About 8am I got back on the road and planned to get to the Alps that night. My sat-nav had it at about 1000miles from home, it was all going to plan until the sat-nav took me through Paris, nightmare! Too much traffic, it took me over 2 hours to get through Paris and was big time holding up progression!
After Paris it was pretty easy, I hit the biggest storm just as I was about 100 mile from the Alps, It was huge! At about 6pm I arrived at where Stage 10 of the Tour would pass through. It was the first real day in the mountains for the riders so it’s good to watch.
After another night in the car, I got up about 8 and got the bike out to do a bit of riding before they close the roads. Rode down to the bottom of the Courchevel climb and then up to the summit which was 25kms of climbing. Loads of people were doing it which makes it good as well, and there’s a real good atmosphere on the side of the road, with people shouting at you ‘Go Go Go’ etc!
Me and some Aussies I’d met then drove to the next stage which was the 'roof' of this years tour, The Col Du Galibier. It’s the highest point of the 05 tour at 2645m, not bad when you consider the biggest mountain in Wales is Snowdon at 1085m and the biggest mountain in Britain is Ben Nevis at 1344m!
After the stage I loaded up my bike and drove to L’Alpe D’Huez. The Huez is normally a part of the tour as it has a bit of a legendary status about it. This year it wasn’t in the route but I decided I wanted to ride it before I go home. I drove up to the town of L’Alpe D’Huez that night, and got a good night’s sleep.
In the morning I rode down to the bottom and the amount of people that ride it each day is unreal, literally thousands. There is a sign at the bottom reading 'Departure', so that’s where the stop watch is started. The Alp D’Huez isn’t that long, about 15km/8mile but gets pretty steep at a max of 12% and average of 8.5%. Enough to make the legs hurt anyway.
