Putting in the miles to raise money for charity
With less than 3 days to go the team have put together a playlist for the event, with help with some of our supporters on facebook.
Anymore suggestions??
Just a reminder that the event starts at 7 pm on Friday 12th July in the car park next to the Burrington Inn.
Hope to see you there.
Stage 4 was an iconic one, taking in the 21 hairpins of l’Alpe d’Huez. It was also always going to be a difficult day logistically, as there was a big Dutch charity event happening over the whole week called Alpe d’HuZes. This had already caused us some issues with accommodation as Alpe d’Huez had no vacancies at a reasonable price.
Before tackling Alpe d’Huez the riders had first a 20 mile warm up ride. The route took them along the valley floor then climbing up to the D211a which hugs the cliff face towards l’Alpe d’Huez rather than the long straight road along to Bourg d’Oisans.
The views were spectacular, however Nick really didn’t appreciate them and didn’t like being too close to the edge.
Meanwhile the support crew (with Brad who really wanted to do the headlining climb so was resting) got to the bottom of Alpe d’Huez to find the road coned off!!! Due to the weather forecast they knew that the riders would need topping up with water during the climb, and had already planned out several stops for them. So they took a quick trip to the supermarket to buy lunch and some smaller bottles of water for pockets and to discuss another plan B.
After all the planning, it wasn’t needed. The crew decided to see if they could persuade someone to let them up the mountain, a combination of speaking to the one of the Dutch organisers in French and a van with British plates and they were through the road block with no issues. They pulled over to the side of the road just before the official start of the climb and waited for the riders to find them, so Flo could make her appearance and Brad could join the team again.
Team back together again, they all set off to climb the 21 hairpins of l’Alpe d’Huez. There were concerns that the dutch charity walkers would an issue, as they were walking along the road, however the amount of support out on the mountain was amazing. From wet sponges, snacks, cheering, to singing and some dutch techno. There was definitely a party atmosphere on the mountain. Harry particularly enjoyed the support from the Dutch girls and Jason finally got a push from a fellow diabetic.
Harry would have got a King of the mountain, but he had to wait for the tandem for directions as he had lost his Garmin, we think it came off his bike when they stopped to look over the cliff. After the atmosphere during the climb the summit was a little anti-climatic as the dutch finish was slightly before the Tour de France “official” finish. All the riders went straight past the finish. There is no col sign with the altitude just a inconspicuous “Arrive” sign, and after the crowded mountain, where we finished was almost a ghost town.
After lunch it was time for the decent and the 12 km climb up to the Col d’Ornon (average of 5.4%) and our hotel for the night. Brad and Jason decided against doing it as they had both been struggling with the heat and Brad was still struggling with the altitude and his breathing. Everyone had started to feel the miles and all the climbing including Florence who was starting to make some unsettling noises.
It was another hot climb, Harry got the King of the Mountain and all the riders made it by 5 o’clock, giving some of the riders time to chill out and relax.
Check out our evening Q & A session on Facebook