What a great picture!! Which side did you climb from? We did that when we did a bike tour in 2003. It is such a wonderful place to ride!
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This is a picture of us that was taken near the top of the Galibier pass in the French Alps.
I am very pleased with the photo, which was taken by a professional photographer sitting on the side of the road waiting for cyclists to go by (just like at running races). It makes me live all of those fantastic cycling days again, and I thought I'd share it with my favourite women cyclists. I'm going to get a big poster printed for our living room I think.
What a great picture!! Which side did you climb from? We did that when we did a bike tour in 2003. It is such a wonderful place to ride!
Sarah
When it's easy, ride hard; when it's hard, ride easy.
2011 Volagi Liscio
2010 Pegoretti Love #3 "Manovelo"
2011 Mercian Vincitore Special
2003 Eddy Merckx Team SC - stolen
2001 Colnago Ovalmaster Stars and Stripes
Wow! That's fantastic. Thanks for sharing, although I'm completely green with envy.
Live with intention. Walk to the edge. Listen hard. Practice wellness. Play with abandon. Laugh. Choose with no regret. Continue to learn. Appreciate your friends. Do what you love. Live as if this is all there is.
--Mary Anne Radmacher
great shot. all that is missing is something vertical! you look happy, such beautiful scenery!
I like Bikes - Mimi
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I'm impressed, both with you for making it up that hill and with the gorgeous scenery.
Grog, when was this? Fabulous picture!
"My predominant feeling is one of gratitude. I have loved and been loved;I have been given much and I have given something in return...Above all, I have been a sentient being, a thinking animal, on this beautiful planet, and that in itself has been an enormous privilege and an adventure." O. Sacks
wow, that's beautiful...what grade is that? Holy cow. My quads are burning just looking at it.
Roxy
Getting in touch with my inner try-athlete.
Great shot! I hope your most epic ride ever was part of an epic cycling vacation (and you'll share the details too ).
+1
Were you smiling the whole time up the grade? What a fabulous shot.
One day you'll look at this photo down the road (no pun intended) and wonder in awe: Was I ever that strong??
How many hrs. was this ride during the day of the pic? You have to answer our questions, on % of grade.
My Personal blog on cycling & other favourite passions.
遙知馬力日久見人心 Over a long distance, you learn about the strength of your horse; over a long period of time, you get to know what’s in a person’s heart.
Sarah
When it's easy, ride hard; when it's hard, ride easy.
2011 Volagi Liscio
2010 Pegoretti Love #3 "Manovelo"
2011 Mercian Vincitore Special
2003 Eddy Merckx Team SC - stolen
2001 Colnago Ovalmaster Stars and Stripes
I think the photographers exaggerate the angle when they take that picture, but it was around 8% in that area.
We actually arrived from Allemond, maybe 10-15 km east of Bourg d'Oisans (so on the road to Grenoble). That was an unbelievable ride: basically it's uphill for 50 km to the Col du Lautaret, something like 5-6% the whole time, and then there's the final 8 km portion at 8-9% to the very top of the pass, with crazy winds. A gust almost threw me off the road (and into the void! ) when I reach the top. Not exceptionally steep (unlike Ventoux), just really, really long.
Going up was tough but actually quite nice, except for the fact that my husband did not notice that it was uphill until we reached the Lautaret. (He's quite the climber.) He was wondering why I was so slow. At Lautaret we were thankful to find a giftshop selling fleece gloves because we were freezing already (and that's in late June, going up a big hill).
The descent was painful. I am quite the descender (unlike my husband, ironically, who finally agreed that it was steeper than he thought on the way there). But downhilling for almost 60 km on a serpentine road is very tiring, and we got even colder. My shoulders were mush when I arrived at our cabin... but my husband took another shot at the Alpe d'Huez before dinner.
It was a great vacation indeed. We like to climb so we did Ventoux, Galibier, Croix-de-Fer and Alpe d'Huez over the course of a week, and rode on beautiful roads of Provence too. Lucky people we are to be healthy enough to do that.