Day 5 // This Is What Ye Have Shipped For!

Words by Stuart Downie

Photos by Liz Seabrook, Jordi Rulló and Tomás Montes

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The triumphant halloo of thirty buckskin lungs was heard, as—much nearer to the ship than the place of the imaginary jet, less than a mile ahead—Moby Dick bodily burst into view!

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We have a winner. Nicolas Chatelet (008) finishes TPRNo6 in 4 days, 4 hours and 24 minutes. Arriving at Eat Sleep Cycle at 11:24, his first thought is lunch – what’s he ordering? A big piece of beef. Well deserved.

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Nicolas spoke about planning and making fewer mistakes, and this race has shown his consistency and courage. A healthy appetite for daily distance – he rode 1,805.44km – and a high average moving speed are the key components of this success. These are just a few of the calculations the mathematics teacher made. His plan had him finishing in under 4 days, but he was held up after he couldn’t locate the gravel descent off the end of the Raid Parcours – have you heard the term ‘pea soup’? Visibility was only a few metres, and it was late. A Zoom lesson on symmetry this afternoon has had to be rescheduled as a result. Overall, stop time was low, but it won’t be the lowest, and as he said – if I’m tired, I sleep. If not, I ride. When you know yourself, you know your limits.

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And Nicolas knows himself; he’s raced at the elite level in France, so le metier required to ride hard isn’t new, nor are the skills required to make good time on the many descents. In fact, Nicolas thought he took more of an advantage over pursuing riders on the descents than on the climbs. There’d also be a little bit of home advantage – Nicolas grew up in Ariege. Not that being close to home always helps. Struggling with saddle sores, Nicolas thought about giving up as he approached the Tourmalet. Things that could have happened… That’s why when we saw him late on the Peyresourde he was leaving his bib straps down – a little bit of forced induction to dry out the chamois. 

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Precedes and Prophesies

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Less than half an hour after Chatelet finishes, the weather finally turns, and we’re in a rainstorm. Finish volunteer team leader Larry calls it stair rods – that paints the picture. It doesn’t let up for hours, and the next riders on course will have to contend with the rain as well as the kilometres in their legs.

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Bruno Wicht (066) arrives into Girona to claim second spot 4.5h later. Nicolas waits to greet him – a true sportsman – and hopefully they'll have time for their first chat. We are back on the road to look for Anna Richter (004), who is nearing the end of the Raid Parcours, where we will see the situation for ourselves, or not.

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At 20:24, Anatole Naimi (076) claims third place. At TPRNo4, I recall Anatole burying himself chasing Robin, and we had a slightly delirious conversation while he ate four pots of riz au lait outside a supermarket in Axat. It’s been nice to see him confidently and capably take a podium spot, and I look forward to chatting with him in the days to come.

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There’s a race on for the places behind: Adam Bialek (006), Omar di Felice (010) and Marin de Saint Exupery (009) are all on the finish parcours, with Girona in their sights. Charlie Bratt (149) is pushing for a top-ten spot up the Raid's final climb, head in the clouds literally if not figuratively. The bad dream of TPRNo5’s DNF is about to be swapped for something a little sweeter.

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Light Thou Though Be

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When we saw Anna Richter (004) passing through Osséja before the final climbs of the Raid, their computer bleeped – presumably because we were next to a shop. I’d hoped we might get a moment to chat at a resupply, but everything was in hand because Anna kept on pedalling. We followed up the climb, and after the heat of the previous days it felt like another world – pendulous pine forests, thickening cloud, birds singing. A little as if you’d stepped through the wardrobe.

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Taking a picture further up, I venture an opening gambit: how’s it going? Not good, says Anna. Perhaps we’ll not have a chat tonight, though I hope to hear more about their ride in Girona. At the summit, Anna turned back, choosing not to take the gravel cut. Alex McCormack (093), who is following, plunges over the edge and gains quite an advantage on the road into Girona.

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If unfinished business is the unofficial theme of TPRNo6 (Moby Dick is the official theme, of course), then the outcome has been largely positive. Adam Bialek (006) has banished the spectre of his TPRNo3 DNF, finishing fourth just after midnight. A great result after two years in absentia against a strong field. The field is only getting faster.

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Up, Spine, and Meet It!

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There’s that saying attributed to America’s one and only three-time Tour de France winner, Gregory James LeMond: it never gets easier; you just go faster. Where could that be truer than at a race like this, where riders are putting in the effort of their lives, front to back? Imagine knowing the magnitude of the task ahead, facing the abstract challenge of what's to come in all its forms, covering huge distances each day with the kind of elevation you would rarely see otherwise. It’s Tuesday now, the race is won, yet most of the field has days to go. This is a beautifully hard bike race, for everyone who races it.

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Earlier in the day, Control Team 2 photographer Liz Seabrook spots Rob Gardiner (014) climbing the Aubisque. If a picture is worth a thousand words, here are a few more: Rob tells Liz he ate an entire tuna baguette before beginning the climb. At the point of shutter release, we’re dangerously close to seeing it again.

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Jaimi Wilson (007) slept in a log stack the night before – the evidence is there, in her hair. Liz is reminded of seeing Jaimi at TCRNo10 where she had burrs all down her plait – a similar level of coiff distress.

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Control Team 2 catch Tom Banks (061) climbing Col de Soudet, finding himself part of Pyrenean pastoral life – the perfect encapsulation of the past few days. There is a big bike race going. Still life goes on.

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Nor Is This the End

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Today’s scratches are: Bruce Grant (119), pair Alastair Clifford (155a) and James Swift (155b) – who lived dicey and presumably paid the price-y – Sebastian Ceranski (126), Barney Brown (082), and finally former volunteer Simon Everett (046). Thanks for chasing the white whale!

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