Sponsor Ciaran Doran at : https://mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/ciarandoranbeforethetour
It’s 06:45 and the bus has pulled out of the hotel car park for the 90 minute journey to the start line at Dignes Les Bains in the Alps. As the sun rises I can’t even see the mountains we are so far away. Our hotel was very near Aix en Provence which is indeed a distance from the Alps and I thought we must be unusual to be staying there until I saw a number of proper tour team cars pull in late last night – it seems hotels are booked for a 100km radius of start and finish towns from the moment these locations are announces in October the year before. In fact there is a website forum dedicated to Tour de France Rumours in order that people get to work out where he start/finish towns are so they can book accommodation early.
I’m quite nervous about today and tomorrow as the weather seems to be still predicting high temperatures, although a thunderstorm is also predicted for later today near our destination. That would be both a blessing and a curse. Temperatures may lower but descending an alpine mountain with hairpin bends in the rain is not desirable.
Following a good days rest everyone seems in good health if not in joyous spirits – the exhaustion of the last week combined with try knowledge of what we’re about to embark on seems to be keeping everyone quiet on the bus for the moment. I wonder what it will be like on Friday night as we head to Paris.
I’ve developed “white finger” in the last two fingers of my right hand. It’s the sort of thing road workers get when using pneumatic drilling machines to break up road surfaces. I’ve got it through the simple continuous vibrations of the road through the handlebars. I had heard a long time ago that it was more prevalent on carbon fibre bikes since the carbon doesn’t absorb the vibrations too well and it’s a very stiff material. However, on my Lands End to John O’Groats trips I developed this earlier than now and it takes about six weeks to disappear after I finish the ride.
Today’s start began right at the 0km mark which was a few km outside Dignes Les Bains and took us through some lovely countryside with ups and downs and before we knew it we had eaten up the Col de Legues and Col de Toutes Aures, both category 3 climbs. We enjoyed the small descents towards one of the main climbs of the day which we would complete before lunch, the Col de la Colle Saint Michel. All of these climbs were very gradual and nothing seemed sudden. The Alps are quite enjoyable to climb by bike and very unlike the Pyrenees which seem to shift gradient many times in the same climb – I guess I’ve gone on a lot about the difference in the nature of the mountain ranges. The Alps are stunning, though, and the countryside has a special beauty but the pyrenees seem more homely and you get the impression of being closer to the people in those mountains.
Lunch was a nice small steak and mash potatoes – before I realised it, the damage was done. Steak lay in my stomach for the rest of the day and I’m guessing my blood supply spent as much time there processing the steak as it did in my legs to help push my muscles up the hill, hmmm, mountain. Interesting how we now perceive some of the mountain categorised climbs as “hills”.
The penultimate climb of the day was the Col d’Allos. I like to think of it really as the final climb since the actual final climb to Pra Loup was fairly standard at about 6% gradient and not too long, only about 6km. The Col d’Allos was incredible. The road was winding up the mountain a little like a staircase. By the time we got close to the summit, approx. 4km from the top, the heavens opened and with wonderful thunder and lightening we got rain like I’ve not seen in a long time. Soaked through and with a grin from ear to ear, as this was heaven to me, I plundered on to the top and over the summit. Usually we would regroup at the top since this was a long climb but due to the cold weather and wet clothes several riders had already proceeded to descend the rather treatcherous downhill on the other side of the Col. Braking in this rain is tough on such a steep descent but with the help of the Specialized bikes we got from Banjo Cycles in Newbury with disc brakes the braking was much easier. And you know what happens when braking is easier, yes you go much faster. So the descent was something to enjoy for me rather than fear. Caliper rim brakes would have, and did for some, make this descent fearful and something people will remember as the worst part of the ride today. I have to admit that I very much enjoyed today’s ride and I sang myself all the way down to Pra Loup with some childhood car songs : Kris Kristofferson’s Me & Bobby McGee – sorry, but singing at the top of my voice kept me warm somehow and warned others that I was coming their way. Brilliant as they are I couldn’t wear my SwissEye shades as the rain was too hard and with the humid warmth the insides kept steaming up, that’s a problem with every pair of glasses though.
Down in the valley it started to warm up but the rain persisted. The route to Pra Loup was well singposted with about 25 little yellow and black arrows all pointing left so you wouldn’t miss the turning – missing that turn would mean a 40km descent further into the valley.
Pra Loup was a straightforward climb of about 6km to the ski resort which was very much like any ski resort. Finally arriving at the ski resort I was signalled to the van only to realise the finish was a further 500m up the road ! I couldn’t have finished at the van simply because it was there so I circled round again and belted up the hill to the finish where a few gendarmes were quite alarmed that someone had proceeded past them to the line. Hands in the air over the line, for the joy of absolutely nobody but me as the place was deserted, made me satisfied. Day done, back into the van and off for the long journey to the hotel near Aix en Provence. Yes, this was the nearest hotel we could get and as I mentioned in previous posts, hotels are booked a year in advance for nearly 100km radius.
While Aix en Provence is a long way south of the Alps one real benefit is that it is very warm – hopefully shoes and kit will have dried by the morning.
Tomorrow is a big day. Probably the toughest day of the whole Tour de France, Stage 18 consists of 7 categorised climbs including the infamous Col du Glandon. Look out for the blog after tomorrow since if we complete this stage then we will have cracked the Tour de France One Day Ahead for 2015.
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