Marmotte - how good are the food stops?

Unknown

Doing the marmotte this year and wondering how much I should carry and what I can rely on from the food stops. If anyone's had a recent experience, could you answer any of the questions below?

Do they provide energy drinks or should I carry my own powder?

Any risk of them running out of water?

How rammed will the stops be? Are people generally civilised? (I think I already know the answer for this one...)

What food do they provide (mainly after bananas)?

And lastly where are the food stops placed.

Thanks in advance!

vermootencp

Apparently they're the worst of any sportive: http://weightweenies.starbike.com/phpBB ... hp?t=29923

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BlackandBlue

They are very poor. Last year they ran out of water. No bananas. No energy drinks. Mostly dried cake and weird fruit. There's a feed stop at the top of the Glandon which is typically quite crowded (by the time I get there anyway!) and another one after the Telegraphe and another at the top of the Galibier. Then I think you have to wait until the bottom of AdH. There are also water stops (half way up Telegraphe and I think also at the top) but as I say, they ran out of water quite quickly last year (possibly something to do with the stoppage at the top of the Glandon creating a more concentrated mass of riders for the following sections and it was also very hot).

mrushton

There are shops in Valloire on the Galibier climb and a cafe near the summit, plus shops in St.Jean du maurienne before the Telegraphe and on the run to Alpe d'Huez there is a cafe just after the resevoir (signed Le 2 Alpes). I've not done the Marmotte, just most of the route but if you could buy the food/water it would save the pandemonium at the controls

M.Rushton

Unknown

I thought they were perfectly adequate when I rode it last year. There is a station at the top of the Glandon, a water only station at the top of the Telegraphe, a feed station just after Valloire, then another at the top of the Galibier and a final one at the foot of the Alpe. There are also a couple of places to get water on the Alpe itself.

I carried enough food to get me through and only used them for water.

Ken Night

Looking at the weight weanies thread posted by Vermooten, it looks as if one should take as much as possible oneself

The other sportifs I've done in France, were great-in the Dauphin last year, you could tailor what you took according to whether you required breakfast, lunch or supper!

I was expecting the same



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dsoutar

I did it last year and thought they were OK; maybe not fabulous, but there's always the option to buy it yourself, of course. Start off with plenty yourself of course but in the Maurienne valley there's a few possibilities to get grub as well as Valloire and a few km short of the Galibier summit (Plan lachat). Also there was more food than you could chuck a stick at at the bottom of the Alpe although one could argue it's a bit late by then.

Also as someone above has intimated it get's you out of the frenzy at the proper stops. Let's face it, unless your desperate for some fabulous time, a few extra minutes here and there won't hurt.

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knedlicky

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by dsoutar</i>
Also there was more food than you could chuck a stick at at the bottom of the Alpe although one could argue it's a bit late by then.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">Isn't this because many people don't ride up to Alpe d'Huez, for them Bourg is the finish, they only do the Marmottino or some such name? So it's their 'finisher food'.

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by BlackandBlue</i>
They are very poor. Last year they ran out of water. No bananas. No energy drinks. Mostly dried cake and weird fruit.<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote"> You shouldn't expect many bananas on cyclosportives in France, bananas have never been that popular in French food culture, whether for cyclists or non-cyclists. And afterall, cake and dried fruit are pretty good for carbohydrates too.
Germany is the place to ride if you want unlimited bananas, you get sick of the sight of them.

I rode the Marmotte 5-6 years ago and found the food stops not great but still adequate.
The thing which I and many other riders around me found most disconcerting was that the food stop supposedly somewhere between the top of the Telegraphe and Valloire didn't exist, so we ended up buying stuff in Valloire (i.e. those who didn't have anything with them) and drinking water from a fountain. Back on the road again, we then found the food stop was about 5 km the other side of Valloire.

Unknown

Just checked the organisations own web site & it lists the following sites for feed zones in the full 174km Marmotte course on the saturday. "Ravitaillements : Valloire (97 km), Bourg d\'Oisans (161 km)" As andyp suggests, i usually try & carry enough to get me through the ride. Also the isostar tablets are usful. Carry them in a bit of silver foil & just refill your bottle with water @ the feed station & throw in the tablets. They will disolve as you ride. Saves fighting in the scrum. I'm driving round the course the the day before with our group & plan to stash a bottle of defizz coke each behind a rock at the top of the Glandon, just for good measure! The caffiene should hit the spot somewhere around the barrage!?

Ed
www.bikeandski-vercors.com