Here come the Alps

The fair skies and pleasant breeze gave no indication of the impending battle awaiting our protagonists…you would be forgiven if you are thinking of our duel with the Telegraph, Galibier and Alpe d’Huez.  Unfortunately, the battle of which I speak is the crazy process of our pre-ride logistics.  

After arriving at the foot of the Telegraph in St. Michael d’Maurianne, and getting settled in with our pre-booked room and board (we decided it might be nice to have spend our pre-race nights in a real bed) we headed off to Modane to pick up our race packets and inquire on the details of the dropping the RV off at Alpe d’Huez (so that it would be waiting for us at the finish) and getting the organizer provided bus back to our home base in St. Michelle.  Picking up the race packets went without a hitch.  Getting the transfer back…um, not so much.  It turns out that ASO (the same people who run the Tour d’France) had grossly underestimated the number of people needing transfers and had no availability on any of the busses.  Luckily, as we were desperately inquiring with the Tourism Bureau about public buses, trains or Teradacktyl flights from the Alpe to St. Michael, a Brit in the same predicament as us overheard our conversation and we struck a deal where he would follow us to the Alpe in his car, we would leave the RV there and take his car back to St. Michael.  Our own personal shuttle of sorts. 

SUNSET FROM OUR ROOM AT THE FOOT OF THE TELEGRAPH

WE NOW KNOW WHERE PARK TOOLS GOT THEIR INSPIRATION!

After we solved our transfer crisis we ambled through the little fair of local vendors in Modane where I showed that my love for sausage truly knows no bounds.  Behold the ass salami.  Seriously.  And it actually, tastes pretty good.  Put enough spices in your cured meat and its previous life form doesn’t really much matter.

BEHOLD, THE ASS MEAT

 The following morning we set off on our personal transfer following our new British friend Joe to the Alpe ‘dHuez.  As luck would have it we traversed the exact route we would take on our bikes the following day and thus got a preview of our fate.  Two words.  LONG and STEEP. It was going to be a big day. A third word, SLOW, also applied as there was a cyclosportive celebrating the100th anniversary of the Tour d'France passing over the Galibier and our procession up the mountain was basically at the speed of the thousands of other cyclists on the same road at the same time.   At least the scenery was nice.

Race day started early with a 4:30 alarm bell.  We had to eat and then ride 20k to the start line (with a bonus 1000 feet of climbing I might add…).  We got to the start with the 10,000 other riders and then proceeded to wait 90 minutes for our start chute to be released.  We rolled across the start line at 8:00 am and we could already tell the bright sun was not to be our friend.  It was gonna be a hot one.   

CYCLISTS SHIVERING IN THE EARLY MORNING CHILL AS FAR AS THE EYE (AND CAMERA) COULD SEE

 Despite the heat, the race went great for both me and Hannah.  I clocked just under 5 hours of ride time and Hannah put in a fantastic 6:41 despite the unavoidable dead legs following a 30 minute wait behind a road closure for the medivac chopper (better to wait behind than be in the chopper).  The Alpe was a killer for both us.  13.3 km between 10 and 13 percent in the blazing sun after already conquering the Telegraph and the Galibier is no piece of cake.  Both Hannah and I did, however, get to feel like pros as the roadside tifosi sprayed us with hoses and dumped bottles of cold water over our heads!

ON THE WAY UP THE GALIBIER

GUESS WHERE!

DAVID'S STATS

Perhaps the coolest part of the ride, however, was sharing the road with 10,000 other cyclists and no cars (only the occasional ambulance and gendarmes on motorcycles).  The panoramic views on the road up the Galibier showed only mountains and cyclists as far as the eye could see. Now it is off to my old stomping grounds on the Cote d’Azur for some well deserved beach time and a rendezvous with our old family friends Gil and Annette.  That's all for now.  We'll try to post again soon.

BTW,  Good luck to all our friends racing the High Cascades 100.  Make Bellingham Proud!