Sun, Suffering and Cold Cokes
Posted August 24, 2011
Cycling is a sport in which it is often the rider who can suffer the most who will be victorious. Today I discovered that not only is my definition of the word ‘suffering’ yet to even scratch the surface of the pain felt by the pros, but also that fitness and the willingness to succeed are equally interchangeable when tackling the vicious gradients of the French Alps.
To explain a bit more: I’m currently on holiday in Lake Annecy. The area is gorgeous, but more importantly is home to some fantastic cycling roads and climbs. The first thing I did after the decision was made to come here on holiday was sit down with a map of the area and with the aid of climbbybike.com I started sorting out potential target climbs to tackle on holiday. My coach seemingly had similar ideas, setting out two weeks of hard riding; with an average of 12 hours in the saddle per week it was never going to be a walk in the park!
The first 3 rides passed easily enough, with the first being the most demanding, taking in a 3rd category climb which was used in the 2009 Tour’s Annecy time trial. The second ride was just a recovery spin and the third comprised some tricky intervals at time trial pace, yet all on the relatively flat area around the lake. Ride 4 was scheduled at a 4+ hour ride where the only instruction was “to go out and enjoy the Alps”.
Determined to take this at face value, I planned a 95km ride, taking in the Col de Columbiere. The side I tackled began the ascent from the village of Scionzier, a total distance of 16.3km with an average gradient of 6.8%, maxing out at 10.3%. The Tour last visited the Col in 2010, on the 204.5km stage 9, and the chalk scrawls of the spectators were strewn all over the road, providing some interesting respite from the pain.
The climb starts relatively gently, slowly cranking up through small villages, each of which looked like it could house the summit. Switchbacks mid way along the climb prevented me from getting into a rhythm as it was constantly broken by gradient changes and the wind. Similar to Andy Ward in his ascent of Mount Ventoux, I found my love of cycling rescinding with each lung bursting turn of the peddle.
After 15km of climbing the gradient reaches its maximum. Reaching to shift down, I found that I’d exhausted my sprockets range of gears, leaving me no option but to stand and force round the cranks and keep going.
Cresting the summit felt incredible, albeit once the feeling of being about to pass out had rescinded! The sense of elation and achievement were sweetened by an ice-cold Coke bought from the shop at the top. After a 15 minute break I descended the other side and began the 30 mile ride back to Annecy.
The ride well and truly put in perspective the sheer fitness and true grit of the pro riders. Bernard Hinault once said…
“it never gets any easier, you just get faster.”
On the 12km descent, and between avoiding plummeting down the sheer faces of the hairpins, I had time to think about this. True respect goes out to those pros, from the yellow jersey to the Lanterne Rouge, Daily Cycle salutes your efforts!
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Photo featured in the Daily Cycle Flickr Group – added by Sharonnord
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