Chamrousse
We left the Park Hotel in Grenoble at 9:15 this morning, riding through city traffic in a light mist to the outskirts of town. We stopped for a few minutes to puzzle out our route, then found the road leading up to the main climb of the day, Chamrousse. (This is another of those famous time trial climbs that Lance won in a Tour de France, although we rode up an alternate route.) The rain began in earnest 3 km into the climb, lasting about 45 minutes. This was enough to get us thoroughly wet but not to dampen our spirits, and when it stopped, we were already above the lower clouds, obscuring what we assumed to be a grand view of Grenoble and the valley below. The first 10 km were real leg burners and we welcomed the more moderate pitch of the remaining 12 k.
We put on warm dry clothing at the top and then began a wet, foggy, twisty descent back down to the main road below (the descent was the route that Lance time-trialed up.) The sun came out and the pavement was rapidly drying as we turned up the main road and headed to the small town of Villiers for lunch. After loading on pizza, fries and other cyclist mainstays for lunch, we resumed our journey up the valley to L’Bourg-de’Oisans, a cycling hangout in the heart of the French Alps. The 24 km stretch between Villiers and L’Bourg turned into a mad chase of Rick McConnell and the Texans, who saw the open 1% slope and tailwind as ideal conditions to strut their stuff, pushing a steady 22 –24 mph. By the time we reached the turnoff for the day’s second climb, our group was badly sucking wind and the Ride Commish declared the second climb “optional”—though not without some controversy—which meant that we all soft-pedaled the remaining 3 km to our hotel and quickly stashed our bikes. It was already almost 4 PM and we had completed 96 km and 6700 ft of climbing, and guys were thinking of L’Alpe d’Huez coming up in the AM, and there was plenty of gear to dry out. We later learned that Howie and Chris, some way behind the lead group, made the turn and completed the second climb before arriving at the hotel at 6 PM. They now are attempting to challenge the Ride Commish’s ruling, wanting to assign us a DNF for the day!
We left the Park Hotel in Grenoble at 9:15 this morning, riding through city traffic in a light mist to the outskirts of town. We stopped for a few minutes to puzzle out our route, then found the road leading up to the main climb of the day, Chamrousse. (This is another of those famous time trial climbs that Lance won in a Tour de France, although we rode up an alternate route.) The rain began in earnest 3 km into the climb, lasting about 45 minutes. This was enough to get us thoroughly wet but not to dampen our spirits, and when it stopped, we were already above the lower clouds, obscuring what we assumed to be a grand view of Grenoble and the valley below. The first 10 km were real leg burners and we welcomed the more moderate pitch of the remaining 12 k. 
We put on warm dry clothing at the top and then began a wet, foggy, twisty descent back down to the main road below (the descent was the route that Lance time-trialed up.) The sun came out and the pavement was rapidly drying as we turned up the main road and headed to the small town of Villiers for lunch. After loading on pizza, fries and other cyclist mainstays for lunch, we resumed our journey up the valley to L’Bourg-de’Oisans, a cycling hangout in the heart of the French Alps. The 24 km stretch between Villiers and L’Bourg turned into a mad chase of Rick McConnell and the Texans, who saw the open 1% slope and tailwind as ideal conditions to strut their stuff, pushing a steady 22 –24 mph. By the time we reached the turnoff for the day’s second climb, our group was badly sucking wind and the Ride Commish declared the second climb “optional”—though not without some controversy—which meant that we all soft-pedaled the remaining 3 km to our hotel and quickly stashed our bikes. It was already almost 4 PM and we had completed 96 km and 6700 ft of climbing, and guys were thinking of L’Alpe d’Huez coming up in the AM, and there was plenty of gear to dry out. We later learned that Howie and Chris, some way behind the lead group, made the turn and completed the second climb before arriving at the hotel at 6 PM. They now are attempting to challenge the Ride Commish’s ruling, wanting to assign us a DNF for the day!
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