Ron Bourgoin, who won Maine’s time trial championship last year, says he’s addicted to the sport of cycling.
WINDHAM – When Lance Armstrong moved to the front and donned the yellow jersey for the final time in the 2004 Tour de France, Ron Bourgoin was not surprised.
“We knew when he was going to take that jersey,” said the Auburn native and avid cyclist. Armstrong’s coach predicted the jersey win with precision and shared that prediction with Bourgoin.
Armstrong’s bid for a seventh straight win of what the Texan refers to as the “toughest sporting event in the world,” has been smoother than he and others expected.
Bourgoin has faithfully been watching Armstrong’s farewell Tour this year, understanding more than most how rigorous the course can be.
Last year, Bourgoin traveled to France on a training/travel package with Chris Carmichael, Armstrong’s personal coach. He not only rode portions of nine stages of the 2004 Tour through the Pyrenees, but also kept a keen eye on the racing. He even learned U.S. Postal’s strategy in advance as Armstrong defended his Tour de France title.
“Chris (Carmichael) would go over every night and talk to Lance,” said Bourgoin. “He’d come back and eat dinner with us around 9 o’clock. That was pretty neat.
“He told us that the young kid that had the yellow jersey far” into the race was a plan. “They wanted him in that yellow jersey to keep the people involved. It was so important because he was from (France).”
Then, Bourgoin remembers, Carmichael said Armstrong would “take (the yellow jersey) today,” and it happened.
Like a real pro
Bourgoin, who put 6,000 miles on his custom Seven bike last year, paid to participate in one of the training packages that the Colorado-based Carmichael Training Systems offers. The experience gave him an unforgettable perspective of the world’s most famous cycling event. He rode much of the same course as the 2004 Tour pros, ascended the same mountains and was cheered on by the same multitude of fans. It was as though he were competing himself.
“It was incredible,” he said. “They treated you like an actual pro.”
Though one of his most distinct memories of the 11-day trip was getting stood up by singer Sheryl Crow, Armstrong’s girlfriend, it was a trip that had a lasting impact.
“We were supposed to ride with her, and she was going to join us for a few miles and then eat with us that night,” said Bourgoin. “It didn’t work out. It was a rest day for Lance.”
Still, Bourgoin saw lots of people as cycling fans lined the course. The mountain stages were equally impressive.
“The stages, they were tough,” said Bourgoin. “Here you’re doing a small portion of it, but they’re doing 120 miles before they actually get to the climbs, and we’re dying.”
Bourgoin’s group would cover a section of a stage in the morning, riding through the throng of waiting fans, with the pros riding through later in the day.
“The crowds of people on the side of the road were incredible,” he said. “They would cheer you on. It was like you were in the Tour. We were in a group of 16 people, and we were all racing up that hill. The adrenaline was definitely going.”
Bourgoin wondered how receptive the crowd would be, but in a country where the motorists give the cyclists ample space, they were treated well.
The pros would take just seconds to pass, but the race “was a whole-day event,” said Bourgoin, who saw one rider struggle through tough terrain only to get a helpful push by the fans.
Mountain terrain
As part of the training package, Bourgoin was constantly climbing mountains. Even on days when they didn’t ride part of the Tour de France course, they were climbing equally challenging terrain, including a stage that was in the 2003 Tour de Spain. The longest climb was 50 minutes.
“I’d look at my power and the gears I’d be in and be amazed,” said Bourgoin. “They would just fly up the hill.”
Bourgoin, who races with Auburn’s Rainbow Bicycle Club, typically spends two-and-a-half hours on the bike during a race, but the pros often compete six hours or more at a quicker pace.
“It’s amazing when they come up,” Bourgoin said of the steady climbs. And, “you don’t think about the part coming down. I was more sore in my arms and shoulders coming down because the roads are really rough, and they take a lot out of you. You feel it at the end of the day, and they (the pros) get up and do it every day.”
The experience helped Bourgoin fuel his own passion for the sport.
On the bike
“It’s the toughness of it, I guess,” he said. “There’s so much that goes into it. If you’re competing, the actual training and the hardness of it, I got addicted to it.”
He first heard of Carmichael Training Systems through fellow riders and hooked up with his own coach, Colin Izzard, in North Carolina. He’s already been South for training sessions three times this year and plans another trip soon.
Since his trip to France last summer, he’s increased his riding and honed his climbing technique. Bourgoin won the Maine time trial championship last September.
“When I first started, it was just biking, but there is such a science to it, and it’s so much fun to try and figure out,” said Bourgoin. “Your body is unbelievable. You have to know when to train, and you have to know when to rest.”
Though winning races is his goal, he says it really isn’t about the victories. Pushing himself and meeting that challenge provides plenty of satisfaction. Going on a group ride with other cyclists from Rainbow can be just as much of a thrill ride.
He’s already getting his sons, Chase, 15, and Tanner, 12, interested in the sport.
“Tanner, he’s got what I got when I went to France,” said Bourgoin. “He went to a race in Fitchburg, and that’s all he talked about. It’s like he’s addicted.”
Bourgoin trains nearly 11 hours per week. He expects to compete in 14 races this year and log 7,000 miles on his bike.
Though the training can get a little tedious, his recollections from the Tour de France provide extra incentive. Knowing that those competitors train 40 hours each week makes his regiment pale in comparison.
“That definitely puts me on the bike,” said Bourgoin.
As this year’s Tour de France continues, Bourgoin can’t help but think about being there. Had he known Izzard was going, Bourgoin said he would have tried to go along with him. Instead, he watches from afar, calling Izzard for a little inside information.
“If I went again, I’d go to watch because we rode a lot,” said Bourgoin. “We rode through a lot of villages, but we were so focused on riding.”
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