HoD

my mate who is a keen university level sportsman in great shape said etape killed him. i think he finished in double time and the rest of his party gave up.

sounds like you're on the track to success though, just keep it up and stay focused.

I have some advice.

It's massively oversubscribed, so get your planning and applications in as early as you can.

Yes get in early,you will need to be really fit not to end up on the bus it is hard.

Have you done one GPT? Or anyone else?

Wow ... excellent! It is harder than anything you will find in the UK but you're right doing a sportif first will help. The effort is comparable to running a marathon and you will not believe how quick a few 60-70 year old French blokes on steel framed Peuguots are!

You can't beat miles in your legs. I would also make sure you get a professional bike fitting (unless you've had one already). Comfortable sitting in the shop and comfortable after 100 miles in the saddle are very different things. Contact points have to be right: grips, pedals/shoes and saddle. If you've got a sore bum after 15 miles ...give up! Buy a very good (and alas expensive) pair of cycle shorts.

Training wise, keep increasing the miles: you need to have done two or three centuries a month before l'etape. I would also find a decent climb (in North Wales there are a couple of 4 or 5km with 400m climbing) and spend a day a month climbing it, freewheel down, go up again, repeat. Winter is tough: turbo or rollers in the garage might be necessary? Another winter passion of mine is cyclo-cross. Really keeps you ticking over in the winter: get yourself any old bike, fit some chunkier tyres and give it a go - you can even use a mountain bike these days. North West league or Midlands leagues kick off September and much more fun than a turbo trainer!

I have heard that when the big day comes, over hydration and over-eating are common. Perhaps because the dangers of not getting enough food or water are greater. There is lots of great nutrition advice out there and you must try it out before the day; there are a few ergogenic aids that are worth looking into as well. My wife is a GB triathlete with an MSc in Nutritional Science and she swares by sodium bicarbonate, beetroot juice and caffeine tablets (separately, not all in the same glass); do some reading up on these - I have only used the latter two - the sodium bicarb didn't agree with me!

Pace: I've heard the mop-up travels at 11-12mph. Probably sounds easy if you do your loop in 45mins. Anything you do with less than 250ft per 10 miles aim for 22mph+. 250-500ft per 10 miles 20mph+. 500-750ft 18mph+ , and any steeper loop 16mph+ and your pace will be good enough.

Have you thought of the London marathon ....it will be easier!!

*peugeot .... typo...I rode one for 5 years many, many moons ago! Wouldn't drive one though!!

Not done one myself mc but a lot of the triathletes I used to train with have,they are very fit and none of them have found it easy.They usually pick a difficult stage for the Etape and you simply can't replicate an Alpine pass in England.
As Hod says miles in the legs is the most important thing,worth getting the bike geared properly too as you are not going to need pro ratios.
Good luck.

Guys, I really appreciate your feedback. I would have replied earlier but I've just been out for a ride. As a 34 year old who is 4 months into the process of going from obese, a smoker, and massively unfit, to someone capable of doing an Etape in 16 months, I am aware of the size of the challenge, and all the advice is really useful. I'll let you know how I get on.

The professional bike fitting sounds sensible. I've had it done by the local shop, Quinn's in Liverpool, and they seem knowledgeable, but it might be worthwhile getting it rechecked. I think you're right about the miles as well, its the only real way of preparing. Its also seems the best way of getting the excess weight off. I'll have a look into the caffeine tablets, bicarb and beetroot.

GPT, do you have any specific advice about gearing? We just got the standard set on the Specialized Allez Sports, we debated getting granny rings, but we figured that if we needed it that just meant we weren't ready, and that we would only try and climb climbs when we were ready to.

I showed the advice on here to my mate as well, so keep it up guys, cheers.

If your doing the Etape then you will need a granny ring if your planning to carry 13st up the mountain .
Would you rather get round without climbing off the bike or get round comfortably with the granny.
At the end of the day if you go with a triple you dont have to use it but there in case of bail out.
Just to put some of the mountains into context I live on the edge of the Peak District with some tough climbs
the longest taking me around 20 minutes to climb and dont need the granny only for the severest(Winnats Pass/Riber)
Rode in 2007  Col Du Tourmalet when reasonably fit for a 50 yr old took me 1 hour 40 mins & no way would I have managed without the granny as a 10/11% ramp in the last 1/2 mile(Wasnt part of the Etape just part of cycling holiday in Pyrennes)
Whilst the Tourmalet is a monster it aint the steepness but the length/duration without ever getting a false flat for a breather prior to hitting the "start" of the Tourmalet your probably climbing for 5 miles from the valley floor it just goes on & on & on.
Without the granny then you probably need to get down nearer to 12st good luck with the training anyway.

Good luck Marychain mate but to be honest i agree with Geoff m, i know fellas who have been cycling for years who wouldnt attempt the high mountains witout a granny ring but fair play to you, im same age and unfit and trying to get back into cycling again

No shame in using the granny ring,even if you can pull a bigger gear it just makes life easier.

It's not about shame. Believe me, if the consensus is that we'll need it then we'll get them. Anything to get us over them things.

I've only ever done one big climb - Mt Ventoux, from Sault (the easy side).

Get a granny ring. What would you rather do, use a granny and finish, or be gung ho and not make it up the last climb?

When it comes down to it, most people you know aren't going to know enough about cycling to ask what rings you're using - you'll either have completed a mountain stage route of the Tour de France, or you'll have tried to complete a mountain stage, but not quite made it because your ego got in the way.

I'd have a 36t granny sprocket on the cassette as well!

Thanks, HistoryMaker and all. It isnt ego, its ignorance.

If you have a standard 53/39, you can still get the equivalent of the bottom gear on a triple with a 12-25 cassette by fitting a mountain bike cassette 11-34. The bad thing is you can't use big cog on front and back (but why would you?) and you have bigger gaps between the ratios but it fits and works I believe. Check out www.road.cc for more advice.

Did I mention www.bikemap.net ... great for finding and creating routes.

I have never done the etape but have ridden most of the cols over the years.Even when i was racing i found all the tour big climbs very hard.Its the constant gradient that gets you feels like its getting steeper but its your legs going.Agree with the triple,better to have granny gears than knackered knees.Not easy to train for the climbs over here nothing compares also the heat drains you.One other point when you go down the mountain keep pedaling hard cos if you don`t your legs will seize up as soon as you hit the next mountain.Good luck and get as fit as you can before you go.

Thought I'd update you lot on how we've been getting on. Did 30.6 miles round Frodsham tonight, which took 2 hours 2 minutes, giving us an average speed of 15.1mph. There's just over 2,000 feet of climbing in that circuit, but its lumpy rather than any severe climbs, and the maximum height all the way round is about 500 feet.

I'm down to just above 14 stone now, so I've lost 3 stone since March. We're entered into 3 Sportives. The first is a 25 mile trek starting in Ashbourne on 2nd September. That should be pretty hilly, although its described as suitable for novices. The second is in Keswick on 16 September, and is 40 miles. That takes in the Winlatter Pass, which is described as a 6k, steady climb. The third is on 7th October and that is a toughie, The Cat and Fiddle Sportive, a 55 mile route round the peak district starting and finishing in Stoke and going through the peaks, round Cheshire, Staffordshire and Derbyshire.

Still got a long way to go to be where I want to be in July, but made massive strides since March, and my body has totally changed shape. My gut is hardly visible anymore, and my legs are massive.

Did Whinlatter Pass on Monday in ridiculous rain, did it once from each direction. Couldnt believe how much steeper it was going East to West. And did Cat and Fiddle tonight, that was a lovely climb, and my first Cat 2!

So that's the two main climbs of my two sportifs recce'd and shouldnt be a problem. Was under 14 stone on the scales today for the first time in about 10 years. Was 17 stone 3lbs in mid March, so lost 3st 4lb in 4 and a half months. Only 6lbs more until I'm considered normal under BMI terms. I've raced through "overweight", I was well into the "obese" category after the Cheltenham festival.

heroic. careful u dont get too skinny

well done mate, keep it up

Just a quick update on this:-

Just got back from Tenerife where we went for a week to get a bit of sun and get on the bikes. We also went there to climb Mount Teide, which is the biggest mountain in Spain and the biggest volcano in Europe. You cant get to the peak, because there's no roads, but we got to highest point you can on a bike, which was 2,400m, or about 7,800 feet. We did it on Tuesday. It was a 3 and a half hour climb with no flat and 49 kilometres from Puerto de la Cruz, where we were staying, all uphill. Its the first HC climb we've done, and very satisfying. I found it hard, even though the slope is pretty gradual, with most of it under 7-8%. We went through Cuesta de la Villa, Oratava and Aguamansa, for those that know it.

I also had my first serious 'chute' on the descent, losing it on a hairpin bend, flying over the barrier and down the side. Although I landed on some rocks, luckily it was head first and the helmet took the brunt of it and I escaped with cuts and bruises. The bike was worse off than me.

We now have provisional places on The Etape for 2013, and it looks like its almost definitely going to be Alpe d'Huez . Happily for us, The Teide is a similar climb to Alpe d'Huez. Steady but not nasty. Teide is higher and longer, but Alpe d'Huez is steeper. I still reckon I need to lose about a stone and a half, but I'm pretty happy with where I am after 6 months in the saddle.

I'm ending the season with Rourke's 55 mile Stoke sportive on Sunday, which takes in the Cat & Fiddle climb, and Sean Kelly is taking part. I love Kelly, so I'm hoping to get into a grupetto with the "big, big favourites" before "making a calculation", and then I'll probably go "majorly into the red" or "on the rivet, as they say in cycling". After that its the long, winter slog on the exercise bike.

Right, we've got places reserved for the Etape . Looks a particularly nasty final climb.