So after a week of riding iconic Tour de France climbs in spectacular scenary and glorious weather, a question remained. Has my riding improved at all? The best way to find out was to ride up Alpe d'Huez again. Angela and I arranged to have lunch together, but unlike our Deux Alpes experience, we knew where to meet!
Unlike a week ago, I did a tour of the outer reaches of Bourg d'Oisans, to warm up properly, then made my way across to the start of the climb and headed up. First impressions were not too bad. My power output was up, and my cadence higher than last week. Good riders continued to come past, but I was doing my fair share of overtaking too. Within no time I reached La Garde, where I had turned off for the balcony road yesterday. As the slope eased down into the 8% region I was able to push rather than just survive. As the gradients kicked up again, I was still able to keep up a pace and feel comfortable. No back pain either. So far so good. As I approached Huez village, a rider sporting a Yorkshire Tour de France jersey came past but didn't really make much progress. As the gradient eased again, I re-passed him and didn't see him again. I even managed to smile for the photographers!
Thanks to the guys and gals at Photo Breton, for this shot.
The whole climb, while not exactly easy, felt a lot more comfortable than last week. It certainly helps to have an idea about what's coming around the next bend. And this time, I wasn't reduced collapsing on the kerb after crossing the finishing line. And my time? Well its not going to win any awards, but at just on 1 hour 30 minutes, it was a whole 20 minutes faster than last week.
The track up to Alpe d'Huez is available on Garmin Connect.
After the obligatory drinks and lunch Chez Leo, including sandwiches that Subway could only dream about, we spent the afternoon sightseeing. After riding up to the lakes above Alpe d'Huez, along with what seemed like most of the population, I headed back down to Huez and over to Villard-Reculas. Angela drove back via the Col de Sarenne.
The track up to the lakes is available on Garmin Connect.
The road to Villard-Reculas clings to the side of the mountain much like the balcony road. It gives spectacluar views across the valley. The icing on the cake is the descent from Villard-Reculas itself. Its fast and open with sweeping bends and good visibility and enough hairpins nearer the end to keep life interesting. The road joins the one from Lac Verney, so the final few kilometers is pan flat. There was a tail wind blowing too, which did wonders for my average speed.
The track back down via Villard-Reculas is available on Garmin Connect.
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