Cafe and KMs part Deux

The agenda today after consuming massive amounts of coffee and bread with jam as well muesli with yogurt was to ride up to the ski resort Les Deux Alps then to Freny then along this wickedly beautiful road that is cut along the granite of the mtn, up Le Alpe d'Huez from Turn 16 to Huez, next to Villier Reculas, bomb it down to Allemont before rolling back to the digs. Riding to Les Deux Alps starts out climbing 5-7% immediately. This didn't agree with my tummy as I felt like vomiting for the entire 28km of the climb to the ski resort. I had to spend most of the climb standing b/c when I was seated the higher cadence would rattle my stomach. Probably a little too much to eat prior to riding. Ohh well, better now than in a race which I have done already too much. Les Deux Alps is an incredible ski village. LDA has hosted several finishes in Le Tour and as it should be the climb is pretty steep(7-10%) for 12km. The vista at the summit is incredible. I took a lot of fotos here for the memories...lol. The village itself was bustling with activity. Basically, you drive or take a bus to the village and you stay there for your entire visit. The village is cut between the slopes about 1.5-2km in length and has several supermarches, many restaurants, bars, even a discotech. Lots of outdoor stores and ski shops. In summer time, it means downhill mtn biking, swimming in the pool, cross-country mtn biking, paragliding over the valley which looked incredible, road cycling, and of course downhill skiing on the glacier. It was quite the juxtaposition rolling into the village on my road bike in my summer kit with skiers in full gear walking with skis across their shoulders in their boots. This goes to show the focus of outdoor sports is alive and well here in Les Deux Alps. I would highly recommend a visit here if you have the means.

The descent from Les Deux Alps was pretty sweet with lots of speed and the traditional alpine switchbacks for good measure. I stopped several times to take pictures. Next I would head down the road a little way to the village of Le Freney d'Oisons. Very small village with a killer 5km? climb up to the top which probably avg'd 10% the whole time. Once at the top it levels for a little bit before climbing gradually past the village of Auris. Instead of going to Auris to the right, you continue straight and follow the signs to Le Alpe d'Huez. At this point you have to be a good 600m above the road(N91) below and the village of Le Bourg d'Oisons. Michelin labels the road as "parcours dificile ou dangeroux." It probably more of the latter for the generic description. The road is 7.5m wide and was built literally out of the side of the mountain. For my Bay Area followers, think Headlands from the summit and looking down but increase the height and make the dropoff completely 90deg from the road. Basically, the road has a shear dropoff of over 600m(1968ft). The only think protecting you from going down is a 15" protective "wall." It was super cool and hopefully the pictures will do some justice. I got some nice ones leaning over the edge b/c I like to live dangerously. You also get to go through several tunnels.

Finally, I rolled into switchback 16 of Le Alpe. I originally was just going to bomb it down to Bourg d'Oisons because I was feeling tired from the previous climb but I tricked myself and saw that it was only 5k to the village of Huez which was where I would turn off to Villard Reculas. I saw a few american tourists riding and their were pooped after the first 3k of Le Alpe. The woman commenting that she didn't want to go anywhere but her boyfriend/husband convincing her that the hardest part was over, which is true. None of the climb is easy but the first 3km is especially more difficult. I turned off just after switchback 6 or about 3km from the finish or 5km from Le Tour's finish. I rolled up to Villard Reculas and had the first part of my cheese baguette. Hit the spot. Now it was a nice fast descent to Allemont.

After rolling through Allemont, a rider pulled up next to me and started speaking francais to me. I immediately responded "no francais, angles." She responded, "ohh i'm american." So we started chatting and riding. Her name is Diana and she was coming back from Col de le Croix de Fer. One of the great things about cycling is the ability to ride and enjoy conversation simultaneously. I started telling her about my ride and living in SF which she has come out for training before and knows most of the routes I usually do. When you think the world is big, its encounters like this one which humbles one on how small the world really is. Diana was planning on doing the Le Marmotte next weekend which is one of the most difficult cyclosportivs. I did the course solo less Le Alpe but added another col and 20 additional kms on Wed. So I know how tough it is. We rolled back into Bourg d'Oisons and she pointed out the hotel where she is staying, the "Oberland." Its a true cycling hotel with jerseys hung all around the outside of the hotel. Looks like a fun place to stay. We rolled into a little cafe in the village. We probably sat around for an hour or so chatting about cycling, racing in Europe(she raced in europe a few years ago), racing in the US. It was very enjoyable. Then we swapped fotos from our digital cameras, kind of a competition for the foto awards...I guess. As soon as I broke out the 2nd half of my cheese baguette, she brought out her baguette and cheese too. Too funny. I showed her the Marmotte course on the flyer in the bike shop window and the times listed for diploma levels. It will be some good training before she heads back to NJ and does more racing for her team and the Green Mountain Stage Race later in Sept in Vermont, which I have long considered doing. We are going to go for a easy ride tomorrow. Should be nice.

Funny moment of the day:

After my grand exit, I was rolling back nicely along the newly tarmaced N91 out of Bourg d'Oisons when I rolled past this older dutch(?) rider. I could see a lot of stuff in the distance on the handlebar. Upon honing in on him in my stealthiness, I glanced over at the handlebars for a more microview. This guy had NASA'd out his bike so he could track everything and monitor even the space debris above him 100,000mi up. For Houston control center had, a GPS unit(not the Garmin bike computer) but a full on GPS unit, a cyclocomputer, and a Polar HR monitor. The handlebar looked like Manhattan, not a single bit of green space. Now, I am pretty geek'd out with my SRM, but this guy had everything to tell him everything. I laughed so hard after rolling past him. I should have taken a picture of him, b/c it was a memory worth keeping.

Au Revoir,
Matthew