Peter_O_Shea_Etape

Not a good start on the day I left the Isle of Man, when the flight to Manchester was cancelled and I was having to wait until the evening flight with no possible connection on to Paris. I told the check-in staff about my problem and after much flapping, they found me a way through Dublin. I arrived an hour and half late in Paris, but that was infinitely better than not at all. I still arrived at the hotel before the coach party from the UK. They had their own problems to deal with on the way down. I became acquainted with my room mate for the holiday when we was failing to enter the room in Paris. Up bright and early next morning and we then had a 15 hour coach ride to Agos Validos, 5 miles south of Lourdes. Traffic was appalling.

Sunday, and this was the day for signing on and getting the transponder and numbers for the race. A bit of a carnival atmosphere. After a short ride in the morning we set off to Mourenx to sign-on at the Eddie Meryx Velodrome. With that all done, there was nothing left but to ensure all was ready for the race and have a good night's sleep. As if that was going to happen.

4am on Monday, we were up for breakfast. Ready and on the Coach by 5am. Before arriving in Mourenx, we met a traffic queue on the motorway. A bit of a delay, but no real problem. Stopped outside the town, unloaded the bikes and road to our starting pens. 7,800 plus cyclists lined up on the line. The official start was at 7am. Due to the large numbers involved, the start was a slow affair. Fortunately, the start for each individual rider is when you cross the start line. It was about fifteen minutes after the start when I crossed the line. For the next 40 kms I made a concerted effort to get as far up the field as possible. It was a good plan, because, later riders had problems with congestion at the top of the cols. Due to the congestion riders had to walk the remaining metres to the top.

The first col, Col d'Ichere (674m) was at the 51 Kilometre point. A category 3 climb. The surrounding countryside was covered in woods. Very picturesque, not that we had a lot of time to enjoy it. The next col, Col de Marie-Blanque (1035m - Category 1) came soon after. Despite being relatively short at 9.3kms, the gradient was quite severe in places, going up to 13% in places. I rode through my first bout of cramp on the ascent. There was a feeding station at the top where I collected some water. The day was hotting up at this stage. After a quick descent, we rode along a reasonably flat route to Laruns, which is at the bottom of the main climb up the Col d'Aubisque (1,677m - Out of Category(HC)). The time at this point was about 10:30. It was looking possible to achieve a Gold medal. I had to reach the end in Pau in 6hrs 37mins.

The climb was 17 kms in length with an ascent of about 1,200 metres. The gradient was steady, with some 11% sections near the top. Again, I was cramping up on the climb. The top was a welcome sight. A quick stop before the descent at the feed station. Following a short, fast descent, we were on the last of the big climbs, up the Col de Solour (1,475m). Beyond this there was a fast descent. The route was very fast at this point. About 10kms from the finish, though, there was another climb. It had no name but it was categorised as a 4. Under normal circumstances, this climb would be nothing to worry about, but with heat and the 170 kms already ridden, it was hard. The finish was beckoning, but not yet. There was another climb shortly after that again, that was very short, but it was getting very tough by now.

I was glad to see the 1km Red Kite. With 500m to go, the organisers threw in another climb up to the finish. I didn't think nice thoughts about them at that point. I crossed the finishing line just over 6hrs 56 mins after I started. Just missed a Gold Medal, but achieved the Silver standard and completed the course in under 7 hours. I was 1,171st person across the line and 1,662nd overall. I was exhausted, but it was worth it.

Over the next three days, we rode over a number of the other famous Tour de France climbs, namely the Col de Tourmalet and Luz Ardiden. Total distance ridden in the week was 300 miles (500 kms).

Three other riders from the Isle of Man completed the event. Graham Hughes (MVW) was the fastest with a time of 6:31:58 achieving a Gold Standard. Anthony Bell-Scott (MRC) completed the course in just under 6hrs 45 mins (Silver) and Paul Nolan (MVW) completed in 26 secs over 7 hours (Silver). Great performances all round.

The fundraising doesn't stop there. You can still donate money to the Red Cross through www.justgiving.com/pos-etape or send a cheque to the British Red Cross, Derby Road, Douglas.

Many thanks for all the support and encouragement I received and more particularly for the sponsorship. Photos of the event are available from www.letapedutour,com website.

I am riding in this year's L'Etape du Tour on July 11. In conjunction with this I've decided that it is a good opportunity to raise funds for the Red Cross in the Isle of Man. As you know, Red Cross provides medical aid at public events. Did you know that it has a number of other services, such as medical loan, skin camouflage, therapeutic care, trolley shops, hospital transport and fire victim support. We also provide First Aid Training and Emergency Response cover.

All these services need money and this is an opportunity for you to contribute.

For my ease and also that of my sponsors I am using justgiving.com to collect donations. It is very easy to use, enabling you to donate by debit or credit card. I include a link to my webpage below.

http://www.justgiving.com/pos-etape

You can also donate by cheque, payable to the British Red Cross, clearly identifying that it's for sponsorship of this event. You can send your cheque to me at BRCS, Branch HQ, Derby Road, Douglas, Isle of Man IM2 3EN.

I'm sure that you appreciate we are raising money for a very good island cause, and as such would ask you to cascade this e-mail through your organizations and friends as appropriate.

Peter has been involved in Manx cycling for about 5 years and have participated in the 10s, other TTs and RRs on and off the island.

tuesday 5th July

We are now in the final week before the main event. My most recent rides have been good with a PB on the Killane course in the 10 on Wednesday and a creditable ride in the Tour of the North on Sunday. This week will be a quiet one. Trying to keep out of mischief will be the main task. Thanks for all the encouragement from everyone. Let's hope it all goes right on the day.

tuesday 28th June

Last week showed how much the Wicklow 200 had taken out of me. The 10 and 25 were poor for me, considering my previous performances. I was just not right. Then came Sunday and the MTT. I beat my previous best by just a second under 7 minutes. I really felt good coming up the climb to the Guthrie's Memorial. It's only a fortnight to go to the big event. The climbs are longer, but I'm looking forward to them big time. Bring it on.

monday 13 June

I successfully completed the Wicklow 200 yesterday. I took just over 8 hours. The conditions were fair (cloudy, a slight wind and dry). Glad to be wearing arm and knee warmers all the same. Despite getting lost at least once, I made it back to the start finish by 15:00. I managed to smash my previous time for the event, albeit 17 years ago on a slightly different course, by over an hour and a half. I have no excuse now for L'Etape. I should like to point out that two other members of the Wheelers will be riding L'Etape this year. These are Graham Hughes and Paul Nolan. The final training sessions will be ridden over the next few of weeks.

friday 03 June

(taken from Peter's work intranet)

It's been a good month of training since my last update. On May 11, which was the date of the previous article, I rode a 10 Mile Time Trial in a personal best time of 24 minutes and 32 seconds breaking my previous best by nearly a minute. The conditions were perfect. On May 12, in not so good conditions (very windy), I rode a 25 Mile Time Trial in a team of three. I rode my first sub hour 25. Marvellous stuff. I was exhausted after that but I was pleasantly surprised on how well I recovered to be able to go on a training ride on the next evening. Rested on the Saturday because, on Sunday, I rode the in the Isle of Man Road Race Championships. This was on a tough course, which included a tough climb. The route was five laps on the course taking us up this climb all five times. On the first lap a number of riders drifted off the back on the climb. I lost touch with the bunch only a little and managed get back up with it only to lose touch, again, on the second time on the climb. This time the bunch got away, but I wasn't the only one. At first there were five riders working together and we picked up two more before we completed the second lap. This group started to get smaller on the fourth lap, when one of the riders drifted back on the climb. At the end of the fourth lap two more retired, leaving just four. The climb claimed another victim on the last lap. Thankfully, I stayed in and completed the race in 19th place, 15 minutes behind the winner. 70 tough miles, but I completed the course. The next event was another 25 Mile Time Trial, on May 22, in which I rode another personal best of 1 hour, 1 minute and 4 seconds, beating by previous best by over 4 minutes. Since that event, I have been training erratically due to a C# course in London and now it's TT fortnight and I'm busy with covering Medic support for the Red Cross. The cycle race calendar during TT is suspended as the roads are taken up by motor bikes. There are quiet roads which I have been using and riding off road is an option. Last Saturday, I went on a training ride of 70 miles in distance, but as half of the ride was into a Force 8/9 gale, the work level was similar to that of a much longer ride. This was excellent training for the long climbs I will be doing in July. On Sunday, I changed the training to off road, and rode, with my partner, the first off road section of the End to End route, from Ballaugh to the top of Druiddale. It was a cracking day. It was so good that I spent the afternoon after the ride working in the garden.

TT has broken up the training a little, but I'm managing to get some time out on the bike. I need to keep it going because I am participating in a ride in Ireland next week on June 12. This is my main preparation event for the big one in July. The Ride is 200 kms in the Wicklow Mountains, which are situated just south of Dublin. The route includes some 11 climbs including some 4 category 1 climbs. Thankfully, they are not as long as those in the Pyrenees, but that is little comfort when you have to get to the other side. With that done and dusted, I will have a month and a day left to the main event. The TT will be over and the roads will be back to more sensible traffic levels. There are a number of local races as well. It's looking good.

The fundraising is going well. Last week the fund increased by about £500 bringing it up to more than £750. The target is £ 2,000. We are getting there, but there's a way to go yet. Thanks to everyone who has supported me so far and I look forward to hearing from more of you before the day. You can donate credit card on www.justgiving.com/pos-etape, by cheque made payable to the British Red Cross or with cash. Cash or cheques can be sent to me in the Isle of Man.

wed 25th May

The fundraising has reach £500. Much thanks is due to guys on Tuesday night at the NSC, especially the two fat ladies, for bumping the amount of sponsorship I have received so far.

Thanks to everyone. I am really motivated by your support.

mon 23rd May

It's been a good couple of weeks. It's been quality rather than quantity. The speed is coming to the legs, with a PB on the 10's of 24:32, a sub hour 25 in the three-up 25, an equitable performance in the IOM RR Champs on the Creg Willy's course and now a PB on the Barragarrow 25 of 1:01:04. Otherwise it been difficult to get out due to work commitments. It's just over two weeks to the Wicklow 200. That'll be the big test for me before the TDF. Apprehensive and looking forward to it.

wed 4th May

As you can glean from my last dispatch I was nervous about the Bikestyle. I wasn't wrong. It was awful. I was put in the second to last group. I expected to be blown out on the first lap, but managed to keep in until the end of the first lap and was then blown off the back. The next three laps were difficult, especially when riding down to The Cronk into that head wind. I was knackered after that. I wasn't the only one though.

The week has had a couple of high points though. In the 10s on Wednesday night, I managed to go three seconds faster than the previous week, despite it being a windy night, and the had a good ride in the Teare Trophy on Sunday. All in all, everything is going well for July. First things first, June 12 is the Wicklow 200.

thurs 28th April

Thankfully, I've avoided any crashes or injuries so far. The Shimmin boys and young Mr Black showed me to be careful when going for a sprint finish in tight situation. Thankfully all are on the mend and no serious injuries were incurred.

Training is continuing well. The 10s on a Wednesday night are showing promise, but it's early days. It's the first Bikestyle tonight. Hope to stay out of trouble. I cannot afford any interruptions in training. The Teare Trophy is on Sunday. Although, these events are short in relative terms, they should act as a good method to improve my speed. More updates soon.

Regards,

Peter J O'Shea

wed 20th April:

"On the training front I've been on a Spanish Training Camp with the Gage's back in February/March, participated in the Gorey 3 Day at Easter and will be riding the Wicklow 200 in June. Regular training and racing on the island are the order of the day outside of that. The first part of my training was to have a knee operation back in November, which is mostly holding out quite well".