French Alps 2016 - Day 2 - Croix de Fer & Glandon

Day 2 in the Alps and a big climb planned - Croix de Fer and the Glandon. This was a route I had done last year with my son and was pretty big. However unlike some Alpine climbs its slightly different in that there's a reasonable flat section and noticeable downhill stretch about half way. 

From Bourg d'Oisins its about 10 miles to the foot of the climb. Its along a straight and almost flat road to the turning for Allemont, up the face of the dam and alongside the lake. After a small dip and over a bridge the first part of the climb starts. Its straight up to 8-10% and through the trees. It stays like this for the next 4 miles. There are a couple of spots where the gradient drops to 5-6% for a few meters but otherwise its pretty consistent.

I tried to hold the lowest gear of 34-28 but found it too difficult if I wanted to keep my heart rate to below 160bpm so needed to use the 34-32. It is a spot too low and whilst does take the effort off the speed also drops as well. Last year (with 10 speed) I had an 11-30 cassette and the 30 was a slightly better compromise.

The road was very quiet with few cars and other cyclists. Unfortunately all the other cyclists passed me this time. 

The first "easier" part comes at Le Rivier d'Allemont where it flattens and eases through the village and then drops slightly before the set of switch backs where you lose over 200 feet very quickly. Immediately at the bottom the roads kicks up again to ~14% and today there was also a strong headwind. The next kilometre was hard - battling up a 12-14% stretch with a headwind. Once past this there's a section of steep climbing (~10%) rising to a slightly easier section approaching the Barrage de Grand Maison. Once past the 2 sharp switch backs level with the dam it again eases significantly (enough for even me to get into the big ring) and then there's a fast downhill section (about 150feet) into the final valley. From here its probably the easiest section at ~8% to the summit, The fact that you can see the cafe at the turn for Glandon helps. Once at the Cafe its again another relatively easy 2.5km to the summit of the Croix de Fer.

It took me 1hr 53 mins this year - average heart rate of 159bpm (so I didn't do that good a job of keeping it below 16) and average speed of 8mph. I was pretty pleased with this.

I had an obligatory coffee and ice cream at the top and took some pictures:

I also made an obligatory (?) video of the climb from the Lad de Grand Maison. It's twice speed to lower the level of boredom.

 

I then got back on the bike and rode down (and back up a few meters) to the Glandon

It was quite windy and a little cool so I wore my Pocket Rocket for the descent - not sure if I really needed it but I didn't feel cold - I stopped and removed it in Le Rivier d'Allemont.

As with last year I think it best that I describe my self as a "nervous descender".

The switch back descent near Le Rivier d'Allemont is even worse coming off the mountain as your legs have just spent  minutes doing nothing and then need to drag you up 12% slopes!

Once back at the very bottom its then a reasonably pleasant ride back to Bourg.

Overall - I really like the climb - excellent scenery, several different vistas at different stages of the climb, lost of different bits of road to ride on, and its a big climb at over 2000m.

Stats for the day - 50.8miles, 3hr42min moving time and 6100ft of ascent:

On Strava:

In the French Alps Again - Day 1 - Ornon, Oulles and a stab at Villard de Notre Dame

Like last year, I rode Col d'Ornon again as a starter. It's long enough to be a challenge but not a monster - it takes me about 45-50 minutes from top to bottom. I did it twice in 2015.

I'd picked up a booklet for road cycling routes from the campsite office we're staying at (again the same as last year - the La Cascade at the foot of Alpe d'Huez)

This booklet identified the climb to the village of Oulles as worth doing. The road to Oulles is about 2km from the foot of the climb of Col d'Ornon so not out of the way.

Unlike last year I rode from the campsite on the road to Grenoble and at the turn to Allemont did a U turn and headed back for the Ornon climb - this I hoped would get me properly warmed up. We rode straight to the climb last year and I almost blew up on the 1st km. This year by the time I was on the climb I felt pretty good and was able to ride comfortably in the 34-26 gear for several km before needing the 34-28. Given that I was no where near as fit this year compared to last year this was good. However at the shorter steeper section at Le Rivier I dropped into my old man gear of 34-32 as I felt myself getting tired. This section was more10-12% compared to the 8-10% up to that point. I was able to drop back to the 34-28 after a km or so and get to the summit in progressively higher gears. I felt quite strong at the top given where I was fitness wise and decided to do the Oulles climb. So after a reasonable later I took the turning to the village

Right from the word go it was steep and challenging. It was a very narrow road with minimal safety barriers. The gradient seemed a consistent 10% (sometimes a little lower but often 11-12% for some time. Here I needed the 34-32 and ground up slowly. For a long time it was difficult to see where the road would end up as it twisted back and forth frequently. Eventually I could see the village and a more straight piece of road that led to it. The village was nothing more than a few houses in reality, and at the end of the road I turned round and descended carefully back to the Ornon road. It was a tough climb

I used my Virb to record the climb:

Once I'd uploaded the ride to Strava I found that I'd bagged a KOM somewhere on the road. However this was down to poor a GPS signal rather than any decent pace, so apologies to the true owner of the KOM.

Once back down on the main road to Bourg I decided that I still felt OK and would climb to Villard de Notre Dame. I'd become aware of this climb from a Bikeradar forum post and it looked magnificent. I had plotted this on my Garmin as it climbed from the back of Bourg somewhere, but in reality it was well sign posted and easy to follow. I was aware of the tunnels and had fitted my (be seen) lights in anticipation. As I rode up a sign warned people of the tunnels and I thought I was OK. The first tunnel appeared and was all of 20-30m so no problem I thought, As I emerged the road was stunning with the overhanging rock. 2-300m further on came the 2nd tunnel - 350m in length.

As I roe in so did a load of motorcyclists so there was lots of light. The road surface was poor. Unfortunately as the last of them turned a corner I was left in complete and utter pitch blackness and could not see a thing. My front light was hopelessly inadequate. I briefly thought about walking further on (I'd seen 2 cyclists walking the other way) but decided discretion was the better part of valour, turned round and headed for the light slowly and back to the camp site. However the road was stunning - I can only imagine that it looks the same further on. Here are some pictures (from my Garmin Virb):

The first tunnel

The first Tunnel

Past the first tunnel - see the overhang

Entering the 2nd tunnel

Following the motorbikes - looks OK!

Back down out of the 2nd tunnel

Approaching the first tunnel back down

For the first day just under 36 miles and 4800ft of climbing - not bad.

Here's the route on Strava - https://www.strava.com/activities/621176871

Hill Climbs in the Cotswolds - Sunday 5 June 2016

Hoping for glorious weather as forecast I cycled down to Broadway in the Cotswolds. About 4-5 miles north of Broadway are 3 reasonable sized hills. In order of my route there is Dovers Hill, followed by Saintbury Hill and finally Fish Hill. I have done them all before but never on the same ride, so today would be a first.

First up was Dovers Hill.

This is #13 in the 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs book. Its quite tough - it steepens after 1/2 way to ~12% and the average is 8%. I was hoping for a faster time than the previous time I have climbed as I was on my Scott with its 34-32 lowest gear. Unfortunately whilst my fitness has continued to improve through the year it still was not where it needed to be - a maximum heart rate of almost 180bpm shows this. It was hard work. The first attempt I made last year was the best at 8:02 - I am currently 474th of 233. Today's effort was much slower at 8:58.

Here's a video of the climb and immediate descent:

Next up within not much more than 2 miles is Saintbury Hill:

Saintbury is a bigger and longer climb than Dovers Hill. The maximum gradient is nearer the bottom and the gradient eases 2-3 times meaning its not quite as tough. I still made the slowest ascent today compared to the other times. I pulled a 8th plave on the descent but I think thisis down to GPS error more than any thing else!

Here's a video of this climb and descent

The final climb was Fish Hill. This is actually the A44 to Oxford so is a much busier road than the other two earlier climbs. Its definitely a Sunday morning climb only although the road is dual carriageway (on the ascent) so there is room - but its still not the most pleasant climb:

Two miles at an average of 6% - easier although the first mile is less steep and the last mile (the twisty bit is around 10-12%). However the descent is super fast because of the wider road and sweeping bends and I just managed a Strava PR on the descent - average speed of 31.8mph.

Here's a video of the climb and descent:

An excellent ride with the 3 climbs but the headwind all the way back from Broadway just about did me in

Here's the full route:

 
I chopped the top off (where I live) as the Cotswold part is hopefully more interesting. The full route is here on Strava

To Kinver for the 2nd time

Today I rode to Kinver in Staffordshire. It was a "new to me" route based on one I'd seen on Strava from a Solihull Cycling Club ride. Whilst it was a new to me ride it went through or passed by a number of places I have ridden before such as Belbroughton in Worcestershire ("gateway to St Kenelms Pass"). However it took a number of roads I have not used before at all so was a new ride but in a familiar area. It also meant of the weather turned I know I could abort at Belbroughton as I knew several routes back without needing the Garmin. The weather was not quite as warm as I'd hoped but was in general OK.

A nice rolling route - 58.9 miles and 4300ft of climbing, 3 counties (again as I have mentioned - just 30 minutes from Birmingham and there is challenging cycling to be had).

I rode the Giant and managed with the 36-28 lowest gear - I was going to take the much lower geared Scott but we've planned another French Cycling Holiday this year so I thought the higher gearing would be good training - it was and I only needed the 36-28 twice. I am still torn whether to take the Scott or the Giant to France but I think the Scott's lower gearing and non-aero wheels will win the day for the long ascents. There was a particularly strong cross wind on the ascent of the Galibier that was quite a challenge on the Scott with its low profile Ultegra wheels last year.

I have been through Kinver before on the Tour of the Black Country in May 2015:

 

  I took some video on the approach to Kinver and through the Kingsford Forest Park:

The Numbskulls

My wife and I went for a few days away in Wales in April 2016 (when I went Mountain Biking with MudTrek)

On the way back we stopped in the Wetherspoons in Monmouth. Part of the decor was bookshelves with lots of books. I suspect that these were bought by the kilo from a 2nd hand dealer. There was one book I looked at in more detail - "The Miracle of Life":

In this was a picture that reminded me of a strip from the Beano (click on the image to get a bigger view):

Here is the comparison - It's the Numbskulls. In fact this was originally featured in The Beezer comic from 1962–1990 (thanks to wikipedia):

Its a very amusing comparison. I don't know which came first as there was no date I could find in the book. It seemed to pre-date an ISBN Number.

A further search of the Internet has revealed a likely publishing date of ~1949 so it looks like the Beezer pinched the idea but simplified the number of numbskulls.

April and May Update

Whilst I am fairly pragmatic about the number of readers of this blog being relatively small I know that infrequent updates do not help build an avid reader base and its been quite a long time since I last posted an update. There are 3 reasons for this - 1: busy riding quite a bit; 2: been doing boring things like decorating and 3: its been busy at work and needed many early starts and by the time I get home I am far too tired to think about adding to this blog.

However all this has not been without progress in the Midland Cyclist household since the last post back in early April when I went Mountain Biking at MudTrek in Wales.

The weather has improved and has been fairly consistently good (and in fact we also had a fantastic weekend at the start of May) and this has opened the opportunity to start to cycle to work more regularly. I have also been out some evenings for a short (~1 hour) ride now that the lighting up time is nearly 9pm, meaning I can be out and back safely without lights. Last year I'd have done many more commuting miles than I have done so far this year but being knocked off has still damaged my confidence to an extent. Some changes to my working week schedule has seen me needing to drive to Wolverhampton on a Thursday which was a previous standard commute day.

I have also ridden a lot of miles on my Giant Propel (in fact I have not ridden my Scott for the past 5 weeks or so). I am still really pleased with the Giant- fast, comfortable and eats the miles up:

However I managed a good mileage in both April and so far in May as well and finally seem to have rediscovered the level of fitness that I was consistently at all the way up to the accident. This was on the 80 mile ride up did "North of Meriden":

80.2 miles, 3200ft of ascent and 4:45 hours riding - I felt fairly tired with about 20 miles to go but a gel and cereal bar sorted that. What's more I rode the whole ride on the big ring, and whilst there were no real climbs its an undulating route so I took that as a positive as well.

In terms of the Giant - its surprisingly comfortable to ride. I have not got a particularly racy position in terms of saddle/handlebar drop, but its supple over all but the worst road surfaces. The Ui2 is excellent and has never missed a beat (apart from when I went out without checking the battery level and got left on the small ring). The brakes are superb - huge power from very minimal finger pressure only - its difficult to avoid locking the wheels at times. In terms of aero etc I have not really noticed huge benefits until you get over 25mph or so and this is difficult for me without going down hill! The deep section wheels (they are actually aluminium rims with a non-structural aero section) feel quicker (as an engineer I hate the words "feel" as its subjective). I have ridden in a reasonably windy day and they are best described as "interesting" and if you are not ready or prepared for it you can be pushed all over the road.

I popped out for a quick ride on Saturday 14 May 2016 and managed 26 miles at 17.8mph average, 142bpm average and this now reflects a much better level of performance and effort than even a month ago. Here's a (boring?) video I took of most of the route:

Today (15 May 2016) I rode with Noel and took it easy with a more social ride at Noel's pace:

The average Heart Rate of 131bpm was indicative of the lower level of effort needed.

Here's a few photos on the way and up the St Kenelms climb:

Here's a video of the approach to and ascent of St Kenelms Pass:

 

As I am going to France for 2 weeks cycling in June/July it looks like I am getting into good shape in time

Mountain Biking

Last year was a reasonably significant birthday and I had some Red Letter vouchers. After a lot of thought I went Mountain Biking with MudTrek near Brechfa, Wales

I had an excellent time. Excellent hospitality, great bike, excellent route well suited to my ability and a great day out with Jason, and a really friendly pre and post drink. 

28 miles and over 4000ft of climbing. A tough day out.

I might write a few more words later but here are some photos: