Tribal Holidays Bike Blog

Just me, David and Jean-Christophe. Feeling a bit shabby after a banzai party at my house New Years eve and various piss-ups over the xmas and today there is nowhere to hide. David is an absolute beast and J-C is always strong. Anyway it’s a nice enough day, but on every climb they are vanishing into the distance. The going is heavy here in the winter, clay and limestone chunks about tennis ball size. We head for Javerlhac and I’m starting to feel better but I’m struggling to keep up. I’m pedaling hard, head down and havent’ spotted a loop of brambles hanging from a tree. Next thing I know, I’m being hung by brambles, bike shoots out from under me and then the bramble loop gives away and slips around my neck Aaaaarrrrggghh!!!

They are waiting at the end of the lane, I arrive bleeding like a stuck pig, I recount the story – they laugh – this is the sort of thing I’m known for!

A club ride out starting from Jacky’s, planned route 70kms!

This one always scares me to death, massive distance in mid-winter. Initially we headed to Marthon, the going is tricky, some frozen ground some very wet or heavy mud. When we get to Marthon we follow the old railway for a while. It’s been tarmacked but it’s a great playground for racing, because there is lots of crossing points. We leave it on the outskirts of Angouleme and pick up the GR4. The GR’s are ancient Napoleonic roads that are now all waymarked lanes and tracks – very easy to follow. We stop for lunch, we’ve brought sandwiches, but it’s too cold to stop for long, windy and rainy. The return leg is tougher, via St Sornin and into the Gorges de Chambon. This is great mountain biking country, but after the distance we’ve already covered, it’s a bit murderous. Finally we climb via Bussiere-Badil and back to Jacky’s. Monique has dinner waiting, plenty of beer and good wine. Good time had by all!

Always a good turnout of members for this one. Key players Francis (club president) Didier, Jean-Christophe, David, Michel, Jacky, Brice and few other occasional riders starting from Busserolles. Conditions; somewhat exciting! Temperature below freezing, some snow on the ground, lanes frozen as hard as concrete and the roads black ice.
We left Busserolles by way of a good climb that we know well. So that was a good warm up and headed towards Piegut. I love these conditions, they demand maximum commitment. I find that if you can stay light on the controls and keep your speed up the grip level is consistent enough. The others seemed less keen until we arrived at a road section, I was all over the place – much to the amusement of the others, who didn’t seem to have any problems at all. Return to Busserolles after a few minor tumbles about mid-day. Time for a quick shower and back to Busserolles salle des fetes (village hall) for our Christmas party. Quite a good turnout, 40 or so, mostly social members and other halves. It passed off quite peaceably, and by 6pm just the usual suspects remained; me, Jean-Christophe, Didier and Francis. After drinking everything left over we decided it was too early to go home, so J-C suggested we go around to his father-in-laws next door. I can’t even remember leaving but apparently we drank all his fancy beers a part bottle of Jack Daniels and made a sizable dent on his Glenfiddich whisky.

Competition today; 3 laps of a 9.6km circuit – sounds easy enough, doesn’t it?  Well it wasn’t and it’s difficult to understand why. It’s rained heavily all week but there wasn’t much mud. The ground was heavy but it wasn’t that, it was the way the circuit was laid out; lots of lanes and crossing of fields but constant climbs and steep descents. There was no let up.

Not a big entry maybe 60 odd. I started well and pressed hard in the first 5km open lanes, no problem to overtake. I thought the course might cut up so it would be easier to ride at the front. It turned out to be a bad call – I spent the second half of the first lap being pulled back into the pack. For me it’s a delicate balance; if I push too hard early on I just run out of steam for a while. It usually comes back but it’s not the quickest way around. The second lap was better, I found my natural rhythm and started to repass the guys that overtook me on the last part of the first lap. The last lap was just a world of pain. Cramp spasms at the start of the lap. I am on my own now, I can’t see any riders in front (although there must be plenty) and I am keeping the group behind me at bay. Just 1 last technical single track and descent by road to the finish. But it ’s been raining for 1/2h now and I’m all over the place. I’m still running summer tyres Kenda small block 8 on the back. Conti Race King 2.0 front (I like an easy rolling setup and plenty of pressure – 3 bar rear, 2.5 front, but I’m paying now). No problem rear end but the front is letting go, tucking under, you name it. Just one last steep climb but it’s too steep to pedal today. It’s too greasy, so I bail off to run up and my right leg locks straight with a cramp. After I’ve hauled myself up I’ve lost 5 places. Once I’m back in the saddle the cramp releases and I quickly descend to the finish. So a few mistakes today, you don’t see the old hands making these school boy errors. 25th overall and 5th in my class – must do better!

Randonnée, definition: An organised ride over a waymarked course of various distances with drink and snack stops on route.They are intended to suit riders of all abilities with course lengths typically of 15, 25 or 45km. The organisers are the local town or village council in conjunction with the local cycling club. Often a five course meal afterwards as well. Always great fun.

St Junien is a quite a big town about 40km to the north of us. Always a big entry and very well organised, but today the numbers were incredible – the start had to be staggered to prevent too much bunching but still it was choco for the first 5km. There is no competition here but its more fun if you can ride it at your own pace, so we overtake but respectably because of the different ability levels. Again it’s the usual suspects, me Didier and Brice and we ride together. But Brice is soon left behind, he’s too much of a gentleman, he doesn’t jump into gaps when they present themselves. We get together again at the first drinks stop where we bump into Jean-Claude drinking vin chaud, nothing touches that guy, he races in my category, wins everything, he has been French champion and second in FFC World Championships a few years back. Anyway we continue on, it’s super slippery having rained all night but thankfully no rain today also lots of leaflitter down that can be a bit scary from time to time , you never know what’s under them. Super technical singe track on the banks of river Vienne to finish. A great day out cost €4 + beer!

Today we went to race in a competition called La Frederic Mistral at Monts de Blond near Limoges. This is a well known competition and always gets a huge entry. A very demanding circuit full of technical single track and monster climbs. 42kms. The same crew as last week; me, Didier and Brice. Didier knew the circuit from last year, the first hill at least and dwelt on the importance of a good start because after 500m it funnels into a steep climb in a fairly narrow lane causing dismounts due to heavy traffic. However with 200 rider on the line a good start is far from guaranteed. I arrived at the first hill midfield and saw enough; it was chaos with bikes and bodies everywhere. It was a a casee of scrambling up as best you could. The next 5km or so was spent in close company. I did most of my overtaking in this period, but the going was murderous; if it’s all like this I’m not going to make it to the finish. Thankfully the circuit headed into flatter woodland, single track and lake shoreline and now I’m on my own the slower riders are all behind me and I can see a group ahead that I needed to catch. In the last 10kms I’m amongst the group and there are 3 guys in my category. I get one easy in a fast descent, the next is more difficult – he’s taking it personally and keeps coming back at me but I broke his spirit in the end on a long shallow climb. A great trick I’ve learned for spirit braking is to overtake on a long climb, pulling the biggest gear you can and don’t puff and pant as you go by, whistling is even better if you can!

Now there is just 3 left in this group, I pass them from time to time but I can’t get clear, they’re too strong and one of them is in my category, we arrive at the finsih and the guy in my group beats me by 30 seconds, my time 2h27mins. 4th in my class, 30 seconds from a podium. Next time.

Video of the start here

A bit of a tough one today – 6am start. The forecast was for rain and it was, but not heavy or cold. Didier picked me up at 6.30 and we set of for Nantiat about 60km north of here. We’ve entered to race in a cross country mountain bike race.  We arrive and its still dark but the turnout is massive must have been 400 riders. So we sign on and get changed, prep the bike and down to the start line for 8.30 start. Not all the riders race. About 80 on the start line for a mass start. The rest of the guys (and girls) start later and a course of choice 25, 33 or our course 53km. Start uneventful (for once) and I hook on the trail of Didier and Brice, another guy in our club. It’s still raining but not too hard after about 6km I decided to press on. The bikes a bit nervous in the wet. I’m still running summer tyres and it letting go in the blink of an eye but I’m managing to stay aboard. The circuit headed out to the lakes of St Pardoux just north of Limoges and we did a good 20km of technical single track which followed a full tour of the lake. Nothing but tree roots and rock garden climbs and descent. Very challenging but I made up good ground here at least 20 places. As we left the lakes behind and headed towards home the rain got heavier and the front end is now super loose and the back snaps out with warning exhaustion is coming on and occasional cramp spasms on the climbs and I’m still 10km out. I’ve caught another group and I see I’m not the only one suffering. Now is the time to grit both teeth and pedal. The fun stopped some time back I crossed the line at 2h47m and went straight to the recovery station for a hot drink and something to eat. Washed the bike. Met up with the rest of the crew. and had a couple of glasses of kir which I call medicine for the pain and the term seems to be catching on ! So time to load up and head for home and maybe a beer on route. And all this for €4 (but not the beer of course).