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DUBLIN, IRELAND (Team Geared Up) If you’re currently engrossed in all things to do with the Tour de France you’ll find this a great read. Irish cyclist, musician, guitar teacher Mike Brookfield writes an account of his cycle through a stage of the Tour du France in the Pyrenees called l’Etape du Tour. There’s a link to his account on his blog. My understanding is that this is an event where “amateur” cyclists get to experience a taste of the big event.
At the summit I ate again & tried to take a picture with my phone of the famous stone statue of a cyclist but it had been banjaxed by the weather & altitude. I shoved newspaper down my top, clenched my buttocks and started the descent, it was very cold, wet and fast. I’m sure health and safety in the UK or Ireland would have shut this event down but we were in France and they like to go fast! My hands were frozen onto the brakes (which were on fully almost all the way down) and it was hard to keep the speed down. When we finally came through the clouds, I started turning the legs again and we descended in to a valley which was lovely and warm for the first time in the ride - about 6 hours in!
I love the fact that after he finished he only then realised he had to descend for at least 40 minutes which resulted in him almost waring his brakes out!! Well done Mike! Looks like a great event!
-Aisling-
Image and qoute from MikeBrookfiled.com
Latest Comments (3):
Nice one Mike,
I did the l’etape this year with Sean O’Leary’s Trailseekers and it was deadly. Coming down off the Col was a blast and going up the Hautacam was hell. Getting down off the finish was really tough too. About 70 Irish were in our group and there was another group onyerbike with about 20 people as well. Would recommend to anyone who is into cycling.
Hey Richard
Have you written an account of your stage? Did you recover ok from the Wicklow 200?
Hey,
haven’t written an account yet, recovered ok from the Wicklow 200 all right. The l’etape was great, despite the miserable weather. I finished in 7.49, so it was a long day. Two of the female riders in our group finished 2nd and third in their categories. Sean O’Leary, of the travel company trailseekers had a bad accident at an early stage in the stage, but is recovering. We had tried the Tourmalet out on the Friday before Sunday’s spin so knew what to expect, but the Hautacam was a complete shock. I remember thinking that I only had 15 km to go and it would all be fine. Forgot that it was so steep!
Next in line is the Sean Kelly tour of Waterford etc on August 26th - 160km
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