My Tour de France

[Strawburger]

You may need to bring your waterproof gear to Sydney with you if this rain keeps up.

Love the gloves, should keep the icy weather a little bit more bearable. Now for some snow melting tyres

[toolonglegs]

Nah, rain doesn't bother me in warm temps . Today's ride was about 3 to 5 degrees and it was starting to spit... I headed home the shortest way, get stuck in freezing rain sucks!.
Yeah the gloves and socks should be interesting ... I really struggle keeping my hands and feet warm, which means riding isn't much fun. They should be here in two days, will be snowing before the week is out so will be able to test them .
Snow melting tyres... actually snow is pretty easy to ride in, even 23mm tyres are fine... of course wet slushy snow isn't great, your derailleurs stop working pretty quickly!.
Ice is a totally different story, round my area we get huge amounts of black ice... the amount of traffic you see parked in the ditches in winter is amazing!.

[toolonglegs]

Worst result in 3 years ... ... I will be racing D grade at this rate ... The burglar is coming.

[singlespeedscott]

Maybe the Vegan diet is affecting your performance?

[toolonglegs]

Maybe but I doubt it.
Weight is about the same as last year, but I have put on a couple of kilos since August.
Last year I was super motivated for the TT Nationals at the end of September ( even though politics stopped me riding them! ). So I was pumping out a huge amount of quality training last year. So as I didn't do the TT I still came into October feeling really strong.
This year haven't had quality training... 1500kms less than the same time last year, 2 weeks off in April at Tour of Morocco, then more importantly 2 weeks off at the start of September on another tour.
Next year I need to find something motivating! ... probably be at the Tour all July and doing other tours in August. Makes it hard to get good training in for October!.
I think basically next year I will aim to do well up until I leave for the TDF, after that I will just play it by ear.
Fingers crossed I get to do some riding in December!.

[toolonglegs]

Lovely sunny day... still a freezing northerly blowing which makes it feel like -5 on the bike.
Tried to get up my local but only got as far as 2kms to go and it was getting too dangerous... turned around and tripoded back down. Gave myself a fright falling off and slamming the back of my head into the road :doh: ... tripoded down some more till I got below about 750 meters and then it wasn't too bad. Maybe on a mtb it would be possible but it would still be hard yakka. Whipped up over a lower col and then ground it back against the headwind. Pity the camera ( phone ) died after one photo at about the 600 elevation mark as it was very pretty further up!.

[toolonglegs]

Woke up this morning with nice bruise on my thigh and whiplash ... on the plus side, if I had had a helmet on instead of a beanie I would probably be buying a new helmet today. Will probably wear one next time I go playing in the ice though .

[singlespeedscott]

Good idea. Bloody Euro's

[toolonglegs]

Tried the above climb again today... nearly got there, less than 1 km to go and turned around. Didn't have a helmet on and it suddenly turned very icy, didn't want to repeat of last time!.
Soon you will reopen for my skinny tyres my old friend...Col de Portes .
This is the steepest part of the climb too... about 12% or so.

Col de Portes ... dernier km pas possible sur velo route!

[Redbull]

Donc VTT mon ami?


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[toolonglegs]

Ice is Ice mate... chains or spikes only.
There is the Grand Colombier not far way, another 500m higher, always some good cross country ski tracks to ride up... maybe next week avec mon VTT . Although looking at the weather forecast there is still plenty of winter yet to come!.

[sambo3]

Even with that cold weather I'm envious toolonglegs, I'm dreaming of riding there in July as I flounder in the heat and flat lands of Perth looking for ways to build my climbing legs.

I Will be in Annecy for my first week and have added Col de Portes and Grand Colombier as possibles to my ever growing short list of climbs to do.
Hurry up July I say.

[toolonglegs]

From Annecy the Col de Portes is a bit far away... so is the Grand Colombier for that matter, but if you do go to do the Colombier make sure you do the Mont du Chat as well ... definitely one of the hardest climbs in France.
West Side http://www.strava.com/segments/1413639" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . East Side http://www.strava.com/segments/2501964" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
I only say they are a bit far away as there are so many stunning climbs around Annecy, Col de la Forclaz is a must... easy to spend a week just riding from the lake.

[sambo3]

Yeah I have plenty around Annecy, staying near the base of the climb to Col de la Forclaz so will do that first up. I'm in France for 28 days
so am happy to drive to a few climbs within reason from my various bases. I like the idea of seeing more of the climbs in the region.
Have also pencilled in a drive to Chamonix and crossing the border to climb to Lac d’Emosson.

Mont du Chat looks like a monster saw the profile not sure how my climbing ability would handle the constant steep grades up it.
Colombier at least gives me four options on the day depending on how I feel. Will work out on the day where to start from and keep the ride not too long so I hopefully don't bonk on the climbs.

Can't wait to get there.

[toolonglegs]

There is a similar thing on Grand Colombier to Ventoux... where you can do the 4 climbs in one day
Here is a video from a long time ago... climbing from Artemare, the hardest climb. But I think the climb from Culoz is more spectacular ( the way the TDF went up ). The other ways are less amazing. If you go up from Culoz and over the other side you can climb back over the Col de la Biche, a tiny bit lower but spectacular!.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SqB05i2L ... IA&index=7" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Chamonix is stunning... worth a day visit to go up the AIgle du Midi etc.... but it is quite busy roads for cycling.
July I will be all over the place but no where near the Alpes... looking forward to climbing in the Vosges for the first time, cobbles and Ardennes again and back to the Prynees for week .

[sambo3]

Great Vid, I hope the weather is better than that when I go up. Yeah from Culoz looks like a good climb for me, will look at doing that in the first week of July.
Geez you have more winter gear than I own in that backback of yours.
I will be in the Pyranees for L' Etape and the last week of the tour, hopefully I have my climbing legs by then.

cheers

[dalai47]

Yeah I have plenty around Annecy

Don't miss out on the Col de l'Arpettaz from Ugine. And if riding the Col de la Colombière from Cluses, turn left and first ride the Col de Romme before descending to Le Reposoir and finishing the ascent.

[sambo3]

Don't miss out on the Col de l'Arpettaz from Ugine.

Thanks dalai47 will do, looks like a great climb. Will also do the Colombière as you suggest.
cheers

[dalai47]

Col de l'Arpettaz was my favourite from around Annecy. Can continue over the top descending the other side and then across to Flumet and loop over the Col des Aravis before turning left again and making it back to the lake.

From my couple of rides in the Annecy area...

Included Col de l'Arpettaz in a long loop from Bourg Saint Maurice - http://climbinglama.blogspot.com.au/201 ... -sept.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Antclockwise loop from Flumet over the Colombière and Aravis - http://climbinglama.blogspot.com.au/201 ... e-3rd.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Very jeolous - lovely riding. Looking forward to the trip report!

[toolonglegs]

Some rides for the bucket list ... forgot I might be spending 5 days in Annecy in August .

[toolonglegs]

sambo3 ... not sure if you will still be in the area on 12th of July, but I got a paper today with the dates that the Grand Colombier is closed for all traffic except velos... 12 July is one of the four dates this year. Ok you don't get much traffic up there anyway... but there will be a lot of bikes there then to which is nice as its usually just you!.

[sambo3]

Thats a bummer, I will only be there until the 9th.
Will be in St Jean de Maurienne from the 9th to 16th.
Its tempting though to drive back up there for closed roads. I think about 120km approx one way.

Having said that I will have more than enough riding out of St Jean to keep my schedule full.
Any climbs closed to traffic around St Jean whilst I'm there?

Thanks for the heads up
Sambo

[dalai47]

Be wary of length of time it takes to drive 120km if the planned route included the D signed roads... Took me 90 minutes to drive 75km from Bourg St Maurice to Flumet and I'm not the slowest driver!

[toolonglegs]

Nah I wouldn't go out of your way to get there once you leave Annecy, seriously I have ridden the GC a few times and not seen a soul.
Once you are in St Jean de Maurienne you will have much bigger fish to fry:-)

[sambo3]

Yeah, I think you are right, I already have about a dozen climbs on my list whilst in St Jean de Maurienne and still growing!
Too many good climbs in the area but you can't do em all, well not on one trip.

Dalai47 Its hard to get a grasp on distance regards time whilst driving compared with the flats over here in Perth.
I have a few days planned to drive then ride. They may end up on the scrap heap depending on time, we will see.

I'm not going to set any real plans apart from few key must do climbs, the rest I will have a rough plan and then play it by ear.

Cheers
Sambo