- Distance: 154,64 km
- Vertical Ascent: 2.676 m
- No. of Named Cols: <TBC>
- Start Date & Time: 2019-10-17, 10:37
- Start Location: Arette
- End Date & Time: 2019-10-17, 20:41
- End Location: Z.I. La Negresse, Iraty, Biarritz
- Time Moving: 8:14:23
- Moving Average: 18,8 km/h
- No. of Stops >3 Minutes: 10
Data: strava.com/activities/2796629703
At the Hôtel de l’Ours in Arette, I wasn’t the first at breakfast. And I didn’t take as long as the excellent food with homemade jam and fresh fruit would have merited. As always, I wanted to pack a few sandwiches and other provisions for the day, but the owner understandably didn’t appreciate me robbing other guests of their food. BTW, the hotel specializes in sports and cycling and offers plenty of room also for larger groups.
Outside it was still wet with a light drizzle. As the sky seemed to be clearing up though, I decided to buy sunscreen at the local pharmacy — last night, I had accidentally dropped the bottle I had purchased in El Port de la Selva. Must have been at the Col d’Aubisque when I repacked my bags after changing kit for the descent.
Between Aramits and Hondeville I raced a relay with the postman in his small yellow van, up and down some hills. We passed each other several times, and our smiles turned to broad grins over the course of half an hour.
From the D59 before Burgia until the Montée de Mauléon on the D24 someone had painted numerous “#TPRNo1“ graffiti on the tarmac. This was really unprecedented, at least on the roads I had ridden troughout the TPR. I believe this added to me feeling totally stoked on my way to the finish line.
Throughout the day, I managed to keep all stops relatively short, except on two occasions where I had to change from winter to merino to summer kit. One of these was in the open, off D933 outside Utziate. But no interference from any of the passing cars. And I ran out of water within probably two hours after the sun broke through around 11:30 … didn’t find a public fountain, bar or shop to refill my bottles — the first time I felt dehydrated since the start of the TPR.
This last morning of my #TPRNo1, I had finally returned to “Race Mode”. But it was also a flashback of sorts, as I remembered bits and pieces of the route from the first day, yet everything looked so different now, with the sunny weather all around.
Reviewing today’s route over breakfast, I had estimated to climb around 2.000 metres, and I closely observed vertical ascent accumulate to track my progress and constantly recalculate my ETA at the finish. By the end of the day, total ascent would top out at closer to 2.700 meters, this alone adding another hour-and-a-half to my ride.
Eventually, I reached the town of Saint-Jean-Pied-de-Port, where I refilled all water bottles and had a snack — and a double espresso.
Jon Endres, communication manager for the race, who also manned the “Helpline” had asked me for an ETA. And I had lately been updating him regularly, not only in text form but also with pictures from noteworthy encounters and stunning views.
I crested both final two significant summits of the race, the Col d’Ispegui (Izpegi) and the Otxondo much later than expected and having again run out of water on the way. Maybe this was due to my dehydration experience earlier in the day. Luckily, there was an open bar/shop at the Izpegi where I could fetch water and a double espresso.
On the Izpegi, I also eventually had to concede that I would reach Biarritz only after 6 pm. I messaged Jon accordingly and resumed my ride, only to be stopped twice by flocks of sheep on the road. A first for all the animal encounters also happened on this descent when I rolled by a free-roaming , full-sized pig feeding on something in the ditch by the roadside.
The N-121B from the Otxondo to the border had recently received a complete makeover. A pristine, absolutely even surface of black Tarmac made for a joy of a ride, and most of the motorists kept their distance and didn’t attempt to overtake. As I emerged out of the forest I could just make out the coast on the horizon, with the sun about to set.
When I was about to pass from Spain into France at Dantxarinea, I noticed that my routing to the start of the Finish Parcours into Biarritz was off (again).
This sucked, … errm I mean it was unfortunate, as it threatened to hamper my otherwise fast ride of the day. It must have been a remnant of my routing error from the night before the race, and my GPS would have led me right into a field off a roundabout.
I paused briefly to review my options, but of all places, it was here in a busy border area with shops, restaurants and gas stations that mobile Internet wouldn’t work. Relying on the information and maps downloaded into Komoot and RideWithGPS on my iPhone I quickly found what had to be a working route to Etxetoa and continued my ride. After all it was just a short distance to the start of the Parcours.
The final about 20 kms were a constant but playful up and down on roads more quiet than anticipated.
Anjin san facetimed me while I was riding up the Larreko Gurutzea. And we had such a fun conversation that I completely forgot to stop at the junction where I had crashed in the early morning of the first day. Of course, now it was still not completely dark, I was travelling in the opposite direction — everything looked so different.
Some other dotwatching friends and family sent encouragements, including premature congratulatory messages to which I responded with “thanks, but I still have exactly 5 kms to go!”
And when I was about to crest the absolute last hill and reach the roundabout in Bassussarry to turn left and down towards Biarritz station and the finish in La Negresse, a Peugeot 207 or similar passed me with some guys hanging out the right front and back windows and shouting and waving cheers. Not sure if they were aware of me as the Lanterne Rouge of the TPR, or if they simply enjoy cheering-on cyclists in general.
The closer I came to the end of this endeavour, the more I felt a mix of euphoria, elation and curiosity: What would await at the finish?
With the change in weather and my subsequent delay I had corrected my ETA multiple times over the final days. Control Car 2 was still displayed on the official tracking page as being stationed in Biarritz, but I wasn’t expecting anyone from the organizers to have waited an entire week for the Lanterne Rouge. So. Would anyone besides Florian be there at Capra Velo, the bike shop that had “tripled” as a much needed supply and repair station prior to the start on Day One, as well as the actual start location, and now as the finish “line”.
And with all kinds of thoughts going on in my head, I was very happy to arrive to the sound of cheers and applause by a surprise “party”, waiting for me at the corner, right in front of the bike shop.
It felt good that Florian didn’t have to wait alone in the “La Négresse” neighbourhood: Capra Velo was meanwhile closed for vacation, and windows in most of the shops and restaurants around were dark — I arrived at around 20:30, long after opening hours for services in an industrial zone.
Although both our thoughts were clearly circling the food question by this time of the evening, the welcome beer sponsored by Heike and Norbert was just what I needed. And I had not been expecting neither people nor beverage.
Kudos to:
- whoever was in charge of the weather today!
- Heike, Norbert and Florian, for welcoming me at the finish (and for the beer!)
- all friends and family, who over the past two weeks watched my dot move, never in a straight line, up and down over mountain passes, literally, “there and back again”
- anjin san, for making sure my conscience drove me from the breakfast table and out on the Pyrenees roads, that I kept taking and sharing pictures and stories (more of both still in the pipeline), and that I never stopped conquering Cols, and for convincing me to ignore those annoying — but in fact minor — drivetrain issues.
- those unknown Basque guys in their Peugeot, cheering and waving me up the absolutely last hill before the final descent into La Negresse industrial zone!
- … finally to the #TPRNo1 organizers and especially to Jon Endres who (in an ever so polite British way) kept reminding me to post updates on my status
