Raid Corsica – A Brief Introduction

Welcome to my “Raid Corsica” blog. It’s been several years since I’ve blogged about a cycling adventure so I’ll have to retrain my mind to think, and my fingers to type after hours in the saddle. This alone may present an interesting challenge.

The real challenge, of course, is the Raid Corsica. For those of you who many not know about the Raid Corsica, Corsica itself, or the simple foolishness that Steve Himmelrich, Michael Bickel and I are about to embark upon, here’s a brief introduction.

Corsica is an island just off the western coast of Italy. While it’s close to the Italian coast, it’s governed by France and is actually a French “department”. It’s the most mountainous and geographically diverse of the Mediterranean islands with beautiful seas and beaches framed by towering mountains. The island hosted the first three stages of the 2013 Tour de France, so you saw it on TV last summer. But, if you didn't, here is a short video.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRHceMQR57o

The Raid Corsica or Tour de Corsica takes place over six days. During this time we will basically circumnavigate the island, cycling approximately 1000 km (622 miles) and climbing 14,000 m (46,000 feet). The Raid was established by the Parisian Audax Club, the same merciless masterminds who devised the Paris – Beast – Paris race. The Raid is not timed. Rather, the goal is to finish each stage before being pulled off the course due to darkness. Our personal goal is not necessarily to finish first, but we don’t want to come in last either. The Raid starts next Monday, 12 May at approximately 8:00 AM (11:00 PM Sunday, 11 May in California). In the meantime, we have to get from Atascadero, California to Bastia, France.

Steve, Michael and I will be riding with 16 other cycling crazies who are attempting to conquer this year’s Raid Corsica. We believe the others are all Brits which leads me to wonder what French cyclists know that we don’t. We’ve trained and tortured ourselves. Now it’s time to taper and get a little rest.

I’ll do a couple more posts before the Raid starts. Stay tuned.

A note on the daily postings: It is with a full heart and open mind that I will attempt to post every evening after we complete the day’s stage. However, due to Internet connections, time, and perhaps just pure exhaustion, I might not be able to post every day. If this happens, I will try to catch-up the next day.

NEXT POSTING – Am I Ready?