Part One...
After a marathon 670mile drive yesterday I finally made it to La Riviere Enverse. And what can i say but its amazing, the moutains just tower above you and the atmosphere is really quite grand. Even the road to the Chalet up from the main road is like Ditchling, hairpin after hairpin. Brilliant.
Woke up this morning to look out of my window to see clear blue skys and sunshine, the day could not have been more perfect. (at least until this evening when the rain came and its been raining ever since the forecast for the next couple of days is a little dodgy also ) Oh well, a good ride i had today.
Did the col de la Ramaz, last used in le tour in 1999 i think, and a few names were still visible on the road, Halgand, Virenque, Lance, Jan. It was the druggie Virenque that took the summit, and to be honest, i needed what ever he was on today! First time ive touched my bike since Tuesdays 15min Palace effort, lets just say it was a rude awakening for the legs. But good though, seemed to go on and on, 14kms, which took me 57min .
Height 1615 m Height difference 990 m
Distance 14.0 k Average percentage 7.0 %
Distance >= 5% 13.3 k Minimum percentage -2.5 %
Distance >= 10% 0.0 k Maximum percentage 9.5 %
Maximum percentage 1k 9.5 % Maximum percentage 5k 8.5 %
A few little gems on how hard it was, and they get harder! Lets just say i really had to think about pedalling at times.
[img]http://www.cyclingcols.com/profiles/RamazW.gif[/img]
Anyway, a few pics from the chalets terrace...
[img]http://img3011.photobox.co.uk/123268687f2dd32489963830c96758a09a95dba225b4ee035046457122e874c07b9380db.jpg[/img] [img]http://img3011.photobox.co.uk/14704691f79abe64ecaa69074f0fea3d4bf7b21d756ff7a4ff3bb269eec5b9f4ce5b2484.jpg[/img]
The view from the top of the col de la ramaz
[img]http://img3011.photobox.co.uk/366480060171643b9bcefa1d97e3e347dc32a6ed3cc2d996944b3dbd37607518c7fa2756.jpg[/img]
Thats all for now, off to rest so i can go get wet tomorow, but i guess it aint everyday you can get wet in the alps. So ill get over it!
Cheers,
Adam
By the way, given the current fashion for new bikes and showing off pictures of them on here. I thought i would open up a new challenge, the most artisic picture of your bike. No more kitchens or garages in the background! Needless to say im the early leader...