Winter training mode engaged

1st December, first snow ride and first ride up the Gempen with the Boardman CX Pro. Coped well, the paths are smooth up there, and firetrack is ideal for cyclocross riding - even if it was covered in snow today.

Beware the Vosgiflette

Not much has been written in this blog since the Haute Route, it really did leave me speechless in a blog style way and still my write up of the event is far from comprehensive, most likely it never will be.
Even now, I feel like I am beginning to prepare for next years event, this time it will be the Pyrenees from Med to Atlantic.The idea is just to keep up long weekend rides through the winter, for as long as my fingers stay warm.
Today had no such problems, I was returning to the Vosges with a start/finish in Colmar like we rode a few weeks ago with KC, Arthur and Falk in t shirt and shorts weather.
Climbing up to Trois Epis was magnificent as the cloud level was low, and once out in the open sunshine it felt warm over the tops and on to Col du Linge, which saw  a fair amount of fighting in the first world war. There's a short section of preserved trenches from this period when the French/German border was up in the hills and not down along the Rhine. Just one week late for remembrance day, but this site is open throughout the year as a memorial to all those who lost their lives in these battlefields/battlehills.



I had a flat from a small piece of glass at the base of Route du lac du Corbeaux, so replaced quickly with CO2 and continued on. Then on the first hairpin bend when I stood up to accelerate the tyre blew again, this time around the valve and one for the bin. Did I over inflate? I guess the freezing cold CO2 must expand some more once you start riding, so that could have done it. Or do inner tubes suffer damage from freezing gas?
Because of this I limped down to la Bresse to find a bike shop for more spares as I was still a long way from Colmar. Of course the shops are closed from 12-2pm, so I had to rest in a boulangerie for half an hour. I was cold at this stage, so it was good timing in the end. But here I was tempted by the "Vosgiflette" - a bit like a heavy duty tarte flambee, and a slice of quiche lorraine as well. Both tasty snacks, but both together with still 2 big climbs and a lot of riding to do was not so wise. I was very close to seeing the whole Vosgiflettes several times on the long, long climb from Lac du Wildenstein up to le Markstein.
Once on the route des cretes, with the hikers, bikers, parachuters, and road-skiers the massive 2700m of climbing for the day was just about over. Didn't even feel cold on the way down to Munster, but was disappointed to find my favourite fromagerie is now closed for good.
Its always a great ride in the Vosges, such a nice finish from Munster via Gunsbach to Turkheim through the small towns and vineyards back to Colmar.

So many cols - even minor bumps have signs:
Trois Epis - Col du Linge - Col du Wettstein - Col du Calvaire - Col du Louschbuch - Col du Bonhomme - le Collet Schlucht -  Col des Faignes sous Valogne - Col du Bramant - le Markstein - le Breitfirst- Col du Platzerwaesel

Thun - Gurnigel - Jaunpass - Spiez

Rapha Ride of the Falling Leaves

Starting from Obst & Gemuse cycle shop, Basel.

Halfway point, refreshments await in Rapha food bags

First time for a mid-ride whisky. Not sure this was a good idea

Definitely autumn now, no more end of summer

Basel Kuriers kept the speed up in high 40s for the ride home

Double Scheidegg

Grindelwald - Grosse Scheidegg - Kleine Scheidegg - Wengen -  Stechelberg - Interlaken - Thun

Eiger north face

Lauterbrunnen valley

Haute Route 2012

Where to start to describe this event, it was just too much fun and too much awesome scenery to put into one blog entry.
The ride, the ultimate ride from Geneva to Nice over the Alps finished last week. It was truly a window into the world of a full time cyclist, where it was impossible to think of anything but cycling.
Typical day - (read EVERY day): Wake early, breakfast 2 hours before the start then pack the bags, check the tyres at the Mavic car and do the main event of the day. After the ride, its eat as much as possible (some tasty and varying food was provided) have a shower then massage from the beautiful ladies of the French massage academy (yes it really was as good as it sounds), possibly a Compex electronic massage to follow then find the chalet/bomb shelter/school hall where we'd been allocated to sleep for the night. Then 5.30 is the prize giving, and its worth hanging around for the lottery as 2 Look carbon frames were given away, 1 Compex system and a weeks ski lift pass amongst others just for being present. 6pm is the briefing of the day, in French and English, showing an expertly crafted video and photos of the days stage. General information about the next days stage is read out, then its a case of finding a restaurant which will serve food as quickly as possible as most people just want to eat then sleep. There are a few bottles of wine drunk, but 1 bottle between friends and not a bottle each which might be seen on less serious tours.
Basically it was all one continuous event, the days flowed along with routine, even if the start times varied between stages. I would say 90% of the riders were new to multi day sportives, but then where else can you do a multi day event? The guys and gals of Edinburgh Road Club might be different there, as they have seen several editions of the Transalp.

I might just return to this post and add highlights and expand later when I remember them, but here are some for starters:

Following the wheel of Alain Prost from top to bottom of Col de la Madelaine - he must have been having a bad day! Indeed, I passed him on the final 1-2km of the descent, then left him in the valley. He resigned halfway up Col du Glandon, so unable to cycle the whole event as intended.

Cycling from Vernay to Alpe d'Huez with Sami Inkinen, a Finnish triathlete. He had just taken part in Ironman Sweden, with a 8hr 24, putting in a 2hr 56m marathon, then taken 2 days break to join in HauteRoute on day 3! In the time trial, he was 15th!

Completing day 3, Courchavel to Alpe d'Huez on a very hot day. Definitely the toughest stage, I had a tough time on the Glandon on the the verge of cramping up in my calves. Ate and drank plenty at the refreshments on top of the col and so recovered well, but was a total wimp on the descent. Its a very fast, steep and straight piece of road - I prefer the ones with hairpin bends.

Riding as hard as possible on the time trial, and realizing that its possible to recover to ride the next day.

Col d'Izoard

Scenery on Cime de la Bonnette.

Descent through the bright red rocks of Gorge du Cian.

Great motorbike support and marshaling for the full route.

Perfect weather. (A week later, as I write this, theres snow on the Bonnette and AlpenBrevet is cancelled due to freezing temps and snowy passes!)

Spectators with hosepipes! A brief cold shower is worth an extra gear.

	136th;  04:00:40 + 00:53:33 Col de Romme: 171st 00:45:07 Col de la Colombieres 154th 00:38:09 Col des Aravis 106th 00:29:49
	113th; 03:56:05 + 00:42:16 Col des Saisies: 92nd 00:46:04 Courchavel: 105th 01:00:27 Overall: 120th;  07:56:45 + 01:35:49
	146th;  06:03:07 + 01:38:53 Col de la Madelaine: 127th 01:42:22 Col du Glandon: 138th 01:36:20 Montee de l'alpe d'huez: 65th 01:15:19 Overall: 124th; 13:59:52 + 03:14:42
	101st; 59:31 +17:11 Overall: 122nd 14:59:23 + 03:31:53
	97th; 04:41:31 + 00:44:41 Col du Lauteret: 69th 01:09:13 Col d'Izoard: 141st 01:19:34 Montee de Risoul: 57th 00:51:56 Overall: 112th; 19:40:54 + 04:16:34
	53rd; 04:14:06 + 00:42:10 Col de Vars: 47th 01:09:06 Cime de la Bonnette: 46th 01:36:16 Montee de Auron: 62nd 00:19:41 Overall: 105th; 23:55:00 + 04:58:44
	71st; 04:09:19 + 00:30:51 Col de Couillole: 79th 01:04:18 Col de St Raphael: 65th 00:26:02 Col de Vence: 58th 00:38:33 Overall: 97th; 28:04:19 + 05:29:35

Full Results

Final Haute-Col Training

One week to go until the big event, and perfect weather for Saturday at least so I got the early train to Brig and started pedaling just after 8am towards Gletsch, and left up the Grimsel Pass.
Its August, perfect weather and a weekend so the roads were busy - too busy in fact to make the descent of Grimsel enjoyable. I don't mind the climb, its a very wide road, even gradient and great visibility on the south side, but when motor bikers overtake at speed on the descent its quite scary. Nearly lost it entering one tunnel today, I didn't take my glasses off so didn't see the bend to the right till late and I was riding the center of the road hoping nothing fast was approaching in the opposite direction.

Grimsel Pass

So not a recommend route at the weekend, but turning off and up the Grosse Shiedegg is always recommended as its closed to private transport. I've taken the photos last time, so today I could concentrate on the climb and riding these very steep slopes whilst admiring the amazing scenery and chatting to members of VC Lyss.
Today, on what should have been the most enjoyable and fastest descent from Grindelwald to Interlaken, I was faced with a galeforce wind blowing up the valley - struggling to reach 30kph at times, and on quite a slope.
Very nice road to finish along the north of Thunersee. The lake was that turquoise blue colour which looks so unreal but is the colour of these mountain lakes. Lots of swimming spots here, some with diving boards, and all very busy on this sunny day.


150km. 3100m climbing, whats the best way to maintain this for 7 days time?

St Moritz Training Camp

I've not been able to do much riding since the Tour came to town due to a nasty cold and fever, which prevented me taking part in the Granfondo Sangottardo (as well as a terrible weather forecast for the event), but recovered in time for a weeks holiday in the Engadin valley, based in a self catering apartment by the lake in St Moritz.
After a trial recovery ride, on the 2nd and 3rd days I followed the route of the Engadin Radmarathon. A stunning route from start to finish! Massive ride to do this in one day, but I'd like to give it ago next year.

Albula pass - very nice climb. Highly recommend this route today which descends through Davos after the Fluella pass, then climbs alongside the Bernina express in sections so you can see the many viaducts and tunnels carved up the narrow valley. The train disappears in a tunnel for the most scenic section over the top, so being on the road is a great reward for cycling over this pass. Be patient with the many cows crossing the road up here!

During the Engadin radmarathon, the riders would pass straight through this dimly lit 5-6km tunnel and arrive in the Livigno valley, Italy. Its a narrow tunnel, so bikes must be on the shuttle bus which runs every half hour or so. You'll need 6 euros or 7 francs.

Livigno valley seemed to be a cycling mecca. I saw Astana team, Rabobank members, Australian, USA and Italian team cars following riders. The valley is of course at high altitude, and very flat so this allows for training on flat roads with many opportunities to head uphill. Bormio is 2 passes away, as well as the Stelvio pass. Stelvio will have to wait for another visit, it was just 2 passes too far away from St Moritz. Better to take a car next time, or just ride over then down to the railway - except you'd need to check which trains allow bikes on board, they're packed with tourists on days like this.

Julierpass - yes, it does have more traffic than the others, as its the designated route for driving to St Moritz. So its best taken in a northerly direction and descending to Tiefencastel as I did. But as its early morning and quick to reach the top, it was chilly up there at 2284m. 

The Swiss side of the Splugen pass - very orderly, neat hairpins here. Down the Italian side, beyond the lake, it becomes one of the craziest roads I have ever seen. Very steep, severe switchbacks which many drivers failed to turn in one go, forcing them to reverse back then try again. Many tunnels, with zero lighting - some with added rough surface to contend with as you descend in the darkness.
Down this section, my rear wheel failed in the same way as a few weeks ago. Except this time the aluminium rim and carbon section have parted for good. As the tyre was touching the frame, I stopped riding this time and had to take off my cycle shoes and walk/run down the craziest section of this monster barefoot. Severe blisters were to follow. Once off the worst of it, I managed to stand/kick the the wheel into enough shape to get me down to Chiavana, which was still 15km downhill, I could only use the front brake here. Once in Chiavana, its all uphill to St Moritz, via the Maloja pass.

Splugen Pass

So the Cosmic carbones are not bomb-proof. They were clearly weakened several weeks ago, did they overheat again due to braking? Whatever the cause, they are dead for the moment and sent away to Mavic to see if they can breathe any life back into them.

I cycled to the top of Malojapass on my first day, at the end of my recovery ride to see if my cold had cleared up. But thats no effort from the east, as its merely the the end of the flat area holding the lakes around Silvaplana, Sils and St Moritz.
If you start from Chiavenna, at 333m altitude, its a very different story! 35 degrees down in Italy as well, so climbing up to the cool heights was enjoyable. The final 6km are incredible hairpins, quite steep, and a lot of traffic descending taking all the tourists back to their hotels at lake Como etc.

Not much to see in St Moritz, no old town whatsoever but the setting is certainly idyllic. Lots of athletes around training at the Swiss Olympic training base, many trails through the forests as well make for tough training at altitude.