Chapter 7 - Don't go up there Catherine!

THAT bike ride....

This is the face of a tired woman who is NOT happy !

Everyone at TriCamp was very helpful.  They all had top tips for the woman who looked like a rabbit trapped in the headlights at times. Some of the advice was a little near the knuckle but then I’ve been told it’s good to share.

And so the words “Don’t go on THAT bike ride when they go to Sa Calobra” were still echoing in my ears.  And to be fair if I’d googled Sa Calobra before I’d gone on THAT bike ride I probably wouldn’t have gone.  Here is how they describe the 90k bike ride we did that day:-

"Perhaps the most feared climb on the island and a must do for many cyclists. Sa Calobra is 10km of tarmac draped on the side of a mountain. Its 26 hairpin turns climb 668 meters at an average 7.1% gradient. One of the hairpins is so extreme it does a 360 turn and heads back over itself. The road accesses the fishing village of the same name and is at the foot of the climb."

How bad could it be ?..... 

My co-pilot Andrew

Biggles with a similar swimming hat to Andrew's

First I need to introduce Andrew - he will be one of my co-riders for this epic event. Andrew is approximately my age.  We had established this on several occasions as he made musical references from the '80s and I was the only girl to understand what or who he was referring to. He kept pointing this out to me “You’re showing your age Catherine” whoops.  He was at TriCamp with his friend who he’d known since he was 11 - ahhh sweet. They used to retire early to bed we suspect for blood transfusions!

Over the week Andrew was to impart many pearls of wisdom to me. Which usually made me giggle, he seemed to have all the latest techniques and gadgets to help him through training. Who can forget the wetsuit hat he had for the open water swim - very fetching!

One morning we commented on the lines on his legs. Oh he casually replied I slept in my compression tights.

Me:- “You what? slept in some tights?”..... Andrew proceeded to give me the technical explanation for this apparent normal male behaviour. Odd.

He had a heart monitor on his bike which he referred to often. When I first rode with him I told him his phone was going off - but it was his digital thingy-me-jig counting off the KM’s.  I think Dave had given me one of these too, there was certainly some kind of digital gadget attached to my handlebars where the bell should be. But I think explaining this to me had been a step too far for Dave, seeing as he had needed to explain the gears and brakes in such great depth. So I was still blissful in my ignorance as to how to use this device.

Chaffing Talk

As is often the way at social gatherings the girls huddle in one corner to chat and the boys gravitate to the other.  And so at TriCamp a girls table formed at mealtimes. One night very bravely Andrew decided to mix it up a bit and come and sit with us girls. I think he quickly wished he hadn’t bothered. Quite rapidly the conversation turned to lube and various chaffing issues that girl triathletes suffer from - mainly in wetsuits apparently.

Rita who has a very lovely ample chest - proceeded to talk about her triathlon experiences with nipple rash and KY Jelly - and Andrew's eyes nearly popped out of his head and he really didn’t know where to look! Having heard that boys also suffer from chaffing issues whilst cycling and not wanting him to feel excluded from the conversation I asked him if he had anything to impart? He glared at me. No? Sure ? Perhaps not then!  but he did tell us this story….. Prior to one triathlon event he went to his local Tesco Express to buy an energy drink and some KY Jelly for his wetsuit. (Apparently the lube prevents chaffing around the neck of the wetsuit.) The cashier scanned the 2 items and then looked up from the conveyor belt and simply said to him “Looks like a busy night ahead then sir?”. Brilliant. 

Sa Calobra

In the words of John Lennon "The long and winding road"

So we all set off on our 90k bike ride with the option to stop at 50km .....allegedly. The minibus and TriCamp Steve would be coming too this time. There was a get out. I clung to this thought.

As we got going Andrew and I found ourselves ascending the hill together.  It was great, we encouraged each other through the pain and the disappointment when you realise there are NO other gears left to turn to and this is it for the duration. We experienced the joy when the hill flattens out a tiny bit and you get to choose another gear. Woo Hoo.  And then the disappointment again when you turn the corner and the road is still going up.  He talked me through his heart rate, and he advised me when he was holding back. I told him “Don’t get technical with me I don’t give a shit just keep moving your arse up that hill.”

So I definitely couldn’t have got up there without him - we were a good team.  And then there is the downhill bit to the beach.  Andrew likes downhill bits and I didn’t see him for dust, he left me. Whoosh. Gone.

  

The Descent - Champion the Wonder Horse

My trusty steed Bailey

 To start with the descent was fun and exhilarating. Weeeeeee. But a bit like the top advice “Don’t look down” when descending Sa Calobra don’t be tempted to watch the cyclists who are struggling back UP from the beach, pain etched on their faces. As I got nearer and nearer the beach going down the hair pin bends my hands got colder clutching the brakes. I hunched over the drop bars singing Mama Mia and Champion the Wonder Horse to myself, it wasn’t fun anymore, I’d had enough. My back ached, my neck ached, my arse hurt, my hands, feet and legs were cold and I was tired.

And then as luck would have it I spotted Steve in the minibus going the other way, like a knight in shining armour …..”STOP” I shouted “STOP”. I carried on my descent confident Steve would meet me at the bottom........he didn't.

I’d lost my sense of humour I got to the bottom shouted at Andrew “You left me! I’m done, I’m not going back up there. Steve can come and collect me”.  I threw my hat and shoes off and tucked into some energy bars and sat on a bench in the sunshine. I was done. The others rode back up without me. I was alone.

I'm done with this cycling malarky ! 

And then….

TriCamp Nick and Mike arrived at the beach with some of the other girls. I wasn’t the last one after all. 

Nick came over to me:- “What are you doing Catherine?”

Me like a petulant child:- “I’m done I’m waiting for Steve to come and get me in the minibus”

Nick:- “Have you had something to eat? I think you can do it”

Me:- “No I’m done - enough is enough”

Nick:- “there are girls half your age here and I know that you are strong and you can definitely do it”

Me:- “mmmmm” not convinced.

Nick:- “I’ll come up with you, we can go as slow as you like and we can stop - you can do it”.

Now this was Nick at his most persuasive and positive. But as I pointed out to him if those girls were half my age - that would make me about 60! Thanks for that.

Right - I’d show those doubters - let’s do it, lets go. And off we set, slowly but surely. But I bloody well did it with all Nicks encouragement and distracting questioning and patience. And I wasn't the last one back. Nick even carried my much mocked back pack for me at one stage! Absolutely brilliant one of the best moments of my life....not Nick carrying my backpack bit..... the reaching the top bit.  Thanks Nick and Andrew. I was so chuffed with myself, I can't remember the last time I have achieved something so monumental. 

A very happy woman !

On reaching the top we saw Steve and the minibus.

Me:- “What happened to you?, I shouted at you”

Steve:- “I did turn around but you were still going down you didn’t stop”.  He had been confused and then when he’d seen Noel (another TriCamp guest, the 62 year old runner who had run up Sa Calobra!) at the car park Noel had very helpfully said “Oh Catherine, she won’t have meant it she’s always joking around!”  So that serves me bloody well right then. But I did do it and I’m so bloody pleased I persevered. Ace.

And that's what I need to do with the Bastard Swimming......

NEXT CHAPTER:- My swimming technique, I get to use the wetsuit and sea fleas.

All content strictly copyright Catherine Jevans 2014.