That's a wrap.

I feel that I've experienced some pretty cool things in my 40 years on this planet thus far. I try to put myself out there - in situations that are fulfilling and satisfying so that I don't have the "what if's" and "coulda shoulda's". Lisa realizes this and gave me such an unbelievable gift in this Tour trip. The fact that she enjoyed it as much as I did made it even that much better. I knew she would enjoy France and that her main concern was that I was happy with the trip. I'm not really into guided tour-type trips and this was a concern of hers. I think the perma-grin on my face out there was enough to give her confidence that I was more than pleased with the trip. Lisa loved France - the countryside, the villages, the shopping, the food and wine! But she also really got into the race! As Scooter put it, Lisa is definitely up for wife of the year.

France was really interesting. I always loved the little bike race there, and was fond of the food and wine myself, but was never really fond of France as a country before visiting. I was on a different page with them politically, and had heard that the French were snobby and rude. However Lisa and I found just the opposite with the people. The French in the south of France and Bordeaux could not have been more friendly. Not just the ones receiving gratuity but every French person we encountered seemed up, positive, and friendly. One of many occasions I remember quite well was the day I did the three big climbs solo. The staff had me nervous that I may get lost. I could understand knowing a lot of peoples sense of direction including some on my camp staff!!! Yet the route was very easy. In any case, I was rolling through some small village and there was a runner on the road. Nervous that I may be off route, I slowed up and began the conversation with what I always began my French conversations with; "Bonjour, Parlee vous English?" The man replied "non", so I just shouted "Col D'Aspin?" and pointed straight ahead to which he emphatically responded "OUI, OUI, OUI!!!" as he jabbed both hands forward pointing the way. He then yelled back "Tourmalet?", and I said "Oui!" which made him more genuinely excited and he shouted out a lot of French after this which seemed nice and encouraging. He could have also called me a dumb ass, but it sounded cool.

My parents came by our house the week after we returned to see pictures and hear some stories. They are interested in planning a trip to Italy and maybe France. My mother was asking Lisa how I did with the tour aspect of it (not The Tour De France, but the tour group). My father said that like me, he's not a big fan of guided tours and would plan his own itinerary. However, I have to say that if you find the right tour, this is the way to go. The places we stayed were incredible and had we tried to do this ourselves, we would have stayed probably in places that the Tour directly passes through. Nothing wrong with this but they weren't nearly as great as the places we visited and stayed at. If experts know the cool places to go, and provide you a bit of freedom to explore on your own, than you'll see and learn much more about the visiting area.

I will definitely do this trip again someday. I promised Ryan that when he turns 13, I'll take him on it and we can ride together. He holds me to this promise every day.

Thanks Lisa!

Cheers,

EH

Paris

Leaving St. Emillion was tough. That place, the town, the whole atmosphere there was really something. We'll get back there someday.

Saturday was going to be another very busy day, and we weren't even riding. We left on the bus around 8am and headed towards Angoulame and the start village for Saturdays stage, the time trial. I was particularly excited about this since I love the time trials, and we had special access to the riders area before the start. The access we had was incredible. We were able to walk right up to all the team buses where the mechanics were setting up the riders bikes, and where the riders were warming up on turbotrainers. I had my picture taken with Thor Hushovd who is the big sprinter in the peloton. He looks quite big when watching the tour on TV, yet he came up to maybe my nose, and his shoulders were narrow. I was really amazed at how small all these guys are. George Hincapie, who they call Big George is tall at maybe 6'2" but is a stick. Levi Leipheimer is maybe 5'5" - maybe! Alberto Contador weighs probably about 125 lbs. Even Rasmussen who is incredibly skinny, yet looks tall on camera, is only about 5'10".

Being a bike tech geek, it was very cool seeing all the TT bikes up close. For all those triathletes out there that think that a slack seat tube angle gives you more power, The majority of the tour riders were set up steep. They have a UCI rule stating that if you drop a plumb line from the tip of the front of the saddle, the line must fall at least 5cm behind the center of the bottom bracket. How these guys get around this so that they can ride steeper is that many of them including probably the whole CSC team cut the nose of there saddles off! I have a picture on my camera that I'll try to post once I find the chord that allows me to download the pictures to my computer (it's MIA). I checked out Tom Boonen's new Specialized Transition. That bike, in my opinion, is very ugly aesthetically. It's a combo of a P3C and a Felt DA w/ a sloping top tube which I'm not a fan of. The new Orbea TT bike that the Euskatel Euskadi team was riding was a work of art however. I was excited to check out the new systemsix TT Cannondale that some of the Liquigas team were riding, and it didn't disappoint.

They had a section set up at the start center for sponsors where many of the tours past were wandering around like Bernard Hinault and Richard Virenque. They were serving coffee, mimosas, croissants and even making omelets.Once a few riders left, we made our way back to the bus to head over to a restaurant situated near the finish of the time trial. On the way to the bus, I ran over to a shed where there was a big yellow sign that read "Tour De France" with an arrow giving directions to the start village that is now hanging on Ryan's bedroom door. Hopefully, not too many got lost trying to find the start village! It would have been very difficult considering the noise and mass of people in site.

The restaurant where we were to view the TT riders coming through was situated in a perfect spot, at the bottom of a small hill with 4K left to go. It was right on the course and they served a nice buffet and also had a large flat screen inside showing the race. We'd watch the riders on TV, and then step outside to see them come flying by - how cool is that? The stage was an exciting one given the closeness of the first three riders in time. The contrasting styles of the riders was interesting. There were many, including Contador, who kept a very high cadence a la Lance. Then there were some like Levi, the stage winner, who were pushing a bigger gear at a lower cadence. It just shows that there is no one perfect technique. Right after the last rider (Contador) came through, we dashed across the street to the train station where we caught the Bullet train up to Paris, a 2.5 hr trip.

We arrived in Paris around 8pm where we hopped on the metro, there subway system, for a short stint to the street our hotel was situated on. As we ascended the metro stairs, the first thing that came into view was the Arch D'Triumph. Being our first time in Paris, this was quite impressive. It was much bigger than I expected, situated in the middle of a rotary. Our Paris hotel viewed the Arch. It was now 9pm and Lisa and I headed out to get some dinner. We ate at a cool open restaurant near the Champs D'Eleysees and were seated in the non smoking section which was indoors but right next to the open outdoor patio. Two feet away from us outdoors sat two women smoking one cigarette after another. We had a nice meal (We have fun deciphering the French menu's and guessing at what we haveordered), then made our way over to the Arch to see if we could take the elevator to the top of it. It was after 10:30pm now though and the elevator was closed. As we stood at the Arch, we could see the Eiffel tower lit up in the distance. It had a series of strobe lights on it that were flashing rapidly at the moment. Now, we have had a long, busy day up to this point and were quite tired but we decided to walk over to the tower. Lisa was excited about going and I said let's do it, we're in Paris. We can sleep anytime, and besides, it was a gorgeous night. The tower was much further than it appeared while standing at the Arch. It took us about 45 minutes to walk there. It gave us a chance to see some more of Paris. It's really a beautiful city. The architecture is amazing and Lisa and I loved the rounded edges of the buildings at the ends of streets and the detail on these old buildings. Everything sits quite low in Paris. There is one section of the city with some skyscrapers, but very few and I'd guess that most buildings don't go over six stories. The city is quite large, area wise.

The Eiffel Tower is a tourist thing to do, but a must do. Lisa and I arrived there sometime around midnight and the elevator and stairs up it were closed, but viewing it from the ground was quite impressive. It was crowded there with tourists and vendors trying to sell you crap. We hung out for a bit and took some pictures than made the walk back to our hotel.

The next morning, we had a quick breakfast and then made our way back down to the Tower. We didn't want to leave Paris without making it to the top of the Eiffel Tower. The Tower opened at 9am and we were there by 8:50am and there was already a long waiting line. The elevator ride up was like an international convention. There were maybe 20 people piled into our elevator and maybe 6 different languages going on. Lisa is scared of heights, so this was going to be interesting. Again, going to the top of the tower is a must do. You get an amazing view of the whole city and they have a map that circumnavigates the observation deck and notifies what you are viewing. We spotted Notre Dame and The Louvre, two other places we wanted to check out before we flew home the next day (Yes, we were hitting all the tourist spots on this first trip to Paris). It was incredibly windy at the top of the tour. In fact, we later learned that they closed down the top deck around 10am because of the wind! Lisa did great though.

In the afternoon, we were to view the final stage of the Tour on the Champs D'Elysees. The riders do eight 5K laps around the champs at the end of the days stage. The Champs is a beautiful, busy cobblestoned street and they had set up guard rails blocking all access to the street. The riders weren't due to come through on their first lap until around 3pm, yet by 10am, there were fans lining the road. By 2pm, the sidewalks were stacked probably 10 people deep from the guardrails. The Custom Getaways group arranged two side by side suites situated in the middle of the Champs, six floors up. This was where we viewed the final stage from. They served hor d'ouerves and champagne and wine and had the race showing on TV's inside the suites. The balconies of the suites hung out over the Champs. We watched as the riders approached on television, then headed out on the balcony to see them race by heading up towards the Arch then making a u turn and coming back down on the first of their eight laps. Again, how cool?! The thrill and exhiliration of being at the final stage of the tour was mixed in with the sadness that this was coming to an end. It's been quite an amazing ride thus far.

When the Tour stage ended, we fought our way through huge crowds trying to get back to the hotel. The amount of people pushing and moving on the sidewalks were scary. My main concern was that Lisa didn't get trampled. We made it back and had a short time to get ready for our last dinner.

Again, it was another beautiful evening, and we all walked down to the Seine river where we boarded a large boat with tables set up for our dinner cruise! We had yet another fantastic meal. Lisa and I sat with John and Erika, two Australians that we really enjoyed getting to know on this trip, and with my boy Eric. As we ate, we floated past the Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame, a smaller replica of the Statue of Liberty. It was a very memorable dinner.

The boat docked and we said our goodbyes to the staff and most of the new friends we met on this experience. We met some very interesting and fun people who contributed to our incredible experience.

Our flight out on Monday wasn't until 5pm, so our focus that morning was on getting to the Louvre. After breakfast, we took a short metro ride there and waited for it to open. The Louvre is massive and the buildings are incredibly impressive. Again, there were long lines waiting to get in and I would guesstimate that 70% of those waiting were Asian. As soon as everyone enters, they make a b-line for the Mona Lisa. We did as well, but checked out a few other famous sculptures along the way. I like viewing the sculptures, but I'm not a huge fan of the era of art displayed at the Louvre.

Our flight home was uneventful, and we were both looking forward to seeing the kids and sleeping in our own bed. It was the best trip that we have been on though, without a doubt. I will write a final summary soon of my thoughts on the whole thing if anyone still reading isn't bored to death, but again, I'm journaling this trip for my own memory so I don't forget it.

Bordeaux

After regrouping at the top of the Tourmalet, we took the sag vans down the other side to Luz A'rdidan (an amazing drive with spectacular views) for lunch, then made the long drive to Cahors. I was a bit sad leaving the Pyrenees, but was excited at the same time to see what's next. Just outside of Cahors is a small village called Mercues where our next hotel was located. Again, this hotel was a very old castle with the rooms being modernized. It was an amazing place.


Wednesday morning, we headed out on a destination ride to the town of Sellat (sp?). It was a rolling ride through very scenic country. The roads were great for riding and it was another beautiful day. About 10K in, there was a longer climb (not compared to what we climbed in the Pyrenees, but about 5 minutes) and at the top, I turned to see just Michele and one of the Florida boys, Mike. We had a fun, fast downhill then zipped along at about 40K/hr for the next 40 minutes before realizing we were lost, but Michele figured it out and took us on some cool back roads and soon we were back on course. the rest of the ride remained at a pretty good tempo.


We had Foi Gras and ducks legs for lunch, then walked around town before viewing the rest of the days stage from a small pub in the town. This was the mountain stage that Rasmussen won, only to be kicked out of the tour later in the evening by his team.


Dinner was to be on our own this evening, with a bus dropping everyone off in Cahors, but after a long, busy day, and week thus far, Lisa and I were pretty wiped and decided to stay at the hotel. In fact, we grabbed a baguette and some cheese in the town after leaving the pub, and picked up a bottle of wine from the hotels wine cellar/vineyard, and that was dinner!


Thursday was another destination ride leaving from Mercues and through rolling countryside. We were all grouped in the parking lot ready to roll out, but I was having some shifting issues with my front derailleur, so Michele stayed back with me and everyone else moved on. 15 minutes later, Michele and I headed out to try and bridge the gap up to the group. About 10 minutes in, we descended a small hill that took us onto a bridge over the river. the bridge was about 100 meters long and was made up of metal planks about 8 inches wide with a 1 inch gap between each plank. I hit the bridge first at about 35 mph and my tires popped into the small 1 inch groove and I started fishtailing all over. I regained control only to fall back into the groove again and start fishtailing some more. I still don't know how I stayed up.


We caught the group about 10K and on a long winding climb, Eric and I took off. The rest of the ride was a lot of fun - we had one descent that was a series of big s-bends - like 12 of them, and you could keep your speed up on these without breaking too much. There were sunflower fields everywhere on this ride. At the top of one climb, I turned around and the land below looked like a sea of yellow.

After the ride, we changed at the bus, had some lunch, then made our way to the finish of the days stage. We had a private viewing booth set up at the 50 meters to go mark, perfect for viewing the sprint. It was a hot day, and the booth had air conditioning down below, plus coverage up top. They also had screens to watch the race as it approached the finish. They provided us drinks and snacks including ice cream. Not a bad way to watch the tour! Lisa and I did some more shopping while waiting for the riders to come in. We picked up Ryan a full Predictor Lotto team kit, a yellow jersey and a polka dot jersey.

The sprint was great - there was a 4 man breakaway that included Jens Voight, or as the French announcer yells his name "Jensaa Voightaa!". Also in this group was Daniello Bennati who took the sprint.

We headed from here to our next host hotel in St. Emillion. St. Emillion, and the hotel there, was Lisa's favorite place. The hotel sat in the middle of the vineyards. We were still in the Bordeaux region and there were vineyards everywhere! Every vineyard was perfectly manicured, with the rows evenly parallelled and each plant looking exactly like the next. We had a great room with a balcony overlooking these vineyards.

Friday morning was our last ride of the trip. Saturday was a busy day of viewing the time trial then catching the bullet train to Paris, and then Sunday was the finish in Paris, so there was no riding scheduled over the weekend.

It was yet another perfect weather day - high 70's to low 80's and sunny. The first 40K of this ride took us through once again some beautiful country side with rolling hills, vineyards and more sunflower fields everywhere. We then rode a bike path for the next 25k that went through the vineyards. It was great - paved nicely and no cars! I was stung by a bee on my thigh, but I'm not allergic. In the final 8K, we rode through the town of St. Emillion which is all cobbled road. I don't know how the pro riders do a race like Paris Roubaix and ride cobbles for a good portion of it. After 1K on it, I could feel the shattering in my teeth!

We went into St. Emillion after the ride to get some lunch and then we went on a tour of a vineyard and did some wine tasting - good stuff! Then I packed up the bike and floated in the pool for a bit, before heading back into town for a great dinner. We entered the restaurant and were escorted through it to a courtyard in the rear that was gorgeous. The food and company were nice and Lisa and I were getting quite relaxed in St. Emillion. Tomorrow though, we were headed to Paris.

The Pyrenees

After finishing up the first ride of this trip, Lisa and I packed up. We were to go down to the intermediate sprint location and view the race come through, before boarding the nice coach bus and traveling a few hours to our next host destination, a small town in the Pyrenees Mountains called Luchon.

Luchon was one of my favorite places. It’s a ski town sitting in a small valley between many mountains. It’s about 10k from the Spanish border. In fact, there was an optional second ride planned for Sunday that was a short but steep 10K climb from Luchon up a famous mountain to the Spanish border, and then descending back to Luchon. Only three of us plus Eric and Michele took this option. We arrived in Luchon around 6:30pm and headed out for the climb around 7:30pm. It was a steep climb and took me about 40 minutes to reach the peak. Michele rolled up next and took some photos of me standing with one foot in Spain and one in France. The ride back to Luchon was a blast and took only 15 minutes. The switchbacks while descending seemed much steeper than when ascending. Believe me, they were steep when climbing, but your back is turned to the drop offs and views. This climb that we just did was in many previous Tour De France races and it was cool thinking about the great cyclists who had ascended this climb in race battle. I rolled back into Luchon to find Lisa with some of the group enjoying a glass of wine on the patio of a nice restaurant. I showered quick and then joined her for dinner.

Monday’s agenda was quite busy. There were two rides planned, one longer, leaving at 8:15am and going over the new Tour climb, the Hors Category Port de Bales, then going over the Col De Pesourdes, before descending to the actual finish of the stage that day. The shorter ride was skipping the Port de Bales climb. After another late dinner and lots of vin d’rouge, I did something I don’t do that well – I slept! I awoke in our room to look at my watch and see 8am. I flew out of bed and dressed quickly and grabbed my bike, skipping breakfast, and headed down to the lobby to meet the long ride group. It was just myself and Erika, a fun Australian, along with Michele. Erika was very nervous about the long ride and was going to skip it and I said to her “Erika, what are you here for? Take your time but go experience these climbs. It’ll make your dinner taste that much better tonight.” So she headed out with us. The first 30K rolled through a valley, and after 15K, we were on the official tour route for the day, which is marked with yellow arrows. Michele stopped us and pointed at the arrows and then at me and said “you follow jaune ayrow, oui?”

I headed onward and soon turned onto a road with a sign that read “Port de Bales, summit 20km”. This was one bitch of a climb. The hardest climb I road on this trip. Until last year, it was a dirt access road that they paved specifically for this years Tour. It starts out gradual, winding through forest. The road was closed off to traffic since the previous day yet it was crowded with spectators. There were tents set up all over the countryside, and rv’s parked wherever they could fit. There were families with tables set up, having lunch feasts and anticipating the action they would soon encounter when the Tour roared through. There were tons of cyclists ascending the climb. I witnessed lots of kids dressed in full cycling kit, some bungeed to their dad’s bike, pedaling away. There were men in their 70’s dressed in team kits, no helmets, and big backpacks, some with huge baguettes strapped to their back. As I ascended, mostly all of them clapped for me and yelled “allez, allez!”. The energy was infectious.

This is a long ass climb and with around 8 k to go, it gets steep. The last 5 k really kicked up. With 3 k to go, I see James, one of the staff who is driving sag, pulled over talking to a bunch of Frenchman. James is from France, but speaks great English – very proper, and lives in Venezuela where he teaches language at a university. He is extremely generous and helpful and funny. I called him welchy since he had an uncanny resemblance to Greg Welch. James refilled my water bottles and then gave me a push and a pat on the back as I restarted on the climb. I felt for a second like a Tour rider!

The descent off the Port de Bales was crazy! Steep with switchbacks and no guardrails. After dropping for what seemed like an hour, I merged right into the next climb, the 14 km Col de Peyresourde. This is another famous tour stage and it doesn’t disappoint in views. As you reach the 5k to go sign, you look ahead and can see your road in front of you, zig zagging across the mountain in a series of dramatic switchbacks. The Peyresourdes was way more crowded than even the Port de Bales with fans, riders, press, … Many fans were painting there favorite riders name in the road as I climbed. I reached the summit in slight drizzle, the only rain of our week really, besides a little bit in Paris. Lisa was waiting at the summit outside a sag vehicle, with a huge smile on her face. She said to me “this is unbelievable!” I knew I would have a blast on this trip since this is my passion, but I was excited to see Lisa so caught up in the action. She was having a great time.

We descended and all regrouped with 3 k to go. From there, the sun came out, and we had an official tour escort as we rode the final 3 k of Monday’s stage, crossing the official finish line. This was a big deal since the last 3k of road in the stages are closed to riders, walkers, and spectators. The road is barricaded off and lined with fans. I raised my arms when crossing as though I had just won the stage. We were all standing with our bikes at the finish line when Giil said that we could go up on the podium if we wished. The group stood there, a bit hesitant at first, wondering if this would be goofy with all the spectators watching. I didn’t hesitate and jumped up there and raised my arms again like a goofball. Everyone from the group soon joined me.

We were given special access bracelets that got us behind the scenes at the finish area and also given access to a spa that was within walking distance to shower up, or use the spa services. Typical Europe – the spa only allows men to wear Speedos in the pools, no “trunks”. We roamed around the finish area, watching Phil Ligget and Paul Sherwin broadcast and purchasing some souvenirs. They had a roped off section for our group directly at the finish line and we watched the race come through. Vino one the stage – this was the day before he was kicked out. After the riders came through, we caught many of the riders at their team buses. I’m a bike geek and loved checking out all the rides on top of the team vehicles. I snapped Lisa’s photo with Jens Voight and Johan Bruneel. We then boarded our bus and headed back to Luchon for a great meal. What a day!!!

At dinner that night, Giil was discussing the agenda for the next day. The Tour was having a rest day, so we were going to pack up, then take the bus to the bottom of the Tourmalet and ride up the Tourmalet through La Mongie to the summit, where we’d reboard the bus’s and head to our next destination in Mercues. I knew that there was a route from Luchon that took you over two major climbs, the Col de Peyresourdes once again, then the Col D’Aspin, before reaching and ascending the Tourmalet, and if I could do this. After some discussion, they decided they were cool with this. I told them Giil that I knew he had to keep things organized and tight and on schedule, and that I am quite independent and would be fine and not hold them up. I told him that I came on this trip to experience everything I possibly could and needed to do this ride. Their main concern was me getting lost so they gave me a bunch of maps, co2’s, bars, and electrolyte drink and wished me luck.

The next morning, I awoke at 6am, downed 2 cliff bars, prepped my bike, packed up my suit case, and by 6:45am I was riding. I put my Ipod on for this since I was alone. As you leave Luchon, you begin ascending the 14k Col de Peyresourdes right away. The clouds were sitting low in the mountains, framed in by the blue sky and The Foo Fighters “best of you” was playing in my headphones. I thought to myself “how cool is this!”.

What a contrast from the day before on the Peyresourde. All the rv’s were still there yet everyone was sleeping. The road was empty of people and cars. It was as if I had the road all to myself. What was amazing is that there was no litter on the road at all – remarkable considering the chaos that took place there 15 hours earlier. My legs felt pretty good, especially considering the amount of climbing I did the previous two days. Next up was the Col D’Aspin. This is another famous climb of the tour and the fainted painted names still on the road proved it. There was “Go Lance” painted in a few spots and many “Virenque Allez”. This climb winds around the mountain up through the clouds. Its gradient wasn’t bad at all and I was in a nice tempo. One side of the mountain would be bright and sunny and the other would be thick with clouds. Huge cows wandered the roads as I ascended. The descent of the Col D’Aspin was one of my favorites. It went through pine forests and switchbacked and the views were fantastic. I didn’t have to break too much and hit 60 mph in a few spots.

Two climbs down, one to go – the infamous Tourmalet.

The Tourmalet is a 20K climb that goes through the ski town La Mongie and it has quite the history in the tour. The switchbacks between La Mongie and the top were tough, due to not only the gradient but the high altitude and wind. The group was to meet on top at 12:30pm and I reached the summit much quicker than I anticipated, getting there at 10:45am and quite cold since I only had my “eh” vest. (Funny, I wore my “eh” uniform all week (no, not the same one) and received some great compliments. On top of the Tourmalet, one French guy asked me “Vat iz dis “ehhh”?”.) There is a small restaurant on top of the Tourmalet and I ducked in there to get out of the wind and cold (it was in the 40’s on the top of the mountain) and had a double espresso. As I sipped my coffee, I took in the pictures framed across one of the walls of the restaurant. There were pictures of Eddy Mercx, Greg Lemond, Miguel Indurain, Lance, to name a few, all ascending the Tourmalet. Again, it was another surreal moment. I thought I’d head out and ride down a bit and climb back up with some of the group but when the wind and cold hit me, I headed back in for another double espresso. Between the time I arrived and noon, there must have been 1000 cyclists that came up both sides of the mountains – no exaggeration. It was cycling mayhem. After my third double espresso, I started to descend to see if I could ride up with the group. I was shaking so bad the first 2 K, a combination of the coldness and the caffeine. Thankfully James came rolling up in the sag! Lisa was there as well.

Pretty cool that in 36 hrs, I did some great rides with over 80 k of climbing. We were leaving the Pyrenees for the Bordeaux region of France later this day so I had to take advantage of my time in the Pyrenees…

European Vacation

(I am blogging this as a self journal to remember my experience. It will be in a few parts. My apologies if someone visits to read some somewhat interesting tri stuff and instead ends up with boring vacation stories.)

In 1994, I made a list of 5 "must do's" before I die, one being to follow some of the Tour De France and ride parts of the course as well. Lisa helped me check this one off by giving me this trip for my recent birthday. She planned our trip though a company called Custom Getaways - they specialize in planning vacation packages around the Tour, and now the Giro as well.

The itinerary was to fly out to Toulouse on Friday, July 20th, arriving on the 21st, where we were to be picked up by someone from Custom Getaways and driven to Carsacomme to begin our adventure. We left our house on Friday afternoon around 1pm for Kennedy airport, only to sit in traffic for an extra 90 minutes. Three hours later, we were dropped off at the terminal and scurried through to make our first flight to Brussels. They began boarding the plane, only to pull everyone off about 45 minutes later because there was a mechanical issue. 4 hrs later, they reborded, and then we sat on the tarmac for 2 hrs. We knew we would miss our connecting flight to Toulouse, and they only have one Toulouse flight per day leaving out of Brussels. We reworked it so that we would go to Frankfurt from Brussels, and then on to Toulouse getting there 5 hrs late, but getting there. the issue was that our bags and my bike were checked to go to Toulouse from Brussels on the flight the following day.

We were not off to a good start and Lisa was really upset. We somehow managed to get them to pull our bags in Brussels and reissue them on our new flights. We finally arrived in France AND with all our luggage! Aline picked us up at the airport. She is a young, cute French woman who is part of the Custom Getaway staff. She races bikes and is very feminine, yet tough as nails. I rode with her the next day and she is elegant as a rider, yet unafraid to spit if necessary or mix it up with the boys in a sprint. I like that.

Carsacomme was to be our first destination, hotel wise, in France. The place is unbelievable! It's a medieval city built around 1 AD and resembles a huge castle. There is a huge wall built around the whole small town and as we pulled up, I joked to Lisa that I forgot my grappling hook. The hotel was inside the castle and was amazing - modernized inside, yet keeping the oldness and history of the place. We were wiped out from the two days of travel, yet went to meet the rest of the group at dinner. There were 20 people participating in this tour, 16 Americans including Lisa and I and 4 aussies. There was a young couple (ok, young, being relative - they were close to our age) from the DC/Virginia area that we met on our drive from the airport. The poor couple waited with Aline for 4.5 hrs at the airport for us to arrive. There were three guys, from Ft. Lauderdale, Florida who worked together for a marketing company. There were six from the Philly/New Jersey area, a couple from Chicago, and a couple from California. Everyone was in there forties or fifties for the most part. A few in there late thirties.

After a late dinner (which set the tone for this trip - most dinners began around 8:30pm and ended around 11+pm.) that was excellent, with lots of red wine (another tone set for this trip!), two staff members, Eric and Michele, assisted me in putting my bike together. Eric and Michele were from France. Eric was a super nice guy from Cannes in his early forties with a ton of cycling experience. His French mannerisms and broken American language cracked me up. Michele was a serious cyclist who lived in the French Alps. This guy was a climbing goat and looked more comfortable on a bike than off one in everyday life. He spoke very little English, but tried hard, and he also was a super nice guy. In fact, all the staff was. I referred to Eric and Michele as "my boys", as in " Lis, I'm going to ride ride with my boys now", or "Let's sit with my boys at dinner tonight". As we unpacked my bike, Eric whistled, cooed, even letting out an "oohh, la, la!". "You are too strong to ride with us" he mentioned. I replied back " you've never even seen me ride yet Eric! I could be a total poser.". It was now well after midnight, and we were riding 50K in the morning. By the way, I'm digging kilometers! When I am climbing and climbing up a Pyrenees mountain and I see a sign out there that says something like "Tourmalet 10" and it refers to kilometers and not miles - that is a cool thing! Plus the math conversion gave me something to do brain wise while climbing.

The morning ride agenda was to ride through rolling French countryside, much of the ride being on the actual tour course for that day. There was an intermediate sprint in town that day and we would get to ride through it some 3 hours before the Tour riders attacked it. The ride was beautiful, as was the weather. In fact, the weather all week was perfect. About 30 minutes into the ride, the group split up into 5 of us up front - the three Florida boys, Aline, and myself. I was keeping things very easy, staying mostly in my small chainring, anticipating some big climbing days ahead. The Florida boys were having some fun attacking and sprinting. The streets were beginning to get crowded with fans preparing for the Tour entourage that would soon be coming through. Most of them would cheer for us as we rode which was silly, yet fun. As we rolled back into Carsacomme, Cliff, one of the Floida guys, says to me "wait until your wife sees the grin on your face!" It's true, I was smiling ear to ear. I was realizing that I was in Southern France, riding my bike, on the actual tour course that they'd be riding later that day! It was very surreal...

Coach Newell and those racing LP

When I was a freshman in highschool, I had a bunch of friends that were on the swim team. I had never swam competitively before, not counting the underwater races I had against the lifeguards at the town pool when I was in grade school. Yet, I was looking for something to do over the winter time, so I went out for the team - exactly one day before the first swim meet of the season.

Coach Newell was a crusty old guy that resembled Popeye. He was real old school, and he instructed me to get in the end lane and swim 1 lap. After finishing, he replied "you'll do. Tomorrow you are swimming the 500." Of course in Highschool they could never get anyone to swim the 500, and this became my event by default.

The next day I heaved my way through an 8:46 500, complete with open turns and all. I was quadruple lapped by the winner of the event. Nevertheless, I stuck it out and by the end of my freshman year, I was swimming below 7 minutes for the event.

Anyways, the focus of this story is this poem that Coach Newell used to read to us before meets. I wish I could remember it and if he were still around, I'd contact him to see if he still had it. I'm sure he still would along with his bull whip that he'd breakout when we were dogging it in practice.

The poem began something like this: "How do you deal when the pressure is on?" That pretty much is the focus of the poem.

There are a bunch of you going up to LP this weekend to race. For those of you that I coach or that I had the pleasure of working with at one of my camps, I know you are ready. I have full faith in all that I have racing there. I know the blood, sweat, and tears you have put into your training. I know the sacrifices you have made and the key sessions that you excelled in. I know that if your head is in the right place, you are certainly ready.

Your head being in the right place is the key. For the last 3 years that I have spectated at LP, I have positioned myself, along with Baker, out on a hill at the 6 mile mark of the run. Baker and I would harass the competitors from our perches here as they ran, shuffled, or walked by. Initially, our goal was to make them laugh a bit. But for those walking, we took on a mission to get them running. I would say that 95% of those that were walking - we'd get running. And they would continue running. This tells me that when we hit a really hard spot out there, sometimes it's eaiser to just ease up, yet we are still capable of going faster. It's so much a mental game.

For all of you racing LP on Sunday - this is what you have trained for. Don't worry about the "should have's" and "could have's" in your training. That's water under the bridge now anyways, so why waste energy on that? Instead, focus on all the great training days you had. The long bricks, the long runs that went great, the camps, the big weeks, ... Focus on that and tell yourself that this is just one day, and it's time to make the most of a great opportunity.

You all have an opportunity this Sunday.

Last year in Hawaii, I was dealing with some issues, mainly a shoulder problem and a sinus infection. I remember that the day before the race, I stopped focusing on these things and instead turned my attention to the opportunity at hand. That night, I remember telling myself; "you know, nothing really matters right now. the bottom line is that tomorrow morning, I'm going to show up at that starting line, and see what I can do. That's the bottom line. Go out there and race."

Everyone puts pressure on themselves for some reason in the week leading up to the race. So how do you deal when the pressure is on?

Best of luck all - you are ready! Believe it.

Cheers,

EH

Saturday Morning Rides

Saturday morning was one of those "perfect ride days".

I rolled out of my garage at 5:45am, setting out on my favorite 60 mile hill ride. This ride has hills everywhere, but there are three main ones; the first is in Bridgewater, where you take a left while heading north as soon as you get over the bridge on Lake Lilli..., the next is rt. 317 from Roxbury into Woodbury, and the final one is rt. 111 in Monroe at the 56 mile mark. All three of these climbs have gradients up to 18%. In between them is more hills, just not as challenging as the three major ones.

It was in the low 60's when I left and the sun was already up. I made a playlist that was 3 1/4 hrs, and my goal was to finish the ride before the playlist ended. As I started up Hattertown Rd., I was thinking about when I first got into triathlons and riding. There was a Saturday morning 8 mile time trial hosted by Amity Bikes in Woodbridge, and I would ride out to it, race the TT, then spin home, for a 3.5 hr ride. I used to love the feeling of finishing this Saturday morning session while most were just awakening. I also think this small, once a week TT was critical in my cycling strength development.

There is one big downhill that leads you from Brookfield into Bridgewater on this ride with a big left hand turn, and as I'm riding down this, enjoying the speed, I take the left hand turn to come right up on a deer standing in the middle of the road. I swerve to the right quickly, however, the deer panics and starts running towards my right as well. I'm steering my bike to the right still, at 45 mph, but I'm leaning to the left, into the deer. Yes, he's run right at me and is that close. Maybe it's a she, I didn't have time to check. It quickly switches directions as we brush up against each other and the deer runs off to the left as I remain upright, my heart rate at 160 bpm and I'm not pedaling. I reach the bottom of the hill and cross the bridge and take the left to begin the first really big climb. This one climbs really quick - it starts out at probably an 18% grade. My adrenaline from my brush in with the deer is raging, and I hammer this climb at 450 watts the whole way up.

The rest of the ride, I was still flying on some type of endorphins and had one of the best rides I've had in a really long time. What certainly helped was that is was just the perfect morning to ride. I rolled back up my driveway around 9am, thinking once again that most were just awakening. Lisa, Ryan and kate were watching the first Alps stage of the tour which was really exciting. Then Ryan and I went for a ride. Ryan wanted to ride on the roads, since he's really only ridden the rail trail here. So I took him up to the Bethel Corporate park where there is a 1 mile road around the park. there is one decent hill on the loop with a painted sprint line at the top, and another painted sprint line at the opposite side of the 1 mile loop. We did 5 loops, and Ryan sprinted for the line every time. I'd lead him out for some, and he'd push his bike forward as though he were in a bunch sprint. We then stopped at bethel Bike and he got to check out Greg Pelicans Cervelo P3C which, as Ryan let me know, is an exact replica of Fabian Cancellaras. All this and it was just turning noon!

Not a bad start to a great weekend.

Cheers,

EH

suffering

The dog days are here! It's been in the 90's in CT and very humid. I never really mind this weather until I have a run like I did yesterday.

I had a small window in the afternoon to get in some training. Denny White gave me a call to see if I wanted to get in an open water swim at Pinewood Lake in Trumbull. His friend and doctor owns a house on the private lake that sits directly across from the beach. We usually swim across to the beach and then back (approx. 3000 yds). Neither of us wore wetsuits, which was good considering that at some parts of the swim, the water felt so warm that I think I was actually sweating. The swim felt nice though, and the lake was peaceful. I hit the beach on the other side and climbed onto a small dock to wait for Den. There was nobody at the beach, except for a few guys dressed in plain clothes that were busy setting something up. The parking lot was filled with old 1950 style cars. Denny swims up and informs me that they are using the beach and lake for part of a movie shoot and that they must not be finished yet. He mentions there are some famous actors in it but hasn't a clue who they are. We head back across to the docs house. He was home when we returned and informed us that the two main actors are Leonardo Dicaprio and Kate Winslet. I didn't think, or would never hope, that is was possible to have a Titanic II.

After the swim, I planned on stopping at the rail trail right down the road in Trumbull. I headed out and nobody was in the trail - it's usually quite occupied with walkers and runners. 2 miles in I began getting lightheaded and slowed down my pace. I then struggled through the remaining 6 miles. I should have turned at the 2 mile mark where I was lightheaded but I can be a stubborn fool at times (most times according to my wife). I was sweating like Costanza after the Kung Pow upon finishing this run. I think that I was more calorie depleted than overheated. I think I was actually bonking more than anything. The day before I ran in the heat of the day and felt great. Sometimes though, I'm still depleted from the day previous. Usually I experience one or two of these days per year - these real suffer sessions. The good thing about them is that they somehow physiologically help me acclimate quicker, once recovered.

I was able to weasle my way into the full Timberman 1/2 in August. I have heard great things about this course. If anyone has raced it and has any feedback on the course, I'd appreciate it.

Cheers,

EH

The Tour Begins!

I recovered pretty well from the 40 miler last Sunday. Monday, I was a bit stiff around the tendons of the knees, as expected. I took the day off from training, but was back at it on Tuesday with an easy ride and run. I actually felt pretty good. In fact, the week went well.

We (the family) just returned from a quick overnight trip up to Watch Hill, Rhode Island. The beach we like up there was totally reconfigured by mother nature and some of the storms that occured this winter and spring. There is about 30 less feet of beach now, and after walking about 20 feet into to the ocean, the floor drops off quite drastically. There was a bizarre break also, and the waves were great, but dangerous for youngsters and not so secure swimmers. Between that and the cold water temp, there weren't too many in the ocean. Lot's of surfers though. I went in and played a bit. I'm claiming it a swim, even though I really just went in to pee and then rode a few waves, before freezing enough to high tail out of there. So that makes 4 swims this year - 1 in Tucson, 2 in LP, and 1 in Watch Hill.

We went to Mystic Aquarium today which was nice. The kids were somewhat interested. Ryan couldn't wait to get home to watch the Tour De France Prologue.

I'm, once again, excited about the Tour this year. There are so many pessimists who are frustrated and fed up with the doping and scandals in the Tour, but I'm still a follower. Sure, I realize there is a major problem in professional cycling - one that will be difficult to make go away. It's also very easy to sit back and point fingers and call out the cheaters, not realizing the pressure that these riders are under. Is it right for them to submit and dope? Definitely no - it's not right. But is it an easy yes or no choice for these riders? Again, it's easy for us to say "yes, it is an easy yes or no choice!" not realizing everything that's going on. I am certainly not justifying it - all's that I'm saying is that until you walk a mile in someone elses shoes, don't judge. If they doped, then it's plainly wrong and penalties should be paid. But don't lose focus of what the Tour is all about - the stage race with amazing courses and unbelievable action. Plus, this years Tour should be very clean considering last years spectacle. Plus, watch it with a passionate 6 year old who doesn't yet understand doping and scandals and you'll witness the pure excitement that this race evokes.

I still cannot believe how fast Fabian Cancellara rode the prologue!!! Close to 5 miles covered in just under 8 minutes. That's mind boggling.

Cheers,

EH

40 on my 40th

I’m still waiting.

Yesterday I was 39. I felt great. Today I turned 40. I still feel good. I’m a bit sore at the moment, chafed up pretty badly from my run this morning, but otherwise, the doom and gloom hasn’t arrived yet. From the way most react when they hear you are turning 40, or the way many react when they, themselves, turn 40, the wheels should fall off soon. There’s not many hours left today, so it should happen very soon.

Lisa threw me a great surprise party last night at the Bar in New Haven. I was a bit suspicious this week that something was up. She is the worst at keeping secrets. She did really well though. I was supposed to be under the impression that her and I were going to dinner at Roomba. I thought that maybe she arranged a small get together. She was very quiet and anxious on the drive to New Haven, so I further knew something was going on. After parking, she mentioned that our reservations weren’t for a bit and suggested we go across the street to Bar to get a drink. We walked into the back room and “Surprise!” It was a really nice party that Lisa arranged. She had the room until 10pm only – another party reserved the room. Turns out that they are shooting some of the fourth Indiana Jones movie in New Haven, and they were the ones who reserved the room. We were hoping to see Harrison Ford but no such luck.

It was a late night (for me), but I was up early today since I had planned a long run. The trail from Tait Rd. in Trumbull to Newtown and back is just over 20 miles. I wanted to run it twice today. I usually do a long ride on my birthday and I received a lot of calls this week wishing me Happy Birthday and asking if I was doing my long birthday ride. It made me realize that the long ride was not much of a remembrance any more. I had done so many that I began to take them for granted. So, late Thursday night, while thinking about this, I decided that I would run 40 miles today.

I headed out at 5:55am on the 4.5 mile out and back section towards Newtown, loaded with a full fuel belt and my ipod. I met up with John Brennan at 6:30am at the parking area in Monroe for the trails, where he tagged me with a My Athlete gps tracking unit. I then headed towards Trumbull. As I ran by the single track trail that leads to the tough stair climb in Monroe, I thought “that would be cool if I hit that at the 39 mile mark!” The plan was to keep my heart rate under 130 for the first 30. It was an unbelievable morning – sunny and cool, just beautiful. I felt smooth. A bit sleep deprived, but what else is new. My heart rate was hovering between 124 and 129 and I was clipping along at 7 minute mile pace. In fact, I hit 20 miles in 2 hrs 19 minutes, back at the Monroe parking area. Lisa and the kids came down to the parking area to wish me Happy Birthday, and Baker, Gus, and Laura were there also, ready to keep me company for the second loop. I ditched the fuel belt and my singlet, and took a water bottle in hand and a bottle of coke. We ran the out and back section to Newtown, then Laura jumped on her mountain bike and was a great soigner. Ryan and Kate ran with us for a bit at this point.

I went through 26 miles in 3:09, and still felt smooth. After passing through the 26 mile mark, I though about how I was now in unchartered waters. I had never run further than 26.2 miles at one time before. At the 32 mile mark, my legs were starting to feel it. Cardio-wise, I felt fine. But the lack of training for this didn’t really prepare my joints well for the pounding. I was still holding a pretty solid pace. At the 38 mile mark, Lisa and Big Rocks joined me and we ran together for a mile, before I told Lisa that I was going into the single track to run the stairs. I finished the run today in 4 hours 50 minutes. It felt great. The excitement of doing something I haven’t done was cool.

We walked back to my house and Lisa heated up a ton of left over pizza from Bar last night. My parents, my sister Tonya, my cousin Emily, Baker, Brennan, Gus and Laura hung out with us on the patio for awhile, eating and rehydrating and conversing, while the kids played.

What a great weekend. Life is good!

Cheers,

EH

Solid Week

I miss Lake Placid! It's always great to come home after a brief time away from the family, but the training grounds of Lake Placid are hard to beat. The picture above is where the trail run ended on Thursday of the LP camp.

I came off camp a bit tired and very ravenous. It was hard to stop eating this week! You get used to downing lots of food at these camps, plus the metabolism is in overdrive, trying to make up for your depleted condition.

Even though I was a bit tired, I still managed to get in a few decent rides in the heat and some solid runs. Looks as though I'll be going into Griskus with only my two swims from LP and my one swim from Tucson under me. It is what it is.

One of my PT clients had a TV on yesterday morning and there was much discussion over this being the 10 year anniversary of Princess Diana's death. I can't believe it's been 10 years! Lisa was a huge Princess Di fan. The funeral was being broadcasted all weekend in late August of 97', and Lisa and her frined Amy were intent on not missing a bit of it. We had just bought ou first house in Shelton and were doing some renovating, so they were couped up in one room where we basically had everything we owned. I informed Lisa that I was heading out to ride early Saturday morning with Farber and might not be back until Sunday. She just said "fine" while she studied the TV, as if she didn't even hear me. I took a small backpack with a change of clothes and a credit card and rode from Shelton towards rt. 10 in Hamden to meet up with Farber. We then headed north on rt. 10, stopping in Simsbury for breakfast, then Northhampton, MA for lunch, then we were chased by a pig in Greenfield, MA, before finally rolling into Brattleboro, VT. I called up Lisa and told her I was in VT and she said something like "sure you are honey." Farber and I ate some bad pizza and drank some great beer, before waking up early on Sunday and riding home.

Thus, the VT ride was born. Baker joined us the next year on the ride and hasn't missed one yet since. We have done it every year, and even twice on a few years when I was training for Hawaii. We eventually smartened up and now we ship our change of clothes up to the hotel.

Looks as though we'll be doing it this year in August sometime. Have to keep these annuals going!

Cheers,

EH

LP Wrap Up

I decided to do the long run yesterday morning back in the trails that we started the camp with. This would be beneficial in a number of ways; tired, fatigued legs would incur less damage due to the forgiveness of the trails, the course was beautiful, and going out the way we started, to name a few.

I gave the assignment of running out 1 hr 5 min at least, knowing that the return trip would be a bit quicker and wanting everyone to run at least 2 hrs. We started out of the parking area down the steep hill that we'd have to ascend on the return trip for 1 mile then bared right onto a dirt road then right onto a trail. Everyone was running very gingerly which made me grin, thinking that it was a good solid training camp. Jeff Molson and I hit the Damn in 41 minutes and before starting up the more technical single track, we waited for the next group of Juergens, Steve, and Bruce to come along. Soon, on the single track, it was just myself and Steve. We reached a bridge at the 55 minute mark that had a bunch of signs/arrows giving trail selections - one being Avalanche Lake, 1 mile. We headed that way and soon started the very, very technical climb straight up. In fact, we were not running much at this point yet our heart rates were well up there. We even came across a ladder made out of tree trunks to ascend. The trail became more and more amazing and enjoyable, discovering new things. At 1 hr 14 minutes, we reached Avalanche Lake, and man was it worth the trip. The lake meandered endlessly through two huge cliffs, sitting ontop of this mountain in the middle of nowhere. Steve and I took it in for a moment, and then turned back, not wanting to hold up the others at the parking area. As we left the more technical section and opened our strides more, we found ourselves running at sub 7 pace. Steve mentioned to me, "I never would have imagined I could have done everything that we did during this camp!" That made my camp. I go about putting these camps on so that people could challenge themselves and accomplish more than they maybe realize they were capable of. I try to pull this off with a fun, entertaining twist. I think those that have attended would agree that for the endurance enthusiast, it's a great vacation!

Anyway, I'm jumping ahead. Let me describe Saturday first:

Saturday seemed like race day. There were so many athletes out on the course, it made things quite fun. The weather was low 60's and sunny with quite a bit of wind. In fact, there was more wind than I have ever witnessed up here. The wind seemed like it was in our face all day. Ange took a group out at 6am, and I took another group out at 7am. My group was to ride the course - 112 miles. This is a big feat on it's own, but following what we did on the previous days combined with the competitiveness of tons of "others" on the course would make the challenge that much more interesting. As we climbed out of LP, my intentions were to see where everyone was at. I wanted people to do their own thing today, not letting others dictate their pace. As I rode comfortable the first 7 miles, I turned to realize the only one with me was Bruce cook! I decided that I would pull Bruce through a loop and let everyone else do their thing. Bruce sat tucked in nicely and we rolled through the 56 windy miles in 2 hrs 50 minutes. I waited a bit for the rest of the group to come along, but when they weren't coming, I headed out and figured I'd try and catch Trephina and Roy and see how they were doing. Both of them were riding 86 miles, their longest rides ever by far! I caught them after the downhill and assessed how they were before rolling on. I came out of the out and back and waited at the convenient mart there for the campers to come through. First came Bruce, then a threesome of Jeff, Gus, and Scooter. Next came Ange and Jen who was also having a "firsts" day, then Baker. I decided to head back up 86 myself and get my car and come back and check on everyone. The wind let up a bit and I cruised through the second loop at 2 hrs 39 minutes riding time.

After everyone finished their brick runs, we drove down 86 to the gorge at a beautiful spot on the river and soaked our tired legs in the running water. It felt great! There were some pretty fatigued people at dinner that night and I reminded them of what they had accomplished. Athletes seem to only remember their last workout. Lot's of wine and beer were drunk that night and then we, of course, headed to Ben and Jerry's.

Three camps in the books this year thus far! I have to commend Jeff Molson and Gus "Daisy Dukes" Ellison for attending all three! They are a bit whacked.

I have found the ideal camp locations between Tucson, CT, and LP.

Cheers,

EH

See you tomorrow.

It's been a long day. I'm full of pizza and beer and very tired, so I'll post tomorrow - promise.

Quickly though: 112 miles ridden today on a very windy LP course, followed by brick run. Big day! Felt like the race was today - there were over 200 athletes riding on the Haselton out and back section this morning when I was in there the first time!

Cheers,

EH

Whiteface

This year seems to be the year of the cold camps. Today, we rolled out at 6 am to do the Whiteface Mountain climb in rainy, 50 degree weather. As we headed down rt. 86 towards the 8 mile climb of Whiteface, Sean G. gets his second flat - his first was before we even left the hotel. He tells us all to roll on because we have to make it past the toll booth at the 3 mile mark of the climb before the guard gets there around 8am. Cyclists aren't allowed on the road to the summit of whiteface during the day because of the steep, narrow road. We regroup at the base of the climb and everyone heads up. The rain is constant and I'm soaked before the climb even begins. As we ascend, the temperature drops significantly. I was alone from mile 2 on up and it was cool. Almost spooky as there was no noise at all but the wind and rain and visibility was nil because of the fog. I hit the summit 58 minutes later and couldn't wait for the others to reach it for the group photo - I was too cold. Jeff Juergens rolled in as I began to descend. He was wearing only shorts and a long sleeve jersey and looked comfortable! His new nickname is the polar bear. Next I see Gus, then Steve, then Scooter and Robbie McCewen, then baker then Dangle. Ange took another group out that road to the toll booth, then descended and road the out and back Haselton section of the IM course.



The descent was frigid! I was shaking so bad that I had a hard time applying the brakes. I reached the bottom feeling a bit hypothermic and stopped at the convenient mart for a coffee and then sat in the sag wagon to warm up while we regrouped. The ascent today was much more enjoyable then the descent because of the wet cold conditions. Everyone was frozen and shaking at the bottom and I made the decision to have everyone ride back up 86 instead of the long route which would have been the course in reverse.

I told everyone to take a quick, hot shower and then meet in the front parking lot to run. We all ran between 1 hour 10 minutes and 2 hours. So far, we accomplished quite a bit and it wasn't even noon yet.

At most of the camps, we eat lunch on the road - usually in the form of a powerbar or perpeteum while riding along at 20 mph. Today, we actually had the chance to go to lunch. We went to The Cottage which is a great spot. Baker and I were pretty famished and downed some nachos and chicken and black bean burritos. Everyone had an opportunity to do whatever they wanted for a couple of hours before we met to swim at 3:30pm. Most opted for a nap. Ange discussed some swim tips before we plunged into mirror lake for a 45 min to 1 hr swim. Yes, that's right - I swam again! Two days in a row. The lake was great, as usual. It's actually quite warm right now. There is talk that this may be the first year for a no-wetsuit swim at IMLP. I highly doubt it, but it would be interesting.

Tonight, we had dinner at the Adirondack Steakhouse, minus one of the campers. Sean G. didn't ride this AM because of his flats and wanted to do the climb up Whiteface so he set out alone at 4pm, hoping to begin the summit at 5pm when the tollbooth closed for the day. That is my kind of person!

The rest of us had a great dinner with lots of laughs, and guess what? We hit Ben and Jerry's again on the return trip. As we all walked back to the hotel at 8pm, who comes rolling up but Sean G.! Baker and I joined him just now at a cool restaurant across the street. He ate dinner, we just had some wine.

I have been very impressed by the athletes at this camp. No whining which is my number one rule and hard workers. I am also very impressed by my co-coach in this venture, Angela Forster. I coach Angela and also have assisted her in getting her coaching business rolling and she is doing a phenomenal job. She is a caring, hard working person and her dedication to her athletes and the respect they have for her is terrific. This has been great to see.

Tomorrow, we head out at 7 am to tackle the 112 miles of the LP course followed by a brick run and then, a bit later, a swim, so I need to get some sleep now.

Cheers,

EH

Day 1 in the books

Today is officially the first day of camp. We started by meeting at 6:45am for the short drive over to the trails that I scouted out earlier in the week. It was in the low 60's and sunny - perfect running weather. We ran 90 minutes on the trails. The turnaround of the run was at a damn on a lake that used Mt. Marcy, the highest peak in New York, as it's backdrop. I took a bunch of pictures, so hopefully Alan will post them soon! There are a ton of athletes that come up here to LP to train and they never leave the IM course. Don't get me wrong, it's great to learn the course, but this area has so much more to offer. This is something that I wanted to show everyone attending this camp. They all seemed to really love the run today.

Everyone ran really well also. We finished the run at a beautiful lake where we soaked our legs while downing some warm bagels. Soulshine Bakery here in LP makes a graham cracker bagel that is amazing.

At 11am, we headed out on our bikes to ride a loop of teh course (56 miles). Since most here are racing LP in a month, I wanted to break down each section of the course and discuss how to tactfully race it. On the stretch along route 9, I gathered everyone up and had them paceline, taking short pulls at the front. Most did well, but Jen Collister earned the days mvp for hanging tough when the line was broken down to only four.

The weather was ideal - cloud cover and light wind and low 70's. On the ride back up 86 towards LP, a thunderstorm rolled through and gave everyone a soaking, only to let up and have the sun breakthrough for the finish. We were going to ride more, but it was getting late and I still had a nutrition discussion to do and then a swim.

The swim was in mirror lake. I doubled my 2007 swim mileage today! My second swim thus far of 2007. I used my new Nineteen wetsuit which is by far, the best wetsuit I have ever swam in. Here's why: it felt very buoyant, especially in the legs which was great, and the shoulders were way flexible, but the main reason is the comfort. The neck is very wide and low and never ever chafed. Plus, I swam somewhat decent today! Swimming in Mirror Lake certainly helps.

We just returned from a fun dinner at Nicolas followed by Ben and Jerry's once again. I talked at dinner how I noticed today that many athletes here would benefit the most from working on their limiters/weaknesses, yet most continue to play to their strengths. It was evident that many are still fearfull of their weaknesses. Overcoming this would make the most significant impact on the success of these athletes.

Tomorrow I'll update on the characters attending this camp. We have a fun group here. Tomorrow is also another big day, so time to crash.

Cheers,

EH

Wednesday

Molson, Ange, Baker and I headed over to a trail near Mount Marcy to start the day with a trail run that took about 1 hour and 10 minutes. It was a great way to begin a busy day here in LP. I had a lot of last minute things to do before the Camp officially began, which was tonight at 4:30pm.

Later in the morning, Jeff, Baker and I headed out to ride a loop of the course. Ange waited for Chris Nook, one of the campers who flew in from Cleveland. We startred on the long, gradual 9 mile climb out of town, and I put in my headphones and settled into a strong pace. I wanted to get in a good solid ride today. The legs felt really strong as I made my way to the big downhill. I hit 51 on the downhill and then had a nice tailwind along the river on rt.9. This is where I received my first flat of todays ride. I changed it quickly and headed onwards, only to flat again, about 8 mile later. Same wheel (rear). I changed this one and again, got back into my rythm. I went through the 25 mile mark of the course in exactly 1 hour of riding time, when I suffered a third flat! I sat on the side of the road, having flashbacks of Hawaii 2002. Baker rolled up an gave me a spare and a CO2. I inspected the rim very closely as well as the tire, but couldn't figure out what was causing the punctures. I did use some plastic to reinforce some rough areas on the rim, changed the flat once again, and headed off. I ran into Angela and Chris on the out and back section and rode withthem for a bit and then attacked the headwind on 86 all the way back into town. I then high-tailed it to the bike shop and bought some new rim tape, a carbon-kevlar tire, and some new tubes. I should be good to go now, and hopefully got rid of all my flats for the rest of this camp.

The weather cooled off considerably since yesterday. We all met in front of the hotel at 4:30pm and did a short run around mirror lake. We regrouped at the beach and had a short discussion including introductions, camp expectations, blah, blah, blah... We have a cool group here. Everyone seems fun and ready to train hard, yet more importantly, have a good time.

After a nice dinner at The Boat House, we walked to Ben and Jerry's - you have to start camp out on the right note! On the walk over to B and J's, I ran into my wifes cousin who was up here over night on a business trip. Small world.

Tomorrow, the fun really begins, starting with a 90 min trail run! I'll keep you posted but until then, bye for now!

Cheers,

EH

Good Times

The 30 mile drive from rt. 87 to the town of Lake Placid through Keene never gets old. It's become a nostalgic 1/2 hour, bringing back great memories from the annual trips up here since 2000.

The first time I ever came to Lake Placid was in June of 2000. I was racing the IM the following month, and dragged my dad up here with me to do some reconnaissance training. That was the beginning of my love affair with this place. The thing that I loved most on that trip was that no matter which direction you looked, the views were stunning. We came up on Friday and I rode the 112 mile course on Saturday by myself, then ran 13 miles (1 loop) of the run course. This trip set me up well for a solid race the following month.

Every year since, I have come back up to watch my athletes race as well as get in some great training. In 2001, I remember coming up here. I was preparing for Hawaii (which I skipped because of 9/11). I never had spectated an IM before and thought I'd really hate it - sitting on the sidelines while others participated. I soon learned that spectating here is loads of fun. I got to train with tons of others that were here to spectate the day before. In fact, I remember riding one loop of the bike in a peloton that had upwards of 60 cyclists, including Karen Smyers and Ken Glah. This ride was a blast. I attacked at the top of the downhill and for the rest of the loop, the pace was crazy. Then I got to go out for a great dinner and plenty of beers the night before the race while all the nervous athletes tried to sleep.

I arrived up here around 12:30pm today. After checking in to the hotel, Jeff Molson and I made a short drive to meet Ed Sparkowski, Mike Morrow and Charlie Cowan for a trail run. The camp officially begins tomorrow evening, but I came up early to scout out some routes. Ed has a house up here and he and Mike were nice enough to drive up for the day to show me this trail run! Charlie is a local stud here. The guy is 55 years old and holds the record for 50+ here on the IM course.

The run was great - just what I was looking for. I want the athletes to experience not just the IM course, but lots of the beautiful surrounding area while attending this camp. Right as we finished up, the skies opened. It rained only for 15 minutes or so and then the sun came back out.

Jeff and I went out for some Mexican food to complete the day.

It's always great to be back up here and I'm really excited about this camp! Stay tuned.

Cheers,

EH

Packing for camp is a bitch!

My car is full! You'd think I was leaving town - for good. I have a dufflebag that has clothes for all occasions (I have witnessed every type of weather at these camps!). If I were checking this at an airport, I'd pay a shit load of overweight fees. I have enough hammer schwagg products to open up a retail nutrition store (thanks Steve Born from Hammer!). Tools - you never know who's bike is going to break - and trust me, someones will. Plus, it's not a camp if I don't get to use my pipe cutters. Wetsuit - I have to swim sooner than later and what better place than mirror lake?! Thanks Nineteen Wetsuits for the beeeautiful suit - I can't wait to try it out and hope it compensates for the non-swimming this year. Three huge Hammer coolers for keeping the campers hydrated. Extra tubes, pumps, co2's, ... My laptop (I will try to update pictures and blogs while there - promise!) Lot's o' shoes: running shoes - 3 pairs, cycling shoes - 3 pairs (it may rain!), casual shoes - 2 pairs. Finally, I have my two bikes. Be sure that tomorrow morning, I will be backing out of my garage very, very, very slowly!

I can't wait to get up to LP tomorrow! Even the drive up is very cool. I do it only once per year and once you get off the throughway, the next 30 minutes to LP is to cool. It's going to be a great week.

Cheers,

EH

Been Awhile...

I haven't blogged in a bit and was harrassed today by one of my good friends and athlete that I coach.

Let's see, what's happened since I last posted? I recovered quickly from that small cold I had. Things have been very busy. The Lake Placid Camp is next week, and I'm really looking forward to that. Business has been very busy - both personal training and coaching. That's always a good thing. We just renovated our kitchen here, and it came out great, although, we had the headaches you always encounter when doing a home improvement. Typical frustrating things like workers not showing or leaving early, project managers throwing their bull shit at you, which is nauseating. The job lasted two weeks longer than expected, but the end result came out great. Since I'm the cook in this house, I'm actually very excited about this new kitchen.

I haven't raced a triathlon yet this year. I set up a busy schedule, and soon realized that this year may be more of an off year. I'll certainly enter a few races, but only when it's convienient considering the other priorities taking place. This is actually fine. I'm in this sport for the long haul and I know that little racing this year will mean big goals next year. I'd like to race soon though. I've been self evaluating quite a bit lately. Maybe the fact that I age up in two weeks is part of this. I age up into a new decade as well. So I've been really focusing during my training and recovery to see if I'm on that downhill slide. The thing is, I feel quite fast. Faster than ever? I don't know. I have been doing some tests that show I'm not slipping. My recovery may not be as good as it was years ago, but my key sessions show that I'm not losing any speed or strength.

I really need to begin swimming. I have swam only once thus far in 2007. That was for a measly 1500 yds in Arizona. I think it's time. Next week at my LP camp, I promise to swim each day in mirror lake.

My first race may be the Griskus sprint race here in CT. This is the best sprint race in the nation. It may be my biased opinion but I think I'd find many that would agree. The competition is always great as well. I will race this this year whether I swim between now and then or not!

I have a lot of athletes that are racing, so I'm living vicariously through them. Many raced recently at the Mooseman 1/2 in NH and at Eagleman. Many PR's were set and everyone did well, so I'm very happy about that.

I am going to try and post at least every other day on here. Hopefully I can think of some entertaining things often. But next week, I'll definitely be posting from LP. This camp is going to be great - we have a terrific group and the agenda! Well, I don't want to scare the attendees in case they may be reading this.

Download this: Incubus, Dig, and Keane, Is it any wonder.

Cheers,

EH

Rolling Forward

I came off the CT camp mentally drained. There was a lot going on besides just the camp. I took Monday and Tuesday fully off, feeling like I was on the edge. Turns out I was as I'm nursing my second cold of the year. It's my own fault - I slept maybe 4 or 5 hours per night at camp, and then last week getting back into things and having a busy work week, I slept only 4 or 5 hrs per night each night. This is my killer - lack of sleep. OK, it wasn't just work I must confess - Lisa kept me up late one night watching the 2 hr finales of 24 and Lost.

Anyway, before I got sick, I went out on Wednesday to ride a benchmark ride. This is a ride that I typically do once per month to see where I'm at. I look at my time, avg HR, and avg watts for the 40 mile course that goes up through Bethel and around the reservoir in Redding, down into Wilto and back. My best time ever on this course was 1 hour 48 minutes. This course is a tough one. It doesn't have any killer climbs, but it rolls constantly and has enough to really deaden your avg speed. Back to last Wednesday. I set out not intending to do a test, but instead to do a few longer intervals. I headed up Hattertown road and could feel the camp fatigue in my legs, but I was still holding a high wattage and a good pace. I decided to try and hold this for 1 hr at this HR which works out to be my mid C zone. Well, one hour in, I felt great and kept going. I hit the 40 mle finish point in 1 hour 43 minutes! My avg watts were way up especially considering my lower HR.

I was thinking about why I had such a good ride. This year, I committed to keeping the ball rolling forward with momentum. It's a simple analogy, but think about the beginning of the season when you first begin your serious training towards your A goal. This is when you first start the ball rolling. The goal is to build momentum, so as that when you approach your A race, you are peaking. The problem is that in the past, I'd do things to either slow the ball down, or stop it all together. Things like training too hard through illness, training too hard on consecutive days, not absorbing my training, not paying attention to my nutrition, ... You get the picture. This year, thus far, I've been getting smarter. I've taken more days off, yet feel stronger in general. I'm not a slave to my exercise log. I still aim for a very consistent routine, but I'm very honest with myself when assessing whether I need extra rest or not.

Of course, I am writing this as I sit here full of congestion. Remember, I mentioned I was getting smarter. "Getting" being the key word. I've always said I am a much better coach than I am an athlete.

Cheers,

EH