La Marmotte

oldwelshman

Mark Alexander wrote:

clanton wrote:

Have entered! :shock:
Now need to have a lie down. Suddenly very scared!

The downpayment went through two days ago so I'm on board. no turning back As the other two in m group went wit a set tour we are going with Graham baxter Tours to make it one less thing to think about. Anyone want to share a room and save a single person suplement is welcome!! let me know.

See you there.
There are 6 of us going and we booked ryan air flights from Stanstead, £102, booked hotel on Alpe.
So we arrive ion the wednesday so get acclimatised

bahzob

FYI if doing the Marmotte there are some other linked events happening same place in the week before/day after. Even if dont fancy doing them if around and about may be worth spectating as a taste of things to come/(or past in the case of the last event)

Vaujany sportive Sunday 29th June full on sportive 173km or 109km
Grandes Rousse 2nd July 40km and 1600m climbing
Grimpe de L'Alple - Sunday 6th (day after Marmotte) time trial up the Alpe.
+ some MTBers doing their stuff

More info here http://www.bike-oisans.com/oisans-vtt-cyclotourisme-agenda.html

Mark Alexander

It sounds as though there'll be quite a few britsmaking the trip. great

APIII

Mark Alexander wrote:

clanton wrote:

Have entered! :shock:
Now need to have a lie down. Suddenly very scared!

The downpayment went through two days ago so I'm on board. no turning back As the other two in m group went wit a set tour we are going with Graham baxter Tours to make it one less thing to think about. Anyone want to share a room and save a single person suplement is welcome!! let me know.

Not got round to sorting myself out yet (couldn't persuade anyone else to go, so I'm on me tod). What's the deal with GB tours? itinery, cost, etc?
can you pm me details?
cheers

Mark Alexander

here you go,

http://www.sportingtours.co.uk/

Mark Alexander

Incase anyone's interested, I have managed to get return flights to Geneva for £162 (inc taxes and bag carriage) with easyjet

ecrinslodge

There is no substitute for clocking up the miles in the mountains. Have a look at the Ecrins Lodge if you fancy quality cycling accommodation in the Oisans region.

oldwelshman

Mark Alexander wrote:

Incase anyone's interested, I have managed to get return flights to Geneva for £162 (inc taxes and bag carriage) with easyjet

We are flying ryan air to Grenoble £102 including bikes

Mark Alexander

oldwelshman wrote:

Mark Alexander wrote:

Incase anyone's interested, I have managed to get return flights to Geneva for £162 (inc taxes and bag carriage) with easyjet

We are flying ryan air to Grenoble £102 including bikes

cheers :? I could have done with not knowing that!!

Mark Alexander

SteveR_100Milers wrote:

Brave (but slightly mad) man Mark! You'd better start doing 5x Bwlch / Rhigos reps twice a week!!

I'll see you in 2009 (earliest I'm going to try a euro sportive after sampling the Cymru GF and the Dragon this year).

To do the Marmotte you need two things; a lot of endurance and the ability to climb well, i.e. threshold power..

Which is why! as oldwelshy will testify.

I've been looking at my gearing for the challenge ahead.
I've been riding all the Welsh hills using 42x21/24[campag] 13-26 cassette. and currently have 53/39 11-23 on the bike that i'll be riding.

I know that it's not enough so any ideas would be welcome.

DaveyL

Get a 12-27 cassette, or get a 34/50 compact with 12-25 or 12-27.

mozwyn69

I did it with 34/27 and unless your very fit would advise you do similar. The Bwlch and Rhigos are easy with 39/23 and are mole hills in comparison with any of the four climbs on the Marmotte.You would need to go up them at least a dozen times to replicate the kind of pain the Marmotte will put you through!

clanton

mozwyn69 wrote:

I did it with 34/27 and unless your very fit would advise you do similar. The Bwlch and Rhigos are easy with 39/23 and are mole hills in comparison with any of the four climbs on the Marmotte.You would need to go up them at least a dozen times to replicate the kind of pain the Marmotte will put you through!

Thanks for that. As if I wasn't crapping myself enough already! ;-)

mooro

mozwyn69 wrote:

I did it with 34/27 and unless your very fit would advise you do similar. The Bwlch and Rhigos are easy with 39/23 and are mole hills in comparison with any of the four climbs on the Marmotte.You would need to go up them at least a dozen times to replicate the kind of pain the Marmotte will put you through!

Went last year with 39/27 and it was a killer on the telegraph and the galibier. If i could go this year i would definitely set up for a 34 inner ring, as the fatigue wears you down a bit. I wasn't really powerful enough to spin 39/27 so stood up quite a bit and the got this horrible burning sensation in my feet through lack of circulation. Every corner turned revealing another couple of miles of climb .... bleak. Sunny day though.

Also, we booked flights last minute last year into Turin for about £50 so that is always an alternative, its probably not that much further than the other airports.

Doom

clanton wrote:

Thanks for that. As if I wasn't crapping myself enough already! ;-)

Speaking of which. Hows everyones preperation coming along? I think I am behind at the moment in terms of weight loss (still got 1stone to go :oops: ) but getting fitter as I go...

clanton

Not fantastic! Started very well then had a three week lay off in Feb due to disease I couldn't shake and still feel like I haven't got back to where I was before the bug. Struggling to find enough time to train too......

Ken Night

Great to hear of all this-I did it last year-best day on a bike ever, (I would have found it hard to say that-or indeed anything after about 3 bends on the Alpe)

Make sure you drink in the bikie atmosphere in Bourg the couple of days beforehand

Good luck, one and all

Bronzie

Doom wrote:

Hows everyones preperation coming along?

Ongoing sinus infection (which the doc says I can't have anti-biotics for :x ) is hampering any decent training. Managed to do the Flanders medium sportif last Saturday (approx 110 miles incl riding out and back to hotel) and felt ok so that's a good sign, but then the sinus infection came back as a heavy cold which has kept me off the bike all week. :roll:

Still, just under 3 months to go, so there is still time to get myself sorted.

Doom

Bronzie wrote:

Doom wrote:

Hows everyones preperation coming along?

Ongoing sinus infection (which the doc says I can't have anti-biotics for :x ) is hampering any decent training. Managed to do the Flanders medium sportif last Saturday (approx 110 miles incl riding out and back to hotel) and felt ok so that's a good sign, but then the sinus infection came back as a heavy cold which has kept me off the bike all week. :roll:

Still, just under 3 months to go, so there is still time to get myself sorted.

I haven't broken the 100mile mark so far this season but I will get there later this month. Planning a Alpine adventure in June to get some climbing legs which all in all should help me survive La Marmotte...

Bronzie

BTW with regard to the medical certificate question that came up a while back in this thread, there is a downloadable form on the Sport Communication website which needs a doctors signature and stamp. If you log on using your registration number (not your rider number for the event itself) there is a letter (in French) telling you your entry is incomplete until the medical certificate is returned.

So once the lurgi has gone I will get along to the docs and get this signed and post it off to them.

clanton

Thanks for the info Bronzie - my French is non existent. Do we need to post the medical forms to them or simply present them on the day? I have printed off the forms already.

Bronzie

As far as I'm aware, you can do either. I'll probably post mine to get it over and done with so I have one less thing to worry about in the days before the ride.

andyp

Bronzie wrote:

As far as I'm aware, you can do either. I'll probably post mine to get it over and done with so I have one less thing to worry about in the days before the ride.

When I rode it in 2006 I faxed one to them beforehand then made sure I had a copy to hand when I went to pick up my entry back the day before the event. Better safe than sorry.

Laaaa

I'm curious about others experiences but when i have gone to pick up my numbers the day before the race on Alpe d'huez they really havn't been too pushed about the med cert. I've done the Marmotte twice and will probably be back for more punishment next July. I've been very lucky with the weather on both occasionsr and hopefully thats the way it will stay, last year I think it rained quite alot all the week before but race day was perfect.

oldwelshman

I was told if you have bcf membership with racing license they accept that also.

Ken Night

Seen the thread on tattoos, Welshy?

(Will this make me go faster?)

andyp

oldwelshman wrote:

I was told if you have bcf membership with racing license they accept that also.

You have to be careful with this one - in France you have to undergo a medical to get a racing license so you are covered that way. Here you don't and many cyclosportive organisers have worked this out now and insist on a medical certificate too.

mozwyn69

I just scibbled a note an a bit of headed paper year and handed it to the 14yr old dishing out the start packs. He didnt give it a second glance.

Titanium

I've taken guys there before and a USA Cycling licence was fine. Other events do ask for med certs but the sportcommunication people seemed more relaxed. At the start village, they just had school kids volunteering.

Remember, paperwork is the easy bit. This is probably the hardest one day road ride in the world.

oldwelshman

Ken Night wrote:

Seen the thread on tattoos, Welshy?

(Will this make me go faster?)

nope you have the link?
Wonder if there are any cyclists with more than me? :P