Greetings, all readers. Nice to see so many of you turning the visitor calculator on our blog. Scooter sport is growing more than gold price these days.
Years ago I considered trying Kick Tour de France - the obvious goal for a long distance kick tourer and TdF fan - but discarded it as impossible. And now I learned that this passionate (some would use expression 'crazy') Ultima Team is going for it! I HAD to participate. It's not an easy task - the most ambitious scooter sport attempt ever - and we are super motivated to prepare for it.
Near 200 km a day, mountains, for 3 weeks, is a lot. We are slower than bike peloton, and since we are going to spend more time on the road and less resting, we also need to take it easier. Which means still more time on the road. I'd like to count 10 hours for work, 2 hours for eating, 1 hour for other delays (Flat tire, getting lost, damn headwind, not finding your socks, support group went to a bar...) and 12 hours for sleeping. But since there just ain't 25 hours in a day plus we need to pee, shit and wash ourselves daily, we have to skip some nice dreams. (Washing ourselves and overall hygieny will be something not to skip on the Tour. Brush your teeth boys!).
Strong days are fun but we are riding together, not sorting out a winner. For surviving the Tour, weak days are decisive, so better prepare for those. My guess is some of us will kick through but some won't. Catch a flu and you're easily out. Diarrhea or injury: out. Everyone will have some bad days but we also have a team that can help to get over them. If all goes well we take care of our own bodies and fellow teammates so that there won't be too many bad days in a row for anyone. It's a tough desicion to leave someone behind for the stage (Don't know if 'Trhni si nohou' is a proper expression here?) Anyway, it's best to train our weak areas to make the team consistent, moving at the same pace.
My personal weaknesses, top three:
1) Stomach. It will get upset if I have to push too hard. Good overall condition (so that you're not pushing on the limits) plus long non-stop trainings will help with this. Up to next summer I will base my training on lots of cross country running, which is a great overall workout and some adventure racing, which enables really long training sessions. Both put my stomach to a tough test.
2) Achilles tendons. They don't always like dozens of kilometers of uphill. Starting a month ago, I've done one leg hops every day. Going to bus, do 20. Back from work, do 30 etc. Same for the next year and a half, except for hard kicking days and recoveries after them. I'm careful listening to my body and doing rather too little than too much. Consistency is important, not the intensity.
3) Ball of the foot. Close relation with achilles tendons, but tends to hurt after long flat road days. The same hops will help, as will substantial increase in kicked kilometers after this spring. For both reasons 2 and 3 I'll bring a second pair of softer kick shoes with higher heel to France. Having your heel close to the ground and no flex between foot and asphalt saves lots of energy, but I likely have to trade off some energy to save my feet.
Weaknesses for the whole team, top one:
1) Rainy headwind days. Unwise to fight back. Better to be humble. Plastic bags for the hands, vaseline for the groin, mount a rear mudguard, toil, accept that we'll use 14 hours instead of 10. Lots of kicking is best preparation for this. There's rough 300 000 kicks on the tour, it's not that much. (By the way, there's 1 800 000 seconds in three weeks -> one kick every 5 seconds)
With good training we can start the tour relaxed to enjoy all the sunny days, most beautiful roads in France - if not whole Europe, and get thrilled by the mountain descents. Maybe even enjoy french cuisine. By the tradition, the 2013 Tour should climb the Pyrenees first, and Alps towards the end of the three weeks. I have a dream - that on the final mountain day, we'll face Alpe d'Huez. And there will be kickers from many countries to ride it with us, and tifosi lining up the road. AND we are still going strong enough to make it a race. (Bonus would be Dirk with Genepi on the finishline. Hello's to Dirk)
Alpo
bob dymond | 02.01. 2012 18:49
So great to hear from you again, Alpo! I was thinking that the knee injury and married life would end your career. Yeah, right! Can one assume that you will be the Directeur Sportif for the Tour team? Do you have a support crew selected? One more potential problem: The excitement of the TDF and the urging of the spectators may force the team to exceed their limits. There will be temptation to amaze the crowd. You all will need to stay disciplined and not get too excited. Again, I say it's great to see you back on the road. My memory of '06 WC, the kayaking in the harbor and riding in your father's old Lada is a great treasure of mine. Wishing you many happy miles! Hyvin potku!