PH does the (UK bit of the) Tour de France

[Marcellus]

Looks like my cunning training plan of going bald, claiming American citizenship and chemo has just been blown!

Guess plan b of actually putting the wheels on the bike would be a start.

[Gruffy]

pablo said:

I thought we were pretending to be pros?

We are, therefore I'm categorically denying the use of performance enhancing drugs. I've had no transfusions and wouldn't even know how to spell EPO. My steak must've been contaminated with HGH and testosterone, your honour.

[Black can man]

Gruffy said:

Drugs are bad, m'kay.

Any takers for a PH London-Brighton in April (25th or 26th)? Options to take the train back (100km) or turn around and pedal back (200km). It'd make good training for anybody doing stage 3 or for those having a crack at the fully monty.

If it's the 25th i'm a defo for this, The 26th i cannot do, sadly.

[j00pY]

I did an 85mi sportive on the 11th jan, and had been training well up until that point. I managed to crash and cut/bruised my left knee but thought no more of it. Over the following week my knee was getting more painful and the following weekend I had a bimble around Richmond Park and realised that my left knee was in a terrible state and I needed to get off the bike and rest my knee asap. It was compatible to the pain in my right knee that I'd just been given the all clear after spending hundreds at a physio sorting, so I haven't sat on a bike for a week and doubt I will be on a bike at until this weekend at the earliest and that will be a 30mi max ride to see how I get on.

In short, I'll be bringing the EPO, HGH and whatever else I can get my hands on so don't worry.

I'll do the L2B if I am free that weekend too.

[Gruffy]

Looking into the logistics a little more closely, I have a loose plan.

Thursday
Find cycle-friendly central accommodation in Harrogate, with good food or nearby options, for Thursday evening.

Friday
Stage 1 officially started in Leeds, but we can start in Harrogate and ride the same profile, replacing the controlled start section with the hop from Harrogate to the official race start. This means we can ride a circular route, back to our hotel, eliminating luggage issues for day 1.
https://www.strava.com/routes/1387381
200km, 2,670m

Saturday
Stage 2 officially started in York, but runs on sketchy roads from York to Knaresborough. By starting from our hotels in Harrogate we cut out the dangerous section and reduce the route by 27km. I've added the 27km back in with an optional short loop at the start. This keeps the official distance for the super keen but gives a bit of relief for anybody suffering from Stage 1. Hotel in Sheffield on Sunday evening. We need to find a way of transporting luggage from Harrogate to Sheffield during the day.
https://www.strava.com/routes/1387408
200km, 4,062m

The challenging bit
Aside from the riding itself, the biggest challenge is the transfer from Sheffield to Cambridge. There are no easy train journeys (3.5 hours and 2-3 changes). As we're making the journey at the start of Sunday rather than the end of Saturday, all riders should be together. Coach hire (team bus!!) feels like probably the best option for the 125 mile journey. PH power could be another option, if the support is there. We have about 10 riders to transport.

Sunday
Stage 3 starts in Cambridge and it's easy enough for us to follow the official route, except for a few deviations to avoid one-way roads and a couple of dangerous A-road tunnels when we arrive in London. We'll need to figure out how to transport luggage from Cambridge to the finish point in London.
https://www.strava.com/routes/1387398
161km, 1,316m

Ideally we'll also have one or more support cars able to help with mechanicals and aborts. These would loosely shadow the group but needn't be following along behind. Just close enough to help if the call goes out. They would RV with the group for the designated lunch stop to reload jersey pockets and water bottles. If we had more than one support car we could also have one travel ahead after the lunch stop and check riders into the next hotel, leaving luggage in their rooms, so that riders can get straight off the bike and just focus on collapsing/stretching/eating.

Do we have any volunteers for support cars? Any better suggestions for managing the transfer from Sheffield to Cambridge on Saturday evening or Sunday morning?

Edited by Gruffy on Friday 30th January 13:00

[anonymous-user]

Top work, i'm currently negotiating with SWMBO and will let you know what my plans are as I may be able to help with some of the transfer logistics if I cant do the full three days...

[Gruffy]

Awesome. A couple of riders planning to do stage 3 have offered similar help on the earlier stages.

I'm also meeting with the chaps at PH in a couple of weeks to chat about how Pistonheads can get involved. James and Dan are both keen riders and hopefully they'll be joining our peloton too.

[tobinen]

I have family in Cambridge so I will ask; perhaps I can tap up my brother. No promises but worth asking.

[JustinF]

Much as I'd love to be able to do all 3 stages, doing them back to back is silly talk for my fitness. I might be up for stages 1 and 3 and would thus be able to do the baggage transfer/support car role on day 2?
Could then transport 4 + me to Cambridge, the aero has roof bars, I'd need to source some rails and bike racks.

Only issue is that my car would end up in Cambridge, hmm.

[Gruffy]

I took the train from London to Cambridge when I did stage 3 a couple of months back. Nice easy trip and fairly quick. You could do that on Sunday afternoon or crash over in London and do the return journey on the Monday. I don't have a spare room but can offer a thick yoga mat and a duvet, especially for such a team effort.

[JustinF]

I've got a few options for staying in London, one of which is a non PH bike nut so should be OK but thanks for the kind offer.

What would work really well would be a PH volunteer from Cambridge to drive my car with all the kit in as a support driver on day 3, or even just to get it and all the baggage to London.

Having slept on this there is one solution that works, I'll play support car into London too.

Edited by JustinF on Saturday 31st January 19:11

[SixPotBelly]

My simple, selfish plan was to get up early Sunday morning, cycle to the station, get the first train up to Cambridge, ride to London, then get the train home from Kings Cross.

I've been trying to think if there's another way I could do it that would allow me to help you get down from Sheffield, but I can't think of anything that works. Not short of taking overnight gear in a backpack and going up the day before, hiring a minibus and driving it up to Sheffield to pick you up and driving back again to Cambridge. Do shout though if you can think of something I can do to help. I feel as though I'm freeloading, but I'm happy to chip in towards the cost of a coach travel for you guys, without whom there wouldn't be a stage 3 for me to take part in.

[burriana]

Gruffy, don't forget to shout up if you need any help/info for Harrogate. I do live here

Or shall I just get on and find a bike friendly hotel and a 27k nice loop? We have plenty if nice loops

[Gruffy]

That'll come in very useful, I'm sure. Let's hold off until I've had a chance to chat with the PH top brass next week. I should have a much better idea about the scale and flavour of the event after that.

[richardxjr]

The main logistics problem I think is we need to have our cars in Sheffield at the end of Day2, to get to Cambridge the next morning.

[numtumfutunch]

Im not sure how many of you know Sheffield but I have family there so have a fair working knowledge

It would be tempting to quit at Grenoside which is pretty much where national park gives way to urban sprawl, however if you do this you miss the authenticity as well as Jenkin Road where the final stage attack took place so you should do it all and get the genuine northern city misery experience

The stage end is in a pretty undesirable bit of town, having ridden it myself I imagine you will be pretty well spread out and what would be ideal is a relaxed boozer where you can regroup.

Unfortunately there are none nearby, although if you wish to do a few extra km the 'Kelham Island' district has some most excellent real ale pubs

On the other hand it finishes practically outside a budget hotel, I cant recall if its an Ibis or Etape (LOL@etape) and is very, very handy for your M1 escape the next day. If chains are your thing the cinema complex nearby has the usual food outlets as does the Meadowhall retail park you traverse just at the end

Or more succinctly; this stage finishes in the armpit of Sheffield but outside a convenient hotel close to the M1. If you want good ale and food you should look at moving a few miles into the city centre, or across the other side where its actually nice.

Courage

[Gruffy]

I think convenience is the order of the day, especially after day 2. Riders will want/need to just get off the bike and very quickly and easily get on with recovery shake > stretch > shower > food > beer > bed with the minimum of fuss. An IBIS would be perfectly fine in my opinion. A short drive to a decent Italian restaurant wouldn't be a bother (assuming we have support cars to cater for the number of riders on Stage 2).

I'm told that the final run into Sheffield is a bit grim. Personally, I'd rather put up with it for the full experience - but I'm used to dodging traffic on lively roads in and around London. It would be a shame to miss out on Jenkins Road, that's for sure.

[tobinen]

Having lived in Cambridge for 13 years and from the area, the start of stage 3 will be a case of 'dodge the pedestrian/foreign tourist' until out of the centre. The worst part will be Sidney Street, Trinity Street and King's Parade and I would recommend a cautious pace. Once on to Trumpington Road it should be ok.

Cyclists can have a bad reputation for lack of following the highway code, and Cambridge is proof why this is.

[SixPotBelly]

So a neutralised start, just like the real tour

[Gruffy]

On my stage 3 recce I treated the neutralised start as a warm up. I wouldn't want to skip it though, it's a scenic little detour at the start.