Our Most Epic Ride Ever

[Grog]

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.

[maillotpois]

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!

[indysteel]

Wow! That's fantastic. Thanks for sharing, although I'm completely green with envy.

[Biciclista]

great shot. all that is missing is something vertical! you look happy, such beautiful scenery!

[divingbiker]

I'm impressed, both with you for making it up that hill and with the gorgeous scenery.

[Grog]

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!

We arrived from the Col du Lautaret (i.e. from the north I think).

What a great ride!

[salsabike]

Grog, when was this? Fabulous picture!

[channlluv]

wow, that's beautiful...what grade is that? Holy cow. My quads are burning just looking at it.

Roxy

[bmccasland]

wow, that's beautiful...what grade is that? Holy cow. My quads are burning just looking at it.

Roxy

And lungs, my lungs are screaming for AIR - and they are currently attached to the rest of my body at sea level.

That does look like a lot of fun! Thanks for making us green with envy Grog.

[aka_kim]

Great shot! I hope your most epic ride ever was part of an epic cycling vacation (and you'll share the details too ).

[shootingstar]

Holy cow. My quads are burning just looking at it.

Roxy

+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.

[maillotpois]

We arrived from the Col du Lautaret (i.e. from the north I think).

What a great ride!

yeah I dont know if that's north or south, but it is how we did it, too. from briancon, basically. cool!

[Grog]

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.