Recommended Reading

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

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!

Lap of Lake Geneva cyclosportive

Sunday saw my first sportive of the Summer with a mega early (4am) start for the drive from Chamonix to Lausanne Switzerland for a 6.30am start line for the lap of Lake Geneva.

It's a fantastic event with a distance of 180kms on an undulating course and spectacular scenery by the lake shore. Passing through Montreaux, over the border into France and through Evian, Thonon, then back into Switzerland and through Geneva for the final leg back to Lausanne.

With 1500 on the start line our group managed to start in the fifth peleton (groups of approx 70) and the group were immediately working well. After 15 minutes the group behind us came screaming past on TT bikes. This is a first for me seeing TT bikes and aero helmets in a cyclosportive! Is this normal??!!?? A few of us attempted to hang on but with my heart rate maxing out it was time to back off. One of our guys Neil McNab managed to hang on to within 20kms of the finish line and finished 10 minutes before us.

One of the problems with a Polar computer is the Swiss Rail overhead lines interfere with it. I knew something was wrong when it said my heartbeat was at 220 and I was doing 150 km/h !

After re-grouping with 3 of us from Team Chamonix staying together, our group was working steadily with some strong riders and about 15 of us taking turns on the front. We started to reel in the groups that had started before us and we were averaging nearly 40kms an hour. Initially I was thinking this was too fast for me with the overall distance but I was feeling great and continued to take turns on the front and staying in the first 15. It was soon apparent that no-one was intending stopping at the feed stations so it was rationing drinks and relying on 5 gels.

Over the cobbles through Thonon and onto a short climb before crossing back over the border and a manic late morning blast through Geneva however the organisation was great and the motorbike outriders did a great job.

The last leg down to Lausanne had a few small climbs and in the last 10kms I was starting to suffer, however managed to hang on the back and finishing in 138th position out of 1500 in 4 hrs 35 mins.

Happy with that as I'd targeted 5 hours.

Eyes down now for the Time Megeve on June 12th - entries still open and we have space in the Chalet This is another great event going over the Colombiere, Croix Fry, Aravis and the Saisies - all regulally featured in the Tour de France.

Think this will be a grudge match for Team Chamonix as there is some serious col training and suggested times being banded about!

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.

Spring in the Alps

Warmer weather returned to the Alps last week and with our Winter guests skiing in Verbier for the day I ceased the time to cycle the climb to the beautiful mountain village of Champex du Lac. This is an amazing road, super quiet at this time of year and 13km, 1000m of climbing you arrive in the village which is round 1500M in altitude. The lake was still frozen, however the temperature in the valley has been pushing 18 degrees! Even the descent was warm in the midday sun.

Yesterday we had guests skiing over in La Thuille Italy , half way up the Petit St Pass. With the top section closed I opted to drive down to Morgex via the San Marco Pass to take a look at this col before cycling it later in the year. Definitely a good decision as the San Marco is super steep in places and the 12kM 1000M descent left the van brakes overheating. However With a warm up ride from Pre St Didier and the cycling the San Marco and onto the top section of the Petit St Bernhard, this will make a great day out later in the year. For yesterday I took the easier(?) option of cycling down the Aosta valley to Introd and then taking the 25km climb up through the Grand Paradiso National Park climbing up to 1950M altitude, way above the snow line. After the first 10km the climb lessens and its fairly gentle albeit its strange cycling along with cross country skiers at the side of the road! Needless to say it was a chilly descent back, but a great day out with nearly 4 hours in the saddle, 80KM and 1500M of climbing.

4 weeks until our trip to Lanzarote and then its head down for the Marmotte and the Etape.

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!

Etape du Tour 2011 or the Marmotte ?

When we moved to Chamonix in the heart of the French Alps in 2007 it was an opportunity to get back on the road bike after an absence from racing of around 20 years. However it wasn't until 12 months ago that I finally competed in my first race, a local time trial up through Vaudagne, a 6km climb. The buzz of competing was back and the target is now to enter the Etape in 2011, or the Marmotte 2011, or maybe both!

My wife Jude and I moved to Chamonix escaping the corporate world and started our own Chalet Business focusing on winter sports and in the Summer months, cycling, and climbing Mont Blanc.

During 2010 I've completed the Time Megeve cyclosportive and also the Morzine event and looking forward to the race up the Col de la Colombiere next weekend.

In 2010 we teamed up with Julie Gildred at Ridestrong Bike Tours and ran a super successful cycling week from Chalet Annabelle seeing 3 stages of the Tour de France and taking on some classic Tour de France alpine climbs which are a short drive from Chalet Annabelle including the Col de la Ramaz, Avoriaz, Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col de Petit St Bernard and the Cormet de Roseland.

So the plan for 2011! The Etape hasn't been in the Alps for around 5 years and the rumor mill has already started that the Etape will be ending in Alp D'Huez next year or somewhere else in the Alps. This makes sense as it will be 100 years since the Tour de France visited the Alps, and it even visited Chamonix in the race of 2011.

Over the coming weeks and months I'll post a snapshot of the rides we've been doing in the area and further a-field as I try to build up the training required for the event.

Watch this space!