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French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier



 
 
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  #1  
Old September 27th 06, 08:26 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
steephill
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Posts: 61
Default French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier

Last summer, I was lucky enough to spend seven weeks in Southern
France. For one of those weeks, I joined four guys on the Marmotte ride
and several other rides in Vercors and Provence regions. Here is my
first report:

http://www.steephill.tv/2006/alpe-d-huez/

enjoy,
Steve
www.steephill.tv bike travelogue

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  #2  
Old September 28th 06, 04:43 AM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Ken Roberts
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Posts: 241
Default French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier

Wow -- getting thru all those climbs is quite an achievement. Without a
triple chainring? I would never even consider trying that. (the Lonely
Planet Cycling France guidebook suggests taking at least two days to do
it -- without the l'Alpe d'Huez climb)

http://www.steephill.tv/2006/alpe-d-huez/

I agree with Steve's careful explanation of how the Alpe d'Huez climb is
over-hyped -- why it gets chosen for TdF even though it's not the best for
an individual rider -- and how Galibier and others are better (not to
mention the view at the bottom from the village of Bourg d'Oisans up in
the other direction).

Interesting to hear about riders having trouble in the Etape. I remember
seeing a note on a touring company's website that supports getting riders
into l'Etape, saying they were concerned that some riders had not been
sufficiently fit, and offering training rides in advance.

Hope I get to do the whole route sometime -- I've done parts, but missed
some others.

Ken


  #3  
Old September 28th 06, 02:57 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Tim McNamara
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Posts: 6,945
Default French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier

In article
,
"Ken Roberts" wrote:

Wow -- getting thru all those climbs is quite an achievement. Without
a triple chainring? I would never even consider trying that. (the
Lonely Planet Cycling France guidebook suggests taking at least two
days to do it -- without the l'Alpe d'Huez climb)


Without adding l'Alpe-d'Huez it's a quite doable ride if you're used to
riding in the mountains. When I did it, it was my second-ever ride in
mountains (the first having been the day before, up l'Alpe-d'Huez and
over to the Col de Sarenne). My friend Keith had no trouble with it at
all. The same was not true for me.

http://www2.bitstream.net/~timmcn/alps2002-3.html

I'm the fat guy in the blue jersey in these photos. Between the lack of
experience in the mountains and the high temperatures that day, I
suffered rather more than I expected. However, the ride from the
Galibier to Bourg-d'Oisans is many kilometers downhill- very welcome!

http://www.steephill.tv/2006/alpe-d-huez/

I agree with Steve's careful explanation of how the Alpe d'Huez climb
is over-hyped -- why it gets chosen for TdF even though it's not the
best for an individual rider -- and how Galibier and others are
better (not to mention the view at the bottom from the village of
Bourg d'Oisans up in the other direction).


l'Alpe-d'Huez was my first-ever mountain. I was surprised at how
reasonable it was. However, I was going half the speed of the fastest
pros and that makes all the difference.

Interesting to hear about riders having trouble in the Etape. I
remember seeing a note on a touring company's website that supports
getting riders into l'Etape, saying they were concerned that some
riders had not been sufficiently fit, and offering training rides in
advance.

Hope I get to do the whole route sometime -- I've done parts, but
missed some others.


It's a great ride.
  #4  
Old September 28th 06, 07:44 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
steephill
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Posts: 61
Default French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier


Ken Roberts wrote:

Interesting to hear about riders having trouble in the Etape. I remember
seeing a note on a touring company's website that supports getting riders
into l'Etape, saying they were concerned that some riders had not been
sufficiently fit, and offering training rides in advance.


One tour company that received 75 dossards from ASO (the company that
handles the Etape) only had 15 people finish the Etape and these people
paid big bucks for a 3 day package -- something like $3000 not
including airfare.

Steve
www.steephill.tv bike travelogue

  #5  
Old September 28th 06, 07:55 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
steephill
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Posts: 61
Default French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier


Tim McNamara wrote:

Without adding l'Alpe-d'Huez it's a quite doable ride if you're used to
riding in the mountains. When I did it, it was my second-ever ride in
mountains (the first having been the day before, up l'Alpe-d'Huez and
over to the Col de Sarenne). My friend Keith had no trouble with it at
all. The same was not true for me... Between the lack of
experience in the mountains and the high temperatures that day, I
suffered rather more than I expected. However, the ride from the
Galibier to Bourg-d'Oisans is many kilometers downhill- very welcome!


Like most rides, you can make it as difficult or easy as you want by
adjusting your speed and adding rest stops. I probably want out to fast
and was undergeared. As I mentioned in the my report, it's about a 100
mile loop and 13,000 ft of climbing to the base of Alpe d'Huez. That's
a big day in itself. I made it more difficult by only cycling 10 or so
times in the previous 3 months.

Steve
www.steephill.tv bike travelogue

  #6  
Old September 28th 06, 11:11 PM posted to rec.bicycles.rides
Tim McNamara
external usenet poster
 
Posts: 6,945
Default French Alps Report #1: La Marmotte featuring Alpe d'Huez and Col du Galibier

In article .com,
"steephill" wrote:

Tim McNamara wrote:

Without adding l'Alpe-d'Huez it's a quite doable ride if you're
used to riding in the mountains. When I did it, it was my
second-ever ride in mountains (the first having been the day
before, up l'Alpe-d'Huez and over to the Col de Sarenne). My
friend Keith had no trouble with it at all. The same was not true
for me... Between the lack of experience in the mountains and the
high temperatures that day, I suffered rather more than I expected.
However, the ride from the Galibier to Bourg-d'Oisans is many
kilometers downhill- very welcome!


Like most rides, you can make it as difficult or easy as you want by
adjusting your speed and adding rest stops. I probably want out to
fast and was undergeared. As I mentioned in the my report, it's about
a 100 mile loop and 13,000 ft of climbing to the base of Alpe d'Huez.
That's a big day in itself.


Yes, it is. That's why we didn't go on to climb up l'Alpe-d'Huez a
second time. :-) What a fantastic ride, though. The climb up from
Allemond past the two dams and from river valley to forest to alpine
meadow is wonderful. The descent down the Croix de Fer through St.
Sorlin d'Arves to St. Jean de Maurienne is a fantastic ride. There is
one point where your view opens into this huge gorge and the sense of
space is so amazing that I had to come to a stop just to look at it.

I didn't like climbing the Telegraph, I think I was starting to feel the
effects of the heat. On that day it was hot on the passes and hotter in
the valleys. The descent from the Galibier practically all the way
back to Bourg-d'Oisans was, geez, almost 60 km if I remember correctly.
What a treat!

If you go partway up Les Deux Alpes, there is a side road that will take
you to Bourg-d'Oisans off the main road. There is enough traffic and
enough long tunnels that the main road can be a bit taxing. For us,
traffic was low that day so we just carried on.

I made it more difficult by only cycling 10 or so times in the
previous 3 months.


Ah, we are often the authors of our own troubles, aren't we?
 




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