Alpe d'Huez

[maxn]

Despite living less than an hour's drive from Alpe d'Huez, I had somehow managed NOT to do the climb before today. I've driven up it quite a few times, and rode up the first four or so switchbacks to watch the Dauphine, but never did the whole thing. One of my season's goals was to get off my a$$ and finally do it. Today was the day. I got to Bourg a little before lunch, parked the car, warmed up on the departmental and then started pedaling. It was a bit warm, but overall a good day to ride. The views of the mountains are spectacular, and of course there is something pretty special about doing such an iconic climb. The first bit is steeper than the rest, and is generally a fairly long climb. I think most people know that there are signs at each turn, counting down from 21 which can be demoralizing. For me though, the demoralizing part was seeing the road switchbacking waaaaay up the side of the mountain ahead of me. After hitting the Vielle Alpe tunnel, I managed to make a wrong turn but ended up at or near the TdF finish eventually. Video here:

http://youtu.be/wTbLvd6mn6M?hd=1

getting psyched, BBdave?!

[beungood]

Wow, that must have been a blast! How long did it take to climb? How long decending? Did you descend the way you climbed. How fast did you hit?

[Uncle Jam's Army]

Beautiful, maxn! Great job. Love the Joy Division tune on your sound track.

[maxn]

yeah it was a lot of fun. A little over an hour to the Vielle Alpe, ~15 minutes to descend, fastest was 50mph. I originally intended to add something else on like Sarenne, in which case I would descend only part of the way I went up but the heat was getting oppressive and I had some things to attend to @work

[biker72]

Very nice presentation...:)

[Jaq]

Wow, that must have been a blast! How long did it take to climb? How long decending? Did you descend the way you climbed. How fast did you hit?

By my calculations, it took him 3:10 to get to the top, and 5:28 to get back down. ;)

Spectacular ride, Maxn. And you got an appraising view from the gal at 1:32. "Look at that hard man in the saddle going right up while my putz of a boyfriend has to stop for more chamois cream. Le sigh...."

[benitosan1972]

Epic ride, good work man, that is a legendary climb

[MadeinGermany]

A spectacular climb. I did the Alpe d'Huez a few years ago. My favorite of all the Col's I conquered in France.

[paulh]

Thanks for posting. What camera and mount system do you use?

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . just thinkin' about it! :D

Buy you a beer when I get to Grenoble!

BBD

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . great music!

Titles and artists, please?

BBD

[maxn]

but I don't think I would call it epic :) After all, it was in COLOR!

paul: GoProHD 1, ugly plastic GoPro handlebar mount

Jaq: heh... I didn't even notice that. I did notice the bemused looks I got from the Dutch ladies in the chase car behind the guy who started walking :) That could have been because I was anaerobic though.

BBDave: hell yeah to the beer. Music is Joy Division/Transmission, then a mash up called Bizarre Light Triangle

also, don't know why but some sections of my videos get slightly sped up.... it only happens sometimes, for some videos though! Has anyone else seen this with the GoProHD in R3 (60fps) mode + iMovie?

there was a cool car at the top: 504 Coupe

[thinpin]

Beautiful time to be on the high alps, the meadows are spectacular at this time of year. How did the Eriksen behave? My wife has just ordered one!

[LouDeeter]

It took me over two hours to haul my fat butt up the Alpe a couple of years ago. Many people confuse the finish just before the tunnel with the actual pro tour finish, which is almost 2 km more, with the hill just past the tunnel being a bear. Then, a right turn downhill, two traffic circles and fini! That is, unless you happen to take a wrong turn. The turns are not as banked as many hairpins and actually allow you to catch your breath a bit in the middle of the turn.

[93legendti]

I climbed the Alpe in '98. At the time, it was a record high for the area. Iirc, 35 degrees. I'm impressed you descended it. I sure didnt want to.

We stayed at the top and descended the back side the next day.

[572cv]

that was, thank you Max ! Next time you try it, or for others who might be planning an Ad'H climb, here's a stunningly beautiful variation: Climb as usual, go to the TdF finish. When you catch your breath and do the pictures, head back down to the roundabout just below the TdF finish, and take a left towards the airport, which you go by, on your way to the Col de Sarenne at 1999m. As soon as you pass the airport, you are in rural alpine meadows with spectacular views. The descent from the col to Clavans is stunningly beautiful- and steep. The road is generally excellent. From Clavans, a small village clinging to the side hill, you keep descending all the way back to D 1091 which can be taken back to Bourg. There is a little side variation after you get back to the main road, which is hillier but lovely, turning off on 211a.

On a day like today, this route turns a bucket list lovely climb into one of the more memorable rides one may ever do.

Now that I think of it, we'll be back!

[cycle_chic]

Beautiful. Nice descending. :)

[MattTuck]

Awesome. Did they name a corner for you?

Is awesome to see it like a normal road without all the pomp and circumstance and crowds.

[laupsi]

Congrats!

What a wonderful way to spend the afternoon. :banana:

[maxn]

thanks again!


thinpin: the Eriksen has been great! I'm sure your wife will love hers.

Lou: TdF vs Vielle Alpe: yep, missed that turn somehow but I'll get it next time.

93legendti: 35 degrees.. brutal. It was a hair under 30 and that was hot enough for me. I enjoy descending, and my car was in Bourg anyway, so no choice in the matter.

572cv, that route sounds like fun. I didn't know about that road. I was planning on descending to take that cliffhanger road (D211A) or even across the valley to Col du Solude. Next time!

cycle_chic: thanks!

Matt: no, but I crossed off Andy's name and Sharpie'd mine in.

[LouDeeter]

This is what the pro finish line looks like.

[93legendti]

thanks again!


thinpin: the Eriksen has been great! I'm sure your wife will love hers.

Lou: TdF vs Vielle Alpe: yep, missed that turn somehow but I'll get it next time.

93legendti: 35 degrees.. brutal. It was a hair under 30 and that was hot enough for me. I enjoy descending, and my car was in Bourg anyway, so no choice in the matter.

572cv, that route sounds like fun. I didn't know about that road. I was planning on descending to take that cliffhanger road (D211A) or even across the valley to Col du Solude. Next time!

cycle_chic: thanks!

Matt: no, but I crossed off Andy's name and Sharpie'd mine in.

Sure was brutal. It was an 8 day Tour of the Alps and each day the leader told us to bring a rain coat, because it always rained in the mountains, at least once, during a trip. Nope. No rain. Not even once. They renamed our trip "The Scorcher".

Still impressed you descended the Alpe!

[thinpin]

The turns are not as banked as many hairpins and actually allow you to catch your breath a bit in the middle of the turn.

A colleague did one of those Alps tour thingys with Phil Anderson a couple of years back.
Phils advice for riding d'Huez was to use the flatter hairpins to ramp the speed back up in order to attack the next section. The group elected to take a breather on each hairpin!

[bironi]

I descended drunk after the 2001 Lance and Jan show. I was singing my way down thru a thick crowd. What a blast. I did descend it the previous day sober. The base of that climb is quite steep.

[fogrider]

great ride! I did it two years ago and it was hot! that's what I get for doing it on the 4th of July! I would in the bay area, mt diablo is similar in height. but I think alpe d'huez starts at a higher elevation.

[velotel]

Jeez, over an hour! You stop for coffee along the way? I would have bet money that you'd break the 50 minute mark that strong amateurs shoot for. If you'd been riding with your buddy from work, you would have. Last time I rode the standard road up was maybe a dozen years ago. I've forgotten exactly the time but it was a little under 50. I only knew because at the time I had a Suunto altimeter watch that I always wore for the vertical. Clocked that ride just out of curiosity. It was a few years later that I learned about the 50-minute mark. Only rode it that fast because that was back in the 39/26 climbing gear age. Forced me up the hills faster than would have been the case with the lower gearing I run now.

Afterwards it was over the Sarenne and down to le Freney then up to the cliff road above the Oisans valley, the route 572cv talks about. The climb out of le Freney is harder than anything on the climb to Alpe d'Huez but thankfully only for about 3k as I recall. Gorgeous road after that climb though.

Now that you've done the classic you can start thinking about doing the best route of all up there. Up to la Garde, across the cliff road to le Freney, up to the damn then up and over the Sarenne, down to Alpe d'Huez, down to Huez, turn right on the road to Villard-Reculas, down to Allemond. That road from Huez is gorgeous. The climb to Sarenne is a bear but better as a climb than a descent. One of the best loops I've done.

[maxn]

hmm I posted this before but it got lost...

descending the Alpe drunk: no thanks!!! I did manage to get stung in the head by something on the way down, so maybe it would have been a little less painful.

regarding 50 mins: that is way fast. Good job. At just over one hour (I was shooting for under 1 hour) I was at my limit and no I did not stop! Are you sure that is the time that people target though? 50 minutes would get you in the top 15 for the alpe TT that they do every year... and you know how fast the locals are. I just looked and the guys that do it in <50 also get top 40 or so finishes in the Marmotte out of many thousands. In any case, I will be very happy to crack 1 hour, I think.

[Joel]

maxn

That is wonderful. Thanks for posting.

Can't wait for September and now really looking forward to riding the climb.

Joel

[velotel]

regarding 50 mins: that is way fast. Good job. At just over one hour (I was shooting for under 1 hour) I was at my limit and no I did not stop! Are you sure that is the time that people target though? 50 minutes would get you in the top 15 for the alpe TT that they do every year... and you know how fast the locals are. I just looked and the guys that do it in <50 also get top 40 or so finishes in the Marmotte out of many thousands. In any case, I will be very happy to crack 1 hour, I think.
I read that once years ago but today have no idea where. When I did that - I think maybe more than a dozen years ago, maybe closer to 15 years - there wasn't as much interest or maybe passion for the climb as there is today. I wasn't really clocking it for any particular purpose, more just watching my rate of climb with the Suunto. The start was on the flat a bit before the first ramp. I don't really remember the end, parking lot of some sort where it was flat, but since then Alpe d'Huez has changed a lot. Even the roads in the valley have changed. The bypass of Bourg d'Oisans is new.

I've also seen a lot of different times for riders for the same years. Apparently the start point for timing the climb has changed at least once, maybe twice. Hence my time was not noted from some clearly anointed start line to an equally well marked end line. I do remember arriving in the village where as I recall there's some sort of bridge and the road swings left and I saw I was at just about 45 minutes. I thought that was the end at first so glanced at the watch but then realized it wasn't the end and kept going.

I'll have to go ride it again one day just to see how much slower I am today. A lot for sure. I read where there are something like 300 cyclists a day who do the climb! I'm amazed. The day I rode it I only passed a few riders and was passed by no one and also didn't see but maybe a handful at max coming down. Wasn't off season either, summer as I recall. Still don't think it's all that great a climb but my son agrees with you; he likes it a lot.

[schwa86]

Thanks for posting -- I got tired just watching!

[DjTristal]

That was really Awesome! Thank you for sharing.

[deanster]

Thanks...Sunday morning watching with my cup of French Roast Coffee...indeed. Brought back memories of the Dolomites especially the Passo dello Stelvio with its 48 Tournadi with every one visible from 46 onward...ouch. I will have to get with the new camera technology because I wish I had the footage to keep the memory as fresh as this one must for you. Thanks for the Great start to this Sunday...Inspiring, think I'll go ride Flagstaff this morning...!

[MadRocketSci]

67 min! Had some help from drunk Germans grabbing the seat
post and pushing :beer:

- weak amateur :)