To prepare for World Champs I lived in a van for several weeks traveling around France to Savoie, Clermont-Ferrand, Ussel, the Pyrenees and Fontainbleau. The Mercedes Vito van cost me and Ally £1950 and we bought a £90 sofabed from IKEA that just fitted between the wheel arches. After World Champs we sold the van for £1650. It was an interesting and cheap experiment and a crazy adventure. The van was actually pretty comfortable to sleep in and I did some great training. For WOC preparation it was definitely a bit of a compromise and probably not something I will repeat but on a tight budget you could do a lot worse.
Here is a wee flavour of our trip courtesy of pyrat. There aren't so many pictures from the hard sessions but the ones from the long mountain runs give me an opportunity to show off my great range of silly sun hats..
Another long run another cool sun hat! This was my favourite so I also wore it to the quarantine zone for the WOC long distance final.
I am much more excited than Ally to reach the summit of Puy de Dome.
Ally le Tour-ist at the stage 14 finish area at the top of Plateau de Beille after a tough cycle up!
Alternative training on bouldering routes designed for children!
Game face ready for pairs map memory training with Ally.
After sleeping in the van at Col du Tourmalet we head off for another long jog.
Getting up close to the lovely Andy Schleck!
Free shiz at le Tour after riding up the Plateau de Beille.
After training in Savoie and racing a bit at the French Champs we did a couple of days cycling for alternative training. We rented bikes from Velomondo one of the only places in the Pyrenees you can rent decent road bikes (and very lovely people). Ally was keen to bag a few Cols!
Relay training with the Norwegian team in Revard
Finishing the French Middle Distance Champs
Mountain views
Our amazing solar powered van shower ie bag of water + pipe
BBQ after running intervals in the midday heat in a random forest close to our route home. Meal times and post training naps were a big part of van life, so much so that we almost missed our ferry back to the UK. Luckily we made it and Ally put in a great effort at the Scottish 6 days to finish 31st overall in M21E which gave me even more inspiration on my return to France for WOC itself. :-)
Aw, you went up the Puy de Dome. The first time I went up there it was so snowy and cold. Brr! Did you ever make it orienteering at Vulcania?
ReplyDeleteWe were a bit pushed for time so we'll have to go back for more Vulcania action, extreme O. :-)
ReplyDeleteLooks like an awesome trip :) Guess I better go rent a van for next summer!
ReplyDeleteYou should! Van life was excellent. x
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