Another change of plan today, instead of doing the hard day on Thursday after the rest day, Ade the group leader decided to move it to today due to weather concerns.
So this was the day we were going to do the legendary climbs of Col de Telegraph, Galibier, and then the 21 switch backs of Alpe d’Huez.

I decided to ditch the heart rate monitor for the first time ever, today was going to be a day that I didn’t need a number to tell me how hard it was; to paraphrase the Doc in Back To The Future “Marti, where we’re going we don’t need heart rate zones!!!”

We started on the Telegraph climb straight out of town, no time to warm up the legs so it was a bit of a struggle at first but yesterdays aches soon faded as we made our way up the 12 km climb. There was plenty of tree shade to keep cool on some of the steeper 9% grades.
The time soon passed, helped by looking out at the great views and overtaking a few locals riders, one in particular wearing what looked like green Spandex shorts – not a sight you want to be stuck behind for very long. At the top of the climb it was a short break to stretch the legs and top up with more food and drink before heading down the other side for an easy 5 km descent.

At the bottom of the valley it was straight into the start of the dreaded 18 km Galibier climb. This was very different to any of the previous rides we’d done so far in that there were no switch backs to hide the steep road ahead and no trees to shelter from the sun. The scenery soon became very barren as the grassy fields gave way to a rocky Luna landscape. The scale of the mountains making us feel very small and insignificant as we slowly crawled up the steeper second half. The only distraction from the slow constant grind was watching French tourists trying to stroke the long horned cattle – a “You’ve been framed” moment waiting to happen I think.

We finally turned a corner allowing us to see the top of the Galibier a few kms away but much higher up, realising the last 5 kms were at an average of 9%, some sections feeling much more – the steepest part of the climb at the end, very cruel. No wonder the Tour de France classify is as a HC “Hors Categorie” climb – a climb too steep to be categorised! great, no one bothered to mention that before we started climbing it.

The final few corners were used as vantage points for a few photographers to take pictures of us for later sale- think theme park ride pics but with lots more snot, sweat and grimacing smiles.

A quick sandwich stop at the top of the Galibier and the last of my home made rice muffins (the American in the group thought it was a giant hash cake!) and the addition of arm warmers and gilet prepared us for the long descent over the other side. Although, nothing could really prepare us for the amazing ride down the mountain on smooth wide open roads. To chain gang down hill at 30+ mph was something I
I’ve never done before and was probably the highlight of the day for me and more than made up for the 2 hour climb we’d just done.

After 35 kms of zipping along down open roads punctuated with dark tunnels cold enough for us to appreciate the extra layers we’d put on, we finally arrived at the start of the last climb up to the ski resort of Alp d’Huez. After shedding all unnecessary clothing and weight, then refuelling, it was time to go for the last big climb of the day. Rob, our friendly support driver warned us about the first few kms being particularly tough in the afternoon heat as the rock face on the side of the road acted like a radiator kicking out heat making the 9% climb feel just that little bit nastier.

Instead of road markers indicating kms to the summit, d’Huez marks the switch back corners, starting from 21 upwards. Al and I decided to stop every even numbered corner to stretch and whinge about the climb. Corner by corner we counted them down until we could finally see the resort at the crest of the mountain and a sign saying 5 km to go. We continued on at the steady pace we’d been doing until we finally entered the resort to find out that the famous Tour de France finish line was another 1 km further on up through the town. We couldn’t stop now, not this close to the line. We finally crossed it after about 1 hour 35 mins from the start. A quick top up of water and warm clothing and we were both set for the ride back down the same 21 switch backs. At speeds fast enough for the kind driver ahead of us to pull over to let us pass we soon made short work of the excellent descent back down to the bottom. Brake pads and wheel rims cooked, it was the end of yet another shockingly hard but stunning day of riding.

A total of just over 8 hours in the saddle today covering 3 of the most iconic climbs in a single day, with the bonus of the beginnings of a roadie tan on my arms and legs, all added up to the hardest thing Al and I have done but both agreeing it was by far the best day we’ve ever had on 2 wheels. Al’s comment, “imagine what we could do if we had done some proper training!”
Tomorrows rest day couldn’t have come at a better time.

“In front of this giant we can do nothing but take off our hats and bow” ~ Henry DesGrange (TdF founder commenting on the Galibier)