What the hell am I doing here!!

A rest day on the Tour and a rest day for us as we transferred from Ventoux over to the French Alps - all in all around 4 hours on the bus.  For the next three nights we are staying at the top of Alpe d'Huez which sounded great until we drove up it this afternoon.  It is one serious climb and the plan for tomorrow is the last 140 km of this stage the day before the race comes through....

That's some serious climbing - the Galibier, Telegraphe, Croix de Fer and then just to crawl into bed that night we need to get to the top of the Alpe d'Huez.  Here's the profile for tomorrow's climbs

 

We have done harder climbs but this is three HC climbs in one day.  The thing that scared me the most today was actually driving up Alpe d'Huez.  The first few kms are the toughest with parts at over 10%.  As we drove up today I was amazed at how scarily fast we gained altitude.

It was a very quiet bus trip to the top of the mountain - I took some photos from the bus window because I can't be confident of stopping on the way up tomorrow.

Even though the tour will not be rolling through here for another 48 hours, already most of the good vantage points along the route are taken.  People are camping out up and down the mountain in anticipation of the stage in a few days time.  And let me tell you that it is not warm. 

We are expecting temperatures to be in low single digits at the top of the Galibier tomorrow and obviously colder on the descents, while at the top of the Alpe d'Huez it should be a balmy 15 or 16 degrees.  With an expected riding time of 6 - 7 hours that means we have to carry a lot of food and lots of warm clothes - a jacket, arm warmers, leg warmers booties and full gloves will be required as well as a mountain of food. 

We've got a well located hotel with great views.  It's typical ski lodge style accommodation with small rooms that are really only designed for sleeping in at the end of a long day on the mountain.  The village at the base of the mountain - Bourg D'Oisans has cyclists everywhere at the moment with riders teeming up and down the surrounding mountains.

I'm nervously excited about tomorrow - this is a day that I have aimed to do for quite a while - a real challenge and a reward for the hard work that has gone in to get to this point.  I'm feeling well, so the plan is to ride sensibly to the base of the Alpe d'Huez and then light it up!! Hopefully there will be plenty of people on the course to cheer us on.  The record up the climb is around 37 minutes - which is just a touch longer than it took the bus to drive up this afternoon. I'll be happy to get out of the day in under 7 hrs.

As I write this it's near bed time lots of carbs consumed today in the form of magnificent french pastries as well as a great pasta dinner. 

Interestingly though, no dessert or ice cream today - a no ride day sure dulls the appetite. 

No internet access in the hotel so by the time you read this it will probably all be over.  Wish me luck!