John is Calm. Jane is freaking out. Today is the big one. The legendary Col de la Madeleine. Twenty kilometers between 8 and 12% grades. We are riding from our hotel - Hotel Million-
In Albertville
A pretty former Olympic village nestled in the heart of the French Alps. Here we are getting ready to go at 8 am
We rode about 30 miles with a few small rises to get to the village of chambery
We took a left in the middle of town and immediately came upon a "tombstone" indicating that the next kilometer would average 8%. OK here we go! The tour is coming up this climb on Friday so when you see the pros suffering you can think how we felt!
Tough!
We got separated but met up several times when our team car stopped to keep us fed and watered
After several painful hours of watching those tombstones and wondering where the summit was, we arrived at the top
Jane has cramped up and had a nice massage. You definitely DON'T want to cramp up on the long scary downhill.
Oh did we mention beautiful alpine scenery?
Yeah the downhill was a brutal 28k. What didn't hurt by the top of the climb now ached. After a total of 70 miles and 7000 feet of climbing and over 8 hours in the saddle we arrived back at our hotel.
Hot shower, food, and feet up. 'Til tomorrow!
JnJ
But I bet you didn't have heat indices of 100+.
ReplyDeleteCongratulations J&J. My hats off to both of you. On second thought, it's too hot here to take my hat off. Thanks I'll have a glass of wine and toast you in absention.
I think you meant La Chambre. Chambéry is a much larger, almost industrial city which is actually quite close, but not on the route to La Col de la Madeleine, from Albertville at least. I've ridden/driven around this area quite a lot, usually based in Aix-les-Bains, overlooked by Le Révard where the race is due tomorrow, Friday, 19 July. Fantastic fun. I'm jealous ...
ReplyDeleteAllen, your right on the town, La Chambre is the correct spelling.
ReplyDelete