Pt and
Janice had arrived in Gap the night before and, jet lagged, were being thrown straight
into the deep end.... starting with Stage 18 the Tour would spend three massive days in the Alps, promising exciting racing for the pros and long days for us mere mortals.
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| Much confusion trying to figure out the bike bags... Pt managed to avoid tyre issues for the first time though |
The
route for the day would take us over the Alpe d’Huez, twice! It is the first
time the Tour has gone over this iconic climb twice in one stage. The day was
going to be all about the Alpe...
We started the day by climbing out of Gap up the
Col de Manse, they way we had descended in two days previously. I rode with Pt
and Janice, it was a good introduction for them - a climb that barely
registered on the days profile that was longer and steeper than their training
hill - the Peak.
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| Ready for a long day in the saddle!! |
The
scenery once at the top of the climb was worth it though. Glorious sunshine
with a layer of cloud below us in the valley.
After the first feed I headed off in a slightly
faster group and as we comfortably ticked along over the Rampe du Motty and on
towards the Col d'Ornon.
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| Off to the Alpe |
After
another brief rest we again headed off and climbed the Col d'Ornon at a decent
pace before a cracking descent took us all the way down to Bourg-d'Oisans and
the base of Alpe d'Huez.
A quick refill of the water bottles and it was
every man for himself as we all picked our own pace to climb the 12.3km hors
category climb. Knowing the hill well, and that we would be doing it again in
only a matter of hours, I rode relatively conservatively. Today certainly
wasn't the day to try and beat my best time up the mountain.
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| Halfway up the Alpe |
At the
top we stopped for lunch and headed out of the town an onto the Col de Sarenne.
It was a short climb, but a pretty punishing one, with lunch still settling and
the searing midday heat.
The Col de Sarenne is wild and beautiful, with
some stunning scenery again. However, its 'wild' nature unfortunately
translates to the quality of the road surface on the descent. A very narrow,
steep and technical descent was made even more sketchy by an uneven, potholed
and gravel covered surface. The bails of hay with red and white tape on them at
cliff edges, corners and posts did nothing to make you feel safer. How in gods
name the pros are going to race down that road I don't know!!
The road
was so dodgy that my a bolt in my Garmin mount came lose and fell off, I had to
stop and fix it and then continue to descend like crazy to catch back on to the
group I was with.
Before a
final loop back towards Bourg-d'Oisans we stopped at a small café and had an
espresso and ice cream before rolling back out for the final climb – the second
ascent of the Alpe d’Huez.
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| Round once more... |
The
effort going up the second time around was pretty much the same as the first
time, except this time in far greater heat. The times for the two climbs were
similar, if not anywhere near my best – nice and steady…
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| Arrivee!! |
On
hitting the top we had a quick photo and then headed back down into the main
village to find a bar to watch the rest of the riders come up and give them a
cheer for the final 2km. We settled in and had a few beers and coffees.
Much to
my joy there was even a Rapha pop-up shop right across the road.
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| To feature in the next Rapha catalogue |
JK, the
birthday girl, hit the top a little later than we had expected having somehow
contrived to take a wrong turn and a 10km diversion shortly after having to
stand on the side of the road whilst Matt F tried to change an inner tube for
45 minutes.
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| Birthday girl hits the top (after she found it)!! |
Pt and
Janice were someway back (having caused a minor panic by not signing into the
last feed station so no one knew where they were) and arrived back at the hotel
as dinner was starting, broken but having both completed (by far) their longest
and most punishing bike ride ever! Awesome.
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