The numbers are now coming up on the Etap site thick and fast (go to the French site not the English to find your number, there is a search facility under "Inscriptions"). I suppose that is it, I am committed now.
A friend of mine sent me an email re training in the gym. Now I might not be doing things right but here is what I replied to him.
I went to the gym last night. Majority opinion here is not to train by wattage but to train by heart rate. Most people are looking to do at least two hour sessions (some are doing up to 4 hour sessions) at around 130 bpm with a cadence of 85-95 (that should burn you over 1000 calories). At the end of the session take a note of the wattage (machine usually summarises with avg power) and compare it to a previous session (taking into account how you felt on each).
Don't worry what other people are doing, what works for you?
Training in the gym is very boring so make sure you have a radio, TV or iPod to keep you entertained, and have at least one full bottle of water if not two.
If you go too hard in the first hour you will suffer badly in the second.
I did two hours last night in the gym (boy are those gym bike saddles uncomfortable), my first sesion for a while. I must admit my heart rate was up at 138 avg. The first hour my wattage was about 180 and the second hour I dropped the wattage to about 168 because I was suffering (that was level 8 then level 7).
I suggest you consider doing a spin class at the gym before your session to break up the boredom. When the spin class finishes then jump on the regular exercise bike and do a steady ride to complete the session.
I must admit that I did 5000 metres on the rowing machine before I started the 2 hours (so overall it was a 2 hour 21 minute session).
You might consider incorporating rowing into your fitness regime. The rowing machine is very complimentary in that rowing is a leg sport and oarsmen always perform well at cycling, but it is non-impact, strengthens the lower back and upper body without adding heavy muscle (I have read that cycling neglects these muscles and can lead to problems over time). You will need to get an oarsman (rather than a fitness instructor) to teach you how to row properly on the machine (there are some good instruction videos on youtube such as www.youtube.com/watch?v=eqVmMd7FdAA), set the resistance low (about level 3 or 4) then do sessions of 5,000-10,000 metres (20 to 45 minutes) at a rating (strokes per minute) of 20-22 (top right hand box on Concept II) and wear a heart rate monitor and keep the heart rate between 120-140 bpm. Don't try to race, just to get smoothness and posture. It may feel easy to start but you will be surprised how hard it gets after 10 minutes.
As for the Etap. Treat it like an adventure. If it is your first then trust me you will be back so your aim should only be to finish. If you achieve a silver or gold great but don't go looking for them because it will ruin it for yourself. The first 80 miles is hilly/undulating and will take a toll on you but you need to have something in the tank for the last 22km (which is going to be the hardest two hours of your life) but once you are on that last 20 Km there is no point in not making it. Look to enjoy it, don't ride too hard for the first 80 miles, and just stay ahead of the broom wagon (something I might find difficult this year).
The Etap is a memorable experience, there will always be people faster or slower that you no matter how fast or slow you are. 8000 people riding makes the roads very busy and if it is a nice day very much a party atmosphere.
Take into consideration that every 100 metres you climb the temperature drops 1 degree so climbing Ventoux the temperature will drop 15 degrees between to bottom and the top!
It seems to take over your life, doesn't it?
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