Saturday, June 11, 2011

One month left

Profile for the 2011 Etape Acte 1. Stage 19 of the 2011 Tour de France.
It is coming down to crunch time. In exactly one month, I will be tackling the Etape du Tour. July 11. It's almost surreal that after months of anticipation and planning, this trip is finally about to happen. I have to say, despite the anxiety I feel about whether I'll be able to complete the route, I'm definitely excited about the chance to go ride in the Alps. Having lived primarily in the NYC area for most of my life, I've never really been treated to climbing in the true mountains... so that's going to be exciting.

Here are some of the things I've taken care of in the past couple of weeks/months for this trip:
  • Reserved my trip through Custom Getaways. These guys are "official" Etape du Tour operators and they have several packages for the trip. They've been extremely helpful and pleasant to work with.
  • Finalized my itinerary:
    • Flight into Geneva, Switzerland
    • One night in Lyon, France
    • Two nights in Valfréjus
    • One night at Alpe d'Huez
    • Two nights in Geneva
    • Flight back to NYC from Geneva
  • Bought my plane tickets to Geneva
  • All hotels reserved
  • Bought a Pika Packworks travel case for my bike
  • Bike fit at Signature Cycles.
  • 12 weeks of base, one build cycle
  • Training log since February 2011
    • Mileage: 2,005mi (3,226km)
    • Total climbing: 88,166ft (26,873m)
    • Rides: 66 rides
  • Weight change from 158lbs (71.7kg) to 152lbs (68.9kg)

Here are some things that remain to be done in the next month (suggestions welcome!):
  • Finish one last build cycle in my training... and then just hope for the best
  • Figure out how to get from Geneva to Lyon - presumably by train but will have to figure out logistics
  • Learn at least a few key phrases in French:
    • Where is the bathroom?
    • Do you speak English?
    • Can you pull me up the Col du Galibier
  • Good places to visit in either Lyon or Geneva.
    • Lyon is supposedly the gastronomic capital of Europe... so a good restaurant.
    • I want to visit Aiguille du Midi.
Aiguille du Midi

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1 comment:

  1. TranggyMarch 25, 2012 at 12:07 PM

    Hi Cho,

    I just found your blog, and it's amazing to learn about the Etape. I was running up and down the Alps last summer with Alpine races and hiking, and those mountains are addictive. I hope you had a chance to visit Aguille du Midi--it was dizzying to be up there, and one couldn't help but feel like that song on top of the world.

    So I have a question for you: how did you know that you are ready for the Etape? I just recently got into biking after starting out as a runner for several years. I wanted to get into triathlon, but after several rides became completely addicted to bikes, gears, the wind, and the road. I'm training now with C-SIG at the New York Cycling Club, and will sign up for the Montauk ride this summer. It looks like you have trained for many thousands miles before you decided to do the Etape--did you feel that you were adequately prepared? Because of work/ school schedule, I am likely aiming for summer 2013, just 16 months from now. Any thought is greatly appreciated!

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