Marmotte Medals

fuzzdog

I know you get a diploma if you complete the Marmotte but do you a medal as well.

And are there medals or riders in the Mi Marmotte or the Rando Marmotte?

DeVlaeminck

For the Marmotte you get a choice of a medal or your deposit for the timing chip back - first time out I got the medal - from then on I got the deposit back.

fuzzdog

Oh Okay. Do you know about the other two rides?

DeVlaeminck

Don't know. If you have a timing chip I imagine you have the option of exchanging it for a medal. The rando and the mini do have timing chips because I was with people last year that did them - so at a guess I'd say yes you can get a medal.

fuzzdog

That's interesting.
CAn you help me a bit with your knowledge of the event?
I'm in the process of deciding which one I should do. I have a choice of all three, Marmotte, Mini and Rando.
I have been thinking I'm not up to the full Marmotte. But maybe the Mini, although with its two tough climbs might be a bit short. So maybe the Rando is the ideal option. But how did your friends find it. I'm fairly fit, in the process of trying to get fitter but not much time to do a lot of cycling at this time of year so working out on a spin bike. I will do a lot more when the evenings get longer. I did the Ride London last year in a respectable 5.30. Better than I'd hoped for. I'm 46.
Grateful for any info.
Cheers

ugo.santalucia

fuzzdog

SussenFrussenRussen..... Dick Dastadly!!!!

stanthomas

You've left it a bit late to ride the Marmotte this year; entries were full a couple of months ago. There is, of course, no reason why you need to ride the Marmotte event if you just want to ride the route; the road is there all year. If you want the 'buzz', go that week but ride the route on Friday or Sunday. Ok, no feed stops but plenty of cafes along the route. The Rando is the same as an audax and there is an audax setup for the Marmotte route http://www.aukweb.net/perms/detail/SS12/ if you'd like a momento, in the form of a brevet card, of your day.

As for fitness, I wouldn't base anything on Ride London, rather go and try something like the Polka Dot or a 200k audax with some hills in it.

ugo.santalucia

stanthomas wrote:

There is, of course, no reason why you need to ride the Marmotte event if you just want to ride the route; the road is there all year.

Mmmh, yes, but not really... this is one of my favourite climbs as it looks today and it's only 1650 mt elevation. Realistically you can go up the Galibier from mid June to mid September and even there you have to pick a good day and not any day... just ask Ullrich...



I believe this was 19/06/2013

fuzzdog

Wow! that was June?
At least you would get a sot landing i you went off the side. Maybe.
Okay chaps. Thanks for that. I know I could ride it another time but I wanted to experience the ride alongside like minded people. The atmosphire etc. I particularly enjoyed the ride London. The big event feeling hence my desire to do the Marmotte. It seems like the ultimate.
My dilemma is which one to ride. Do the Rando or the Mini and piggyback off the atmosphire of the main ride and enjoy it slightly more but pehaps end up with a slight feeling of inferiority or go all out for the main event and go through hell and possibly not finish. I think I might have just answered my own question. But interested to hear what De Vlaeminck's mates who did it thought.
Also which ever one I do I would still like to have something to take away to say I did it in the form of a medal.

DeVlaeminck

The rando doesn't have many people on it day one and you'll have to arrange a hotel in Valloire overnight. Plus you can do the climb up Croix de Fer/Glandon another day and the Telegraphe is nothing special compared to loads of other beautiful bits of road round there.

I'd do the mini or the full - actually if you've already ridden 100 miles in one go I'd do the full and train for it - unless you are carrying a lot of extra weight I think you'd be able to finish - I'm assuming you've got some way of getting an entry for the full at this stage as it's sold out but no doubt there are ways and means.

fuzzdog

Thanks.
I've found a company that still has entry or all rides.
I got reasonably it for last year but am confident I can get fitter this. I've been interval training on my spin bike and I feel I'm getting there. Also just got a compact chainset( i've been riding a 52/39 up the local hills near me ) managed Leith Hill several times last year without to much trouble on that and several stepper climbs. Barhatch lane near Cranleigh which is 20% at the top has defeated me up until now but am hoping that armed with the compact I should manage that. Obviously these aren't the alps. I'm more worried about the heat. Or from those previous pics, the cold. I've been trying to lose weight. At the moment I'm a 6ft 14 stoner. Athough I don't really look it. Hoping to drop a stone by the summer. I think that would help a lot. All things combined, I'm hoping to improve a fair bit.
Thanks everyone or your advice.

DeVlaeminck

Do the full - worst case scenario is you run out of time and can't climb the Alpe - you've still completed a harder ride than the mini and you can climb the Alpe any time. First time I did it loads of our group were nervous about their chances of completing it but they all did and nobody really came close to the broom wagon. If you plan to train for it - by which I mean maybe a long ride at the weekend and a couple of evenings minimum - I'm pretty sure you'll finish. Having said that when I ended up in the broom wagon for a mechanical we were sweeping up plenty of riders from the Telegraphe onwards that had just run out of legs - but to be honest to run out of the legs on the second climb I can't imagine how little prep they must have done.

ugo.santalucia

fuzzdog wrote:

Thanks.
I've found a company that still has entry or all rides.
I got reasonably it for last year but am confident I can get fitter this. I've been interval training on my spin bike and I feel I'm getting there. Also just got a compact chainset( i've been riding a 52/39 up the local hills near me ) managed Leith Hill several times last year without to much trouble on that and several stepper climbs. Barhatch lane near Cranleigh which is 20% at the top has defeated me up until now but am hoping that armed with the compact I should manage that. Obviously these aren't the alps. I'm more worried about the heat. Or from those previous pics, the cold. I've been trying to lose weight. At the moment I'm a 6ft 14 stoner. Athough I don't really look it. Hoping to drop a stone by the summer. I think that would help a lot. All things combined, I'm hoping to improve a fair bit.
Thanks everyone or your advice.

There is a fundamental difference between a climb that lasts 5-10 minutes and one that lasts 1-2 hours and that is pace. Paradoxically, it would be better if you didn't do any hill training at all, as the hills round here are misleading. You need to learn self discipline... small gear and a pace that allows you to go for an hour without building lactic acid... you simply can't tackle the Glandon in the same way you tackle Leith hill.
Don't worry with hill training, just pace yourself in your training when you go up

fuzzdog

All good advice and valuable insight. Thankyou.
Many years ago I road a ride called the Bordeaux to barcelona, which had a range of people of different abilities. I was just about the youngest at 21 and me and 20 or so others used to go for it each day. We rode up several mountains most notably ~Super bangners ( a tour mountain in Luchon, featured several times, 1989 and also Robert Miller won there) I remember how I just had to get into a good rhythem and stay at it for an hour or so. So I know what you mean about the long slog and pacing yourself. I know that after a while you find it and begin to settle into it. Athough gradient changes make that more difficult I suppose.
I certainly notice a big difference in my fitness with the HIT training I'm doing. Haven't been out on the road at all for a few months, just focusing on this and core strength at the moment. especially during this discussing weather.
Thanks again.

Rob Somerset

Do the full route. At age 53 I managed it last year without too much difficulty. The gradients are ok, its mostly about discipline and the ability to sit at a steady tempo/ effort for 1 - 2 hours at a time- in blistering heat!. I did little hill training before I went. Determine the heart rate you are going to climb out and then bang out loads of miles ( 2000+ for me) at that rate. I've done a fair few sportives including the Etape and the quality of the field was way way way better than anything else I've done. Good day out though.

fuzzdog

Thanks Rob.
What sort of time did you do.

Rob Somerset

Not quick, i think I was a bit too cautious about not overdoing it before the Alpe so kept at a easy pace. I rode with a friend so there was a lot of chatting and some ridiculously long social/tourist stops. Well over half an hour for lunch at Valloire!. Our goal was to get round before the time cutoff and have a good day out- which was achieved. Think it was about 9 and a bit hours of pedalling time plus incredibly about 1.5 hours of stoppages. There was a lot of people of near professional standard. apparently the winner climbed the Alp in 44 mins, Not too far short of Pantanis drug fuelled 38 min record. The two descents were mindblowing - plenty of footage on youtube.

fuzzdog

So it's going to be a long day then whichever way you look at it. I don't know what the cut off time is. I will take a look on the net. I must say I ham slightly apprehensive about those desents or more to the point the big drops by the side of the road. If you are not careful you could find yourself descending a bit quicker than you had bargained for. Watching those you tube clips makes me a bit weak at the knees. I think when I rode in the Pyrenees I just ignored them. Maybe they looked less frightening from a bikes eye view.