So who doesn't dream of one day riding their bike up Alpe d'Huez? Certainly the most famous cycling climb in the world, made so by so many stages of Tour de France. Not the most difficult climb, although not easy Alpe d'Huez is about 9 miles long, with 7.9% average grade and is famous for its 21 switch backs.
The Dutch for some reason have claimed ownership of Alpe d'Huez. They are known to arrive several days before stages during the Tour de France, park there caravans and wait for the action. Their presence is quite well documented, as almost 100% of writing on the road is Dutch. At the top one Dutch person had written a proposal to another. Note, much to his mother's disappointment, Jeff did not propose to me here (either).
My ride plan was to trudge along until I got to the top.
As you probably realize the Netherlands is very, very flat. I think that is why Dutch use bicycles as their primary mode of transportation. When there are not even slight inclines, you can easily commute by bicycle without worry of breaking a sweat.
This does not make an ideal training location for a climb up Alpe d'Huez. My best option for training was weekend trips to Valkenburg and Luxembourg. Because we had a very full schedule this summer and early Fall, training didn't begin until October, but that wasn't a problem because Alpe d'Huez can be climbed almost any time during the year (I know this because I did my research.)
This does not make an ideal training location for a climb up Alpe d'Huez. My best option for training was weekend trips to Valkenburg and Luxembourg. Because we had a very full schedule this summer and early Fall, training didn't begin until October, but that wasn't a problem because Alpe d'Huez can be climbed almost any time during the year (I know this because I did my research.)
The weather forecast for the weekend I climbed Alpe d'Huez was low 40s and sunny. The low 40s is generally a little cold to cycle, but for riding 6 mph up a mountain, it was about perfect. We stayed at the next mountain over, Le deux Alpes and it snowed about 6 inches the night before I was supposed to ride up Alpe d'huez. During my ride it was in the 20s and snowing. I was very cold by the time I got to the top. There can be 1000 riders a day going up Alpe d'Huez in the summer. I am sure I was the only one on this day.
So you would think getting to the official cycling summit of Alpe d'Huez would be very straight forward. However the top is a ski resort and the finish is actually downhill from the highest point on the ride. Fortunately Emily befriended this older French gentleman, who really didn't understand what this crazy woman was asking him. That is until he saw me struggling up the hill. For some reason the idea of someone riding up Alpe d'Huez on this particular day didn't make sense. He hopped in the car with Emily and guided her to the finish - I followed. My "official" time was 1 hour and 30 minutes, roughly 6 mph. Incredibly slow, but the point was to get up to the top, not set any records.
THE RECORDS
1. Marco Pantani 37"35'
(Marco tragically died from a drug overdose several months after being caught doping. He felt unfairly singled out by doping authorities. He claimed everyone was doping)
2. Lance Armstrong
(We know his story now)
3. Pantani
4. Armstrong
5. Pantani
6. Jan Ullrich
(2nd to Lance in the Tour several times. His German fans were furious at him when he was caught doping.)
7. Floyd Landis
(3rd American to win the Tour de France and first to have his win taken away when steroids were found in his blood samples.)
8. Andreas Kloeden
(accused of doping in 2006)
9. Ullrich
10. Richard Virenque
(admitted doping)
I could go on like this for some time. My point is, that I may actually have the fasted non-doped accent of Alpe d'Huez.
Here is a view from our hotel in Le deux Alpes. My only regret about this weekend is that I didn't bring our skies.
