The Stott Report

[jock]

Some of you might be wondering where Callum has been lately.  He's over in England having just completed a three day tour from London to Paris, covering around 200km each day and finishing with full police escort under the Arc de Triomphe!  Awesome, eh? 

His preparation was interrupted by the flu and he suffered a few set-backs along the way but he still managed to finish.  Here's how he told it:

[jock]

Nice early morning around 7:15am which wasn't so bad except we were packing till around midnight ensuring everything was packed.  We found out later that most of the others guys also did too! After a nice slow roll out the pace started picking up a little bit but nothing too serious. It was a beautiful ride through the country side under full road escort. The sun was also nice but i ended up getting a little burnt.

We stopped for lunch roughly half way for a bite of food, not nearly enough in my opinion. I also made a very stupid mistake of letting the support crew refill my bottle. They filled it with a very strong SIS (major UK sports drink brand) which later made me pay big time as I struggled to get it down.  Without enough fluids going in i got a bit dehydrated which led to mild cramping. I refused to give up though and managed to push through without injuring myself.
Towards the very end we had Capel Le Firm climb which although wasn't overly brutal scattered the bunch.  I was probably 5th last to climb but was taking it easy. Reaching the top was amazing, there was this beautiful nice cold breeze which had a slight smell of salt which I think lifted everyone's spirits greatly. After regrouping at the top it was brilliant to roll down into Dover where we made our way on to a ferry (Group 1). With a nice chat, some food and a nap for some of us we arrived in Calais where we rode down to a storage area for the bikes, jumped on a coach, got to the hotel, ate dinner, chatted for a bit then hit the sack.
 

[jock]

Day 2 didn't start so early which was good, morning was great, nice pace with great roads. A complete change in moods of motorists and residents too! Instead of getting an unwelcome atmosphere like we did in London the French were tooting us along and giving support as if we were all professionals.

The tour includes designated sections where a bit of racing takes place, called yellow sections.  The first yellow section of the day was blisteringly fast, averaging just over 45km/h.  Unfortunately I got dropped around half the way through it which wasn't so bad as I wasn't the only one. I ended up pulling turns with 2 other guys which was good as we were never going to catch the second bunch who were already around 250m ahead when they upped the pace. We worked well together and managed to hold our position relative to the bunch ahead which was good. My Uncle Jerone won the Yellow.

Next up we had Mont Cossel which was mostly a cobbled climb, it was tough but a great experience. Come lunch time I wasn't feeling too bad. Unfortunately this is when we heard some terrible news: there had been 3 accidents throughout the morning. One involved a CSC rider that I had been riding with earlier in the day.  He had come down on a section of diesel and had been hit by one of the escort motorbikes. Our support van had been there and provided first aid until the  ambulance arrived.  Decision was made that racing was to be cancelled for rest of day.

Our lunch was extended an extra hour while our support crew and people in charge sorted out as much as they could. With cold legs I wasn't feeling so confident, I felt dead. About 10km in I punctured which meant I lost about 1km from the bunch while changing wheels. I was determined to get back on so I decided the best chance of doing that was behind the huge service van. The next km or so was much easier. Catching up to a couple of riders who had dropped off the bunch I decided to help drive them back to the group. We rejoined the bunch only to stop for a 3 minute break 5km later.  Groan! The afternoon was very tough as the top riders were holding a very strong pace, a lot of suffering but worth it.

[jock]

After finding out that the CSC rider was in a critical condition with best case scenario being severe (brain?) damage things were a bit in pieces. After a few of the key members had a discussion it was decided that no more racing would take place in respect of the CSC rider. This didn't bother anyone as there was a lot of emotion about.

In a way the decision was a good thing for me as there were some killer hills that I simply didn't have enough strength for. The stronger riders barely dropped below 20km/h on the hills, which meant we weren't given a chance to regroup.

In the 40 or so kays before the 170km regroup point I was spent, just running on gels. It was still very tough with a lot of guys getting dropped in a BIG way on the hills. The last 10km before the 170km mark we had an awesome rolling pace of over 50km/h which was really nice.

At the regroup point all 250 riders merged together for the run into Paris.  With a lot of escort bikes and police it was an incredible experience rolling in.... it was just awesome and the french support was something I never imagined. Apparently we are the ONLY non-professional cycling group to ever get a full escort past the Arc de Triomphe into Paris. I had a great time, it was all amazing! and a VERY big night that night......
 
Unfortunately the next morning we were told that the CSC rider had passed away which was a huge tragedy....

[jock]

Stephen Roach rode with us which was just brilliant, he is a very classy rider!!!

I met James Cracknell, an ex british rower - gold medallist. Brilliant guy, very big and strong... I have never seen a guy over 100kgs climb a hill so quickly! 
 
Emma Davis is very LOUD! Great chick, was very fun to hang out with on the Saturday night. Very strong women too...
 
Next year I want to be racing Jerone or at least staying with him in the Yellow sections... so a lot of training to do.

[Chicken]

Sounds like an awesome time. 

Shame about the CSC rider. Would have put a huge dampener on the ride.

Did he say when he will be back?

[jock]

Callum will have plenty of tales to tell the weekend after next Chicken.

[Chicken]

Thanks Jock.

[Callum Stott]

Sounds like an awesome time. 

Shame about the CSC rider. Would have put a huge dampener on the ride.

Did he say when he will be back?

It was an awesome time! A lot of hard work but rolling into Paris was absolutely amazing!

Yes it is a shame about the CSC rider; I actually spent some time riding with him earlier that day. It is always a tragedy when these things happen - it definitely reminds us how vulnerable we are and how important safety is while we enjoy the sport we love. We are all hoping this tragedy doesn't affect the effent to much short or long term as it is an amazing event.

I will be arriving back Saturday the 5th of July with the intention of racing the following Saturday. I look forward to seeing everyone and having a more sensible race (distance)

Thank you to everyone who has given me tips and support over the last 4-5 months, it has been great! I look forward to more club racing! and speacial thank you to Jock for helping with all my preperation, it has been a huge benefit for my training and fitness; and also just giving me support when feeling low!!

Next challenge: Make A grade club