We all trooped over to the Vercors yesterday for the annual season-opener which is the Challenge Dauphine Libere sportive - a choice of 3 distances (66km, 123 km or 173km) over some of the most beautiful countryside in France.  Whilst not Alpine in terms of it's topography, it's certainly not flat.  The longer course of the three included no less than 9 cols!
We were a group of seven from here - Nick and Vicky, John and Neil training for the Marmotte and Tony, David and myself out for a good day out.  We certainly had that.  We met up with "locals" Russell (of Grenoble Cycling Pages fame) and Ed, who lives very close by in the Vercors.

The start venue was Autrans this year (it alternates between Autrans, Villard de Lans and Lans en Vercors every 2 years) and for the first 40km, all the riders are on the same route.  The race then splits again at around 75km.

I had only ever done the 123km route before, so (despite not riding all that much this year) I plumped for the 173km and rode most of the way with Russell and latterly with Nick too.

The highlights for me were: scenery, weather, route.  The lowlights: pain and suffering, largely on the aptly named col de la Machine. 

Russell, ever the pro, managed to film, ride comfortably within himself and chat happily.  He was on great form.  Respect due - his video diary is online on Vimeo at:
http://www.vimeo.com/4923833  and I feature heavily!

Nick had suffered like me and towed me back to base for the last 30km (I thank you), Vicky had had a tough day too and the wiser group who chose the 123km route were happily back in the refreshments tent drinking wine when we finished.  So they had definitely had a good day. 

More events coming soon  (I'm particularly looking forward to the BRC randonnee on the 13th June (in the ever-beautiful Chartreuse)) and the weekly Alpe d'Huez TTs, so I'd better get out and ride a bit!

Happy summer riding everyone....

Guy

www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

...have been busy but exciting here at King of the Mountains. For a start the weather has been glorious, lots of sunny days and great riding temperatures.

We have had many returning guests these past two weeks; Kevin and Brioni, on their 6th visit to us, but this time leaving the bike behind and instead coming on a motorbike. This gave them great freedom to whiz around and catch a few stages of the Giro d'Italia which was passing just near the French/Italian border.

Simon and Sarah re-visited us after a fleeting trip back in 2005. They rode themselves into the ground covering 455 miles and approx. 14,000 metres of climbing in the process, a pretty respectable tally during their week. Being triathletes, they included in amongst this the long-course route of the Alpe d'Huez triathlon which passes our door.

At the same time as Simon and Sarah were here, we had a group of 4 (Cookie, Jon/Marcus, Stan and Ed) who had just ridden the 'Cingles de Ventoux' - that's riding all 3 routes up the Mont Ventoux in a day. We'd assumed that they would want a restful few days after their efforts, but on the contrary; they hit the mountains hard and were 100% enthusiasm and energy for their whole stay.

We've had a good number of people here to train for the Marmotte too taking advantage of the re-opening of most of the Marmotte cols after the snow (the Galibier is only partially open). The 'Challenge Dauphine Libere' cyclosportive yesterday gave them all a good few quality miles and cols in preparation for July's event (more on that in the following post).

In a brief quiet spell, Guy and I spent a great 24hours up on the Col de la Croix de Fer camping and walking. A great excuse to test the 19 Euro tent that I bought from the supermarket (see picture top left). At that price it was either going to be a waste of money or the best 19 Euros that we've ever spent. Just 5 minutes to put up and we were as comfy as could be - money well spent! As I have mentioned in previous posts, the Col de la Croix de Fer is by far my favourite ride in this area, over the many times I have ridden it my curiosity has been mounting to find out what goes on behind those peaks and around those lakes off the beaten track. We had a great circular walk taking in some paths that in winter are ski pistes. There was still a fair amount of residual snow covering north facing slopes over 2,400 metres and even after our recent spell of warm weather some of the lakes up there were only just starting to thaw. Always a bonus to spot Marmottes and on the walk the count was high - we saw around 20 of them basking in the sun.

Yesterday, whilst the rest of the household were taking part in the sportive, I opted to stay at home, catch up with some chores and then slip out for a steady ride. I rode up the valley towards the foot of the Deux Alpes climb and just beyond that turned left for Mizoen and Clavans and eventually the Col de Sarenne. It's a tough climb from that side, the first part an off-putting 14%. The norm' is to descend this road from Alpe d'Huez - I was glad that I was climbing on this occasion as the road has not yet been swept since the thaw and hence is strewn with a lot of geology ranging from gravel to rocks the size of a cow! The summit was bathed in sunshine and that's where I met some lovely cycle tourists from Nottingham on their way via the Glandon and Madeleine to Lake Annecy - they should be there by now enjoying a dip in the lake. But for me it was back home to cook dinner for the tired and hungry riders fresh back from the cyclosportive - for more on that, over to Guy...

For pictures of the last two weeks of May, visit our 'Summer' folder on our Picasaweb site: Click here

Good news.  The col du Glandon officially opened today.

The col du Galibier is, I am afraid, still very much snowbound for the time being though.

Happy days.

Guy & Helyn

www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

The call of the Col de la Croix de Fer has been strong since it re-opened last Wednesday. Work and wet weather since then had kept me from thinking too much about the re-opening of my favourite ride in the area.

Yesterday we woke to a beautiful morning. The trees behind the house are now in full leaf and there was just a dusting of fresh snow on the higher peaks contrasting brilliantly against the deep blue sky. It was all so new and fresh, it felt like the first time I ever set eyes upon it here. After the monochrome months of winter, I hanker for the return of colour in the form of foliage and flowers and yesterday was as vibrant as I have ever seen it up in our valley.

Both Guy and I had a full day ahead of us preparing for the arrival of 7 guests on Sunday morning, but it didn't take much to convince Guy to down tools and swap power drill for bicycle, and I was more than happy to quit the ironing board and hoover!

My only reservation was the date, 16th May. Call me superstitious, but not long after we moved here I rode the Col de la Croix de Fer on the very same date and it was without doubt the coldest I have ever been on a ride, and, the only occasion in my life that I have hated being on my bike. Time is apparently a great healer and normally softens the memories of a hard day out in the saddle. However, in the case of 16th May 2005, I can still vividly recall the headwind, rain, sleet becoming snow, snow becoming blizzard that I foolishly rode into. I was badly kitted out too - a tiny rain cape, no overshoes and not much in the way of warm kit. I am not too proud to admit that I cried all the way from the top down to Le Rivier d'Allemont where at last I got 'phone reception and unclenching my hypothermic fingers called Guy for a rescue. I will always be grateful to the owner of the hotel in this little village; he bustled me into his lounge (where, to my surprise, there were two enormous Belgian riders in the same state as me - maybe without the tears!). He sat us all in front of his log fire, took our wet jackets to dry and gave us each a fresh towel and a hot chocolate. He put a cover on the sofa to guard against our wet and muddy chamois and even put the Giro d'Italia on the TV for us. I assumed this level of care and understanding of our state must be borne from the fact that he too was a cyclist - when I asked the question he replied 'you must be joking, I'm not that daft'. He had a point! Exactly a year later we returned (by car) and took him a cake and a bottle of wine as a belated 'thank you'. Not surprisingly he did not need reminding of who I was and that day, and not surprisingly he still had not taken up cycling!

Anyway, that's old news. May 16th 2009 could not have been more different. We were so basked in sun that we took our time at the top, took some photos, chatted to some walkers and other cyclists and then freewheeled down to the summit of the Glandon to take in the views of Mont Blanc and generally enjoy the sun on our backs. There was surprising very little residual snow around, the new grass was dotted with hundreds of colourful flowers and cavorting marmottes and not a snowflake in sight!

For photos of our ride visit our Picasa album (click here)

Helyn
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

Now, this is BIG news.  Despite heavy skepticism on the part of the French towards all things British when it comes to food, Helyn has been asked for a cake recipe by the local baker/patissier.  It was a particularly fine coffee and walnut cake that we proferred to the baker's wife when she was passing the other day!

Acceptance at last......

Guy

www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

Great news, col baggers.   The col de la Croix de Fer opened for the first time here today (with the col du Glandon remaining closed for the time being). 

This links the Romanche valley with the Maurienne valley, and is the pass used on the first section of the Marmotte cyclosportive.  So, summer is finally here!

Guy & Helyn

www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

The transceivers for the 'Timtoo' timing chips have now gone live for 2009 for the Alpe d'Huez climb.

The timing chips are available for hire either at the kiosk in the car park at the foot of the climb itself (just off the roundabout), or from the tourist office in Bourg d'Oisans.

The transceivers detect the passing of a rider with a chip in his or her jersey pocket - they record from the very base of the climb, give a split time level with the Alpe d'Huez tourist office ('vieil Alpe') and a final time at the official tour finish ('mythique'). The times are then registered on the Timtoo website:Timtoo results page link.

King of the Mountains owns a couple of these chips (results for guests using our chips are listed under club name 'King of the Mountains'). Today we sent a couple of willing volunteers up the 21 hairpins to check that our chips are working correctly and we can confirm that - timing chips are GO!

Helyn
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

Yesterday was the second time that we have ridden the 'Randonnée de Belledonne' and it has now established itself as one of my favourite events in our area.

It's a great time of year to ride in the Alps, not only because of the perfect riding conditions (around 17 to 20 degrees C), but also because it's just at that time in spring when everything is at its' best. We were treated to beautiful blossom, flowers, an abundance of green foliage and content looking 'picture postcard' cows grazing in lush pastures.

The route (route map and profile.) gives great views of the plain around Grenoble (surprisingly, the flattest city in France) and also uninterrupted views of the length of the Vercors mountain range.

The only disappointment of the day were the feed stations which had been great last year and always act as my 'carrot on a stick'. Unfortunately this year nothing much was on offer but plates of crumbs - had we missed a passing plague of locusts? Fortunately the second feed station of the day, which was equally as barren as the first, was next to a restaurant with a sunny terrace. An emergency omelette pit stop to fuel us for the final and biggest climb of the day, up to the ski resort of Chamrousse.

This year there was slightly more snow hanging about at this the highest point of the ride (1,700 metres). The climb to the resort (we rode from the south side) is fairly steady averaging 4-5% for the first few kms and then a slightly steeper section of 6-7%. The reward is an exhilarating 18km descent down to Uriage (passing close to the Col de Luitel) on perfectly surfaced roads.

Dan and Will banked a valuable 110kms and 2,300 metres of climbing towards their Marmotte cyclosportive training, and our friend Colette enjoyed her longest ride and first organised cycling event in nearly 4 years. Everyone came back home on a high in time for the Giro d'Italia team time trial and Cavendish pulling on the pink jersey.

Helyn
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk

Our first guests of summer 2009 arrived yesterday, Dan and Will. Dan and Will have been our traditional 'season openers' for the last 3 years, and Dan was one of the first arrivals to King of the Mountains just after we set up.

Both are in training for the Marmotte cyclosportive this July, so after their arrival yesterday (and the unveiling of Will's new bike), they set off and took the Villard Reculas 'balcony' road that takes you to the Alpe d'Huez. Today another balcony ride is scheduled and then tomorrow we are all off to ride a cyclorandonne that takes place in the nearby 'Belldonne' mountains. The weather is due to be good and the route spectacular, all good training miles and most importantly hills ahead of July.

This morning Guy and I received our French Cyclosportive licenses. Delivered in a 'drive by' by the effervescent and excitable Roger Gilly. Roger owns a fantastic patisserie/chocolaterie in Bourg d'Oisans and bears the physical signs of a man who appreciates his own work! He loves the bike and is passionate about supporting and promoting road cycling in our area. He heads up the local cyclists union here, and when he's not riding himself he can be found driving support cars and marshaling at local events. He has picked up a bit of English here and there and has the habit of offering unusual cries of support whenever I'm participating: 'I love you' and 'God save the Queen' amongst his favourites!

Earlier this week we knocked off early from the DIY and set off for a walk to a nearby mountain hut. The hut is (in theory) only a 2 hour walk from here but not marked on any map, therefore we had to rely on snippets of local knowledge and our own instinct. All I can say is that it's a good thing that we run cycling holidays and not walking holidays (for more evidence to back this up see 'Lost In France' from back in September '06)! The party of two (Guy and I) split somewhere in the woods (geographically and nearly as a couple!), leaving Guy to eventually navigate his way to the hut, and me almost crag-fast and left with an unseemly scramble back down to the road. We have now located the official path so will attempt a much more direct ascent at a later date.

The morning after the walk and his yomp back down the hill, Guy had really stiff legs and could barely make it down the stairs - not ideal for a 130km, hilly bike ride, but that's exactly what we embarked upon. Along with our neighbour Yves, we rode a lovely randonnee near Vienne amongst blossoming fruit trees and the vineyards that border the river Rhone. Naturally then there was plenty of 'Cotes du Rhone' red flowing at the feed stations and at the post-ride meal - brings a new angle to a recovery drink!

The final bit of news this week is the finale of Guy's mountain bike project (see photo top left). Over the last few weeks Guy has been building up a bike from existing spares, eBay purchases and generous gifts. The bike had her maiden voyage around the trails of Bourg d'Oisans yesterday evening, and after a few 'tweaks' is off road somewhere on the Col d'Ornon as I type...

Helyn
www.kingofthemountains.co.uk