Racing in the Alps...the legend begins

Finally, a race the demands the title of this blog! Yesterday, I took the TGV from Lille to Grenoble with a stop in Paris. It was quite a little adventure trying to navigate in Paris. First off, the signage in the train stations doesn't really tell you in the most direct way and station attendants are few and far between. Nevertheless I prevailed with some cheating, you see I didn't pay for my Paris metro pass(subway) to get from Paris Nord to Paris Gare de Lyon. I call it my foreigner tax. I go through enough frustration therefore I shouldn't have to pay to take the train 2 stops. I was able to get a kick butt sandwich at the Lille station though. Everyone in Belgium and France each baguette sandwiches. There must be a thousand Belgian broogie stands within 100km of where I was in Belgium, its the same in France. I apologize for my digress...food does that to me. Finally made it on my train with plenty of time. I booked the trains that had a bike carriage so it was super convenient. Just roll up to the train on your wheels then hop in and hang it from the rack. I used my Ulock b/c the French are a little more scandalous I have heard. Then I popped down in my window seat and enjoyed the 300km/h ride from Paris to Grenoble. After having woken up at 6:25 after going to bed at 1:30, a nice nap on the ride felt amazing. Spent the rest of the time reading a book and munching on some bread and jam that I bought from the Paris Nord station, lunch continued....Rolling into Grenoble was awe inspiring. If you have never been here...then you have to visit. Grenoble is a 450k person city with about 150k of them being students. Its nestled in the valley between the Alps, Chartreuse, and Vercours mountain ranges. Its also home to all the sick climbs of Le Tour, which I will be doing this week. The city is just a 15k ride to the start of these great climbs. As I was telling my parents tonight, they mountains are incredible majestic, not like the jagged Rockies, but a little softer. Lots of rock faces. But they just go straight up to the sky, still saw some snow a few of the peaks. I am staying in Grenoble a friends house till Tuesday then I am rolling up to Bourg d'Oisons. Its the region of Alp d'Huez, le Croix de Fer, and numerous other cols that have made and broken many a champions in Le Tour. Hopefully they won't break me too much. I will be doing the Vaujany cyclosportiv next Sunday, Jul 1 which cross Le Alp d'Huez and Col de Sarenne. Should be majestic and unforgettable. Looking forward to the punishment...

La Metropole Sud-Isere cyclosportiv report
Today I did my first french race, a cyclosportiv which is a mass start amatuer race. Amateur is a loose term b/c its open to anyone with a racing license including pro tour riders, none on this one but they do come out for some of the bigger ones. We had about 240 riders today. Another one south of here had 11000! As you can tell, they are quite popular and can be very competitive. The bigger ones like Vaujany, have diplomas that you can earn for finishing within a certain time frame. I'm shooting for a top diploma next weekend...But I have digressed away from my race report...

Race today was held in La Mure which is east of Grenoble. Quite mountain town but came alive for the race today. I was able to get a lift from a german gentleman who works for HP here, Jan. Very nice way to get to the start otherwise I would have had to take the 6:20am bus. La Mure is 870m high and in some beautiful scenery with mtn lakes and some sick vistas. I had planned to go to the supermarche(french for supermarket) last evening but no dice. And of course I had to test myself so I went with the Grand Parcours, 150k vs the 75k Petit Parcours. I had only 4 thin slices of bread, jam, nutella from my friend, and a oatmeal raisin clif bar at my disposal this morning. Not the ideal pre-150k of Alpine bliss to start the day. But you have to do what you have to do. So I jammed up two slices and nutell'd the 3rd and 4th. You could say that I broke down from my sweet imprisonment that I went on since arriving in Europe. But I needed the calories for the long day ahead. And was it tasty! We arrived at the start and I checked in, used the boys room, and was able to stash my bag in the gym kitchen(event HQ) b/c my ride was only doing the shorter loop and I was expecting another chap to take me back to Grenoble, more on this later. While putting my bag away my detective, crafty instict caught the sight of some bananas in the kitchen. After waiting a few seconds so no one was in sight I lifted two bananas and walked inconspicously outside only to see the entire peloton rolling out. S*** I thought. I could have swarn I had 5 more minutes till 9am. I jumped on my wheels and pedaled hard to catch only to find that they were rolling to the start in the village center. I stuffed one banana down and kept the another nutrious ammunition in the back pocket. So to this point i have had 4 slices of bread, one with jam, other with nutella, a clif bar, banana and coffee at the checkin. That would be good for the average person, but I was already in caloric deficit. But I stayed strong and perservered not caring what might happen.

Gun goes, and we roll out. The start was sketchy b/c you had a wide caliber of riders and people seemed to slow wait to generously on the descent out of La Mure. I tried working my way to the front, but it was difficult with the switchbacks and sketchiness. Kind of a shock to the system after kermesse racing where its guns a blazin' from the start, faster always seems safer. We rolled for about 10km before things splintered and did so quickly at the base of the first climb. before that point we rolled over this bridge that crossed a river 300-400ft? below. There was only a rock wall, hip high to prevent cars going over. It was probably one of the most sketched out times I have had on a bike b/c I was next too it and didn't see it until I was nearly running into it. Frankly, it would have been poor play on my part had I gone over b/c what would my french racing career look like? Perhaps like this...

Matthew Barrowclough, USA0220838, start Metropole Sud-Isere cyclosportiv and crashes to his death after a 300ft fall in the river below after 8km of racing.

Those kind of palomores don't scream, "this guy was an animal on the bike!" More like, "That's one unlucky SOB" ...sorry for the language Mom =)

Okay so back to racing. The first climb hit me pretty hard b/c I hadn't climb anything over 1km in over a month. Climbing in belgium, or lack thereof, is limited to 200m cobbled climbs which are just anerobic juggernauts. I was in the Alps for crying out loud. First climb took us over the Oris en Rattier which tops out at 1010m after starting at probably 300m elevation. Pretty steep. I got into a group rather soon and started to finally find my climbing legs again. After running a compact crank(50/36) before leaving for Europe i did a lot of spinning. Felt okay today in the 53/39 with a 12/25 cassette. The group was pretty fast I was in or more likely I just wasn't feeling super great yet. I hung tough and took a few pulls and was finally able to settle into some rhythem. When we hit the first feed zone with munchies I quickly grabbed a handful of dried apricots and stuffed them in my mouth. After leaving I thought I should have pocketed more in my pocket and not gorged my mouth b/c that is where I breath and that is what makes my legs go spin spin. If you have ever ridden with some steady effort with a mouthful you understand the complexity of chewing. Its probably one of the hardest things to do. After feeding, we do some more climbing then some wicked French Alps descending. Think Le Tour with the crazy switchbacks and the little village in the middle which you fly through. the guys in the group were talking french to me but I just nodded my head. One guy spoke english after I said, "no francaise" He told me its very steep at the end so you should be conservative. Well, I brushed it off, but it would haunt me. We rolled out of the villages to the screams of many madomoseilles, as they wanted to see the American boy, ie me.
Actually that part wasn't true but we did have a few encourages in the town. After one village we were clipping along pretty good about 42kmh and BAM! The riders in front didn't notice the curb that stuck out and I jammed my pedal right into the curb at 42kmh! Fortunately it was my right one. Had it been my left one, i would probably only be able to write you 1 week from now after I come out of the coma that I would have been put into. I saw a kid in 2005 jam his left pedal and he flew into tree, nearly died right there except I was able to clear is through of all the blood and stuff so he could breath(little self-bragging, sorry). Fortunately, my LOOK pedal was only nicked and I kept on rolling, but was a little disturbed. We finally rolled into La Mure which signified the end of the 75k course. One guy from our group rolled off while the rest of us jammed it down the descent and into the next climb 5k away. At this point, I was feeling pretty good. Keeping well hydrated and wasn't hungry yet. Only burned through one gel too.

We hit the base of the climb and the legs were definitely coming around. I was 3rd wheel going around the turn and kept in the big ring and went Pantani style out of the saddle with the hands in the drops and the hips over the cranks to use my weight to push down. Try it out some time, you can do some real damage. the guy in front was pretty strong, but I just started going and went past him. No one seemed to want to follow so I picked it up and no one followed. so this was it. I was going to attack a strong group with 70k to go. Hell...its the maverick in me. so I went and dug super deep and crested the Masserange without the group in sight. I had my own moto escort and he encouraged me which was sweet. I felt pro. I new I had to keep going faster and faster so I could get out of their sight so they would forget about me. Eventually I did. They say those that were the Maillot Jaune(yellow jersey) have an extra pair of wings that makes them go faster. Well, i think the same can be said for those in the breakaway. My mind was working great and the legs were churning out some sick watts. I was having a great time, although it hurt, it was incredibly exciting to be blasting away from the group. My goal from that point on was to never be seen again.

When you are in the breakaway position there is no time for rest especially if you are solo. On the descents you take risks and are always churning out the watts. On the flats you are getting as aero as possible to maximize speed and power. No lollygagging or sitting in draft, its you, and you alone. It takes an incredibly amount of sheer determination and internal pressure to keep it going. After a pretty fast descent, and a little drop through a village I took a feed from one of the feed stations. No time for stopping. I grabbed a 1.5L bottle and drank some then no-handed on the descent and filled my empty bottle up then discarded the large bottle. It was pretty much pro. The next climb, Col de Mens was the longest. It was about 10km and crested at 1111m from about 590m. Pretty tough climb with switchbacks and blazing son. The commissaires car rolled by and asked if I was okay. I gave them the thumbs up then grabbed a bottle of water and drank some then gave it back. I asked how many more km and they didn't speak english...Ohh well. I crested to the encouragement of several moto riders then began a fast descent to St Baudille et Pipet, another small village. Got some nice applause and was able to get another feed but this time I grabbed two granola bars and another bottle of water. Pro'd my bottle fillup then drank most of it from the handed bottle and dumped the rest on my head and back. Amazing feeling...To my despise i dropped half of the first bar. The next climb came rather soon, Col des Accarias. Not very steep but still hard on the legs. I did spot a group in front of me, about 4min and then I saw my chase group, about 4min. Bombed the next hill and saw the signs to La Mure, 10km.

YES! i was going to make it. It was going to work. I counted the km signs as they passed on the descent, 9km...8km...7km...then I reach the bottom. Unfortunately, this was not KM 0! All I could see in front of me was a wall of single road. The rider's earlier advice had finally materialized. The climb out of Pont de Cognet was brutal! 15% for 1.5km.No gifts anywhere. But I had to keep going, I couldn't let all my work go to waste. I powered up the hill. I probably maxed out at about 12km/h but kept mainly around 8km/h. But it was atleast 15%! Finally I made it out after climbing for 5km. Then I saw the ever beautiful sight...an aluminum sign with "La Mure" inscribed upon it. I turned the corned and saw the RhoneAlps blow banner(like the tour finish banners) and people cheering and the photographers at the line. I crossed and threw out the hands and fired off some shots. Its my winning pose, or in this case, my breakaway finish pose. The group that had chased me was close, two guys finished just 50seconds behind me.

I ended up finished 4th in my age category 19-29 and 16th overall. I missed podium by 4min. Pretty pleased with my effort since I hadn't ridden a hill in over a month and my legs hadn't been feeling super great lately and the lack of a proper breakfast. But I didn't cramp at all despite the heat.

Statistics
Time: 4:53:09
Watts: 252avg
Kilojoules: 4500

At the finish they had a nice spread of food and some cokes. Find out more in my next entry.

Au Revoir,
Matthew