Right Marmotte write up time I guess.
It was due to be an early start to get to Bourg D'Oisans for 7:20 for a 7:50 start, especially as the roads to drive there would be closed from 07:00, so planned to leave about 6.15, usually this would mean me getting up about half hour before grabbing bite to eat getting dressed and going, in reality I had an awful sleep and woke up at 3.30 not being able to get back to sleep for more than a few minutes....Managed to leave on time after a big old bowl of porridge and some croissants.
Bourg D'Oisans was absolutely rammed, and we saw the first wave roll out at 07:00, lots of nice bikes on display, after they rolled through we made our way to the start pen, where we had to wait for what seemed an eternity to finally roll out.
After getting going I managed to lose my mates within about 2 miles, so I jumped into a group and got dragged along to the first climb of the day the Col Du Glandon, which is an 18.4 mile climb covering 4000ft. The temperature started out a balmy 12c and was comfy climbing up until the last 2 miles where a freezing fog had set in, along with the wind, once at the top the Marmotte had been neutralised so they didn't have anyone kill themselves. The food stop here was absolute carnage with hundreds of people trying to figure out where to get food and drink. I stocked up on bread and camembert( I hate camembert, but as it was all there was in the savoury category I shoved a bit down me along with some fruit and grabbing some bars and gels which I chucked into my drink. My food plan for the day was to eat normal food as much as possible to try not to kill my stomach.
Onto the descent and the first couple of miles in the fog was interesting, but once out of it the descent was great fun, passing a lot of people shouting a gauche in my best french accent
Down the bottom I got into a large group with some guys from Chorlton Wheelers and had a good chat about riding and things we'd done before. A quick water stop and along the rest of the valley to the foot of the Telegraphe, a relatively easy 7.3mi with 2700ft of climbing. I tapped out a good rhythm talking to the Chorlton guys for a bit but they let me go, I'd be seeing a lot more of them as the day went on. Atop the Telegraphe was a water stop, so a quick fill, photo and short descent to the bottom of the Galibier. Once again a good feed stop but now the numbers had whittled down and it wasn't so much carnage, I stopped for 5 mins at most and then ploughed on.
The Galibier was a monster, seemingly going on forever, but in reality it was 11 miles and 4000ft, on top of the Telegraphe which I had summitted only a mere 30 minutes before it was very tough. Going up and up, it got colder and colder, with the last 4 miles being especially cold and windy. The altitude played a part too, once I got to the top I grabbed some much needed sustainance, but my stomach was starting to feel a bit ropey from the constant eating and drinking, so didn't eat much but grabbed a bit to eat on the way down. My mates were just at the bottom as I left, so about 2 hours behind me.
Half way up the Galibier
Galibier Summit
The descent off the Galibier was very cold at first, but the clouds soon cleared and the sun came out, giving the most beautiful views of the mountains around it. Going at 40 mph whilst being able to enjoy those views was incredible, unfortunately I had forgot to put my glasses back on at the top and on the descent they managed to dislodge from my helmet and balance on my back for a good 30 seconds, but couldn't take my hands off the bars to save them, so they bit the dust and I carried on knowing once the descent was out the way it was only d'huez to go.
Once at the base of the valley you could really feel the heat being about 27c, at this point I knew d'huez would be tough. Previously I had thought just getting over the galibier would be the hard part over, but in the heat d'huez took on another form. I started off up the climbing watered and gelled up, but soon settled into a rhythm I could maintain in the heat, which was quite slow and grindy, hitting the first water stop graBBED A cup that went straight over my head and ploughed on, using the water in my bottle to cool me down. Luckily there was another water stop a few more hairpins up, at this point I covered myself over helmet, gloves, arms and filled my bottles knowing beating the heat was key. About 6km to go from this point and I figured at my current pace about 40 minutes, the next hairpins ticked over and I got into the last mile and my psychological battle had been won and my legs found a new least of life, sprinting out the saddle for that last bit, to finish in a time of 8hr43 (minus the Glandon descent) at 10.9mph average.
I worked out how to get my freebies including a finishers cap and t shirt along with some food and a can of coke and made my way back down to meet my mates, unfortunately they missed the cut off by 10 mins to go up d'huez but one of the them ploughed on, whilst the other waited with me.
OVerall the day was great, but probably the hardest ride I've ever done in its relenting nature, but glad to tick it off. Now to think about next year.
