L'ETAPE DE TOUR - ARC WILL RIDE AGAIN!

By Debbie Bulloch



American singer and songwriter Carly Simon once sang:

'Cause I haven't got time for the pain
I haven't got room for the pain
I haven't the need for the pain

Obviously, Carly Simon is not a bike rider because if she were, she would find a way to make room for “the pain.” Bike riding is, to a large extent, about pain and suffering. If you haven’t got time for the pain, you should pursue some other endeavour, such as stamp collecting. If, on the other hand, you wish to channel your inner-masochist then get on a bike and head for the hills.

People who do not ride a bike on a regular basis do not understand that suffering and bike riding are inextricably linked. Just like peaches and cream, peanut butter and jelly, ying and yang, and Ben and Jerry (of ice cream fame), riding and suffering go together hand in hand. Non-riders constantly ask me: what kind of sport is this where pain is your constant riding companion and what kind of person is crazy enough to voluntarily subject himself to such suffering?

There are no easy answers because unless you have been on a bike, at the end of a long, 60-mile ride, climbing your fourth 8% grade hill of the day, you cannot understand the concept of suffering. The kind of suffering that a bike rider undergoes is not the stupid kind of suffering of the guy in the movie JACKASS who blows up a firecracker attached to his genitals. The kind of suffering that bike riders undergo on a regular basis is the same kind of suffering that a brittle piece of iron ore suffers when it is repeatedly heated and pounded with a hammer until it turns into a strong, sharp piece of steel that will go into the blade of a fine, unbreakable katana.

Suffering on the bike makes the rider a better rider. Suffering also helps to make him (or her) a better person. Only when a person is pushed to the very limits of his performance envelope, is he capable of knowing exactly what kind of “stuff” he is made up. You will never know how far you can go, until you have been there and back.

On July 2, 2011, the 98th Tour de France (or TdF) began and almost right from the start the suffering began. Most Americans only know the TdF as that really long bike race in the month of July, when every French man, woman and child goes on holiday and the country closes down. In reality, however, the TdF is more than a really long bike race – it is a three week party for sadists (the fans who delight in watching their favorite rider suffer on a long, steep climb and the tour organizers who are more than happy to accommodate the fans) and for masochists (every one else in the race). Anyone who has ridden a bike up even a moderate hill knows that at the core of our sport is suffering.

Eskimos have over a hundred words for “snow.” TdF riders can spit out a thousand lactic-acid singed grunts during a climb up a Category 1 mountaintop – each grunt as unique as a snowflake in hell.

Of course, the men who ride in the TdF (there are no women TdF riders – what’s wrong with this picture?) chose to do so, so it must follow that they also freely chose the pain and the suffering that is part of the TdF. No one has ever put a gun to the head of a would-be rider and forced him to climb atop his Bianchi and pedal away. Things were a little different in the early days of the TdF (or for that matter the Giro d’Italia or la Vuelta de España). Back in those days most bike racers came from desperately poor backgrounds – for these early riders the choice was between suffering on the agricultural fields and coalmines or suffering on the bike. At least while riding a bike through the Alps or the Dolomites the view changes all the time – the same cannot be said for working in a coalmine a mile underground.

This coming Sunday, July 17, my close and dear friend (salut mon cheri ami) and Between Homes contributor/officer, Arcabulle Odriscoll will ride on the 2011 L’Etape du Tour. L’Etape du Tour (French for 'stage of the Tour') is an organized mass participation cyclosportive event that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage. First held in 1993, and now organized by the Amaury Sport Organisation, ASO (the same people who sponsor the TdF, it takes place each July on a Tour rest day.

L’Etape du Tour is normally held over mountain roads in either the Pyrenees or French Alps, up climbs such as the Col du Galibier, Col d'Aubisque, Mont Ventoux or the Col du Tourmalet. Upwards of 8,500 riders participate - many travelling from other countries to compete - and the event takes place on roads closed by the police to other traffic, with refreshment stops and medical support provided along the route.

Monsieur Odriscoll like most riders, myself included, is a glutton for suffering. M. Odriscoll (or Arc as we affectionally call him) has participated in past L’Etape du Tour. In 2009 Arc rode to the top of Mont Ventoux (elevation 6,273 feet/1,912 meters). Last year, Arc rode to the slightly higher top of Col du Tourmalet (elevation 6,939 feet/2115 meters). This year Arc will ride L’Etape from Issoire to Saint Flour. This is the same stage that saw several riders involved in spectacular crashes forcing many of them to abandon the race. Arc’s epic ride will not only be long and painful, it will also be extremely dangerous – who says that the French are just a bunch of frogleg eating poseurs?

The 2011 L’Etape will be 129 miles (208 km) long and it will feature so many climbs and descent along the 129-mile course that it has been referred to as the “roller-coaster” stage.

The following climbs will be included in Arc’s Sunday ride:

Issoire (Departure) to Saint-Flour (Arrival) - 129 miles/208 km

• Mile 27/Km 43.5 - Côte de Massiac – 2.12 miles/3.4 km climb to 6.2 % - Category 3
• Mile 61.8/Km 99.5 - Col du Pas de Peyrol (Le Puy Mary) (5,213 feet/1589 m) – 4.8 miles/7.7 km climb to 6.2 % - Category 2
• Mile 72.0/Km 116.0 - Col du Perthus (4,295 feet/1309 m) – 2.74 miles/4.4 km climb to 7.9 % - Category 2
• Mile 79.22/Km 127.5 - Col de Cère (4,245 feet/1294 m) – 1.80 miles/2.9 km climb to 6.3 % - Category 3
• Mile 86.70/Km 139.5 - Côte de la Chevade – 1.86 miles/3.0 km climb to 7.9 % - Category 3
• Mile 95.70/Km 154.0 - Col de Prat de Bouc (Plomb du Cantal) (4,567 feet/1392 m) – 4.97 miles/8.0 km climb to 6.1 % - Category 2
• Mile 119.90/Km 193.0 - Côte du Château d'Alleuze – 1.25 miles/2.0 km climb to 4.9 % - Category 4
• Mile 129/Km 208.0 – Saint-Flour Montée des Orgues – 1.0 mile/1.6 km climb to 6.1 % - Category 4

The difficulty of a climb is established by its steepness, length and its position on the course. The easiest climbs are graded 4 while the hardest climbs are graded 1. Then there are the exceptional climbs (such as the Tourmalet) that are so difficult that they are beyond category or hors catégorie in French. In fact, the term “Hors catégorie” has now entered the French language to refer to any exceptional phenomenon. Notable hors catégorie peaks include the Col du Tourmalet, Mont Ventoux, Col du Galibier, the climb to the ski resort of Hautacam, and Alpe d'Huez. Our friend Arc has already climbed two of the hors catégorie mountain tops in the TdF - Mont Ventoux and the Tourmalet.

The 2011 L’Etape will feature eight categorized climbs: three Category 2 climbs, three Category 3 climbs and two Category 4 climbs.

Come this Sunday, while most of us will be enjoying a quiet morning drinking coffee, eating pastries and doing the crossword puzzle, our friend Arc will be on his velo (bike) suffering as he, and 7500 other hardy souls, pedal the hard miles from the lovely town of Issoire to the top of Saint-Flour.

Please keep him in your thoughts and channel all your spare energy to him. When Arc’s leg muscles want to stop moving and he cannot pedal another stroke, he will feel a huge rush of energy coming from all of his friends at Between Homes – your thoughts will be like a tailwind, pushing him to the summit.

Allez Arc, Allez!

NOTES ABOUT THE 2011 L’ETAPE DE TOUR:

For a map of the 2011 L’Etape course click here:

Map 2011 L’Etape de Tour

Elevation (profile) map of the 2011 L’Etape (click to enlarge):



The towns of the 2011 L’Etape de Tour.

Issoire – departure

• 14, 780 inhabitants

• Sub-prefecture of Puy-de-Dôme (63)
Issoire is at the centre of a small community near Clermont-Ferrand, whose architecture and landscape give it a Mediterranean feel, where its rich heritage sits side-by-side with its industrial know-how.

The Saint-Austremoine abbey, one of the largest churches in the southern Auvergne, shows off its bright stonework, its colors and ornamental style, while from the top of the clock tower, a fiftenth-century belfry, visitors are afforded stunning views of the town.

Issoire is also famous for its light aircraft industry thanks to the Wassmer family. The APM-20 Lionceau is manufactured here, for example. Alcan is home to the world’s first aluminium-lithium casting factory, while Issoire is also home to major businesses such as Aubert et Duval, Valéo, Praxy Bourbié and the Moniot group.

On a cultural level, concerts are a regular treat for those living in Issoire, which has welcomed artists such as rap star Abd Al Malik and singer Thomas Fersen. Summer brings with it festivals for folklore and Roman art, night-time markets and a rugby tournament. A protected nature area (the town has been awarded ’three flowers’ for its flower displays and natural environment, and is a candidate to be awarded a fourth), Issoire prides itself on being a warm and welcoming town to all.



Saint-Flour – arrival

• 7, 300 inhabitants

• Sub-prefecture of Cantal (15)

The capital of the Haute-Auvergne, Saint-Flour is a lively city served by the A75 motorway. It is unique in that it split between two levels: the upper city on the volcanic plateau of Planèze at 900 metres, and the lower city down in the Ander valley. Known as an area of history and art, Saint-Flour boasts a rich heritage, and is home to the fifteenth-century Saint Peter’s cathedral and the Halle aux bleds – a fourteenth-century Gothic church, which has recently been renovated so as to show off its wooden archways, its volcanic rock sculptures and its bright colours once more. Nicknamed ’The Windy City’ by the poet Camille Gandilhon Gens d’Armes, Saint-Flour plays host all-year-round to a number of festivals.

The Festival des Hautes Terres celebrates mountain culture, while la Festa del Païs brings together the world of agriculture. Then there’s the Chemin d’Art Contemporain, when works of art are displayed around the town, and the Dit d’Alleuze festival – a night-time spectacle in the heart of the Gorges de la Truyère.