Friday 20th July 2018 - Stage 14 - Saint-Paul-Trois-Châteaux - Mende

Breakfast at 7am is not really worth mentioning as it consisted only of a croissant, pastry, glass of orange juice and coffee. Luckily we supplemented this with team supplied rolled oats.

By 8:30am we were on the road under cloudy skies. There were some odd drops of early rain but this cleared.

Scenery was gorges, rocks and rolling country which lead to the first climb to 81km and the first feed station.

Climbing the next col for the day, I steamed straight through the 2nd feed stop after one rider had pushed the pace on the lower slopes. Rolling down the other side, I passed a donkey at a cafe. As it was downhill, I did not stop for a photo.

I waited at the top of the last col for the support staff to catch up as I needed food and water. A rain storm was brewing and I was keen to stay ahead of it and set off as soon as fed and watered. Heavy rain drops fell as I set off but I managed to out ride the storm. Other riders were not so lucky and got soaked and hailed on.

Riding on solo, it was largely downhill to Mende and the usual town traffic. A short ride through town then turned up a very steep 3km hill to the Mende airport and finish line. I rode the runway as it was closed and set up for the Tour de France finish.

Another day in the saddle saw 189.2km ridden in 7hrs 33m with 3,021m of climbing.

 

Once all riders had arrived, we packed up for the drive to the hotel which we reached at 7:15pm for a 7:30pm dinner. This was a set menu in a high class restaurant (with a Michelin one star restaurant one part of the same building.) Food was again good but with small portions. They served an interesting potato mash with cheese which was very stringy but tasty.

A video is available at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cQtJxaMxrSM

Thursday 19th July 2018 - Stage 13 - Bourg d'Oisans - Valence

After last night's late arrival, we had breakfast at 8am at the hotel. This was good with bread, cereals, pastries, orange juice etc and again a nice hot chocolate.

Cycling was delayed due to choice, logistics (one van was taking a support crew member to the station to go home) and heavy traffic due to the Tour de France proper. We were finally away on the bikes at 10:30am under sunny skies with a downhill and steady pace start leading to the first hill of the day.

Arriving at the first feed station at 59km, we were told the support crew had made a local working woman very unhappy as they had gate crashed her spot.

It was another hot day with the temperature on the road reaching over 35 degrees. The road was relatively flat with some downhills and it was nice to see the kilometres tick by relatively quickly compared to the days in the mountains. The 2nd feed stop was at 120km.

It was an uneventful day and we passed the women's team when they had stopped.

 I recorded 5hrs 38m of riding, 164.7km and 1,110 metres of climbing for the day.

 

We arrived at the hotel for the night at 6:30pm to find all the rooms had double beds. These separated into tiny single beds after much effort from the hotel staff. The hotel also offered to do the laundry but since we had not had any done for a while due to a lack of facilities, they may have regretted this offer when they saw the huge pile given to them. However, it was all duly done but took some time to sort out.

Dinner was again at the hotel which was a set menu with small portions but was good quality.

Wednesday 18th July 2018 - Stage 12 - Bourg-Saint-Maurice Les Arcs - Alpe d'Huez

With the 3rd day in the mountains, some riders were apprehensive of what lay ahead for the day. This was not helped with a very poor breakfast of only croissants, bread, pastries, orange juice and coffee.


With a long day in the saddle ahead, we were pedalling just after 8:05am with a slightly downhill start into a light wind. We covered 31km in the first hour before starting the first climb of the day which was the 25.3km Col de la Madeleine. By then it was hot and got hotter as we climbed. The first feed station was at the top where I waited some time for the next rider but left on the downhill just as they arrived.

The initial sign for the next climb said 16km and went through rock cliff faces on both sides of the very narrow road. About half way up, the route detoured downhill which was a bonus.

Carrying on, the next col was 29km long and it was very hot climbing it. However, there was snow on the road side near the top and we also passed a glacial looking ice block. Quite randomly, one of the riders had been talking about the TV show Allo Allo and about 4km from the top, two Frenchman were handling a painting of what appeared to be the fallen Madonna.

We regrouped after a long wait just before the final climb of the day. One rider wanted the group to ride up Alpe d'Huez together so we started this at about 5:30pm. It was slow and hard work with some riders needing assistance and one wanting to quit. After cajoling, motivation and assistance, we all made it to the top through the carnival atmosphere and cheering crowds (who were of course not there for us but for tomorrow's stage proper) at about 7:30pm. With the sun quickly falling below the mountain tops, we headed back down the mountain and passed the women's team early on their ascent. We also rode the first few kilometres of tomorrow's stage before reaching the vans at about 8:30pm.

The Garmin recorded 9hrs 43m of riding (including the group ride up and down Alpe d'Huez plus part of Thursday's stage), 204.1km and 5,085 metres of climbing although Strava is suggesting 6,322m of climbing which is over 18 Te Mata Peak climbs.

Once in the vans, we drove straight to another Flunch restaurant for dinner. We arrived at 9:23pm with them closing at 10pm. As such, choice was a little limited but the quantities plentiful so we were sated.

Arriving at the hotel at around 10:30pm, we made it to bed by 11pm. The hotel had air conditioning which was much appreciated.

As it was a late finish, tomorrow's start will be delayed.

A video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jTmy2pqZDck

Tuesday 17th July 2018 - Stage 11 - Albertville - La Rosière Espace San Bernardo

Day 2 in the Alps started with a basic breakfast of cereal, bread, pastries, ham, meat and boiled eggs.

There was some dallying by riders and we finally cycled from the hotel at 8:15am.

There was the odd rain spit early on but it was mostly fine and sunny. There were hills and cols up to around 6,000ft high which were pleasant to warm to cool at the tops.

The Tour de France arrow marking team were staying at the same place as us. They left just before us but I passed them having coffee past a lake in the middle of the ride. Thankfully they passed me back before any more turns came.

The finish line was up the top of a hill and we had to ride back down to the vans due to limited traffic access and road closures near the top.

Riding for the day was 6hrs 19m, 129.5km with 3,856 metres of climbing.

 

Accommodation for the night was an eight bed dorm room which was smaller than my bedroom so was very cramped. It had no air conditioning, very few power points and poor wi-fi so again no blog update was possible. We arrived at about 5:30pm with dinner scheduled at the hostel.

The dinner was surprisingly good off a fixed menu of three courses. The food was good and service efficient.

Monday 16th July 2018 - Stage 10 - Annecy - Le Grand-Bornand

The first day in the mountains started with breakfast at 6:30am. This was a full breakfast which included salmon, hot chocolate, eggs etc. The French coffee machines do more than a passable hot chocolate.

By 8:35am we were on the bikes. It was fine, sunny, calm and started off flattish around Lake Annecy.

After that, the features of the day were climbs, vehicle traffic and cycling traffic. Then there were more climbs and descents. The climbs were good fun.

After 7hrs 13m of riding, covering 171km with 3,801 metres of climbing, I finished the stage.

Dinner was at 7:45pm and we did not get to bed until after 9:30pm. Wi-fi was dodgy and time limited so no blog update was possible on the day.

A video is at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IgffsF_y7pg