After the flat TTs in the early part of the season, the mid part of the season is all about the hills.
I can honestly say the Classic Cols of the French Alps provided some of the most beautiful and historic roads I have ever ventured upon. Marmot Tours also provided a first class service.
The trip started out on a Saturday morning with a flight from Aberdeen to Heathrow, a quick Wagamamas in T5, then jump on the flight to Geneva. Overnight in Geneva / the most expensive place I have ever been, then picked up at 9am followed by a 2.5hr drive down to the foot of Alpe D'Huez to get checked in to our hotel. We set up our bikes and got a half day to go and explore, since we were there, it seemed rude not to check out the famous 21 hairpins and approx 1,100m of climb to the old summit of Alpe D'Huez. I didn't so much savour the experience as put my head down and grind all the way up. I did manage to stop and take a few photos and get myself up in 67mins. Not a classic performance, but reasonably enjoyable. We stopped at the summit, watched the end of a stage of Le Tour and had a beer before cruising back down to the hotel to meet the rest of the men and women in the group. In total there were 20 of us, all different sex, shape, size and abilities with one common interest - cycling.
From this point forward everyone had a different experience. The 6 day package had a 'Classic Col' option, or a 'Classic Col Challenge' option, or like me somewhere in-between. For some people, this was the one thing they had been training for all year, for others this was a training camp, for some this was a once in a lifetime experience retracing the footsteps of the legends of Le Tour, for others this was a revisit of their annual pilgrimage. For me, it was a bit of a mix. I was glad to summit the classics such as Alpe D'Huez, Telegraphe, Galibier, Madeleine, L'Iseran, Pt St Bernard. Some I found more enjoyable than others, Galibier probably being my favourite, another lesser known climbs that I enjoyed were Col du Pre followed by Cormet de Roselend, great switches and views.
That said, a lot of the climbs were 20-30k of 5-7%, which to me seemed a bit of a grind. I would almost say I prefer the less travelled Pyrenees with many 10-15k climbs of 10+%. It seemed like more of a challenge, and a bit more peaceful. Also, for someone like me who only gets out usually 3 times per week. 6-7 days riding was a bit too much. I think if I go again it will be for a long weekend. 3 days of gruelling climbs, that would suit. But I think I already know what I'll do next year, a long weekend tour of Scotland's great rides.
Day 1: Aberdeenshire - Cairn o' Mount then over to Ballater to take the climbs over the Lecht to Tomintoul. Re-fuel back in Ballater.
Day 2: Cairngorms - Spittal of Glenshee, feed in Pitlochry.
Day 3: West Coast - Bealach-na-ba (Applecross) then drive down to Skye for a slap up meal in Portree.
Day 4: Drive back through Inverness, meet the Mrs (who'll have been shopping for 2 days) and have another slap up meal and a night on the lash.
After coming back I've been out twice in two weeks. I've been catching up with family and letting some niggles die down. It doesn't feel like it's been a physical springboard into the second half of the season but it has been a break from racing and it's given me a bit of a hunger to get racing again. I've got two district road races in August and two time trials in September which I'm looking forward to. I think the next blog post might have to be some sort of comparison between road racers and time trialists, there definitely seems to be two kinds of rider.
I can honestly say the Classic Cols of the French Alps provided some of the most beautiful and historic roads I have ever ventured upon. Marmot Tours also provided a first class service.
The trip started out on a Saturday morning with a flight from Aberdeen to Heathrow, a quick Wagamamas in T5, then jump on the flight to Geneva. Overnight in Geneva / the most expensive place I have ever been, then picked up at 9am followed by a 2.5hr drive down to the foot of Alpe D'Huez to get checked in to our hotel. We set up our bikes and got a half day to go and explore, since we were there, it seemed rude not to check out the famous 21 hairpins and approx 1,100m of climb to the old summit of Alpe D'Huez. I didn't so much savour the experience as put my head down and grind all the way up. I did manage to stop and take a few photos and get myself up in 67mins. Not a classic performance, but reasonably enjoyable. We stopped at the summit, watched the end of a stage of Le Tour and had a beer before cruising back down to the hotel to meet the rest of the men and women in the group. In total there were 20 of us, all different sex, shape, size and abilities with one common interest - cycling.
From this point forward everyone had a different experience. The 6 day package had a 'Classic Col' option, or a 'Classic Col Challenge' option, or like me somewhere in-between. For some people, this was the one thing they had been training for all year, for others this was a training camp, for some this was a once in a lifetime experience retracing the footsteps of the legends of Le Tour, for others this was a revisit of their annual pilgrimage. For me, it was a bit of a mix. I was glad to summit the classics such as Alpe D'Huez, Telegraphe, Galibier, Madeleine, L'Iseran, Pt St Bernard. Some I found more enjoyable than others, Galibier probably being my favourite, another lesser known climbs that I enjoyed were Col du Pre followed by Cormet de Roselend, great switches and views.
That said, a lot of the climbs were 20-30k of 5-7%, which to me seemed a bit of a grind. I would almost say I prefer the less travelled Pyrenees with many 10-15k climbs of 10+%. It seemed like more of a challenge, and a bit more peaceful. Also, for someone like me who only gets out usually 3 times per week. 6-7 days riding was a bit too much. I think if I go again it will be for a long weekend. 3 days of gruelling climbs, that would suit. But I think I already know what I'll do next year, a long weekend tour of Scotland's great rides.
Day 1: Aberdeenshire - Cairn o' Mount then over to Ballater to take the climbs over the Lecht to Tomintoul. Re-fuel back in Ballater.
Day 2: Cairngorms - Spittal of Glenshee, feed in Pitlochry.
Day 3: West Coast - Bealach-na-ba (Applecross) then drive down to Skye for a slap up meal in Portree.
Day 4: Drive back through Inverness, meet the Mrs (who'll have been shopping for 2 days) and have another slap up meal and a night on the lash.
After coming back I've been out twice in two weeks. I've been catching up with family and letting some niggles die down. It doesn't feel like it's been a physical springboard into the second half of the season but it has been a break from racing and it's given me a bit of a hunger to get racing again. I've got two district road races in August and two time trials in September which I'm looking forward to. I think the next blog post might have to be some sort of comparison between road racers and time trialists, there definitely seems to be two kinds of rider.
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