Stage 3 Summary - Part 2 (Read part 1 first!)

Monday, part 2! Make sure you read part 1 if you ended up here first. Click here to jump to it, or you can pick it from the list on the right under Archives.

The tale of two rides continues as we leave the store/cafe at the top of the Col du Galibier. Looking to the southeast? is a completely different picture to the freezing clouds on the other side. It's still bloody cold, but at least the sun is out.

Yes, that windy little ribbon below is the road we'll descend. We're getting pretty good at it, but still careful. One mistake can ruin the trip pretty quick.

The wind is still vicious, so we've bundled up. I'm wearing rain pants, and two jerseys under the rain jacket. It won't be enough....

These descents are several thousand feet, miles long, and steep enough that we don't have to pedal once if we don't want to!

My picture at the sign - which proves I was still standing at that altitude.

Note the pretty booties.....

As I tell my wife, I may be a dork, but I'm YOUR dork!

I pulled off the road on the descent to get this picture. You can just see the edge of a car on the right that raced by - I was keeping him at bay most of the way down.

Stunningly clear views on this side with massive mountains and rock faces in every direction, but suprisingly little snow - maybe due to global warming. Al?

Right near the bottom. We could look back up and see the weather pushing over the top from where we came - glad we're on this side now!

Bob and Dave still bundled up - not much else to say..

The whole group at the top of the Col de Lautaret, which is at the bottom of the Col du Galibier! We're still at about 6000' so it's very cold, and we've descended over 2500'. No bare legs in this photo, except for maybe Bill's ankles....

We left here and kept descending, another 15k or so. Lot's of wind so bike handling was important. The headwinds kept the speeds down, and the gusts kept you on your toes. We had a great ride down thru several villages, and along a river, and thru multiple tunnels. Some were 100' long, while one was about a 1/4 mile or more. They're mostly dark, so they are a test of trust, that there is nothing on the road. When the cars and trucks enter behind you, the noise wave makes it sound like they are right on your back tire. We finished the cruise along a very pretty blue lake, that looked really cold. We crossed over the river, and there was Michele with the van and some much needed food. And in a sunny spot which was very welcome!

Mark and Dave at the lunch spot. Note - I wore the Tour de Bob custom jersey for this unique day - I think it helped...

One interesting thing about this stop - the bathroom. I know, another bathroom thing, but this was kinda cool. It was an automatic stainless steel restroom. You push a button to open the door. You do your business, and the hand wash, and hand dryer are automatic. You then push a button to get out. Once you're out, the door closes and it does some noisy cleaning things behind the door before the light goes green for the next person. Very high tech and pretty clean. And way the heck out in the middle of nowhere!

Cruising along with mark and Shawn after lunch, heading for L'Alpe d'Huez. Pretty windy, but a beautiful little canyon. The winds were gusty, with more tunnels, so it was not a stress-free ride, and was glad it was over. Except for what came next......

The L'Alpe D'Huez is one of the true classics for cycling. It's been in many Tour de France's and is usually a key or pivotal stage. It's very steep, especially the first 3 kilometres, has 21 tight switchbacks, averages about 8%, and goes on for about 8 miles finished about 6100'.

This is probably the Everest of bike climbs. 6 months ago I wouldn't have dreamed I would ride up it. Tonite I'll have nightmares about riding up it! It actually was doable, but slow, at least for me.

Bob in front of a tribute to Lance Armstrong in town at the bottom of the climb. I think Bob is going to try and beat Lance's best time....

The best time ever up was under 40 minutes. That's inconceivable!

A typical section of the route up L'Alpe d'Huez. The steep walls on the right do nothing to keep the cars or bikes from falling off the steep dropoffs to the left (note the very low rock wall that will really just scratch your rims, but not slow you down)

A nice place on the route. Stopped to take a picture. Didn't hurt to take a breather either.

I'm still smiling. That's the town below us, and we're not even halfway up. These people build way up the mountains!

My view of most of the climb. I can still see them, which is a plus. Once they are gone, it's just me and my ipod..

A nice old church on the route. You can see the town of Alpe d'Huez in the background at the top of the hill. A long way off yet...

I stopped to take this picture because of the beautiful woodwork and design. Didn't hurt the legs to stand for a minute either....

Alpe d'Huez is a ski area, with many large buildings perched up here. This view just teases you since I still had 6 more switchbacks to go.

I'm suffering now. The cumulation of days of hard riding, different food, energy goo and other foreign supplemental substances have given me serious stomach cramps. These horses were no help - no sympathy whatsoever. The one standing won't even look me in the eye. Thanks for nothing...

The sign for town. Something I never dreamed I would actually see.

I thought this would be a good picture. The sign above me signals the last hairpin of the 21. There was a sign at each one, with the names of a winner of the stage of the Tour de France from some year.

The sun didn't help with the reflection. The pained look on my face is from the stomach cramps. Or the knee aches. Or the quad pain. Who knows, but it's not a pretty picture. Hard to tell I'm actually having fun, huh?

The finish line. The center of town at the summit. The race actually finishes father up the hill, but this is where Michele parked, and I'm definitely not dumb enough to ride past him.

The view from our room at L'Alpe d'Huez. We're in a really nice hotel, the Hotel Pic Blanc. Had a nice drink in the bar lounge before dinner, while working on the blog.

Dinner was great - duck, with a potato pancake, and green beans, and a great berry mousse dessert. Oh, and a huge bowl of pasta. Which was good cause that little chunk of duck was NOT gonna do it. I could have eaten an entire canadian goose. Our waitress is from Northern Scotland, and since we're the ONLY people in the entire dining area, she catered to us pretty well. She was amazed that we ate every thing put on our table. She doesn't quite know what we went thru today...

I'm beat tonite. It's a bone-weary kind of tiredness that makes moving difficult. Luckily I finished a lot of the blog before dinner, cause I'm about done.

This was one of those days that I will remember on my deathbed, especially since I was so close to it today! The viscousness of the Galibier to the sunshine on the Alpe d'Huez. About 50 miles total, and almost 10,000 feet climbed. Hard to fathom now that it's done - probably won't beat that ever. Tomorrow is another ride, with another climb, but for today, we're just satisfied that we've had one of the most unique days of bike riding we could ever imagine. I'll stop talking now and go to bed.....

Make sure you look at the pictures the other guys took. I can only do so many in the blog and still get it done - they've got many more impressive pictures each day.

Click here to see Dana's pictures

Click here to see Bob's pictures