Well if I’m not ready now it’s too late! The miles have been put in, time has been spent worrying about gearing (compact 50/34 with a 11-25 cassette for the record) and snatched moments spent  reading the thoughts of Marmotters past and present on numerous web forums.

 Tomorrow we hit the road for the drive down to Grenoble. Hopefully we will get out for a ride on friday - although I have heard worrying soundings from Niall and Matt about how it would be ‘nice’ to ride up Alpe D’Huez to check it out, to which my reply is we will be getting plenty of chances to ‘check out’mountains on saturday!

Weather forecast looks good at the moment but I shall certainly be taking my lightweight Montane H2O jacket to keep warm on the descents, it can get chilly at 2600 metres on top of the Galibier.

So all that is left is to clean the bike, pack and dream of ‘dancing on the pedals’ up the Alpe D’Huez!

To all those riding the Marmotte or the Etape this weekend I say, Bon Chance et Bon Courage.

I hope my legs feel better on the day of the Marmotte than they do this morning! After a hard ride with Matt at the weekend and racing at Crystal Palace on tuesday, yesterday’s ride in to work over Boxhill was particularly tough.

Sundays ride turned out to be a bit of an epic. Having had the sniffles for most of last week I was relieved to see that the forecasters had got it wrong again and rather than the predicted heavy rain we were treated to blustery winds, the occassional shower and even some sunshine. Matt and I met atop Boxhill and continued via Leith Hill, Holmbury Hill etc etc along the route of the Surrey Hills sportive. All in it turned out to be 143 km with almost 3000 metres of climbing, how accurate the altitude reading is on the computer I’m not sure but it sounds good. Anyone interested in the route will find it here http://www.westsurreyctcda.org.uk/events/Tour%20of%20the%20Hills%20Route%202004MW.pdf

Stopping to fill up our bottles on Boxhill it was great to see the amount of riders out. The proliferation of road cyclists over the last few years is incredible - mostly thanks to the popularity of  sportive events such as the Marmotte. For riders such as myself and Matt it is a strange experience, suddenly we are part of a mainstream sport - long may it continue but when will motorists treat us with the respect our fellow cyclists on the Continent receive?

Tuesday night saw the usual suffering at Crystal Palace - legs screaming and almsot dropped a couple of times. Watch out for a young lad called Felix English, only 15 but allready winning adult races, having made the mistake of going away with him for a lap his strength is evident.

With just over a week to go I’m ready for a rest so this weekend will see a short ride and a bit of time cleaning the bike and putting on new tyres. I’ve been using Michelin Pro Race 3’s this year and they seem excellent - lightweight, good cornering and pretty tough.

Gearing wise I have decided to stick with my Chorus 50/34 compact chainset and a 11-25 cassette - I’m just hoping that the combination will see me through, if not I will be cursing my obstinance in not switching to a wider ratio cassette. Apparently there is a shop in Bourg D’Oisans who will build up any combination of cassette, I’m sure they do good business! 

With a week to go I am getting hooked on Marmotte forums in an attempt to find any nuggets of information I can, the best I have found is run by a guy in Grenoble and is well worth checking out for anyone heading down to the Alps on a bike http://www.grenoblecycling.com/

Last sundays road race proved a blast - great racing with loads of attacking riding, a good pace and we even avoided the showers.
I was fairly pleased with my ride. Having missed all the breaks the previous week I was pretty keen to take a more aggressive part in the racing. After a couple of laps a couple of guys got off the front so I jumped across and we managed to hold out for 6 miles or so but the bunch chased and i guess we weren’t going quick enough! In the end the only break which stayed away was the one that went just as I got caught after a futile solo effort, so no podium finish this time.
Riding out to the event and back again allowed me to rack up 110 miles with a fair few hills thrown in on the way home - a good day out. With the rest of the family out I had an hour or so to wind down from the ride which always seems to help alleviate sore legs in the days after a big ride - drinking a good recovery drink within 20 minutes certainly helps a lot as does lying flat with your legs in the air for 10 minutes or so to allow the lactic acid to drain out.
Raced at Crystal Palace on tuesday where I learned two things 1 - that I can hang on to be there for the sprint at the end. 2 - I can’t sprint!

The plan this weekend is to ride the route of the Tour of Surrey Hills sportive with Matt. I did the sportive a few years back (it’s held in August) and discovered there were more ways up Leith Hill than I had ever imagined, with over 2000 metres of climbing in 11o km it’s a tough ride and probably about as good a preparation for the Marmotte as one is likely to get within easy reach of London.

The LVRC (League of Veterans Racing Cyclists) promotes racing for the 40 year old plus rider and do a splendid job in an area where British Cycling seems disinterested. The racing tends to be of a good standard as most of the guys have been racing for a fair few years and it’s quite acceptable to ride with an older group if you are new to the sport or simply haven’t got the necessary training miles in your legs. So a good place to start if you fancy giving racing a go (and you’re over 40) for more details check out the website http://www.lvrc.org/

In three weeks time I will be lining up along with 5,000 fellow sufferers for La Marmotte - 107 miles in the French Alps starting in Bourg D’Oisans and finishing atop Alpe D’Huez with the Col du Glandon, Col de Telegraph and the Galibier in-between. Reckoned to be one of the toughest sportives on the calendar it has long been on my list  of ‘must do ‘ rides but as July 5th races towards me worries about fitness, gearing, de-hydration etc crowd my mind.
My previous two wheeled Alpine experience is limited to a bike business ‘jolly’ last year courtesy of Litespeed which saw a bunch of bike shop owners pedalling up the Col du Glandon followed by an even more leisurely lunch in the cafe on the summit of the Croix de Fer. All very nice and I loved being in the mountains but I feel the Marmotte will be something alltogether different.
Riding with long time cycling buddy, Matt, will be great apart from the fact that he is still a superfit First Cat racing cyclist and I have long since lost the right to such a title! I am counting on my residual ability to get up hills and (more importantly) his patience  to get us through.
Training has been a mixture of local races, a handful of Sportives (Tour of Flanders being the highlight) and rides in the Surrey Hills augmented by a week of hilly rides in the Mallorcan mountains (not quite the Alps but at leat you get the chance to ride uphil for 50 minutes).
This weekend it is a Veterans road race in Surrey which I will ride to, so should get in 90 miles or so. Here’s hoping for a sunny weekend.

The newly-completed circuit at Fowlmead may have an unattractive-sounding name but it is a fantastic facility. The road circuit looks great and the ‘cross course was simply the best I have ridden all season. The amount of rain that has fallen over the last couple of weeks would have resulted in most courses being a sticky mess but this one coped admirably, the sections of mud being short and sweet.

The opening section took us over mini slag-heaps fashioned into BMX jumps (Fowlmead is a former colliery) then through the woods for a combination of fast gravel paths and muddy tracks. One steep rise at the mid-way point was ridable for the first couple of laps, after which a combination of sticky mud and tiring legs made it a run-up.

Turning into a howling headwind made the last stretch of the course a painful experience, combined with a nasty rise to the finish line, before starting it all over again.

I won’t bore you with too many details of the race. Mrs C questioned my reasoning in taking two bikes to a race, but as I punctured halfway through the race and rode on a flat rear tyre (God bless tubulars!), I felt vindicated as the spare machine came into use.

My weekly battle with Phillip Glowinski looked to be lost, but a hard lap saw me regain his wheel, before he hammered away on the last time up the hill to take 10th.

That’s 11th place and, more importantly, first veteran. Congratulations to Mr Seaton for winning the vets category overall and a Mosquito one-two is looking good come the end of the season. That’ll keep the sponsors happy for a week or two…

Hot showers, good cake and fine coffee rounded off a top day out by the seaside.

I’m sick. Actually, I’m sick of being sick. Catching a cold on Christmas Eve was a nuisance, but when you are hacking and wheezing two weeks later, it is a complete pain in the assos.

Succumbing to a virus is an occupational hazard when you are racing and training through the winter. It is rare to get through an entire ‘cross season bug-free, but a few days of loafing around the house will usually see it off. This is an altogether stronger strain of lurgy which refuses to leave the building, passing round from one family member to the next. There is now a black cross on the front door to keep visitors away. If the Novovirus gets in here, it could finish us off.

Missing three races over the past couple of weeks was particularly galling. Fettling the bikes and watching races on the Mac (courtesy of the excellent Nathan Spear) doesn’t give you the same kick as an hour of hurtling round a muddy field.

Enough moaning. Summoning all the powers of mind-over-matter at my disposal, I shall be back for next weekend’s league race and firing on all cylinders. Or a couple of them, at least…

Tyres. A dry subject, I know, but Brighton was wet, wet, wet and the choice of rubber made all the difference. Ride the best bike with carbon sprints and tubs or switch to the spare machine shod with Scwalbe CX’s, narrower and having more bite? Do the sensible thing or go with the bling?

Lining up on the best bike, the doubts were creeping in, but it was all too late. Douglas Fox went off like a bleedin’ rocket and that was the last I saw of him. A slack opening lap saw four more vets passing me before order was restored and I set about the serious business of reeling them in.

A freezing downpour early in the race changed the complection of the course. Gloop turned to slippery gloop. Corners taken at a fair lick during the warm-up became skid pans, inside leg thrust forward ready for the front end wipe out. A seriously off-camber wiggle through the woods became virtually unridable–Al Tullett was running this bit. Shame it didn’t occur to me until the last lap.

The tubs were not coping with the conditions and the spare bike was calling from the side of the course. Spend all of Monday morning cleaning two bikes, along with the mud-strewn clothing, or plug on regardless, slipping and sliding? S & S it was. Hauled back a few more riders (including Simon Scarsbrook and Phillip Glowinski, who I seem to be battling with every week) and closed up to within spitting distance of second placed vet Paul Hudson before time ran out and it was all over.

Next week, Herne Hill. Which bike to use? What tyres? Answers on a postcard, please.

The ‘cross course at Herne Hill gets better every time you ride it. Lots of twisty singletrack, the slog round the track centre grass and the newly topped-up sandpit combine to make a challenging hour of riding, without being so technical that newcomers are put off racing for life.

A decent field of around 40 riders took the line and there seemed a moments hesitation as the whistle went and we all looked at each other to see who wanted to lead out. Mozzie Matt Seaton took the bull by the horns with Stuart McGhee ( Evans RT ) close behind, followed by Chris Ansell ( Team Corridori ) and a gaggle of assorted riders from the Evans team and the Dulwich Paragon. The ground was reasonably dry considering how much rain had fallen the previous day, but a badly-taken line through a large puddle of mud saw two more Evans riders going past me, a shoulder-barge from Nick Stacey reminding me just how poorly I was riding.

The first time through the sandpit was fun, with the recent addition of two large mounds making it a potential disaster area for anyone not getting it right. Hit it at speed, follow the ruts in the sand, keep pedalling hard and don’t try to steer. Move your upper body for balance and before you know it, you are safely back on terra firma.

The wooden planks in the track centre had been positioned far enough apart to make bunny-hopping a distinct possibility, Evan’s Ben Spurrier taking them perfectly, leaving me trailing as I opted to run.

A pair of VC Londres riders were now keeping me company, Philip Glowinski and John Scripps eventually fading as the second half of the race tested everyone’s stamina. Leading woman rider Rosanna Joseph eased past soon after looking very strong and smooth. It took two laps of desperate riding to claw back onto her wheel and, as she floundered on the short, sharp incline, I took full advantage and left her trailing.

11th place overall. No major traumas or mishaps. Next week’s race is Brighton. Looking forward to it already.

I always think I like a course with a proper hill in it. God knows why. I definitely regretted ever thinking that way as we lined up for this one. It just went straight up the side of the South Downs. It was a brutal sort-out from the off.

I thought I’d follow Al Tullet, next to me, but just towards the top, he was giving Mick Bell a few yards gap and I wasn’t having that, not so soon, so I jumped round him and managed to be next wheel down into the trees for the first time. But I maybe paid for that extra effort a bit, and I was cautious going through the loose stuff in the woods. It was like that chopped-up bark stuff they put down in flowerbeds - and like marbles for riding on: Bill Bell fell off first time round. Not that it slowed him up much.

You had to stay in the tracks or it was really sketchy, so you wanted to give yourself a bit of space to see the line. But you can’t give Mick even a few yards, because by the time we’d got back round to the finish area, he was maybe 20m ahead and trying to hold onto the wheel of - I think it was - Darren Barclay. Though not for long, as Darren suddenly opened up a huge gap on Mick and motored off towards an impressive 2nd place behind Alex Paton.

As per, it was all a bit of a blur as we hit the staggered climbs again and I went into the red. I vaguely remember at some point early on Bill Bell coming past at a rate of knots; I didn’t even try to get his wheel. Then soon after I was overhauled by Al, and again I had to let him go. I must have blown a bit because Russell Short was next to pass me, even if he is a good climber. But I must have recovered enough by then to be able to hang on. He and I then had Chris Ansell for company, and the three of us set about hunting Al down.

Until Russell overcooked a corner at the bottom of the course, and came off. It was a low-speed turn, so he was soon up and had lost only his place but no time. As Ian implies, this course would be murderous in the wet. You had to really concentrate in the near-perfect conditions we had. Just before the finish, there was an uphill corner with more of the barky bits, and I got completely sideways for a second there on one lap, but just caught it. Love that feeling, though it probably put a kink in my rim.

Russell seemed to lose momentum after that. Funny how it happens: sometimes a fall gives you a big adrenaline kick and you ride a storming race afterwards (as Bill did), but other times, you lose confidence and your will is somehow sapped. Of course, there is a third possibility, which is that you actually hurt yourself and don’t get back on your bike at all. About 20 mins into it, this happened to some poor guy, who missed the tramline down the hill through the flowerbed stuff and must have hit a stump or something and bumped his head. He was lying there, moaning gently. I felt sorry for him - until I saw the silly bugger had left his bike right in the way. The St John’s Ambulance folk did their noble thing, and I gather the rider was OK except for a cracked helmet and sore neck. Afraid his back wheel might be a bit the worse for wear after I rode over it, though.

Anyway, back to Russell’s less serious off: without kicking hard, suddenly it was just me and Chris. Every now and then, I’d look up the hill and catch a glimpse of Mick, but I knew he’d flown, barring accidents. So I set my sights on Al, who was just maintaining a gap of 15-20 seconds, and went to work. Chris came through now and again, but I was happy to stay in front and choose my own lines. And I was guessing, judging by the way he was blowing hard on the hills, that his work was cut out to stay with me.

The laps were short, and we must have done that hill ten or a dozen times. It was one of those races, said Darren afterwards, where you look at your watch thinking you’ve been racing for 40 minutes - only to find you’ve only done 20. The short laps meant that, very soon, we were lapping people. It wasn’t always easy getting by in the woods, but I have to say, this year more than before, I think, people are great about giving way. Hats off, London leaguers.

At about three-quarters distance, we were gaining on Al, but he saw us coming and upped it a bit. But the work we’d put in had put Chris in just enough trouble for me to get a little gap at the start of the climbs, so I gritted my teeth and pulled hard for half a lap. After that, Al was going away from me again, but I was holding my advantage on Chris, so when the bell finally came, I knew I simply needed to get round without doing anything foolish.

Super circuit. Results a bit slow coming, though it was a good opportunity to chew the fat with the Arctic Shorter lads. And say hello to Sean Yates, who was patiently waiting to hand out the prizes. His boys had ridden the youth races, but both had packed. I think that shows a healthy attitude on their part, and his. And it’s a very important talent, knowing when to pack. After all, it’s only donkeys like me who plug on regardless.

This course holds bad memories for me. Mud and climbing are the only things I recall as we drive into Lancing. Scrabbling around for bottom gear a few years back, the rear mech wrapped itself round the cassette and ripped clean off. As luck would have it, the incident occurred right next to the spare bike, an antiquated Trek MTB. After that, it was a matter of grovelling round without losing too many places, hard work on a heavy bike. A hard course in the wrong conditions. Slippery when wet.

Today, the course was dry and I felt much happier as I settled in behind Matt Seaton on the grid. The start took us up an horrendous climb, thankfully only used on the opening lap. The usual suspects hammered away from the line and there was already a gap to the leaders by the time we reached the crest of the hill. The single-track descent through the woods was great fun, wood chippings covering the worst of the slippery tree roots which wreaked havoc in previous years.

A nasty little run-up at the end of the first lap could lose you a few seconds if taken incorrectly. Dismounting early and running strongly saw me picking off several riders over the hour of racing. Mick Bell and Matt Seaton were over the hill and far away within two laps. Barring any major mechanicals involving the pair of them, I just had to settle in to hold onto third vet position and try and overtake as many seniors as possible. A couple of laps in the middle of the race spent working with two other riders were useful for a brief respite before they dropped away and I pressed on with Russell Short in my sights.

It was at this point that the race leader, national junior champion Alex Paton, lapped me. Smoothly, effortlessly and elegantly. Bloody kids.

Clinging onto Russell’s wheel as the bell rang, the last time up the climb proved too much for me and he pulled away. An uneventful last lap and I crossed the line for 14th place. Not bad, but could do better.

Matt came in 8th. He introduced me to Sean Yates afterwards–he was doing the prize presentations–who commented on my fine blocking work for my team-mate from the rear. The sort of thing only a professional would notice..

Showers are a rare luxury at cross races. A bar is unheard of. Hats off to VC Etoile for a fine race at a splendid venue. I relaxed with a pint of, er, energy drink.