Epic Camp France Day 0

Epic Camp France 2019 begins tomorrow. The camp was started by Gordo Byrn and Scott Molina as a way to get like minded athletes together and use the atmosphere as a stimulus to get the most out of the group.

I first did Epic camp in 2004 when it was held in Australia. I have also done so calle Epic Camp lite versions around races in Kona, Hawaii in 2013 and Roth, Germany in 2017.

After flying from Castlegar, BC to Calgary, AB to Paris, FR. I arrived in Biarritz last night at 7:15pm local time. My checked bag arrived with me but my bike did not. Some 28 hours later neither Air France nor Westjet can tell me where my bike is. Luckily Ian from Pyrenees Multisport was able to get an appropriately sized bike set up for me, as it doesn’t look like my bike will arrive anytime soon.

After sleeping 14hours last night I awoke at 10am and went for a jog into the central part of Biarritz and ran along the Atlantic Ocean. The infrastructure and building are very impressive and you can tell this seaside city has been here for literally hundreds of years.

With no word about the whereabouts of my bike, I went for a test ride on the bike which Ian has kindly set up for me. After adjusting the saddle height and angle a bit it actually fits quite well. I also went to a local bike shop the capitalize on the travel insurance money and bought a new Oakley helmet, Castelli cycling gloves and a new water bottle.

To keep things fun there are points awarded for every 3000m one swims, 30km one bikes and 10km one runs. On the bike each day has dedicated King of the Mountain (K.O.M.) climbs where you are given points based on what % of your FTP you are able to maintain on the climb. Bonus points are also given for doing any swims over 6km, double 10km runs and rides over 200km. Additional bonus points are given for various “races” which will occur everyday starting with a 1km swim/ 6km run tomorrow at 6am. Then we will head off for a 174km ride to Les Eaux Bonnes featuring the first King of the Mountain competition on le col de Marie Blanc (9.5km @ 7.4%).

Additional points are also awarded for keeping a BLOG, thus the genesis of this foray into the blogosphere…old dog…new tricks….