Thursday, July 22, 2004
Thursday, July 22 - STAGE 17 - Col de la Madeline
RIDE PROFILE : Saint Jean de Maurienne (600m) to La Bathie (1000m) Ride 80 km. mountain terrain climb to Col de la Madaleine (2000m) Ride along the Maurienne valley to get our legs warmed up for a challenging 19.5km climb, with 1527m elevation gain, to the Col de la Madaleine (2000m) Watch the Tour at Col de la Madeleine, the 'sommet' of the 2004 Tour
THE DAY:
This was a reality day for me. The reality was that based on my speed and the incline, I wasn't going to be very successful in climbing the Col de la Madeline. With a 19.5km of climbing and less than 4 hours until the Tour arrived at the summit, I had to make a decision that I never thought I might. Today I would not ride and Jim would .. One of us had to make it to the summit of Col de la Madeline!
I spent the morning in the van with Enriquo, Leighton, Layola and her husband. Enriquo decided we were going to make a “run” for Madeline in the vans. The worse that could happen is that the Gendarmes would stop us, either way we would see the Tour pass by. We made it about 8k from the summit before the Gendarmes told Enriquo to park the van, we could go no further. The road on the summit to Madeline was covered with cars, campers, thousands of fans and cyclist all there to watch the Tour. With 2.5 hours until the caravan arrived, I decided that I would get out and walk toward the summit. The Gendarmes were still letting cyclist and walkers up the mountain.
I walked about 3K and ran into the other tour guide, Gabe. Since Gabe was situated on a perfect spot at a switchback just before the 5K banner, I decided I would stay with him for the day. We had a great time screaming ici ici (translated: here here) at the Caravan girls and got some awesome pictures of the riders as they came through.
After the riders came through, the Gendarmes opened and the road again and I travelled with Gabe to the regroup point where we would take a bus to our hotel for the night at Chateau de Bogis near Lake Leman. The 2 hour bus ride took 4 hours due to traffic but it was better tha being stuck in the heat.
Dinner was at the Chateau de Bogis where we were spending the night. The hotel decor was what I called classic IKEA. Yeah I know …. When it come to decorating styles, I'm just a clueless American. It was a beautiful stay and we had thunderstorms that night .. the sound of falling rain gave Jim and I our best nights sleep since we had left the 4-star splendour of Annecy 5 days before.
THE DAY:
This was a reality day for me. The reality was that based on my speed and the incline, I wasn't going to be very successful in climbing the Col de la Madeline. With a 19.5km of climbing and less than 4 hours until the Tour arrived at the summit, I had to make a decision that I never thought I might. Today I would not ride and Jim would .. One of us had to make it to the summit of Col de la Madeline!
I spent the morning in the van with Enriquo, Leighton, Layola and her husband. Enriquo decided we were going to make a “run” for Madeline in the vans. The worse that could happen is that the Gendarmes would stop us, either way we would see the Tour pass by. We made it about 8k from the summit before the Gendarmes told Enriquo to park the van, we could go no further. The road on the summit to Madeline was covered with cars, campers, thousands of fans and cyclist all there to watch the Tour. With 2.5 hours until the caravan arrived, I decided that I would get out and walk toward the summit. The Gendarmes were still letting cyclist and walkers up the mountain.
I walked about 3K and ran into the other tour guide, Gabe. Since Gabe was situated on a perfect spot at a switchback just before the 5K banner, I decided I would stay with him for the day. We had a great time screaming ici ici (translated: here here) at the Caravan girls and got some awesome pictures of the riders as they came through.
After the riders came through, the Gendarmes opened and the road again and I travelled with Gabe to the regroup point where we would take a bus to our hotel for the night at Chateau de Bogis near Lake Leman. The 2 hour bus ride took 4 hours due to traffic but it was better tha being stuck in the heat.
Dinner was at the Chateau de Bogis where we were spending the night. The hotel decor was what I called classic IKEA. Yeah I know …. When it come to decorating styles, I'm just a clueless American. It was a beautiful stay and we had thunderstorms that night .. the sound of falling rain gave Jim and I our best nights sleep since we had left the 4-star splendour of Annecy 5 days before.
# posted by Holly : 12:44 PM
