I am currently en-route to Nice from my latest work trip in India and the Middle East. 5G training sessions and customer meetings interspersed with the odd ride in very hot and humid conditions. Not the most ideal last week of preparation for the mountains but that is how it is. I have been careful with what I have eaten and not indulging too much in the local cuisine despite wanting too. I am real fan of both indian and arabic food and so that has been really tough but I cannot afford to add anymore weight. Unfortunately I have not been able to get down to the same weight as I was for the marmotte in 2015 when I was at my leanest. Which means those first two days in the mountains are going to be really tough. By the end of the week I should meet the target weight, sigh…..
Originally I had planned to spend the last 2 weeks pretty much on the bike every morning whilst on holiday in Cornwall and then do a couple of generally easy rides whilst abroad on business. Unfortunately the weather and lack of road bike (it was stuck in Toronto for a week) put paid to that plan. I took my winter bike down to Cornwall, along with borrowing a helmet and using my winter shoes whilst the rest of my kit was stuck in Toronto but the weather really hampered the chances of going out each morning. If it was raining then the roads were really slippery and I didn’t want to have a big crash just weeks before the race. As it was on one of the days I did manage to get out, I did have a crash when I was knocked off by a close pass on the Lizard peninsula
I did manage to get out for a couple of rides whilst traveling which were adventures of their own. Heading out on Saturday from Guragoan outside of Delhi I picked a route that local cycling websites recommended as a decent distance ride. 70km in 38degree heat with a bit of climbing and managing Indian city traffic was good fun. It was topped off by meeting the only other cyclist on the road at the time who turned out to be from the same company I work for – Maybe only Ciena employees are mad enough to be out in the heat and traffic.
After reaching Dubai I managed to get out for a couple of city rides on the bike paths by the relatively newly constructed canal path to the beach and along to the Burg a Arab and Palm island. The heat was intense here in the mid 40s celsius which meant I didn’t push it.
So whilst the training hasn’t been ideal in this last few weeks I am still excited and looking forward to the challenge of the Haute Route event which begins on Monday. I arrive in Nice later today, over the weekend I will post details of how to follow my progress directly via my race number. Look out for updates on my facebook profile, twitter and instagram.
I am doing this ride to challenge myself and raise money for Team Type 1 Foundation who seek change the way diabetes is thought of and provide life saving medicine to those in the world who cannot obtain it otherwise. Click on this link for more detail on Team Type 1
To donate to Team Type 1 visit my justgiving page www.justgiving.com/markstt1fundraising
One thought on “En-route to the start.”