Cycle Hame Tour de France Alps week 2013

I mentioned in the last blog post a week ago that Anne, Aiden and I would be coming back to Scotland. Well that is exactly what we did arriving here last Wednesday evening. We were met at Edinburgh airport by Anne's parents, the weather was excellent with mild temperatures and clear skies. Since then however it has not been great, and for various reasons including the weather I have only managed to get out on the bike once. I did get kitted up to ride this afternoon but changed my mind as I watched the weather close in just as I was about to set off. No cycling does of course mean that we are managing to get a few jobs done, a good thing as our Winter season gets closer. We are also managing to gain about a kilo a day in weight, not such a good thing as our Winter season gets closer.  

The big news at the start of last week was all about drug use in the peleton and the fall from grace of Lance Armstrong, and unfortunately that stole some of the glamour from the 2013 Tour de France presentation. This week there is a bit of a shift as the TdF route for next year is analysed, it does look as though it could be a good course. Some people are complaining about the omission of the Col du Galibier and Col du Tourmalet from the centenary of the Tour de France, 2 classic climbs of the race. 

Personally I like the course, it seems well balanced and it might be difficult to choose a clear favourite for this one. I think the highlights for me are 

-The first 3 stages to be held on Corsica, the first time the Tour has been held there

-A time trial finishing on Mont St Michel is very cool

-A stage finish on Mt Ventoux, always a spectacle

-A stage that ends with a double ascent of Alpe d'Huez, slightly bonkers but we plan to be there

-Stage 19 is a long mountain stage taking in some of our own regular climbs

-Stage 20 will start in Annecy and finish on a climb not far from Annecy

-The final stage into Paris will be a night finish.

We plan to visit 3 stages on our Tour de France Alps Week including the stage that finishes on Alpe d'Huez, stage 19 when it comes over the Col de la Madeleine, and the Annecy stage. 

Here is a picture taken this year of some of the riders climbing the Col de la Madeleine, next year the race we be going in the opposite direction.

So I think this is a course we will look forward to, and to think there are only another 9 months to wait ...

2012 road bike season done

The last of our 2012 Summer cyclists left on the weekend.

In the end there were only 2 guests for the final trip of the season but we had a great week. There was rain on 2 mornings otherwise we enjoyed superb weather, the mornings were cool and daytime temperatures in the mid 20's.

Simon arrived on the Saturday and we were able to ride up to the Valmorel ski area then back up to Meribel. This is not a road we would normally use but Simon stayed with us in 2011 and it was nice to show him a route he hasn't been on before. In the afternoon I picked up Andrew from Geneva airport.

We got to ride a number of our classic climbs including Col de la Madeleine, Cormet de Roselend and Col du Petit St Bernard.

Ben and Simon climbing the Madeline with Mont Blanc in the background.

'Due caffee machiatto per favore'. Coffee stop in Italy at the top of the Petit St Bernard. The cans of coke are a different shape, why is that? 

The highlight of the week for Simon and Andrew was the ride from the Maurienne Valley  over the Col de Telegraph, Col du Galibier before the final climb up Alpe d'Huez. Despite it being less than 100km in distance this is a big day on a bike with over 3000m height gain across the 3 climbs. Both Andrew and Simon were able to ride well for the whole day and finished strong on Alpe d'Huez. I also had local rider Ben helping us for the day and he had a ride managing the climb up the Alpe in under 56mins. On Alpe d'Huez you can choose between the Tourist arrival or continue on the established Tour de France finish, Ben's time was to the TdF finish, not bad after having climbed the Galibier already
.

Is that Bradley Wiggins at the top of the Galibier?

Top of Alpe d'Huez - chapeau.

So that is the 2012 season over for Cycle Hame. We are working on our 2013 trips, we have posted details for the Tour de France Alps week and the Marmotte sportive week and have already taken bookings for both of these trips. Keep an eye on our 2013 Calendar as we will be adding more dates over the next few weeks.