With the cab driver pretending that he couldn’t speak English and me pretending I could speak French we negotiated an extortionate fare which I’m sure left him thinking that all Australians are extremely generous folk. From the seat of my taxi which I will now refer to as my limousine for the above mentioned reason, the first things that strike me are: (i) I can wind down the window and the air doesn’t singe my nostrils, (ii) there are such things as trees and grass (iii) Rivers also exist (iv) not everyone in the world gets around in a V8 SUV. Perhaps only folks back in Qatar will relate to these experiences?
Arriving at the hotel in downtown Lyon was also a pleasant experience. Having mentally prepared myself for a Paris-style bed-sit, being upgraded to an executive suite at the Hilton overlooking the mighty Rhone river and the old city on the hillside beyond, removed any residual bad taste from the taxi fare.
The city of Lyon is built on the junction of two grand rivers, the Saone and the Rhone. The buildings are nestled into the hillside and trees have the right to grow as they please. Much like Copenhagen, most of the locals opt to get around on bicycles (I think the is due partly to all the one way streets which make it very difficult to navigate in a larger vehicle), anyway I feel at home on my two wheeled transport.
It’s true that the city of Lyon is even more beautiful by night than day, with street lights carefully positioned to reflect their light off the rapidly flowing rivers and up-light the buildings beyond. Mind you, I had to stay awake till 11 pm to witness this – that’s what European summers are all about I guess. I’m surprised the sparrows don’t throw in a mid-summer migration just to get a decent nights kip.
DAY 2 – Les Deux Alpes
Breakfast in the Lyon – firstly the plates are a normal size and not the flying saucer proportions that you find accompanying most Arabic buffets and secondly there is real bacon, ah bacon, sweet, sweet pig fat!!
The drive into the Alps is spectacular. Shear walls of rock reach upwards blocking out the sun in many of the valleys. Small villages that look unaffected by the passing of the last hundred years. Mountain streams rush downwards carrying their cool green/grey water.
When we turned off the road from le bourgd’Oisans and started to climb up towards the village of L2A I tried poorly to conceal my shock at the steepness and length of the climb. At 1,600 m in elevation it makes Welshpool road look like a speed bump.
When we finally arrived at the top we found the village of L2A bathed in sunshine and alive with active looking folks running, blading and biking about their business.
Through the streets roll groups of downhill mountain bikers that look more like medieval gladiators. A little out of place in the 25°C sunshine are the snowboarders and skiers, although I’m assured that the nearby telecabin takes only a few minutes to transport you to the glacier at the top of L2A. At some 3,600 m elevation it is still possible to enjoy some winter sports action.
The location of chalet is perfect with an uninterrupted, paranoramic view of the valley below and ice capped mountains in the distance. Time for a cleansing ale...
DAY 3 – Stage 8
After a quick trip the local patisserie for fresh croissant & pain du chocolat all washed down with freshly brewed coffee, I knew I was on holiday!
We packed the bikes and headed for Tignes - the finish of Stage 8 of the TDF. Although on the map the drive looked a mere 150 kms the winding roads over the tops of col de Galibier, col de Telegraphe and col de l’Iseran took over 3 1/2 hours and we weren’t sure that the we’d be able to ride up the road & get a position at the finish line.
Fortunately we were able to sneak through and rode the course up the final climb into Tignes with the road lined with tour fanatics. It was a great taste of what a boost the tour riders must feel (minus the EPO ☺). We watched Rasmuessan take the line honours with daylight between him and the rest of the field. Cadel Evens came through looking very determined.
As the presentations today’s winners were being made we started to decent back down the mountain and almost ran into Robbie McEwen. He was in the “hurt locker”, still suffering his way towards the finish line just in front of the broom wagon (he was to pull out of the tour after completing this stage).
DAY 4 - Alpe d’Huez
A rest day for the tour riders and time for Mark and I to do some climbing! The joy of hurtling down L2A at 80+ km/h was somewhat diminished by the realisation that in a few hours time we’d have to slog our way back up it.
We cruised down through the valley towards le bourg-d’Oisans and pulled off into a car park at the foot of Alpe d’Huez to re-fill our water bottles. Well that was our first mistake cos we bumped into a couple that were just loading their bikes back into their camper van after surrendering to the beast.
The guy offered us a few words of encouragement... "That mountain is insane and it’s too hot to climb today". Well having conditioned myself in a Middle Eastern summer I wasn’t too intimidated by the 25º C outlook... the 21 switch backs that lay ahead was another thing all together...
The road to the top was littered with cyclists, some out for a training ride others just trying to survive. Mark and I paced ourselves and after all the trials and tribulations of getting to France thoroughly enjoyed the 1:12 hrs that it took us to reach the café at the top. Note: Lance did it in 39 mins!
We of course took the obligatory photos and enjoyed gauffers (waffles) and coffee before taking the back road out over the col de Sorenne. At just over 2,000 m elevation the brakes were literally burning as we plummeted down through the majestic scenery.
We were certainly glad to hand over a few Euros for a couple of pints when we finally climbed back up to the top of L2A. A good days work!
DAY 5 – Stage 9
Stage 9 was a huge day for the tour riders, starting with l'Iseran, Telegraphe and climaxing on Galibier. We rode out to the backside of Galibier which was covered with camper vans that had been staking their territory days in advance.
After a couple of café au laits we found a good vantage point and watched the lads descend. Cadel Evens was an impressive 4th over the summit. It’s amazing to watch these guys descend at break-neck speed and sometimes what you fail to appreciate on television is that if they misjudge a corner and head off the edge that it’s – lights out!
Our ride home after the race was all downhill through narrow, dimly lit tunnels, avalanche zones, and alongside sheer drops into the ravine below. Not for the faint hearted and just what Mark needed I’m sure to help him get over the experience of being hit by a truck.
Once safely back on top of L2A it was time to put away a couple of plates of Mark’s sausage pasta washed down with few glasses of 1998 vintage vin rouge – yum, yum!
DAY 6 – Rest Day
A well earned rest day for us today and off to the local piscine (fortunately it was heated) for a little calf muscle therapy. Walking back through town in our bathers and smothered in 30+ sunburn cream it was a little odd to see snow boarders lining up for their lift passes?? Apparently the snow up on top of the glacier is still worth risking heat exhaustion in your ski gear at the bottom of the mountain for!
DAY 7 – Dirt Bike Diaries
Day of the Downhill MTB... after kitting ourselves out with full body armour we took a series of Telecabins up to the glacier at 3,600 m. The downhill mountain bikes resemble more of a moto-cross bike than the conventional bicycle that we were accustomed to. These bikes are designed to go where bikes are not supposed to go!
What a novel idea – taking a chairlift to the top and rolling down the hill. It had only taken us a week to figure out the whole gravity situation!
With folks skiing all around us Mark and I (dressed in shorts) thought we’d better get cracking before the frostbite set in. The path down the mountain (well actually there’s a choice – 135 km of choice to be precise) was steep and sections were still covered in snow/ice.
The descents were insane and we had to stop occasionally to let the braking induced cramps in our hands subside and the disk brakes cool. After a brief discussion, we decided against the double black run which had served as the course for the world cup race the previous weekend – soft I know!
The scenery was spectacular as we dropped back down towards the L2A village below and the spills limited – thankfully. Despite a close encounter with the local bovine population and a few marmotte burrows we both survived the ordeal relatively unscathed.
Our superb day was capped off with a scrumptious coq-au-vin compliments of Claire and a 98’ Bordeaux – yum! Tomorrow Galibier and our work will be done.
DAY 8 – Col de Galibier
Our final day in the Alps and what better way to cap things off than riding as much of the Stage 9 course as we can stomach. We parked the trusty VW Touran on top of Galibier and surveyed the descent – it was a little disconcerting that we couldn’t see the bottom, but pressed on regardless.
We descended down into Valloire which was to be our lunch stop, but not before we earned it. We then cycled through the picturesque valleys and villages and down col de Telegraphe. Not even half way through the descent we began to realise the gravity of our decision to park at 2,642 m and descend to 740 m without a chair lift insight! Had we learnt nothing from our mountain biking experience?
Oh well, we’d come this far so we continued down into St Michel-de Maurienne, did a u-turn, blessed ourselves as we rode by the cross on the side of the road and proceeded to climb Telegraphe. This mountain is viewed by some as a warm-up for Galibier, but not by this little lycra-clad gladiator as we battled our way to the summit.
Fearing cramp or worse we elected to continue onto Valloire rather than break at the top. Pasta was on the menu as we figured we’d need all the help we could get. Not sure of the digestion period but it seemed like the logical thing to do at the time.
We commenced the epic 18 km climb of Galibier at 16:15 and passed several combatants heading in the opposite direction with wry smiles on their faces. No turning back (not when the car is parked at the top!). For the 18 km to the summit the col manages an average gradient of 7% and rises to 10% near the top almost exactly at the point where your respiratory system discovers that oxygen is less abundant at 2,600 m – exciting times! Reaching the top a shade after 1 ½ hrs later capped off a great couple of days in the mountains for these two happy campers!
Happy 60th Rod! Dinner at Julio's.
Whoa! That's a big one!
The White siblings. Nice one!
We took some family photos at Pickering Brook... it sure is tricky getting eleven people to look at the camera at the exact same time!
Sisters are doing it for themselves!
Isabelle & cousin Alec enjoying cafe lunch in winter sunshine in Kings Park.
Sisters horsing around at home. (6.30am, mind you.)
