living and cycling near Alpe d'Huez, in the french alps
Living 2 minutes ride from the bottom of the Alpe D’Huez climb is pretty cool – but I ride up it at lot less than you probably think. Most of the time I go up only part-way and then head off along a ride the locals call ‘Les Balcons’ (the balconies) – which gives great views of the valley and the mountains.
The reason for not riding it that often is two-fold….
So as the Marmotte sportive is looming (and the Vaujany, the week before), I thought I should check out the route that I’ll be doing on race day at least once beforehand. For those of you who haven’t heard of it, La Marmotte is the sportive – the original and supposedly the hardest in Europe. Continue reading “Training for La Marmotte”
After an easy day on the bike (the weather and the previous days riding made this essential!) the next target on the list was the Col de la Madeleine. I had never ridden this col before, so was only too happy to go along with my guests to experience this climb. The Madeleine is situated in the ‘next’ valley north from Bourg D’Oisans – and to get there you go over the Col du Glandon. When we set off in the van it was raining and cloudy, but as we came up and over the Glandon, and down the other side, we ended up with sunshine and blue skies – result! Continue reading “First ride of the Madeleine”
So after tackling La Berarde the previous day, our guests (a very friendly bunch of Aussies) wanted to go for the big one – the Galibier. Luckily, the road had opened only the day before so we were clear for a shot at the highest pass in the area, at 2645 metres (although you knew that, given my banner picture above!). Continue reading “Col du Galibier with the Aussies”
Our first guests of the year arrived at the end of May, and no sooner had they unloaded the bikes they were off up Alpe D’Huez while there was still daylight! The following day, we decided that the ride up to La Berarde would be a good one to start with – not too hard or too long, but with excellent views and a nice village at the end with a number of 
cafes/restaurants to have a relaxing drink or bite to eat with a view of the mountains. Continue reading “First Guests of 2012 – ride to La Berarde”