Froome no match for Martin Dreyer

WEEK ago Martin Dreyer rode into the wine estate of Diemersfontein just outside the small dorpie of Wellington in the Western Cape. He had just spent 10 days, six hours and 40 minutes riding 2 178km from Pietermaritzburg in the Freedom Challenge.

Today, in Düsseldorf in Germany, the Tour de France sets off on its three week circuit around France … err, around France, Germany Belgium and Luxembourg. The Tour de France is pretty universally considered to be the pinnacle of cycling with the riders who take part considered to be the best of the best on two wheels.

Of course the cynics will add that the roadies have a little help from the world’s best pharmacists, but let’s leave that debate for another time when we feel like discussing the easy issues of life, like religion, politics and what my wife really expects from me.

For now lets have a look at Martin’s performance in comparison to the pampered pros in the Tour de France peloton.

On the surface Martin’s little jaunt across KZN, the Eastern Cape and Western Cape was “easy” compared to the Tour.

He rode a mere 2 178km, the pampered pros (PPs) have to do 3 540km in 21 days. Martin had 26 days to complete his ride but did his ride in 10 and a quarter days, so he was riding 164km each day. The PPs will be averaging 168km. OK, so we will call that a draw. 1-1.

Their pace? The PPs will be riding at about 35 to 40km/h each day. But they are faster because they do not have such difficult terrain that they have to walk sometimes. Martin will move at about 12km/h on average, but had places where the rocks and thick bush mean it was impossible to ride. Because of that it is difficult to work out a speed so we will call that a draw as well. 2-2.

Martin did not have a team of soigneurs, psychologists, nutritionists and masseurs on hand to fix him after each day. Definitely Martin wins that. 3-2.

Martin had to carry all his own food between the check points. No chance of a daintily dressed man in a matching top handing you a bottle or musette to get you up the next mountain. 4-2.

Spares? No bike on the top of a car for Martin when he had a mechanical … and no mechanic to make sure his electronic derailleur is hitting the sweet spot of his cluster. 5-2.

Now let’s talk about those climbs. Mmmm, the Tour has some pretty hectic climbs and nine days are classified as mountain stages … but hang on, Martin had ten days of serious climbs and I think only one of those is on tar. Let’s call that a draw because these roadies may have a tantrum. 6-3.

Martin’s bike started at about 11kgs, but then he had to add panniers, the spares, extra food, warm clothes, dry clothes, rain jackets, maps, compasses etc etc etc … definitely a lot more than the 7kg featherweights the PPs are sitting on for their doddle around Europe. 7-3.

Teams? Martin is completely self sufficient (except for food at each support station and a bed) while the top pros have eight other guys to help them get up the hills. Easy winner here. 8-3

Sleeping arrangements and recovery. The Tour pros get to stay in hotels, transported in luxury buses to the start of each stage. Martin had beds to sleep in on each night – until he reached the final night and could not reach the overnight stop, so (wet and cold in sub-zero temperatures) he wrapped himself in a space blanket and tried to rest until his shirt freezing on his back caused him to do some aerobics to stay warm. Can’t see Alberto Contador doing that! 9-3 to Martin.

And the final decider: Prizemoney. Martin won a blanket and pizza. Well, I think that goes to the pros … no, wait, that means Martin is doing it for the love of cycling. 10-3.

So, this scientific study proves conclusively that Martin Dreyer and his Freedom Challenge rivals are far more hardcore than Chris Froome and his pampered rivals. No wonder somebody tweeted that when Martin was asked about Chuck Norris, his response was: “Chuck Norris? Never heard of her!”

On a slightly more serious note, you can see an interview with Martin Dreyer talking about his experiences at the Freedom Cahllenge, including that final night when he gave up on a sub-10-day record and went into “survival mode” on www.onyourbike. bike – which also happens to be the same place you can find a bit more of a lucid commentary about what is happening at the Tour de France.