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Last week I went on a training camp in the Pyrenees with my brother and friend Russell. The camp was run by Embrace Sports and part of the deal was a trip up the famous Col du Tourmalet! Having watched the two exciting stages over the Tourmalet in the Tour de France last year I couldn’t resist this chance, plus it would be excellent training for my first 70.3 Ironman in September.

We arrived at Toulouse airport and thankfully EasyJet managed to keep my bike in one piece this time! We were met by the Embrace Sports Directors Graham and Neil who made the transfer of 11 bike boxes, luggage and people back to the Villa seem effortless. Our villa was at the foothold of the famous Pyrenees Cols and the training schedule in the kitchen said we were due to do all of them… Col d’Aspin, Col de Peyresourde, Col de MentĂ©, Col des Ares, Col d’Aubisque and of course the Col du Tourmalet. The Villa was more than comfortable and luckily the trip was fully catered by Neil and Graham so we could get unpacked and straight on the bikes when we arrived.

Day 1 – Our flight was at 0630 so we arrived at the villa at 11am ready for an afternoon ride. We did a relatively flat 2hour ride and 5km brick run followed by a dip in the pool to cool off, the temperature was up to 32 degrees! The Villa had a huge hot tub with amazing views of the mountains we were to climb. So we spent the rest of the afternoon enjoying the view with some beers, which became the activity of choice for most afternoons/evenings!

Day 2 – The first day of riding the Cols. We covered 80km climbing the Col d’Aspin and Col de’ Beyrede. This was my first time riding a Col and it was challenging but rewarding with the downhill on the other side … I clocked 44mph, JosĂ© the daredevil in our group clocked over 47mph! Mostly due to his unusual technique and bike, “Old Giloppy” being made of lead! In the afternoon we went to a local reservoir where there was a 1500m course marked out. The water was clear and calm; I did a 3km swim and was soon ready for dinner and bed!

Day 3 – We headed to the Col de Peyresourde, the weather had turned and near the top of the climb started to rain which made the descent interesting. We rode 110km with 25km climbing at 8% average gradient! In the afternoon we did an 8km run. By the evening my legs were feeling well worked and in need of a rest!

Day 4 – Was billed as a rest day … however Neil and Graham had other ideas as they got wind of a local 10km run race which they entered us for! Team embrace rocked up at this small village and took on the locals! One of our team Lucie won the ladies race and set a new course record! The French were so impressed by this they laid out bread, cheese red wine and sausages for everyone! Not your typical recovery nutrition but it seemed to work! And we even made the local paper!

Day 5 – a 7.30am start to head out to Lourdes and then over the Tourmalet. The day turned into an epic ride. We were out for 11hrs, covered 170km and resulted in some pretty impressive tan lines! We had been cycling for over 5 hours before we hit the bottom of the Tourmalet and were a man down due to a broken spoke. We were climbing the Western side (the hardest side), 19km of climbing at an average gradient of 7.4%, the last km increased to 10%! We started as a group but soon fanned out.

After about 45mins in I was feeling it. It was about 2pm and the sun was blazing down, I was getting very hungry and thirsty, I’d already consumed 3 powerbars, 2 gels and 3 litre bottles. My sole motivation to get to the top from then on was the hope there might be a McDonalds, I even prepared my order in advance; 3 double cheeseburgers, 12 Nuggets, Large Fries and a Large Coke… Another 45mins later and I made it to the last km, the gradient was brutal and I was glad for my Triple chainset! I even stuffed some snow down my jersey as I went round one of the many switchbacks to try to cool down! One by one the team made it to the top where the views were amazing.

To my disappointment there were no golden arches at the top and the cafe was closed! But luckily about 3 km down the other side (narrowly avoiding the Downhilling Donkey!!) was a village and we stopped to stuff our faces! We now had a 50km ride back to the Villa, 15km of which was downhill to the bottom of the Tourmalet. By now we had been out on the bikes for 8hours, my longest time in the saddle! Those in the group lucky enough to be wearing ASSOS shorts were walking a lot freely than those without!

We kept the tempo home pretty high but all struggled when we hit any hills. Graham kept us motivated with his New Zealand wit saying “You’re in the Pyrenees what do you expect! We’ve only got about 20km to go and its all flat ….with a slight incline!” Slight incline was the understatement of the century as 5mins down the road we hit another climb that would put Box hill to shame! 7pm and we rolled into the Villa all completely shattered.

I know I will be able to draw strength from this day come my 70.3, nothing can be as hard 11hours in the Pyrenees!

Day 6 – Was an active recovery day with a swim in the morning at a local lake and then a 10km Run in the afternoon. Neil also organised a local sports therapist to come and give us all a massage, much needed from the day before!

Day 7 – What better way to celebrate your 27th Birthday than a 5hr ride over the Col de MentĂ© and Col des Ares. The weather was really hot and topped 36 degrees while we were out. When we returned Team Embrace had laid on cake complete with candles and a card… Thanks Guys :) In the evening we headed out to the local “hotspot” for dinner and birthday tequilas!

Stats for the week
Bike: Distance 550km, Total climbing 8,500m
Run Distance 44km
Swim: Distance 5km
Powerbars Consumed: 22
Energy Gels Consumed: 16
Beers Consumed: too many to count!

A big thank you to Neil and Graham for organising a brilliant week in the Pyrenees, and the rest of the team for making a tough weeks training enjoyable and memorable! I am definitely now well prepared for the Wiggle Dragon Ride next month!

Thanks for reading,

Big Bird