Marmotte Training Weekend

Recovery day today from our Marmotte training weekend where we were joined by John and Paul who are based in Dubai. It sounds a long way to travel for the weekend, however with just a 2 hour time difference to France, the guys landed Friday lunchtime and we managed to fit in a ride on Friday afternoon, and 2 more full days before they flew back late Sunday evening.

Experiencing the Alps first hand is considered vital before any attempt at the Etape or the Marmotte.

After some erratic weather in the Alps we have been lucky with warm temperatures and just the odd late afternoon shower.

Saturday we pretty much cycled the route of one of the Time Megeve Sportive options departing from Megeve and over the Col des Aravis where we met herds of cows being moved to their Summer pastures. Descending to Thones, we started the tough climb of the Croix Fry, where our pro support vehicle was waiting with Kevin, pro bike mechanic and owner of Vaudagne Velo After refueling and the short descent to the Aravis junction, its a 20 min climb back to the top of the Aravis before the technical descent to Flumet and returning to Megeve, continuing to Sallanches.

Sunday we drove the short transfer around to Taninges and after 7kms warm up we hit the Ramaz for the 14km ride to the Summit with a height gain of 980M. The Ramaz featured in the 2010 Tour de France and is a tough one! After winding up through the meadows, shortly before a brief respite on Ramaz plateau the gradient peaks at 15% through the tunnel. Onwards towards the summit, 2 weeks earlier we'd met a snow plow at this point!

Ramaz Summit

Descending back down towards Taninges at over 70KM's an hour and onto the flat 11kms to Samoens before tackling the Joux Plane.





Many of the pro's consider the Col de Joux Plane harder than Alp D'Huez and it is definitely a more spectacular climb. Immediately ramping up to 11%. Its 12kms to the Summit with the exact same height gain to the Ramaz at 980M hence with 2kms less to the Summit that kinda says it all! The Joux Plane returns to the pro races in 2 weeks time featuring in the Queens stage of the Criterium Dauphine. It was the seen of Landis' drug induced ride and Armstrong famously bonked on the climb. We predict it will return to the Tour de France route in 2013. Watch this space!

Today our support has Jude (wife, co-owner!) at the wheel and she's also responsible for most of the spectacular photos.

By now the temperature was rising and the thunder clouds were gathering over the Mont Blanc Massif as we approached the summit.

With snow still by the roadside as we got the the top and with a noticeable chill in the air we descended back to heat of Samoens for a pit stop before a flat spin of the legs back to Taninges.

Back to Chalet Annabelle for a refuel, box up the bikes and off to Geneva airport, just an hour away for the return flight. If a weekend is possible from Dubai, then the options for our UK visitors are pretty easy!

Good luck to John and Paul in the Marmotte on July 7th. As for me, I'll be saving myself for the Etape du Tour the following day!

Summit in sight, 2kms to go on the Joux Plane

Some of our rides from www.breathebike.com

Summer or Winter? Its been a bizarre few weeks in the Alps. A week ago we had 26 degrees, now its 2.6 degrees and snowing! I guess its that time of year. One day its Winter gear, next its Summer gear. The weeks are flying by towards the Etape du Tour and the Tour de France however before that we're all training very hard for the local Time Megeve event which is only 3 weeks away and excellent conditioning for anyone undertaking the Marmotte or the Etape du Tour. The Time Megeve always coincides with the Criterium Dauphine and this year we'll be watching the Queens stage of the Dauphine on Saturday June 9th immediately before the Time Megeve on the Sunday. The Dauphine goes over the Joux Plane this year. We tried to go over it on Monday however its still closed about 3/4 way up due to snow! The Dauphine also goes over the Grand Colombier on Friday 8th June so we'll be off to that stage too as this climb will also feature in this years Tour de France. Even though the main Cols in the area (Grand and Petit St Bernard, Colombiere, Joux Plaine, Roseland, Madelaine) are still closed due to the epic amounts of snow we had this Winter there's still plenty of challenges in the region and Monday saw us over the Ramaz which is passable with care at the summit ( we met a snow plough just before the Summit) and the Encrenaz.

3 weeks ago on the Col Des Aravis No further on the Joux Plane

In the sun last week we also had a ride over into Switzerland and the 80KMH an hour descent to Martigny and to prove its not all eye balls out climbing in the Alps we had a 100kms on the flat around to Samoens and back Tomorrow sees the first Sportive of the year near Lyon (yet another Bank Holiday in France tomorrow!) and we're forecast a sunny day. Then its a likely trip down to Mt Ventoux in 2 weeks, followed by the Time Megeve and then its all down hill to the Etape!

Summer is here!

Summer has returned in the Alps the last couple of weeks and finally its back to two wheels. With the epic amount of snow that fell this Winter the lower Cols have a spectacular amount of snow at the side of the roads and we can't wait for the higher Cols such as the Col de St Petit Bernard and the Colombiere to open as we're in for some great photos with the snow walls.

Summer 2012 is looking to be a great year for cycling in our region with the Criterium Dauphine in early June visiting nearby Col de Grand Colombier, Morzine and Chatel which ties in nicely date wise with our Time Megeve Cyclosportive weekend. Then its the Tour de France where we have 2 epic days in the Alps immediately preceded by the Etape du Tour from nearby Albertville.

Our own season at Breathebike.com starts off towards the end of May with our Etape training weekends which are vital preparation for anyone attempting the Etape and maybe haven't had the opportunity to cycle in the Alps before. Then its onto our Criterium Dauphine and Time Megeve weekend which can be extended into an Alpine training week with some of our guests coming all the way from Australia. Then the main event of the Summer, the Etape du Tour and Tour de France week.

So its time to knuckle down with the training with the hope that the early arrival of Summer continues!

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!

Recommended Reading

My recommended reading list that has helped and inspired me on the bike....

Great Day in the Alps!

Headed over to Taninges for first big day since Marmotte and Etape and recovering from a post TdF week cold! Taninges is around 30 mins from the Chalet and a great option for a change of scenery.

The weather has improved dramatically that last few days and today was the first day...since I can't remember....that you didn't need to wrap up for the descents.

From Taninges I headed to Mieussy and over the Col de la Ramaz (used in the TdF last year) before the dog leg left turn (blink and you miss it) half way down the descent onto the Col de la Encrenaz and scene of my crash back in June. Managed to stay aboard this time and dropped down into Morzine and then up through Montriond, passed the beautiful lake of the same name and onto the Col de la Joux Verte. I'd only descended this before. It comes out at the top of Avoriaz and is a much better option than the main road climb. I guess the attraction of the main road is its regular appearance in the Tour, however the Joux Verte is 100% more spectacular as it winds its way up past the lake and some waterfalls before passing through a small village (watch the goats and small children) and onto the final 4kms to the summit. Dropping down into Morzine for a quick snack and then onto the much steeper Morzine side of the Joux Plane. Every time I looked at the Garmin it was over 10% (up to 14%) for the first 3 kms. 55 mins later I'm over the summit, refilled water bottles (tap behind cafe) and on the descent.

Down in Samoens its a scorcher and after a quick coke stop its a flat 10kms or so back to Taninges. Job done.