| Here's Keith White's report on the 2009 Bigaut:
Thursday: 25:06:09
I was up around 6am. The previous night i had double checked the bike, the bag and all the spare kit and documentation needed for this, the third long French ride of this season. However, as always, you aren't sure and again i found myself checking again just in case. Anyway, I ate breakfast and drove up the road to collect Bob Banks. So far, so good. It was still early so on the way down to the harbour we stopped off at John Derrien's for a quick coffee. The plan was to get to the harbour for around 8'ish, park up, get a coffee inside and relax. This didn't happen so in hindsight, that quick coffee at John's had been a good idea.
At the harbour we met up with Mick Heald, Torty, Nicole Hubert and Peter Glendewar. Everyone seemed in good spirit and was looking forward to this trip. Torty, Nicole and Peter were going straight down to Rostrenen whilst John, Mick, Myself and Bob were heading to Dinan to make an overnight stop via the Decathlon to enable us to collect CCC mates Paul Millar, Mike Gardner and Lorenzo Nardone the next day. They had been unable to get a car on the boat so we pre arranged to collect them on the Friday from St Malo, load up and then get along to Rostrenen to meet up with the others, collect the transponders from Callac (the start of the main event) and get sorted out in preperation for the 135km ride which saw over 6700 riders swamp the small town and its peripheral streets.
We'd planned to do a ride on the Thursday afternoon but, as it happened, the weather had obliged us with a forecast thunderstorm soon after we had eaten at the hotel we had made our base for the night. The heavens opened. It soon passed though and we walked into Dinan itself for food and a few beers.
Friday: 26:06:09
7am:
Bob Banks was sleeping soundly wrapped in his comfort blanket as Mick Heald, John Derrien and I rode from Dinan to Dol De Bretagne for an early morning brisk ride (18mph average) to get a coffee and open up the legs a bit. It was quite a chilly morning and gave no indication of the days weather ahead.
I've found this to be of benefit on other rides we've done away as long as the distance isn't too great.
As it played out, it did wonders....
Anyway, back to base, shower, breakfast, wake up Bob, load up the motor, say goodbye and off to St Malo to pick up the other men. We took the direct but crosscountry route to Rostrenen and stopped for lunch at Moncontour. As we approached this town we looked at each other and realised we were eating at a place only yards from the start of a nasty climb we'd done only 2 weeks previously in the Jean Francios Rault. It was a sharp reminder of what lay ahead. We arrived at Rostrenen, unloaded, checked in and left cross country to get to Callac via the early part of this years course which circumnavigated south of the town and encompassed Rostrenen. We'd ridden this way last year to collect the transponders and i remembered vaguely the roads we needed to take and how hilly or lumpy it was. I wasn't wrong as it turned out and the memories of sore legs didn't seem so distant anymore.
Mike Stevenson (CCC) was waiting at the check-in for the ride with our cards. Transponders were collected and we had a chat with a few guys about the profile of this years course. Shorter than some previous years many would be ready to suggest it would be much easier. They'd be wrong. Everyone we spoke too told stories of how up and down it would be and to be prepared for a tough start.
Saturday (Bigaut Day): 27:06:09
Everyone enjoyed an early breakfast, anticipation was high especially for Lorenzo on his maiden voyage around the Brittany roads. We kicked off from Rostrenen around 7.30am, got across country and arrived in Callac with time to spare. This leaves plenty of time to chill out and correct stuff that may have gone wrong without the stress factor that comes from leaving stuff too late. John Derrien, Mick Heald, Paul Millar and Lorenzo had made thier way down to the front of the Sportive start but Bob ( The Beech (not spelt this way) ) Banks was not having any of this. In a scene from the Old Testament...
Crowds of riders, thousands, were seen to be parting for some reason... What ?
There seemed to be a bike, upside down moving, floating over the crowds. Yep, Bob, bless his cotton socks was manipulating the crowd trying to get himself and his bike further towards the front. I'm told he did make it in the end. Like i said earlier, over six and one half thousand riders waited patiently for the start. Its a nervous time being in such massive crowded streets when it's new to you. It's something you don't ever quite get used too but the anticipation of the start is worth its weight in gold. Something every cyclist should experience at least once in thier career. Myself, Mike Gardner, Nicole Hubert ( on her first long, solo effort ) and Peter (**** -lisa ( first part of that is the first name of a famous painting by Da Vinci (No prizes for guessing...LOL) ) Glendewar, sat further up the hill towards the square. Peter then informed me that my front wheel was installed back to front ??
Uh ?
Yea, sure it was...
Embarrased, I quickly swapped it around.
Then...
Urmmm, Keith...
What now Pete..
Where does this bit go.. ?
Pete had bust his Dura Ace left hand lever. A piece of metal just covering the nipples of the brake and gear cables just fell away ? Strange, and in the end, we couldn't re-fit the component. He'd be riding without it and in the end, it didn't matter because the weeks of hard training in preperation for the upcoming 'Marmotte' paid off big time. Peter had suggested he'd be happy with anything just over 5 hours for this ride. As it turned out, he recorded a superb full distance time of 4 hours, 35 minutes. He was well made up with that.
Pete had been recently telling me how he's been doing back to back 'round the bays' rides that make just over 86 miles. This is tough as a single ride, our climbs may be shorter than the French equivalent but don't be fooled, a Jersey Sportive would catch out many a French Randonneur. He went on to tell me that he'd not cracked this double effort in anything less than 6 ½ hours. This Biguat, 4:35..., what does that tell you...
I won't tell you yet what 'Team Elite' recorded on this ride but John Derrien, Mike Gardner and I have done 3 Brittany randonee's this season and the first, the Cosatamoricaine was a similar distance to the Bigaut but....MUCH slower. Why ?
Hills were steeper, shorter, groups were smaller, wind was humping in all the wrong places and the descents were awkward.
Not so with this years Bigaut.
Very warm, Little wind, fast descents and average gradients of 7% but with peak gradients of 10%, mostly smooth roads and bigger, better groups meant that we had an advantage. We are all so used to cranking the big ring up Jubilee Hill and that gradient at race pace proved to be the ideal training medium imho for the climbs we had here. Only twice in the whole ride did i shift into the little ring during this 135km ride.
I had ridden upto the start with the sole intention of getting around safely and quickly but... with the reserve that, a few hours later, i might be able to ride another big ride. It's sort of a pre preperation as i have plans to do really long distances in the future. I couldn't help it though and sort of got caught up recording a 4:17 over the distance which I was extremely pleased with. This though, pales in comparison to the superb efforts of our club mates which as you'll see later, were quite simply, exceptional.
Torty Hubert rode the shorter distance but believe me, it was no less hilly. Torty had ridden on Michelin Pro Race 3's but had the misfortune to puncture. Was this misfortune though as the pit crew promptly and effectively removed both tyre and tube and replaced it with brand new tyre and tube in under 3 minutes. That is FAST !! Torty was again, underway. He completed his ride without further incident and waited by the car for Pete and Nicole who were both doing the bigger ride. We know what happened to Pete but Nicole had a great ride, i believe under 4:55 for the full 135km. This wasn't Nicole's first Bigaut but was her first ( on her own ) ride and was i believe, the furthest single distance she'd ridden to date. A great effort seriously and a big well done from us all. Mike Gardner had a superb ride. He'd been riding in the same group as I for some miles and at around 40 miles, I tried, and failed, to bridge a fast moving group. Mike had got caught up behind and he couldn't help. As it turned out, Mike would have made a mistake anyway by following my effort as I just couldn't make the gap. On glancing at the Garmin, we were doing 32mph at the time when my legs said....' NO' more matey..
2 major climbs from home saw the inevitable happen as Mike climbed away from me working at the tip of a large spearheaded shaped group. It was always going to happen as Mike climbs better than myself. He too has improved over these distances as each trip has come and gone. Bob Banks found the start tough. He, like others was surprised to find the actual start of this years Biguat wasn't in the town but, over 2 km from the 'old start' on a sharp left narrow turn at the foot of the first climb proper. This caused a huge bottleneck, one that you either navigated without issue or, you got stopped dead in your tracks. In fact, Mike Gardner really thought he'd punctured at this juncture of the ride. Fortunately for him, it was ok.
The first 20km's of the ride was seriously UP and down. Just over 4900 ft of climbing on the 135km course, much of it was condensed into the first quarter of the course, or so we thought anyway. Bob was riding the 'cyclotourism' part of the Bigaut and recorded a very amicable 4:01 over the distance. This placed him 135th in the 'cyclotourism' cat.
However....
A 'Black' mark must be struck against Bob after the sporting guesture he made post ride...
I quote... " I was looking at the side of the road hoping Derrien had punctured ! " No bitterness at all, this pair are like a married couple. They kissed and made up.. Look, i know this story is long but i've saved the best till nearly last. Like i said, the efforts of Mick Heald, Paul ('Le Poulet' ('The Chicken')) Millar, Lorenzo Nardone and John Derrien were outstanding and, shorter distance or not, i believe efforts as good as anything achieved previously on such randonne's.
Winning time from the Elites, again achieved by pro's riding these events was a remarkable 3:15.
Fast, extremely fast indeed but...
Fully supported, paid professionals perhaps 30 years or more younger than some of our guys puts the times of 3:49 by the ' Fantastic 4 ' into a firm perspective.
I believe that Mick Heald was the first CCC rider home, 11 seconds ahead of Lorenzo Nardone, followed by John Derrien and Paul Millar. What can i say ? Amazing rides ! This is why i've rambled on so much about previous rides made this year and how they compare or don't compare. 3:49 over 135km is very, very fast. Accomplished over flat, windless ground would have still been impressive but this terrain was NOT flat by any stretch of the imagination. There were rumours that John had quickly wiped his nose clean of rubber after the ride, the result of sucking too much wheel, LOL. I'd happily do that to record such a wonderful time for who was after all, the oldest rider of the fab 4 by some years. A division move John ?, Conscience ok ?
Are these the first sub 4 hour randonee's by CCC or Jersey riders ?
Hydration was an issue and after the ride, bottles upon bottles of water were polished off by the
very thirsty crew. Everyone was back, No one was hurt, all the bikes were ok. Can't ask for much
more can you. This Bigaut was again attended by CCC member Brian Lidster. This guy is a tough cookie.
He rode...
The Costamoricane (full distance), the Rault ( full distance ), the Hinault (med distance)just last weekend)) and now, a 4:08 over 135km at 60 years of age. What a great performance. His lad Paul too went well over the full distance. From over 3600 entries in the 135km
Winning time was 3:15:36 by Ronan Poulizac
CCC times.... Sportive
Mick Heald 135km Sportive 03:49:11 pos 292 35.86 kph average 'Platinum'
Lorenzo Nardone 135km Sportive 03:49:21 pos 300 35.84 kph average 'Platinum'
John Derrien 135km Sportive 03:49:23 pos 301 35.83 kph average 'Platinum'
Paul Millar 135km Sportive 03:49:23 pos 302 35.83 kph average 'Platinum '
Brian Lidster 135km Sportive 04:08:37 pos 720 33.06 kph average 'Gold'
Keith White 135km Sportive 04:17:17 pos 843 31.94 kph average 'Gold'
Paul Lidster 135km Sportive 04:28:42 pos 976 30.59 kph average 'Gold'
Cyclotourism 135km:
Bob Banks 135km Cyclotouriste 04:01:43 34.00 kph average 'Gold'
Mike Gardner 135km Cyclotouriste 4:13:00 32.49 kph average 'Gold'
Peter Glendewar 135km Cyclotouriste 04:35:04 29.88 kph average 'Silver'
Nicole Hubert 135km Cyclotouriste 04:53:26 28.01 kph average 'Silver'
Torty Hubert 65km Cyclotouriste ( time not on site )
Platinum time is > (greater than) 35kmh
Gold time is 30 kmh average but not higher than 35kmh. Silver is 25kmh or higher but lower than 30kmh per hour.
We enjoyed a good night out after the ride in the local town of Rostrenen, polishing off some local beers and a fine Italian meal in the process. Sunday saw us returing home to Jersey after the usual morning ride to 'recover'. Recovery ride doesn't do the 19 mile ride we did justice however as the young guns Millar and Nardone again pushed up the pace. We rode to the town of Gouarec where we'd rode through the previous day down alongside the Nante's – Brest Canal, stopped for coffee and on the return leg, climbed some of those damn hills..., AGAIN !. This was only topped by one CCC rider breaking up thousands of years of French tradition as 'Le Poulet' slowly pushed through a procession of young children leaving church who informed him that the Bigaut was now over and that no one would ask him to pay for coffee. Well, i actually added that last bit, but, Paul, un-phased...., rode on.
There was no actual harm done though...
Back to the hotel, shower, pay up, load the car and, driving via St Brieuc in some very hot weather, we got into St Malo, ate some ice cream and, as for the Fab4, they'd enjoyed a meeting with Bernard Hinault at the French National Cycling Championships. All in all, another fine and very
successful trip away.
Here's wishing the guys a profitable and enjoyable 'Marmotte' next weekend.
Good luck.
--
Keith White
CCC |
