Luz Ardiden Archives - Bike Rebel Without a Cause

Tour de France 2023 – Recap & Stats

September 17, 2023August 22, 2023

As customary after all my cycling trips into the high mountains, most of those shamelessly dubbed Tour de France like this one or Giro d’Italia, I give you a recap with some stats of my latest adventure.

Compared to other two-week (14 or 15 stages) “grand tours”, it wasn’t the hardest, but it came in close 3rd in distance.

This is also its rank in elevation (D+) but looking at the average D+ over the total distance, it lands on 6th spot (from 7, as neither the TDF 2022 nor the Giro 2020 were two weeks)…

For a total of 1,147 kms, the D+ was 31,971 m – applying the not totally correct, but fair enough 50/50 rule, that amounts to some 56 m of D+ per km of climbing.

Compare that to the Giro’s of 2011 and 2015 (both 82 m/km) or the “toughest” TDF, 2022 at 66 m/km, and this “Pyrenees” Tour seems relatively easy.

Now, I know I’m getting older and some of the (previous) numbers are “off” – be it taken from Garmin, Strava or RideWithGPS – but this Tour really didn’t feel any easier…

Tour de France 2023 – Report Week 2

September 13, 2023August 17, 2023

This post is a recap of the Tour de France 2023 week 2/8 stages…

As mentioned in my previous recap, I had already cycled stage 8 with an unforeseen early finish, which gave me some time to write that post.

By now, we have returned home safe and (relatively) well, I’ve started to dose down the candy and cycled a few times in my backyard.

I’m scheduled to have two neurologist appointments next week, after which I’ll have to make up my mind about surgery.

I’m not convinced I will be able to go pain-free after that and at any rate, in general my spine issues remain and may cause new problems in other areas/on other discs later.

However, getting by on Oxy and Prednisone is not really an option either, nor does it extend my life span, although you never know when that will end anyway…

Tour de France 2023

August 28, 2023February 21, 2023

I finally got to cycle the Pyrenees during my Tour de France 2023.

Okay, that should probably read “in the Pyrenees” for I cycled in the central part of the French Pyrenees range.

It would have been nice to cycle the “Raid Pyrenees” that is (also) available as a Tacx series of RLV’s.

This is covering many Pyrenees climbs, from East to West, and I’ve done that indoors.