Cæsarean Cycling Club

Randonnées

L'Etape du Tour 2002

L'Etape du Tour 2003

Swedish Report 2004

Nine members of the Caesarean Cycling Club made the long journey to the Alpes to take part in one of the toughest randonées; La Marmotte.

The majority of the group had done a number of randonnées and ridden the big mountains before so when it was disclosed that one member’s lowest gear was 39x23, the sucking of teeth was done in complete unison! We’d ridden hilly events in Brittany, we’d completed the Etape du Tour on a couple of occasions but La Marmotte was a step up again.

Starting at Bourg D’Oisans after a very cold early morning descent from our accommodation in Alpe D’Huez, the route took us over the Col de Croix de Fer (hors category), the Col du Telegraphe (second category), the Col de Galibier (hors category) and back down to Bourg D’Oisans before climbing Alpe D’Huez (hors category) to the finish. 174 km plus the descent to the start.

Sam Goulding felt that he had done insufficient training to complete the course so had a stated plan to turn round at the top of the Croix de Fer and ride back to Alpe D’Huez gently. Mike Harris wanted to achieve the gold standard for his age group but the enormity of the ride meant that he was very coy beforehand about such an ambition. For the rest of us standing on the start line with over 6000 other riders the overwhelming sensation was one of deep trepidation.

We rolled out and started up the first col, all 27 km of it. Admittedly there was a short downhill section after Rivier d’Allemont but we paid for it because when the road turned skyward again it did so at over 11%! However with fresh legs the climb was manageable and the scenery impressive. Down the other side the descent was technical with hairpins down to St-Sorlin-d’Arves and a broken road surface in the village. Below the village it was technically easier but seemed to go on forever. For Peter Glendawar one technical difficulty ran out in front of him at St Jean de Maurienne in the form of a large dog. Unfortunately Peter was unable to stop before he hit the dog. Not content with trying to park his bike by pushing his front wheel between the dog’s ribs, Peter executed an unorthodox dismount and landed on the dog! It didn’t get up but fortunately Peter did.

On the Telegraphe Peter Hubert’s back was giving him considerable pain so he got off to see if a temporary change of position (and a pee) made a difference. Two minutes later he was back on his bike pain free. The rest of that climb seemed easier despite the increasing temperature. Over the top and down into Valloire riders were looking for the feed station and some respite from an endless diet of energy bars and gels. Valloire was the venue of a quad bike festival and there was no feeding station to be found. As we all know, depriving cyclists of expected food causes great anxiety. In the end the feed station was located a few kilometres out of Valloire and was the usual scrum for fruit and cake. It was also an opportunity to converse with other participants the majority of whom were Dutch.

Then it was up the road to the Col de Galibier, not unreasonably steep but after the Croix de Fer and the Telegraphe reason was becoming a casualty. Away from the quad bikes the most remarkable thing was the long line of cyclists and complete silence. The shear scale of the Galibier impresses, but you wonder what’s in the gels you’ve consumed when you pass a cheese shop not far from the top. By this stage Peter Hubert had broken his rule about not stopping between feed stations and was starting to like it: mentally he had migrated from a ‘no pain, no gain’ philosophy to one of ‘no pain, no shame’! The steepest part of the Galibier comes in the last kilometre and there was a marshal at the turn for the tunnel so that we couldn’t take the short cut and avoid that top kilometre.

Down the other side was a 30 mile descent past the Col de Lautaret back to Bourg D’Oisans. With a strong head wind the descent still required some work. However the principal difficultly was the darkness in the tunnels, particularly the tunnel in which the gradient became steeper in the dark – very disconcerting! If the event had finished at Bourg D’Oisans the day would have been great. In truth there was an option to stop at that point but we hadn’t come all that way to not climb Alpe D’Huez. The famous 21 hairpins present a formidable challenge on their own, but with 100 miles and 4000 metres of climbing already in the legs, they were very intimidating. In particular, the gradient up to the fourth bend is over 11% - that hurt! As for the other 17 bends, the gradient may have eased but it didn’t get any easier (except when you got off for a rest). The relief at reaching the finish area next to the Palais de Sport was considerable.

Mike was the first back in an impressive 7:49 (gold standard) placing him 353th overall and 98th in his age category. Helen managed a very creditable 10:38 (only minutes outside her gold standard time) and 23rd her age category. Sam wasn’t at the finish to cheer us in as we’d expected, given his stated intention to turn back at the top of the Croix de Fer. A worried Helen phoned his mobile to discover he’d ridden the whole course and was approaching the finish; well done Sam, but we won’t believe a word you say in future! Dave and Gary rode most of the way together but in the end Dave’s younger legs got the better of Gary; so nearly a team! Last seen at the bottom of the Croix de Fer, Trevor claimed he hadn’t done enough training. When Helen overtook him she didn’t see him but he re-materialised at the finish 11 hours later. Peter Glendawar came in as the very last finisher in the entire event in 4436th place and received a bunch of flowers and kisses from the podium girls. The rest of us obviously didn’t suffer enough to merit such a reward! Unfortunately Ali was overcome by cramp and had to abandon only a few bends from the top of Alpe D’Huez having had a good ride up to that point.

The organisation was good in that despite the route being on open roads it was well marshalled. At the finish you could get the €10 deposit for the transponder back immediately and your personalised certificate within 15 minutes; race organisers take note!

Rider	General Classification	Age Category Classification	Time	Age Related Standard
Mike Harris	353	98	7:49	Gold
Dave Mayman	2070	798	9:36	Silver
Gary de Gruchy	2484	854	10:01	Silver
Peter Hubert	2956	1021	10:31	Silver
Helen Goulding	3061	23	10:38	Silver
Trevor Bertram	3770	1300	11:31	Bronze
Sam Goulding	4293	1478	12:29	Bronze
Peter Glendewar	4436	631	13:21	Bronze

Thanks to Peter Hubert for this report

In 2002, Dave Whitt completed the Raid Pyrenean with two Swedish riders. They too, completed the Marmotte in 2004 and their report (in English) can be found http://www.slashx.se/la_marmotte/index_eng.asp