"There's no way I could do this as a solo"

I remember saying to Anne last year after finishing our first RPE as a relay team. But by the end of 2006, the idea that I could ride the RPE 2007 solo was firmly fixed in my mind. I like pushing my limits. I subscribed in January, the decision had been made. I had no previous experience of long distance riding except for a challenge called Le Défi des Fondus de l'Ubaye which I completed last year in 14,5 hours (320 km for 6800 meters of climbing).

Hugues Rico, the winner of the RPE 2006 and 2007, helped me with training and we did quite a few long rides together ranging from 190 to 300 km. Throughout the end of winter and early spring months, I had an endless list of minor ailments (tendinitus in my right ankle, two dental infections and extractions, hay fever, etc.). I was worried that I wouldn?t be on top form for the day of the race the 26th of May.
Anyway the training continued and I participated in two cyclosportives, one in early April and the other in May. Both with good results (at my level anyway !).
Each rider has a following car equipped with a girophare to provide all the cyclists needs during the race, ie clothing, food, drink, etc and to illuminate the road at night.

A solo rider is part of a team of (in my case) 3. I did all the pedaling bit, and Claudie and Marine took care of everything else, I would never have finished if I had been on my own.

We arrived at Saint-Rémy de Provence on Friday 25th, made all final checks and preparations and met the other participants at the briefing held by Patrick François, the race organizer. It's a really European affair with riders from Great Britain, Spain, Germany, Italy, Austria, Switzerland, Luxemburg and France this year.

The Race -

We left Saint-Rémy at 9.00 am and rode in a peloton as the first 52 km where neutralized. The real start was given at Bedoin at 11.45 with first of all the small Col de la Madeleine to Malaucène then the climbing of Mont Ventoux culminating at 1950 m. Storms where expected in the afternoon and already the sky was laden with dark menacing clouds. The first few kilometers are always an indicator of form and, for my part, I felt really good. The cool conditions made for an easy climb. The top riders pulled away but I didn't try to follow as my "Polar" heart rate monitor was already at 170 bpm and I didn't want to go into the "red" (the higher bpm where you are near your limit and your body produces more lactic acid which heeds performance later on).

Five or six kilometers from the top, the summit was already lost in the clouds. Thunder boomed as the storm broke. Into the clouds I cycled, visibility down to a few meters, hail and rain swept across the road. Arriving at the summit, I put on waterproof gloves, leg warmers, over shoes and K-Way and started the descent with Claudie just behind with the headlights, girophare and warning lights all flashing ! It was 2 pm ! Unfortunately, Claudie and Marine didn?t received on their mobile phones the organizer?s message that the cyclist could descent in their assistance car because of the extreme and dangerous conditions. Finally on the lower slopes of the Ventoux I came out of the clouds but the rain was still torrential as a secondary storm swept across with very strong winds.

10 km later, we arrived at Aurel, the first control post . I signed in and saw that I was the 5th placed solo. Control n° 2 was in Banon and n°3 in Valensole, 92 km away with a head cross wind which made the going quite hard, which I reached at 5.35 pm, feeling good and strong, still in 5th place.

At Aiguines, control n° 4, 250 km from the depart, it was now mild and quite sunny at 7.27 pm. Beyond Aiguines lay the circuit of the Verdon Gorges, a lot of climbing and descending, but the most magnificent of places, especially in the late evening light.

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