Marmotte Time limit

spokegeezer

Are there any time limits on the Marmotte route like the Etape has?

Is it worth getting a preferential Bib number for Marmotte nearer the front of the queue? What difference would it make if any?

Thanks.

Rodrego Hernandez

The only thing that will make a real difference is by getting fit and being able to get around 4 mountains in around 7 or 8 hours, no real benefit in getting a start at the front to be honest. I've started the etape at the front and at the back and found it made little difference.

maddog 2

people were coming in after 13 hours last year, half dead, which is crackers IMO. I'm all for a personal challenge but they really suffered.

http://www.sportcommunication.info/web2 ... 0&langue=2

clanton

Rodrego Hernandez wrote:

The only thing that will make a real difference is by getting fit and being able to get around 4 mountains in around 7 or 8 hours, no real benefit in getting a start at the front to be honest. I've started the etape at the front and at the back and found it made little difference.

To finish the Marmotte in 7 hours takes more than fitness - you'd need to choose your parents pretty damn well too!

KKB

Yes, if you can do that circuit in 7 to 8 hours, then you wouldn't be on here asking opinions on time limits!!
Having said that, I think people that take 13 or so still feel a massive achievement in what they've done. Still a great effort, I say.

Jaguar.

Yes, there is a time limit. Basically, they take your timing chip off you at the bottom of Alpe d'Huez so you don't get an official time, you are still of course quite free to pedal up AD as it's a public road. It will probably be going dark by the time you get to the top though, which I guess is why they try to dissuade people from doing so. One of our guys ended up being the last official finisher one year, I think he had a time of soething like 13 hours.

Clearly, the pens are released in order so the lower number you have, the higher up the pens you will be. I think there might be as much as an hour difference between the front (elite) pen and the last pen. This doesn't affect the cut off at AD though.

Historically, with the exception of the Elite pen, the dossard numbers were allocated on a first come first served basis, last year the front pen (at least) was seeded based on times in previous years.

hth.

Rodrego Hernandez

There isn't a huge time difference between the front and the back, The point I was trying to make is that you want to concern yourself with things that you control such as arriving in good shape with a bike that works rather than stressing about where you start from.

Bronzie

Jaguar. wrote:

Yes, there is a time limit.

I believe you have to reach the bottom of Alpe D'Huez before 6pm to avoid having your chip removed, although this time may have changed since I did it in 2008.

greeny12

Don't forget too that you can cross the timing mat at Bourg d'Oisans and then have a little rest/feed/drink before tackling ADH. They can't grab your chip once you're over that line...

The mat is past the feed station, just before the hill ramps up but there's still plenty of space to stop.

on-yer-bike

maddog 2 wrote:

people were coming in after 13 hours last year, half dead, which is crackers IMO. I'm all for a personal challenge but they really suffered.

http://www.sportcommunication.info/web2 ... 0&langue=2

I really suffered. Dehydration, heat stroke. I was found lying in the drain channel on Alpe d"huez. I finished though and came home with a chest infection. Would I do it again? Yes.

maddog 2

on-yer-bike wrote:

I really suffered. Dehydration, heat stroke. I was found lying in the drain channel on Alpe d"huez. I finished though and came home with a chest infection. Would I do it again? Yes.

you crazy man

I applaud you!

The Alp is a brutal place. Hot and ruthless. Just what you don't need when your legs are suffering and your head is gone.

I managed sub 9 hours this year which I was very pleased with. Timed the ride just right I think. I was pretty bushed at the end but still had form and control all the way up the Alp.

forward_loop

Its 7 Months prior to the event - I dont understand why you are asking these sorts of questions. the time limits are all about security, logistics and safety and are there for a reason. If you dont think you could do it in daylight hours then its probably not for you this year. the only preferential numbers are given to those who have posted very good times in previous years as far as i recall. Youdont want to be a slow rider in the first 2,000 - you'll cause an accident.

Kléber

The time is one thing but it's really the time spent suffering. If you can, aim for 10 hours. Perhaps you could stop for a rest, to eat and drink. But if you know it's going to be a slog all the way and that you'll just run yourself into the ground simply to make it round then think twice.

Cycling does involve an element of suffering but within limits, there comes a point where a challenge becomes a humiliation. Take it steady and ensure you can enjoy the ride and perhaps think of an intermediate challenge in the mountains with a view to tackling the Marmotte in later years.

Also people have died in this event, others have had big crashes. You risk making mistakes once you are close to exhaustion.

rozi258

If you are looking to do a time of under 7.30 hrs then going early with a bib number of below 400 is key. The front runners are all looking to do good times so wheel sucking them is a must!! Obviously a little training is helpful too. www.velocamps.com has places for an early start.

Brewsterwmb

Getting a good start would be key as food stops are dyer unlike the Etapes. I was lucky to go out in the 2nd wave this year, that was bad enough at the food/drinks stop, but heard dyer stories of cues and running out of food etc for the later starters...

if you are going for a 'time' as the people said above, you dont want people in your way while climbing, as yes, some were walking up the first climb, the Glandon, let alone the other 3 'harder' climbs (did they appreciate what they were doing from the very start? who knows)

I managed it under 8:15. it was HOT! I saw the sign reading 38'c at the base of the Alpe, reports say it got to 41'c. Can we train for that is the UK, no? Can we train for climbs that take over 1:30 of constant climbing, no! Can we train going from 36'c at the bottom of the climbs to around 8'c or colder at the top, no!!

Its a rollacoaster, a dream, a task, its brilliant!

genki

rozi258 wrote:

If you are looking to do a time of under 7.30 hrs then going early with a bib number of below 400 is key. The front runners are all looking to do good times so wheel sucking them is a must!! Obviously a little training is helpful too. www.velocamps.com has places for an early start.

Nice plugging of your company (again) but personally I get annoyed by the idea that you buy your way into the elite starting pen. For a start, once you get onto the Glandon, at 10%+ there's almost no benefit from wheelsucking, but a slow rider in amongst the top riders is more likely to be a danger to others.

schweiz

IMO the cut off time for taking your number of you at the bottom of ADH takes into account the fact that there is a delay for some people starting. Isn't the cut off 18.30 in Bourg? IIRC the first guys go off at 7.00, so even if you don't start until 7.30-7.45 you will still have the best part of 11 hours or so to get to the start of ADH. If you can't do that then climbing ADH is not going to be enjoyable in any way. You'd be far better worrying about getting some miles and hills in your legs than at what time you start.

Brewsterwmb

you can BUY your way into an elite pen?!?!?!

jaysus.. why dont they just offer the chance to buy yourself a finish time at the same time for an extrea 100 euros and then sit and home at home all day! :?

Road Red

Surprised to hear that there were walkers on the Glandon.

There were walkers on the Marie Blanque on the Etape this year, but that is the Etape, which does attract a lot of underprepared posers. I thought those entering the Marmotte would be more hard core/better prepared.

Brewsterwmb

Too many MAMIL's ?

Road Red

You may be right, I fit into the MAMIL bracket myself, though at 50+, maybe a bit old. However I wouldn't dream of turning up at one of these events without having trained properly.

I did meet two guys after last year's Etape who hadnt done more than 100k in training! Naturally they didnt make it but you'd have to wonder whats the point?

Brewsterwmb

Road Red - your right! Personally dislike the term MAMIL.... But there are those that turn up to these events, UK and abroad with very little training. Alas, I hope they have a good walking in bike shoes up the 22km long cols...

Age has nothing to do with it hey! More attitude and training ?

schweiz

To anybody reading this who's doing La Marmotte for the first time....

I'm lucky enough to ride in the Alps all year round. As soon as the ski lifts stop, I start on the lower passes and go higher and higher through the summer as the roads open. I did La Marmotte in 2009. A few weeks beforehand I did a local training ride that was similar in length and height gain (Sustenpass, Grimselpass, Nufenenpass, Gotthardpass). I started off in the rain, went through snow on the top of the Susten, fog on the Grimsel, sunshine on the Nufenen and strong winds on the Gotthard. After all that I was more than confident that La Marmotte was going to be a hard day but easily doable. My rough targets were: Glandon 2 hours, Telegraphe 4 hours, Galibier 6 hours, ADH between 8 hours and 8:50 (Gold for my age). I actually did Glandon 2.08, Telegraph 4.53, Galibier 6.41, ADH 9.43. So I started off on target, seriously underestimated the time on the road to the base of the Telegraphe even though I got in a decent group but most of all, it was the final climb up ADH tore me apart. I did it in 1:38. I was aiming for 1:20 or less (on fresh legs I would hope to do it in just under an hour). As I went up ADH, it was like a bomb site of broken cyclists, all shapes, all ages, not just MAMILs. I blew 5 hairpins from the top by the church. I had to stop and I could barely unclip from my pedals. I took some water, I found the remnants of an isostar tablet in a food bag and mixed it in, I ate my last gel, did some stretching and then dragged my backside to the top.

I've ridden further than La Marmotte (Alpen Challenge 220km/4000m), I've done more climbing in a day than La Marmotte (5500+ m) but as a single day La Marmotte was the hardest thing I've done on a bike! Honestly! I’m 5’11” and was 82ish kg at the time, so hardly a specialist climber but I probably somewhere about ‘average’ for a member of this forum.

If you are a rider worried about making cut off times and truly think that getting in the first pen will help then you are mistaken. The elites will be off from the gun and if you try to follow (and manage to hang on) you will be blown by the time you’re a third of the way up Glandon. If you pace yourself you will be on your own, you will be doing a solo TT rather than drafting and conserving energy. So accept your start time, get into a group you feel comfortable with and sit there. Wheelsuck! Look after number 1. If you think you’re working hard on the flat section between Bourg and Allemont, you’re in the wrong group. There will always be someone willing to work, let them do it! When you start to climb you’re on your own but as soon as you’ve completed the descent from Glandon or from Galibier get into a group ASAP. That is how you will get round, not by paying over the odds to set off at 7am.

There’s only one way to get round La Marmotte and that is to put the hours in on the bike. I am full of respect for the huge numbers of fellow brits who have to train on the UK’s shocking roads with few or no long climbs (45 min + @ > 6-7%) to really test yourself who complete La Marmotte and other European sportives. So I’m not having a go, I’m not saying don’t have a go. I am saying that you need to prepare and that you can’t buy your way to ADH!