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