Sodbury Cycle-Sport

"6 days of Alps" (26 to 31 August 2007)

Martin Howe and Peter Kirmond have spent a week following the route of some epic Tour de France stages in the Alps, riding some of the most demanding cols and in the process, raising money for 'Guidedogs for the Blind'.  Here's Martin's account of the trip:

Sunday 26 August - Day 1 – Gap to Briancon (Col d’Izoard)

Something of a relief to get cycling after the inevitable eying up of all the other cyclists trying to assess levels of fitness to work out the potential people not to try to keep up with and those not to get caught behind!  In the end the mental exercise was mostly wasted and the ride out of Gap to the Barriage de Serre Poncon quickly identified a smallish group of faster riders.  My legs felt stiff from the previous week’s run and all the travelling and it took quite a few miles before they started to feel like legs that might be able to climb mountains.  The groups all came together at Embrun, which was a nice touch and underlined the mantra of the tour – it’s about getting round and enjoying the experience not racing!

At Embrun most of the group took the wise decision not to follow the route that the Tour de France followed (along the main road) and went on a parallel D road that was wonderfully quiet and scenic and sparked a long conversation on the loose topic of fitness being the new wealth – and this with a property developer! The lead up to the Izoard was very committing (i.e. bloody steep).  I ended up riding up with a chap called Stuart who I discovered races on the road, off-road and is an elite cyclo-cross rider.  My heart rate has never been so high for so long climbing a hill, and all of this on the first day!  At one stage I suggested he might just sidle off into the distance but he preferred to ride with someone and, by slowing slightly and suggesting a few short stops made it much easier for me mentally though possibly much harder physically.  The descent back to Briancon was to die for, wonderful sweeping corners and a nice dry surface.

Monday 27 August 2007 – Day 2 - Briancon to Alpe d’Huez (Col de Lauteret and Alpe d’Huez)

A great day on the bike.  Started at 9am to perfect blue sky and warm sunshine.  The climb up the Col de Lauteret turned out to be a relatively easy gradient and not as busy as anticipated. The views all the way up were simply glorious.  Peter and I were careful to ride within ourselves after our waking feeling of having been beaten up subsided in the sunshine and the rhythm of pedalling.  The descent towards Bourg d’Oisans started quite bumpy and the twitching sensation in my handlebars curbed any over-enthusiasm on the initial slopes.  The tunnels were thankfully dimly lit so at least we could see something, though it was still quite spooky hearing the roar of what turned out to be motorcycle engines before we could see them coming towards us around a bend in one of the tunnels.  There were some deceptive bits of climbing before we got to Bourg d’Oisans and turned off to the right to the Alpe.  We stopped very briefly before starting up the climb.  I knew the lower part of the climb was the steepest part and it didn’t disappoint!  Fortunately it was one of those days where I found a physical rhythm and a mental focus that locked me into the gradient and, without stopping; I got to the top in 68 minutes.  No threat to any record books but deeply satisfying all the same.  

A growing group of Guide Dog riders then formed at one of the cafes near the top of the climb, refuelling on a mixture of cokes and beers and cheering on all the group members who came past, all in very hot sunshine.  Today it was around 33 degrees on the climb, not quite as hot as yesterday’s 38 degrees, no wonder we felt beaten up after yesterday.  Tomorrow brings the high point with the Col de Galibier.  Hopefully we will still have strong legs but I shall certainly never forget today’s mythical climb after years of seeing the stars of the Tour de France ride up it.  To cap it, we are staying in a great chalet hotel with stunning views from the balcony across the Ecrin mountain range, complete with snow and glaciers.  A day to savour but still 4 days to survive and some monster cols to come.

Tuesday 28 September – Day 3 – Alpe d’Huez to St Jean de Maurienne (Cols de Sarenne, Lauteret and Galibier)

Beautiful start to the day – perfect blue sky and a fairly gentle climb out of Alpe d’Huez to the Col de Sarenne over a relatively little used road that was very rough in places but led out between alpine meadows with fantastic views down into the Lauteret valley and across to the snow capped Ecrins.  The descent started very steep, technical and gravely but opened out on the lower slopes to some great sweeping bends and picturesque villages.  We joined the road up to the Col de Lauteret having cut off some of the climb that we descended yesterday.  The gradient was relatively easy and we spun our way gently towards the summit of the Col in a group of around 10.  Nearer the top (in fact much further from the top than I had anticipated) the group got strung out and some of us pressed on for what I at least thought was the close summit.  It wasn’t and, although my legs felt reasonably strong, I had to dig much deeper than intended to stay with the pace to the top where the support van and a group of Blind Dog riders were waiting in the cafe.  From the top of the Col de Lauteret it is a mere 8 kilometers up to the high point of the Col du Galibier, however, the gradient is nearly twice as steep as the Lauteret and there was a strong westerly breeze as a head wind for parts of the climb to make it a bit harder.  Nevertheless, Peter and I climbed well, a testament to all those Frocester Hill sessions we did in training.  The weather was starting to turn and clouds were coming in from the east and west up the Lauteret valley.  The descent was pretty steep and bumpy and I soon lost contact with a small group of some of the more accomplished descenders but decided staying within my comfort zone was better than risking over-cooking any bends.  A large group then assembled for a café stop in Valloire before tacking the very easy 4 kilometre climb (from this direction anyway) of the Col du Telegraphe.  On the descent (which wasn’t as steep as the Galibier) I managed to hang on to the wheels of Mack, a 62 year old mad American who knew the roads and Richard, a 50 something Brit who has lived in South Africa for over 30 years and fairly zipped through the 12 kilometres to the bottom swooshing through corners like a real racing cyclist!  Some enormous drops of rain fell on the descent and a heavy shower caught us on the ride into St Jean de Maurienne.  The rain didn’t last long but there have been some peals of thunder and the sky has clouded over leaving the atmosphere very muggy.  Tomorrow we are probably heading off to the remotest cols of the whole trip so the weather tomorrow could make it interesting.  One amazing coincidence is the discovery that two of the other guys on the trip went to Bristol Cathedral School and would have been pupils for part of the time I was. Small world.

Wednesday 29 September – Day 4 – St Jean de Maurienne loop (Cols du Glandon, de la Croix de Fer and du Mollard)

The weather forecast on the television at breakfast showed an unequivocal forecast.  A huge swathe of the Alps was covered by jagged black arrows to signify thunder storms arriving from the West.  So, we knew we were going to get some dampness even though the sun was just about shining through a very cloudy sky when we set off.  About a third of the way up the Col du Glandon (an enormous climb at just over 21 kilometres) it started raining, then it started pouring and we stopped to put waterproof tops on over our already wet tops.  The last two and a bit kilometres kick up in a series of ramps connected with hairpin bends that soar above you.  By now we are almost getting used to just concentrating on pedalling and hoping not to run out of gears before the speed of pedalling became too slow to maintain.  The top was wet, bleak and cold and having ended up climbing individually we all pressed on up the 2.5 kilometres to the top of the Col de la Croix de Fer and a café stop.  Unfortunately despite drinking hot chocolate and coffee it didn’t do anything to dry our wet clothes and when we stepped back outside we all started to chill at an alarming rate.  When we started to descend the 20 or so kilometres to the turning to the Col du Mollard this bordered on hypothermia.  I can’t remember being as cold on a bike, the handlebars kept shaking, not from the uneven road surface but from the involuntary shivering in my arms and shoulders.  It sounds perverse but I was pleased to turn right to climb the Col du Mollard just to start generating some heat again!  It was raining all the way off the Croix de Fer and back into St Jean de Maurienne but a real esprit de corps formed in the small group we formed for the descent of the Mollard.  Being so cold and so keen to get back to a warm bath, I hung onto the wheel of Stuart (who I discovered is a first category road racer back home), he slowed slightly from time to time to let me catch up but we fair flew off the mountain using both sides of the road and discovering (well I did anyway) how well 23 millimetre tyres will grip on sopping roads so long as you don’t over brake into corners.  We were so cold when we came back that even after a hot bath, I needed three layers of clothing topped by a winter fleece just to get warm in our hotel room!  It will be interesting how the weather turns out tomorrow as most of us are (were) up to take in the Hors Category climb of the Col de la Madeleine as a starter for tomorrow’s ride.  Yes we are mad!

Thursday 30 September – Day 5 – St Jean de Maurienne to La Clusaz (Cols de la Madeleine, de Saisies and des Aravis)

How to suffer on a bike.  The weather forecast was for “pockets” of rain and a lower temperature than yesterday.  Having been caught out yesterday getting frozen on the descent of the Croix de Fer, it was leg warmers, arm warmers and overshoes plus a change of clothes in one of the vans that was supposed to wait at Alberville.  It didn’t and waited instead at the top of the next climb at Les Saisies.  Anyway, today was the longest ride and as the clouds swelled down into the valley during breakfast, there was an air of palpable apprehension at the day in store.  Of the 20 or so who put their hand up last night to do the option of the Col de la Madeleine (a 21 kilometre, hors category climb) only 8 brave souls actually turned right to tackle the climb.  Peter and I were with the lead group of Stuart (the first cat racer), Danny (9 and a half stone mountain goat) and John (who had found his legs yesterday doing the additional climb to La Toussuire).  As the first corner pitched up, I realised that this was not going to be a good day.  My quadriceps were hurting and I had 21 kilometres to climb. I was quickly dropped by Stuart, Danny and Peter, though I managed to keep Peter in sight.  John, who had started ahead of us was overtaken after about a third of the climb.  However, the middle section of the climb ramps up and I was running out of gears and the fronts of my legs were a swathe of pain.  At least it wasn’t raining.  Particularly given its stage in the week, this was probably the hardest mountain to date and seemed to go on for ever.  Peter took a wrong turn somewhere near the top and ended up behind me for a short while, then caught me up and we rode to the top together to the cheers of two groups of French walkers.  We refuelled in the summit café on hot chocolate and rolls made at breakfast time but were pretty wet through.  Fortunately the outside temperature was not at cold as the summit of the Croix de Fer yesterday and we descended on drying roads at over 40 mph for some of the way (my descending skills have improved dramatically so far).  The journey between the bottom of the climb and Albertville was pretty unpleasant as we were going into a headwind and rain.  We also had a short stint on the motorway by accident which was not pleasant either. One of the support vans was parked just outside Albertville which enabled us to refuel but not change any kit.  The remainder of the route to the foot of the Saisies was horrible as I started to get dropped on any slight incline and I was getting just a little concerned at how I would get over the 15 kilometre climb over the first category climb to the Col de Saisies.  When we did eventually turn off onto the climb, it was almost a relief to know that at least the route would just be up, rather than the undulations of the approach.  John had again set off from our refuel stop before us and I was not to see him on the climb.  Stuart, Danny and Peter quickly went past and I went into my own little bubble.  The Smiths track “Asleep” (about the contemplation of suicide) was running through my brain with the line “Sing me to sleep, sing me to sleep, I don’t want to wake up on my own anymore” repeating endlessly.  I passed about 3 people on the way up but was digging deep into reserves to keep pedalling.  Eventually, I got to the top in a blur of tiredness. Peter and I ordered coffees, cokes and an excellent omelette de paysan.  It helped.  So did a change into dry undervest and top (it had been raining steadily on the way up and the mist was down so we had seen no views on the climb - come to think of it, we had virtually no views on the Madeleine either).  However, Dave (one of the organisers) looked at me and enquired if I was OK to carry on.  Yes, I replied but I’m b*****ed.  “You look it, but I didn’t want to say!” he replied.  We set off and it started hammering down.  However, I was a man on a mission to get home.  I have never descended in such heavy rain but we needed to get home and I was and getting up to speeds well in excess of 30 mph.  I waited for Peter at the bottom and then set up the final climb of the Aravis, a mere second category climb.  The bottom section included some downhill and bendy bits and I launched myself at them, determined to get as far as possible before I either blew or got passed.  I fair swept up the slopes and after a quick photo of my bike at the summit, plunged down into La Clusaz.  We had covered 144 kilometres, climbed 2956 metres and been in the saddle for just over 7 hours.  Tomorrow is the last day, but right now I daren’t even think about it!

Friday 31st August – Day 6 – La Clusaz to Morzine (Col de la Colombiere and Col de Joux Plane)

Spurs earned.  Everyone was exhausted last night, not just the 8 of us who had climbed the Madeleine.  It was therefore a very apprehensive audience which listened to the build up to today’s stage with the Joux Plane singled out as the worst mountain we would have to climb - a hors category and horribly steep.  Over breakfast there were worried looks and very hushed conversation.  However, the cloud that still filled the valley was starting to lift, very slowly. As we set off, the sun started to shine through.  The Col de la Colombiere was pretty soon after the start but my climbing legs seemed to be back, certainly they felt much stronger than yesterday.  It was great to see the fantastic scenery unfold as the clouds mostly lifted, something we had missed yesterday.  I climbed with Andrew, an experienced 3rd Cat rider back home.  We eased our way up the climb, overtaking quite a few people but making sure not to push ourselves into the red.  He pulled away at the very top but I wasn’t prepared to push too hard with the Joux Plane still to come (I probably wouldn’t have been able to stay with him anyway!).  We descended off the top at a fair speed but the squealing of my back brakes and the fear that the brake blocks may be rubbing my tyre curbed my confidence.  Near the foot of the climb we met up with a group including our special guests for the day – Marcelano, a Spaniard probably in his mid thirties who had ridden the Tour de France 4 times for Once and CSC and an older Spaniard who had ridden with Eddy Merkx (I found out he was 58 but he looked in fantastic shape).  I discovered later that they had driven 11 hours yesterday to join our tour for the last day so they didn’t have ideal preparation, but then again they hadn’t climbed the mountains we climbed yesterday.  We all set off in a group, snaking round to and over a third category climb between Cluses and Taninges that passed almost without notice.  As we came off the climb and into Taninges, our two guests put in a great turn at the front, into a slight headwind into Samoens.  Thankfully three of us managed to stay with them though I was certainly not capable of taking a turn at the front.  Turning left in Samoens, the Joux Plane starts with a real kick up.  Probably having more gears than the others, I eased in front whilst Marcelano answered a call of nature.  A bit further up the climb, he rode along side and we had a good chat as we climbed together, taking away any thoughts of how far we still had to climb and how hard it might get.  Around the mid section the steepness ramps up again and I could tell Marcelano was having some difficulty keeping at the same pace.  It turned out he hadn’t eaten enough and was running out of energy.  However, in true road racing spirit I pushed on, half expecting him to catch me at any turn.  He didn’t and after a dodgy spell near the top as I entered the mist but didn’t seem to be getting to the summit, I came out of a wooded section and saw the top with one of the vans parked up with food and water on board.  I was first up the climb (though only because Stuart and Danny had gone wrong at the start and added another hill to their day).  The next rider was Stuart who had ridden like a man possessed to catch and pass numerous people on the climb.  Being first up was not important but having overcome a mighty climb and feeling reasonably strong, particularly after feeling so bad yesterday, was a wonderful feeling that still hasn’t gone away. You can be sure there will be some beers drunk tonight and the wonderful fraternity that has built up between us over the last five days will find its expression.  It has been a wonderful trip and one where I have experienced far more than simply cycling. But now, time for some last minute shopping and perhaps a beer!

Someone has worked out that we have cycled nearly 400 miles and climbed over 50,000 feet!

Martin tackling the ascent of Alpe d'Huez