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.