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Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez.....
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Has anyone gone to watch the Tour? Any suggestions on what to do or not to do or what you would do differently? I'm going with three friends this year and we are going with an Aussie tour company for the first 10 days (including the Alpe).

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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Man, I would love to climb Alpe d'Huez on Tour day. That would be an ultimate experience. My buddy has done The Tour nine times. Yesterday we were building a mountain bike for him and I was like, "Hey, about the fourth time you did The Tour were you just dreading the climbs?" He said, "No, we knew it would hurt, but it was the biggest show in the world so we looked forward to it..." Super cool.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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Would your friend's name be Frankie? If so, he used to be my favorite Postie. I'm still a big fan.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [Tom Demerly] [ In reply to ]
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i was in avignon a couple years ago and saw a little from that stage (up ventoux) and the day before's stage... i wasn't on the mtn and thats where you need to be if want to actually see anything, otherwise its about 20sec of blur and then "i guess thats it" i did sneak into the team trailer area which was cool but security was tight so i only lasted 5 min or so,,,i also got to see the postal wives having lunch a couple tables away at a pub after the stage start....so if you dont get great spot to watch just chill at a bar , it'll be on every tv set around.....
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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Yup, it is Frankie, He just walked through my office as a matter of fact.

Tom Demerly
The Tri Shop.com
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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I'll see you there.

I'm staying in Borg D'Oisans for a week and riding some pretty epic stuff. I haven't watched the Tour itself, but I did watch Paris-Nice and Paris-Roubaix in 1992 when I was racing overseas.

Tips:

1. Get there early

2. Intermingle with the "crazy" fans...In particular, visit "Dutch Corner" at Alpe d'Huez.

3. Bring Belgian Beer...Drink Belgian Beer...Sing Belgian Songs!

4. Ride your bike up the Mountain or it will take forever to get back down.

5. Be prepared for ANY weather...It's a good day to carry a lot of stuff...You may want to use a Carradice Nelson Longflap for that one day...Yeah, it'll be heavy and suck to climb with, but it will carry enough stuff to make the race viewing more enjoyable.

6. Don't be in a rush...It's not the race...It's the fans/atmosphere which are truly different. Enjoy it all and take your time.

http://wattieink.com/elite-team/
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"If you are gonna charge... CHARGE HARD!"
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [puskas] [ In reply to ]
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I think the most important advice is to be early. If you're by bike it's one thing, but I remember going to my first Tour stage and somebody telling me I had to be on the Grand Ballon by 9am in order to find a spot and see the riders at 4pm. So we drive up the mountain, get there exactly at 9am and literally have the last parking spot on the mountain. We get out, look at each other and wonder what on earth we are going to do here for 7 hours. All the locals around us pull out the tables, the chairs, the food and the wine, and we have NOTHING with us. Of course the joke was on us when the helicopters approached and their turbulence sent all tables and chairs flying across the road.

The two spots to watch the Tour are on a climb or on the Champs Elyssees. The latter is fenced off one block away from the action, so you either need a pass or you bust through the police barriers. Basically you find a barrier and start casually strolling around. More and more people will gather, all pretending to be taking in the town but feverishly watching the police's every move. Finally somebody will loose patience and bust through the barrier on one side, the police will converge on him/her and at that time, you sneak through on the other side. You keep walking slowly, ignore the yelling and when they come after you you run like Forrest Gump.

In 1994 this approach got me in the Coca-Cola zone, right where the riders turn onto the Champs. So you would see them enter the Champs, exit the Champs, and all this eight times. And it's only one barrier away from where the riders go after the finish, a little sort of dog pen. It's a walled area and all the fans are sitting on the wall, looking down. Below are police standing shoulder to shoulder with no chance of letting anybody through. That is, until somebody looses patience again and then you make your move. I'll let you know after this year's Tour, but I think doing it this way is much more fun than having a pass that actually allows you to be in these areas.


Gerard Vroomen
3T.bike
OPEN cycle
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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You absolutely have to do the Alpe d' Huez climb. After all, it is the high holy alter of pro cycling. In 2001 we drove to the top of the climb the night before and camped out with thousands of others near the finish line. There is a bike shop at the top that rents decent mtn bikes and we descended and did the climb the morning of the race. It's not the same as a tricked out race bike but yuou really get a sense of the difficulty of the climb and the excitement of Le Tour. There is also a bike shop at the village at the base of the climb, Bourg d' Oisanns. Stop and hang with the Dutch guys at Dutch corner, they are a hoot. Also drink plenty of French wine, its cheap and amazingly good. And, try to get away from the hubub of the Tour from time to time to recharge. Following the Tour can be draining. The small villages off the beaten path in Provence and the Alps were great.
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [GM] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for all the responses! We bought our airplane tickets this morning. There are four of us going and we are going with Bikestyle Tours out of Australia. They figure out the routes and the tour we are on includes the Alpe, so yes, I'll be riding up it. We are doing the first 10 days of the Tour and I'll get to see a part of France I've not yet seen. I'm psyched!

Note to those of you in NorCal: I hear that the Geysers ride is a very good ride to train for the Alpe. Any thoughts?

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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NY Times today has a halfway decent article on exactly what you are doing.
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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The Geysers ride has some pitches that probably exceed those on the Alpe but it's no where near as long. The only comparable thing I have seen in Nor Cal are some of the passes in the Death Ride. The Alpe is certainly steep, especially at the bottom and before you enter the village at the summit but it's not insanely steep, maybe 9 - 11%. What is tough is the length. It takes Lance 38 minutes and mere mortals 1+ hours. That's a lot of climbing. And, the Alpe is not even the toughest of TdF climbs. The Galibier, Tourmelet and Ventoux are much longer and last year we did the climb up Col du La Plagne the morning opf the race and found it to be steeper AND longer. You will have a new appreciation for what these guys do.
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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Cathy - First, let me say that you'll LOVE it! I went to the Tour in 2001, and rode the Alpe on race day. Definitely one of the greatest days of my life. Some of the advice that I'd give has already been given, but here are my thoughts:

1.) Race day on the Alpe is a once-in-a-lifetime event. I've looked at it like this...They don't let you play catch on the field the day of the Super Bowl! Soak up as much of the atmosphere as you can. On race day, don't worry about how fast you can climb it. If you're interested in the climbing...try to schedule a day after the Tour has passed that you can give it another go. Race day is PURE spectator heaven, plus there will be SO MANY people walking up, and in your way, that you'll never be able to plow through them at speed. (I went back two days later, and climbed it again, and cut 22 minutes off my time!) A couple of days on the front or back end of your contracted tour with the Aussie company will REALLY be worth it. They should be willing to help you schedule a few additional days in the region.

2.) The part about getting there early is REAL. Ask your tour company pretty soon about their plans for the group, and the schedule that you'll have to keep. In '01, the road up the Alpe was closed at 6p the day BEFORE the race came through, b/c there was already about 2 million people on the Alpe.

3.) MANY of the great Alpine TDF climbs are within 15k of Bourg d' Oisans. The Cols du Glandon, Criox de Fer, Galibier, Les Deux Alpes, Lautaret, and Madelaine are CLOSER than you may ever be again, so ride as many as you can while you're there!

4.) When I go again, in 2004, there are a few things that I'll do differently. One, I'll be more fluent in French. I knew VERY little the first time around. As long as you're with the tour group, and there is someone at your disposal from the tour company, you'll be fine...but if you want to check out anything on your own, it'll help both with the ease, and with the way that the French people will treat you. Americans who can speak the language get more of a break from the French than those who don't even try. (On that note, I've had REALLY good success learning from the "Michel Thomas" audio CD series) Two, I'll try to be there for a longer period. The schedule of the TDF will keep you hopping from about 7a until the evening, so some free, relaxing time (in one of the most beautiful places on earth) will be something that I'll shoot for. Three (and this one may be a little hard to take) I'll RENT a bike over in Europe. Traveling on the train (god forbid in a cab) with a bike box is a MAJOR hassle. There is indeed some magic about riding the Alpe on your own bike, and I would suggest that if that's important to you (like it was to me!), ignore this point, but to drag the box around the airports and trainstations and hotels is almost not worth it. I'll definitely rent next time. If your tour group doesn't rent bikes, they should be able to hook you up with someone who will. In addition almost ALL of the ski villages at the tops of these mountains have REALLY good rental stuff.

Have a great time, and don't hesitate to e-mail me with any questions that you have. I'm REALLY looking forward to being there again!
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [bobo_oh_01] [ In reply to ]
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Thanks for all the great suggestions/information!! We bought our plane tickets yesterday, so it's becoming more real. Now, to just get released from the doc to get back on the bike.

clm
Nashville, TN
https://twitter.com/ironclm | http://ironclm.typepad.com
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [ironclm] [ In reply to ]
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Just wanted to say thanks to all you who posted. I wasnt planning on going, but after reading this, it psyched me up and I just booked a velosport tour with a friend. (the alps vacation.) man I cant wait!!!
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Re: Speaking of the Alpe d'Huez..... [SByers] [ In reply to ]
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Hey guys i'll be heading over to Europe when the tour is on, the plans at this stage is to do IM Austria and then follow a few mountain stages of the tour. We have friends in Vienna so i'll be leaving my bike their as opposed to lugging it around the French couuntryside but i'm keen to ride Alpe d'Huez, what's sort of costs are we looking at to hire a half decent bike for the day?? Anyone got any information on some of the bike hire places.

Cheers
GH
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