Peleton pacer blog: We hurdled the last mountain

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Sorry I have left this so long! I got back from Paris on the July 22, now known as Super Sunday, and the day that Wiggins drove the Sky team home through the cobbled roads of Paris.

The world seems to have gone Olympic mad! I accompanied the torch up to Putney from Hampton Court rowing, but having been back at work, I have now had some time to reflect on our adventure!

I left you just before the Tourmalet. That day dawned, we got ready, set and started peddling from roughly 6k outside of the town and the base of the Tourmalet.

It was when I saw the first sign, which told me it was 18k to the top, and the percentage for the next kilometre that it dawned on me that the real reason I had taken up cycling (and put myself through the learning process and well, the pain) was for this moment, to complete a HC.

I am not going to lie, I was seriously nervous, butterflies and all.  Having already got quite a few other cats under my belt and having completed the miles that I wanted to, I was ready but tired!

I began very slowly setting a good pace, Gaby was long gone as I dropped my iPod and so after I had stopped to pick it up, I was left alone to trudge up the ‘hill’.

I was soon overtaken by some Aussie boys who had all the gear and pace (but I later overtook them as they literally died at the side of the road, with 10k to go).

It was a constant percentage and climb which I just kept weddling away at, before I reached a beautiful ski town that was fab. I kept on going, slowly but surely, meeting some great people on route.

I am not going to lie, 18k is a long old time! It was the hardest part of the whole trip for me, especially before I got to the last 8k which was spectacular and people cheered all the way to the top.

It was about 10k from the top that I began to really feel it but I made a pact with myself that I wouldn’t stop… so I didn’t!

The views, the people, the atmosphere, the amount the Coke cost… all of it was just priceless!

The last 2k, when the gradient really stepped up and I could see the top, is when I got a little bit overwhelmed with emotion and realised I had almost achieved what I set out to do.

Riding in to Paris was fabulous!

Once the trip was over, fatigue set in big time though and I was back to the grind…

Sadie Anderson, Sportsister
The Women’s Sports Magazine

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