The 2008 Dauphine Libere route has been announced.

This year we are not as fortunate as we were in 2007 when the riders came past our door (see photos in our album), still, we get a couple of good chances to see the teams on the final 2 days of the 8-day stage race.

Day 7 out of 8 (14th June) we can see riders taking on the grueling loop from the Maurienne valley to La Toussuire and the Col de La Croix de Fer. The following day is the final stage in nearby Grenoble:

http://criterium.ledauphine.com/criterium08/

As usual, this race is an exciting prelude to the Tour when riders and teams warm up for the 'main event' the following month.

Nick Sheppard, a guest of ours here at King of the Mountains, is due to scale the 3 road ascents of Mont Ventoux in a day on his bike next month in aid of Dingley Specialist Centre at Reading Hospital, so they can buy a set of specially adapted bikes for kids with disabilities for use by the hospital.   "Cingles" roughly translates as "nutters" or "crackpots"....

Nick's own son Ben, who has Cerebral Palsy, has one of these bikes of his own, paid for by his Dad,  which he just loves zooming about  on, just like the rest of us like zooming about on our bikes.  The idea is that those people with children like Ben who can't afford to pay for their own machine, will have access to one.

So, feel free to check out Nick's page at: http://www.justgiving.com/nicksheppard to show your support.

Thanks everyone.

Guy

PS: Winter has finally broken here and yesterday it was short sleeves and lots of (pasty) flesh on show time.  Hmmmm.
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

Another Sunday and another cyclo-randonnee for us and neighbours Christian and Matt.

This week we chose a ride that started from nearby Vif (just our side of Grenoble). The ride sneaked into the 'Trieves' area giving us great views of the Vercors mountains, and on the return leg took us along a stunning 'balcony' road known as the 'Corniches du Drac' as it overlooks the Drac lake.

As usual there were a choice of distances; 30km, 68km, 86km and 110km. We were conservative and chose the 86km, just about right for our level of fitness at this time of year. The total climbing was just under 1,500m and it felt like most of that came in the first 15km! Still, it made for a nice cruise home - downhill all the way.

Sadly for the organisers there weren't so many people taking part this year as on previous occasions as the forecast was for wind, heavy rain and cold. Fortunately for us, the forecast was very wrong - there was a bit of wind and it had certainly rained in some places but we never felt a drop. If anything we were a little overdressed for the conditions.

The feed stations were manned by some particularly jovial club members. Maybe some of the joviality came from the wine they had chilling in the nearby church fountain! Still, they made sure we had plenty of tea, coffee and other good food to help us on our way.

We are starting to meet some randonnee 'regulars' at these events now so they are becoming a good opportunity to socialise as well as ride.

Roll on next Sunday....

Helyn
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

For once we are not referring to 'La Marmotte' cyclosportive, but the furry kind! We saw our first marmotte of 2008 today, fresh from hibernation and looking happy to see the arrival of spring and sunshine. This weekend we have made the most of the good weather and have had 2 fantastic rides - good thing too as more late snow is forecast for tomorrow forcing us (and probably the Marmotte too) back into hibernation for a few days.

Yesterday we headed off to a pretty town called 'Tullins', not too far from Grenoble airport. We took part in a 'cyclo randonnee' there. Cyclo randonnees are a little like cyclosportives, but are not mass-start/first over the line events. Yesterdays' randonnee had a choice of 3 circuits; 55km, 88km and 115km, the sign-on and departure for each circuit was any time between 7am and midday. Each rider received a basic route card and a card for the control points and feed stations along the way.

The route cards were not needed as each loop was also clearly marked by fluorescent arrows on the road. These arrows took us along some great little single track back lanes and quiet 'B' roads through fields upon fields of walnut trees (Grenoble and the surrounding area is famous for it's walnuts). We rode 3 little cols each one around 650 metres. This time of year always offers some dramatic scenery as the snow, which is still present above 2,000 metres, contrasts beautifully against the fresh green of the spring grass and new leaves. After completing the 88km circuit it was back to the town hall where the tables had been laid out for the post-ride food (all included in the price of the event €8). Sausages and pasta and the local 'Saint Marcellin' cheese - so runny that it had to be ladled onto our plates! (see attached photo below). As usual, there was a good and friendly atmosphere among the riders and the club members who were hosting the event.

Today we had a shorter ride out with two of our neighbours, Yves and Christian. We headed over the Col d'Ornon to the 'Trieves' area for a 'rolling' ride. Yves, who chose the route, is already in great shape due to a winter of cross country skiing. His local knowledge is exhaustive, and if it's a beautiful but challenging ride on tiny, very, very steep roads that you're after, then he's the man to ask! We should have suspected a tough few hours in the saddle when he started enquiring if we were riding compacts today! Actually, he was pretty kind to us and the maximum gradient we tackled today was only 14 % (this time last year he took us up a brutal hill where we both nearly vomited at the summit!).

We arrived back to cold drinks on a sunny terrace and a fantastic lunch prepared for us by Christians' wife, after which we all watched the last 50km of Paris Roubaix on the TV. A perfect weekend!

Helyn
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

We set out to do a 5 day ski tour the other day in the Ecrins National Park, going from refuge to refuge starting out at 3,200m at the top of the La Grave ski area..  It was meant to be a magnificent tour, with amazing views and no washing for 5 days.  After one full day, we ski-ed out, soaked and happy to be off the mountain.  The weather was just too bad, high wind, heavy snow and risky avalanche conditions all added up.  Ho hum.  We got 2 or 3 pics as we were on our way out.

Guy
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

Good news....the road up to our chalet is being resurfaced and the results are pretty smooth.  So, does this mean they might send the Tour over here next year?

Guy

www.kingofthemountains.co.uk