Ardéchoise Cyclosportif

10 club members rode the Ardéchoise in June 2006, seven of them having spent a week in the Alps courtesy of tourmaster supreme Ian Collins. The Ardéchoise takes it's name from the scenic Ardéche area in the South of France, close to the Rhone Valley. With its extinct volcanoes and deep river gorges, it's a great place to ride and everyone seemed impressed by the roads. Even more impressive was the turn out of the locals, who lined the roads, offering encouragement, water and even music to help everyone on their way. The event is no secret though, it's France's biggest cyclosportif, attracing around 15,000 riders each year.

On the day, the forecast was for hot weather but a downpour just after the start cooled things down on the first climb and made the following descent amusing for some, disastrous for others. With memories of hypothermia from the 2004 edition, James Beaumont almost turned back but by chance he caught up with Ian Collins and decided to ride on.

The ride wasn't incident free. A local idiot had sprinkled a portion of the road with carpet tacks and Andrew 'Harv' Harvey punctured, only to restart and see his inner tube blow up again. In the end, he had to get a new tyre from the race support. Naz Peralta had a tack in the sidewall of his tyre too and throughout the ride, everyone saw a lot of riders beside the road fixing punctures. Talking of roadsides, Lawrence Smith ended up on the side of the road, crashing in front of a gendarme, a moment to cap an eventful week and Ben Cousins took a mudbath in a ditch. Gafyn MacMillan had to stop a couple of times with the freewheel locking up on his back wheel, as did James Beaumont for a loosening pedal. Thanks to the yellow Mavic men for the roadside handiwork.

Both Chris Salt and Ben Cousins had got knee pains from Alps. They rested prior to the event and were fine on the day, riding strongly. Ride of the day goes to Gafyn. He hadn't been able to ride much during the year but decided to tackle the 216km route and finished looking fresh faced. James was also pleased, after finishing in 38th place: "once the sun came out, I made up for lost ground and was flying past everyone else. I had one of my best ever days on the bike." And well done to Sheila Hunt, she was planning to do the shorter ride but opted for a longer route, maybe the scenic views inspired her.

Sitting down for a beer and some food in the evening after the ride, the talk even turned to riding next year. So maybe the club will be back for even more in 2007.

Les Boutières, 120km

Sheila Hunt5.58.35

La Volcanique, 171km

Ben Cousins6.22.32
Chris Salt6.23.27
Brian Shepherd7.12.15
Russell Seekins7.45.11
Narayan Peralta7.51.24
Andrew Harvey7.51.38

l'Ardéchoise, 216km

James Beaumont7.28.28
Ian Collins7.48.55
Lawrence Smith8.25.31
Gafyn MacMillan9.24.42