Today I want to reacquaint myself with a ride I did last year, the Col de Sarenne. Some of the pics I’ll use here are from that ride with my son, Viv. It was a very similar day, hot and sunny and the views especially from the ‘balcony’ road across the ridge above the valley are staggering.
Firstly I have to make my way across from here to the village of Huez. No mean feat I tell you. Straight out of the driveway and up 10% before settling into an average 8% for the 6km ride to Villard-Reculas. It’s a bit easier from there to Huez. By the time I get there, though, I have already consumed a bidon! As with all these villages there is a Potable Water fountain available for a top up of cold fresh mountain H2O. Got to love this place!
When I arrive at Huez I’m greeted by the constant stream of suffering faces who are following their pilgrimage to the special, dare I say sacred?, place atop l’Alpe d’Huez. It’s the last climb of the Marmotte which I’ll hit with 150km and 4,000m in the legs already. Argh! I don’t even want to think about it.
Today I’m going down it so want to enjoy that. I’m only descending half way to the village of La Garde at about 1,000m elevation from where I take a left and head along, well let’s call it up, the ‘balcony’ road along the ridge eventually dropping down to Le Freney-d’Oisans. These pics say everything needed to be said!
deRosa enjoying the view
the 'balcony' road
Here’s a little video clip of Viv riding the road last year:
By the time I roll in to Freney-d-O I’m well down on water so fill up at the usual place, Eau Potable. There’s even a loo so I don’t have to impersonate a Belgian cyclist! There’s a bar open for a café espresso and Orangina (some of you received this cheeky photo from there).
Lunch at the bar
However the menu wasn’t much use to me – salade or viande. Hmm, I’ll make do with my banana and continue with my energy bars. No gels! Did I mention that the dog ate my gels? Poor beast broke in to my bedroom and ‘stole’ a bulk bottle of Endura sucking out more than 10 gels worth which included caffeine! Bloody hell, I get sick on 5 of them and I weigh 3 times that dog – down to 63kg BTW. Needless to say the beast looked a bit jumpy for that day – but it survived!
So, the few Endura gels I brought as extras remain precious and allocated to Saturday’s fun-fest. But I digress again … er, or maybe that is what a blog is, a digression… whatever.
I make a left and head in the direction of the Col de Lautaret. This is the main route through the valley so there is traffic but the road is wide and the surface immaculate. The road scoots across the dam wall of the Lac du Chambon before the sharp left run to Mizoën and the climbs beyond.
Lac du Chambon
Yeouch! Lactic acid is a painful thing. Bang! Straight up, 13% and thereabouts all the way to the town. Once through the initial pain barrier the red mist clears and one can settle in to a rhythm, of sorts – thoughts of what happened to Kurtz when he got off the boat to drift into a parallel universe of brutal carnage and suffering subside… The relief of arriving in Mizoën is palpable if short-lived.
There’s a small group of team riders, Dutch I think, young guys looking fit and lithe – shaved legs n all – not a particularly common sight round here – anyway, they slide on past me as I settle in for a quite memorable climb up to the Col de Sarenne. When I say memorable, it goes without saying that this is a temporary state – at least at my age. What I didn’t remember from last year was just what a tough mother of a climb it was. While the scenery is just great, deep forest followed by that classic alpine wilderness of open grassy slopes, rocky and dotted with those tough looking bushes that can clearly survive whatever mother nature can throw at them through the year – tougher than rocks I tell yer! On the other side of the valley one can easily be distracted by the awesome vistas of snow capped peaks and a glimpse of the glacier higher up the Lautaret but the swishing water cascading nearby bring the focus back to the hear (sic) and now and the reality of this climb.
If yesterday’s climb of the Glandon was a confidence booster this was a reality check. When my sunglasses fall from their hanging point on my jersey I have to stop. Suddenly I’m hit with that low blood pressure spin thing and it’s a whoah! moment. The short spell is actually welcome and once I manage to get clicked back in after 2 efforts – it’s steep! – I feel now more capable of getting to the top, now only 1km ahead, er, up.
Yep, we go up there
... and arrive here
And so it comes to pass and while the pic is from last year it feels the same – exaltation. A short rest here before the tricky descent into the valley filled with sheep then up the other side along the potholed rough track eventually arriving at the back of the summit of the village of l’Alpe d’Huez. I continue on and over down the other side, down the ‘tradesman’s entrance’ road, away from the suffering pilgrims until I reach the main route from where it’s a short run down to Huez again. The run home from there is generally downhill apart from a short lactic sting to Villards-Reculas. After that, all those 10% climbs out of Sardonne are now 10% descents with only the loose gravel to negotiate. Loose gravel! Did I mention the loose gravel? Well leave that for another day.
I’m back 74km, 5hours and 2,347m climbing later. Time to replace those 3,155 calories 😉
Let’s have tomorrow off the bike! Then again….
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The climb of the Col de Sarenne
The day in blue curves and numbers