Pyrenees Fitness Week

Itinerary Details

1. Day 1Arrival: Carcassonne Airport

   On arrival at the airport in Carcassonne, you will be greeted by your training coach for the week, who will transfer you to his period 16th-century house in Chalabre. The house is full of quirky nooks and crannies and is, in fact, a converted shoe factory.

   Once you're all unpacked and settled into your room you will get together for the first evening meal of the week. Here you will have your first taste of the healthy, tasty food made from local produce and prepared daily by your very own trained chef.

   Over dinner, the group can have an informal chat about what each person would like from the coming week, often skills like how to improve climbing and descending or maybe goals for the coming months, any areas of weakness etc. You will also have the opportunity to enjoy a glass or two of locally produced Midi-Pyrenees region wine, and a chance to get to know each other.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Dinner
2. Day 2Introduction

   After a hearty breakfast, your coach will spend time showing you how to put together a specific and targeted yearly training plan, and how to break this down into monthly and weekly periods. Each training plan is designed with personal goals, targets, weaknesses and limiters in mind, with a view to demonstrating over the week how to put these training sessions into action.

   Once the finer points of creating an annual training plan have been discussed, and how periodisation works, it will be time for your first taste of French roads! Your first ride will be an opportunity to see how to ride within the zones described in the training plan – for example, a 2-hour ride in zone 3, developing aerobic capacity and endurance, followed by a 1-hour ride in zone 2 for recovery and base training.

   At the end of every day, the coach will discuss the reasons behind the type of training you have covered, what systems the training develops, and how, when and why to incorporate this type of training into an annual training plan. You will also be told how to recover, how to test for results and what results to expect.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Breakfast and Dinner
3. Day 3Example Ride - Long Distance Ride with Climbing

   Your second day in the saddle represents the first real challenge of the Pyrénées Fitness Week, as you will enjoy a medium-paced ride from the base at Chalabre to the summit of a moderately challenging climb, such as Col de Port. This ride will allow you to get used to spending long periods of time climbing in the saddle using moderate exertion, and a chance for the coach to advise on the selection of gears, climbing technique and bike position.

   At the summit of the climb there will be a short break for food and drink, and to discuss the finer points of descending a col. You will then descend the col before using the return leg to Chalabre to spin the legs in zone 2 and recover from climbing your first French col of the week. Once back at Chalabre, you will deservedly tuck into our delicious home-cooked dinner, basking in the glory of the day’s achievements out in the Pyrénées.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Breakfast and Dinner
4. Day 4Example Ride - Recovery Ride

   With any training plan, recovery is just as important as the training itself, as it gives the body an opportunity to adapt, replenish energy stores, flush out the lactic acid and repair damaged tissues. Without recovery, there can be no further training without risking illness or overtraining. With this in mind, you will enjoy a gentle paced recovery ride at an easy pace to, for example, the historic town of Carcassonne. This will give you an opportunity to take a more relaxed look at the vast and varied French countryside, and just enjoy being out on the bike.

   At Carcassonne, you will have the opportunity to take in the beauty of this fortified town, sample local cuisine and tradition, before heading back to base at Chalabre where you can relax and prepare yourself mentally for the challenges that lay ahead for the rest of the week.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Breakfast and Dinner
5. Day 5Example Ride - Power, Recovery & Descending

   Today you will have a transfer out to a tougher ‘Hors Categorie’ climb – Plateau de Beille, for example. At just under 16km (10mi) long, the climb is 1,255m (4117ft) with an average gradient of 7.9%, reaching a maximum of 10.8%. Don’t be put off by the statistics. At a regular pace, the climb is completely manageable.

   Today’s ride will allow you to work on power and recovery, as you climb the col, group size allowing, riders will be shown how to take their turn on the front with sharp bursts of high exertion and then allowing the group to swallow them back up, and have a ‘rest’ at the back.

   Whilst riding in the group, you will be riding at medium to moderate exertion level. You will take time to work on climbing position, pedalling technique, how to accelerate out of the saddle on a climb, and how to recover in the group.

   After a fuel break at the summit you will descend the mountain, with the intention of improving your technical ability and develop your descending skills, learning how to tuck into the aero position, brake for the corners, and then to accelerate out of them before returning to the tuck position. With an Hors Cat climb under your belt, you will head back to Chalabre in the support vehicle.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Breakfast and Dinner
6. Day 6Example Day - Pulling everything together

   For your final big day in the Pyrenees, you will head up yet another col. Leaving base you will head out to on flat roads, past meadows and lakes, before heading towards the foothills where the climbing begins. With the fun and games over, the serious business of tackling a Cat 2, such as Col du Portel begins. As you climb you will ride the first part in zone 4, allowing you to concentrate on climbing technique, position, and pace.

   After getting used to the steady uphill rhythm it is time to shake it up a bit and you will ride the final part of the climb as if you are setting the pace at the front of the peloton, attempting to drop your nearest rivals, riding in zone 5, and with the final km to be ridden as close to your maximum effort (or zone 6) as is sustainable. Once at the top, you will have time to eat, drink and recover, before heading back to your base at Chalabre.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Breakfast and Dinner
7. Day 7Adaptation and Recovery

   Similar to riding day 3, today will be an opportunity for you to spin the effects of the week’s training sessions out of your legs and kick start the body’s adaptation and recovery processes. After your exertion on all of the climbs you’ve treated yourself to, you will be offered a leisurely recovery ride over some of the less challenging roads on offer in the Aude department. It will give you an opportunity to truly enjoy the picturesque French countryside without having to focus so much on the training specific elements of your trip, and also a chance to talk with the coach on the road about the finer points of the training sessions and techniques you have covered during your Pyrenees Fitness Week.

   You will once again make a stop to sample some of the local cuisine and enjoy a glass of locally produced red wine before heading back to your base at Chalabre for an opportunity to wind down after a week of training, and sadly, start packing for your return home.
   

   • Chalabre Historic Lodgings
   • Breakfast and Dinner
8. Day 8Departure: Carcassonne Airport

   After a final home-cooked breakfast of the week you will transfer back to Carcassonne for the journey home, hopefully feeling fitter and stronger and brimming with confidence!
   

   • Breakfast