The end of the season is nigh.......

Just back in Chamonix after a few days in Provence with Steve from Classic Cycling Tours, Meribel.

Sunday we rode the La Dromoise cyclosportive, a 116km blast with around 1500M of climbing around Provence from a small village called Die (pronounced Di). It was a muggy day with some damp roads and a number of crashes in the first 20KM. Happy with 8th in my age group and finishing 70th out of 500 finishers.

Moving on to Malaucene at the foot of Ventoux and fresh from celebrating Cav's World Championship win it was time for a second go at Ventoux. Through the forest and the unrelenting 10% incline it was pretty muggy but 21.5Km later and 1500M of ascent reaching the top in 1hr 45M. The weather for the end of September was amazing with a very slight breeze at the summit and in the early 20's.

Descending down we stopped for a moment with Britains last World Champion Tom Simpson.

Onto the Georges de la Nesque - possibly one of the most spectacular roads in France?

A big day after the previous days efforts!

Etape du Tour Monday 11th July

So we're back in the Maurienne Valley for the big showdown, the 2011 Etape du Tour. After a mammoth 3 1/2 hour faff to get our bibs (why did 8000 riders have to go in 1600 bus journeys up to Valfrejus ski resort just to get our bibs?).

Monday morning was warm and still and you know when you know you are feeling good so after the 10km ride to the start I confess I was feeling much better than a week ago at the Marmotte start.

Rolling out of Mondane in the 4th group on the road, the 3 of us in this group, Miles Smart, Steve Seddon and me, were soon on the front and glad we'd done our home work on the roundabouts for the shallow descent down to St Michel, with the group blasting along at around 55km's an hour and managing to stay out of trouble.

With the sharp left hander onto the Telegraphe and onto the climb, feeling strong and cresting the Telegraphe summit in 1 hr 12 mins from Modane for the short descent to Valloire. The great thing about closed roads is being able to use the whole road on both the acsent and the descent. On the way up the kick from the sweet spot on the switch back bend is a great motivator, and the safety of descending on the whole of the road means that there is much less braking - I reached a top speed of 71kmh during the day.

Onto the Galibier and once through the initial steep section after Valloire, the push on to Plan Lachat is a great place to take liquid and gels before the road really ramps up after Plan Lachat. Passing Marco Pantani's memorial ( and also Simon Abrahams who usually passes me!) and a non existent water stop (did anyone else find it?) and on towards the tunnel entrance, (why did the route map suggest a summit of 2556m rather than 2645m - it looked like we were to use the tunnel!) for the final ramp up to the summit in 2 hrs 42m from Modane. With the road re-surfaced for the Tour de France in the last couple of weeks the technical section from the summit to the tunnel exit is now much more rider friendly and after my Morzine incident, putting this to the back of my mind, and my target of sub 5 hours was definitely on. I only got over taken by one guy on the technical section down to the Col de Lauteret  and must have overtaken 30+.

Descending from the Lauteret is critical to get in a good group with the headwind,and with about 15 of us together through the tunnels , it was much safer being on the front. Over the dam and left onto the Bourg D'Oisans round the sweeping descent continues until a brief kick up through a tunnel. I quickly realised that I was off the front of the group, comparing to dropping off the back on this section during the Marmotte just a week  ago.  I opted to push on alone and using the full width of the road and using the smooth centre line pretty much all the way of the final flat section into Bourg.

With the 5 hour target still in sight and a brief water stop at the foot of Alp D'Huez, I was beginning to think that with an hour and 20 mins to get up the Alp that I just had to keep it steady........wrong! With the thermometer rising and the minutes ticking away the best solution was to use the whole off the road to get as much shade a possible. Suffering through Huez and onto the last 5 bends and managing a sprint up to the finishing line I'd managed to climb Alp D'Huez in 1 hour 17 mins and in a total time of 4 hrs 57 mins 2 secs.....result! Much happier than the Marmotte which I guess I have to put down to an off day.

Hats off to the 6461 finishers and anyone coming up Alp D'Huez in the 30 degrees + in the afternoon!

So now a brief rest before again setting off for Bour D'Oisans for the Tour de France next week and als start planning my attack on the Marmotte and Etape next year!

Back in the Alps

Back in Chamonix this week and its been back to Col conquering however fitness levels not quite what was expected after the Lanzarote trip, but the weather has been great all week so that helps.

Monday a group of us did the Time Megeve route from Sallanches over the Col de Colombiere and descent down to La Clusaz and then the climb over the Aravis before looping back around to Megeve and down to Sallanches. 100km loop with 2000M of climbing.

Tuesday we headed of an hour away to Annecy and bagged the Col Leschaux, a gentle rise out of Annecy followed by a great descent on quiet roads back down to the lake for 2 laps and the leg breaking climb of the Col de la Forclaz. This was a new col for me and the Forclaz gradually gets tougher especially 4 kms from the summit however the views of Lake Annecy are spectacular. 105km with 1500m of climbing.

After a day off the bike yesterday, today was the ride of the week. Meeting in Taninges (at the start of the Samoens Valley/Valley Verte) its a short warm up to Mieussy for the start of the ascent of the Col de la Ramaz used in the Tour last year. On quiet roads, again rewarded with spectacular views however just before the ski area the road rises up through the avalanche barriers and the tunnel to around 15%. Its about 14km's to the top and this brutal section takes it out of you, however the descent down through Pra sur Lys, another ghost town ski station , is pretty full on before hammering on the brakes for the 180 degree junction onto the Col de l'Ancrenaz. The Ancrenaz is fairly tame and after around 5kms we're over the summit and with no cars in either direction the road dips town towards Morzine via Essert Romand. After a rain encouraged extended coffee break we headed out from Morzine onto the slopes of the famous Col de joux plane which immediately ramps up to over 11% for the first km before easing to an 9.9% average for the next few k's. With rain in the air, its a great temperature at the moment for climbing and with the legs starting to feel good we passed under the ski lifts at the summit and reached the top in 55 minutes. The descent down into Samoens hasn't been road swept yet so this made for a few 'moments' on the way down into the Valley Verte where it was pretty much full on Summer. Flat roads back to Taninges after 75km's and 2150M of climbing.

With the aim still on the Marmotte its starting to become fairly daunting that its over 170KM's and 5000m of climbing, however with the Time Megeve in 3 weeks and events the following weekends leading up to the Marmotte I'm hoping that some form is going to kick in pretty soon!

Lanzarote Training

So Winter is finally over and the 14 to 16 hour days running our ski Chalet business have come to and end after a 4 month slog!

Jude and I escaped to Lanzarote a week ago avec Pinarello and now trying to balance recovering from Winter and training - all going well!

Weather mixed with some rain but sticking to the training plan. The good thing this year is I did manage to get in some long rides towards the back end of Winter and with the amazing lack of snow in the Alps it did allow for some great rides and skiing took a back step.

Our base at a friends Villa in Playa Blanca is a great spot and whilst the route out of Playa Blanca is a bit boring for the first 10KM's and a bit repetetive, once you are either along the coast or through Uga the Island opens out.

I've planned on this 12 days being a build up on core strength before hitting the mountains when back in the Alps end of next week. Its akinda weird change riding flatish roads but the Lanzarote wind makes for a challenging ride. Its either eyeballs out into it, or a mach 3 return with the wind behind.

Back in Chamonix attention turns to getting some climbs under the belt and with most of the high passes starting to open earlier than usual (seems apart from the Galibier).

We've got the cyclosportive lap of Lake Geneva at the end of May which is a flat 180KMS and then into early June we have the Time Megeve event which Peny Comins Events coordinator for Cycling Weekly and Freelance journalist is joining us - watch out for the Cycling weekly article later in the Summer. We still have some spaces left!

The great thing about the Chamonix region is the amount of cyclosportive events during the next few months all leading up to La Marmotte and then the Etape.

So in the leads up to the 'big two' its the Time Megeve, then Morzine, Le Grand Bornand and a couple of over events before the Marmotte at the beginning of July.

Training Begins!

Okay, its been a while! Ski guests wanted to visit Annecy this week so managed two laps of the lake (80kms) to kick start the training regime. Another 3 weeks of Winter guests in the Chalet and can then turn attentions to the Summer. Ebntry accepted for the Marmotte and the Etape, and first event likely to be the Time Megeve Cyclosportive - still space on our Time Megeve weekend! This Year the event starts in Sallanches rather than Megeve, taking in the Col de la Colombiere used in the Tour de France the last 2 years.

Lanzarote in 5 weeks for some cycling, sun and recovery from the manic Winter, and back here in Mid May when the mountain passes should start to open.

Aiming for some Marmotte/Etape reconnaissance before the Time Megeve.

11 days in Provence and the slowest ascent of Mt Ventoux?

Just back from a fantastic 11 days based in the Mt Ventoux region with Ridestrong bike tours helping guide one of their bespoke groups. Fantastic area with quiet roads at this time of year. The Mistral was blowing through which made Ventoux challenging for the guests and ice had formed on the top masts. Definately intend a revisit early next Spring for some pre etape training!

Col de Joux Plane

Famous for Floyd Landis' superb enhanced performance in the Tour de France, well, it was the complete opposite for me yesterday! Bonking 3/4 of the way up it was not my best day on the bike this year - not quite sure what went wrong as I'd eaten but you live and learn! At least the views over to the Mont Blanc massif were as spectacular as ever!

Dropping down to Morzine which is already a ghost town compared to Chamonix. I think their Summer season must have ended at the start of September whilst in Chamonix town is still fairly busy with visitors.

Next week its off to Mont Ventoux region with Ridestrong Biketours for 10 days. Looking forward to getting onto Ventoux and hopefully the weather will be a bit warmer down there!

Podium!

Today was the Megeve hill climb of 400M over 7.8KM, the last in a series of 3 hill climbs in the region over the past few weeks. Amazingly by competing in all 3 I managed to come 3rd in my age group in the series competition! Happy with that!

Summer has returned this week with day time temperatures getting up to the mid 20's but its chilly in the mornings. This time next week its off to Mont Ventoux and the Avignon guiding for Ridestrong Bike Tours

We've got our last guests of Summer in at the moment - very special guests as its the marketing team from Berghaus who very kindly kit us out in outdoor gear. The good news is that they are looking to expand into cycling wet weather gear so watch this space.

The training schedule with cyclecoach.com is going well and this will take me up to the end of November which will include a couple of weeks in Lanzarote before we go into the super busy Winter season. Etape rumours are still looking at Modane to Alp D'Huez which takes in the Telegraph, Galibier, Lauteret and then Alpe D'Huez. We're hoping to check it out in a couple of weeks.

Meantime we're pushing on with the WInter marketing campaign with and looking how we are going to advertise for next Summer with our Bike tours. Never a dull moment!

September already .......

Yesterday was the annual Houch'Hard race here in Les Houches up the Vaudagne road - a 7km climb with a gain of around 300M. Disappointingly I was only 7 seconds quicker than last year coming in midfield with 19M 55 secs. Don't know what went wrong as I've gone up the climb in early 20Mins in training.

In the post race cool down we had some excitement with my mate John Kehoe locking up his back wheel into a hair pin and somersaulting into a ditch! Luckily no broken bones or bike.

Today I've started a 12 week training plan with cyclecoach.com . The plan was for 2 3/4 hours steady long ride but turned out longer than planned. I added on 30 mins to account for the downhills, however my estimate went wrong somewhere and after cycling to Samoens and back I ended up with 3 3/4 hours and over 100KM. Anyway - felt good after the race yesterday and with a horrendous forecast in Chamonix for tomorrow it was good to get some early September sun with the barometer pushing 24 - ideal for biking.

So the Tour rumours have started and looks like Alp D'Huez is on the cards with the Etape likely to be Modane to Alpe D'Huez. Hopeing to check out the route in around 3 or 4 weeks when hopefully we'll have a clearer idea. We're keeping at eye on Steephill and Paris.Thover for the latest rumours so we can ride the Etape route before the snow arrives.

Tour du Mont Blanc

Great weather returned this week and on Wednesday I finished my last section of the cyclists Tour du Mont Blanc to complete the circuit of Western Europe's highest peak. This involved a 90KM, 2200M of climbing. Down from Megeve through Flumet and then over the northern side of the Col de Saisies via Crest Voland. Once over the top I descended down the southern side of the climb to Villard sur Doron and then ascended again to the top of the Saisies on the main road and finally descending towards Flumet via Notra Dame de Bellecote. There are four routes over this climb and the ride covered all of them. Next time I'd climb back over on the Villard su Doron route and this road is much quieter and on a hot day is shaded most of the way up.

All eyes are now on the Houch'hard climb on the 5th September which is our local race. There's also the small matter of launching our new bike tours website!

Passy Climb

Sunday saw the mass start race up the climb to Bay from Passy. Nearly 8km and 380M of climbing, summer has returned to Chamonix and its a hot morning. Different approach this week with over an hour on the bike before the race. It worked! People that beat me by 3 1/2Mins on the Colombiere last week only beat me by 30 seconds this week!

Thoughts now turn to the final race this year, our own local Houch'hard up the climb to Les Houches through Vaudagne on the 5th September. Also, getting some long miles in the legs for the upcoming trip to Mont Ventoux at the end of September helping to guide for Julie at Ridestrong Bike Tours.

This week in the Alps!

What's happened to Summer? We had snow above 2000M earlier in the week! Monday was a washout but Tuesday dodging the showers it was a blast from Servoz to Cluses and back, 64KM's in just over 2 hours! Wednesday we were concentrating our our new bike website for next year.

Thursday and its much warmer - decided to leave the van down in Sallanches and headed over the Col des Arreches towards the ski resort of Flaine before turning left and onto the col de Chatillon and descending into the Samoens Valley. Opting for a flatish ride today and ignoring the signs for the Col de la joux Plane for once. This is a great ride for avoiding too much climbing and before long after a loop through the Samoens Valley we arrived back at Taninges and the back road up the Chattillon avoiding the traffic. One car and 5 cyclists later we're descending the fast road down into Cluses and then back along the Sallanches Valley for a 2hr 40m 73KM ride in much warmer weather.

Friday is here again and with Sunday's grimpe (climb) race upto Plateau d'assy so its just short of 50KM's to the Swiss border and back over the 1461M Col des Montets in around 1hr 50M.

Sunday's race is only 7.5km ascending 390M similar to the race up the Colombiere last week, but its a mass start, eyeballs out race to the summit with someone no doubt finishing in around 15 Mins. I'll be happy with anything under 22 mins! Watch this space!