France Trip: Day Three-Alpe d'Huez

[BumbleBeeDave]

OK, so I've been remiss in not continuing the photo roundup from my July trip. Se here we are at day three. We rode down the Col du Lautaret from our hotel, then down the valley and up the Alpe d'Huez. You've heard of that climb, haven't you? :rolleyes:

Then the plan was to ride back along the side of the valley on the "balcony road" and to a small village where we'd get picked up by the van unless we were riding the "avid option" where we would go back up the Col du Lautaret to the hotel.

Once again it was raining when we got up, so we had to wait for a few hours for it to clear out, then we got underway. Going down the Lautaret was great--all downhill, beautiful mountains, and scenic little villages clinging to the slopes. Our guide Dan explained that in miedeval times when all these small villages were founded, all inheritance from the lords of the various villages went through the eldest son. If you were a younger son, you had several choices in life. You could join the military, the clergy, or go establish your own estate and village. But all the good spots on the valley floors with the good farmland were taken, thus all these smaller villages clinging to the slopes, mostly wherever there is a reliable source of water or decent grazing land.

They did have a nice yellow bike for loan at the hotel, but it was a bit large for me. I had also brought some decals from home for my Trek Travel bike . . . it says in Latin "He truly conquers who conquers himself."

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . a poster from Graham Watson with this scene from the Tour. I've included it below. When I saw that we might, just MIGHT be riding by this spot, I was so excited. And yes, we certainly DID ride by this spot . . . and here it is!

Watson hiked up the side of the mountain to get his pic, and after seeing how far up he hiked--and noting I had cleats on--I opted to ask a passer-by to get this shot of me. I also had to ride through the tunnel--and that was not nearly so much fun. There were 6-8 tunnels on the way down the pass, and some of them were downright scary. In one it was lit very well on both ends, but in the middle it went pitch black except for some small blue lights along each side--like landing at an airport at night.

Dan, one of our guides, said he had talked the previous year with Chechu Rubiera, who had told him that in these tunnels, with over 100 guys riding at 30-40 mph in pitch blackness, all you could do was hold your line perfectly and "hope nobody does anything stupid."

I also tried going to the left at the tunnel entrance, under the impression the road just goes around to the other side. But I found out it goes almost straight up the mountain toward some small ski area as soon as it goes out of sight around the curve, so I came back and went through the tunnel.

So now, every morning when I wake up, I can look over at this poster and say to myself "I've BEEN there!" . . . pretty cool.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . and best things about this trip was that I always ended up off the back shortly after the day's ride started because I would stop to take photos. But once I was off the back, I was pretty much free to stop whenever I wanted and it resulted in getting to see some really awesome things that I could be sure nobody else on the trip got to see. It also resulted in my getting to know the guides better than I think other trip members did because one of the guides was always riding sweep, and often I ended up being the last rider, so they would end up being with me.

In this case, I stopped to get some photos of a waterfall (and step behind a barn for a nature break) and I looked down and here was this huge, and I mean HUGE snail. This is apparently what the French make "Escargot" from and the shell on this thing was almost as big as my fist. I got a shot of it before getting moving again, and when i described it to some of the other guys their reaction was "Huh?" But now I see why the French have this dish. An individual portion that might take dozens of smaller snails only takes a few of these big boys.

So I'm off the back and missed some of the social interaction because by the time I caught up with the group at the coffee shop or wherever, they had already been there a while. But I think it was worth it.

[esldude]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. One of my bikes has been that route 3 times. Unfortunately I wasn't riding it then. :(

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . and it was a beautiful day, I have a great bike to ride, (Trek Madone 6.5 with a 34-50 in front and an 11-28 on the back) and we are on THE most famous climb in all of cycling. Pretty nice.

The climb is divided up into 21 switchbacks. Some of them are "gimme's" . . .with only a short distance between the turns. Others are real grinds. And as I have heard Phil and Paul describe it, the first few are indeed mush steeper, so you're left saying to yourself "OMFG! I've got 21 turns of THIS?!?"

But after the first few it does get easier, and as you climb the scenery is stunning, as you can see from this view from one of the turns. This trio of riders includes a father and son from Toronto, and another boy they told me they had only just met. His mother had dropped him off in the parking lot at the base of the mountain with them, asking them if her son could ride to the top with them, wjich I thought was pretty cool. Note Dad is wearing Radio Shack kit. I was surprised by how many riders I saw wearing replica team kit during the trip. Way more than here in the States.

About 2/3 of the way up is the village of Huez, and on this day on July 14--Bastille Day--the church was decorated with tricolor flags and the WW1 memorial out front was as well. Once again this memorial in front of the church was mainly for WW1, with just a small note about WW2.

Farther up the mountain you can see the ski station of Alpe d'Huez. It's a huge city compared to the small village that gives the mountain it's name.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . each switchback is numbered, counting down as you get to the top. Each sign also bears the name and year of a previous winner of a TdF stage that finished atop the mountain. In this case it's Giuseppe Guerini in 1999, who you may remember was decked by Eric the photographer, who had stepped out in front of him to get a photo as Guerini charged into the mountaintop village to win the stage. After getting knocked to the ground, he scrambled back up to mount his bike and win the stage. Later Eric sought him out to offer apologies, which Guerini accepted.

At the top I rode all the way through the village, looking for some sort of sign to get a pic with for my personal tote board of mountaintop victories. I finally saw the finish line sign for the TdF stage midway up a long street/parking lot, dropped it into my small ring to sprint--and dumped the chain off the inside less than 100 meters from the finish line. $#@@%&$!! I felt like Andy Schleck . . . but got the chain back on and got to the end, where an obliging Aussie tourist got this shot of me. You can see from the background the line of ski lodges receding into the distance. It really is a whole city on top of the mountain. I had just enough time before the group left to head into the Trek concept store to buy a few jerseys and t-shirts and see the exhibit of Lance's dope sleds, er, I mean stage winning bikes.

Unfortunately, by getting there late I had to choose between stopping to grab something to eat and buying stuff. I should have eaten something, as you will see shortly.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . about halfway, where we hooked up with the balcony road and started out on that. After about a mile, I was totally bonked because I hadn't eaten anything. One of our guides, Sam, gave me a protein bar but it wasn't enough. This was our third day of hard riding at altitude--Col du Glandon first day, both sides of Galibier the second, so I was fried. I got the dry heaves when the road headed up hill again and decided this would probably be a good time to climb in the van.

As it turned out, that was a good move, because it meant I was free (once I recovered) to get photos of the other guys riding in this incredible scenery. The balcony road was just that--a balcony carved into the side of the mountain, and I wondered why they had built it in the first place, since it didn't seem to really go anywhere. I was glad we didn't encounter any other cars because I could see very few places where it was wide enough that we would have been able to pass. There were also tunnels, some of the literally just holes blasted through the rock, and I had a few anxious moments as Dan stopped the van to scope out whether we could fit through with my bike on the roof rack. If he miscalculated I was screwed. But we got through all of them OK--I guess that's why he's the chief guide.

So Dan drove, I shot pics, and it all worked out. As you can see, the views are spectacular.

Just before we got back to the hotel going up the Lautaret, we caught up with the guys from the Monster Media team, Derric and Chris (the Strava King) who had once again elected to ride the avid option for the day.

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . wonderful, sometimes barely recognizable French food. Also here's a pic of Ali, one of our guides and the only woman on the trip. She's a hammer! :banana:

BBD

[thinpin]

Great stuff Dave, but sandels and socks....;)

[gasman]

Looks like a fantastic trip and love all the great photos of the scenery.

[christian]

Wait, is one of those chaps riding in just a cycling cap, on a tour with an American company?

I mean, I'm all for cycling caps, but what about the lawyers? Seriously, though, helmets aren't required for Trek Travel? I never would have guessed that.

Nice pics!

[velotel]

In this case, I stopped to get some photos of a waterfall (and step behind a barn for a nature break) and I looked down and here was this huge, and I mean HUGE snail. This is apparently what the French make "Escargot" from and the shell on this thing was almost as big as my fist. I got a shot of it before getting moving again, and when i described it to some of the other guys their reaction was "Huh?"

Actually escargot is snail in french, which of course the french prepare in various manners to eat. Basically a slug with a house on its back. I've eaten escargot but not something I search out. Nice pics. The shelf road is a good one. Never done it in a car, don't think I'd want to.

[BBB]

BBD Dave is of course modest. The Googles tells me he recorded approximately the 7th fastest time up Alpe d'Huez, including a stop to photograph that kid riding up the climb (and whose stem was clearly too short). Now, I wonder what those pesky French put in that escargot...???

[carlucci1106]

This is great! Thanks for the pics, the commentary, and I hope your vacation continues to be special for you Dave!

What really made me smile is this kid on the little green road bike cranking up the alpe d' huez. He's in his yellow jersey kit, fancy helmet, and even road shoes (clipless too?). He's grinding it out -- leaving (what I assume to be) Dad and big brother behind to suck his wind. :hello: LMAO!

[BumbleBeeDave]

. . . in these photos are from my trip group.

BBD

Wait, is one of those chaps riding in just a cycling cap, on a tour with an American company?

I mean, I'm all for cycling caps, but what about the lawyers? Seriously, though, helmets aren't required for Trek Travel? I never would have guessed that.

Nice pics!

[soulspinner]

Wonderful. Thanks for the pics and explanations. :hello:

[maxn]

Excellent! love the shelf road.

[khjr]

Great stuff Dave, but sandels and socks....;)

Sandals and socks. Just like my German brethren! (while on holiday, of course :-)

[nismosr]

amazing pictures and great report. would love to do this before I die.

[poff]

So did you beat 1hr climbing time on the Alp?

[tiretrax]

Great stuff, BBD. I like the picture of you and the Texan on the switchback with "HELP" painted on the wall behind you.