8 days and counting...

Less than 8 days until Letape.  Last Saturday was my last 6 hour ride in my training program.  With that last big ride under my belt, Ive started to get a sense of relief, joy, etc., for the first time. And it couldn't have come at a better time as I've been feeling tapped out physically.  A friend who joined me for part of Saturday's ride asked me how I feel.  "Really fit, but not fresh at all." I know I'm as fit as I've ever been as a cyclist, but, I'm sore and feel like the tank is empty, nearly everyday.  Thankfully, the recovery portion of this training program has started this week.  (Well, I go from a 12 hour week, to a 9 hour week.  That's improvement, right? At least next week, the final week, is only 3 hours.) With 2 people in my office gone on vacation and having to pick up the load while they are away, the lighter training schedule couldn't have come at a better time. 

Now i need to get the gear and nutrition for the trip dialed.  Sports International, the tour company providing logistics for this event, just forwarded the final detailed itinerary.  One of the things I was looking forward to was the fact that SI is providing it's own pit stops along the route.  This is typically great since it's reserved for only those traveling in their party, thus giving the ability to avoid the water and food stops provided by the race organization for the masses. (I think there are 4,000 people riding this event.) Unfortunately for me, these "private" pitstops won't accommodate my request to bring along the fuel I like to use.  I mistakenly thought that I could have them bring to each scheduled stops the fuel I wanted (Hammer Nutrition Products) thus giving me the ability to carry less food with me along the ride. As it turns out, the Powerbar company is handling these pitstops for them and won't carry another company's products. Go figure. So if I want to use the products I've been using, I'll need to carry all of the product for the full 208 kilometer ride. 

With a goal of about 250 calories per hour here's what I think I will carry:Hammer Heed to start with in both water bottles

6 Hammer Fizz tablets

6 xsmall baggies each with 1 endurolyte, 1 race cap, 1 ammonia buffer

2 flasks each with 4 scoops of Perpetuem (made into a thick paste)

3 Cliff Shot Bloc packages

6 Hammer Gels

On the gear side of things, here's what I think I will bring along for the ride:

Cervelo R3 bike

2 CO2 canisters (I'll have to buy these in France since you can't fly with these)

Mini toolkit

2 water bottles

2 spare tubes

2 tire levers

Cash

Credit card

Cellphone

Camera? (would love to take photos but maybe just use phone)

Garmin Edge 800

Clothing:

Castelli race top (think I will wear white but maybe red)

Castelli "Garmin/Cervelo" body paint bib shorts

Swiftwick "Mellow Johnnys" socks

Specialized body geometry fingerless gloves (and set of full fingered in case of bad weather)

Mellow Johnnys arm warmers (just in case)

Sidi 6.6 shoes

Belgium Butt Budder (for those special body areas)

Nubutte chamois butter (yea, I mix this and belgium for a nice combo)

Oakley Jawbone sunglasses

Cateye Whisper Plus helmet

Be back soon....