Nice Ironman

Sunday morning, 6 am, and it's an early start to watch the competitors hit the water for this year's Nice Ironman. It is a big event; roads are closed and a kilometer of the Promenade is screened off for the transition area.

Three thousand transition kits - and the last few competitors hurrying to the start line.

6.30, and they're off.

The first competitor out of the water and on to the bike.

Once I saw the first few competitors away on the bike it was time for a leisurely breakfast and change into my own bike gear. Back to the event area and the back markers were leaving the water and still streaming out on the bike. I rode parallel with them to get past the main mass of spectators and then ducked across onto the bike course and joined in - a great opportunity to ride in a spectacular area on closed roads.

Got chatting with an Irish competitor who seemed glad of the company (everyone else looked pretty serious). It was only his second triathlon and first Ironman, and it was about to be his first marathon. Good luck to him! 

Of course it couldn't last. After about 40 km a Marshall on a motor bike asked where my race number was and it was time to get off the course. Shook hands with the Irish guy and wished him well then took an alternative route to the top of the Col du Vence and arrived minutes before the race leader (who had ridden about 120 km by that time).

The first rider to reach the turn around point at the top of the Col du Vence.

After watching a few riders go through it was back on the bike and a quick descent to Nice in time to catch the leaders again as they completed the ride and transitioned into the run.

A good day out; a fun 86 km and 1,200 metres climb.

Nice Ironman bike course

Next Sunday is the annual Nice Ironman event. I had thought maybe to gatecrash the bike leg and enjoy the closed roads - but it seemed safer to lift the route from their website and do an early reconnaissance.

The course starts on the Promenade and the first 60 km is almost continuous climbing, topping out on the Col de l'Ecre at 1,120 m. Depending on how you classify it, the Col is either a category 4 followed by a category 1 or an HC (hors categorie) viewed in its entirety. Either way it's hard work - 20.2 km and around 940 m climb.

I broke the climb at a cafe in Gourdon. One of the drawbacks of early starts is that sometimes even the bakers haven't finished their work and I had to sit around for 10 minutes until the chocolate croissants came out of the oven. I also asked for a ham sandwich to tide me over for the rest of the ride, and took delivery a crusty baguette full of jambon. Stuffing the foot-long truncheon into the pocket of my jersey I left on the second part of the climb.

Part-way up I was aware of the hot sun, the sweat tricking down my back and passed the time trying to estimate the doubling frequency of bacteria on a dried ham sandwich in a warm moist environment. The verdict wasn't encouraging so I stopped at the top for a photo and ate half of it.

From the top there is some pleasant flat riding through alpine meadows, culminating in a brilliant 10 km descent down the top section of the Gorge de Loup to the village of Greolieres, where there is a convenient drinking fountain to top up the bidon.

Ate a bit more of the, by now even more suspect, jambon sandwich and threw the rest away. From Greolieres the road continues to descend until a category 3 climb takes you back up to the 1,000 m contour at the village of Coursegoules. Passing through the village the Garmin ticked over to 100 km and a total of 1,820 m climb.

Looking back from the Coursegoules climb. The village of Greolieres is just visible on the far right. To the left is the village of Cipriere, visited on a ride last week.

I skipped the detour out and back to the Col de Vence and enjoyed the big down for 25 km to the village of Carros. Rather than drop to the busy valley floor as on last week's ride in this area I contoured around to St Jeannet, experimented with a new descent route to Cagnes and got lost in the middle of this busy resort - not what you want when you've been in the saddle for six hours.

155 km, 2,225 m climb. I'm only glad I didn't have to get off the bike and run four x 10 km laps of the Nice Promenade in the afternoon sun, like the Ironmen will next Sunday.

On the following day the legs still felt good on a ride up Cols d'Eze and Madone. Some minor digestive turmoil, though...

France: recovery ride + lunch

It usually takes about an hour to ride from our apartment in Nice to the top of the Col d'Eze. That's about the same time that it would take Jamie Oliver to prepare two 30 minute meals - or Luis Suarez to put two goals past a hapless England defence. How do they do it? The guy sitting next to me watching the game in the bar last night asked who I thought would win. Listen, I said, I've been watching England disappoint at the World Cup for 48 years since they last won it in 1966. Why should tonight be any different? Sure enough, we emulated the Spanish by exiting the tournament at the group stage, but without the consolation the Spanish had of winning both the previous World Cup and European Championship.

Anyway, back to the Col d'Eze. Still taking it easy after a hard few days so spun up in an easy gear. Arrived at La Turbie too early for the drinking fountain to be switched on so had a coffee at the cafe over the road and answered a few work emails from back in Australia on the iPhone. I could get to like these recovery rides.

Coffee over and it was back on the bike on the quiet road to Peille with the vague intent of doing the Madone from one direction or the other, or maybe of dropping down to Escarene. In the event, once I got past Peille the knee became painful, I imagined a sore throat, realised the bidon was nearly empty due to the fountain not being operational in La Turbie, reminded myself that this was supposed to be a recovery ride - and turned around and went home.

56 km, 882 metres climb, 2 hours 30.

Last ride for a couple of days as visiting daughter in Juan-les-Pins this weekend.

Wine (and food)

Was browsing through the Monoprix wine section yesterday, searching for a bargain. Found a bottle of Prieure-Les-Tours, Graves, from the excellent 2009 vintage at just under 10 Euros. Not bad. Decent tannins with a casserole of Toulouse sausages but lacking depth and finishing short.

I came away to Nice on this visit with a shopping list of local restaurants to try, one of which was Le Flaveur. Common sense says you are more likely to have a good experience at a relatively new restaurant that is just beginning to make waves than at an established 'name', living on its reputation - and so it proved. Le Flaveur received its first Michelin star last year. The 52 Euro lunch menu only offered three courses, but we also received three amuse bouches comprising nine separate tastes. An additional 30 Euros covered matching wines with each of the courses. Helen, who is not given to hyperbole, thought it the best meal she had ever had.

Seven cheeses to finish, with a glass of Hudelot-Noellat Burgundy.

France: how far can you go?

It is always interesting to discover one's limits, and something of a skill to recognize when you've hit them. I discovered mine most recently (this is not an isolated occurrence) at about 4 PM yesterday half-way up the Col de la Madone.

I'm trying to prepare for a six day event in which the distance travelled and metres climbed each day are what I would call a big day out. One day, OK, but six in succession? So the focus of my preparation is to put several hard days back to back. Yesterday was the fifth day in a row, and an afternoon ride up what has become something of a trade route up the Cols of Eze and Madone. It started well enough up Col d'Eze but despite hydrating and refueling well, about halfway up the Madone someone turned the lights out: weak legs, couldn't get the heart rate up past 150, wanted to be somewhere else etc.

So I continued to the top, turned around and headed back to Nice to watch Australia's magnificent ("brave" is too condescending a word) performance against Holland.

The risk of over-training comes with the territory of all endurance sports. Quite apart from reduced physical performance I can also recognize the symptoms of poor quality sleep, mild stomach upset and general irritability (moi?). The remedy of course is to take it easy until normal service resumes - so it's an easy cruise along the Promenade this afternoon before watching England and Uraguay go at each other this evening. Then we'll see how Friday turns out.

For the record, distance covered and metres climbed over the last five days = 378 km and 6,000 metres; distance to cover and metres to climb in the six days of Le Tour de Tour = 473 km and 11,000 metres. So I'm just about on target for distance and - oh - only 5,000 metres adrift for the climb :).

France: Col du Vence and late for lunch

The two closest cols to Nice are the Col d'Eze, to the east, and the Col du Vence to the west. If you want a decent ride you tend to go up one or the other, and they are chalk and cheese. Col d'Eze is 'only' 500 metres, much of it through suburbia and always in sight of the coastal strip and its developments. Col du Vence on the other hand is a more demanding 950 metres and once out of the town of Vence at 400 metres you are into a dry limestone valley with sparse alpine vegetation. And the top of the Col du Vence opens the door to a hinterland of mountain grazing pastures, old villages and quiet roads. So, looking for a long ride, I left the apartment at 6.30 am heading for the Col du Vence.

Part-way up the climb I came across Michel 'Mike' Francois, a retired physics teacher getting back into form from a fractured femur after being struck by a car. We were both heading for the cliff top village of Gourdon, so rode together.

Monsieur Mike Francois on the Col du Vence

Once over the top of the col there is a spectacular traverse of some gorge country, past the village of Coursegoules, up a slight rise and then the beginning of the big downhill. I had planned to approach Gourdon via a descent into the Gorge de Loup (Wolf Gorge) followed by a big climb up to the village. Mike suggested a better route around the head of the gorge via the village of Cipriere. This added 10km to the distance but avoided the worst of the climb - so we did it. Coffee at Gourdon and exchange of contact details via paper napkins, and the next big downhill to the Vence - Grasse road about halfway up the corniche.

Mike lives just a couple of minutes away from the lovely town of St Paul de Vence so was home and hosed. I, on the other hand, had another hour and 25 km to cover back to Nice and arrived at 12.30, late for lunch and somewhat in disgrace.

Six hours, 123 km and 1,800 metres climb.

France: Some company on Cols d'Eze and Madone + Menton / La Turbie

Sunday is bike riding day in France - every man and his wife is out, on road, mountain and cross bikes, trundling along the Promenade in Nice or up in the hills in Eze and La Turbie.

I took an early start up the Col d'Eze and tucked in behind a couple of riders just over the top. They turned out to be friendly with just enough English to match my just-enough-French, so we agreed to ride together.

Eric and Alain at the much-visited drinking fountain in La Turbie. You only need a single bidon in this area as every village has a fountain - probably the sole source of drinking water in earlier years.

We were quite well matched for pace and sorted out the pecking order on the Madone, where Eric had me by 100 metres, with Alain a minute or so back. They had a plan and I was happy to go along for the ride: the big 1,000 metre descent to Menton, along the sea front to Roquebrune and then back up to La Turbie.

Eric thinks he is a car on the road and rides in the middle of the lane. Strangely, no one seemed to mind much and we only had the occasional gentle warning toot to pull over. Not like a recent ride in Tasmania where our Sunday morning peloton was subjected to a sustained horn blast from some idiot in a 4x4 who clearly objected to a 20 second delay in his pressing schedule. In fact, on the only occasion in France where I have had a car come past worryingly close and fast, it had an Australia sticker on the back window. Sad!

We exchanged contact details at La Turbie and I PB'd the descent to Eze and back to Nice for a bus ride to Ville-Franche and late Sunday lunch with Helen.

73 km, 1,500 metres climb.

France: Bas Corniche and Monaco

Yesterday

Back in France again and set off yesterday at 7.30 on a Friday morning along the Bas Corniche towards Monaco, thinking the early hour might beat the worst of the traffic. Big mistake: the first three km was a succession of roadworks and traffic hold-ups, all in a sweltering heat and humidity. After passing Ville-Franche I took a right onto Cap Ferrat and did a quiet lap of mansion land to regather my thoughts. The Cap is always quiet, as Elton and his buddies are rarely in residence and it makes for a leafy, fairly level circuit of about 4 km.

Decided to bail out and, back on the coastal strip, took a left at the first opportunity and climbed up to the Moyenne Corniche at Eze and then a right to the Grande Corniche at La Turbie. It was noticeably cooler at 500 metres so I continued climbing on the Paille road, heading for the Col de la Madone. I've ridden the Col twice from the more famous Menton side. This was a first from the opposite approach and a nice ride it was too. After four introductory hairpins ("lassettes") it settled into a long rising traverse of the mountain at about 6%, with several tunnels through rocky ridges. Most of it is single track, with a cliff on the right and a low barrier separating you from the drop to the left.

The village of Paille from the northern approach to the Col de la Madone.

From the Col it was downhill all the way back to Nice. I find these long downhills vaguely dissatisfying. It's really pleasant swooping through the corners, and then you think how much faster and more exciting it would be if you eased off the brakes a bit. And then you think you're on holiday, it's not a race, how much it would hurt if you miscalculated, how inconvenient the hospital stay would be, how the expensive new Assos gear might have to be replaced - and you squeeze on the brakes just a bit harder.

Four hours, 72 km and 1,192m climb. http://www.strava.com/activities/152965152   

Today

The less said the better. 6.15 start on a Saturday morning, so a traffic-free ride along the Bas Corniche to Monaco. What a dump Monaco is (with apologies to all the professional cyclists who live there and the Grand Prix etc.). It's a jumble of apartment blocks, steep one-way roads, death-defying tunnels that you think might just irreversibly dump you on a motorway - in short, it's not a great place to ride when your only navigational aid is the tiny screen of a Garmin 810.

The intent was to find the back road up the hill to La Turbie. After quite a bit of up and down and back and forwards I did this, get several hundred metres up the road and found a barrier across: closed for something or other on Saturday. So back down through all the rubbish to a, by now, quite busy coastal road and back to Nice.

Went shopping with Helen in the Marche au Fleurs (or more accurately the Marche au Legumes) and bought the ingredients for this evening's meal - it's not difficult to live a healthy lifestyle here.

Two hours, 50 km and around 500 metres (Strava reckons 1,901 metres but unlikely).

 http://www.strava.com/activities/153257462

England: bridges, castles and lobster

Off the bike for a week and delighted to stay with my sister and brother-in-law and catch up with parents, nieces and assorted rellies. Newcastle is where I originated (or 'was born' as they say). It is a city that was famous for soccer, ship building, brewing, armaments, rope making, coal and glass - but now is recognized for its nightlife and magnificent architecture. The other big thing about Newcastle is the bridges. 

There are five bridges, the most recognized of which, the Tyne Bridge, is a one third scale version of the Sydney harbour bridge and was constructed to prove that the design was feasible. And the castles. Northumberland has a two thousand year history of invasion by the Vikings from Scandinavia and the Scots from, well, Scotland. To repel this motley crew a series of castles was constructed along the Northumberland coast. They still survive, in various states of disrepair. We walked to Dunstanburgh Castle one fine day.

Dunstanburgh sits on an exposed sill of dolerite - the Whin Sill. There are only three places on the planet where this formation has a significant exposure: Northumberland (where I lived as a child), the Central Plateau of Tasmania (where I live now, more or less) and, I believe, South Africa.

This is the dolerite headland beneath Dunstanburgh Castle. On returning from the walk we called in at the fishing village of Craster for lunch and checked out the local fish shop. Out of curiosity I enquired about the price of lobster, it being a luxury food in the form of crayfish in Tasmania. Turned out they had so many they were selling them at 2.50 pounds each - say $5. We bought four.

Unfortunately the 2011 Chavy Puligny Montrachet to accompany the lobster was considerably less of a bargain but made for a memorable meal.

Back to France tomorrow and some serious bike time required to work it off.

France: Col d'Eze and La Grave de Paille

After a week in France acclimatising after the long flight from Australia it was time for a last ride before a week off the bike visiting parents and family in the UK. It was a leisurely start at 11am and, being a weekday with busy traffic, I chose another trip up the Col d'Eze and the quieter roads of the Grande Corniche. 

There are three corniche roads connecting Nice with Monaco, about 25 km to the east along the precipitous coastline. All three have great views and which one you choose to drive or ride depends on the time of day and your objective. The Bas Corniche follows the coast and is usually choked with traffic and not especially pleasant to ride at any time later than 8 am. The Moyenne Corniche is a mid-level road that has less tourist traffic but a lot of fast commercial and local traffic. The Grande Corniche is the highest road, has the best views and is the quietest - the natural choice. But access requires a 540m climb to the Col d'Eze, another good reason to take that route.

Col d'Eze (again)

I pushed a bit harder to the Col on this ride than on the previous trip a few days ago and was rewarded with a time nearly two minutes faster at an average heart rate only 1 bpm higher. I'ld like to think I'm getting fitter at a faster rate than anticipated but it's more likely to be recovery from jet lag.

Followed the same route as previously through La Turbie and Paille towards the Col de la Madone then took a left on a minor road towards Escarene and La Grave de Paille - a village 500 metres below the other Paille which I have wanted to visit for a while, largely due to its macabre name. The Escarene road offered 28 km of almost traffic-free solitude through the gorges and wooded hillsides of the Alpes-Midi. The road itself is like one of those single lane roads in the Scottish Highlands with passing places and grass growing in the middle.

Eventually arrived at the grave of Paille and spent a pleasant 30 minutes cranking up the 7.2%, 6 km back to Paille to complete the loop, receiving a "bravo" from an old fellow at the top. On a previous occasion I once rode into the middle of Paille for a coffee and discovered what it was like to be invisible. This little village dates from the 11th century and the access roads are wide enough for foot and bike traffic, but not for cars. I took my coffee at a table in the tiny village square with bike propped up against a tree. Village life continued around me with no one making eye contact or seeming to be aware that I was there. Weird!

83 km, 1,350m, https://www.strava.com/activities/149369777

The village of Peille from the approach road, which accesses the village through a series of tunnels.

France: Col de Vence

Bennie suggested that the way to train for the Tour de Tour was to start putting hard days back to back - so it was a second 6am start in as many days this morning, this time with a clear objective - the Col de Vence.

They are quite fastidious about public sector hygiene in Nice. Every morning at 5.30 am a water truck hoses down the Promenade while a boat cruises along the shore and hoses down all the unfortunates sleeping rough on the beach. They are quite adept at this, avoiding the clothes piles of the early morning swimmers but are giving the snoopers a good spray. This is all well and good, except that the route to Vence starts along the Promenade so you begin with a wet backside. From sea level there is a gradual climb to St Jeannet and then a traverse along the excellent mid-level road that links the towns of Vence and Grasse.

Vence provides an opportunity to top up the bidon at the fountain and scoff the only banana. There won't be any more food until the hilltop village of Coursegoules. A sharp turn right from the fountain and you are straight into a 10% gradient climbing out of the town. Houses give way to open country and the gradient settles down to a more reasonable 7% for the remaining 9 km and 700 metres of ascent. The terrain is a karst limestone, giving an open landscape of heath, bare rock and many Spring flowers. Every kilometer there is a sign with the remaining distance and ascent, plus the average gradient of the next kilometer (thanks!).

You top out at 950 metres and, unlike the Col de la Madone, no one has pinched the sign yet.

From the col the road drops a little through wild mountain scenery and then climbs to the 11th C village of Coursegoules. Fortunately the 20th C grocer had some bananas so I re-stocked, donned the arm warmers and enjoyed a 25 km downhill through the back blocks into the valley of the Var and so back to Nice.

93 km, 1,300 m, https://www.strava.com/activities/148521270

Vino

...so when the nice young woman at the Italian food and wine fair said they were all out of the 2012 Dolcetto, made a trip back to her car to check for spare bottles and, instead, offered a tasting of the 2007 Barbera - what could I do? I bought a bottle, of course. A touch more expensive at 15E, rather than the 12E of the Dolcetto but a relative bargain nonetheless. Rich and spicy like the Dolcetto, but with smoother tannins from the extra years of bottle age. 

France: Col d'Eze and Col de la Madone

Collected the bike from La Roue Libre, the local bike shop, yesterday. Had to pay an extra 10E for an additional month of storage but worth it as the bike was delivered with tyres pumped up and in good order. Purchased a set of arm warmers ('manchette'), gloves, a couple of bidons and bidon holders - and ready for action. Set the alarm for a 6am start today (Sunday) to make the most of the quiet weekend traffic conditions.

Col d'Eze

Not quite sure where to go for a first ride so picked a route I did once last year - a circuit of La Turbie and the village of Peille, taking in a couple of famous cols. Col d'Eze is often ridden as a time trial in the last stage of Paris - Nice. It's not a big col, only around 500 metres, but rises straight out of Nice and maintains an average gradient of 6% over 10 km, with patches of 8 - 10%. The first two thirds look inland but then you cross a saddle and the last third hangs precipitously over the Mediterranean until it tops out at the village of Eze. A couple of years ago Ritchie Porte won the stage in a touch under 20 minutes. He does it in 24 minutes in training and it took me 34 - but 1.5 faster than last year's best with perhaps a bit to spare.

Arrived in La Turbie too early for the fountain to be switched on so could not replenish the bidon. Took the Peille road and then the tiny minor road, pock marked with stone-fall and pot holes, around the back of the mountain to St Agnes and picked up the Madone road from Menton.

Col de la Madone

This used to be the famous test piece of he-who-shall-not-be-named - so famous that Trek even named a bike after it. If he could do it in a certain time he reckoned he was in Tour de France winning form. It's a lovely climb to 950 metres, where you find the famous sign has long since been pinched and there is only a small wooden walker's marker to denote the place.

Dropped down the back side onto the Peille road again and started to meet lots of riders now that the hour was more respectable. Downhill all the way back to La Turbie, Eze and Nice.

71km and 1,700 m, https://www.strava.com/activities/147966718

The village of St Agnes, perched above Menton on the Madone road.

Vino

Nice is hosting an Italian food and wine fair on the Promenade des Anglais this week, so we took a wander to see what we could see. Piedmont (think truffles and Barolo) is just over the border from the Alpes Maritime. We chatted with a few producers from the region and bought a mild sheeps' milk cheese, a bottle of Prosecco and a very nice 2012 Dolcetto. Dolcetto might be described as the poor man's Nebbiolo but this one was rich and spicy enough to accompany garlic sausages. Unfortunately other people must have had the same opinion as they had sold out when we returned for more on the following day.