I was out on a ride yesterday – just seeing how my legs were after a few recovery rides since my hard week last week (I’m glad to report they are back to normal!). After a quick blast up the Col D’Ornon, I decided that would do for the day and came back down, but added on a little warm down detour that goes down some small local back roads. They dont have any through traffic (but bike and walkers can get through o.k.) so they are usually very quiet. Continue reading “Encountering Wildlife”
I Survived La Marmotte!
175km and 4950 metres of climbing….La Marmotte is the race round here and probably also top of the list for any cyclist who rides sportives in Europe. I just about survived (I had my doubts on the second half of Alpe D’Huez!), but overall it was a great experience, and I also enjoyed doing it – it wasn’t one of those experiences where you say, ‘I’m glad I’ve done it but never again!’.It all started at 4 a.m. in the morning for me…. Continue reading “I Survived La Marmotte!”
Riding ‘La Vaujany’ Sportive
I’d signed myself up for the La Vaujany (a local 175km sportive) with my cycling club quite a while back. The idea was that being the week before the Marmotte , the big daddy of all sportives (which I’m also doing), it would be a good warm up. I say warm up, as even though the distance is the same, on paper the Vaujany has 3850 metres of vertical climbing, while the Marmotte has over 5000 metres. So in theory, the Vaujany should be easy. No? No.