I climbed the col de L'Isaren today (Thur). 100 km in 4.5 hours, which is relatively slow but it was a really hard climb (about 30-35 km of non-stop uphill from where I started) and very steep and long. The descent was nuts. I road solo from Aussois to the col but I descended with a French guy that was also riding alone and we BOMBED down it. I didn't have a computer on my bike so I am not sure exactly how fast we went down but it was a VERY rapid descent. The thing that is unfortunate is that there are tons of motorcyclists that go touring and these people drive like crazy which makes it a little unsafe. Not to mention the three porsche's that flew by us as we were descending (the narrow road) going fast.
The tour crossed this col a few years ago. What blows me away is that on a typical day of climbing the pros will do two or three climbs like this in a row and at a much faster pace. I could never be a cyclist. You have to be so incredibly strong mentally to do this sort of thing. Good thing I am in academics.
There was snow on the summit (see photo) and it was very cold. I also didn't pack enough food and water (in part b/c I only had one bottle holder on the bike) and so by the time I returned, I was hypoglycemic and shaking and exhausted. I drank two cups of hot chocolate, two cups of instant soup, took a shower, and then a 1.5 hr nap. Now I feel terrific.
One funny thing happened to me. As I was nearing the summit and barely had any energy left (apparently not enough to smile in the photo) a trailer drove past me (coming toward me) and the guy driving was pumping his fist up and down like crazy yelling 'alle alle'. His window was up but it was loud enough I could hear it. That gave me some energy. The French have a passion for bicycles. I guess if you have beautiful mountains like these, and want to explore them all, a bicycle is a convenient way to do it. Probably even more so back in the day when cars were not as common and then the passion/culture stuck with them.
The second photo was about 1/10 of the way up. You can see where the road goes up between the peaks and then it disappears. It just keeps winding up. It is hard to get a perspective of the length scale from a photo. The peak is actually behind the center peak and to the left and back a bit (and is taller than the central peak in the photo).
I was going to climb again tomorrow on the col de madeleine (which is what I had planned for today before changing plans) but the weather is supposed to be rain. And it is hard enough without having to contend with poor weather. Instead I will spend a few hours in Geneva on my way to the airport looking for fun little gifts for the kids.
POSTSCRIPT--THe weather this morning was rainy and there was no chance to ride so I washed clothes and drove to the airport. On the way it got sunny but there wasn't enough time.
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