A couple of weeks ago I was staying with a friend in Bourg d'Oisans in France. This is the town at the bottom of the l'Alpe d'Huez climb. Normally we were ski touring in the area but we had a day of indifferent weather so stayed in the valley. My friend suggested I borrow his mountain bike - a clunker he bought in the local sports supermarket, no toe clips and a bit poorly maintained but quite light at 13.5kg incl. a suspension fork.
I thought it might be fun to cycle the famous 21 hairpins of the tour de France. I normally cycle 20km into work each day and with a season of ski touring under my belt didn't think it would be too hard. Normally there is a ticket system in place to let you register your start and finish time but this didn't seem to be working what with it being early season for tourism.
I set of well on the first steep section, there are a lot of road works with traffic lights. I kept my HR around 175bpm and speed around 10km/h. I found I was rapidly catching many Dutch cyclists on shiny road bikes. The suspension fork meant it was impossible to 'danse' on the pedals. After the village of la Garde the slope moderated and I was able to increase my average speed a little.
At the hairpin before the fork at l'alpe d'Huez I saw my first real competition. An obviously club or pro cyclist moving up the road at a good speed. Within seconds I was caught... and dropped... by non other than Lance Armstrong!
I finished 'my stage' with a time of 1h15m, no idea how long LA took as he was gone when I got to the top.
David Off <[email hidden]> wrote in message news:<[email hidden]>...
Quoted message said:
A couple of weeks ago I was staying with a friend in Bourg d'Oisans in France. This is the town at the bottom of the l'Alpe d'Huez climb. Normally we were ski touring in the area but we had a day of indifferent weather so stayed in the valley. My friend suggested I borrow his mountain bike - a clunker he bought in the local sports supermarket, no toe clips and a bit poorly maintained but quite light at 13.5kg incl. a suspension fork.
I thought it might be fun to cycle the famous 21 hairpins of the tour de France. I normally cycle 20km into work each day and with a season of ski touring under my belt didn't think it would be too hard. Normally there is a ticket system in place to let you register your start and finish time but this didn't seem to be working what with it being early season for tourism.
I set of well on the first steep section, there are a lot of road works with traffic lights. I kept my HR around 175bpm and speed around 10km/h. I found I was rapidly catching many Dutch cyclists on shiny road bikes. The suspension fork meant it was impossible to 'danse' on the pedals. After the village of la Garde the slope moderated and I was able to increase my average speed a little.
At the hairpin before the fork at l'alpe d'Huez I saw my first real competition. An obviously club or pro cyclist moving up the road at a good speed. Within seconds I was caught... and dropped... by non other than Lance Armstrong!
I finished 'my stage' with a time of 1h15m, no idea how long LA took as he was gone when I got to the top.
Interesting story.
Wonder where he went, into one of the hotels up there? I was under the impression the only way out was the way in.
Wonder where he went, into one of the hotels up there? I was under the impression the only way out was the way in.
There's an east passage from the Tour finish via the Col de Sarenne (1999 m) back to the route national (down by the start of the climb to Les Deux Alpes on the south side of the valley). There's also a small road to the west, from a little lower in Huez village to Allemont (near the foot of the climb to Glandon/Croix de Fer). But I think he jumped in the car and rode down, either to his hotel or to do the climb again without cooling off too much (it's not 30°C yet).
I think he jumped in the car and rode down, either to his hotel or to do the climb again without cooling off too much (it's not 30°C yet).
I agree, I think he did the climb again but I didn't see him when I rode down so maybe he was staying in a hotel? There was only one open, the very plush Grand Hotel. I asked the locals who said he was training for the TdF ITT.
At the hairpin before the fork at l'alpe d'Huez I saw my first real competition. An obviously club or pro cyclist moving up the road at a good speed. Within seconds I was caught... and dropped... by non other than Lance Armstrong!
You were not 'dropped'. You were passed. Doesn't sound like you were able to hang with him at all.
