The Mythical Ascent

The Mythical Ascent is the legendary road climb from the town of Bourg d'Oisans (700m) in the Rhone Region of the French Alps to the ski resort of Alpes D'Huez (1860m)

The Alpes d'Huez climb has regularly featured in the Tour de France itinerary since 1976 having made its first appearance in 1952. Its is reputedly the most challenging and well known of all the TDF alpine climbs. Having attempted both the Alpes d'Huez and Galibier climbs it may well be the most famous but I would dispute the fact that it is the most challenging. However it is surely on the 'To Do List' of any self respecting cyclist so had to be done.

We started our climb after a warm up and a Pain o'chocolate from the boulangerie in Bourg.

The official start of the route was directly outside the entrance to the campsite. There are 21 hairpins on the route each one named after a stage winner of the TDF. There are so many winners now that the lower bends now have two names on them.

The steepness of the first part of the climb came as a bit of a shock. I had not looked around the corner from the campsite. The average gradient of the climb is 7.9% and the steepest section is up to 14%. The climb to bend 21 (806m)  and then on to 17 (965m) is some of the steepest on the route.

It is only when you get to the village of La Garde is there any respite and you have a chance for a small recovery.

The church steeple at La Garde is a welcome sight and you can start to settle into some sort of rhythm.

 I always rode around the outside of the bends and alternatively drank energy drink and water.

After bend 14 the road kicks up again but the view shows how far you have climbed and you start to feel a sense of achievement.

Bend 12 (1161 m) and up to 9 brings you back to reality with a bump as the gradient once again kicks up.

The hamlet of Sainte - Ferrol is next with its church of Notre Dame des Neiges and the famous Dutch Corner. This section has been adopted by the Dutch due to the number of Dutch winners of this stage of the TDF. The stage up Alpes d'Huez always attracts huge numbers of spectators and the scenes can only be descibed as chaotic.

The village of Huez is next.

Bend 5 - 2 are equally as steep as the section to La Garde and take you across the Patte d'oile. The psychological difference here is immense. At the start you wonder if you can actually pedal to the top. At bend 5 there is noway you are going to fail. To quote Lance Armstrong ' you only get off when the snow turns black' that is how I felt at this point.

Bend 1 (1713m) and you can see Viell Alpe (the old village). This allows you to up your speed because you know that you are going to finish it.

The finishing line is a welcome sight.

The strange thing is that the arrival banner is not the same as the stage finish of the TDF, but this is where all the shops are. So it makes sense to stop for refreshments and a shop for the statutory T shirt.

The official finish line is a little further up through the ski resort.

Once on the line you have to have your picture taken in the normal triumphal manner.

Not content with just climbing Alp d'Huez we decided to ride the Col d'Sarrenne, which meant going up again. The airport had an unusual runway which allows planes to stop quickly.

The views above Alpe d'Huez were typically alpine.

The descent was awesome and I reached the fastest speed of the trip down here.

This house provided a point of discussion. I wonder if the house was there first?

We headed back to Bourg along the main road through some scary tunnels and down some interesting descents.

A great ride.

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/106556867#

Les 2 Alpes to Venosc

We parked near to the village of Venosc (900m) in the lovely Oissans region not far from the mythological Alpes d'Huez and caught the gondola up to Les deux Alpes  also known as Les 2 Alpes (1650m)

From here we took the Jandri Express cable car which took us 7km up the mountain to the foot of the Mantel Glacier 3200m in 24 mins

This glacier is the largest summer ski area in Europe. It was strange to cycle through the town passing skiers and snow boarders all dressed up in their gear in a temperature of 20 degrees.

By the time we reached the summit the temperature was down to 4 degrees.
There are stunning alpine views from here even across to Mont Blanc approx 62 miles to the north

We started our ride down on the blue Nord route which was very steep in places with a loose stoney surface.

We rode across various pisted areas.

When we had the chance we stopped to admire the view and pose for photographs.

Les 2 Alpes is very popular in the summer with both downhill and free ride mountain biking.

We crossed over from the blue Nord to the red Vallons trail. The terrain changed to more typical alpine style with green pastures and wild flowers but it was still incredibly steep with switchback after switch back.

There were quite a few timber features thrown in for good measure.

The last section from Les 2 Alpes down to Venosc was basically a ride down a cliff with huge berms to slow you down.

An exciting ride to complete a great visit to the area.

Coast 2 Coast The Main Event

The Coast 2 Coast route that we chose to ride starts in Whitehaven on the Cumbrian coast and travels east skirting the north end of the Lake district over the Penines down into Newcastle and finishing at Tynemouth.

We arrived in Whitehaven bright and early, first stop The Beacon cafe for a breakfast top up.

Before the start it is tradition to dip your rear wheels in the Irish Sea, the main harbour slip way was the ideal place for a line up but not all the 35 riders managed to get in the shot.

We left Whitehaven at 11.45 am and headed up the cycle track towards the Lakes.

It is a climb but a gentle one.

The landscape changed from urban to rural and then the mountains of the north Lake District came into view.

Our first stop was Loweswater by which time we were nicely warmed up and feeling good.

The gradient of the climb from Loweswater increased dramatically and gave a hint of things to come.

The visitor centre at Whinlatter Forest was a welcome stop for some, the descent down to Keswick was easy going and a chance to knock off a few quick miles.

We did not stay too long in Keswick, we also managed to avoid the busy town centre and it was not long before we were on the cycle track adjacent the bust A6 and the shadow of the mighty Skiddaw and Blaencathra.

The cycle track along the old road is quiet good views.

It was not long before the Lake District was fading into the distance behind us, by this time we were approaching 60 miles.

For our evening meal we took over the village green in Greystoke and ate as much pasta as we could.

North of Penrith the daylight was fading fast, we switched on our lights and dressed up warm ready for the night.

There are five major climbs after Penrith - Hartside, Garrigil, Nenthead, Allenshead and Crawley Side. They were all tackled one after the other and this was the most challenging part of the route. The cold made things a lot more difficult to the extent that we did not want to descend after completing a climb.

The daylight returned around 4am and was very welcome.

There was an enormous sense of achievement after completing the last climb out of Stanhope. It was all downhill from here to Newcastle.

At Rowlands Gill we joined the Derwent Valley Walk which took us right into the centre of Newcastle.

We followed the promenade along side the Tyne.

The bridges are a major tourist attraction.

We were only eight miles from the finish so we did not stay long.

After 136 miles and 23.5 hours later we arrived at Tynemouth where we kept with tradition and dipped our front wheels into the north sea.

Nine adults and six school children completed the full ride the other 11 schoolchildren all rode a minimum of 80 miles with some going well past the 100 mile distance - an amazing achievement.