Training for La Marmotte

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.  Its over 170 km with more than 5200 metres of vertical climbing – the equivalent of a big Tour de France mountain stage.  As it was my first attempt at a ride this long with this much climbing (and I’d be doing it alone, which is always tougher), I decided beforehand that I’d not do the full route – which after 165km and getting over the Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe and Col du Galibier, you have to drag yourself up Alpe D’Huez.  Give the bottom of Alpe D’Huez is about 1km from where I live, it was too easy to leave that part out (got to keep myself some sort of challenge for race day, surely??)

So I set off at 7.30 in the morning, stocked up with gels, bananas, drinks and extra powder bulging out of my pockets.  I had set myself a strict rule – a heart rate of not higher than 145 bpm on the first climb, 150 on the second, and then whatever felt right on the last climb, the Galibier.  This was based on my experience of dying slowly during the second half of the last sportive I rode after getting a little carried away early on (it was the Marco Pantani – a little shorter and less climbing than the Marmotte, but not by too much).

As a result, the climb up the Glandon was really enjoyable – it was a perfect day, and as is only appropriate given the route I was doing, I saw plenty of Marmots! (spot the Marmot competition coming soon – see picture to the left).  They seem to know when you are getting the camera out – I managed to capture these two, but unfortunately only had my phone, not my 12x zoom Lumix!

Anyway, after seeing plenty more marmots (just as camera shy), I got to my first summit of the day in remarkably good health.

I’d also never descended the north side of the Glandon (I’ve been up it quite a few times) – again, good practice for race day.  Although, having said that, I’ve been told that the Glandon descent is not being timed this year, I assume due to the fact that there have been a lot of accidents in the past during the race.  And I can believe it – it’s steep near the top and the road is both bumpy and very narrow.   I had a few moments myself, so can imagine it would be carnage with 7000 riders going down (although the climb beforehand wil split things up a lot, I’m sure).  There was also a great photo opportunity from just past the summit, where you can see Mont Blanc, 90 km distant.  Its the mountain just left of centre in the picture – looks much better in real life!

After I’d descended all the way down the Glandon, there was about 30 km of riding along the valley before you get to the next climb.  The first half is through some mostly quiet, village roads, but the second half gets a little industrial and the road is busier after St Jean de Maurienne, the biggest town on the route.  As the road continues along the valley it comes to a section that is pretty much just wide enough to get the road I was on, the motorway, and a train track through a gap between cliffs looming on both sides.  After that, I arrived in the last town before the next section of climbing, St Michel de Maurienne (not too imaginative, and quite religious with the place names in this valley!) which was a great spot to get some more water and snacks.  Then the hard work began again, up the Telegraphe.

The Telegraphe is a nice climb, in the trees for pretty much all the way, and my legs were feeling o.k. after the initial lactic acid rush as the road first pitched upwards had gone away.  I was slowly catching some guys I’d seen set off before me, and caught two of them, but with my strict heart rate rules in mind I didn’t go for it and try and get the others.  It took a little longer than I expected, but after a while I made the top – my first time up the Col du Telegraphe.

After the top of the Telegraphe, the road drops down into Valloire, a ski resort in the valley prior to the Col du Galibier.  There wasn’t much happening there when I passed through, it being out of season, but at least I found somewhere to get some water to make my third energy drink – most definitely needed for the ascent of the Galibier; 17km long with 1200 metres of climbing.  Just after I came out of the other side of Valloire, I saw more marmots – up close this time!  One was particularly brave, unlike his camera shy cousins on the Col du Glandon, and I got a good shot of him:

As I was taking my excellent marmot photos, a group of three cyclists were coming up behind me.  So I jumped on my bike again, let them catch up, and then followed at a discreet distance behind.  Now I don’t know if it was because a stranger was riding behind them, and they didn’t like it, but they slowly picked up the pace until I was really working hard to keep up.  Once I was committed though, that was it – I couldn’t drop off after following them for 5 mins, and decided that even though it was tough, I should do my bit on the front.  That seemed to make it worse, and two of them shot off past me, leaving the third guy behind. I bridged up to the second (who I think had suffered from the acceleration), and after I’d decided I could make it stick, I passed him and went after the guy in the lead.  To his credit I couldn’t catch him before the top, although I was within 10 metres or so.  So in the end, the last 7 km of the Galibier climb turned into a flat out effort – never mind 150 bpm, I was averaging about 170!

At this point my legs and body decided to let me know that I’d over-cooked it, so I spent a good 20 minutes at the top of the Galibier resting and getting gels down me, which I luckily had plenty left, and then made a steady decent down to the Col du Lautaret.  The cafe on the side of the road was too difficult for me to pass, and I decided that you can’t get too much fuel on a long hard ride like this, especially after the effort I’d just made.  So my reward was a slice of bluberry tart and a coke, and it went down a treat.

All that was left was a 45km descent (with a couple of very short uphill sections) and I was back at Bourg D’Oisans.  Any sneaking thoughts that I might just do Alpe D’Huez could not have been further from my mind, I suspect that 160 km and 4100 metres of climbing may have had something to do with it!

Cycling Ascents – Cycling Holidays in the French Alps