The Marmotte I am home, having survived the Marmotte with nothing worse than a bit of sunburn since, in the rush to get to the start line at 6:30 a.m., I forgot to put on lotion. Our hotel atop l’Alpe d’Huez had a fantastic view of the mountains, but it was a cold descent getting down from there in the early morning to the start line at Bourg d’Oisans, 3000 vertical feet below. We lined up with 6000 other riders and started off at 7:30. Apart from having two flats (front and rear!) on the 1st climb, the ride went off pretty much as I had planned. Like last year, I suffered greatly on the Galibier, whose combined steepness, length and altitude qualify it as the hardest climb in Europe. Of course we had to two it with two monster climbs already “dans les pattes”, which didn’t help. This is the climb where you see fit-looking young guys with expensive bikes and shaved legs walking their bikes up the hill or seated on the ground with vapid stares. We reached the summit at 3:00 in the afternoon, after 7 ½ hours on the bike. The descent from Galibier is a high speed 30-mile slalom, 6500 vertical feet down back to the start line, which isn’t the finish line because there’s still the Alp d’Huez to be climbed. The foot of the Alp d’Huez is where we gave up last year. You can get a look at it on July 21st because it’s the where the first of two individual Tour time trial stages will be held this year. Another mythic climb of cycling legend, Huez’s switchbacks are numbered from 21 (at the bottom) to 1, so climbing it is a countdown from 21. It’s steep as hell, relentlessly so (the first 4 hairpins are graded at about 11%), and the switchbacks seem miles apart, although the whole thing is “only” 8 miles long. Climbing it is a trial of willpower. Alain and I climbed it at an average of 6 mph, good enough to pass everyone still on the mountain (the elite riders were long gone by then). On the way up I was watching the clock. By my calculations we were on our way to a silver certificate, not just the bronze we would get for finishing, and I wanted it. An hour after starting the climb, at about switchback number 4, the village no longer looked impossibly perched, and I started believing we would actually finish. On entering the village, at the point where the road flattens out somewhat, I became euphoric and started hammering towards the finish line, crossing it 10 hours and 45 minutes after leaving the start line. I don’t know whether I was more thrilled by the silver (the certificate times take age into account) or relieved at finally having the Marmotte behind me. The overall race winner, just to put things in perspective, did it in 6:07. Last year’s winner now rides for the Rabobank pro team…
  ¶ 4:35 PM