Alpe d'Huez

Me at the finish line...actually we had to climb a little more to the top and the hotel.
From our hotel balcony the next morning.

This on turn number 10 of 21 and less than 1/2 the way up.

The climb up Alpe d'Huez is a pilgrimmage. The mountain has been climbed 26 times during the Tour de France. Lance Armstrong won on this mountain in 2001 and 2004. It is ranked an HC or "above category" climb indicating how hard this brute can be. The mountain has 21 hairpin turns and each has a sign named for a different rider (some turns have 2 due to the number of stage winners here). At the very top is Giuseppe Guerini who in spite of getting knocked over by a spectator he was still able to win. Sometimes it is estimate that over 300,000 fans are packed on the mountain as spectators.

Anyways, we biked down the Col de Glandon where I reached my top speed ever on a bicycle-68 mph. No one in our group believed me, but I had the proof from my Garmin an in fact hit over 60 mph 4 times. We then cycled into Bourg Ouisans a small village at the foot of the mountain. I was lucky and for 4 kilometers or so, I hooked up with a German peloton and was shielded from the wind. The temperatures were searing with the temp at the bottom showing 96 degrees.

I would like to say that I climbed it without stopping, but with the temps and the need to get a good drink of water, I stopped 3 times on the way up.

My camera was dead so I was only able to take a few photos, but managed to snag a few from the top of the mountain from our beautiful hotel.

Hope you enjoy the pics...

Oh and my time was not as good as Lance, maybe about the same as Sheryl Crow, but certainly better than Aretha Franklins......lol

Tailwinds...

Ty

Stage Start-Chambéry July 14th

Dan with L'Equipe with the Tour on the front page.

On the top of the Col de Glandon. We left from here on the way to Alpe d'Huez.

Hope you don't get car sick or this wasn't for you.

On the bus on our way up the Glandon. Wade looking a little sick.

Team Radio Shacks car with Brunyeel.

Ivan Basso who autographed my hat. , Aleksandr Kuschynski Byelorus national champ.

Today we started our day by witnessing a stage start at Chambery. We left our gorgeous hotel we called home for the past 3 days. Watching a stage start can be fun, and so I have given it it's own blog slot even though we climbed Alpe d'Huez the same day. That will be another blog.

First the caravan leaves about 1.5 hours in front of the tour. They throw trickets sort of like Mardi Gras. Free chocolate from Nestle, etc.

After getting a souveneir Tour de France cup and a hat we all got mixed up with the crowd and stood by the fence. Most of my newfound biking friend went and stood along the fence across from the Radio Shack bus. As you can imagine, Lancemania kept them from getting real close.

Me, I went to the Liquigas railing and was able to snag some great autographs including Ivan Basso, Loss, Chris Horner, Sandy Casar (the prior stage hero) and the Belorus national champion. I was the only one of our group to get any autographs. Couldn't get Lance, but thats the way it is.

Hope you enjoy the pics..

Tailwinds.....

Ty

Col de Saisies

Today was a nice day with a major CAT 1 climb, but it seemed much easier. The legs are getting stronger and the weather was cooler than yesterday. The Col de Saisies was the 3rd of 4 major mountains today. We climbed to the top where Trek had an amazing food layout for us all. I think I am gaining weight on this trip.

If you aren't familiar with the tour de France, first comes the caravan which is an assortment of cars/vans that are fully decorated or in the shapes of tires, lions, dinosaurs, etc. They toss out trinkets like Mardi Gras and I was lucky enough to snag a couple of souveneirs including an Etap Hotel do rag. Hmmmm.....what will I do with that. We ate and drank (no alcohol for me) and watched the tour on TV until the tour rolled in at about 2:30 which netted me 1 euro on a bet. The over under was 2:22. After the stragglers passed through we fought our way down the mountain on our bikes, speeding to the hotel. I am one of the slower ascenders but one of the best descenders. We got to the hotel in time to watch the climb up the Col de Madeleine which is one angry climb. For those who aren't tour junkies like me, the yellow jersey leader was blown to shreds.

Tomorrow we view the stage start and then climb Alpe d'Huez a very famous climb with 21 hairpin turns and an average grade of 8% and over 3200 feet elevation gain over 8 miles. Ouch....

Tailwinds....

Ty

Col de Columbiere

After yesterday's marathon session where we finished dinner a little before midnight, I knew we would be tired. But the Col de Columbiere (pronounced COAL de CO lum BEE ech) was a true brute. This bad boy only let up for about 2 kilometers in the middle giving us a false sense of security and accomplishment. It was brutal. The last 2-3 kilometers, there was no cover so it was like being in an oven while climbing at 10-11%grade. This bad boy is tough. It is actually easier to climb from the other side, but we are following the tour route and they are going up from Megeve. That is where we are staying for 1 more night.

Over 3600 feet of climb is difficult to say the least. And at 10miles you can do the calculation and you can be sure we were cranking out the watts for well over an hour. I started out with a good pace and felt strong, but this beast just wears you out. I am just glad that I conquered the mountain and have only the Alp d'Huez remaining as my major Alpen climb. Tomorrow should be rather mild or so the profile shows.

Here are a few pics for you enjoyment....

Tailwinds.

Ty

Col de la Ramaz, Col de Avoriaz

Andy Schleck winner of the Stage
The racers coming into the fininsh.

I always wanted a free polka dot climbers hat.

The Col de la Ramaz.

Ty at the top of Col de la Ramaz....sweat dripping down his chin. Didi the "devil".

The "devil" a tour icon.

The mountain is of Ramaz, prior to climbing.

Today we did the same two Cols (mountains) that ate up the pros. Two Category 1 climbs in the same day. WoW!!!!! After the second Col, where we watched the stage finish, we headed down the mountain and another 35 clicks (kilometers) including a 6 KM climb, finally arriving at the hotel a little before 10 p.m.

First we climbed to the top of Col de la Ramaz. This was about a 3300 foot climb. On the way up, I noticed the tridents on the road and sure enough I was able to snag a personal photo of Didi the devil who has made his appearance since 1992 (I think) in the tour. The first half of the climb was gentle by pro biker standards at about 5-7% grads. Then we found out why was a brutal climb and got especially sharp as we entered the famous tunnels which you would certainly recognize from TV. In the tunnels it kicked up to 14% and was consistently 8-10% grade. I believe this is where Lance was dropped yesterday. I took a few pics along the way and had to stop for some water. The Brits were nice and I figured they spoke English. They offered beer, EPO and water and of course I asked or all three. Then off to the sumit. Ouch. Along the way we had thousands of people encouraging us. I don't know why I didn't get a lot of pics. Too busy climbing. We hear Bravo and allez, allez, allez a lot, which sounds like ollie, ollie, ollie. Then a nice descent and the ascent of the Avoriaz. I figured at this point that I had made a mistake trying to tackle 2 CAT 1's in the same day.

The Avoriaz, another CAT 1 climb of over 3000 feet. In all 8200 feet for the day. I had to stop and get water from a nice couple from Seattle. It was 90 degrees in the Alps at this point which made the climb absolutely brutal. It was so cool going under the kite banners marking the distance to the finish and feeling like a pro cyclist on the tour with thouands yelling for us. The last KM was so tough as at this point I was out of gas. Since we were on the TDF route, Trek couldn't support us with any rest stops or van support.

The atmosphere was a lot like the SuperBowl. Unbelievable, just unbelievable. I am going to post some extra pics. Anyway, I was the fastest descender of the group. Certainly NOT the fastest ascender as there are some monster bikers. A lot with Carmichael or racing experience, including one CAT 2 racer. I think gravity might have had something to do with my quick descent. That and a no fear mentality.

Well, tomorrow it is the bad boy known as Col de Columbiere and we are climbing from the hard side, the same way that the tour will climb on Tuesday.

Tailwinds....

Ty

Geneva to Bouge, France

Not a lot of time for a blog today. We had an interminable dinner-3 hours and counting. The dinner was exquisite, but the usual slow French service where they make a drama out of food. We are bikers not food experts. I am sorry for the brief report.

You can tell in the one pic that we are a little lost. 28 riders and we know all of 23 French words....combined that is.

Today will be a hard climbing day with us climbing first Col De la Ramaz and then Avoriaz. I'll have to ck the spelling later today. The last climb is a mountaintop finish for the pros. We will be at the finish line cheering them on. I think we have about 8000 plus feet of climbing today. For you non bikers this is a tough one. Prior to the finish there are famous Tour de France landmarks. It will be most interesting climbing with all of the crazy drunken screaming fans. Should at least get the adrenaline flowing.

We will not get in until late tonight as we try to get off the mountain. Hope all is well. Legs don't fail me now. Iwill try to amend this post later.

Ty

Lake Geneva, Switzerland

Well, here I am in Geneva, Switzerland anxious over the first “warm-up” ride tomorrow. A warm-up in the Alps is a mere 4600 feet of climbing. This should test out my ankle and the rest of my body. I am feeling pretty good although later in the trip we have the monster the Tourmalet which will appropriately decide this year’s Tour de France winner. Hopefully, I can sleep tonight. I took a little walk to Lake Geneva. It is about 120 miles around the Lake so I didn’t go the entire way. It was difficult enough just to blog as the language on my computer defaulted to German the official Swiss language or one of 3. Here they speak French.

A few surprises here. If I was just parachuted in, I’m not sure I would know I am in Switzerland. We are in the French part of Switzerland, although with 4 Arabic TV channels I’m not sure. They are either taking over Switzerland or hiding their money here. Burgers are $13 dollars. I was able to find a Starbucks without the help of an I phone app. Here in Geneva, everyone either bikes or smokes. Not sure of the crossover on the Venn diagram. As for me when it comes to food I’m a little adventurous and usually order something that I have no idea of. I've already met a new friend who is here with his family. All us testosterone junkies worry a bit. The first decision is to do the long warmup ride or the short one. I've already talked myself into the long ride. This morning I was already researching the rides and checking out the profiles. And remember as Billy Crystal said....."It is much better to look good than to feel good".


I noticed a shell game going on in the park and watched an idiotic tourist drop 300 francs. It was easy for me to pick out the accomplice and sure enough when I went back today he was there posing as a spectator. My mother always said a fool and his money are soon parted...... Hope she wasn't referring to this trip.

Hope all is well with all of my friends. Drop me an emal……

Tailwinds…

Ty Eggemeyer