A winter weekend to Warwick

Smartness not my best quality
After a month in Europe I flew back into Brisbane on Thursday morning just 48 hours before we rolled out for our 2-day training weekend to Warwick. Let me say this - I do not advise riding over 400 kilometres with jetlag well and truly setting in and having completed an Ironman just five days prior! But I also have to say; that for me to miss out on the opportunity to ride with a peloton of 50 fine Smiddy riders was never going to happen. I would have been miserable knowing you the team was out there on the road and I wasn't there to share in the good times and hard times, that only a Smiddy peloton can create!

Smiddy memories
It is now 5am Monday morning and I have been tossing and turning since 3am. My body clock woke me, as I still have not adjusted to the Australian time zone after a month in Europe. The memories of the Pyrenees Smiddy Challenge followed by more riding in the French Alps, watching the Tour de France and finishing an Ironman in Switzerland were all swept aside as new memories of this past weekend have taken over. Many good times were had over our two days riding 430 kilometres and climbing close to 5000 metres with my fellow Smiddy riders. I am so grateful for the opportunity to ride with such good people and create more amazing Smiddy memories.

Riders and road crew are what make Smiddy special
The one underlying factor to Smiddy's success in raising more than $3 million dollars over the past seven years is that we attract people - riders and road crew - that care enough to do something good for others that are suffering. I see it out there when we are riding; Smiddy riders putting their own ambitions on hold to help out a fellow rider, a push here, and words of encouragement there, always ready to lend a helping hand. To ride in a Smiddy peloton is not easy; everyone needs to think of the other riders for it all to work. For 50 riders of various different talents to ride together in one group, yet very rarely separating, let me assure you, is a very rare occurrence in group riding. And that is what makes the Smiddy peloton special. Individualism is thrown out the door in favour of team spirit and I thank you all for showing that admirable quality.

Blokes like Scotty
The idea of this training weekend means that riders now know where their fitness stands for the eight day Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge in September. From my perspective the majority could finish the ride if it were to start tomorrow. A few riders still have five weeks to put the finishing touches to their training. Most importantly all riders, even those who struggled or needed van time at various stages (including myself), showed that incredible Smiddy spirit to soldier on regardless, not complain, suck it up and get out there again and again, until the job was done.

Scott Fraser sums up the whole Smiddy experience for me. Here is a bloke who desperately wants to do the Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge. 12 months ago he was 80kg over his ideal weight and made the decision to get his life back on track. Scotty has since lost 40kg, joined the Smiddy peloton and rides as much of each training day as he physically can. He accepts the call whenever Rowan and I ask him to sit out until gentler terrain is reached, never complains, thinks of the group, never wanting to hold us up, is so unselfish I am learning from him. Through Scott's involvement he brings out that Smiddy spirit that we like to foster in all riders. It is that Smiddy spirit of wanting to help a fellow rider that you know is putting it on the line, suffering like a dog, but needs that helping hand that only a fellow Smiddy rider can offer. Thank you Scotty and thank you to all the other riders who put up their hand over the past two days to help Scott and other riders at various stages.  

Our special road crew
Not only are these weekends valuable to the riders but also great training for our energetic road crew. A lot of things from the Warwick weekend help us fine tune for the Challenge in September. I would like to say thank you to the members of our road crew: Bob Cage, Sammi Jo So, Wybrand De Toit, Chris Geeves, Kevin Enchelmaier, Jo Frampton, Dawn Burbidge, Libby Kay, Jeff Mitchell and Jess Ebelt. Without these amazing individuals our Smiddy events and training days would not be possible. The sacrifice they show of giving up their free time is just as valuable a tool in our quest to raise important funds for cancer research. A huge heartfelt thank you guys for what you did for the riders over those two wonderful hard days of riding.

Thinking of you Bellinda
I must acknowledge and pass on our thoughts to Bellinda Grimwade, who came off the bike on Sunday on the ride back to Brisbane. Bellinda had clocked up more than 300 kilometres over the two days before a heavy fall saw her taken to Gatton hospital via ambulance. The peloton were worried for her but relieved to find out that she was okay, just a little bruised and battered. Jess collected Bellinda from the hospital and they both were at the finish for the Smiddy huddle at UQ Aquatic Centre. Bellinda posted on Facebook this morning that her spirit is not broken and promised she was going to work harder than ever over the next month to get herself right for the big event in September. Great work Bellinda and we are glad you are okay!

Police support Smiddy
The support of Queensland Police is unbelievable! A huge thank you to the officers from Warwick, Clifton, Allora, Gatton and Laidley districts that provided safe escort for more than 160 kilometres on Sunday. Every time we hold a training or actual Smiddy event they come out to take care of the peloton. We are treated like royalty out there and the difference in motorist’s attitude towards us is simply amazing when you have police presence at your side. We are indeed grateful for their support and they have amassed many Smiddy fans over the seven years we have been cycling through their region.

The weekend was a wonderful success and I know most of the riders will agree a valuable training tool in assessing their present fitness. More importantly it provided the opportunity for the riders to get to know each other under conditions that they will face come the first day of September. I am happy to say that the team spirit is definitely alive and kicking in this group. I know we are in for another very special year on the Bottlemart Smiddy Challenge. This is all because we have again, been fortunate, to attract great people that care. To the riders and road crew I say to you; thank you for showing humility and for your understanding towards your fellow riders that needed help over the weekend.

I can’t wait to hang with you all in September! Until then take care, train hard, after a little rest this week, and I will see you all very soon.

Sharky

SHARKY'S EUROPEAN ADVENTURES-ZURICH IRONMAN

When last I blogged Katrina and I were still in France and heading for a day of the Tour de France. Well a week has passed since that day and I am pleased to be able to tell you that Katrina has achieved her goal of completing her very first Ironman in Zurich Switzerland. More on that later. As I write this I am back in Singapore after a horrible 13 hour flight from London. Both Katrina and I, our ankles and feet have blown up twice their original size due to swelling. I suspect from traveling just 2 days after completing Ironman. But before I get to what was one very wet day out in the beautiful city and countryside of Zurich, a brief run down of our trip up to this point in time.

Tour de France
Our one week training camp in the Pyrenees was timed perfectly so that we got to spend a day with Phil Anderson and to climb the infamous Alp d'Huez. The very next day was a mountainous day for the tour riders. If you get a chance to watch just one stage of the tour then it has to be a day in the mountains. Our plan was to drive as close as possible to the Col du Grand Colombier, ditch the car and ride the bikes a little way up the 1501 metre 18km climb, watch the riders whoosh past, ride back to the car and get the hell out of there to beat the mad past race tour traffic. The major climbs are closed to vehicular traffic up to eight hours prior to the tour traveling through, but only two hours prior for bicycles. We got there a good four hours beforehand and started to climb with the other thousands of riders making there way to their chosen perfect viewing spot. Only problem was Katrina and I had not just 'Tour Fever', but 'Summit Fever as well'. When you have already climbed over 36 Cols in the past two weeks what harm will one more do? Let me remind you just four days later we were both fronting up for Ironman Switzerland, held over the insane distances of 3.8km swim, 180km bike and just for laughs, finishing with a 42.2km marathon run! There would be a price to pay but we were willing to pay it!

The Summit beckons
So here we are many thousands of kilometres away from Australia and on that climb I run into six people I knew from Australia! Which was cool in the sense that I got to see them in the small world scenario, but even cooler as I stopped and chatted to each person, which got me a little breather each time. The Grand Colombier is no easy climb, with an average gradient of 8% but with pitches as steep as 17%. There is one section that is two kilometres straight at 15% and I thought if I was feeling strong and was riding in the Tour de France then that section would be were I would attack. Thankfully I wasn't in the tour, and the only attacking I did was when I got to the top after two hours of climbing and attacked into a 'Grand Colombier cheese baguette'! Katrina said to me at the start of the climb; "Sharky I am not riding all the way to the top!" "No worries Kat," I replied, "I will ride up and ride back down to where-ever you stop." I said this with a smile on my face because I knew there was no way she would stop climbing. Sure enough she crested the top not that long after I had completed the climb and the team was back together again.

The Tour excitement
"Kat what is your level of excitement now from 1 to 10?" I had been asking this question all day. The drive to where we parked the car was 5. Once on the bikes it was at 7. Going up the climb and receiving support and cheers from the thousands upon thousands of bored spectators, who had been waiting for the tour for many long hours, or for the camper vans a full day or two, it was now at 9. Then when the publicity caravan came through it was at 9 and a half. Now the actual tour was approaching, you could hear and see the helicopters, the commissarie's vehicle appeared, the lead cars, the police and press motorbikes and finally the first riders. I turned to Kat and said; "excitement level now?" Kat was jumping out of her cycling shoes when she enthusiastically yelled above the noise of the chopper, "Sharky it is at 13!" I have watched the tour live many times before and I knew what she was feeling for her first live viewing. There is nothing like it! Well it took a good 15 minutes for all the riders to come through and the wall to wall spectators had to get back down the mountain. This for me is where the real fun begins. The crazy 18km descent was spent weaving in and out of fellow bike riders, passing the barely moving traffic, that would take hours just to get off the mountain, trying to take in the incredible Alpine scenery without going over the edge of the many drop offs, and finally getting to the bottom safely and getting to watch Thomas Voekler win the days stage, along with a thousand others, crowded around the big screen erected at the village just prior to the climb. Kat descended somewhat more cautiously -and might I add- a whole lot more sensibly, to arrive 10 minutes later, just in time to see Tommy, as she affectionately calls him, to win the race. That was our day at the tour. We got back to the car, drove back to our hotel, stayed one last night in France and the next morning made our way to Zurich, just 400km's away.

Kat the Navigator, Shark the lost fish!
Getting to Zurich was a breeze, motorways the entire way saw us arrive in Zurich at three in the afternoon. Kat was staying in the city and I was staying with my mates Greg Martin, Andrew Watts, and their wives Carol and Louise, some 15km's away in a hotel situated right on the banks of the beautiful lake Zurich. As you know from past blogs Katrina is the navigator and I just do as I'm told! After dropping Kat at her Astor Hotel lodgings I was then given the car and had just 15km's to travel to get to my accommodation. I am embarrassed to admit this but it has to be told, that I then got so terribly lost that I did not arrive until a full three hours later! In that time I stopped and asked directions three times, I actually ended up in another town outside of Zurich and really it was just pure chance that I found my car -and me- deposited right in front of the swim start for the Ironman. From there all I had to do was follow the lake and I arrived at the hotel at eight-pm! Anyway some more cannon fodder for Kat to pay out on me... In a fun have to laugh at yourself type of way.

Ironman Zurich Switzerland tests us with the inclement weather- Katrina
When I compete in any triathlons I cover the events for Australian Triathlon and Multisport magazine. I have already written up the report and when it goes to print I will send a link out if you keen to read the full details of what was a very hard Ironman due to the incredible weather conditions on the day. For now, all that you need to know, is that it was windy, rained a lot, three separate storm systems blew competitors off the bikes at various stages, at times the air temperature was 18 degrees, but would drop to 5 and the warmest place throughout the entire day was the 20.5 degree lake Zurich water temperature. Throughout all this Katrina soldiered on like the incredible pocket rocket that she is, and earned the right to call herself an Ironman, or Ironwomen, or Ironperson. Whatever the terminology, she did a magnificent job under extremely difficult circumstances to cross the line in 13 hours and 9 minutes. The run was 4 laps and I got to see her each lap. She was generally smiling but not on that last lap, as the reality of running a marathon after cycling for 180km's hit her hard. She said later, "I thought when I first started the marathon that the pain I was feeling would go away, but it didn't, it just got worse each lap!" And that about sums what an Ironman marathon feels like for all competitors, regardless of talent or speed.

Greg and Andy duke it out!
Greg and Andrew both did the Midi Smiddy this year and raised a significant amount of over $7,000 between them for Smiling for Smiddy and the Mater Foundation. They raced Ironman Nice with me last year and it was awesome to spend some time with them again. Thanks also to Andy and Louise for allowing me to share with them. I treated all four of them to a sports massage and I am pretty sure they will never get another from me as it was quite painful. Anyway these two lads are fun competitive against each other and to date Greg has yet to beat Andy in any triathlon. At one stage on the run Greg got within 7 minutes of Andy after being over 20 minutes down after the bike. But in Andy's own words; "I saw him coming, stopped and walked a couple of aid stations, got in plenty of nutrition, then buried him, there was no way I was going to let that old bugger beat me." Incidentally Greg is the same age as me at a youthful 50. Andy crossed the line an hour quicker than Nice last year and was extremely sore, tired but happy with his 13:53:51 time. Greg crossed in 14:13:59 and was over 90 minutes quicker than Nice, and while happy with his time was shattered to have once again been beaten by the young gun Andy at 49 years of age.

How did 'Bad Boy' go?
Johnny Bad Boy was on fire and chasing his goal of a sub 10 hour time. He had a brilliant swim and a strong bike up until the 130km mark, but lost power in his legs, got to the run and had gastro problems that saw three toilet stops lose him too much time to reach his goal. Still a 10:26:52 time is nothing to be disappointed about in just his second Ironman event. He will be back in Roth Germany next year in July and will reach his target. It is just a matter of time for this talented young 40 year old King of Bad!

Sharkster update
As for myself I was extremely pleased with my result considering my lack of run and swim training. My goal was to run the entire marathon and not walk, which I have only achieved in a handful of my 35 completed Ironman events. Surprisingly all the work I had done on the bike saw this leg being my worst leg. A little overcooked there I can assure you from Tour and Summit fever, but heck it was worth it! I finished and experienced another different Ironman in another country and that is all that matters!

Our beautiful supporters
Thank you to Louise and Carol and Bad Boys family, who braved the terrible conditions to still lend their support throughout a very long day that saw them up at five-am and not back at the hotel until after midnight. Thanks also to all my blog readers. I look forward to bringing you more Smiddy tales from this weekend's two day epic 440km training event to Warwick and back. I have just a eight hour flight in front of me to return to my beloved Brisbane. One month away is enough these days. I so long for the comforts of our beautiful country and the companionship of my family and friends.

Take care.

Sharky

SHARKY'S EUROPEAN ADVENTURES - Part 3

Our training in the Pyrenees comes to an end
Well our time at our old mate Russel O'Malleys spacious home has come to an end. Katrina and I spent exactly 8 days here and in that time did way more training than would have been possible if back home working. In those 8 days we got in 6 runs, 4 swims and 4 bikes. We got to climb another two Cols that are famous in this part of the Pyrenees called Col De Marmare at 1361 metres, and Col De Chioula at 1431 metres. Both these Cols were easy going with the maximum gradient being 8% but predominately 6%. The descents were quite technical in places but also free-flowing where top speeds up to 80km/h were possible. It has been great to watch Katrina’s confidence soar, not only in her descending skills but her climbing strength is astounding. Watch out when she returns home for she will seriously kick some butts. Now open-water swimming is another matter; she has some head problems with shadows and coldness of the waters while wearing a wetsuit, which she feels restricts her breathing and freaks her out. Our last open water swim saw her come in early as she talked herself out of it. Two days prior to that she swam no problems, so once we are in Zurich we will get her in the water and hopefully get her confidence up with swimming in the same lake all the time.

Thank you to the O'Malley family
We are both indebted to our friend Russel and his Wife Helen for trusting us with their home for the past 8 days and I know they are following these blogs, so I need to thank them publicly to show our appreciation. You guys have hearts of gold and we will never forget your kindness. Russ I can't wait to recreate some more famous memories such as what you put me through those two unforgettable days!

Goodbye Pyrenees, Hello Alps
Monday July 9 was our road trip day. A 600km trip from Foix in the Pyrenees to the famous town of Chambery in the French Alps. As you know it is Tour de France time for 3 weeks in July and we definitely were not leaving France without experiencing the Tour. So Chambery it was, positioned nicely at the foothills of all the major climbs in the Alps. Also because my old mate Phil Anderson gave us permission to hang out with his Phil Anderson Tour group for a day. And what better day to hang out with Phil then when he is taking his group up the iconic, lung-busting, heart-stopping, adrenaline-forming, lactic-acid-producing, quad-burning Col of Alp D'Huez! Phil told us where his group was staying and after 8 hours of motorways and gorgeous back roads and the obligatory baguette stop for lunch, we lucked in and were able to get a booking for just the one night in this incredibly charming, huge castle like Chalet for just 118 euro for the night twin share. It is one of those places where if you eat at the restaurant, you will quickly realise why the accommodation rates are so reasonable. Katrina and I sat down to eat and did the unthinkable in France and left before the waiter came back to take our order! Very rude but we saved ourselves 100 euro by getting in the car and finding a place that gave us a good steak with salad and frites for 20 euro, which included a beer. We both showed our true Aussie travel-on-a-budget sides tonight and could not have been happier!

The climb up the infamous 14km, 21 switchback, 1850 metre Alp D’Huez
From Chambery, Katrina and I became professional stalkers as we followed Phil's travel group, which consisted of 4 vans all with 6 to 8 bikes attached to the roof of each van. I wondered how they got them off as the vans were so high? My question was answered when we pulled up after 90 minutes of driving, to arrive at our launch point just 6km's from the start of the official climb just out of Bourg De Oisans, when they pulled out a step ladder to reach the bikes. Phil and his wife Annie run several tours a year to all the major events such as the TdF, the Giro and the Tour of Spain. The stages in the Alps and the Pyrenees are always the most popular and up to 35 riders were in attendance today, plus the two stalkers in our Smiddy kits, standing out like sore thumbs. The groups were broken into 3 starts and Katrina opted to start in the second medium group while I opted to go with the last group. All groups were sent off 10 minutes apart. Unfortunately for poor Katrina the group she went with had a leader that shared the same misfortune as our old mate Graeme from the Smiddy Pyrenees tour when he allowed the Garmin to over-ride better judgment. The end result being: hopelessly lost. A feeling I know only too well. So I take off fully expecting to see Kat at some stage up the climb as I knew she would be cruising due to Ironman Switzerland in 5 days. But I never did see her so thought she had got mountain fever and pushed the pace. So I got to the top, after riding the entire way up the 21 switchback climb to 1850 metres with Rudi Rogers. Rudi was part of the team working with Phil. His is a name that you may not be familiar with but over here he is a legend. Now 50 years of age but as a pro he finished 2nd in 1984, in a sprint finish to the great Sean Kelly of Ireland in the great Hell of the North, Paris-Roubaix. Very humble and at any stage could have ridden away from me but was happy to have a chat and cruise, as much as you can cruise up Alp d'Huez! While waiting for Katrina I got a photo at the top with Phil and Rudi, one I'll always treasure for sure.

Finally Kat crests Alp d'Huez
Kat's group of 12 lost all faith in their team leader and went the way they thought, rather than the way the Garmin was telling them. Kate on the other hand struck out on her own and found a very different route to the top. Just as hard but without the 21 switchbacks. I was relieved to see her. She was clearly disappointed she did not get to ride the official route, but I assured her that no matter which way she climbed she had earned the right to say she had conquered Alp d'Huez. I secretly brought a small Alp d'Huez trophy, small enough to fit into my jersey pocket, and after we descended down the way I had climbed, so that she could see what she missed, I presented it to her once we got back to the car. Next year we are running a 5 day Smiddy tour through the Alps just prior to the TdF, and of course Alp d'Huez will be one of the many Cols that we will traverse during our 700km Alpine Odyssey. If keen to sign up for this exciting tour please drop me a line at sharkyATsmiddy.org.au or go to the Smiddy website for more information www.smiddy.org.au I would love to ride with you in 2013!

Anyway tomorrow Kat and I are going to see the TdF stage where the riders tackle the great climb of the Grand Columbier. It will be our final day in France before heading to Zurich and both of us are extremely excited! What a way to celebrate 20 wonderful days in this stunning country.

All the best to all my blog readers.

Take care.

Sharky

SHARKY'S EUROPEAN ADVENTURE CONTINUES - Part 2: The Run!

This blog is brought to you by the number 17 - Not sure why...?

Ironman Switzerland for 3 Smiddy riders and secret training
Three Smiddy riders have stayed on in Europe for a further two weeks to compete in Ironman Switzerland on July 15. While Katrina and I have set up camp at my mate Russel's home in St Paul Jarnat in the heart of the Pyrenees's, Johnny 'Bad boy' Regan has gone off solo at a secret training camp that he has told no-one about. So secret is this camp that not even his partner Kath knows anything about it. The last I heard she was still wandering around Europe looking for her bad boy. Johnny is going to Switzerland not to muck about. He has trained the house down all year for this one event, he is lean, he is mean and no he is not a fighting machine, but a terminator! I fear for any competitors that get in his way. I wish I could give you more of an insight into how Johnny trains, but that is all I have. So for now you will have to be entertained by Kat and Shark training stories. More Bad news to come once we reunite in Zurich on July 12.

Anyway I promised a story on the epic run that my old mate Russel O'Malley took me on. Katrina must have women's intuition as she sat this run out and was content with a 40 minute run on her own. Secret training by Kat maybe?

Anyone for a short easy run or a swim but bring your swim cap!
It occurred the very next day after Russ tried to snap freeze me on the descent from Col De Porte in pouring rain with windchill factors in the single digits. The weather in the mountains can change so quickly and for sure the next day, the clouds and rain disappeared and was replaced by a mildly warmish sort of 30 degree day. Previously that morning Russel had introduced us to the local pool at Pamier; well worth the 30km drive as it was an excellent facility with a 50 metre outdoor heated pool, quite rare for France, and an indoor 25 metre pool, a diving pool and a heated spa and a kids play pool, which was full of senior citizens doing aqua aerobics. The pool rules are strictly enforced in France, so for Katrina and I, coming from the very relaxed nature of the UQ Aquatic Centre, it was a real eye opener to find out that a life guard watches your every move. I made the mistake of getting into the spa after I had finished my session and took my swim cap off. The cap detective was on to me faster than you can say, goobily gooby gop 17 times... A swim cap must be worn by everyone regardless of what body of water they are in at the time. Just to be on the safe side even when I went to the toilet and had a shower I wore my cap! I spotted Kat drying her hair under the wall mounted hair dryers after her swim and I was close to dobbing her in to the pool authority's for not wearing a cap. While I decided not to stoop that low I did insist she wear her cap while walking to the car in the car park...

Now where were we?
Anyway the point I was trying to make when I side-tracked to the swim was that we had a swim, followed by a late lunch at 2:30, before heading off at 4pm for what was supposed to be a 2 hour run. For Russ it was a 2 hour run, for Shark it was 4 and a half hours. This is why... I have learnt from experience that to run just after eating is akin to getting drunk and eating 17 meat pies and running 17 X 400 metres on the track on a 2 minute time base. At some point you are going to feel very unwell and wonder why the heck you even bothered to start. That was me, right from the gun I was a wounded warrior. Russ meanwhile has a cast iron gut and can eat 17 cows and still feel good while taking me up a 17% gradient climb. Not one to make excuses but how's this for an excuse? Not only did I have a full gut of food, but with 1000km's and 14,000 plus metres of climbing in the Pyrenees' over the past week in my legs, I think I was a touch tired. But as I stated in my last blog; adventures with Russ are few and far between and I needed another memory to last until the next time I see my great mate. So with a ragged breathing pattern that suggested I was about to have a heart attack, while Russ was mildly amused that someone could make so much noise while running so slow, I pressed on all in the name of another Shark/Russ experience.

The story of a snail
Two kilometres into the run Russ said if I needed water that the small village we were passing through had 4 fountains where I could replenish my thirst. I don't think he expected me to stop at all 4 of them! Spread apart by just 50 metres each. It was more a passing comment for the return leg I suspect, but I intended to use all the stalling methods I had learnt over my 30 years in the sport to give my guts and glucose levels time to stabilise and for the head-spins to ease. The next 30 minutes we were on a dirt road and all my fuzzy mind remembers is constant climbing, rounding 20 corners to see more climbing, followed by more climbing. Thankfully by this stage Russ had cleared out and was running at his own pace. There is a limit to every athletes patience and I definitely tested Russ's ability to move slower than a snail moving across a slick road and oblivious to the car tyre that will eventually run it over and squash it flat into a sticky mess. I often wonder what thoughts that snail was thinking just before the crunch sound comes? A bit like mine I suspect on that endless hill; please put me out of my misery, I have been trying to cross this road all day, it is endless, I'm hungry, tired and damn thirsty... Crunch!

Never suggest try and catch me if you can in the Pyrenees'
Finally we crest the top 6km's into the run at 1000 metres and the view of the Pyrenee' countryside is breath-taking. I can certainly guarantee by this stage my breath had been taken! Russ assures me this run will not only make my Ironman marathon easier but the views I can lock in my head and pull out when needed in the later stages of the marathon. Another 2km's up and down the road, passing through another 2 tiny villages, all with cool running mountain water fountains, and we are 1 hour into the out and back run and still 2km's from the turn around. Russ, if by himself would be at the turn-around by now. Finally I soldier up and say to Russ; "Mate how about I turn around here and we make a game of catch the fading Shark?" Russ tried unsuccessfully to contain his excitement. He was like a dog that had just been let off the lease. Without hesitation he calmly -in a peeing his pants type way- said; "Great Idea mate!" So off Russ went and I was determined he would not make up 4km's on me in 1 hour.

Getting hopelessly lost
Well true to my word, I did not let Russ catch me. Technically speaking, although he got back to the house 2 and a half hours ahead of me, he did not actually get to see and pass me and snigger, "I got ya". No, while Russ was running at warp speed and trying unsuccessfully to catch the Shark -he would have had better luck at locating a ghost- I was well and truly lost high up in the mountain about as far away as you could physically get from his home without being on the Moon. Only a slight exaggeration there... Without going into all the gory details of what it is like getting lost in another country, here are the gory details! The joy of getting lost involved being attacked by 3 dogs all at once, (lucky there weren't 17) bitten 17 times by something akin to our horse flies back home, scratched from head to toe by the thick scrub as I tried to turn getting lost into a short cut and failing miserably so that I had to backtrack through it all over again, starving hungry after 3 hours and eating wild berries that Russ had shown me was safe to eat, but making me thirstier than an alcoholic 3 days into his rehabilitation, legs that were at the point of collapse and a fading Pyrenee's twilight that was fast turning to the opposite of bright daylight, as in deep dark black night, where scary things come out and run up your leg.

The joy of getting found
I finally found my way back to the last village where I had turned around early while Russ continued on like the excited Joey that he was. Russ is 55 years of age and makes most 20 year old athletes look ordinary. He is a picture of health and his fitness levels has seen him finish as high as 3rd at the Hawaiian Ironman. By now my mate had showered, eaten, packed the car and was driving to the airport 90 minutes away for his return trip back to England to start work the next day. He had left Katrina with a map and asked her to drive to 3 villages to see if she could spot me. Both were concerned by this stage, as I knew they would be, and I felt bad and stupid for being so stupid and bad for getting lost! Back at the village I still had no idea where to go, so I eventually approached an elderly couple, same age as me (50) and as my French is so bad I spoke to them in English but with a French accent! Which -came as no surprise- managed to confuse them even further. Seriously what was I thinking. Eventually I wrote the name of the village where I was from, St Paul Jarnat and their eyes lit up in recognition. The old fella, 50, pointed for me to get on the back of his quad bike, I looked at the speedometre and noticed, with a smile on my face, it had done 10,017 km's. Who would have thought? That bloody number 17 again! So there I was riding on the back of a quad bike, no helmet, the wind in my hair, not much left of it as did I mention I am now 50? And just down the road we come to a stop and there is the track I had been searching for all day. I muttered Merci, Merci, Merci a hundred times and shook his hand vigorously in gratitude. From there it took another hour to get home and just as I arrived at 8:30pm, Katrina had just returned in our hire car after having no luck locating the missing Shark.

Reunited and food glorious food
Katrina's first words to me where, "Thank god I don't have to revert to plan B, as I didn't know what plan B was!" She was clearly relieved to see me, as I was her. I shared the short version of my amazing navigational skills that got me the opportunity to see parts of the Pyrenees' that no living person has seen before. She can read this version for a more detailed picture. My priority was now fluid then food and more food and then some more food. I celebrated how much I liked food by eating it continuously for the next 3 hours (would have ate for 17 hours but had to sleep) until midnight. I then turned into a wolf and ventured out into the woods again. Okay, I admit it, I am lying, I went to bed in a warm cosy single bed and dreamt of being a wolf in the woods.

And that is my short story on my long run! Hope you enjoyed it and if you are lucky I might just tell you about how Katrina and I went looking for another Col to climb and found one called Col De Marmare at 1340 metres.

Take care out there.

Sharky.

SHARKY'S PYRENEES' ADVENTURE CONTINUES

What happens to the crew once the Smiddy tour finishes?
Well after my last blog on June 28 and the end of the Smiddy Pyrenees' trip, all the riders went their own separate ways. The DeAngelis Brothers and Michael changed their plans for a quick trip over to Italy and Rome for a few days before returning home. Adam was off to see the opening prologue of the Tour De France. Rowan had a 30 hour flight in front of him to return home. Neil and Graeme were back to cloudy England. Anna and Jimmy were off to climb Alp De'Huez and catch a couple of stages of the tour. Billy had a date with his best mate Jade in London. Jade has done the Smiddy Challenge up to Townsville and is an Aussie living in London for a couple of years. David was heading for Paris, where I read today, (July 3) on Facebook, that he got robbed, which I'm sure was quite upsetting. Johnny Bad Boy was hanging around in France until he met up with his partner Cathy and they were then heading to England to visit Bad's Mother.

As for Katrina and I, we collected our hire car in Toulouse and then took 2 hours to do a 1 hour trip back to the Pyrenees thanks to my unbelievably bad navigational skills. I warned Katrina from the start that if you travel with the Shark you can't get stressed the many times I will get us lost. She has been wonderful in that regard, and thankfully so as in just 3 days I have been lost a couple of times, which I will get to later. Katrina commented today when I went to take the wrong exit to get out of the shopping centre to the car, "It amazes me Sharky that you are a tour leader for Smiddy!". I replied, "If not for Rowan then Smiddy would be renowned for the 'Tour of the Lost' rather than the success it shares today!

Our new Chalet in the Pyrenees
Anyway for the next week we are again staying in the Pyrenees', only this time in a different part, just as beautiful -if not more so- near a famous little town called Foix (pronounced fra). The tour has come through here on numerous occasions and it is a gorgeous medieval little town with a great castle and best of all, the yummiest bakery in the entire world! The small village that Katrina and I are staying in is called St Paul Jarnet. And thanks to a 20 year friendship with an Australian I met in England back in 1993, who has lived in London for the past 30 years and worked as a dentist, brought this beautiful Chalet 15 years ago and has been renovating it ever since. Russel and his wife Helen and their 2 kids Matty and Emily, use this place as their holiday home. It is a gorgeous 100 year old stone built 2 story Chalet. The walls are amazing in that they are half a metre thick of solid rock with mortar holding it all together. The windows are double glazing and thick shutters cover each and every window and door. Russel told us the winter just gone it got down as low as minus 20 and that is why the buildings are designed in this fashion to keep out the elements. Russel's Chalet sits at an altitude of 700 metres, so you can just imagine the extreme temperatures in the mountains that this home overlooks that are as high as 3000 metres. The views are stunning from here, the air is crisp and clear and we are indeed very lucky to being afforded the luxury of staying in such a place. We are very grateful to Russel and Helen and when we arrived Russel was here to let us in, having flown in from London to spend the weekend training for the long course world titles at the end of July. It was fantastic to catch up with my old mate and the next story I would like to share with you include some Russ type adventures. Very similiar to a Sharky adventure as you will see.

A very different ride up Col De Porte
In my last blog do you remember the Smiddy crew rode up their final Col for the trip and it was called Col De Porte? Well that was the planned route for our Sunday ride but in the reverse direction to what the Smiddy riders did. On waking at 7am the weather had turned nasty and it was blowing a gale and raining. So the ride was cancelled and more breakfast was devoured over a 2 hour period. Then at 10am Russ said the weather had cleared and would we like to go out for a short 80km ride? He said if we stay in the valleys and head for lower ground we should be right. Katrina and I were ready in a shot and keen to experience more of this wonderful country on a bike. So off we went, down through Foix and onto a series of quiet country roads that promised glimpses of the high mountains if they were not shrouded in thick fog. The valley roads we meandered through were equally as impressive and at one stage we went through this amazing natural cave tunnel that a road had been carved into. It was near pitch black inside but for the small directional lights that you could sight on to get you to the other side half a kilometre away. Beside the road was an underground lake that was 3 times as noisy due to the structure of the cave. I was beside myself with excitement and took video footage and photos using my iPhone.

Good bye Katrina, hello Col De Porte
60km's into the ride it was time for Katrina to head home, while Russ and I carried on. Russ sent Katrina the shortest route home, 30km's, so she would still have a good 90km's under her belt. Kat is doing Ironman Switzerland in Zurich in 13 days and she did not wish to over do it. I on the other hand only get to see Russ once a year, sometimes once every two years, so I needed to have a memorable -preferably painful- adventure every time that I saw him. I chipped away all morning at Russ as I knew we were still in the right vicinity to ride up Col De Porte. He kept saying that it gets pretty messy at that altitude in these sort of conditions. Not long after leaving Katrina it began to rain again. I said to Russ it was a passing shower, as if I had somehow become an expert on Pyrenee weather in the week that I had been here! Once we got past the point of no return I knew we were in for an unforgettable experience on this Col. First came the 22km gradual climb up to the small town of Masset. It was this section that the Smiddy riders had their Smiddy moment as we ride strongly together just a few days prior in 35 degree heat. What a contrast, it was now just hovering on 10 degrees and as long as you kept moving you could stay warm. Russ and I got into a good tempo and averaged 30km/h for this section. At Masset we stopped to chat to 4 French people (well Russ did, who speaks fluent French, I just nodded and smiled a lot) for just 5 minutes and in that time got cold. Then it was onto the 12km climb in proper up to the Col. After 2 days off the bike I felt fantastic and was climbing better than I did during the entire tour. Probably helped along by the fact that it was not 35 degrees!

The cold at the top and the pain of the descent
Russ and I crested the top together and where there was an amazing view just a few days ago, all that could be sighted was a tractor standing 20 metres away. We got a photo of the two of us standing in thick fog with the 1249 metre Col De Porte sign and pushed off before the deep cold set in. It was windy and 4 degrees at the top, we had both come unprepared with no winter riding gear except for a raincoat. 'Remember originally we were only doing a 80km valley ride.' Our hands were cold before even starting the descent. On the way down, road dangerously slippery wet, brakes that took 400 metres of application before the rims would dry enough to slow you down, thick fog limiting the amount of road seen in front, windchill down to zero, fingerless gloves, no arm or leg warmers, no beanie. It is without doubt the coldest I have ever been on a bike. The normal joyful descent was now one of sheer terror. Russ summed it up at the bottom when he replied to my question of; "how are your hands"? I kept having to look down to see what was making the bike slow down and was surprised to see they were my hands"! It was crazy, it was terrifying, it was the most painful cold experience of my life, but hell yes, it was an adventure and through chattering teeth we were in in awe that we got down in one piece!

Captured on video and the hilarious bakery stop
I got to the bottom of the descent a few minutes prior to Russ. We did a video at the top and again at the bottom. It was all smiles and laughter at the top, while the bottom was a different story. We were both so cold that Russ took us to a bakery where we ordered a pot of tea and the most calorie rich cake that they sold. It was a busy deli type bakery with plenty of seating inside and out. Because of the foul weather all were sitting inside and all were immensely entertained by two Aussies shaking in their boots. Without a word of a lie we were standing there ordering, dripping wet and shaking so hard from our legs up that it was comical. When the pots of tea arrived, just pouring the tea from pot to cup was hilarious as our hands were shaking so bad. Then out of the blue and with Russ being a dentist, and after trying unsuccessfully to pour a cup of tea without spilling any tea, he said; "next patient please." Just those 3 words had us in fits of laughter that had all the customers looking at us as if we had gone stark raving mad, and who could disagree, we were! I got what Russ meant, as in you need a steady hand and nerves of steel to work on people's teeth... It was one of those had to be there moments.

The 14km ride home and Katrina's cold story
After 15 minutes inside the bakery it was time to leave that warm ambiance and get back on our steads. We were both still shivering and rode as hard as possible for 4km's before we felt some warmth starting to seep back into our grateful extremities. The last 2.5km's up to Russ's Chalet is all uphill and has an average gradient of 10% but with a few pitches of 18%. We both loved it this time around as it warmed our bodies even more and on arriving home it was as if nothing other than a great 150km ride had taken place. Although I can attest the cold had indeed seeped into my bones as it took a long hot shower, eating for 2 hours and hiding up the blankets for half a night prior to feeling 100% again. So our 80km ride turned into 150km's with nearly 2000 metres of climbing involved. It was so cold that both Russ and I went through just 1 water bottle in that time, yet stopped 6 times to pee! It was indeed a ride that Russ and I will recall with vivid memories the next time I see him in a year or two. Katrina did not get off lightly as welll. On returning home we found out she had her own adventure on her way home as she punctured, taking 15 minutes to repair it in the pouring rain, cursing my name several times and finally getting home, only to take 10 minutes to work out the locking system and finally getting inside to warm her cold bones as well. All was forgiven when we arrived home a few hours later as she had made an extremely welcoming hot pot of soup, which sure went down a treat. Thanks heaps Kat.

I sure hope you enjoyed this blog, I will include in my next blog the story of the run Russ took me on the next day. A supposedly 2 hour trail run, where I turned around early due to being tired for some reason! Nearly 5 hours later I found my way home, but that is for another time...

Cheers.

Sharky