Up Close And Personal

In May, Tour of ’03 featured the story of Rob Mackey, a 41-year-old Web journalist and novice cyclist who signed up to ride L'Etape du Tour, the single-stage (Stage 10, from Pau to the Hautacaum and over the Tourmalet) of the Tour de France open to amateurs on Sunday July 6 .

He has been chronicling his adventures, The Climb, for the New York Times’ Play Magazine.

Rob completed the “105 soggy miles from Pau to Hautacam, along the route of next week’s 10th stage of the Tour de France, up four climbs, two rated third-category in degree of difficulty and two rated “beyond category,” in 8 hours 5 minutes — which officially placed him 3182nd out of more than 7,500 cyclists who started the race, and 961st in his age group.

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All Aboard!
For those with a little less sanity or who slant to the more extreme, I have been following "The Crazy Bet" laid down among John Bradley (Senior Editor, Outside Magazine), Guy Andrews (Editor, Rouleur), Bill Strickland (Editor, Bicycling Magazine), and Simon Richardson (Deputy Editor, Cycling Weekly) through Bradley's Outside Blog.

Attempting to emulate the exploits of Jacques Anquetil,

The Crazy Bet is inspired by the exploits of Jacques Anquetil, the enigmatic French genius who, in May 1965, accomplished an extraordinary feat of cycling endurance. Stung by what he perceived to be the greater popularity of his arch-rival, Raymond Poulidor, Anquetil responded to a challenge from Raphael Geminiani, Directeur Sportif of Anquetil’s St Raphael team, to prove beyond all doubt that he was the superior athlete. At 3pm, on 29th May, Anquetil won the Dauphiné Libéré, a week-long stage race ending in the southern French city of Nîmes. Less than four hours later, having completed several rounds of interviews and the post-race reception, the often controversial Frenchman boarded a plane for a 40-minute flight to Bordeaux. At 1am the following morning, Anquetil lined up for the start of the Bordeaux-Paris, the punishing 557km one-day classic which would end later that morning in the French capital.

The challenge for "The Crazy Bet" riders,

In July 2008, the team of riders brought together by Rapha will attempt to emulate the achievements of ‘Master Jacques’ by taking on the two most demanding amateur road riding challenges in Europe back to back. On Saturday 5th July, the riders will tackle the Marmotte, the 174km sportive which includes the dreaded climbs of the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier.

Riding Independent Fabrication XS bikes and kitted out in Rapha clothing, the team will cross the finishing line on the mighty Alpe d’Huez before boarding a private plane, accompanied by a masseur, and flying to Pau. The following morning, 6th July, they will head out on the Étape du Tour, the 10th stage of this year’s Tour de France, and whose 156 kilometres include the fearsome climbs of the Tourmalet and Hautacam.

Accompanied by dedicated photographers, their weekend of epic riding will be published in the next Rouleur magazine.

Photo: Rob Mackey