L'Etape Du California

From Wikipedia; "L'Étape du Tour (French for 'stage of the Tour') is an organised mass participation cyclosportive event that allows amateur cyclists to race over the same route as a Tour de France stage."

Well in this case it is Stage 7 of the Tour of California, the big one!!
http://www.letapeducalifornia.com/

Anybody in for this??

here is the TOC skinny;
http://www.amgentourofcalifornia.com/Route/stages/stage7.html


I will be riding it with a group from work. Should be a good one!! Pre-riding tomorrow........

 

I've signed up for it. Will be riding it with Dirtmistress and others. Rode a part of the climb from Claremont to top of Baldy and the switchbacks and last climb are painful. Just can't imagine adding 70miles before you hit that section.

 

well since you are signed up guess you won't have to imagine it!

 

I'm tempted but I think I will want a triple ring up front! Those switchbacks are going to be murder.

 

Breathless Agony has more distance and more elevation. Better bring a bungee with you if you're following Liz. We plan on riding the same route after BA.

 

I signed up for it, but am probably way in over my head... I've done a couple rides on GMR/GRR, including 60 of the 75 mile route (everything but the climb from Claremon to Mt. Baldy Village and the climb from the Village to the Ski Lifts...in other words, the hardest parts...).

I'm planning on driving up to Baldy Village first thing Saturday morning, riding to the Ski Lifts on fresh legs, then descending down to the base of Mt. Baldy and then climbing back up to the Village and taking another run at the ski lifts. That ride, along with the 60/75 mile ride I've done should give me some idea what I'm in store for, but we'll see.

The May 7th ride will be the most elevation I've done by about 2,000-2,500 feet, so I'm planning on tapering next week leading up to May 7th. I've done a lot of mountain biking, steep climbs, etc. but I'm worried I don't have enough long rides in my legs. Maybe I should do some long, easy (not too much elevation) rides leading up to May 7th.

 

You won't gain any real fitness 2 weeks before an event. I say eat right, ride slow and take a few days off before the big one.

 

Binh kicks my ass.

 

I am in and will hang with Liz and Binh until they drop me (early on Mt. Baldy Road!). Rode GMR, GRR up to the lifts yesterday. It will be very tough with the rest of the miles on my legs.

 

I rode from Rancho Cucamonga up to Baldy Village a couple days ago. I was slow but made it fine using a standard crank set up front. I plan on trying the switchbacks later this week.
How many of you are riding compact cranks?

 

Riding up the climb the day of the race...should be fun getting down from the top.

 

Did a pre ride of the full route Friday with three others. Will be looking for a 11x28 for sure, running a 11x25 was a bit rough by the end. Two different gps units had just over 12000 feet with corrections enabled. We went through more food than expected. The route slowly pummels you with increasing intensity and delivers a knockout blow at the end just in case you are still feeling feisty. Should be a good day!!

 

I have a 39x25 and am hoping I can get my mechanic over to put on a 27.

 

I'm in, expecting it to be brutal. Hadn't thought of re-gearing, might now though!

 

A lot of folks went with a 30, but most can do it albeit slowly on a 26 to 28. I did it a few times on a 25 but I put a 27 on for BA. Deja Vu's description is perfect.

 

Really, no real fitness can be gained in two weeks even with daily riding. Not being argumentative here just surprised to hear this! I would think some muscle conditioning could occur . Anyone want to weigh in on this i am curious .

 

This is with a Compact crankset though, correct? I've got a triple chainring (52/42/30) with an 11-25 in the back, I believe.

That sounds nasty...I hope those numbers are way off...I signed up for 10,000 and even that's going to be a stretch. My GPS wasn't working the day I did 60 of the 75 miles (everything but the first and last climbs), so I don't know exactly how much that was but that alone was a tough day. I had a little bit more in me, but not another 15 miles and 5,000 feet...(and definitely not another 7,000 feet...)

 

>> I am running a standard 53/39 up front. I don't think you'll have any prob's w/ a triple up front.

>> was surprised too with the elevation, expect a tough day one way or the other, here are my stats : http://connect.garmin.com/activity/80999469

 

I ride a compact and put a 27 on the back. I did BA with the 25 with no trouble but I needed the 27 at the top after 30 miles. It will be a painful day...
Not too happy to hear about 12,000 feet!

 

I agree with it to a certain extent--you definitely can't cram for something like this, but I disagree that I should not train during the two weeks prior to the event or that doing so will not provide any benefit.

I believe it's important to continue training and that I will benefit from that training. The last week most definitely should be a taper/recovery week though.

If you look, for instance, at some of the Geoladders posts of some of the best riders in the Counting Coup and Vision Quest, their toughest training rides were two weeks before the event--that's when they hit their peak. They seemed to do okay--one of them was Deja Vu/PaulV--6th place...not too shabby... (he did Motorway 2X on March 18th--that was his biggest ride by far in elevation and on the dirt going back to early December).

Having said that, I think I'm probably screwed and will be lucky to complete the L'Etape ride within the cutoff time (4pm at Baldy Village)...just not enough miles in my legs and not enough consistency in training and elevation.

But I haven't given up. I'm going to continue to train as best as I can through this weekend, then back off. I will definitely try to eat right, go slow and rest up prior to Sat May 7th--not sure I will take 3 whole days off completely, but I will definitely taper down my mileage and intensity. I'm afraid 3 days might be too long of a break--anyone else have an opinion on that?