Race Day!

L’Alpe d’Huez has beautiful scenery from it’s open-sided switchbacks over the grand Romanche River valley.  It has a famous ski resort at the top.  None of that seems to matter to cyclists though, because for them it is first and foremost the greatest cycling race course in the world.  Everyone knows their personal time up L’Alpe, as well as Lance’s time (38:01) and Marco Pantani’s time (37:25).  It's also the site of Lance's famous "The Look"--a 'catch me if you can' stare back at Jan Ulrich in 2001. 

We are not immune to this particular cycling fever so it came as no surprise that the Ride Commish declared our climb up L’Alpe “Race Day.”  This means that a bunch of old farts, and one 19 yr. old kid,  would redline their hearts and scorch their legs—just like any Le Tour rider—for the 15 km of 8, 9 and 10% slopes.  We lined up at the official start line, which includes permanent timing equipment, and Nel gave us a “GO!”  Each of the famous 21 hairpins has a monument announcing its number and other pertinent data, with hairpin no. 21 at the bottom progressing to no. 1 near the top, and we churned our way up the mountain cursing the slow count of the hairpins.  The short version is that Nick, the kid, surged ahead at the start and maintained his lead all the way up to the top, challenged only by Markham near the end.  Nick finished in 1 hr., 44 seconds, and Markham came in at 1:01:31.  I followed Markham across the line at 1:02:58 to ensure 2 of the 3 podium spots for Team Atlanta, aka The Swiss Cows.  It wasn’t quite the podium sweep of last year for the Atlantans, but still a respectable showing for old guys.

Detail:  Nel recorded our official time at the “Tourist Top,” which is 1 km below the Le Tour Top.  So add 5 min. to our times to compare!