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. 

Travel Day

YVR - Munich - Geneve.

Always a sigh of relief when the bikes and gear show up at the final destination. 

After flying overnight, time change acclimation strategy is to power through the arrival day. Building bikes helps keep us awake.

Slightly painful to break down a perfectly functioning bike for transport. Always a bit of worry that she won't perform as well when she goes back together. Thanks to Le Domestique for the packing tips and assistance.   

Look good, ride good. White bikes require extra TLC to stay pristine. A little spit and polish. 

After a week of training in Sicily with the Shark of Messina, Wilbur's family travelled to Geneve to accompany dad to the start of the race. Silas was happy to see us. 

Stroll to a late dinner in Geneve. Jamie and I are not holding hands - but, to be clear, there would be nothing wrong with that.

It's About The Bike

We call her White Lightning. She was conceived in November 2013 and she was born in June of this year. 

One of three triplets. 

She and a sibling are making the trip. Here's a image of her brother, included for both for the noteworthy handler and the beauty shoes (not the handler's).

One of a kind, selected piece by piece with attention paid to the smallest of details.

The maiden voyage alongside her sister steed and rider.

I'm holding on to the delusion that with this bike we bought some speed, though I know better.