Mont Ventoux in 2 1/2 weeks

latw5

Hi Guys, just looking for a bit of advice.

Me and a mate will be in France in 2 1/2 weeks to ride Ventoux, then hopefully if we survive ride Alpe Dhuez 2 days later.

I haven't really managed to do as much training as I would have liked, but have had a good 3-4 weeks now and am wondering how long to keep pushing it?

I'm only riding a trek mountain bike with slick tyres, so definately won't be breaking any records, and so far have been doing rides between 20-30 miles between 17-18mph average on rolling countryside. I think I will survive the climbs but be in a fair bit of trouble - what sort of times do you think would be reasonable? (climbing Ventoux from Bedouin).

Also how would you recommend tapering the training, if at all. I went out tonight after 2 days rest and felt good - would you recommend more than this before the mountain or just keep training up till the ride? I don't wanna over/under do it?

Any thoughts or tips would be much appreciated, I've been reading a few blogs from people who've ridden the climbs at work and they're starting to scare me!

lateralus

Hi, can't comment too much on how best to arrange the rest of your training, but by way of encouragement I did it last September, without any training beyond 60 miles a week of pan-flat London commuting. It was bloody hard work, but extremely satisfying. It took 2 hours 40.

The section up to Chalet Reynard is the hardest - the gradient is unrelenting. As long as you've got gears low enough that you can maintain a reasonable cadence even at really low speed, you'll be ok - just got to keep plugging away. Shouldn't be a problem with that on an mtb.

Even in September it was very hot - you could get the same. Make sure you keep the fluid and food intake up. I was definitely undertrained, but feel that I made the most of my limited ability by keeping on top of that.

If I can do it, you certainly can. Enjoy!

wakemalcolm

Be prepared for the difference in temperaure at the top which hits you like no other mountain I've ever visited. I've only ever driven it but it was 35 at the bottom and less than 10 (and very windy) at the top.

alanmcn1

I did it last year having done 50-60 mile rides most sundays. My advice is, you can't train for it............just go there and love every second of it, it's the greatest experience you can imagine.

Eat plenty before you tackle it, take loads of water and food, and don't go off too fast at the start. And don't be ashamed to stop for a rest now and then. I did it in just under 2:40

popette

I read a story in cycling weekly about a couple who did it for their honeymoon - the wife had only been cycling for 6 weeks in total and went up on a mountain bike.

it must be a piece of p*ss

Edited to add - good luck and enjoy it

celbianchi

I have done D'huez a number of times and Ventoux once.

Ventoux - I am in a slightly different position to you - I do a lot of training and race as a 3rd. I got up ventoux on my race bike in just over 90 mins from Bedoin. Don't lose heart throught the seemingly never ending woodland section over the first 10km or so.

Once you come out of the woods it is quite unreal. Pay your respects to Tom's memorial towards the top. When I did Ventoux it was scorching hot all the way up and very hot at the summit. Descending the other side to Maucelene in a warm wind was lovely. And very fast. I got my fastest ever speed on a bike on this descent - 63mph.

D'Huez, different climb altogether, Very steep for the first 2 km. Again keep plugging away and remind yourself that after the first 2 hairpins the gradient does ease (it is still hard) but not unbearable.

For both of them - don't get suckered into following wheels if people pass you if you are not in condition to do so, just maintain your own pace and rythm.

Both are fantastic experiences, first time I did D'huez was before the 2004 ITT in the TDF and the mountain had plenty of people on it, all of whom are willing to cheer you on.
I actually prefer D'Huez late on in the day when it is quiet, there is no place like it.

Also - the buzz you get when you do your first epic mountain is great, enjoy the moment and take it all in.

latw5

So basically just make sure I pack my suitcase of courage and hang on!

I am really looking forward to it, been watching the tour for years - I was actually on Alpe Dhuez in 2004 so may well have cheered you on celbianchi!

Thanks guys i'll let you know how we get on.

ut_och_cykla

Take your time, pace yourself, make sure you have the bailout gear you will be glad of as you turn at the Chalet, enter the moonscape and meet the cheeky little headwind!!
HAve fun.

DaSy

I'm in a similar position to celbianchi, I train a fair bit, and particulary climbing. I was in Provence at the end of last month, and climbed Ventoux 3 times whilst there in around 90 mins (per climb!)

The Bedoin side is a tough climb through the forest to Chalet Reynard, but pretty consistent for about 15km so just find a gear you are happy with and accept that you will sit and spin for an hour or so at that effort. The last 7 km from Reynard to the summit are very open and if it's a windy day, that's where you'll notice it, but you'll see the top around then, so nothing will stop you.

The climb up from Sault is much easier but longer, the advantage being that when you do the same last 7km from Reynard you are much fresher and can blast up the last bit which looks impressive to other riders who assume you came from Bedoin!!

It's a great climb and you will love it. Also whilst in the area, try to ride the Gorge de Nesque and the col de fontanube and aires, the view of Ventoux from there is awesome.

andy_wrx

I climbed it from Sault in under 2 hours, which was the target.
It would have been easier with lower gearing, but you're on a MTB so that'll be fine.
I was mid-way through a week touring in Provence, had done 45 miles earlier in the day to get to Sault, so I was fit and trained but on the other hand had a lot of miles in my legs at the bottom.

When I did it though, last September, it was bitterly cold and very windy above the treeline. I was struggling at less than 5mph into wind, would go round a bend and get the wind behind me and be blown up to 15mph, round another bend and struggling again.
At the top I got out of the saddle to sprint the last 50m and was blown off the road !

At the top was 6oC, but with windchill was probably below zero, in and out of cloud. After getting a few pictures and so on, when I started down I was frozen to such an extent I was shaking and my arms locked. The wind seemed even worse descending, kept trying to blow me off the road or into cars coming up - this was actually terrifying, some others were even walking their bikes down. It took 15 scary minutes to crab down to Chalet Reynard for a coffee and a warm-up.

So, depending on the day, it could either be scorching or freezing, with a gale-force wind at the top.
On a good day it should be easy enough and you could spin-up pretty quickly. On a poor day it'll be a challenge and a lot slower. On a bad day it might be a very bad idea...
Enjoy !

guinea

I did the same as you a couple of weeks ago, but did Alpe d'Huez first.

I have to admit to doing a lot of miles on the bike before trying these, but pretty much no hill climbing other than those bumps in Richmond Park. The training I did was to try and cycle a couple of hours without ever stopping pedalling. In other words keeping the power on for a long time. You will have no time to freewheel on these ascents. Within a few seconds you'll be at a standstill. It takes concentration in training as you'll find yourself coasting every now and again.

If I were you I'd make sure all my muscles got a good work out this week and next with a couple of days rest/recovery before the event. I spent prollonged periods out and in the saddle which on muscles that weren't used to it would have been much harder.

However, when you get there just cycle as much as your body will let you. I did the following

day 1 - Alpe d'Huez
day 2 - Alpe d'Huez
day 3 - Les Duez Alpes
day 4 - Ventoux
day 5 - Ventoux from Bedoin AND from Sault

Like I say, I wasn't really in climbing shape, just had muscles that were used to working. I put a few picture up here - http://www.bikeradar.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=12568706

Most of all, enjoy it. There were lots of people walking up the last stretches, so it is tough. However, if you take it steady in the right gear I think any reasonably fit person can do it. Good luck.

guinea

andy_wrx wrote:

I was struggling at less than 5mph into wind, would go round a bend and get the wind behind me and be blown up to 15mph, round another bend and struggling again.

This is so true. Even though it was relatively calm on the days I climbed there were sections I flew up. It was bizzare to be ascending at 15-20mph. However, the next corner would always exact a revenge. Thi was especially true on the Sault ascent. Even the missus on her mountain bike was changing up the gears. It was always far easier after a left turn.

The other part is your perception of an incline changes. Things start to look flat or even downhill after a while. Trying to stop pedalling soon shatters that illusion.

Brian B

I have climbed Ventoux from both sides and I am just an average sportive/weekend cyclist. I did the Bedoin side in just under 2hrs and the Maulecine side in 1hr 43mins and totally going for it.

My advice is to get into a small gear at the start of the climb and stay there all the way throughout the forest section as the gradient does not really change that much. Do not go too fast to start as it is a long way to the top.

Dont know if you have climbed any other european big climbs but Ventoux for me was the toughest and I have done a few Hor catergorie climbs in the Alps and Pyrenees and none of them can match it for length or gradient. On your bike set up I would suggest a time of around 2hrs30mins. Alpe de Huez is not too bad - it starts of really steep and you think that you wont be able to keep this up all the way to the the top but it gets easier and halfway up you actually start to enjoy the climb.

liversedge

The only thing I can add is to point out that the drive from AdH to the Windy Mountain is a very long way. It took as the best part of 5 hours last july.

They are both steeped in history and climbing them is as near to a spiritual experience as I am willing to admit.

On both climbs don't expect any respite - just keep spinning till you get there and remember to look around as you do so ... you will look back on the experience for a long time ... a camera isn't a bad idea either - if you're not gunnning for a particular time.

Green with envy!

another jacko

As long as you are reasonably fit, I think whether you can do it or not is in the head, not in the legs. Nothing in the UK will prepare you for the relentlessness of the effort you have to make.

You can see the summit from miles away, then it disappears and you climb for miles. The trees hem you in, there is no horizon, just the next bend up ahead and then the next and the next. When the summit reappears an hour or more later it seems just as far away as when you first saw it, before disappearing again to plan more tricks for you. Many more miles and another hour further on, well above the tree line, a trick of perspective makes you think you are nearly there, but you turn a corner to see several kilometres of black road snaking on and upwards through the white rock. You can actually feel all your energy seep away in the very next pedal stroke. The targets you set to keep yourself going get shorter and shorter until each turn of the pedals requires you to summon up again and again every ounce of your willpower. But you keep going and at the Tom Simpson memorial, 1km from the top, just 1km left to go, only 1 pathetic little km, you KNOW you've made it and nothing can stop you now. The only drug you needed was adrenalin, as a fresh burst of energy from your hidden reserves pushes you to the top.

Climbing Ventoux was the hardest physical thing I have ever done, but also one of the most rewarding, second only to being at my children's births. I cried when I got to the top. Perhaps the superfit and superfast multiple climbers won't understand this?

It took me 3 hours from Bedoin (is this a slowness record?) when I did it on my 50th birthday, I was even more overweight then than I am now, and me & the Carlton were probably the oldest bike/rider combination on the hill (although there were many riders on flash new lighweight bikes who were both much older and much fitter than me!)

Take plenty of water and plenty of energy gel things, but otherwise travel as light as you can. If a warm day is forecast set off at first light so you don't climb in the worst of the heat.

Good luck

popette

another jacko wrote:

You can see the summit from miles away, then it disappears and you climb for miles. The trees hem you in, there is no horizon, just the next bend up ahead and then the next and the next. When the summit reappears an hour or more later it seems just as far away as when you first saw it, before disappearing again to plan more tricks for you. Many more miles and another hour further on, well above the tree line, a trick of perspective makes you think you are nearly there, but you turn a corner to see several kilometres of black road snaking on and upwards through the white rock. You can actually feel all your energy seep away in the very next pedal stroke. The targets you set to keep yourself going get shorter and shorter until each turn of the pedals requires you to summon up again and again every ounce of your willpower. But you keep going and at the Tom Simpson memorial, 1km from the top, just 1km left to go, only 1 pathetic little km, you KNOW you've made it and nothing can stop you now. The only drug you needed was adrenalin, as a fresh burst of energy from your hidden reserves pushes you to the top.

I've never tried it but reading your description makes me want to.

kmahony

Did the same trip last year. Ventoux, day off, d'Huez.

I'm heavy (100kg that time), so slow, but found both ok. (Did have good weather - no wind). Both very steady, no really steep sections.

I think good times are 1h00 and 1h40 (I took 1h40 and 2h40!!!)

mozwyn69

If you are averaging 17/18mph on a mountain bike then you are pretty fit. Ventoux is long but with mountain bike gears you will spin easily if slowly. Take a windbreaker whatever the weather. I started off pouring water over my head and finsished in the mist freezing cold. Managed 1.45 ish, it's a fantastic climb.