Some great first days in France

Well, we've cut our last day in Briancon a bit short so that we can do a bit of blogging and internetting as it were. There's soooo much to share; I'm going to make up for five days of not blogging and write you a novel, so pour cup of coffee and get comfortable. I've tried to divide it up into bite sized bits, so maybe you can pick through it over a couple of sittings. Here goes. (Sorry for the random placement of pics; this playbook thinger's a bit tough to work with.)

Planes Trains and Automobiles, July 10, 2012

The bucket listers atop the Alpe d'Huez.

Looking down at some of the turn ofthe Alpe d'Huez 

Our first day was a gong show, but in the end, mostly successful. At every moment we were either losing time or being hosed for cash. After landing successfully in Paris and enjoying the relief of receiving all of our luggage we boarded the TGV (train a grande vitesse) for Marseilles, a three and a half hour trip. We awkwardly had to leave our bike boxes in the space between cars as they wouldn't fit in the luggage shelves...which meant that at each stop we had to go move them so as not to block the way of passengers moving on or off. Eventually a conducteur came by and liberated us of 45 Euros for the Grey box...which seemed like a deal in light of the fact that he started out talking about 160! Next came the car pick up. They wanted 100 extra euros...but we won this battle and they honored our reservation rate....we just lost a bunch of precious time (much to do you see). On to Cassis to build up the bikes and drop off our bike boxes. Getting out of Marseilles was like getting out of Montreal...the construction and traffic combined to turn a 30 minute drive into a four hour ordeal. Ok so now we're in Cassis...my derailleur hanger was a bit beat up and we couldn't get my rear wheel on...luckily I travel with a spare...so again just a headache and a bit more of July 10th lost. You know what? We forgot to eat. In to a gas station for three sandwiches each and some cookies. And no, the clerk couldn't get any extra cash off our visa to pay for our autoroute tolls...but don't worry, they take credit cards...they literally take them that is...in went my card....pass the beer nuts. Panic set in as a search revealed no staff attendants.  Nerves shot, I missed the conveniently positioned help button that Rod pointed out. Pushing this button promptly brought out a great guy to help me retrieve my card and we were able to count out enough change to get to within 5 cents of the 13 some odd euro toll. Dude even gave us decent directions to a cash machine. Coffee was key in the final, 4 hour push to Grenoble and the awaiting Vein Machine (aka Brad Veinotte - intrepid cyclotourist having just ridden his bike from Denmark to Greece before riding to Sicily and boarding train for Genoa and slashing wheel tracks across the Alps to Grenoble to meet us). I always say I love the act (sport) of traveling, but this sleepless and nearly food-less 36 hours was a challenge to say the least.

We were, and have been, rewarded...though the challenges never seem to be far off on this trip.

Col de la Telegraphe and the North ascent of the Col du Galibier, July 11, 2012

With 6 hours of shut eye, we were ready for the fun to begin. Our Darth-Vader-voice-enabled GPS (cross the roundabout, second exit to the dark side!) guided us over the 1.5 hour drive from Grenoble to Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne and the base of the Col du Galibier via the Col de la Telegraphe. Somehow it took us until 15 heures (3PM) to get here through...a bit late in the day to be starting such a climb. Oh well whatever...we suited up and rolled out...err rolled up...and up...

The opening feature, the Telegraphe, was challenging, but sunny, windless, and fun. After pausing for the requisite photo by the sign at the top, we descended into Valloire and readied ourselves one for one of Frances toughest climbs--the Col du Galibier...BABY!!! It was by then 6:00 and in the first 2 km I managed to puncture twice. This took care of all of our spare tunes and pushed the clock to 6:30 or so. Decision time. To carry on sans spare tunes late in the evening up into the cloud covered pass or bail. What would you have done? We carried on. The summit of the pass was protected by unrelenting 8-10% slopes, a massive hail storm, freezing temperatures, and evil self doubting thoughts, but we battled through and summitted at 7:45. Time for the trophy photo op was all that we had, and we began the descent with teeth chattering, fingers and toes numb, feet soaked, hypothermia perhaps close at hand. So did any of us puncture? Why yes, of course. Rod flatted a scant 4 kms from the summit and within close range of the storm cloud. I left him my jacket and Brad and I made haste for the car which turned out to be a good hour's ride away. On the way down I made arrangements with a nice couple with a sport ute to drive up to him and pick him up and drop him off at a wood stove heated fondue restaurant about halfway down the mountain where Vein and I eventually got back to him by car. The couple bought us beers...for our trouble. As I like to say, he who dies with the most stories....

Safe, sound, and all accounted for, we enjoyed a feast of cheese, baguette, taboulee, and a bold red from Venture on a picnic table before hitting tent city near the base of the Telegraphe.

Stage 11 at La Toussuire, July 12, 2012

The sounds of rain drops on the tent came around 6:30, so up we got. Lord Vader took us this time 20 minutes up the road to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne, base of the climb to the the ski resort town of La Toussuire and the site of the Tour de France's second mountain top finish this year. Home base was established in the parking lot at the Carre-Four (France's answer to The Superstore), and we rolled out to climb La Toussuire after the morning's cafe allonge and pain au chocolat. What an awesome climb and a stark contrast to yesterday's experience with a cloudless blue sky and warm, skin searing temperatures. It's such a rush to climb at the tour as the fans line the roadway and shout encouragement...allez allez, bon courage monsieur. The story (challenge) here would be that we got separated near the top...or well, I got separated from MRod and the Vein actually. Depressed that we had made our way across oceans and mountains to watch the tour together, I combed the area looking at every face as did they. We spent 3 of the 6 hours that we had to await the peloton looking for one another, and just as I was about to give up I heard...ENO! and there they were. The people watching was out of this world, we enjoyed the publicity caravan and their trinkety giveaways, and eventually watched Frenchman, Pierre Rolland solo past us with 700 or so metres to go to his second career stage win giving the French and Team Europcar back to back wins. If you were trying to spot us on the tv, we were about 2 or 300 meters above the final km to go...just after the left turn on the left side of the road.

After enjoying a great descent, if traffic filled, pizza and beer were consumed before hitting the hay on a small patch of grass outside the Carre-Four.

Stage 12 depart and on to Briancon, July 13, 2012

Again we awoke that next morning to a light rain but it didn't last. Convenience had it that the next stage should start from Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne so onto the bus and into the city center we went. What fun at the official merchandise booths. New swag and perhaps a few treasures for some important peeps back home. We bopped about he team busses and watched the rider sign-in highlighted by Wiggo and his yellow tunique, words from yesterday's stage winner and the toast of the tour, Pierre Rolland, and Jens...gotta love Jens!

With the tour safely rolling away, we did the the same in a different direction. What a drive through the mountains, switchbacks, and tunnels through Italy and back into France to Briancon. Checking into a hostel for three nights was a pleasure earned through a couple of nights in tent city. The only riding we did that day was to spin into Briancon proper (our hostel is up in the Serre Chevalier valley) to explore the medieval fortess city and it's chateau high atop a steep climb. Resting up for the epics of tomorrow.

Aple d'Huez and Le Col du Croix de Fer, July 14, 2012 (Bastille Day)

The full breakfast of fried eggs, steak, and oatmeal that followed the coffee and pain au chocolat we had earlier in town paid off huge on this day. We drove 1 hour west over the Col de Laureret and on to Bourg d'Oisans, aka the holy land, aka mecca, aka the base of the Alpe d'Huez. Personally I had some very unfinished business in this holiest of places as this is where Selena and I first saw the tour back in 2008...without my bike! The day/night that Selena and I had our wedding celebration at the Mug and Anchor, Hurricane Hortense (Joff, you reading this?), and now Alpe d'Huez Day--these are my three best days...of my life! I'm sure that adrenaline had a lot to do with the fact that I seemed to have great legs...so inspiring at each of the famed 21 switchbacks to read the names of the 'coureurs' who have won atop this most famous climb...this is Lambeau Field, Madison Square, Yankee Stadium, should I say, The Montreal Forum. Climb it we did under sunny skies smiling with the euphoric pain that only cyclists can know...i even had legs to sprint the final km and a half and raise my arms in imagined victory. Alpe d'Huez - I still can't believe it.

Wanting to get the most out of the drive to Bourg, we descended down the Alpe only as far as turn 6 where we hung a right on a traverse road over to a town called Villard Reculas where we dropped down to Allemont and the start of the Col de la Croix de Fer. Oh to have had a Go PRO camera on the traverse...without a doubt the most scenic road I've ever ridden...with Tony Griffith in mind (Google Tony, why don't ya) I screamed at the sky!!!! Literally screamed and I've got two witnesses. Ahhhh!

Hail storm atop the Galibier 

The boys post feast :)

Not even the flat that I had on that road could bring me down...nor the one I had 15 minutes later in Allemont...have been battling my rim tape as you might surmise. With legs of adrenaline and 35psi in my rear wheel we tackled the constant 10-11% grades of the Croix de Fer at about 5:30...aka too late in the day. We climbed for an hour and upon coming to the town of Le Rivier d'Allemont and noticing that we were going to have to descend and effectively lose a lot of our hard-earned altitude before tackling the final 17 km of the climb (17 may not seem like much, but it's about an hour and a half or more), this time, faced with having to ride back to the car in Bourg in the dark, we decided to leave the Croix for another time.  Bummed, we turned an made for home. I won't describe the bbq that we enjoyed back at the hostel, but suffice to say, we made pigs of ourselves as we devoured protein on protein, cheese on bread, salad, pie.

It's getting late...this has been quite a session...feeling a bit Kerouac-ish...I'm going to have to start the next post with the news from today - the Col D'Izoard and a major sausage and olive infused pasta feast. In case I don't get back to this in the short term, here's the plan

Drive 8 hours tomorrow to Lourdes

Ride on Tuesday in the Pyrenees

Catch Wednesday's stage on the Tourmalet (look for us just before the crowd barriers start)

Catch Thursday's stage on the Peyresoudre/Peyradues (we'll be just before the barriers on the finishing climb)

Other fun stuff to be described later

Congrats if you made it through this and thanks. Please leaves a comment. G'night.

PS the flat count is at 7 (MRod 1; Vein 1; Eno 5...but I think I got it figured out :)

Vein's new shirt courtesy of the caravan

Abike by a hostel 

Bikes in a car

Bikers eating pizza and drinking coffee and coca

A retro courreur

Wiggins and Cav(world champ) at sign-in

The incomparable Jens Voigt!

The tour de France live on a flat screen nailed to a tree on a sidewalk terrace near you