Lieuron was tough, very tough and bloody hot! I met my English mate Bob Jones at the race. He had already scouted the route and was not at all optimistic about our chances. The course started off with a stiff climb that seemed to drag on longer as each of the laps ticked by. After the climb there were two right-hand turns, one of them very tight, which was followed by another longish drag into the wind. Then another sharp right-hander turned into a fast downhill stretch to the podium.
Start 13:30 hrs: About one hundred of us started and the first couple of laps were relatively sedate before the hammer went down and I was dropped rather too quickly. I continued for a couple of laps on my own and considered packing it in (the temperature was already climbing into my ‘Red Zone’), when a chap caught me and I managed to hold his wheel. By this stage the temperature must have been in the 30s; I was already overheating.
I managed to stay with my new mate and take reasonable turns at the front; he was a good climber and I managed to help him out on the flats and descents. He must have been a local because every couple of laps he’d throw away an empty water-bottle (bidon) and collect a full one from a spectator. I had to eke out my single bottle for the whole race; this would tell on me in the end.
Lapped: We were passed on lap 8 by the leaders, but we also managed to overtake a few stragglers who had flown off too fast. After a few more laps we even managed to lap an old-timer. This was the first time I’d lapped anybody since the first race of the season at Brandivy (see the earlier blog). My spirits were lifted further as we overtook more cyclists who were obviously struggling in the heat. At one stage we overtook a group of about ten who had all but stopped; the heat was taking its toll.
Water issues: With three laps to go, I finally ran out of water and was cooked. I continued gamely for one more lap but had to work harder and harder to stick with my companion. By the big climb at the start of the penultimate lap I was buried. I had to stop and beg some water from a spectator. By the time I set off again, one of the chaps I’d overtaken a lap earlier caught me and I had to hang on to his wheel until the finish.
Abandonments: To be completely honest, I was absolutely fried on the final lap. I actually emptied the bottle again by the time I stop. I even had to let my new partner go. He finished about 200 metres ahead of me, but I had the satisfaction of knowing that I was actually a lap ahead of him – small mercies.
At the end I discovered that Bob had abandoned about half way; he’s a big strong man but is obviously seriously affected by extreme heat. It turns out that something like 40 riders abandoned - I was climbing up the leader-board even though almost going backwards. You never know, if the race had lasted another couple of weeks I might have won! Yeah!
Results: I didn’t get a classification (again), but I averaged around 32kph – I said it was tough didn’t I?
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