Big Cols 1 Trip Report, 13th - 20th June 2009
June the 13th saw the first of 3 Big Cols Weeks in 2009. The guests; Ciaran, Chris, Ossie, Conor and Norman and Conor (our resident Grimpe!!) had a great week and put some serious k's in. The height of the week was the day they climbed the Telegraph, Galibier and Alpe d'Huez, half of the infamous Marmotte Sportive route. It was Max's birthday too and we are all there to cheer the guys on and get them to that podium in Alpe d'Huez.......
Check out the photos on our gallery.
During the week, the guys clocked up around 600km. Here’s an outline of the week…
Sunday; Meribel – Faverges – Meribel: The first day of riding, the team left Meribel and headed towards Annecy to climb the Col de Tamie. The group descended into Faverges, which today is the start town of the final stage of Le Dauphine Libere 2009, and had the opportunity to mingle with some Tour de France contenders as they waited for the stage to begin. A spin back to the foot of the Meribel climb and that final effort back to the chalet for some well earned pasta & cake!!
Monday; Prolagnan – Champagny – Courchevel: Some great local shorter climbs in and around the Vanoise National Park to build up those legs and stamina for later in the week. Beautiful scenery…..
Tuesday; Moutiers – Cormet de Roseland – Bourg St Maurice – Moutiers: Taking this Col in from the opposite direction of the TDF 2009, the gradient starts from Albertville, really kicking in at Beaufort, but the views at the top of this 1968 m climb were well worth it! And all the guys gave it their all and got the customary “picture under the sign” photo….above.
Wednesday; Moutiers – Albertville – Moutiers: Today saw the guys get a well deserved spin along the valley floor to give everyone’s legs a bit of chill time before the last two full-on days. There was plenty of time for the very long lunch they had en-route…..4 courses were put down apparently, but that will all get burnt off tomorrow. An early night and dreams of tomorrow…..
Thursday; St Michael de Maurienne – Cole de Telegraph – Cole de Galibier – Bourg d’Oisans – Alpe d’Huez (yep, the big one!!): The one everyone was here for……after being dropped 10 km from the foot of the Telegraph, allowing everyone to spin to the first climb. After the 12km ascent and a regroup for some food, it was time to tackle the Galibier. At a height of 2642 meters, the views were worth the 18km of effort, as everyone chilled for a while with the support crew, ate more pasta and sang Max “happy birthday”. After a team descent to the foot of Alped’Huez, it was time to finish it off. Conor, Ossie, Chris, Nigel and Ciaran attacked those 21 bends, along with the alpcycles.com team and we got some great pics on the podium in our gallery then dinner on the mountain. What a team and loving those jerseys. Well done guys!!!!!
Friday; Meribel – Col de Madeleine: Never let it be said that these guys would give in until the end. The final day was spent attacking the Col de la Madeleine, a local 27km climb that is a real challenge. Although the final section kicks in hard, but on a clear day you can see over to Mont Blanc, so the views were well worth it and it was a great climb to round the week off with (some of the guys actually said that!).
A great week was had by all and we can’t wait to see you guys again………..
