My next continental sportive of the season is Spain's Quebrantahuesos in the Pyrenees. I registered for this when I didn't get a place in the Maratona dles Dolomites draw, but having since acquired a Maratona place from the nice people at Cycling Weekly, Quebrantahuesos should form the perfect training for the Maratona the following weekend, as well as being a lot of fun and a substantial challenge in its own right.
Quebrantahuesos was, unsually, on a Saturday, allowing the rest of the weekend to chill out in both Spain and France. This trip was a first in several ways - first time cycling in Spain, a new mountain range to me, and the first trip I'd taken my (non-cycling) girlfriend on: she was keen to watch but I was hoping she wouldn't get bored as there wasn't really much to watch - after we'd disappeared over the mountain to France I wouldn't reappear until early afternoon. We flew out with Ryanair to Pau very early Friday morning, picked up a hire car and leisurely drove over the Pyrenees to Spain, checking out the route in the sunshine. We drove up the 28km gentle climb to Col du Pourtalet - a beautiful drive, the road snakes up between cliffs and tunnels and a river, passing thermal baths (a bit too hot for that), before opening out onto sheep pastures a few kilometres before the summit on the France-Spain border.
With stunning views over Spain, we descended past a couple of bright blue reservoirs to Sabiñànigo where I picked up my race number (and generous goodie bag - nice jersey, even a free book in Spanish) before heading West 15km to our hotel in Jaca, a pleasant small town with a castle and remains of a Roman fort, filled to the brim on Friday with cyclists. It is evidently a much nicer place to stay than Sabiñànigo which would be nothing without the car repair industry. I have never felt as unprepared for a big sportive as then - I was absolutely shattered from only 3 hours sleep to catch the early flight, and had picked up a bit of a cold or something in the week, with painful tonsils and generally feeling crap.
Well, after a good night's sleep I awoke on a beautiful Saturday morning feeling much better and looking forward to the ride. I drove to a few kms outside Sabiñànigo as I thought parking would be a problem, but it turned out it would have been easy to park much closer on the road with everyone else. I was starting near the back of the 9,000 field as I valued a good sleep over an early start. The participants were overwhelmingly Spanish, there being few Britons in evidence but I did spot a rider in Edwardes bike shop kit right by me at the start, who turned out to be Giles from my club. Small world.
The 1st 40km was very fast along the flat to Jaca and then North up the valley towards Somport. The climb starts very gently and you imperceptibly gain height until it gets steeper with a couple of hairpins in the last couple of kms. I got into a good climbing rhythm and overtook maybe a thousand riders - advantage of starting far back - and didn't get overtaken at
all. It was a great feeling to have ascended the Pyrenees so comfortably and I was feeling good about what lay ahead. Pourtalet was the other big mountain to cross back from France into Spain, and the smaller Col de Marie Blanque in France surely wasn't going to present any problems. The descent from Somport was very fast and gave us a good long rest - some 30km of downhill.By the time we reached the foot of Col de Marie Blanque it had heated up quite a lot - 34C in the shade, except there wasn't any shade on the first half of the climb. It's a narrow lane between trees and beside a river, but the sun was beating down with no respite. At 84kg and 6'2" my high body-mass to surface area ratio means I am prone to overheating compared to leaner climbers, as I did on Passo Giao in last year's Maratona. I was making sure to drink plenty of water and cool my head down by pouring water on it, but I was still getting mighty hot. I had dismissed Marie Blanque as a lesser climb but this for me was the hardest part of the ride - not only because of the heat but because of its steepness.
Helpful signs every kilometre let the cyclist know the distance and elevation to the summit and also the average gradient over the next km. There was a km averaging 12% and one 14%, with stretches in excess of that. I was doubting I would need my compact chainset for this ride, but by God did I need it for this. Fortunately about half way up, a cold mountain stream came crashing down into a stone basin that riders were filling their bidons from. I plunged my head into it and soaked myself completely - without that I would have really suffered. The crowds near the top shouted plenty of encouragement which was great. The views from the top were stunning. There was a feed station just down from MB but I stopped only for a few seconds to take on water. Other than SIS Go bars (which I swear by) and bananas I didn't eat much. I do find I have to eat less than when I started riding sportives a year ago when I was always at risk of the bonk. But in this heat I was taking a lot of water as dehydration threatened to affect my performance without being noticeably thirsty.
After the descent there was the only flat bit in the 200km before starting the 28km ascent of Pourtalet. Its average gradient is small, but that is one long climb! I decided to pace myself and not go too hard too early, until the last few kms when I tried to go a bit harder and overtake some riders. I felt I was on the verge of cramp, and I was getting an intense pain in the outside of my feet. I tried loosening the shoe straps but moving my feet around in the shoes made it more painful. The pain actually became unbearable, worse than the pain of simply climbing hard, and I had to stop and take my shoes off for a minute. A Spanish spectator asked me if I was ok, did I need anything? Yes, new feet please, I replied to her amusement. After that brief rest I pressed on keen to make up the time, and only in the last 3km or so did my heart rate rise substantially over 160. Before that it was just too hard to go any faster. Or could I have pushed harder without blowing up or getting cramp? It's difficult to tell.
The best bit of the whole ride was cresting the Col de Pourtalet - I was amazed at the crowds of spectators cheering us on, lining the road and creating a narrow channel to ride through, just like in the Tour de France! I love the way the French spectators shout "Allez allez" and as you near Spain it turns to "Venga venga".
A great fast descent from Pourtalet, but halfway down the road to Sabiñànigo they sent us left round a reservoir and up a steep little lane to Hoz de Jaca, the last climb of the day.
The climb itself wasn't too bad at all and I rode in a group that had formed doing a decent pace, but my feet were incredibly painful. It was just as painful not pedalling as pedalling, and I didn't want to stop so I kept going. Unfortunately it made what would have been a fun fast gentle downhill to the finish a lot less pleasant, agony in fact, and I was counting down the minutes to stopping.
I finished in 7:14, an average of 28kph over the 205km and 3800m climbing, earning me a gold certificate. A great atmosphere at the finish, everyone was very friendly, and there was well organised secure bike storage to leave your vehicle while you quenched your thirst with unlimited free San Miguel and pasta. No need for tokens or money, just help yourself. Fantastic. There weren't many British people, a few Dutch, but mainly Spanish, but I don't mind chatting to people in Spanish so that was cool. I limited myself to just the one beer - what a shame - but after just that I felt a bit light-headed and had to ride back along the highway to the car. I rode with a couple of Basque riders, one of whom had done a very fast time, the other had blown up ("Did you the see fireworks and explosions on Pourtalet? That was me").
Relaxing back in Jaca, we drank beer and feasted on authentic local tapas - wonderful. The next day we took a leisurely drive back over the Pyrenees taking in the views, and spent Sunday night in a delightful B&B near Pau, which I recommend - good restaurants, before flying home on Monday morning.
Check out my other photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/99263236@N00/sets/72157606061153131/
