Who's ready for the Marmotte?
Comments
-
9h 05m in total, 8h 25m official time sans Glandon for me.
Surprised how tough the Glandon felt but loved the Telegraph. I had a bit of hunger knock towards the top of the Galibier and had concerns about the Alpe at the time. I managed to eat well and recover and felt good all the way up the Alpe in the end though.
A Gold standard was more than i had hoped for and i guess the moderate weather helped but i am delighted!
Rich0 -
Congrats to all!
I had an amazing first time, quite nervous the two days before. Glandon and Telegraph felt great, maybe went a little too hard. First struggles came with 5km to go on the Galibier and I also started to get nervous for the Alpe. Went well on the decent after the Galibier and recovered a little. The Alpe was very very hard, think I completed it in 1hour 10mins to finish in a door to door of exactly 8hours dead, 7hours 27mins official time.
Just trying to find it on the website so I can compare!!Scott Addict 2011
Giant TCR 20120 -
I finished 8:50, found it very hard and blew up on the Galibier with about 7km to go, had a really sore low back where I had to get off my bike twice on the Galibier, twice up the Alpe. The first 5km of d'huez are extremely tough after all that climbing. I reckon my time on next effort will be much better, some days you feel good on the bike, some days not!!
Easy to spot us Brits, always wear black Assos or black Rapha bibshorts....I think black bibshorts are becoming a old school thing even worse the French/Italians don't ever wear black bib, they use colours!!!!anyway...
La Marmotte - you have to do it...sportive you can't miss off your cycling career!
if anyone is interested, there is a sportive with similar pain - Marco Pantani granfondo
might try this one next year, see link
http://gsalpi.com/en/gf-giordana/editio ... 1-percorsi0 -
Didnt see any Rapha kit actually.
For me.....
Most seen shorts - Leopard Trek
Most seen jersey - Team SkyScott Addict 2011
Giant TCR 20120 -
Saw lots of Leopard Trek kit as well.......0
-
JonGinge wrote:The results are here: http://www.sportcommunication.info/web2 ... p?langue=2
Very happy with my door to door time of 7:33:45 and official time of 7:05:11. Everything went so much better than last year when I started cramping on the telegraph... I even managed a sprint to the line, much to the amusement of the crowd
Well done Jon - that's an absolutely AWESOME time!!!
I managed a rather less impressive 9h45 which scrapes me a gold (being an old lady has its advantages) with total time of 10h30. I was disappointed to get overtaken on the descents by so many people that I'd overtaken on the ascents, so perhaps I need to get braver?!
Also had a bit of an admin fail and didn't bring enough gels to France to had to buy some and the Power gel ones I got did not agree with me at ALL - felt v.nauseous up Galibier and the Alpe was just a mess, frankly.
I found the crowds really challenging to deal with - so many people who swerved, stopped suddenly, shoulder barged, etc etc - and I didn't manage to get anything at any of the food and water stations. Just too much bedlam for me to cope with. Fortunately fountains abound in the Alps and I'd taken lots of food (and the aforementioned accursed new gels).0 -
Got back last night. Would have to say that was the hardest day on a bike in my life. What really got to me was the heat, especially on the climb out of Bourg up the Alp. At about ten to two was over 35oc on my Garmin and the road looked like it was melting under my pedals.
Fair play to anyone who gets round the course no matter how long it took them. That really is a challenge and one all finishers should be proud of. I thought I had done well until I met a 70 year old in the bar afterwards who had got round on his steel tourer with a triple in under 10 hours! It was also great to watch the last finisher be paraded up through down around 9pm with a cavalcade of motorbikes and cars around him to claim the lantern rouge as we sat in the bar throwing back beers.
A thanks to the guys at Velovontuex for their organisation and Chris at Smithys bar.
Good to meet Brian B and George from this forum and who both did great times. That training on the Vontouex paid off.
Think I got the pacing right but it's difficult when you haven't done the route before.
I was delighted with a finish in the top 12% of the 6200 odd finishers. 7.34 without the Glandon 8 hours dead door to door. A Gold medal secured by a fair margin and that was what I wanted.
I've promised the wife I won't be doing it again. I reckon I'll probably keep that promise ! 0 -
Just scraped through in under 10 hours - which was the aim! Thoroughly enjoyed the day though was suprised at some of the poor descending and rider etiquette - people just stopping without signal, etc. I've got a full 12 months to get in better shape to get round in under 9 hours! Well done to all those who made it round!0
-
Brutal but superb experience. 8.50 excluding Glandon descent, 9.29 with. 45 minutes of resting time during which gives loads of room for improvement. Overall well pleased, especially having feared I would not get round after a couple of "gentle warm up" rides with JonGinge and CJCP. They turned out to be a bit of a blessing.
Paced the Glandon, got stuck at the feed stop at the top as everything bottlenecked. Managed ok on Telegraph, struggled the top 5k of Galibier and got cramp on the steep ramps at the top. Cramp if I sat down in the hamstrings, cramp if I stood up in the calves. No choice but to spend 10-15 minutes at the feedstation rehydrating. The Alpe was hot, but I found a rhythm and having come that far was not stopping. Felt sick the whole way up and had a panic moment when getting to the KW Shirt to find no supporters, fortunately they were at the next bend to soak me in water and boost me with coke.
12 months of training and improving climbing and reckon I'll have a stab at gold next year.0 -
7:54 door-to-door. Extremely happy with that - much better than I thought I'd do.
Started with Jon Ginge but couldn't sustain the pace he was climbing at, so dropped off shortly after the first descent on the Glandon even though I was going as hard as I could. Kept going as hard as I could to the top, steady descent of the the Glandon, good group through to the Telegraph and caught up with JG, then lost touch with him again when the Telegraph started, went hard up the Telegraph before things started to go a bit wrong 1km from summit.
The Galibier was horrendous - much worse than last year - so descended with some, er, enthusiasm to make up time to Bourg. First half of the Alpe was ok - took it steady - but slowly but surely blew in the second half before recovering for a sprint-ish finish.
Not doing that again. Not in a hurry anyway.FCN 2-4.
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."0 -
Markwb79 wrote:Congrats to all!
I had an amazing first time, quite nervous the two days before. Glandon and Telegraph felt great, maybe went a little too hard. First struggles came with 5km to go on the Galibier and I also started to get nervous for the Alpe. Went well on the decent after the Galibier and recovered a little. The Alpe was very very hard, think I completed it in 1hour 10mins to finish in a door to door of exactly 8hours dead, 7hours 27mins official time.
Just trying to find it on the website so I can compare!! Was good to meet you on the Galibier descent as we hurtled into the valley and looks like we finished together too. 0 -
Now to blow your mind, Ed went over 8 minutes faster than me to the top of the Glandon :shock:cjcp wrote:7:54 door-to-door. Extremely happy with that - much better than I thought I'd do.
Started with Jon Ginge but couldn't sustain the pace he was climbing at, so dropped off shortly after the first descent on the Glandon even though I was going as hard as I could. Kept going as hard as I could to the top, steady descent of the the Glandon, good group through to the Telegraph and caught up with JG, then lost touch with him again when the Telegraph started, went hard up the Telegraph before things started to go a bit wrong 1km from summit.
Splits:
Ed: http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... &Submit=GO
JG: http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... &Submit=GO
CJ: http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... &Submit=GO
@LondonLivvy Good ride! Shame about the food issues (I had a very similar problem last year where I hadn't tried the drink powder before the day). The feed at the top of the glandon sounds a nightmare for the later starters. JZed said he spent a lot of time stuck there. How did the rest of your group get on?
@JZed I had exactly the same cramp issues last year! A bit more training, better pacing and nutrition and this year was sooo much better. You've got massive power so gold should definitely be possible next time
@CJ NeverSayNeverAgain, Mr Jenkins
0 -
@JG - lalalalalalalalalala - can't hear you.
We were only 3 mins apart at Valloire?!!!! I am giving myself a huge pat on the back for that!!
But that effort trying to keep up with you clearly took its toll: look at the time difference at the base of the Alpe? D'ya hear the low, but distinctive sound of someone cracking on the Galibier?
That's seriously impressive by Ed.
@LondonLivvy - that's a cracking time. Well done. 8)FCN 2-4.
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."0 -
@JG - thanks for the splits link - loving the graphic. Great fun!!
The boys did much better than me. Boyf did 6h57 but was annoyed to have lost 6 mins at a water station, queuing. The other friend did 6h47 so v.evenly matched. They came 24th and 25th in the Trophee D'Oisans. Only 100 or so riders enter the whole thing so maybe that's a new challenge for you guys next year??
Well done Jzed and CJCP. Great efforts all round.0 -
That's brilliant! Shame about the water stop, I was a bit luckier (i skipped the glandon and valloire ones anyway). Awesome overall results in the trophee.londonlivvy wrote:@JG - thanks for the splits link - loving the graphic. Great fun!!
The boys did much better than me. Boyf did 6h57 but was annoyed to have lost 6 mins at a water station, queuing. The other friend did 6h47 so v.evenly matched. They came 24th and 25th in the Trophee D'Oisans. Only 100 or so riders enter the whole thing so maybe that's a new challenge for you guys next year??
Well done Jzed and CJCP. Great efforts all round.
I'm eagerly awaiting the videos to be put up later this afternoon0 -
8.20 official - about what i expected but quite a few if onlys - knew i was under trained and over race weight due to various things (injury and eating too much mainly) so thinking about maybe coming back and giving it a proper go in the future - still sneaked into gold so shouldn't moan !
A lot of respect to everyone that completed it or gave it their best. Anyone know if there were a lot of DNFs or did the best part of 2k riders just not turn up - I thought there were 8,000 in it ?
it's a hard life if you don't weaken.0 -
-
FCN 2-4.
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."0 -
Still buzzing. Absolutely loved that. After a bad start to the year everything fell into place. I knew when I got up it'd go well. Weather absolutely perfect.
Not as quick as you lot but my aim was to get round, thinking about 13hrs, but came in with 11:46. Non stop up the Alpe, which really surprised me.
One of my best rides ever. Can't believe I've completed the Marmotte!!!!!
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... &Submit=GO
Well done all.
Edit:
11:46:48 all in
11:11:00 without the Glandon descent.
... is there any reason they've not taken out the descent on the results xls? They seem to have for all the others I've checked? Not that it matters, but can I presume I was 5683rd rather than 6019th 
0 -
cjcp wrote: Good to meet you, FM 0
-
Great stuff!TheStone wrote:Still buzzing. Absolutely loved that. After a bad start to the year everything fell into place. I knew when I got up it'd go well. Weather absolutely perfect.
Not as quick as you lot but my aim was to get round, thinking about 13hrs, but came in with 11:46. Non stop up the Alpe, which really surprised me.
One of my best rides ever. Can't believe I've completed the Marmotte!!!!!
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... &Submit=GO
Well done all.
Edit:
11:46:48 all in
11:11:00 without the Glandon descent.
... is there any reason they've not taken out the descent on the results xls? They seem to have for all the others I've checked? Not that it matters, but can I presume I was 5683rd rather than 6019th
Looks like your timing chip didn't register at the Bas Glandon point... (Mine didn't at Plan Lachat, but i didn't stop there so maybe that's why).0 -
londonlivvy wrote:JonGinge wrote:The results are here: http://www.sportcommunication.info/web2 ... p?langue=2
Very happy with my door to door time of 7:33:45 and official time of 7:05:11. Everything went so much better than last year when I started cramping on the telegraph... I even managed a sprint to the line, much to the amusement of the crowd
Well done Jon - that's an absolutely AWESOME time!!!
I managed a rather less impressive 9h45 which scrapes me a gold (being an old lady has its advantages) with total time of 10h30. I was disappointed to get overtaken on the descents by so many people that I'd overtaken on the ascents, so perhaps I need to get braver?!
Also had a bit of an admin fail and didn't bring enough gels to France to had to buy some and the Power gel ones I got did not agree with me at ALL - felt v.nauseous up Galibier and the Alpe was just a mess, frankly.
I found the crowds really challenging to deal with - so many people who swerved, stopped suddenly, shoulder barged, etc etc - and I didn't manage to get anything at any of the food and water stations. Just too much bedlam for me to cope with. Fortunately fountains abound in the Alps and I'd taken lots of food (and the aforementioned accursed new gels).
Congrats LL.
This was the practice run for next year, perhaps?0 -
JonGinge wrote:I'm eagerly awaiting the videos to be put up later this afternoon
No video on the finish line - take a look at what I had to contend with at the top of Glandon
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilovemarmotte/cartemarmotte.php?dossard=53910 -
@JZed.... you think your glandon experience was bad... have a look at my vid.
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... ssard=4563
v.unfun - and it's the crows that put me off doing it again, Cafewanda, not the cycling.
EDIT. Crowds, not crows. There aren't evil dive-bombing birds around the Alps as far as I'm aware.0 -
Congrats to all who finished
Here's my write up 11hrs 30 but delighted
http://www.amateuretape.com/la-marmotte-done/Tri Coaching
https://www.h3otriathlon.com0 -
londonlivvy wrote:@JZed.... you think your glandon experience was bad... have a look at my vid.
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... ssard=4563
v.unfun - and it's the crows that put me off doing it again, Cafewanda, not the cycling.
:shock: Yep that's much worse - and theres cars trying to get up too! That was only 20 minutes after I went through. Glad I was at the front of the last pen.
Well done on the gold.
EDIT: JG and CJ had a clear path. Explains why they were so fast. :-)0 -
TheStone wrote:Still buzzing. Absolutely loved that. After a bad start to the year everything fell into place. I knew when I got up it'd go well. Weather absolutely perfect.
Not as quick as you lot but my aim was to get round, thinking about 13hrs, but came in with 11:46. Non stop up the Alpe, which really surprised me.
One of my best rides ever. Can't believe I've completed the Marmotte!!!!!
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... &Submit=GO
Well done all.
Edit:
11:46:48 all in
11:11:00 without the Glandon descent.
... is there any reason they've not taken out the descent on the results xls? They seem to have for all the others I've checked? Not that it matters, but can I presume I was 5683rd rather than 6019th
+1 to being my best ride ever and to still buzzing!
Well done. Not stopping up the Alpe was more than I could manage - had to take a coke from the support crew at turn 7 - and it takes some doing riding for 11 hours - I was extremely relieved to reach the finish line.FCN 2-4.
"What happens when the hammer goes down, kids?"
"It stays down, Daddy."
"Exactly."0 -
Yep, that's insaneJZed wrote:londonlivvy wrote:@JZed.... you think your glandon experience was bad... have a look at my vid.
http://www.sportcommunication.info/ilov ... ssard=4563
v.unfun - and it's the crows that put me off doing it again, Cafewanda, not the cycling.
:shock: Yep that's much worse - and theres cars trying to get up too! That was only 20 minutes after I went through. Glad I was at the front of the last pen.
Well done on the gold.
EDIT: JG and CJ had a clear path. Explains why they were so fast. :-)
Hopefully more vids are coming. (And corrected, too. I'm not in the finish line ones...)0 -
I managed 9.13 door to door and 8.39 official, which although a little slower than I wanted (ie, not gold!!) is still 45 mins better than last year.
all in all, a cracking days riding again. the descent of the glandon is so much fun, and I loved the telegraph. was pleased enough with my performance on the galibier and the alpe, but really need to spend less time at water / feed stops!0 -
anyone know where i can buy a marmotte jersey online?
didnt want to buy one before ide finished the thing0
