Tue, 10 August 2021
Vertical Climbed: 1,098 meters (3,603 feet)
Vertical Descended: 18 meters
Official Route
From Bourg d'Oisans to l'Alpe d'Huez.
21 hair pins. 13.2km. Start at 744m, Summit 1815m. Average gradient
8.1%, sections of 12% over 100 meters. At the T junction for l'Alpe
d'Huez take the left to continue through the village, under the ski
bridge then first right to the Bergers roundabout and left to the finish
below the DMC left.
Road quality: cracked in places, especially the final hairpins.
Trip Report
At the
start there were a couple of guys on skikes - off road rollerskis with
fat tires. They were going to double pole all the way to the top. I was
on classic skis as was French Team Member and local club skier Thaïs
Barthélémy but her friend had opted for skate skis.
Skate skis are generally faster but uphill require a lot of strength.
With classic skis if you get tired you can fall back to a kind of
"skimo" rhythm using the ratchet to stop yourself going backwards.
The
skike twins were already out of the gate. I was a few minutes behind
and Thaïs and friend were still getting prepared. Joining us were some
1250 cyclists. There was no fixed depart, ideal under Covid conditions.
Instead the road was closed at 9 and it was up to cyclists to decide
when they'd begin their climb, some people rode up from Grenoble and got
on the climb at 10.
The first part of the climb to the hamlet
and cafe at la Garde is steep. I slowly gained on the skike boys and
caught them at la Garde but in turn was caught by Thaïs and friend who
looked well within their comfort zones. The road flattened, I skied
behind the two skikes up to Ribot were I stopped for water. A bit of a
palava as my botted was in my rucksack. A camel back would have been a
good idea and I envied the cyclists who were just reaching for their
bottles mounted on the downtube... well not the guy who fumbled his only
to see it disappear over cliffs to much cursing. The section to Huez
village was pleasant although by now the sun was beginning to beat down.
At Huez, or rather Dutch corner, I sought aid from the first aid team
for a blister that had developed on my heel and took the chance to drink
and have a gel. Climbing up through Huez from Dutch Corner was longer
than I remembered and I reached the crossroads below Huez at around
10h30.
It is joked that l'Alpe d'Huez is Holland's highest
mountain and the Dutch were certainly dominant on stages in the Tour de France's
of the 70s and 80s with wins by Joop Zoetemelk, Hennie Kuiper, Peter
Winnen, and last but not least Gert-Jan Theunisse. The
Dutch have retained a special affection for l'Alpe and today was no
exception: old, young, kids, male, female, race bikes, shopping bikes,
e-bikes all were on the climb. A couple of Dutch guys at the finish said
it was the hardest thing they'd ever done in their lives. For them the
myth is real.
The final bends looked as intimidating as ever and I
began to catch cyclists, some of whom had got off to walk. The road was
a bit rough from here which slowed me down, I climbed in the center to
find the best tarmac - ideal with the closed roads. Finally the last
hairpin, #1, I didn't even see who it is dedicated to, Coppi maybe? No,
il campionissimo watches over hairpin 21 that greets you on the climb. I
rounded the bend and could see the church, not too far off but the
gradient ramped up again into the village. Then finally a big group of
non-Covid compliant cyclists blocking the road, high fiving, talking of
their climb, getting refreshments provided by the organizers. I grabbed a
musette but made my through and along to les Bergers to wait for the
bus down.
On the way down I noticed the two skike boys, they had
brakes mounted to their rollerskis and were hooning down the mountain as
fast as our bus. Back in the day the bus would have to back up and
negotiate each hairpin with a 3 or 5 point turn, 7 points if it was
really tight. Now the driver just has to wait for the road to clear. The
bends were widened and surfaced back in the pre war period by Joseph
Paganon who dreamt of linking l'Alpe d'Huez through to Laval close to
Grenoble with a road that would cross the Pas de la Coche above
Allemont. The second leg was never completed, the road to nowhere stops
in the Belledonne mountains 3km short of the pass.
https://www.facebook.com/bikeOisans
