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Monday, July 22, 2013

Alpe D'Huez (catching up on the blog)

On Thursday we rode from our hotel in Les Deux Alpes (tracing part of the route the peloton would take between their two climbs of Alpe D'Huez and then we climbed Alpe D'Huez.   It was quite a scene with thousands of spectators lining the road.  At one point I stopped to take a photo and one of the other folks on our trip also stopped.  While waiting for me to take my picture a couple of very drunk Polish spectators helped him out by lubricating his rear cluster with Belgian beer.  When he objected they offered to rinse it off with their own home brew vodka!  Here is the photo I took:


A little bit further up the climb we met some friendly Gendarme's (by no means a normal occurrence!) and I got a picture of them.


Once I fought myself to the very end of the climb (through awesome crowds of spectators) I was able to join our group at a restaurant about 300m beyond the finish line.  As I walked around the village of Alpe D'Huez I git a coupe of pictures that give you some idea of the atmosphere.



Here is a shot of the podium just beyond the finish line.



We had to wait several hours for the peloton to make it to Alpe D'Huez on their first circuit.  I had a good view of them passing by.



Here is Quintana reaching Alpe D'Huez.



Here is Marcus Burghardt (Team BMC):


Here is Chris Froome with a little help from his friends...

After passing Alpe D'Huez the first time the riders descended Col de la Sarenne (a pretty treacherous descent!) and then cycled back to the bottom of Alpe D'Huez to climb to the finish.



Here is Chris Froome about 40 meters from the finish line.


After the race ended and we were able to escape the really big crowds we headed to Col de la Sarenne to descend as the rider had.  Here is a picture at the top of the Col.


Finally, here is the Strava record:




Wednesday, July 17, 2013

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times...

Today was supposed to be or longest ride (188km) with the most climbing (5,000m).  The day started great.  We left our hotel at 8:00 and rode down the hill from Les Deux Alpes and then began a big loop that included Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier, and then back to Les Deux Alpes.

Things were going fine until the weather started to change as we approached Col du Telegraphe.  it started to drizzle which made descending tricky.



The early part of the ride to Col de la Croix Fer


 Happy cows!  On the way to Col de la Croix Fer


 Me on the road to Col de la Croix Fer
Part of our group at the top of Col de la Croix Fer


On the way up to Col du Galibier


The view down the road on the Col du Galibier


While waiting for the stragglers

Finally, my Strava course:


  

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

TdF KOM Day 4 (part 2)

After a nice lunch in Alpe D'Huez we descended by the same route and rode back towards our hotel but at the nearby Dam we took a detour and climbed Col de Sarrene.  The TdF will descend this route as part of Thursday's race which will also include two ascents of Alpe D'Huez and a mountain top finish.

Here are some photos from the ride.


At the top of Col de Sarenne
Eddy, Me and Kate (our guide) at the Col de Sarenne

The view looking down the descent
 And here is my Strava route:




TdF KOM Day 4: Alpe D'Huez and Col Sarrene

Today we left the hotel around 9am and rode to the base of Alpe D'Huez.  We then rode the full climb to the TdF finish line in the village.  Here are a couple pictures from the climb.







The view from the Alpe D'Huez Climb


At the finish line.

After lunch in Alpe D'Huez we rode back down and climbed Col de Sarrene.  I'll post that separately.

Here is my Strava course.


Monday, July 15, 2013

Yesterday and Today's rides

Here are the Strava profiles for the ride up Mont Ventoux that I did on Bastille Day and the ride up part of Alpe D'Huez that I did today.




Le Freney D'Oisans

On the way back to the hotel...



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The Valley Below...










Beautiful route from switchback 16 on Alpe D'Huez.

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Switchback 16 Alpe D'Huez

Warm up ride. The real Alpe
D'Huez ride is tomorrow!


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Not one of our routes...






OK, this is the view from the hotel and no that is not our route in the distance. On the other hand there is a 7.7 mile 6% climb back to the hotel from each days ride. We are here for four days. I think that final climb will get old!
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Location:Rue de la Girose,Les Deux-Alpes,France

Enroute to Les Deux Alpes







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Location:La Durance,Savines le Lac,France

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Froome!

Chris Froome passed us just before he took over the lead.  He was riding about twice as fast as we did on this section!


Waiting for the race...

While waiting for the riders there is a lot to see at the TdF.  Lots of antics from the spectators!



And even more antics:




Spectators...




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At the summit of 'The Beast'






The finish line!




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Closer still...

Still climbing. About 6km to go.



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Location:Auribeau,France

Saturday, July 13, 2013

Getting closer...




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Location:Chemin du Limon,Saint-Pierre-de-Vassols,France

Starting up Mont Ventoux




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Location:Route du Mont Ventoux,Bédoin,France

Bedoin at the base of Mont Ventoux




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Location:Route du Mont Ventoux,Bédoin,France

Peter checking out the bikes




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Slight panic as the tour leader has left his bike behind...




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Location:Saint-Pierre,Pertuis,France

Early start to Mont Ventoux

The TdF organizers are closing the road early so we have to take vans to the start of the climb rather than riding the first 60 km or so.




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Location:Pertuis,Pertuis,France

First day

Getting organized for orientation.



30 riders participating in the Thomson Bike Tours TdF King of the Mountain Extreme tour.




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Location:Rue Lamartine,Pertuis,France

Wednesday, July 10, 2013

On the way...

The bike heads off to board our flight to Paris. In a couple of days I'll be climbing Mont Ventoux!



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Sunday, June 30, 2013

Today's training ride...Alloy versus Carbon wheels

Today I tried out my HED Belgium rims on my Pinarello.  The idea is that carbon wheels can overheat on long descents and alloy rims dissipate the het better.  Deb and I were in San Francisco Saturday night for a concert so I had her drop me off near the Cliff House on the ocean front in San Francisco.  I rode through Pacifica (including through the Devil's Slide tunnel which has a great bike lane!).  I passed through Half Moon Bay and then ascended Tunitas Creek road to Skyline.  Finally I rode long Skyline Drive to Black Road in order to descend and head home.

On the descent I suddenly had a blow out on my front tire!  When I went to change the tire the rim was so hot I could barely touch it!  After changing the tire I continued more cautiously.  Finally, I turned off into our driveway and then my rear tire blew out!

I've never had any trouble like this with my Zipp carbon wheels.  Guess I'll be taking the carbon wheels to France!

Here is the Strava record for today's ride:


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Support my efforts...






In addition to riding in France in July, I also have several century rides and Gran Fondos planned for later in the summer.  Two of these are the Best Buddies Hearst Castle Challenge from Carmel, CA to Hearst Castle along Highway 1 on September 7th and the Best Buddies DC Challenge on October 19th from the Washington Monument in D.C. to Morven Park in Leesburg, Virginia.

The Best Buddies Challenge supports Best Buddies International, a global volunteer movement that creates opportunities for one-to-one friendships, integrated employment and leadership development for people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Please consider supporting my efforts by visiting my donation pages and making a donation:



Click Here to Donate



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Getting ready...

I am a MAMIL and I am about to participate in a ritual of my species.

On July 10th my wife and I (and my Pinarello Dogma 2) will fly from San Francisco to Paris to begin our adventure.  My wife will visit friends in Switzerland while I take on a grand challenge: riding some of the famous climbs of the Tour de France ahead of the peloton.

In preparation I have been training since November.  I've put in more than 250 hours on my bike riding 3600 miles since January 1st.  I ride outdoors on weekends and on an indoor trainer during the week.  I even keep a bike and trainer in Virginia so I can train in my hotel room when visiting our company headquarters.

Here is a link to the training ride I did last weekend: