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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