The Big Secret

Three years ago, I was riding with some buddies in Vermont. Rides there often have a bit of gravel or dirt roads thrown into the route.

As I repeatedly flatted, I started to notice that my Vermont friends weren't flatting. In fact, they never flatted. They were early adopters of "the secret."

As a secret-holder should do, I've been mostly quiet since finding out about "the secret" -- not out of selfishness, just out of not wanting to jinx myself.

Why? Because I haven't flatted in 3 years. I feel like I'm beyond the jinx phase, or maybe deserve a flat after all of this downtime. Heck, I used to be the fastest tire-changer in our riding group. I'm so rusty that when I guy flatted on our Saturday ride, it took minutes to make the change.

The fact that "the secret" has remained a secret is baffling to me. All that are in on it, rave about it. However, the raving isn't public. They see that you know the secret and then rave. Maybe we're all scared of the jinx.

Why the companies behind "the secret" don't trumpet this more is also beyond me. They've got a killer app, but their PR machines aren't getting the message out.

What's "the secret"? Tubeless road tires. Yes, get them, say goodbye to flats. Period.

The setup is simple, although a bit tricky the first time through. All you need is sealed aluminum rims (the kind that don't show spokes when the tire and tube are removed -- Kysriums, Shimano Ultegra or Durace). Then buy a pair of Hutchinson Fusion tubeless road tires, a pair of stems, some Stan's or CaffeLatex sealant. Stan's sells the whole kit (tires, stems, sealant) to make it easy.

The total rotating weight is effectively the same as the standard tube + tire setup. The ride feels similar to a tubular in that you don't have a tube squirreling around inside the tire.

Get 'em. Say goodbye to flats.

Stan's has a great install video here: http://www.notubes.com/movie_road.php

You'll have to change the sealant every couple of months (easy) as it dries out / evaporates.

There you have it. You're in on "the secret." Say goodbye to flats.

Now I just hope I haven't jinxed myself.

Que the Barry Manilow music...

Looks like we made it! Crossing the line after 113.2 miles and 14,300 feet of climbing on an incredibly difficult course was a heck of an accomplishment for all finishers of the Pau-Tourmalet stage.

Highlights (no room for a camera today, so borrowed these):

• Pau start was fast -- Eric and I averaged over 22mph for the first 25 miles
• Then the climbs came -- those little bumps on the course map weren't so little
• Hit the Marie-Blanque (9 km at 8%) at 40 miles. The last 4ks were tough - 10%+. At one point the Garmin read 15% grade for almost a 1/2 km -- no walking! although half the pack crashed just to my right as guys couldn't make the grade and suddenly clipped out.
• The road between the Marie-Blanque and the Soulor is one of the most beautiful roads I've ever ridden, one car width wide, in a totally green valley, stream running beside the road, mountains jutting into the sky, beautiful castles overlooking the valley.
• Soulor climb was as long as advertised -- 15km at 7%. Saved the best for last - 9-10% at the top.
• 
• Apparently the horses, cattle and sheep can't relieve themselves in the fields and prefer the road. It was slick and a gross descent -- doo-doo dodging.
• Found a great group to sit in on for the 25 miles from the base of the Soulor to the base of the Tourmalet. Actually felt good enough to pull for Graham and others for 5 miles (mistake to be paid for later)
• Group is 2 Norwegians, 2 Irish, 3 French, 2 Swiss, 2 Israelis, 1 Portuguese, 1 Slovenian and me. Where else can you get this? Hand gestures become the international language at this point.
• Felt great climbing the 8.5 miles up to the base of the Tourmalet, then things started to unravel -- looked down and saw 100 miles on the odometer. Guess things should be unraveling.
• To keep tradition alive, stopped and downed two Orangina's in Barreges, halfway up the climb. Waited for Eric for about 15 mins, then headed up.
• The Tourmalet is a beast --- will be a fun stage to watch this week. 10%+ ramps out of Barreges, all the way to the top of this 2 hour+ climb
• At 5km to go, can see the top, ramps look incredibly steep. Downright depressing. Am pushing it to maintain 5mph
• At 4km to go, Eric appears from behind -- the mayor is conversing in French with anyone with a water bottle to pour over his head!
• At 3km to go, accordions, drums, little kids singing and cheering take the mind away from the pain. Huge ski bowl. Would love to come back and ski it.
• At 1km to go, dreading the looks of the steep ramp for last .5km
• Finally on the last ramp and it's so steep that the only way up is standing climbing. It's tough
• Crossed the finish line and more "lost breakfast" than I've ever seen. Clearly, this last section pushed people beyond their limits.

• Eric and I skip the stale ham sandwiches and descend 18 miles back to the hotel. Total of 131 miles on the day.
• I ate 5 plates of pasta and still went to bed hungry (but squeezed in a Pelforth)

Heids, thanks for the hall pass. Was amazing. Harder course than Alpe d'Huez stage, but cooler weather helped a ton. Kent, David, Steve, Jim and the HighGear Travel gang made it one of the smoothest trips ever. David and Kent both killed it on the day -- finishing in the first two groups up the mountain.

Now looking forward to some sleep on the plane!

The Day Before -- showtime Tomorrow!

Last day of prep today. Trying to get everything dialed in for tomorrow as well as trying to relax.

We're doing the hardest stage of the Tour de France this year -- three climbs over the col du Marie Blanque (very steep last 3km at 10%+, up to 14%), col du Soulor (long, long climb), then 20+ miles up the gorge and then onto the Tourmalet, 18 miles up to the highest point in the Pyrenees.

That's got everyone a bit nervous, so to lighten the load, we headed into the Farmers Market (picture the Waitsfield farmers market x10 in a town about the same size). The mission -- euro capris for the guys who can pull those off (I'm not in that category). Needless to say, a lot of laughs.

Next, to Lourdes for holy water. Lourdes is an international pilgramage site for Catholics. Legend has it that the Virgin Mary appeared to a shepherd girl, and then to her priest, telling them that the waters from a spring had healing powers.

The town has a pretty special vibe and we visited to pray in the chapel and rub some of those healing waters onto our legs. The Mayor demonstrates in the video below:

Lastly, a 45 minute spin to loosen up the legs for 8 hours plus tomorrow and then pull everything together in advance of the 4a wakeup call. Big day tomorrow -- say a prayer for us!

Etape du Tour - Day Three -- Variety Day

Today was a great mix of random experiences. Started with picking Eric up from the airport, heading into Pau for a great lunch (omelette smothered in dijon mustard -- I'm telling you, it may not sound good, but it's awesome).

Then to registration to pick up our race numbers -- delayed 45 minutes waiting for the army paratroopers (insert your favorite WW2 jokes here). No idea what paratroooper's have to do with cycling...

Then a short ride today (yes, behaving ourselves). Climbed 10 miles, then descended. Went to Laurent Fignon's shop here -- amazing collection of trophies.

Dinner and then a very random experience that has me laughing on the way to bed tonight. It's captured in the video here:

Etape du Tour - Jour Deux

For the past couple of days, my cousin Kent and his friend Steve talked up an amazing climb they'd done here in the Pyrenees a few years ago - the Pont de Espana -- literally climbing up to the Spanish border.

We made plans to drive to the base of the climb as our ride for the day. We had to take a couple of cars to get the bikes and people over (David, Kent, Jim, Steve and I). As we popped out of the cars, Kent said, "Hey, how about riding Luz Ardiden first?"

Hmmm. I'm thinking that this Pont de Espana climb might not be much of a challenge if they want to tack on another climb. Now Luz Ardiden isn't just any climb, it's a whopper with long sections at 10%. It's famously the site where Lance Armstrong's handlebars were caught by a spectators bag several years ago. He crashed hard, and then roared back to win the stage.

No such antics here today, just a beast of a long climb. The weather was great, foggy and cool all the way to the top, then the sun broke.

We descended back down to our starting point, grabbed some lunch (probably the best ham and cheese sandwich I've ever had in my life), then headed up to the Pont de Espana.

The sun has now taken over the sky -- beautiful day, but getting hot on the climb.

It starts gradually and I was hanging onto Kent's wheel. I see a sign that says 15km to the top. Hmmm. This must just be a long gradual climb. 6km later, Steve declares the gradual part of the climb over and says, "it get's a bit brutal from here."

Turns out, this was going to be a long climb.

I'm now wondering how I get myself into these messes. I ate lightly this am, thinking there was only one climb on the day. No salt tabs, no gels. 6km later, I'm in trouble. Grades are 10%+ and I'm cramping badly. I haven't had that tough of a stretch on the bike in years. The cramps would lock my left leg and mandate stopping every km or so.

Thankfully, somewhere near the top, the guys reappeared. Tired of waiting, they'd started the descent, turned around and encouraged me up the last 1/2 km. One more cramping episode and I'd finally made it.

The day ended like all good rides in France -- at a Pattisserie (pastry shop).

Tale of the tape: 51 miles, 8,000 feet of climbing.

This is definitely not tapering!

Day 2 - Video here:

Etape du Tour -- Day One Video - now up!

It's hard to do a bike trip...without a bike. Etape - Day One

The airlines managed to make a bike disappear. But David (our French friend and guide) had one waiting for me this morning. Amazing that he can make a carbon bike appear in just a few hours.

After breakfast, we headed out to "stretch the legs" with a two hour climb. We're surrounded by them here at the base of the Tourmalet in the Pyrenees.

I've wanted to climb the Aspin (famous TdF climb) for years. David suggested a twist. It turned out to be a great twist. Captured some of the video here tomorrow (when upload finishes).

Etape du Tour 2010 - starts here

Day one: just landed in Madrid en route to Toulouse. Sea of Red jerseys here, horns blowing in airport at 7a. Felicidades Espana!

Early morning TV showing Running of the Bulls. I think the Etape looks way smarter than that mid-life crisis exercise. Can't wait for first pan almond + Orangina.