Cycling Alpe d’Huez in November for Plan UK

1st of November – a glorious sunny and cold late autumns day. Planned to get up at 7am to ride up Alpe d’Huez and finally got out the door after much flaffing at 9:15 AM !.

Although cold the climb up is fun and warm and I was soon riding without gloves and buff. The Alpe d’Huez road is so quiet this time of year and its not unusual to have the road to yourself albeit for the odd van going up to prepare the ski resort for the winter months.

Today i took an alternitive route down turning off at bend 5 for Huez and traversing the road to Villard Reculas. From here the road descends down to Allemont where I turned right and headed up another switchback climb to Vaujany where I went for a swim in the indoor pool.

 

 

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez for Plan UK in October

October is a great month here in the Oisans with temperatures during the day reaching mid 20 centigrade – you just have to remember to pack an extra layer for the descents but otherwise its fantastic especially with the changing season. I always start October with a birthday ride up Alpe d’Huez to see what sort of form I am in after the summer season of riding. This time was also a special occasion as I tried out my new Felt SL carbon road bike. This is the first time i have ridden a carbon road bike and it definately felt a lot more responsive.

For the record my time was 62 minutes – despite stopping for the loo! (another year older perhaps this is a sign of things to come !) and adjustment of the position of the saddle.

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez in September for Plan-UK

September is a busy month for us here in Bourg d’Oisans and I get to ride the 21 bends on numerouse occassions. The mountain is still full of cyclist going up but at this time of year they tend to be wearing a few more clothes as the descent can get a little chilly. My favourite ride this month was with 7 guys from Ireland all on our hire bikes here at Enjoy Oisans. These guys times ranged from 66 minutes to 1hr 58 mins – so its quite interesting chatting and watching the riders as they go up.

For october I will be riding up on my birthday hopefully on my new “company” Felt road bike – It will be my first carbon road bike so i am wondering if it will feel any different.

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez for plan uk in August

For my August attempt I competed in the Alpe d’Huez timetrial that the local tourist office hold on a thursday in July and August. The race starts at 10am from outside the Hotel de Milan in Bourg d’Oisans behind a car escort. Once it hits the lower slopes of Alpe d’Huez (about 2 mins away) it speeds off and the really fast guys go with it. I recorded a time of 55.49 while the winning time was just above the 40 minute mark. At the end of the event the organisers provide enenrgy drink , cake and a certificate of your achievement.

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez in July for Plan Uk

Wow not sure where this month has gone what with La Marmotte the Megavalanche and the Mountain of Hell we have been busy. The last time i rode up was the last day of June so with some reasonably cool weather and with the Tour de France at Mount Ventoux I thought I would take a leisurely ride up the famous climb. Somehow I managed to pootle up in 57:09 minutes just 26 seconds off my record despite being a little tired – had I been wathching the time I would have put in an extra effort…

Anyway here are some Tour de France fact about Alpe d’Huez.

• The first stage was in 1952 with Fausto Coppi winning the stage. This is also the longest stage to Alpe d’Huez of 260KM
• The tour did not come back until 1976 and it was won by Joop Zoetemelk
• In 1979 the Tour de France fininshed twice on Alpe d’Huez with Joaquim Agostinho and Joop Zoetemelk winning again
• Interestingly between 1952 and 1978 the climb was classed as a 1st catergory climb since then it has become a HC climb
• In 1984 an amateur Luis Herrera of Columbia one the stage
• The first english speaking person to win the stage was Andrew Hampsten in 1992 Lance Armstrong then won it in 2001
• The stage has been won by Netherlands 8 times, Italy 7 times, Spain 3 times, Portugal 1 time, United States 2 times, Switzerland 1 time, Columbia 1 time, France 1 time  and Luxembourg 1 time.
• Due to their early domination of the Alpe d’Huez stage the Dutch very much consider it their mountain (although they have not won here since 1989)
• At the time of writing the Tour last visited in 2008 – its expected and hoped it will return in 2010.
• The Tour has visited Alpe d’Huez 26 times
• Bourg d’Oisans at the bottom of Alpe d’Huez started the 2004 Time Trial up to Alpe d’Huez a total of 15.5 KM. It was won by Lance Armstrong in a time of 37:46 minutes

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez for Plan UK in June

This month has been a great month for riding up Alpe d’Huez and I think I have been up about 7 or 8 times in total mostly with our guests.

Last week I broke my record time by over 3 minutes and recorded a 56:43 in a mini time trial i arranged  with our guests. At the begining of the month I shared the hill with a load of dutch guys riding their Alpe d’Huzez  event in aid of Cancer Research – you can see my report and video here.

Yesterday 5 of us went up Alpe d’Huez in near 30 degress heat as some of our guest prepare for La Marmotte sportive on Saturday. We were joined by my mountain biking nephew Lucien who is here helping out for the summer.

The summer months are truly fantastic !

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez in May for Plan-uk

The snow is well and truely disappearing now and the cyclist are back out in force – its nice to once again share Alpe d’Huez with other people rather than plodding up on my lonesome.

David , Helen and Me

Just a quick update as I have done a couple of videos over the last month…..

Last month I did a video of the descent of Alpe d’Huez on my road bike.

 This month I switched to my other passion of mountain biking and did the “alternative” descent of Alpe d’Huez.

Anyway lets move on. My first accent (of many) this month was with a couple of Virgin Alpe d’Huez cyclist – despite one living in Bourg d’Oisans for 4 years already – David . David borrowed one of our hire bikes and climbed the 21 bends in 90 minutes. My other companion was my neices boyfriend James (bonn petit numero) Berry. Despite consuming more cigarettes in a day than there are bends on Alpe d’Huez he made it up in a time of 101 minutes (with a couple of stops on route)

Our customers are now coming thick and fast for the summer so no doubt I will be up Alpe d’Huez a few more times this month.

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez in April for Plan-UK

 

A crazy plan was hatched today – to cycle up Alpe d’Huez – Go snowboarding for the day with the family and then race the Enjoy Oisans mini bus down on my road bike.

The Oisans has seen some fantastic weather over the last week with temperatures already reaching the low 20 degrees centigrade in the valleys but still with great snow conditions in the resort itself – and so with clients in looking after themselves I have been out riding for the last three days. On Friday I did a short recovery ride to Allemont – its as flat as it gets here !.

On Saturday I climbed my favourite climb up to Oulles  and today I did the magical 21 bends of Alpe d’Huez for the 4th time this year. I have to say it is finally great to be sharing the climb with other riders again – since January I have seen two or three riders but today there were at least half a dozen. Due to the fact that I had a day of snowboarding ahead of me I rode up at a steady but almost “enjoyable” 72 minute pace. It always amazes me that the climb never seems to get any easier.

Helen took my snowboarding stuff up in the van and once I had eaten some of her excellent pasta I slipped on the snowboarding gear and did three or four runs down including a little play in the snowpark at Alpe d’Huez.

Once we had finished for the day I raced her down beating here easily despite some very heavy legs.

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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Cycling Alpe d’Huez in March for Plan

Well yesterday I realised that bend 16 isn’t numbered. I have never noticed this before as I have alway had my head down concentraiting on the climb up.

Why did I notice this ? Well I thought I would time myself at each bend so I could see how long it takes me to ride each of the magic “virages”.  Bend 17 was great - I pressed the lap time – the next bend was bend 15 – how did that happen ? Actually its pretty easy because most of the bends are switchback i.e. they turn back on themselves but bend 16 is just a right angle turn. Further up the mountain there is another tighter bend that is not counted as part of the magical 21 bends- figure that one out.

Anyway here are the times between each bend – the first is from the roundabout just outside our base in Bourg d’Oisans – so this always takes a little longer than the rest.

to bend

21 – 5:36

20 – 4:17

19 – 1:23

18 – 1:24

17 – 2:22

16 – oops

15  - 4:36

14 – 1:45

13 – 4:14

12 – 2:44

11 – 2:43

10 – 3:17

9 – 3:19

8 – 3:51

7 – 3:03

6 – 6:51

5 – 2:44

4 – 2:40

3 – 5:08

2 – 2:43

1 –  3:21

finish – 4:30 

a total time of approximately 72 minutes and some way off my best time of 59:54 but not bad after a few drinks in the Cafe de Paris the night before…

For the record this is my first attemt on the road bike this year and it was loads easier than taking the mountain bike. The sun is shining now and its starting to warm up so I am looking forward to 7 months of warm climbs and descents.

I added an extra bit to my ride yesterday turning off left at the mysterious bend 16 and traversing across to Freney d’Oisans a long a very precarious road barely clinging on to the side of the mountain and then back to Bourg d’Oisans - a total ride of 46 km.

the red lines on the above picture highlight the climb of Alpe d’Huez as seen from our bedroom window in Bourg d’Oisans

Cycling Alpe d’Huez in February for Plan-UK

 

Two down and ten to go….

I took advantage of the (warm) calm before the storm on wednesday and pootled up Alpe d’Huez on my mountain bike.

I am not saying I am stuck in the 1980’s music wise – but here is a list of the 21 tunes that played on my shuffle on the way up Alpe d’Huez today – starting from bend 21 at the bottom

21. Why Can’t I Be You? – The Cure – Kiss Me, Kiss Me, Kiss Me
20. Police Truck – Dead Kennedys – Give Me Convenience Or Give Me Death
19. Just Can`t Get Enough – Depeche Mode – The Best Of Depeche Mode Vol 1
18. I Feel You – Depeche Mode – The Best Of Depeche Mode Vol 1
17. Getaway – Earth, Wind & Fire – Very Best Of Earth, Wind & Fire, Vol. 1
16. Lips Like Sugar – Echo & The Bunnymen – Epon
15. Broke My Neck (Long Version) – Echo & The Bunnymen – Heaven Up Here
14. Never Stop (Discotheque) – Echo & The Bunnymen – Porcupine
13. Some Buildings – Forward, Russia – Life Processes
12. The Fear – Graham Coxon – The Golden `d`
11. Latte – Graham Coxon – The Kiss Of Morning
10. Goodbye To The Broken – Ian Brown – The World Is Yours Rock
9. Eternal – Joy Division – Closer
8. She`s Lost Control – Joy Division – Substance
7. New Dawn Fades- Joy Division – Unknown Pleasure
6. The Light Pours Out Of Me – Magazine – Real Life
5. Old King – Neil Young- Harvest Moon
4. Retreat – The Rakes – Capture / Release
3. We Are All Animals – The Rakes Capture / Release
2. Since We Last Spoke – RJD2 – Since We Last Spoke
1. Where The Streets Have No Name – U2 – Joshua Tree

Bend 21 started off with a jolly Cure song to get me nicely warmed up. By the time I was approaching bend 20 I realised I was too hot so stripped of the hat and the gloves.

Bend 20 the Dead Kennedys were allowing me to set a good pace.

Bends 19 and 18 Depeche Mode were playing – great to ride to and I was singing away while turning the pedals at a good pace.

Bend 17 Earth Wind and Fire – What ? All I can say is its on one of the Earthed Mountain bike Videos.

Bend 16-14 followed with some of my favourite Bunnymen songs- I was in a good rhythm on the bike and Helen and the kids passed me in the Enjoy Oisans minibus shouting “Allez Allez”

Bend 13- Forward, Russia – cheers Lucien for this one and a band from the 21st Century. Thought – how did lucien do all that road riding in flat pedals in 2008. For those that don’t know Lucien is our photo star in our mag adverts we do for the company.

Bend 12-11 Love a bit of Graham Coxon (him out of blur)

Bend 10 – Him out of Stone Roses – passed Helen again taking photos at the side of the road – half way now and in 45 minutes, still feeling good and the weather is still warm.

By bends 9-7 as you can see I was pretty depressed – though I love a bit of Joy Division to cheer me up now and again.

Bend 6 – Attacked by snowball – gave the culprits my best “roadie” stare and carried on up the road. This song is another from the Earthed Mountain Bike videos

Bend 5 – Neil Young not sure how this got on here – a bit slow for cycling too – It finally started getting cold at this stage so I put my gloves back on.

Bends 4 and 3 – The Rakes – some good modern (80’s inspired) indie pop. The finish is nearly in site now and approaching the outskirts of Alpe d’Huez.

Bend 2 – RJD2 – Now if this song does not make you want to ride a bike then nothing will. This features at the beginning of the best mountain bike videos ever made – “Roam” by the Collective

Bend 1 the final bend a nice bit of music to get me to the finish where Helen was waiting with a Chocolat Chaud.

For the record I completed the ride in 90 mins and 11 seconds to day over 30 mins slower than my fastest time in the summer. Some of the time can be accounted for because I was riding a mountain bike , some for the cold, some for not riding much and some for to many beers in Cafe du Paris.

Until March……..

I am riding Alpe d’Huez every month in 2009 for Plan-uk.org . You can sponsor me at Just Giving. If you would like to be kept up to date with my progress then click on this link below to subscribe to the blog

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