White-out in the village

We had a very early show of snow this year at the end of October, it soon melted, though the big cols; Galibier, Croix de Fer and Glandon shut and have not re-opened since.

Winter has started in earnest now though; there was a big snowfall on Tuesday night/Wednesday. We get the feeling that this heralds the start of snow proper and the end of vehicular access in the village until April time. Keeps us fit lugging shopping bags down from the main road (and stops any heavy or impulse purchasing!), not to mention the snow shovelling!

We are well prepared this winter with a good stack of firewood and lots of firelighters (I'm no Ray Mears when it comes to fire lighting!).

The garden today

So, with the cols closed, and the bikes in the shed, our efforts turn elsewhere. I have been doing a bit of running of late and have entered a running race in the snow that takes place on 8th December. Last year I was the last lady in the field with a handful of octogenarian blokes behind me! Hopefully this year I can make an improvement on that - I'll settle for second to last lady!

Guy is off to Alpe d'Huez tomorrow afternoon for his first cross country ski of this winter. He's pretty excited and is waxing the skis in the workshop as I type. It's going to be a cold one at that altitude tomorrow; -9 and down to -12 with wind-chill. Still, it will be sunny and that makes all the difference. Guy was E-mailed the above photo of a freshly groomed piste up there by a neighbour who he will be skiing with tomorrow - as if he needed a carrot on a stick! He has already been glued to the biathlon on the TV and I get the feeling winter and the return to cross country skiing could not have come sooner for him!

Col de Sarenne

On Tuesday it was about +19'C and the autumn colours were magnificent, so I chose to ride where I could make the most of these conditions; I rode the Col de Sarenne.

If you've never heard of or ridden this col before, then you'll get a chance to see it in the Tour de France on 18th July 2013. The view on that day will be very different I'm sure. For a start, on Tuesday I didn't see another cyclist on the road and there were only 2 cars that came past me. In July I imagine that there will be a fair few fans and camper vans lining the hairpins, on Tuesday the only living things that I saw at the side of the road were a few grazing sheep and basking lizards.

I rode the climb in the opposite direction to that which the Tour will take next year, this is a tough way to approach it (average 7.5%), but very rewarding for the views. In July it will be ridden as a descent from Alpe d'Huez 'sandwiched' between the second Alpe d'Huez ascent and stage finish.

You may be able to see from the photographs that the road surface for a fair proportion is pretty rough with a good bit of gravel here and there. This roughness has come about during many winters when it's under a lot of snow that makes up part of the Alpe d'Huez ski runs. The col in winter has a reputaion too: the 'Sarenne' run lays claim to being the longest black run in Europe, 16km. Unlike the town and resort of Alpe d'Huez however, once you get to the Sarenne, there is not a hotel, ski lift or snack bar in sight. It's a really wild and desolate place with only a few houses scattered here and there (such as the house pictured here with the big rock nudged up next to it!).

Local cyclists are all hoping that the passage of the Tour will herald a new, smooth layer of Tarmac, though part of me thinks that this may lose it some of its' wild charm!

Helyn

Triple bypass - for my bike!

As if by magic and with no training or effort, I feel fitter, younger and can ride up hills with more ease than ever before!

What's my secret? No, this is not yet another admission to doping. My secret is that I now have a triple chainset!

This is all thanks to Kevin, who some of you may have met here in September. As well as all the other help Kevin (and Brioni) were giving us, Kevin very kindly worked away on my grubby, neglected bike, fitting a whole new groupset (including a gold chain - more 'bling' than Mr T now!).

This was all done without my knowledge so I was bowled over when I got my bike out of the workshop for a quick spin a few days after the 'triple bypass' had been performed.

What a difference it has made. I have to ask myself why I didn't do it years ago!

Thank you Kevin from the bottom of my heart - and my legs!

Helyn

The Tour 2013 to pass our door

The rumours are true! Stage 18 (18th July), Gap to Alpe d'Huez, includes the Col d'Ornon which will see the riders coming by our door. The last time the peloton came past the village was in 2002, just before we moved here, so we're really excited! Link to stage 18 information

So, those camping out on Alpe d'Huez that day will get two for the price of one, not such good news for the riders I imagine!

Tour de France 2013 rumours

Strong rumours abound for next year's Tour de France route. Col d'Ornon followed by climb 1 of Alpe d'Huez, a descent of the col de Sarenne, then round for a summit finish on Alpe d'Huez. Twice in a day....
Source: Dauphine Libere

The Tour is in town!

What an entertaining Tour it has been so far!

Yesterday we all headed up the Col de La Croix de Fer and turned left for the summit of the Glandon. 

The idea was to position ourselves somewhere on the last kilometre of the Glandon climb to see the riders at a reasonable pace, hopefully strung out and maybe even suffering a little! We were not disappointed! 

The pros were not the only ones suffering; after two and a half months off the bike, I was relying heavily on 'muscle memory' to get me up the climb. It was soon evident that the muscles had long forgotten how to suffer (my backside had amnesia too!). A tough return after so long out of the saddle, but this is about one of my favourite climbs in the area so I was delighted to be plodding up it again!

There was a great atmosphere as usual. Lots of British and Australians in the crowds this year, some comedy costumes, camper vans and road painting - a show in itself even before the riders arrive!

The helicopters too added to the electric atmosphere, announcing the imminent arrival of the peloton by swooping up the climb and hovering above hairpins to get those great TV images. You know you've climbed some when the helicopters are below you!

Home to dinner and to watch the highlights on TV. We were all a bit disappointed to see that we had been edited out of the coverage!

Another great day in the Alps!

A few other photos in our gallery (click here).

 

Galibier and Glandon open!

Col du Galibier is open to the road tunnel and the Col du Glandon just opened today. Good news.