La Marmotte 2010

Slideshowbob

any clubs organised a trip there?

how are they getting there?

Ryaner

niceonetom wrote: »

Have you any tips on what to bring for the day? Clothing-wise? I'm slightly concerned about the drastic differences in temperature we might encounter.

I'd happily climb at -6, the problem is getting back down.

The descents are LONG and I'm still scarred by the experience of coming down the Galibier at temperatures above freezing. I'm struggling to explain it... Imagine yourself standing naked on the platform of a an oil rig in the arctic during a hail storm for about an hour. It was cold enough that any exposed skin would instantly go bright red and start to scream with stinging pain. Eyes streaming. Coordination deteriorating. We were dressed like polar explorers and were still in serious danger of being unable to squeeze the levers coming into the corners. If we'd been up there with less clothes we would be in serious trouble.

We did the Galibier today. Top 1km was closed due to snow/snow damage on the roads. Decent was cold but not overly bad. However the rain and hail was something else. Pea sized blocks of ice hammering down hitting you while at speed.
It is kinda nuts to got for 30-35C at the bottom of the telegraph to cycling beside 10 foot snow drifts 2 hours later.

Mosiki

mudguard required? rain jacket?

Ryaner

Mosiki wrote: »

mudguard required? rain jacket?

It would of helped. Had a Gilet on which kept the core dry. Back from dinner and shoes are still wet. Properly wet.

I was cycling on the flats with the rain. Descents would be scary with rain like that.

100Suns

The weather forecast for Grenoble and Alpe d'Huez is good for Saturday. 17-31 C mostly sunny. No rain/showers forecast. The days before and after are good too so that bodes well. Fingers crossed.

Ryaner

Just back from signing on. Very organised.

Pack included a message of the following

For safety, Glandon downhill is not timed.
Stop timing at Col du Glandon, start timing at Sainte-Marie-de-Cuines.

Did this happen in previous years? i.e. is it something they just say and do the timing anyway?

barrabus

Ryaner wrote: »

Just back from signing on. Very organised.

Pack included a message of the following

For safety, Glandon downhill is not timed.
Stop timing at Col du Glandon, start timing at Sainte-Marie-de-Cuines.

Did this happen in previous years? i.e. is it something they just say and do the timing anyway?

nah I would have got a gold if they had .... I swear.

blorg

Hey if anyone over wants to meet up let me know, ask barrabus or el tonto or someone who knows me for my mobile! Stayimg on the Alpe. La Vaujany on Sun and the Prix Des Rousses yesterday, finding my climbing legs. 1sr Irishman in the Prix oit of not many. Cracked the hour up the Alpe d'Huez as part of the Prix but it didn't go up Rif Nel. Weather greatt for the GT events so far.

Ryaner

blorg wrote: »

Hey if anyone over wants to meet up let me know, ask barrabus or el tonto or someone who knows me for my mobile! Stayimg on the Alpe. La Vaujany on Sun and the Prix Des Rousses yesterday, finding my climbing legs. 1sr Irishman in the Prix oit of not many. Cracked the hour up the Alpe d'Huez as part of the Prix but it didn't go up Rif Nel. Weather greatt for the GT events so far.

For the Alpe climb, where did you take the start and finish points? And what was your actual time?
Out of curiosity...

Guybrush T

Ryaner wrote: »

Just back from signing on. Very organised.

Pack included a message of the following



Did this happen in previous years? i.e. is it something they just say and do the timing anyway?

Don't remember that, and anyway most of the bodies I saw were on the descent of the Glandon....

mfdc

So how's everyone feeling today then? Seems like the weather will be good, although maybe some thunderstorms later on in the day. That'll be welcome on the Alpe though! We're going for a quick short spin soon just to keep the legs ticking over, but other than that have done nothing since Wednesday to be in as good a shape as possible. I'm not so much nervous as... I just want to get going already. I'm sure that once we roll over the start line everything will click into place and will just get on with it, but just sitting around doing nothing is a killer.

Mosiki

Just after signing on, well organised and painless. Very warm, circa 30C. After seeing Alpe Duez in the flesh, time is no longer relevant. I,ll simply be pacing myself to finish. TV doesn't do the ascents justice.

Haven,t been on th bike since last saturday but itching to get out, do a 20 min spin later to wake the legs up and check bike. 5am rise so early night tonight.

Ryaner

Mosiki wrote: »

Just after signing on, well organised and painless. Very warm, circa 30C. After seeing Alpe Duez in the flesh, time is no longer relevant. I,ll simply be pacing myself to finish. TV doesn't do the ascents justice.

Word of advise, do not hammer it on the flat part at the base of the Alpe, just after the round a bout. The steepest bit is near the bottom and last for around 1.5 before it eases up, and by that I mean drops to 7% for a few seconds before going back to the 8/9% you'll see for the rest of it.

blorg

Ryaner wrote: »

For the Alpe climb, where did you take the start and finish points? And what was your actual time?
Out of curiosity...

59:10 from the timing post just before the corner at the bottom to the highest point before we started descending. 59:40 to the roundabout on Avenue du Rif Nel where the Tour route goes left up 100m or so while we turned right down to the Rond-Point de L'Europe and back down to Huez. I hadn't been putting in a particular effort and had been taking photos and chatting to people on the way up so was very happy with this. Wasn't a TT effort by any means as it was only the first half of the Prix des Rousses. I only checked the elapsed time on my Garmin as we came around the final hairpin and saw then I was on course for under the hour. Going up with a group of people climbing at a similar rate definitely helped a lot. The Marmotte ascent is very slightly shorter; it doesn't go up quite as high and ends before R-P de L'Europe/Rif Nel.

18.4kg... it is possible!



La Vaujanay
Sunday 175km 4,000m climbing

Almost but not quite as bad as the Marmotte. We started around 20 minutes late so lost that in the timing but I wasn't taking it very seriously. Climbs the Col de la Mort, Col d'Ornon, Alpe d'Huez, the Sarenne followed by an utterly horrible descent and finishes up the climb to Vaujanay. That was tough.



La Prix des Rousses
Wednesday 42km 1,770m climbing

Felt good on this one; did it in 2h03m. Climbs the Alpe d'Huez then descends to the bottom of the Glandon/Croix de Fer before heading up to Vaujanay. As a nice little surprise from the organisers it is advertised as 40km but the finish is actually 2km further up the mountain from where we fininished Sunday in the town of Vaujanay. Despite this the climb up Vaujanay felt substantially easier without so many km in the legs.



Les Deux Alpes

Caroline_ie

I am a bit nervous ... best of luck to all the boardsies taking part. And Yes you must hammer it in the flat part, positioning before the climb is essential if you want to win it, suck wheels, up the saddle :P and destroy yourself on the Alpe d'huez. Pain is only in your head.;)

ROK ON

@Blorg - what have you done to Tom.

Best of luck to all of you guys. Have a lovely day, and enjoy the beers afterwards.

Ryaner

blorg wrote: »

59:10 from the timing post just before the corner at the bottom to the highest point before we started descending. 59:40 to the roundabout on Avenue du Rif Nel where the Tour route goes left up 100m or so while we turned right down to the Rond-Point de L'Europe and back down to Huez. I hadn't been putting in a particular effort and had been taking photos and chatting to people on the way up so was very happy with this. Wasn't a TT effort by any means as it was only the first half of the Prix des Rousses. I only checked the elapsed time on my Garmin as we came around the final hairpin and saw then I was on course for under the hour. Going up with a group of people climbing at a similar rate definitely helped a lot. The Marmotte ascent is very slightly shorter; it doesn't go up quite as high and ends before R-P de L'Europe/Rif Nel.

That is some time, espec when taking it easy. I did 61:10 and it was only up to the Arrive sign at the tourist office. It took 297W avg across the climb too. You must have a very high FTP.

Best of luck to everyone taking part. All this waiting around is the worst part.

niceonetom

ROK ON wrote: »

@Blorg - what have you done to Tom.

Best of luck to all of you guys. Have a lovely day, and enjoy the beers afterwards.

What has he done to me? Well, he has lost to me, for one thing. I'm lying 84th in the GC for La Grande Trophé with the mighty blorg nearly six minutes down in 87th. I beat him in the (hellish) Vaujany by about 20 minutes but he got a lot of that back on the Prix de Rouse. Tomorrow will be decisive.

It has been a really amazing trip so far. The cycling over here is an order of magnitude more challenging than anything in Ireland. It's also an order more beautiful, more evocative and more satisfying. The level of the other riders in the GT is just insane too. We really are way out of our league here and the times that the front runners can put in are just staggering. On the Prix de Rouse we had to up L'Alpe D and go around the town before descending down to a turn-off about 2/3rd of the way up - the front-runners had gone up and down to that turn by the time I got there - in about 46 minutes. I figure they must have gotten to the top in not much more than 40 minutes. Insane.

I have loads to say about this trip - way too much to post here - and I haven't even done the main event yet.

niceonetom

pasta, pasta, pasta, nervous giggle, pasta...

blorg

Ryaner wrote: »

That is some time, espec when taking it easy. I did 61:10 and it was only up to the Arrive sign at the tourist office. It took 297W avg across the climb too. You must have a very high FTP.

I was 56:15 to that point, just before the road sweeps left into the tunnel at 'hairpin 0'; there is also a 'hairpin -1' a bit further on Around 76kg at the moment. I wouldn't say I was taking it easy but I wasn't TTing it either; breathing normally and could carry out a conversation, take photos, change the music on my iPod, etc. HR average was 182 for the climbs and 177 overall for the two hours including the descent, ramped up into the 190s for the end of the climb up Vaujanay. Peak 196 for a bit of a sprint finish. There is a fine line I think though between "easy" and "dying" and I think I was quite consistent in terms of the effort. Tomorrow is a much longer day and if I am to avoid the pain I experienced from around 110km on the Vaujanay I think easy pacing at the start is going to be essential. Tom and myself are in the front pen (#17 and #157) but I won't be trying to stay with them up the Glandon!

honkjelly

bon courage!!!

TinyExplosions

blorg wrote: »

Oh dear... with that beard, and your famous sandals, you are terribly, terribly close to getting a recumbent I feel..

Caroline_ie

Lumen

"breathing normally and could carry out a conversation, take photos, change the music on my iPod, etc. HR average was 182"

How can you breathe normally, converse and take photos at 182bpm? That's just freakish.

Nice haircut btw, for a freak.

Caroline_ie

Marmotte Day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ttyl

blorg

8h11m including stops. Official time may be a bit different due to the neutralising of the Glandon descent, not sure what they are going to do there. Should be good enough for gold. I met (and beat ) Niko Eeckhout; I thought he was just an Irish person riding in the SKT kit but then saw the Belgian national champion stripes on his jersey sleeve!

ROK ON

Good on you Blorg. Well done. Enjoy the beers tonite.

Caroline_ie

Saw Niko too he passed me on a climb.
I am fecked ...

garminguy

well done guys, put your tried feet up and watch the prologue on t v:)

Caroline_ie

I did mine in 5:55h ( i think ) but it was half the Marmotte. Including stops, puncture, vomiting, getting sprayed by about half a dozen people on the side of the Alpe d'huez climb, stopping by 4 mini waterfalls to get myself in the water, stopping to check if my keys were still in my pocket x4... walking in the shade during 1 hairpin ( when I was getting a bit sick ).
Men with hoses and water bottles are pervs ... spraying the girls with white jerseys ... I swear sometimes it was close to soft porn ... lol
The Alpes d'huez in 35degres heat is a killer...
I am happy to say I will never do this again

DirkVoodoo

Caroline_ie wrote: »

Men with hoses and water bottles are pervs ... spraying the girls with white jerseys ... I swear sometimes it was close to soft porn ... lol

How do I sign up for this again?

Men with hoses?? How the heck did that work??

Ryaner

The official times included the Glandon Decent. Or at least my cert has the same time to the second of my Garmin.

To everyone who completed, well done. The last two km of Alpe d'Huez were the hardest of my life. (Although that is partly my fault for sprinting for a time cut off that I had got wrong)

How or where do we get medals? Didn't see anything up the top when I finished.

blorg

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

Men with hoses?? How the heck did that work??

What it says on the tin, they would spray you with the hose as you were climbing. Kids would pour bottles over your head. It really really helps and the kids love throwing water over cyclists.

DirkVoodoo

Great photos Blorg, awesome time too! Well done everyone.

blorg

Ryaner wrote: »

How or where do we get medals? Didn't see anything up the top when I finished.

Last year you could buy one for a tenner at the finish; I didn't see anything this year though I didn't go looking either.

My official time was 8h12m33s which is close enough that it looks like the Glandon descent was timed and they were just trying to get everyone to take it easy. As a result people were sitting on the brakes and blowing their tyres out and it was difficult to corner without going into the back of someone creeping around. Braking in corners is not good.

Tom also got gold.

I found it quite easy until the Alpe. I had paced myself much better than last year and didn't go hard at the start or do any sprinting for cols (until the actual finish.) I had also fuelled myself well eating 100 calories every half hour on button. All went well up the Glandon; I hid in a group on the flat section and didn't start to feel tired on the Telegraph like last year. The Galibier was also absolutely fine. I picked a strong Dutchman to hide behind on the descent and ended up in with quite a fast moving bunch. As a result I didn't eat enough on the descent and was a bit ropey for the first two thirds or so of the Alpe before I got my mojo back after the Huez water stop. I was feeling the heat there which I hadn't on the previous climbs. Actually felt fine for the last 3km or so; having water poured over your head really does help.

Ryaner

Lumen wrote: »

"breathing normally and could carry out a conversation, take photos, change the music on my iPod, etc. HR average was 182"

How can you breathe normally, converse and take photos at 182bpm? That's just freakish.

There is a guy staying with us here who climbed the Alpe the first day at 175hr while taking it easy. My mate sat with him on another climb - his HR was 155, this guy was 180. Both were talking normally. Just happens.

blorg wrote: »

Last year you could buy one for a tenner at the finish; I didn't see anything this year though I didn't go looking either.

My official time was 8h12m33s which is close enough that it looks like the Glandon descent was timed and they were just trying to get everyone to take it easy. As a result people were sitting on the brakes and blowing their tyres out and it was difficult to corner without going into the back of someone creeping around. Braking in corners is not good.

Thanks. Will go looking tomorrow.

There were quite a few punctures or blowouts around the course. Had to remember not to stay on the breaks too much although some people were sitting on there and weaving. Not pretty.

mfdc

Oh man I've never felt so bad in my life... seriously thought I was getting heat stroke on the Alpe. Had to stop twice to dunk my head under those little waterfalls, and also had to sit down in the shade before one of the hairpins for about 5 mins. Head was throbbing and I thought I was gonna keel over! The guy with the hose and that dude in Garde who was dunking water bottles over people both deserve nobel peace prizes imo.

I paced myself pretty well, everything was rosy up until about 5km from the top of Galibier when I started to feel like I was gonna throw up. Couldn't eat or drink anything for a good while, and then I got a headache coming off the Lautaret. You know you're in the middle of something special when your body starts a full on mutiny

Got there in the end though, 9:43 official time. Wanted to get a silver so job done. Well done to everyone who finished, just getting around that course with this heat is a hell of an achievement in my book!

blorg

Nothing wrong with stopping on a climb; I stopped four times on the Alpe myself: the two water stops, for a pee and one bit where I just needed some shade. Even 30 seconds and you start again refreshed. Must have got near a litre out on the pee stop near the bottom, that is 1kg less to carry up the mountain. Indeed if you are going to stop halfway up a climb is the more sensible place to do it rather than at the top or the bottom. I skipped all the food stops and carried my food with me- 5 Powerbars and 3 Isostar ones, ~200 calories each bar. 1 left over at the end. Was lucky not to cramp as otherwise I was on plain water (had energy drink for the first hour after which I moved onto the bars.)

One thing I noticed last year and even more so this year was the level of support. Many partners etc supporting but mostly the locals, cheering all the cyclists on, dumping water over you, etc. They really are absolutely great and make the event what it is. Going up the Alpe at parts you are cycling through people clapping and shouting encouragement on either side, it really is a fantastic event.

niceonetom

Sweet Jesus that was hard.

39*C on the lower (steeper) slopes of the alpe. At that temperature my blood turns to custard.

I'm very pleased with how the day went though. I made the classic mistake of going too hard at the beginning trying to hang with the fast people as they galloped the 14km to the base of the Col de Glandon. Note to self: if your highest HR is 16 minutes in to the most fearsome epic you have ever undertaken you have officially fúcked up. I knew I was making the mistake too; it just really hard to ignore that instinct that tells me to jump on the fastest wheel I can find...

Consequently I got my arse kicked by every single climb. The Galibier is a monster. It's just insane how it goes on and on and on. I think the top only becomes accessible to those who have accepted in their heart that it will never arrive.

Anyway, I got a gold time which I was hugely surprised by. I'd done some back-of-an-envelope calculations and figured that on the basis of my performances in the Vaujany and the Rouses I would struggle to get within an hour of gold. Consequently I wasn't even pushing it or keeping any track of the time elapsed. Turns out I was wrong though, gold is achievable. That might be because I was comparing starting at the back of the bunch (20 minutes after the actual start in the case of the Vaujany) to starting at the front (which is what we did today). Drafting is absolutely minimal for the huge parts of the course where you're on a +8% grade, there it's more about being paced, but there are a few flat bits and finding a few guys to work together on the LONG descents can also knock a bit of the time.

Now I have to resist the urge to drink myself into an early night.

I have a TT up the alpe in the morning. I'm 13km from completing the Trophé, it would be a shame to let it slip now... blorg can have my beer instead.

Here's me passing Niko Eeckoot. Yep. Me. Passing him. Woot!

Well done to anyone who did this. It really is awesome in so many ways.

honkjelly

Well done all and congrats on the golds and silvers!!

velo.2010

Great effort by all, that sounds fierce tough.

Maybe when you get back home and settled back someone could give us an idea about the total cost involved to do this. My Contador-like climbing ability is surely wasted on the Wicklow mountains.:D

Again well done folks.

DualFrontDiscs

velo.2010 wrote: »

Again well done folks.

+1

DFD.

Greyspoke

Very well done to all the Boardsies that did this today. I'm envious of your justifiable sense of achievement! One day before I'm too old....!

blorg

Greyspoke wrote: »

Very well done to all the Boardsies that did this today. I'm envious of your justifiable sense of achievement! One day before I'm too old....!

You would be very well suited for the course although I would NOT do it on a fixie. Honest! There were a few people on very expensive full-sus XC MTBs with slicks but a road bike is honestly the way to go. The descents in particular.

mfdc

blorg wrote: »

You would be very well suited for the course although I would NOT do it on a fixie. Honest! There were a few people on very expensive full-sus XC MTBs with slicks but a road bike is honestly the way to go. The descents in particular.

I passed one of those guys... somewhere. I can't even remember where now I'm so frazzled. Anyway, I was jealous - spinning away at well over 90rpm in his ludicrously low gears while I was slogging along in my mighty 34-28. Great for going up, but as you say the descents would be a bit hairy.

edit: Oh and also, hats off to you guys doing the full Grand Trophee! The way I'm feeling right now I'll be out of commission for a week at least, dunno how you folk managed after having done a full week up these hills AND a tt up the Alpe tomorrow.

Mosiki

Sitting in a bar having a well earned pint, hardest day ever on a bike, hills are insane as was the weather.

AstraMonti

Well done guys! I envy you but congratulations! Tom we all now that you deserve every inch of that medal

Caroline_ie

I got gold too :cool: I rock

The tax man

Caroline_ie wrote: »

I got gold too :cool: I rock

Well done Caroline. I know you were concerned earlier in the year about the climbs you'd be facing so to get gold is a great result.

Sandbagging a bit were we?:D:D

Well done to all the others that took part,it looks and sounds like a fantastic event.

Caroline_ie

Gold in my category women 18 to 34
You should have seen the proper female cyclists, they were just like men with long hair and a bit of boobs.