plastic one at home and build up some classic steel italian bike?

OK. I've just spoken to a friend who did this in 10h40 mins. He is 26 years old (half my age) a very experienced cyclist and has been Cat 2. He is about my height but a good four or five stone lighter than me ie he weighs about 2/3 of me. He has done the Paris-Roubaix and many other tough rides. I have ridden with him. He waits patiently for me at the tops of climbs. He trained hard for this. It was his one goal of the summer and he trained for it all winter and spring. He said it was the hardest thing he has ever done and questioned whether he would contemplate riding it again. The climbs, by themselves, are ok. The cumulative effect of climb after climb on tiring legs was the killer.

James, I am not sure that this is for me.

Clive - if you can do the Tour of Ireland then I think you'll get round the Marmotte. You might do the fastest time ever, and you'll suffer like you've never suffered before but you'll be proud of the achievement afterwards.

I'll give you a pep talk when I see you next. :-)

pep pills might be more use ;o))

I can supply those too. ;-)

blimey sounds absolutely brutal

god, i was thinking about this. i need some training goals for next year. but those accounts on bikeradar sound fucking brutal...

It's the daddy of European sportives in my opinion. There are literally hundreds of them so plenty for people to try first and then build up to this in a couple of years.

The Megeve Mont Blanc or the GF Felice Gimondi are both accessible from the UK and good introductions to this type of event. I'd recommend them both, two great events with some fantastic scenery.

okay. yeah. i'm out then. but andyp, i may pick your brain someday for some suggestions on rides to plan for next year then...

andy is just trying to make himself look good.
i'll do it twice and then run a mile.

okay. yeah. i'm out then. but andyp, i may pick your brain someday for some suggestions on rides to plan for next year then...

Paris Roubaix Teddy, now there's a mans race…

Paris Roubaix Teddy, now there's a mans race…

pass. also on the tour de flandres.