Haute Route Day 7: Digne to Nice

160KM. 2700M. Sometimes these events organize the last day as an easy one. Not the case here. Big day. TL rode strong. I felt tired. As in 2012, decided to ride as an entire team - Canadian Express. Lots of fun.

The official finish line. Our ride finish was about an hour spin away in Nice where we met wife.

TL got a flat on the promenade rolling through Nice. His first of the event. Funny timing.

Showered, packed bikes and quick transfer to Saint Tropez. Big dinner to celebrate. Wilbur forgot his uniform.

Missed the Whistler GranFondo as didn't get home in time. Apparently it was quite fun.

Haute Route Day 6: Dinge to Ventoux

145KM. 3050M.

Hard to pick a favorite day, but Day 6 was as close as it gets for me. Partners were Ribs/TL and Wilbur/GD.

Tough logistics stage as it was a point to point ride with all riders and their bikes transported back from Ventoux to the start town.

145KM of riding on the day, but it was really all about the final 21KM. Like Alpe d'Huez, Madeleine, etc., Ventoux ranks as one of the most famous climbs in Europe, hosting many epic Tour battles.

While Alpe d'Huez may claim more history, Ventoux's physical makeup sets it apart from anything else we'd ridden.

Climbing Ventoux is an accomplishment. Climbing with 5 hard days on the legs and a 125KM "warm up" is just plain tough. 

Day started with a frenetic rollout in a big pack that lasted the first 100KM. No climbs big enough to break up the lead group. Finally a "half Cypress" split apart the group, though Wilbur and I caught back on to the leader's group at the bottom of the Giant. 

Three routes up Ventoux. We ascended from Bedoin.

Definitely my toughest climb. Unrelenting for most of 21KM. No flat sections. No hairpin breathers. And as promised, a real punch in the face over the last 3KM. 

Wilbur was a beast. Took it to me with 3KM to go. Wilbur loves it when it gets over 10% grade, as do most who eat sparingly and weigh less than a high school cheerleader. 

Below is photo evidence of his attack. That's me down the road. Apparently I attacked him on the gentler slopes at the bottom of the climb. No photo - no proof.

The expression says it all.

You can see the final 1KM of the climb from the summit. Rose for the day was cheering on TL and Ribs as they completed the stage. Great day in the saddle for all of us. WL finished top 25 out of a field of 450 and I was 30 seconds or so behind.

A shoutout due to Ms. Nathanson-Duyker and the other wives (Sharon, Shereen, First Lady) who let us do what we love. Lots of time spent away from family preparing for, and participating in, these events. Couldn't do it without support at home. Day 6 also coincided with my 11-year wedding anniversary. Ms. Nathanson-Duyker spent the day roughing in on Capris with her sister and the First Lady.

Selfie from the summit. Hard to tell from this photo, but the top of Ventoux is often described as a moonscape.

Trev's greatest value on the trip may have been his orchestration of our Day 6 apres. In lieu of cattle car back to an underwhelming town of Digne, TL's friend, Lana, picked us up, drove us through some beautiful towns in Provence, and accompanied us to a top notch lunch at Crillon de Brave.

Haute Route Day 5: Bourg D'Oisans to Digne Les Bains

187KM. 2900M.

Bit of a delay in posting. Ran out of  blogging steam towards the end of the event. As I was reminded, must finish what was started, so here's how the final few days shook out.

Day 5 was the longest day of the event by distance travelled. Unique to Haute Route thus far had been the up-down nature of the riding. At previous TransAlps events we were more accustomed to "transitions" whereby long distances were covered traversing valleys to get from one climb to another. 

Day 5 felt more like a TransAlps day as we migrated from the quintessential French Alps to the Provence region of France. 

With the great help of Magic Places', Joerg and Matt, I managed to find yet another bike to replace the downed White Lightning. 4th bike in 5 days. Had it set up and ready to roll a whole 2 minutes prior to the starting gun.

Back to day 1 partners, with TL and I accompanying Wilbur and Ribs to the bottom of the first climb.

TL cresting one of the day's climbs and approaching the Magic Places' on course support. 

The final 60km of this day rolled up a valley into the finish town. Similar terrain to riding out to Horseshoe Bay. TL, Derek (another Canadian we met at the event) and I drilled it together. We were part of a bigger group but the riders of the group were sketchy and had produced a good crash. We let them separate so we could do our own thing. Wilbur and Jamie cruised to the finish in a big group. Apparently Wilbur dropped a "bomb" with 3km to go and attacked the group, dropping all but his partner. Made some friends with the move.

Arrived in Digne after nearly 7 hours in the saddle. Long distances equal long days. First impression of Digne was not our favorite town as it didn't quite meet the associations one might have of Provence. Hotels in these small towns can be hard to come by. We typically favor well located (close to food and start/finish) over fancy. This one met the first two criteria.

Haute Route Day 4: Alpe d'Huez Hill Climb

15KM. 1100M. 

Day off — sort of — unless you're Ribs and follow a horrific day to be on a bike with a 16th place finish on the run up the Alpes. Wilbur and TL did very well too.

I got to ride my 3rd bike in 4 days. This one had a triple crank on it. No Trevor Linden Club 16 rental cruiser, but it did the job.

Waiting to get called to the start line.

Serious business in the start house. 

The Alpes ranks as one of the most storied venues in all of cycling. We savored the climb. Took the traditional Tour route. Savored the moment and hung on top of the mountain for a while. 

 

Half tops are coming back. So are tan lines.

Ribs is so good at making new friends. "Wellers" has been a regular conversation partner out on course. She was the Day 4 women's leader. Apparently she arranged for the previous day's leader's bike to be stolen — serious — on the bike being stolen. 

I kinda wish someone would steal my bike at this point. So out of love with White Lightning.

Incredible views on the descent off the Alpes. I told Ribs that it was a waste to take this photo. Wouldn't look good. He took it anyway. Good thing.

Haute Route Day 3: Courchevel to Alp D'Huez

137KM. 4900M.

Epic day on a bike. The kind of day that we'll be talking about for years to come. Table was set with the marathon stage, climbing Col Madeleine, Col Glandon and Alp D'Huez.

For the cycling nerds, the first two climbs were each 20KM - 25KM with about 1500M gained. The last was only 1050M over 19KM.

Day started slightly more civilized. Ribs turned some heads at breakfast. 

Full rain day. Quite the mellow harsher. Donned all the winter gear we brought with us. Jamie still happy. He's always happy.

6KM roll down from our hotel to the start line. Two problems. During the pre-race ride, White Lightning chose to pack it in again. In addition, TL's carbon wheels and brake setup decided not to provide sufficient stopping power. After a bike switch and a wheel change, we were ready to go 20minutes post race start. 24KM neutral roll out off the mountain to the base of the Madeleine. As we had to cross some major roads and were off the back, race director "forced" us into the bus to be driven to the start of the first climb. 

Not many photos today. Wilbur was the official photographer and he failed miserably. Wilbur claims it's hard to take photos when your hands don't work. So many stories. Fred Flintstone bike stops. Telling bus drivers to "f-off" so that TL could get out and ride.

Lots of DNFs today. Sag wagon full. We all finished. JA and I rode quite strong. Top 35 out of the field.

Rain capes handed out at the top of the Col Glandon. Not sure their purpose, save making a rider look like a total clown. 

Though Wilbur look like quite a clown today too. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

Time trial up Alpe d'Huez tomorrow. Venue of many famous Tour battles. Some say Le Tour is won or lost on the Alpe.

Likely another yellow bike tomorrow. Good recap of the day with video and images on the Haute Route site.

Haute Route Day 2: Megeve to Courchevel

131KM. 3900M.

"No yellow jersey, but a yellow bike", Chrissie Wellington.

Normally this blog recounts the day in chronological order. Not today. In three previous 7-day cycling events, I have been very fortunate to not experience one flat tire nor a mechanical. 

Yesterday, during the first 15km of the Day 1 stage, I flatted. Not a big deal. After a change, we were back in it, having to chase for a while as the entire field passed us.

The two photos below tell today's story. White Lightning, carted away atop the Mavic support car. GD riding away on a neutral support yellow bike.

Electronic shifting is awesome, until it's not. On the descent after the first 11KM climb, I realized that I had no power to my shifting system and was stuck in the biggest gear. Pulled over, scratched head and shortly thereafter was helped out by the Mavic car. Felt very pro. All in all, about 15+ minutes to set up a bike I could finish the remainder (most) of the stage on.

Again, passed by much of the field during our unplanned stop. Had to work hard to catch our friends up the road.

Back to the start.  Partner swap day. Ribs/TL and Wilbur/GD.

Ribs took his job as the day's photographer very seriously. Some artistic material was produced. Look very closely and you'll see TL out of the saddle climbing against a backdrop we experienced for a good chunk of the day.

He even had time for a selfie. 

Tonight we're in Courchevel, best known as one of the premier Euro ski towns, flooded with Russians and Arabs all winter. Also known to provide terrain for Le Tour in years past.

Tomorrow is referred to as the "marathon stage". Biggest vertical ascended of any day. 4950 meters over some of the Tour De France's most iconic climbs, finishing on perhaps the most famous — Alp D'Huez. More climbing than any of us have ever done in a day.

I drew Ribs for the cracker. Should be fun.

Check out Day 2 video (scroll down) for images from the day and Wilbur's butt at 29sec, followed by his mug at 1:14. Team TNA also well covered in today's images.

Haute Route Day 1: Geneva to Megeve

Day 1: 130KM + 3100M

Early starts at Haute Route. 7:15AM gun makes 6AM breakfast necessary. Generally like the Euro breakfast of speck, cheese and rye for about 4 days. By day 7, I'm typically only able to stomach white bread and Nutella.

Wilbur chowed a plate of beats this morning - apparently a natural, and legal, performance enhancer. I still think he takes the illegal stuff too. He's too fast to be natural.

In a much better mood this morning, Ribs thought he'd punk Chrissie Wellington. She's only won 4 Ironman World Championships, though she's riding Haute Route with us this week.

Absolutely stunning landscapes today. Exceeded my expectations. Rolled through lush valleys, farm villages and pastures.

My favorite image from the day. About 2KM to go on the first, and biggest climb. At the end of the road is the Col Colombiere. Nice photo here too of Ribs and Wilbur driving the pace.

European mountain towns are well known for their small hotel rooms. Have to make the most of every inch when cleaning up from the day and preparing for the next.

Self-serve laundry fairly typical too.

Megeve is a great French Alps ski town. Close to Chamonix and Albertville (1992 Winter Olympics host). Love to return to this region to ski.

Weather was ideal — dry and temperate. Looks similar tomorrow and then we're in for a change. Asked Ribs why the post stage gun show. Said he might not get the chance to wear his favorite shirt when the weather changes so best to take the opportunity today. The two is for his daughter, Blake, who turned two-years old today.

Tomorrow we ride from one famous ski town to another (Courchevel). Pairings are TL/Ribs and Wilbur/GD. This is my 4th week-long cycling event with Wilbur and tomorrow will be the first time we've ridden a stage together. Looking forward to it. 

Haute Route: Day -1 9KM Prologue Time Trial

Day -1 means registration, briefing and final event preparation. A month ago, the organizers also decided to throw in a 9KM individual time trial. Relatively meaningless from an overall event perspective as the effort required is brief and any time differential formed during the prologue will be inconsequential over 7 days of riding.

It appears as though the primary purpose of the prologue is to seed the Day 1 start.

Day started with a quick roll over the race village to register, pick up race packets and race paraphernalia.

Truth be told, for Jamie, the day started with a 9:15am phone call inquiring as to his whereabouts. Jamie had missed the planned breakfast. Turns out the 9:15am phone call  was his wakeup call. 15min to wake, eat, dress and ride with us over to the race village turned a normally upbeat and positive Ribs into one crankasaurus for most of the morning.

The prologue TT sent riders off in 20sec intervals. The four of us started consecutively. Team TNA in the starting coral. As per TransAlps 2012, definitely the tightest looking squad. Note the coordinated pink socks. 

Ribs took this photo and the moment ended up being his "rose" for the day (more on roses and thorns in a future post). The Canadian Express lined up 1, 2, 3, 4 at the TT start ramp. Having never ridden a TT event before, I was a total clown on the ramp. Starter gave me the 10second countdown and I was nowhere near ready. Futzing with glasses. Getting gearing right. Playing with Garmin head unit. Mount bike and take 1/2 a pedal stroke when I realize that I'm headed off the side of the ramp. Quick course correction and I managed to avoid being the event's first crash victim. We all rode ourselves into the first start group for tomorrow with results posted here. 

Another kaffe + kuchen followed. 9km definitely earned a banana split.

Tomorrow it really starts. Unlike TransAlps, which is done in teams of two, Haute Route registers the time of each rider individually. For us, most of the fun of these events is sharing the experience. We have decided to ride in pairs, rotating partners daily. Day 1 pairings are Ribula/Wilbur and TLinden/Dooks. TL and I plan to deliver Ribs and Wilbur to the base of the Colombiere. 130km and 3100 on the day. In context of what's to come, one of the smaller efforts, somewhat equatable to a North Shore triple crown ride.

Heads up and rubber down. 

Haute Route Day -2: Kaffee + Kuchen

Objective for Day -2 is easy spin followed by very good kaffe + kuchen. I was introduced to the all important kaffe + kuchen ride by Transalps teammate, Haas.  

Donned the whites and spun down the lake for a couple hours.

  

Dropped Wilbur back for his last afternoon with wife and son before the all important search for a suitable kaffe + kuchen venue. Wandered off the main drag and up a cobbled lane to find a great square with outdoor cafes.

Coincidentally, during our spin down the lake, TL recognized a friend riding in the other direction. Friend is former Vancouver resident who now lives in Geneva. Invited us all over for dinner. Venue also quite suitable.

For the first time, tomorrow's Day -1 contains a 9km individual time trial. None of us have raced a TT before so should be interesting.