anyone in Aix? would love to get a ride in next week.
thanks.
Good God man, you’re only an hour from Mont Ventoux which will be the best, and the worst, day of your life on a bike.
Good God man, you’re only an hour from Mont Ventoux which will be the best, and the worst, day of your life on a bike.
x2.
Hopefully you get a 40C day like Tommy Simpson. If so, it will certainly be “best and worst” in one day, but well worth it. Riding by the Simpson memorial on the Ventoux Moonscape in temps like he was riding in, makes the entire climb surreal. Make sure you ride from Bedouin via the Chalet Raynard. When you come out of the trees at the Chalet the summit seems in reach but goes on forever and ever and ever. I can’t imagine how they used this mountain for the Dauphine ITT in 2004.
The descent back to Bedouin will be the “best roller coaster ride” that you will take in your life if you are an aggressive descender and can connect switchbacks like slalom gates. One of the most amazing desecents of my life. I was following a local on a mountain bike with slicks and disc brakes, but I was on a road bike…just hanging on and hoping he set the right line…with memories of Indurain going off the side of the very same course!
That be nice but not with IM France that Sunday
Just wanted to
Ride a little
.
The Ventoux descent is the fastest I’ve ever done. The lack of switchbacks and 10% solid grade below Chalet Reynard is pretty scary. My HR was about the same as it was on the ascent.
I’ll be back there next week. Planning to do the Cinglés du Mont-Ventoux: three ascents in one day from Bedoin, Sault and Maulecine.
Seriously…are you going to win IM France?
If not, go ride Ventoux. If you ride it 5-7 days out, no reason why it should affect your IM France performance. It might even improve it as you’ll actually have chance to get the pacing right for a really long climb. Most dudes blow it on the 20K climb during the race. They attack it is like it is the only climb of the day and then they move backwards for the rest of the race.
Ventoux may be once in a lifetime (I don’t know where you live). Trust me, you’ll remember Ventoux much longer than another Ironman (although, I’ll admit that IM France is really really special and waaaay better than Kona). But doing the climb from Bedouin while much more steep than the IM France will get you in the right mindset for race day. Biking is non weight bearing and you can recover quickly. Guys doing Cyclosportif rides have been doing multiple mountain pass rides for years on back to back days. Basically an Ironman is done at cyclosportif pace, except you have a marathon in the end and you don’t need to get up the next day for another stage.
You’ll be fine, go to Ventoux. If you have a coach, he probably does not know what you are missing out on. If you are well prepared, Ventoux will take nothing out of your race.
Dev
Well, I was thinking about taking on Lance… but seriously,
Im not comfortable going there on my own having never ridden in Europe before, would def go w someone else
No worries there, as long as you don’t end up on the autoroute the French are incredibly respectful of cyclists.
Just fill yer water bottles and go for it.
Every Sunday I was out in the lanes outside Lille was like a critical mass rIde, the number or road cyclists was just unbelievable, swarms of 'em.
It’s almost impossible to be alone riding Ventoux on any day of the summer. There is a bike shop in “downtown Bedouin” to ask for directions etc. You can’t really miss it (unless it is closed now) since there is not much in Bedouin. The road up to Ventoux from there is fairly straightforward. It is pretty well as impossible to get lost there as walking up the Champs Elyses looking for the Arch de Triomphe.
Go do Ventoux, you’ll appreciate it. We have waaaaay too much emphasis on this forum about performances and race results rather than the journey and doing memorable things.
When you’re lying on your deathbed looking back at your life, you seriously won’t care if you were 5 or 10 minutes slower at IM France. You’ll fondly look back at having done Ventoux.
As far as I am concerned, one’s “career” as a cyclist is incomplete unless you have done Ventoux and Alpe d’Huez. I’d add Galibier, Stelvio and Gavia to that too. For me, I’m missing these legendary italian climbs. As an endurance athlete, cresting these climbs is like having a tour through the history of cycling. Definitely beats another Ironman…and the best part is “You can have both the Ironman and Ventoux”.
Dev
The Mont Ventoux from the Bedoin side is the most beautiful climb in France, and I’ve ridden a couple of them. Just go up there and have ‘fun’, I’m sure you will not regret it. Make sure you chose the right gearing and be careful descending towards Chalet Reynard if the Mistral is blowing.
I spent two summers in Aix and you can hardly go wrong riding from that town. Buy a Michelin map and pick a road, N, S, E or W. To the west is an ancient viaduct , to the East is a great ride around the Mont St. Victoire. Just start riding and you will be amazed what you find. Now, you have to be pretty comfortable reading a map and figuring out where you are, but riding around Aix is about as much fun as you can have on a bike, assuming you like hills, hills and more hills. Most of the climbs are not more than 4-5 kilometers and most are shorter, but you can find some really out of the way roads with very little traffic.
Chad
P.S. If you really want some fun, try riding NW to Lambesc and then North on D67a. You’ll warm up with a couple of kms at 18 percent before a wicked drop into Silvacane. Take a deep breath and then back over the same hump at 21 percent. I’ve never seen a road like that where I was riding an 8-10 percent grade and the road tipped up so steep that it made the 8 percent seem easy.
P.P. S. Don’t attempt that with a 38x24 like I did.
Go to http://www.onlinetri.com/phpBB2/index.php and ask (yes, most people speak English).
It’s the French version of slowtwitch (and you can read the same bullshit on both forums 
)