Tag: Hannah

Stage 3 – Val Cenis to La Grave (Col du Télégraphe)

Posted on by bristolmilemonkeys in Alps, Challenges, News, Summit or Nothing - Part 1

Stage 3 would see the mile monkeys take on the Col du Télégraphe followed by the Col du Galibier, but first a 27 mile ride from Val Cenis to the base of the Col du Télégraphe . Their total day would be 60 miles and 9,000 feet of climbing. To avoid another road closure the route would take the high road through the mountain villages rather than along the valley floor. This meant that Flo would have a morning off, as there would be a mixture of climbing and descents.

After making sure they all knew what direction they were heading, they set off about 9 am towards Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne where they planned on meeting the support crew.

Chocolate box land

Nick (on the ride from the hotel)

The cyclists got the bottom of the Col du Télégraphe for a quick refuel (ie more cakes) and to swap out Flo about 11 am. There was also an incident with a blocked toilet but we won’t say anything else about that.

Col du Télégraphe is just under 12 km with an average gradient of 7.3%

Its like cycling up Bridge Valley for about 12 k, 8 times 9 times up Bridge Valley. Its hot but fun in a weird sick way.

Craig

With a sprint finish Craig claimed the “King of the Mountain”

“I left everything out there, it was emotional. I couldn’t do much more, I enjoyed it though”

Craig

with Harry just moments behind him.

“500m off I just couldn’t [catch him], I didn’t have anything in me”

Harry

Brad was a few minutes behind, and the tandem crew a few minutes behind him, just leaving Jason to finish.

Nick and Hannah walked down to the last corner and Craig cycled down the last bit to support Jason to the finish.

Fortunately or unfortunately (depending on your point of view) the Col du Galibier was still shut, although the snow clearing was almost finished, a burst water main the week before had delayed the work. It would be another drive round, but the cycling was almost done for the day as the monkeys were still planning on descending Telegraphe as apparently that’s the fun bit.

Time for lunch at one of the more picturesque spots of the week, before going back down and loading up for the drive to La Grave. Thanks again to Peter, Judith and Hannah for helping us with the transport issues.

No carpool karaoke this time, however our trip did include several diverts for road works, an extremely long tunnel, a brief trip through Italy and 5 nuns in a Fiat.

We were staying at the Hotel Castillan at La Grave, once the bikes were all stored in their bike garage and the laundry was done, it was time to relax for a bit and go for dinner.

Due to it being rather early in the season the hotel’s restaurant wasn’t yet open but we found another cycle friendly place for dinner just 5 minutes walk from the hotel, the Hotel Edelweiss. This was probably one of the best meals we had all week.

Unfortunately there was no evening video, as it was a bit noisy in the restaurant, and once it had quietened down there was a technical issue with our camera person (lovely french wine) So here is a photo instead.

Stage 2 – Sainte-Foy to Val Cenis (Col du Glandon)

Posted on by bristolmilemonkeys in Alps, Challenges, News, Summit or Nothing - Part 1

Day 2 and our plan was to go from the hotel up to the Col d’Iseran, one of the highest paved roads in Europe at 2770m, however it was not to be as the col hadn’t re-opened after the winter as they were still clearing the snow. Unfortunately it was the most direct route to the next night’s hotel, the alternative was 80 miles along the valley floor with no categorised climbs and on main roads. Not something the Monkeys were looking forward to.

Our saviours were Peter & Judith (Craig’s in-laws) who along with Hannah were in France on holiday and spending a couple of days in the mountains with us. Plan B was formulated, we would drive to La Chambre and then they cyclists would climb the Col du Glandon (which wasn’t on our schedule) descend back down and then drive to the hotel.

So the support van was loaded with all the luggage, all the bikes and 6 of the team, while the remaining 2 hitched a lift with Peter, Judith & Hannah.

We got to La Chambre just before 11am, after unloading and getting ready it was almost 11.30 before everyone left. Brad had decided to join the support team as Glandon wasn’t part of the original plan, he had been struggling with the altitude the day before and really wanted to be able to do the col du Telegraphe on day 3.

The climb was hot, at one point getting to 35C, although some parts were shaded by trees, it didn’t seem to make much difference. The riders were even glad when there was a bit of a head wind, to help cool them down. Jason’s blood sugar levels were causing him some problems and about an hour in he called for the support van to come and get him.

Once they were out of the tree line conditions improved a little as there was a bit of cloud cover, but at that point the gradient had started to increase. It was at this point that Harry was released from domestique duties as he could no longer keep at the same speed as Nick and Mitch on the tandem. He made it to the summit before the support crew, and earnt him self his first “King of the Mountain”

Flo made it up about 14.20, followed shortly by Craig at 14.30. The sun had com back out at this point so we were able to have a lovely picnic at the top, even if it was in the car park.

After lunch it was a quick decent back to La Chambre. The riders only took about 40 mins to descend and they had to stop for a puncture. We then quickly loaded up the van, and by the time Peter, Judith and Hannah caught up with us, we were all loaded and ready to go.

There was however another hour drive to the hotel, the support van passed the time by doing our version of Carpool Karaoke, you can see the results on You Tube!!!

We got to Val Cenis at a reasonable time. We were staying at the hotel Alpazur, who let us use their storage room, for all the bikes and the kit. Giving us the opportunity to remove everything from the van and sort everything out for the next day.

Craig and Mitch even found a climbing wall not far from the hotel.

After that there still plenty of time to get ready for dinner, and make our daily Facebook video.

It’s all down to the preparation

Posted on by elliebees in Alps, Challenges, Planning

So we have heard from the cyclists on how their training is going.  I thought I would give you an insight as what goes into the preparation for the support crew.

The first trip I did, I had no involvement in planning the routes or the accommodation bookings.  I finally managed to get the routes about a week before and copied them onto a road atlas with a highlighter pen.  I knew what towns we were stopping in, but I didn’t have addresses (other members of the crew did).

The second year Hannah produced a lovely book with the detailed directions and google maps, along with a highlighted road atlas and the list of campsites and their addresses.  Absolutely brilliant if you had a navigator but I didn’t.

So last time I stepped up the preparation, more for me than anyone else.  I knew I wasn’t going to have a full time navigator, so I wanted to know as much about our route as I could.

This is where Google Maps & Streetview are your friend.  Since the cycling routes have been created electronically in Strava, they can also be imported into a Google Map.  Its just then a process of dropping the little man every 10 miles or so along the route and seeing on Streeview if there is somewhere to stop for the support vehicles.  This also has the added benefit of being able to confirm that our routes are on paved roads, rather than gravel tracks.

It was then a matter of listing all the potential stopping points, the nearest village name and the distance from the start.  This gave me a cue card so I could navigate using the road signs or a standard Sat Nav using each of the villages as a waypoint.  All printed on an A4 sheet so it would be quick and easy to read.

Based on the feedback from the cyclists on previous trips,  it has been requested to try and not stop half way up or down a climb or decent.  So I also noted where these waypoints were on the elevation profile.

What I ended up with was a “Day Card”

Day 3 of our 2017 ride across the Pyrenees

Each evening we would look at next day and make decisions on where the stops and meeting points with the support vehicles would be.  These decisions were only made the day before to take into account how the riders were feeling and the weather conditions. (it is also rare that we manage to get the whole crew together before our trip starts) Since I had marked stops about every 10 miles we could also make changes during the day. The support crew could also use them as rendezvous points when they had to split up, (we referred to places by number rather than mispronounce the place names).

Each support vehicle got a copy and the cyclists each got a pocket size version with everyone’s mobile numbers on the back.  This could also be used as a backup if their cycling Sat Nav failed.  It also stopped some of the questions on how much further somewhere was.

This year it is proving slightly easier, as I have found that “Ride with GPS” cycle mapping website will let you go into Google Streetview straight from the app rather than switching between Strava and Google Maps.  However I think this year we might need to plan some of our stops in advance this year to accommodate Flo’s  refusal to go downhill.

~ Eloise

We are all booked for the Alps

Posted on by elliebees in Alps, Challenges, News, Planning

So we are all booked for our Alpine challenge. Transport, ferries and accommodation all sorted.

A massive thanks to Hannah for sorting out our transport options. Flo was being a pain and wanted a lot of space in the van, as she has refused to go down hill in the Alps and wants to be transported in style.

Once we had our transport options sorted, we could book the ferry crossings. Its going to be a early start from Bristol (or really late depending on how you look at it) and our total travel time is going to 16 – 17 hours down to our starting point in the French Alps .

There are plenty of companies that offer Alpine cycling tours but since we are self funded keeping costs down is important to us. By designing the challenge and booking the separate elements ourselves and taking our own support we have probably saved about 40 – 50% on an organised tour.

Check out the other posts about planning our Alpine challenge.