Twice before I had been to Alpe D’Huez and each time there had been an enormous thunderstorm and torrential rain that made scaling the Alpe a no no. The omens were not good as we approached Grenoble, gateway to the Oissons valley, the sky becoming darker by the minute.
We had spent a very pleasant overnight stop at Vaux sur Auxois and after a splendid dinner with a bottle of Cotes de Ventoux (for the climbing you understand) in a converted butcher’s shop, were resolved to conquer the Alpe whatever the weather.
!3.8 kms of climbing and a rise of 1100 metres with 22 bends was in prospect but all you have to do is imagine you are Marco Pantani, it says in the hand book.
The next morning dawned bright and sunny and it was already 23 degrees in the valley as we set off at half past eight. No going back now. I wanted a few miles warm up before starting the climb but my companion John was anxious to get on with the business and started up the climb before me. “I’ll wait at the fifth band” he shouted as I started around the warm up lap. He never did.
People kept telling me that the first four bends were the worst, so I had fitted a 27 sprocket for emergencies, and as I crossed the bridge and took the first bend of twenty two I put it in bottom gear and stayed in it all the way to the top! At slow speed the climb is more relentless than hard, but fortunately the bends are numbered in descending order so you know how many more are to be done. Also, each bend has the name of a stage winner on the Alpe written on a sign, but the signs are rather small, or my eyes were stinging with sweat, so I couldn’t read many of them.
Then your memory starts to play tricks. Was that bend twelve I just passed, or was it hopefully eleven? Anyway, the only way is up so just keep plodding away at a regular tempo, reading the names of the cycling champions painted on the road as you go, and eventually you reach the top and the finish banner across the road. Cross the line, throw your hands up in the air and pretend! Then look at your computer and see the time. Pantani did it in 38 minutes, I took nearly twice as long but I was only on sugared minted water.
However, job done and after several cokes and coffees, now for the exciting bit. Descending back down in a group of a dozen or so Belgians full of Stella was hair raising to say the least but we all arrived safely back at Bourg D’Oissans for a celebratory pizza.
After a few more days riding some minor (1400m) cols in the Vercors region, we returned home satiated with mountaineering for a bit. Next week we are off to the Semaine Federale at Verdun although the omens are not good – there is a very large ossuary there, but that’s another very sad story.
Anyone fancy a trip next year?
Alan Else
July 2010
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