Late start - it is great being on holiday and riding when you want. Thanks to our friends at Garmin and a poor choice of towns by me (I chose the town 4km from the top of the hill we were going to, rather than the one at the base) a three hour drive turned into something like four and a half. A lot of fun chatting with the boys about many interesting topics nonetheless.
I forgot to mention where we were headed - Alpe d'Huez. Even for the less knowledgeable sports fan, this is one mountain that is very well known. 14km and 21 hairpins separate you from cycling immortality.
After getting there ultra late (Doc and Julz were already half to two-thirds of the way up, then descended past the group at the starting point when the Big Unit and I were taking a natural break) we had what can be referred to as a multi tool of mechanicals. If anyone knows what the collective noun is for a series of mechanicals, then let me know.
We had our photos taken by a photographer for a local paper who said they were doing a story on the Tour de France and tourists coming to the region. More like a shot of us with a caption taking the piss out of us I reckon, and which would be deserved based on what we have been handing out.
We eventually got cracking and as expected km1 to km3 were the hardest (>10%). It settled down to a nice, easy 7-9% after that. Each of the 21 hairpins has a winner of the stage finish at the Alpe for the years it has gone through there. We learned later that it would be heading back there next year. It was also there last year, so while we missed the tour there this year, we did not miss the legendary Alpe.
The climb was not easy, however the hairpins break it up nicely (into 21 parts!), so you can get into a rythym. There are definitely two hairpins that are not numbered, which takes a bit of wind out of your sails. Also, the mistake we (I!) made earlier was a blessing in disguise, as we knew that when we arrived at the town I had plugged into the garmin there was 4km to go (well another 6km really, however more of that later).
Shortly after the town (Huez en Oisans, which I think means something like Huez over Oisans, which is the lower part of Alpe d'Huez - or the Alpe as we now have the right to call it) you can see the ski village, which is great, however you learn later that it is not the top (not the official top anyway). Once you get to the village, there is a banner overhead with a podium off to the side, however there is also a sign pointing to the left with an additional 2km-ish to the "arrivee officiale". So I kept grinding away, under a little bridge / tunnel around another hairpin, and then it flattened out so I thought I would crank it up for the finale in the big ring. Around another left-hander and a slightly uphill finish put paid to that and I crossed the finish line, I mean arrivee officiale all on my lonesome, however a special moment in any case.
After a few tacky souveneir purchases and a free copy of L'Equipe for the descent the other boys turned up. Bruce had a final multi tool mechanical and was in a bar a few hairpins from the bottom drowning his sorrows.
So we descended, stopping to take some happy snaps before arriving at a place we found so lovely that we just had to spend the night. So the day on the Alpe turned into a sleepover. Bruce borrowed a wheel and knocked it over before sunset, so all was good that ends good. Ok? Ok? Ok? - Sorry, in joke, and not even a funny one now that I think about it.
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