La Marmotte 2011

Well here we go – the big one. Bit weird starting the CycloSportives I’ve planned for this trip with the hardest one of the lot. Not that the others will be easy but what can compete with 176km and 5,000m of climbing? According to the organisers, not much.

I set out with the intention of just trying to get through it as a ‘training ride’ in preparation for les Etapes du Tour.  But you know me. It wasn’t long before I was checking out the schedule and planning out the times only to realise that maybe I could consider going for a time. Gold in my age group was 9:36, cough cough, a bit unlikely, but with Silver at 11:32 who knows? Regardless, I was definitely committed to riding within myself all the way to the top of the Galibier and see how the legs are after that.
The first problem was getting to the start line. From my digs in Sardonne I’d have to ride along the main road to Le Bourg d’Oisans – which was going to be closed in time for the first wave of riders departing at 7:00. Alas my start was slated at 7:50 and I’d rather not be standing and freezing in a pen for an hour or more. I took my chances and went down a bit late and as is the way here in France cyclists get priority so I, along with a hundred or more others, was waved through the barrier by the authoritative Gendarme and cruised down to Bourg tucked into a nice rolling group. As it happened I arrived just before the Départ and had time to capture the atmos.

The start in Le Bourg d'Oisans

The first wave was the 400 top class individuals plus team riders and a bunch of VIPs. It also included a guy, Andrew, who’s staying here at the gite riding the full week, 4 big ‘stages’ making up the Grand Trophee. He came in 29th overall – strong rider, oh to be 37 again! Anyway, I digress, here’s the scene in Bourg.  Wouldn’t want to be trying to have a sleep in on a Saturday morning with all this action around. Suddenly they’re away!

I quickly scooted around the back of town along a laneway and was funneled into my pen at the back of the field. 7,000 riders is a lot of machinery, a lot of foreign voices, a lot of ‘blokes’ – although there were some female riders and inevitably, a lot of nervous bladders needing emptying. I was fine so settled in for the wait munching on one of the 2 bananas I’d brought along for the ride. As always I had a shocker of a sleep, maybe 4 hours if I was lucky, so got up early and ate some muesli and had a coffee so was somewhat fuelled up. I also carried a pain au chocolat, my usual bar bag loaded with chopped Endura & muesli bars and good old Aussie ‘snakes’ from the Natural Confectionary Company – no I’m not sponsored by them but do like them on a ride. Most important was my dispenser containing 5 Endura Raspberry gels. No way I was going to be one of the hundreds of street junkers who tossed gel and bar wrappers all over the course. I just don’t get that in a cyclist. Crap everywhere along the route including uneaten bars which people drop accidentally and prefer to ride on rather than stop and collect them.  What is that all about?

In the murky morning light we edge closer to the start line after the 2000-4000 dossards depart

Enough preamble! At 7:50 exactly the front of the line begins to stir and it’s not long before we’re rolling back down the road I’d just come in on. I’m happy to sit in and roll and just keep out of the way of the impetuous ones, yep they’re all young, who are dashing along presumably looking for ‘position’ before the climbing? Dunno but I don’t get that either. It’s a cruisy run all the way to Allemont reservoir where the climb to the Glandon starts. Did I mention the cold? I won’t say I was freezing but it was brisk and I was shivering during the wait in the pen and took most of the run to Allemont to start to warm up. And lo and behold as we arrive there the sun peeks over the mountain ledge and lights up the valley turning the reservoir water a gorgeous deep greeny blue.
However no time to enjoy the scenery. There are wheels to watch and ‘sensations in the legs’ to be concentrating on. After my recon of the Glandon earlier in the week I had a good sense of an acceptable speed. Already I went all the way to the top of the cassette to the 28 determined to ‘float’ to the top. I didn’t want to even feel the legs until … well at all really, but certainly not soon. The climb was busy with the big groups shifting forwards or backwards according to the desired pace. One had to be careful to avoid running into slower riders while staying right which makes it just a tad difficult holding a desired rhythm.
One of the worst things about cyclosportives is the way people refuse to ride on the right (or left in Australia where it is a similar problem) making the ascents messy and the descents downright dangerous. The drivers on freeways are fantastic, certainly compared with Australian lane huggers. They are so respectful and considerate of cars coming up behind and keeping the passing lane clear. So why don’t cyclists do it in bunches? Grrr. That and the trash on the roads are the down side.
The up side is the amazing sensation of riding with 7,000 cyclists with hundreds at close quarters silently grinding their way up some of the most amazing scenery in the world. On this early climb there was a bit of excited banter mainly it seemed by Italians. Later there was nothing but the wind, highly inflated tyres and the odd carbon rims, a stream or two and bleating sheep on the slopes of the Galibier. But before then we have to mount this beast called Glandon.
It’s great to feel familiar with the run in to Le Rivier and the steep winding descent shortly afterwards followed by the 13% pinches up and down before that long slog up to the reservoir. The sun was well and truly up and over even the highest peaks now and the slopes were a rich green and the sky a deep blue. I don’t recall seeing a cloud all day. The temperature was predicted to be 27 degrees and the wind 10 – 20kph, perfect! So I’m not carrying the rain jacket – just the vest and arm warmers, short gloves, bare legs, no toesies. Could be a gamble, these are the Alps after all.

Graphs of the Col du Glandon

The climb to the Glandon was uneventful, exactly as I’d wanted it. Not only that but my time was 5 minutes quicker than the training ride last Monday. I couldn’t feel any work in my legs, I’d finished the bidon of Endurox and the second one of water and was ready to refill both with water and take on some fresh food. Fresh food? Hmm, can’t see any around and things are a bit chaotic so I decide to descend and work on my stash of bars with just the water replenished. While one can plan according to the info at hand one needs also to expect things to not quite go to plan. Fortunately there was food further up the road at Valloire. One noticeable positive was the fresh tasting water all along the route. Something to be said for being in the mountains even though much of it was decanted from pretty industrial looking trucks or ‘black bladders’! The water was great and plentiful – all 8 bidons I consumed along the route.

The descent to Saint-Étienne du Cuines was steep and fast.  Well it would have been fast if riders would stay right and stop braking in the corners. Throughout the day I must have seen 20 people repairing flats and nearly always it was on the descents. Braking too much and heating up rims to bursting point I speculate. Other than that hazard there were the kamikazes who just over cooked it. Through the day I saw about 6 ambulances tending to the crashed and I hear some of them were particularly nasty – like the guy who went over the edge of the Galibier. Now that’s a big fall.
I count myself as a pretty good descender and found some nice sweeping stuff to negotiate at speed.  However a lot of the descending was taken with attention to what others were doing and picking appropriate braking spots rather than endless riding the rims red. Another factor was my sore left thumb causing pain when using the all important rear brake lever. I spent a lot of time on the drops to get better leverage but of course that makes you go faster. There was plenty to think about on those descents but all were negotiated without any sense of danger.
In an effort to hose down crazy descending the organisers have been told they must remove the timing from the Glandon descent in order to get a licence for the ride. So, there’s a timing mat at the top and bottom of the mountain where you clock in and out. Strangely though, it seems that your overall time still includes that time, your full day including any stopping. A second time is provided with the Glandon descent removed but I have no idea what meaning that time has. But let’s worry about time later. For now the complete focus is on conserving energy.
So where are we? Ah yes, the flat 12km run from Saint-Étienne du Cuines to Saint-Jean de Maurienne. After a bit of swapping and changing I find a nice bunch of about 40 riders going my pace and happily find a possie to sit in. There’s the occasional stupidity, moving up on the right or pushing in on the left, but generally it’s safe and I conserve a lot of energy there before most of them pull off for a water stop.  My bidons will see me to the next stop at the Col du Télégraphe so I push on.
The next 14km contains a gradual climb of about 250m. Nothing steep but a bit of work just the same. At least the scenery starts to get a bit more interesting as the next cols start to loom up ahead. The Col du Télégraphe is a pretty climb with some nice green overhang providing early shade as the temperature is now starting to climb. The winding road also provides some lovely views back down the valley to Saint-Michel de Maurienne and I’m always surprised at how quickly one seems to gain altitude. Ah, this seems like a perfect spot for another ‘natural break’ – and photo opportunity!

At 1556m the Col du Télégraphe is no soda fizz and requires a good steady rhythm. This is much more achievable now with the pack of riders having thinned out considerably. I’m passing some and others are passing me. There was a bit more traffic coming both up and down this road including a large truck, bus with trailer, many cars (some quite impatient on the horns) and the usual run of motorbikes. The scene at the top is quite chaotic but I need a water refill so open the shoulders and move in.

Graphs of the Col de Télégraphe

As can be seen in the graph the gradient varies generally between 5 and 10% averaging around 7 – 8%. The HR is in check and the speed sticking around 10kph. I’m happy with that. So we’ve just climbed 850m and what do we do? Go down! It might be nice to get the speedo ticking into the  50s again but down means up, or will do once we arrive at the start of the Galibier. Still, a rest for the legs is welcome and running through Valloire to the food stop is straightforward even if the town is bustling with tourists.
Food! At last a chance to get some fresh food into the stomach. I decide not to join others and sit on the nice grass and relax in the sun. Better to keep moving I think or the adrenaline might just dump me. I open two bits of baguette and shove some mortadella in to make a sandwidge of sorts and put a handful of dried apricots into my bag pocket to nibble on later. I remount the steep and push on thrugh a fairly flat transition before the climb. I’m not a great one for shovelling food down my throat but make a big effort to finish the roll before the road starts to climb.
With two fresh bidons of water and everything in order I set about the big one – 18km to climb the additional 1220m to the summit at 2,642m. I guess the pictures tell the story and frankly the memory of the rest of the ride gets a little hazy. I did stop for another natural break while still in the green section which made for a nice photo opportunity. Aaah!  Wildflowers…

Climbing the Galibier 1

Climbing the Galibier 2

The puff of air from the cheeks, French style ;-), in the video says it all. It may be beautiful but it’s a beast of a climb. One needs all the assistance one can get and today the wind was kind for the climb as witnessed by the flag banner near the summit.

Graphs of Col de Galibier

That wind! Hmm, bit bloody chilly cutting through the thin lycra. I pop on the vest and quickly battle through to the food and water – a piece of banana and a cup cake, two full bidons of that fresh tasting water out of a seemingly filthy black truck and I’m clipping in again. Whoah! Watch that first step. Negative 10% right out of the blocks soon wakens the adrenaline stocks. The top sections of the road have been resurfaced in readiness for the two times the Tour de France comes over here in a week or two. It’s nice and sticky and one can safely lean in to the bends.
Once past the tunnel (which passes under the summit) the road surface deteriorates yet opens up more to allow higher speed. There are the usual obstacles to avoid – nervous riders sitting in the middle of the road and quite a few cars coming up. Staying alert and free flowing is the best option especially since that nice tail wind has turned into a pretty nasty cross-head wind. Still it’s a pretty brisk run down to the Lautaret intersection where we meet the main road turning right towards Le Bourg d’Oisans and our final destination, or maybe that should be, destiny.
It’s a run of about 50km from the top of the Galibier down to the base of l’Alpe d’Huez. It’s fast, though would be even faster had it not been for that block head wind. I glance over my shoulder to discover a half a dozen dudes sitting on my wheel.  Hey! I ease off the pedals and entice a big fellow to come through and do a bit of the work. He obliges but the rest of them stay where they are until we enter the first of 3 or 4 quite poorly lit tunnels. The big fella in front has a tail light! Who has tail lights over here? I took mine off. It was certainly handy to be able to follow that red glow rather than fumble getting the sunglasses off.
Anyway, to help us get to the end of this story, let’s just say the transition down to Bourg was pretty brisk. I had stopped for one last ‘natural break’ and by the time I got going again I was presented with a nice sit behind a long bunch cruising along at about 30kph. That was a good chance for catching of breath and preparing oneself for that one last test of endurance, the 13km of l’Alpe.
Did I mention the stomach cramping, growing aches in the feet and the whiff of nausea? I think it was the hurried digestion of the pieces of baguette causing the cramps since I had only consumed half the Endura gels and hardly any of the bars and things. Fortunately that pain had subsided by the time I arrived at the base of the final climb. The foot ache didn’t go entirely but I managed to wiggle the toes and generally concentrate on moving about in my shoes to manage the situation. However the nausea was a problem. Whenever I tried to push it rose up filling me with dread. At first I thought I was done for but I discovered that if I eased off it would subside somewhat. So, I was hopeful that it was going to be manageable as well.
The first few kilometers are probably the steepest at regularly 10%. However it seemed that every time I looked down at the Garmin it was showing bloody 10+%. Perhaps I only looked when I was suffering? After a few switchbacks there was a scene on the other side of the road with 2 ambulances and a gendarme directing traffic. A young woman was being stretchered into an ambulance and I couldn’t see, or was beyond looking, at what else was going on. There was a lot of traffic on the road that afternoon – too much to be sharing with 7,000 bewildered cyclists. That’s one great thing about the Etape du Tour – closed roads – all the way – all 200km!
While the legs were clearly capable of providing power the rest of the body was not happy. I had to ride the nausea waves all the way to the top travelling at a frustratingly slow pace. I tried all my tricks, in and out of the saddle on and on top of the drops. It took over 1hr30min to get up to the finish, 20 minutes slower that my run up on Wednesday. True I had 150km in the legs to start the climb but the legs did feel okay. I think there’s something to look at there for future endeavors.

Graphs of L'Alpe d'Huez

Alas a great number of riders passed me on the climb and yet, there were many stopped, hunched over, walking in socks or somehow pushing on at less than 4kph. We were all suffering – as we should!
Arriving at the finish is always greeted with a nice crowd of cheering folks. I note the time clock 10:04:23 That’s good enough for a Silver Brevet. Pretty happy with that. According to the organisers this is the toughest one day CycloSportive in the world, well certainly in France, and I had no idea why I signed on for it in the first place. I’ve spent 5 months preparing for it and I’m so glad I did for without all that effort I think I’d have been a weeping mess on the lower slopes of the Galibier.
As I headed off back to my digs I had a view back over the switchbacks and could see the long continuous trail of suffereing ‘ants’ crawling up the slopes, as they would continue to do for another 2 hours. Courage and determination from them all.
As for the earlier ones, well what can one say about all these incredible riders? The first to finish in the 50 – 59 age group completed the course in 6h18m43s. Incredible. My time of 9h26m28s (remember they remove the time for the descent of the Glandon) put me in 407th place out of 712. Next year I’ll be 60 so surely I’d be cracking the top ten with all those ‘old codgers’. Ha! No way! The first to finish in the 60 – 69 age group had a time of 6h49m07s! My time would have placed me 74th out of those 149 ‘SuperCrusties’. Just amazing riders and a pretty awesome event. Thanks go to the organisers and volunteers. That can’t be an easy job either.

Thanks for reading this far! A GOLD brevet to you!

A bientôt!

Here’s a few more stats and maps and stuff:

Map of the course

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/97079978

Overalll stats: the usual CAD and HR glitches that Garmin won't let you edit out ... frustrating!

The full Marmotte

You can search for results on this website:

http://www.sportcommunication.info/

click on the left picture for Grand Trophee and then the menu choice Resultats. There’s even some video of each of us suffereing!