“Friendship is the hallmark of randonneuring.”

- The 1000 du Sud - https://sites.google.com/site/le1000dusud/

First thing to say is massive thanks to Sophie and for organising and supporting such a fantastic event.

Secondly, thanks to my family and friends for there support and to all the other riders at AI, my club (Madigan CC)  and elsewhere who helped me physically, mentally and spiritually along the way.

 

Preparation and training

I knew this was going to be a tough one but really have had this in mind for 2016 for about three years now, slotting in nicely between PBP last year and LEL next (that I probably wont do now as I intend to give the long ones a miss next year).

Having gone cold turkey after 24 months of RRTY and suffering from excess cheese and beer early in the year, by March thanks to regular Sunday club runs with Madigan’s CC, I took on my first 200 of the year the Tara 200 without issue, and, thanks largely to the volume of riders, finishing well before my customary one to two hours in hand.

I then alternated club runs with my own hilly audaxes (either as test rides or full rides) and tough sportives such as the Tour of the Glenns and as much other hill climbing as I could get in.  I added in a Thursday regular 100km with some work colleagues to try and achieve Eddie’s magic formula of 200 at the weekend and a 100 during the week.

Some weight loss was achieved by reluctant cheese and beer restriction – but nothing too serious!

I purchased a lightweight bivvy bag (Aplkit Hunka), a lightweight down bag from china and a lightweight sleep mat (Alpkit Nuno) and tested these to –2 on a N2S organisers ride.  These weighed in a total of about 1.3kg.  More on there use later.

After a fast Innisfree 300 in the company of my neighbour Brian McCool, I knew I was probably about as ready as I’d ever be.

Nearly didn’t do it.

As many may know, my dad died on 28 August in Marseille whilst awaiting a heart bypass operation, just a week before I was due to go out to the event.  I flew out to France immediately but, in the back of my mind, I kept the idea that I would still do the MDS -  I think I just wanted to carry towards it as a coping mechanism.  One of the toughest moments was assembling my bike in France without him there to help as we would normally have worked together, or, to put it more accurately, he would have corrected all my mistakes.

But, after the funeral had been and gone I was still in France, with a bike and, lets face it, there’s nothing to clear your head like a multi day brevet.

Dîner commun à partir de 19 h

There’s a green AI PBP jersey in there now.

Tuesday PM was registration and dinner.  Some 50 or so riders were gathered, fed and watered (or wine for the French and beer for the Germans).  There was a lot of nerves but in honesty, I had no nerves whatsoever and enjoyed a bit of Craic with the other riders and some good food and wine.

 

à partir de 08 h : départ

The ride

Ride reports can be pretty dull – I got on the bike, rode, stopped, drank – so I’ll just post some photos and highlights.

Day 1

Went out in the first group and dropped my bottle early on which is good because the pace would have been just too much

 

Initially was riding in a group of four, but the two fast German’s dropped myself and Louis, who was from somewhere in the Pyrenees near the Spanish border.

I ate from my supplies for most of the day.  First control was 150 km or so where a quick coffee was had.

 

We picked up Robert, from Scotland and, on and off, Ralf from Germany and after a secret control and some spectacular scenery ended up in Crest where 8 of us indulged in Pizza and beers.

Tailwind in the night meant fast riding, again with Robert and Louis.  I gate-crashed a party for water as the heat (it was hot at night) meant I was consuming loads.

 

Control and secret control passed.  Secret controls were very welcome with coffee a few cakes an biscuits.

 

I’d planned to stop @ about 380 before the Col du Cucheron, but I had made great progress and pushed on over – despite the tiredness – going over the Cucheron early in the morning.  This was a demanding climb and part of me wishes I’d stuck with my original plan as I was slow.  Need more bravery to sleep early on in future.  Did the same thing before Brest on PBP.

Saint-Pierre-d'Entremont control at 6 am.  For some reason I decided to chuck my bike down a bank towards the river (actually I leant it against the wall for the control shot above and missed it) breaking the rear light but no other particular damage. 

Only the butcher was open but after some conversing with him he directed us to the camp site entertainment room which was open with a couple of soft chairs, a sofa, toilets and wifi!  Perfect accommodation for three weary randonneurs.

Day 2

An hour later after coffee and cakes we were on our way again.

All my GPS routes appeared to be stuffed at this point – turns out you shouldn’t just yank the wire out from your phone – you need to eject.

I navigated by route sheet for a while – which was fine – but eventually stopped, downloaded the files onto my phone and chucked them back onto the Garmin.  No further issues.

I was on my own, and it would remain on and off like that for the rest of the journey.  With the amount of climbing it would have been tough to stay together with anyone and sleep patterns obviously come into play.

Grand Cucheron was a nice climb with a long steady section, a flattish section with welcome secret control and steep final section.

At the secret control I gave two of my zip ties to Stuart (another one) to try and mend the light on his bent – with a promise of a 48 hour return service.  This could have been my doom.

I saw Louis going round a round a bout repeatedly – he later told me he’d loaded all his gps coursed backwards.  Andy, in his right up on audax uk facebook somewhere, has quite a funny account of the two of them chatting away all night without a single bit of understanding between them.

The valley after was relentless heat and lack of shops.  This was my lowest point and I was cursing the heat and, as Eddie put it in a text, would have given my right arm for a centra!  Spotting trains and coaches made me think of packing but I drew on my AI training – “always finish, always finish smiling” and pushed on for the Telegraph.  Eventually I found a supermarket, stopped, ate, drank magic chocolate milkshake (will need to check with POD if it was the right brand) and bought bread and cheese to see me through the night. 

The Telegraph was relentless with constant gradient.

I stopped and slept at the side of the road for fifteen minutes.

 

Just after Valloire I stopped for coffee and coke at a hotel and rang home. 

Shortly after I decided to do the right thing – climbed into my Bivvy bag and slept for two hours.  Great sleep.  Climbed up to the secret control, coffee, soup and cake and then over the top, stopping to put on my jacket and then to wrap the bivvy round me inside the jacket as the descent was cold and long.

Of the two climbs I much preferred the G as the gradient was changing so you could recover a bit.  Also, I had slept so was fresher.

I found a Café open at a garage at 6:30 am … it was a miracle and the breakfast – warm baguette, jam, croissant, orange J and coffee was the best meal of the whole brevet.

Day 3

After an info control I pushed on - climbing again in the morning sun - was great. Stopped briefly for espresso and toilet before plateau Matheysin (sommet à 1072m), La Mure.  This was a lovely section – warm with tailwind.

After the crossing the bridge Pont de Ponsonnas sur le Drac – I hit the 7 switchbacks starting the climb up to col du Festre (1441m).  On top there was a restaurant expecting me where I had lunch and a shower and changed!  Feeling human, I started the long descent.

What can I say – another great section – secret control in a forest after a lovely col or two (cols de la Croix (838m) et de Faye (930m)) and AN OPEN SUPERMARKET – buy cakes to last the night!

 

By this time I was chasing controls a bit and hoping to make up some time for sleep – but it never happened.

However, thanks to a diversion we got the two bonus cols above (Col de Charamel - Col des Fillys), and extra 10km and an extra hour!  I think Sophie added this in not because of the climb – which was like a climb at home – 1 cow/1 duck and wall like – but because of the descent which was on a freshly gravelled road as if RoadsNI had gone and done there finest work!  Actually, I enjoyed the climb (the Charamel was the main one, Fillys just a bonus) as it was “just like home” – only not raining.

200km, 13 hours – sounded like the classic Brevét.

Torrential rain on the descent through gorges in the dark had me and a fellow rider crouched under an overhang in the dark – like in a cave.  I slept standing against the wall until some time (could have been minutes or days) he woke me and with a grunt we continued.

Lightening was striking the hills and trees were exploding around us.

In Digne-les-Bains an entire bar stood up and applauded – I can only assume an earlier rider had alerted them to what we were doing.

A level crossing caused the bolt on my bagman to sheer, lucking my anonymous French companion, who was foolishly following me for my bright lights and famed navigation skills.

So I threw the bagman in the hedge and attached the carradice the way the manufacturer intended – with sway and banging of the mudguard.

I had no lower strap so I used what I though was my last tie wrap.

This broke – but fortunately for recumbent Stuart – who was about to get a call – I found another which lasted the duration.

Minor hallucinations began but the storm had passed so my mushy brain leant the bike on the kerb and I put it in “stealth mode” (turned off the lights) so as to be invisible to cars and lay in the kerb for 15 minutes.

Repeated just before dawn against a fence in a gorge.

 

Once dawn came I was more alert and good for the finish.  Obviously there was a lot of climbing still but I pushed on, indeed at times sprinted.

74 hours 56 minutes – an hour and four minutes to spare.  So – as usual – an hour or two to spare.

Beer, pasta, bed.

Conclusions

Despite its challenge, even a full value rider like myself can do this with the right mind-set, training and organisation.

• Sophie and her crew are amazing.
• Challenging, at times brutal but beautiful ride.  Even 6 times (now probably seven) finisher told me he normally comes in around 70 hours.
• Unbelievable route and scenery
• Despite being unsupported, support often appeared at the ideal moments in the form of secret controls.
• No room for errors – Helle on PLAT told me this – she was HD having had some dodgy food and been a bit sick.  Any major mechanical, route error or mistake would probably cost you the brevet.
• You can ride it more relaxed – Sophie keeps the control open for finishers for a day or so after the cut off.  Met a guy at the airport who was 12 hours HD for the second year in a row which is still a massive achievement.  There were riders who were HD multiple times.  All finishers are recognised. 

“Tout participant qui, ayant pris le départ officiel, effectuera la totalité du parcours en pointant à tous les contrôles et en respectant la règle de l'autonomie, sera considéré comme Finisher officiel du 1000 du Sud. Il recevra un certificat.”

“Any participant who takes the official start, rides the entire route, validates his/her brevet card at all controls and respects the rule of self-sufficiency, will be considered official Finisher of Le 1000 du Sud. He/She will receive a diploma.”

• Show elevation on your Garmin – its on the routesheet – you don’t look at distance but altitude
• Stop at every shop – always carry enough for 6 hours or so – cake works best.
• Water was an issue for me – some of the village fountains were dry because of the long summer so even with three bottles I was struggling
• Extreme conditions – 35 degree temperature variance – very hot in the day, particularly in the valleys – cold at night on descents – expect alpine rainfalls.
• Bivvy bag is fantastic.  I didn’t need sleeping bag but, as Sophie pointed out, 2 degrees cooler and I would have done.  Mat was a luxury.
• Bring plenty of gears.  I ran compact + 11/34 (works fine on a short cage with my hanger).  Never had to get out of the saddle.
• Try and travel as light as possible – contradicts above.
• Lights and mechanicals must be spot on.

Would I do it again – definitely YES.  I’ll be back for sure – especially as the route changes each year.  I believe next year Ventoux is on the cards.