Raid Pyrenean
Martin Newstead

It didn't take Terry long to persuade me to do the Raid Pyrenean. In November 2002 we were talking and he suggested we attempt this ride before we were 40, that will be summer 2005 so we decided on 2003 for the Raid.

The tour was booked with Pyrenean Pursuits in January and we booked our flights to Carcasonne where the pick up was. The first week in August was the date of the trip. We now had a whole summer of training to do, to get fit enough for five days, 720km and some serious mountains.

Training for me when well, I was feeling good. Got my #2 bike prepared with a triple chainset, new brakes and go faster stripes. Spent a great weekend in Germany with Terry in April which kick started my training, every weekend after I was out in the Pennines putting in 6 hour rides regardless of the weather.

Thursday: August came and we arrived in Carcasonne, met Terry at the airport and was driven to the cycle lodge my the man himself Nick Flanaghan who is one half of Pyrenean Pursuits and was to be our guide and backup for the raid. At the lodge we met Jon an American and were soon joined by Dave and Bill. Kevin was to join us the following day make the group up to 6.

We all got on so well, pretty soon we were joking along like old friends, it looked like being a great trip from a social point of view, doubtless aided by the free beer at the lodge for raiders. Nicks cooking deserves a mention here, the food in great and accompanied by a bottom bottle of wine.

Friday: The five of us went for a ride to Guzet Neige over a couple of cols (La Trappe, Saronne). Man it was hot, I was climbing really slowly and was soon dropped, as expected by the others. The didn't seem to mind, they got longer rests than me. Guzet Neige was a bit disappointing for me, nothing really there in the summer but a good 50 odd mile ride though. I discovered that my chainset had got damaged on the plane and realised that a replacement was necessary.

Saturday: Kevin and Dave rode with me to St Girons to get my bike fixed, Max the shop owner supplied and fitted a used Coda one which is probably better than the cheap Ofmega that was on before ! We rode over the Col de Cagadeget which was a very narrow road in a very picturesque unspoilt valley. Near the top we stopped in some shade, it was very hot on the road with melting tarmac, two men were building a rather ugly metal fence, they kindly supplied cold water ! Phew, thanks for that. One of the men got his wife to hold the fence while he showed us to the tap ! Turning the last corner and the view opened out, wow, fantastic, possibly one of the best French views I've seen. The descent was hairy, narrow, twisty, gravely and melting road !

Sunday: We transferred to Hendaye to the start of the Raid. Five of us splashed around in the Atlantic and drank beer on the promenade, it was a holiday after all.

Monday: The Raid started. The pace was faster than I was really comfortable with, usually things even out so I was not too worried. The road was quite nice, up the coast then turned in land. A brief excursion into Spain at Dancharria then the first Col. Not very high but hot enough with a crash helmet on. Couple more of these little fellows then a lunch stop after about 30 miles. 30 miles ? this was going to be a 120 mile or so day, we'd better get a shift on. Sitting in the shade and the sweat was pouring out of me. Restarted and things went from bad to worse. It felt so much hotter, Kevins bike computer has a thermometer, it read 52 degrees Celcius ! My water was almost hot, it had no cooling effect and I was starting to wonder what would happen later in the day after another few hours like this. I had drank so much water in an attempt to cool down that I was feeling nauseous with it.

We were well behind schedule, it was going to be a long, hard day. I caught up with Terry and Kevin when they stopped under a tree. I was in a bad way, Kevin said he was not too clever too. Nick passed us in the van going the other way, obviously looking for us, we restarted, he overtook us and stopped a little way up the road. I decided to abandon my Raid attempt and get a lift. Kevin decide to also so Terry not wanting to ride alone joined us. I didn't think I'd complete the day, too hot, I was riding pretty slowly due to the heat and Nick was trying to support us and the other who were and hour or so ahead of us. I thought I'd have to pack at some point during this first day, may as well be sooner rather than later when I might fall off the bike due to heat exhaustion, dehydration or sunstroke.

We caught up to the others, Dave was going OK, Jon and Bill seemed to be suffering but these guys are very experienced and would not give up. As it turned out they took and hour or so off and slept until the day cooled off a little. They rolled in at 10pm lights on, much to Nicks relief ! For the three of us abandons there was now no pressure to complete the Raid, we could take a lift whenever we pleased.

Tuesday: The real mountains started today, I really hoped I could complete the entire route, the Cols d'Aubisque, Soulor and Tourmalet. The first two cols were OK-ish, tough, but I stayed within my limits, I was starting to get hot though. At the foot of the descent Terry just rode away from us, he wanted to complete the day more than me. Kevin and I rode up the valley towards Luz St Saveur and the foot of the Tourmalet. It was the middle of the day and very, very hot. It totally drained me and I struggled and struggled. The soles of my feet were hurting as they went soft with the perspiration ! At Luz I decided to quit for the day, Had it been cooler I would have continued but I didn't fancy 12 miles uphill. I rode to within 2.5 miles of the summit in the van, waited for Dave then cycled to the summit. It was cooler higher up and cloudy but the last 2.5miles still hurt. The descent was awesome, dodging the cows and cars, I cycled up this way in 1994 so I was not too disappointed at not completing this Col.

Wednesday: Straight off the bat we had the Col D'Aspin then the Col de Peyresourde. I planned on climbing off after the descent of the second of these. I did OK on the Aspin, slow and steady. My stomach was hurting for the first hour but once it eased up I was happier. As expected the morning heated up and I struggled, I was climbing at about 4.5 miles per hour. In training I was going up comparable hills at twice this speed, OK maybe not as long but as steep if not steeper. On the Peyresourde I discovered that a second spoke had broken, the first went at the very start, I guess the bike took quite a ding on the plane. Ryanair were OK when I took it to Germany in April, maybe with the summer being much busier the baggage handlers were not so careful. I shall have to think very carefully before I fly with a bike again. This is the main reason I do not bring my best bike on these trips. I dare not do the descent of the Peyresourde with two spokes missing from my back wheel though I suspect the second broke as I started the descent of the Tourmalet yesterday. Thus I climbed off, didn't even have time for any thing to eat or a photo at the summit ! Later in the day we passed the Fabio Casartelli memorial in the Col de Portet d'Aspet. I laid my old Motorola jersey on it.

We stayed at the Cycle Lodge that night so I paid another visit to Max in St Girons to get my spokes fixed, Kevin waited with me and the others passed on their final run in. At 7pm my bike as done, the thermometer in the town said 37.5 degrees C ! It took us one hour to ride the 18 miles back to the lodge, I really wanted to show that it was the heat slowing me down and I didn't want to be late for dinner. I turned myself inside out that evening to make the time.

Thursday: The Col de Porte was fairly easy, still cool at 8:15 am, my stomach hurt for the first hour but like yesterday once it eased I felt better. With eating late, not sleeping due to the heat and getting exhausted every day my body was just not coping well ! The riding alone would be a challenge without feeling crap all the time. I had to fix a puncture before we set off so the others were always ahead of us. Had the schedule not been so strict I think I could have completed this day, the valley was a fast main road and the Col de Puymorens was long but not very steep, it was very cool on that climb too. However I climbed off on the road to Ax-Les-Thermes mainly so that I didn't lag too far behind, I was losing motivation a too with always struggling.

The final descent into Villefranche was awesome, wish I'd been on my bike. We had a few beers that night, I promised to be flying for the final 100km to the coast tomorrow.

Friday: Pretty much downhill all the way with a few stiff climbs at the end. We did fly, I took second or third place in the line, did my turn at the front and rode them off my wheel. I tried to get a break going with Dave but he just couldn't maintain 24 mph after his days in the mountains ! Jon couldn't go fast enough but he got the last laugh as we took a wrong turn in our haste and he ambled on ! The group broke apart on the hills on the coast, the day was heating up so Bill, Kevin and I just took our time to Cerbere. We had plenty of time and took it easy. A few beers, great lunch and a splash in the Mediterranean Sea finished the day. Great dinner, more beer finished the evening.

The trip was a great one despite not completing the Raid. We had a lot of fun, the cycling that I did was spectacular, challenging and often too much. The group was a good one and the organisation was sufficient, not over organised and sometimes maybe could have been more flexible. What would I do differently, I don't really know. The rules of the Raid demand long days, but squeezing them into 8:00 to 18:00 days turned out to be too rigid for me. No one could have controlled the weather, the riding was tough, sleeping was almost impossible because of it.

I still think I could have completed the Raid Pyrenean in the regulation 100 hours had I been able to ride at my own schedule. I would have started very early in the morning and sheltered in the shade during the day, putting a few more hours in in the evening. It would mean that accommodation would have to be sorted out on the phone on the day, maybe my grasp of the language isn't yet good enough for this. This is what Steve the Australian whom we met on the Peyresourde was doing. He completed the Raid in 4.5 days, well done.

If I attempt it again it will be unsupported and in May when hopefully it will be cooler. August 2003 recorded record temperatures in France with many more deaths than usual, wonder how many were cyclists ?