Stage 2 Summary

Stage 2 of the Tour de Bob. Albertville to Valloire, over the Col de Madelaine, and the Col de Telgraphe. We started our day riding around 9ish, and had a great easy cruise south of town thru villages just waking up for Sunday morning. The traffic was light, and we didn't push too hard. About 20k (12 miles) including a section of the AutoStrada which was interesting. Then we turned off, and met Michele for the pre-climb stop. Dumped off the arm and leg warmers, pounded some energy gels and talked about what was to come. About 65 miles, and roughly 9000' of climbing to come!

One request - let me (us) know what you think! It's really hard writing to an unseen audience. Is it worth the time to put this blog out there....

This is the sign for the climb. 26k (about 16 miles) of up. Up to about 6000'. This is a major climb of the Tour de Bob as it is an HC category climb.

Climbs range from Cat 1 thru Cat 5, and then the HC which is 'beyond category' (or, make my eyes bleed tough). Category is a measure of both distance and steepness.

The view on the first part of the climb. I left early, as I knew I'd be caught pretty quick. Very pretty and peaceful, except when the motorcycles blow by you at about 60. Then it's peaceful again. Sections of the road are one-laners...

Our peloton - that's Dan in the lead, and from there I can't tell, but it's all the big guns. They caught and passed me around the 10th hairpin turn.

Michele, our domestique. On the Tour, all the good riders have other riders that take care of them. On this ride, Michele makes sure we don't miss the turns, can change clothes and get food when we need, and generally makes sure we have good time. He's very good at his job, and he's a bike, so he understands.

Apparently I didn't notice that I called Michele a 'bike' when I wrote this last night - I was tired. Michele is definitely NOT a bike, but he is a fellow biker!

The views are stunning. Many of these villas are just perched on the side of the cliffs. Not sure what these people do, but their view is incredible.

About this time of the ride, I had a couple thoughts. First was that the only regret I have about this trip is that Nancy is not here to enjoy and experience it. She's WAY too smart to cycle up these mountains, but she would appreciate the views and atmosphere. Next time...

The second thought came as I listened to my favorite trop-rock artist/philosopher Jim Morris, as he sang about 'Livin till the day I die'. I couldn't say it better, and am so thankful that I am able to physically and financially do this trip. A lucky man.....

A lot more traffic on this road, including 3 groups of 4 Lotus sports cars, SCREAMING down the road. I had a good time watching them drifting around a hairpin and accelerating away. Where's the Miata?

Our food stop about halfway up. Michele met us, and we put down some more fluids, and energy stuff. Can't even figure how many calories we're burning, but this many miles of UP has got to be good for the metabolism.

Gary, Mark, and Kevin.

One constant is the flowers. Virtually every chalet/house has flower boxes, and they are all filled with beautiful blooming flowers. I can't even begin to take pictures of them all, but I do appreciate them.

Here's the group riding over some of the leftover encouragement from the Tour de France. We roll over many of these, but this one was very colorful, and I was able to shoot while I rode. Not very safe going up a steep hill.

I left early from the halfway break, since I knew I'd be caught and passed. I met up with Kevin pretty quick and we rode together for a bit, and then my legs found me. Not sure how or why, but all of a sudden I felt good on the climb. I kept a nice steady pace, one that was pretty decent. Sorry to leave Kevin behind, as we've motivated each other on a couple sections, but the moment was there. I had good tunes, great weather, and the open road, and it was all working. For about and hour, it was me and the hill. And this time, I think I won. I was able to sustain the pace, all the way to the top, and felt really good. We'll see if that catches up with me...

My celebratory cervesa at the top of the Col de Madelaine. A beer never tasted so good!

Mark in front of the sign at the top. 2000 metres = roughly 6000'. And we bicycled up that sucker...

We had sandwiches and other food at the top, but it was very cool. We all donned coats and leggings and tried to keep out of the wind. There were many other people around the summit, and some of them made me feel wimpy - folks QUITE older than me, and they climbed it on their bike. Guess I need to keep training.

Our run down the backside was another hoot. We just flat flew down with jamming brakes for the hairpins, and then tucks to catch back up. Mark had his helmet-cam on for the entire descent, and it's great stuff. We stopped in a village part-way down, and met a dog who was serious about his stick. He ran with us for a couple hundred yards, dropped the stick and kept with us until we rounded a hairpin - guess that's the limit for him. We dropped and dropped down into warmer air and just had a great time - 10 guys all running downhill. I'm getting better at judging the hairpins and how much speed to scrub off before laying the bike over to get around. The lower section was really fun as we just straightened out the corners and coasted downhill at about 30.

Gary enjoying a post-descent smoke. Don't know where he found it, or why, but it was pretty funny.

A quick rendezvous with Michele to dump the extra clothes, and then we're off for another 20k run to the bottom of the Telegraphe. We cruised at a pretty good pace for awhile, and I was thinking I'm gonna crack if they don't back off. We finally slowed down a bit and we made our way into town to meet with Michele, and get ready for the climb.

We came out of town, and headed up. First thing we noticed was the MASS of 4-wheel drive rigs coming down the hill - ATV's and every Land-Rover in Western Europe. Turns out Valloire (our destination) has a big off-road gathering this weekend. Next thing I noted was how steep it was. This was supposed to be an easier climb than the Madelaine. Yeah, right. I briefly stopped for a picture and found myself alone. As I would be for the next 6-7 miles, almost all the way to the top. Thanks to the tunes I made it up, but I was hurting. After this many miles, your butt hurts, your knees hurt, your ankles hurt, your back hurts, and a few other parts too. At least mine did. I crawled up that sucker slow and steady, and didn't see our group until almost the very top.

Only one close call - a group of motorcycles decided to pass a van as he passed me. WAY too close for comfort - didn't like that at all. Most of the vehicles were pretty considerate. Loved seeing and hearing the sports cars enjoying the twisties....

This was right near the top. Riding with Kevin and Shawn, and Kevin wants a pic but doesn't really want to stop. I'm dumb enough to do that, but then have to bust butt to catch back up. The shot was worth it though....

Made it to the top. Dumped the bike at the first thing that would hold it up, and then later realized how nice it looked next to the flowers.

We all made it. The top of the Col de Telgraphe.

One of the great things about this group is everyone is supportive of each other, regardless of ability and capability. We're all finding times where we're strong, and when we suffer, and it's nice to have support to work thru it.

Valloire from our hotel balcony. All the cars and tents are for the off-road event, and it's pretty noisy. We wander around town, and actually get a little shopping done as well as some beer and laptop time on the deck.

Gary decided that if a beer is good, and a rolled cookie is good, how bad could it be to mix the two?

Dinner in the hotel was good - chicken or fish with pasta, a salad, cheese (not for me), wine, beer, water, a cheese sampler to cleanse the palate, and this dessert. Right up my alley - a berry mouse. Can I get a couple more?

That's about it for tonite. We're beat. Tomorrow we climb over both the Col de Galibier, and the Alpe d'Huez - two MAJOR climbs. Some ibuprofen for the knee inflammation, plug in all the electronics to charge, and open the window for some fresh air. Nighty night...

Click here for Dana's pics of today.

Click here for Bob's pics of today.

Click here for our route today.

Click here for a helmet-cam video of yesterday from Mark.

Th-th-th-ats all folks!