Who is Jerome Coppel anyway? Tour d’Enfer Minus 1

One hard climb!

Another incredibly beautiful day dawned on the French-Swiss border again today and after a cheerful breakfast we looked at a possible course to ride in the morning. Will put together a 42 km route that included the brutal Category 1 climb up to Le Saleve that was used in this year’s Dauphiné Liberé race. After working out a route on a mapping website, he downloaded it to my GPS bike computer and showed me how to navigate with it. I have used the GPS for about a year and never used this function before but was impressed with how easy it was to use.

Brett and I headed down the road around 11 am, into the bright morning sunshine and soon found ourselves climbing the famous road, known also as the Col de la Croisette. We passed some lovely villages, well-tended and with elaborate flowers everywhere but the beauty of the scene was soon eclipsed by the extremely hard climb ahead. The GPS showed a series of tight hairpin turns and sure enough we soon were grinding our way along up them. I was glad that I had installed the new 28 tooth cassette since I was really using it today. And my new Look cleats were working well too, so it was just a matter of trying to keep up with Brett, which was no easy feat. At least the cyclist struggling behind me soon disappeared from view as I continued to open up the gap on him. The climb is apparently is the shortest Category 1 due to its extreme steepness.

Getting to the particularly steep sections, we saw that the road was painted over and over again with the name of a pro rider, Jerome Coppel. His family must have been very enthusiastic on that day since it was written everywhere. He turned 21 this year and joined the team Française de Jeux. You can read about him and even join his fan club at his website.

We reached the village at the top of the climb and took a well-deserved break, admiring the views of the massif that included the famous Mont Blanc. It was a gorgeous day and the scenery was breathtaking. We soon turned to the right and rode along the ridge, with views to the left of the snow-capped mountains and to the right the Jura and the broad valley leading to it. The road was in excellent condition and we stopped to watch paragliders, or cows and even chatted with a charming French lady walking her spaniel along the road.


Turning towards the Jura we passed a fantastic four-star hotel that looked like a castle and soon had an enjoyable descent down into the valley, although by not paying quite enough attention to the GPS we missed a turn and had to backtrack a bit. Then we followed the GPS exactly and it led us into a highway construction site and someone drove down to tell us to get out. I still have to find out what a “chantier” is but I will not go into one again!

Without any further detours, we soon found our way back to the start, exactly as indicated by the GPS. It was one of the most spectacular rides imaginable, although less than 50 kms, and we had some excellent climbing practice, adding some 1100 vertical meters to our tally this year.

It was party time as the participants of the Tour d’Enfer assembled for a big barbecue at Will’s and we all had the chance to meet each other for the first time. There are eighteen riders, including two Canadians from Canada, and two from the Geneva area, three Germans, Americans from Washington State and Washington DC and Berlin, and an Australian, also residing in Geneva. Everyone had a great time enjoying Doreen and Will’s hospitality, and after we discussed logistics and admired our new cycling jerseys, I was given, as Chief Disorganizer of the Tour, a book on the Route des Grande Alpes as well as a custom-made model of my Tarmac. This was incredibly thoughtful and I am looking forward to a great ten days riding with everyone.

Cycling Again in Europe: Tour d'Enfer Minus 2

After a brief visit to Berlin, with lots of culture and museums and a bit too much rain, I returned to the sunny Geneva area yesterday and was met again by Will. After an excellent dinner, I unpacked my bicycle case, which had been in his garage for a week, only to discover that a) I had scratched the frame a bit through my amateur packing efforts and b) one of my Speedplay pedals had gone missing, probably when the airport security people would have gone through it in Newark before my flight to Geneva on the 9th. This was alarming; although I figured that I could touch up the scratches on the downtube when I got back to Canada, the loss of the pedal meant that I would not be able to use the bike. There had to be a reasonable solution, and Will put this into train by loaning me a pair of Shimano SPD-SL pedals. However, these are not compatible with my cleats so we considered using his new cleats but it looked to me as if the screws on my cleats were not going to come out anytime soon as they appeared to be worn down.

Barry looking for water

This morning I called the Speedplay distributor for Switzerland and he suggested a shop in Geneva on the Rue du Lyons. My options were to get a new set of pedals (the best solution, although not the cheapest), or to find another pair of shoes and use Will’s SPD cleats. Will also had a set of Look pedals and shoes that happened to fit me pretty well, so I put on the Look pedals and we put the bikes in the car and headed off to the shops. The first two did not have any Speedplay pedals while it was very annoying to discover that the third shop, which Will had tried repeatedly to call, had closed on Friday and Saturday without having the answering machine message changed–clearly any bike shop that closes in summer on no notice doesn’t need any business from us.

Will ended up dropping me off to ride with Barry, a genial Australian who has lived in Geneva for eighteen months, as he headed off to the airport to get Brett, another Tour d’Enfer participant. Barry and I had a very pleasant ride back to Will’s house, with around 300 meters of climbing, and met up with the others. I was pleased that the pedals seemed to work well, athough the shoes were not as comfortable as mine but at least I could ride.


The weather was beautiful as the four of us left for a flattish (for the area) training ride. We rode from France back into Switzerland and enjoyed superb views of the Jura, and the gap where the Rhone River flows through the mountains. Barry left us fairly early to return home and the three of us remaining cruised smoothly through the green landscape. Of course, there was no way that I could resist photographing Brett and Will in front of a field of glorious sunflowers.





We stopped briefly at a local vineyard where a bicycle had been used as an advertising sign. Of course, we had to do the obligatory jokey photo of me pretending to ride the bicycle, which featured a nice flowerbox on the handlebars. The area features a serious number of charming vineyards. We were also highly amused to read a notice on the house next to the winery indicating that the dog living there was “bizarre,” a word that has the same meaning in English as in French. Two dogs did in fact come out to bark at us but they stayed on their property so all was well, albeit noisy.

In front of my first cycling cafe stop of the trip

Cruising through some lovely villages we stopped for a short time to enjoy a “Renversé,” as the locals call their café au lait and then gradually rode up the long climb to Will’s. I had put in 74 kms for the day, and about 800 meters of climbing and my legs felt good. The pedals worked and it looked very positive for the coming days.

Brett’s bicycle was misbehaving so we went back to the local bike shop to get his rear derailleur adjusted, but it turned out that the shifter cable had come loose. I bought a pair of Hutchinson tubeless tires at a very competitive price (they are made in France, after all), as well as a pair of Look cleats with greater play in them than the ones on Will’s shoes. My plan was to install them on a new pair of cheapish shoes that I would use for the trip but in the end I realized that the cleat screws on my own Sidi shoes were just jammed with sand, so I cleaned them out and was able to change the cleats. This means I will be using my own shoes and do not need to buy anything else. As I already am the Imelda Marcos of Unnecessary Cycling Shoes this is a relief.

Will and Brett, putting up with yet another one of my photo stops

After another excellent dinner, we watched the latest stage of the Tour de France and then a rather morose 1972-ish Belgian film, “Le Velo de Ghislain Lambert,” with the saddest actor imaginable playing a not-very-talented pro cyclist. It is perhaps the only comedic film about doping in pro cycling ever made, and probably with good reason. Great atmospheric stuff, though, including scenes filmed on Mt. Ventoux and the Col de Isoard, the latter of which we will be riding next week.

Thanks to Will, who, with his wife Doreen, has been the perfect host, I have an Internet connection. Tomorrow he will load a route for me to ride onto my GPS, which will be my first attempt to use the Garmin for navigation, as I propose to do a 40 km loop, climbing the brutal Cat. 1 Le Saleve, and riding along the ridge about Will’s house before descending. This will be an excellent test for the start of the Tour d’Enfer on Sunday.

Uphill: Everybody's Doing It!

The Globe & Mail ran a nice piece this weekend about the challenges of climbing on a bicycle in the Pyrenees. Coupled with the blog on the New York Times about riding l'Etape du Tour, it seems that suffering on hard mountain roads has become mainstream. Is cycling the new golf? Maybe, but you don't see golfers often collapsing at the end of the game...

As I prepare to depart for Europe and the Tour d'Enfer over some of the hardest climbs in the Alps, there will be whole lot of opportunity ahead to think about exertion and suffering. But fun too, I am sure. The sense of accomplishment when you stand at the top of a col is wonderful, and addictive.

The Calabogie Boogie

A summer view of Calabogie, Ontario

This is strange: I thought that I was tired after Thursday's 15 km race but decided to do the Almonte Bicycle Club's 40 km tt mainly to look at the course in Calabogie, a ski resort area. It is very pretty and meanders through real Canadian countryside, with lots of lakes and trees. It also goes uphill a lot: the out and back course includes 317 m of climbing, or 1040 feet. There is basically nothing flat over the whole course but nothing so steep as to put you into the small ring.

The course I rode is the profile in the middle

We were lucky today that there was almost no wind at all. Because it is 90 minutes away from Ottawa--I got up at 5:15 am this morning-- the number of participants is smaller but these are the really hardcore guys, the 44 km/h average types. I was the only one who had not ridden the course and to my amazement I had a Top Ten finish: my 1:06:10 was good for 8th place overall. At the 60 minute mark I looked down and saw that I had averaged 36+ km/h up to that point, which was pretty good for such a hilly course. The top three guys were under an hour but I was very satisfied with my effort. (And for Sandra in Australia I will freely admit that the 7th place finisher was a woman in my age category who rolled in a full minute ahead of me!)

Our assembly point: the local Tourism Information office

The course is probably the nicest 40 km one I have ever ridden, and the organization was excellent, with everything running like clockwork. Afterwards a group of us went to the local golf club and had breakfast together since the race finished around 10:30 am. I sat with Les Humphreys, who has been a fixture of the Ottawa and Almonte clubs for many years. More personally, he was the man who sold me my Gitane Gran Sport de Luxe, which I have just sold, in 1973 when he had a bike shop in Oakville. It is a small world indeed. We talked about cycling history and had a great time.

I think I like this time trial thing! The 40 km one is run once a month, with the next one on August 12. I'll be there.

Not Quite Fabian Cancellara But Getting Closer

Well, the weather turned out to be beautiful after I got soaked in the rain on my ride to work. I left the office early and had everything set up quickly at the parking lot for my next 15 km Open Time Trial with the Ottawa Bicycle Club.

The warm-up program, supplied by the Coach of Cruelty, went quite well but I had to truncate it a bit from the suggested 1 hour as there was not as much time as I needed before I had to get out on the course. Every time I start further back in the pack, which is a good thing but I feel the pressure with the really fast guys behind. Hermann, the rider who started ahead of me has the course record for the 70+ plus age group and he is very fast but I figured I could pull him in. A decent start and I started to speed up but I just did not feel the power coming on as much this time The wind was supposed to be behind me but I was definitely not getting any help and it soon was apparent it was a side wind. Just before the turn the road swings right and I had a tailwind finally there and pushed it up to around 44 km/h uphill. The turn went well and I was just behind Hermann.

On the way back the headwind was more noticeable than the sidewind had been and I really had trouble getting much over 38 km/h. I was trying to ride as steadily as possible but I was not able to reel in Hermann. As I was getting near the finish my time actually looked very good and I thought I might make the 40 km/h average but the speed was falling off a bit as I could feel my legs get heavy and I could see as I passed the finish line that the time was around 23:00. I was right on Hermann's tail, so at least I gained time on him! I could really feel the fading towards the end, not to mention the hurtin' o' the legs, so I need to work on the energy management more to get me through that last bit.

I came 19th out of 53 cyclists, which is pretty good. In terms of my age group, I am reaching for the podium as I was 4th out of 11; the average time was 24:03 so my 23:01 was finally better than average! As to the riders ahead of me, the fastest in the group came in at 20:46, which was his personal best, followed by riders at 21:58 and 22:15 (another personal best). So it looks like I need to find another 45 seconds to get on the podium--this will be a challenge for sure. I was third on June 19, but there were only four Vet C riders so I don't count that. I should be in great shape when I get back from Europe and I also notice that the hotter it is the better I go.

And because you can never have too much hurtin', I am planning to do a 40 km time trial on Sunday at Calabogie. It looks like a pretty rural course, with 317 m (ouch) of climbing. I will probably not be very fast as I want to ride the hills in Gatineau Park tomorrow but it will be a nice day out.

More Hill Climbing

Today's route profile

After not being able to ride yesterday due to the constant heavy rain (always on the weekend!), I was disappointed when I looked outside this morning and saw grey dark skies and the potential for even more rain. I was not planning to spend the day compensating for my missed ride by eating several portions of butter pecan ice cream again so I thought it might be time to go back to the health club for (shudder) an indoor workout. To avoid this, I schlepped around the house, doing householdy things, and by 10 o'clock it became obvious to me that, in fact, it was not going to rain after all. This delay meant that I missed the OBC Sunday group ride, which I had been considering, but then I decided that with my trip to the mountains of France coming up I would be better off doing climbing workouts anyway. So after washing the dishes and getting dressed, I got the Tarmac out and we headed off to the Eastern Parkway for a warm-up before crossing the river to get to the Park.

Sunday mornings in Ottawa in summer mean that the major parkways close to vehicular traffic. Although having four lanes of road to yourself is nice, in practice this never happens since all the skateboards and once-a-month-in-summer-cyclists come out, usually with their children, and take up the parkways. But the Eastern Parkway is furthest from population centres here so it gets the fewest people, meaning that it is easy to overtake and find a line to maintain a decent speed for a warm-up. It was a bit strange since I had the feeling that everyone else out on the parkway was moving in slow motion. There was a strong wind, as has been the wont this summer, but I still managed long stretches at 35 km/h (22mph) or so. At one point someone on a racing bike pulled onto the road just before I came by and I passed him he gave it some gas and sat on my wheel. This was pretty amusing since he looked kind of overextended just coming onto the road so I thought I would have some fun and just started accelerating gently away. I looked back when I hit 42 km/h (26 mph) to see if I should push a bit harder but he had already vanished.

My heart rate profile today

Leaving the Parkway I rode westwards along Sussex Drive and crossed the Alexandra Bridge, turning left and following the usual horrible Blvd. Alexander-Tache to the park entrance. There were a lot of cyclists finishing up already (it was close to 12:45) but the weather, wind aside, looked really nice. I played tag with one rider but he could not keep up to me on the climb and then turned left towards the MacKenzie King Estate so I had the road to myself. A little group passed me on a slight climb but I easily caught back up on the descent. Two younger riders soon turned off but the remaining cyclist, who looked like he had legs made of iron, was too strong for me and I let him go ahead on the climb past Camp Fortune.

There was the usual big group of people at Champlain Lookout, and I took a break for Gatorade and a snack since I was a bit tired from the wind, more than the climbing. I chatted with one rider with a Sampson bike and then he recognized me from the OBC group ride we had done that he had led earlier this year, when my rear tire went flat. Don and I had a nice talk and then headed back towards Ottawa together. He was on his second loop of the park, which is pretty impressive, and although I was considering doing it the sky to the west was very dark and we were worried that a thunderstorm was imminent.

When we left Gatineau Park, Don took me through Hull in a way that would let me avoid the potholes of my usual route. We passed the Bisson Centre, where the Foreign Service has its school and where I might go for language training, and it was good to see that it was directly on a bike path. We took a somewhat roundabout way to get back to the Alexandra Bridge but I hope to try it again on Tuesday, which is the Canada Day holiday, so that I can remember the landmarks.

When I got home I saw that I had 86 kms (53.5 miles) on the computer, with just under 1000 meters (3280 feet) of climbing. I was thinking of doing the extra 14 but the sky was really looking bad so instead I put the bike away, had a shower and got the barbecue going. In the end I just managed to cook some veggie hot dogs before the rain fell yet again. But the ride was excellent and I can say that I had fun.

My Favourite Climbs: The Klausenpass

Profile of the Klausenpass: 25 kms of pain!
(graphic Tour de Suisse)

I love the challenge of climbing by bicycle and I was reminded recently, while following the Tour de Suisse, about one of my favourite climbs ever. On June 21st the TdS had an uphill time trial, and the hill of choice was the famous Klausenpass. The winner that day, a near-unknown, 22 year-old Czech named Roman Kreuziger, smashed the field, riding the 25 kms (15.53 miles) in 1 hour and 22 seconds, finishing 16 seconds ahead of Jose Rujano and taking the yellow jersey from Kim Kirchen, who blew up on the course, finishing three minutes back and winding up in 7th place in the GC.

The time trial course
(graphic Tour de Suisse)

The Klausenpass (elevation 1948 m/6391 feet ASL) is in the Swiss Alps and links the Cantons of Uri and Glarus. It is 24.6 kms long, with an average gradient of 6.1%, and a total ascent of 1497 m (4911 feet).


Monument to William Tell in Altdorf

There is a great story about the Klausenpass (courtesy of Wikipedia): According to legend, the border between Glarus and Uri was determined in 1315, following prolonged disputes. The two cantons agreed that at first cockcrow, two runners would start from Altdorf and Linthal, respectively, and the border would be where they met. The people of Glarus decided to feed their cock well, so that it might be sympathetic to their cause, while the people of Uri gave theirs nothing to eat at all. The result was that the Glarus cock overslept, while the Uri one, driven by hunger, crowed exceptionally early, and the runner of Uri crossed the entire Urnerboden before the Glarus runner even set out. On the pleading of the Glarus runner, the man of Uri agreed to let him carry him back uphill as far as he could, and the present border between Uri and Glarus is where the Glarus runner fell dead.

I actually could imagine this. In July 2002, as part of my first attempt to ride passes and be a Truly Heroic Cyclist, I took the train to nearby Erstfeld and on a beautiful summer day I headed to Altdorf. I took a break there as Altdorf is famous as the hometown of the mythical William Tell, Swiss National Hero and he of the famous crossbow and apple incident. I visited the charming museum in the charming town and the two people at the reception were genuinely delighted that a Canadian was there to see the exhibits. Or perhaps just anyone, since I was the only visitor there. I lingered for quite a while but I had a big climb ahead, so I got back on the Marinoni and soon was headed uphill. There was a sign directly in the village warning of what was to come. I guess they are red to warn you but to Truly Heroic Cyclists it is like waving a red flag to a bull. Onward and upward.

The first part of the road was very pleasant but soon I ran into a series of impressive hairpins and it was an odd sensation as I kept seeing the same view below but the houses and the waterfall just got smaller and smaller.

I caught up to a young Swiss couple, two cycletourists who were loaded up with all their gear. We stopped at a little bakery along the road for some tea and then I said goodbye and headed up on my own.

The road, which was built between 1893 and 1899, was in perfect condition and the vistas were amazing. At the time I had basically no experience in serious climbing except for what I had done on this trip to Switzerland and I found that I was needing all the gearing that my triple chainring would give me. Luckily I was not having to race but the climb did require a lot of concentration.

A cyclist, not me

I was twice passed by racing cyclists who seemed not to have any issues with the road but I kept on grinding away, stopping more frequently than normal to take pictures, but the scenery made this excuse believable. The Klausenpass is very popular with cyclists but there were also interesting cars that went by, including a Lamborghini, since the pass is also the site of a famous automobile time trial for antique cars. It was used for racing between 1922 and 1934, and then the time trial was revived in 1998 and every four years since. There are apparently 136 curves on the route, so it is a good test of handling and driver skill.

The heights, the cows...

I continued upwards, enjoying the fine weather and passed a little hotel at the top of the climb. A stop for a photo at the elevation sign but on this weekday there was nobody to photograph me with the bike so I had to be satisfied just with a picture of the Marinoni. The climb to the top was followed by a series of sharp hairpins as I descended the other side and soon came to a long, flat section of road, nicknamed "the Runway" and I swiftly passed happy Swiss cows wandering around, and the small mountain huts where Alpine cheeses are made in summer. The road was descending very gently and I was holding a steady 40 km/h (24.8 mph) with no effort at all.

I was a bit disappointed that the descent was not much compared to the labourious climb I had just done, but my lack of familiarity with the local topography certainly meant I was unprepared as I crossed a small ridge and saw the whole valley 2000 feet below my pedals. This was pretty scarey, but I got comfortable and began to really descend at blinding speed on the excellent road. Then I went around a corner and went straight into a tunnel that must have been four kms long, followed, somehow, by a large transport truck. Wearing sunglasses and unable to slow down, this was a lot more frightening than any climb! I made it to Linthal on the other side feeling pretty shakey. But a good kind of shakey, I guess.

Them's serious rocks!

I had climbed the Fluela Pass the day before, and that had been very difficult. The Klausenpass was seemingly much easier but it has to be one of the most spectacular rides I have ever done. If you find yourself in Canton Uri with some time to spare (at least 1'00"22 from the sound of it!) you will want to do this. There are a number of challenging climbs in the area and now that I can actually ride up more than one climb a day and enjoy it I plan to go back!

For more information about the Klausenpass, you can check out Climbbybike.com here.

And you can even take a look at what's happening on the Pass via webcam.

Early Morning Training: A Good Thing

It is hard to believe, but there is a 5:20 in the morning as well as the afternoon. I know this because I got up to go training, which is a sign of true dedication to the cause. Actually, I may have gotten up at 5:20, but by the time I pumped up the tires and got dressed in a half-asleep, floundering kind of way it was closer to 6 am.

Training in the morning, once you wake up, is actually very good. There is no traffic or pollution or wind and you can really focus on the training. It was not very onerous today: I had to do some jump practices, spinning up quickly five times per set with a one minute recover. I did four sets with 3.5 minutes between sets as well. Before I knew it, I had 30 kms under my tires and was starting to head for home.

There are a far more cyclists than you would expect before 6 o'clock in the morning in Ottawa, with lots of commuters riding in to work. I did notice a Time Trial Guy, with his disc wheel, practicing on the course for tonight's Open Time Trial; I will do the one next Thursday.

By the time I headed for home the traffic had definitely picked up a great deal. The weather was gorgeous, although the humidity was up to 92 percent. I felt very virtuous as I pulled into the driveway but in need of some brutally strong espresso.

After entering my mileage on BikeJournal, I discovered that I have now surpassed 1500th place, moving to 1486th, out of some 6800 participants. Not quite podium, but I had a very late start to the season and the weather has not helped much in the last month. Next stop: 1,000th!

My Latest Review on Pezcyclingnews.com: Rouleur Magazine

On that most excellent of websites, www. pezyclingnews.com, you can find my latest review of cycling literature, covering Rapha's Rouleur magazine. This is a consistently beautiful and interesting publication. I doubt if you will find any magazine devoted to, say, soccer or baseball or any other pro sport with the same qualities of superior writing and evocative photography. Cycling is different: sure, other sports have their own history but nothing can compare to a sport where you can relive that history every time you climb one of those legendary passes--the same roads, the same mountains, the same feeling of going beyond normal effort.

A Great Cycling Evening: Time to Squeeze the Orange!

Heart rate profile for June 24th ride

Some days you just don't feel like doing anything. I had a nice ride home on the bicycle and then sat in the kitchen, looking at some new cycling books VeloPress sent me to review and scanning some of the several thousand slides from my time in Germany and Washington, DC that I have yet to scan, a really boring job. The weather was wonderful, and I had the sliding door open so Ms. Chipmunk ran and in and out for peanuts. It was very pleasant, and doing intervals was far from my thoughts. Besides, I thought, Tuesday evenings the bicycle club has its women's time trial and I did not want to get out there and interfere by riding the course.

Of course, the I opened up an e-mail from my Coach of Cruelty. I had sent him a long message a few days ago analyzing my times at the three tts I have done so far and trying to figure out where I could improve. He sent me a long e-mail, which was primarily philosophical, and was very supportive of my ideas. Of course, I realized that sitting at home was not going to improve my time on the course, so I got the bike out and rode as he suggested, a task that included four 90 second intervals at race-pace. I was surprised how much I enjoyed it--it is always the same: once I make the effort to get on the road I always enjoy it. It was wonderful, riding in the cool evening air, watching the groundhogs by the river, and seeing the sun begin to set. I felt at the end that I had accomplished something by sticking to my training. And for fun I pushed the Tarmac up past 50 km/h again.

My coach's comments included:

This is how a true TT man thinks: What was my speed last time? I want to match it or go faster!

This is also how the TT man thinks: Consistency is also a marker of improved fitness.

What made Lance amazing? Indurain? Anquetil? All these guys not only did fast TTs, but more importantly, consistent TTs. Every time. Like clockwork. They knew they could win the Tour de France, because they would have a good TT every time.

You noticed guys who are currently racing now, had much slower times in the past. They too at one time saw great gains in short amounts of time. Now their gains are not as much, time wise, but believe me, their gains are monumental physically. Think of it (and yourself!) as a orange: in the beginning when being squeezed for juice, there is lots, so with an easy squeeze, a lot pours out. As you get to the end of the squeezing the orange, there is less juice and you must squeeze harder to get even a little bit of juice. Those men are squeezing their hearts out for mere seconds at this point.