Descending with the pro's

mtb-idle

Way back in July I visited the Pyrenees to follow le tour. I finally got around to editing some of the footage I shot whilst descending the Pla d'Adet in the company of my eldest son and the pro tour riders who were making their way back to the coaches parked at the bottom of the mountain.

It's quite a long video but hopefully enjoyable. Hope you like it.

https://vimeo.com/115475643

List of riders including Richie Porte and others and the times they pass me on the video link. Feel free to ID any riders I have missed.

daniel_b

Good watch, speed difference is substantial at times, and you didn't appear to be hanging around yourself.

Thanks for posting

andy9964

/\ +1

Surprised that, given the congestion in parts, the teams allow their riders to ride back down. (Though I'm struggling to think of an alternative )
Nice experience for the fans though, you wouldn't get to walk off the pitch with the players after a world cup match

6wheels

Very enjoyable! What speeds were you hitting ?

mtb-idle

6wheels wrote:

Very enjoyable! What speeds were you hitting ?

Cheers, about 40mph at times. Ridden faster in the past but as you can see it gets a bit crowded at certain points.

slowbike

one thing that struck me when we've been to see the TdF is the good naturedness of all the spectators - there's no problem with traffic flow, no "I've got to get past and go first" and everyone seems to be equal - in vans, cars, on bike or on foot ....

mrc1

Great video.

Normally when the pros descend post stage they take it pretty steady and have chaperones but Pla d'Adet was a total bun fight and the teams wanted to get people out of the valley asap as there is a traffic pinch point a few kilometres up the valley (traffic was still well into the evening afterwards).

There was a pretty nasty spill on the descent that one of our guides witnessed and did first aid on actually. A lady had overcooked one of the turns and wiped a couple of people out, which apparently caused a bit of uproar amongst the passing pros for obvious reasons as a few of them narrowly missed her!

A couple of us set the alarms for sunrise that morning and were up at the top just as they were erecting all the finish area and gantries - we got some great ironic cheers from the workers!

Pla d'Adet descent is epic though - just before sunset in summer is the best time to let loose as there is very little traffic and if you know the road you can sight several kilometres at a time and track any cars...

Can't wait for the final three stages in the Alps this year - our base on Hairpin Two of the Alpe should see us pretty perfectly set up!

mtb-idle

mrc1 wrote:

<snip>

There was a pretty nasty spill on the descent that one of our guides witnessed and did first aid on actually. A lady had overcooked one of the turns and wiped a couple of people out, which apparently caused a bit of uproar amongst the passing pros for obvious reasons as a few of them narrowly missed her!
<snip>

Glad you liked it. We were passed by the ambulance attending that crash (I cut that bit out to keep the total length of the video Down) but you can see the ambulance and a quick flash of two people on the ground at 06:25. Lots of claret on what looked like a head injury when I passed. I also got stuck in the road hold up once back to the car but that's all part of the fun.

Hotel booked already for 2015 in the Alps, will watch out for you on hairpin two!

DKay

Cool vid. Richie Porte went past and was out of sight within 15seconds and you weren't exactly hanging around.

Concept7

Yes quite a shift on the one - cool

The Rookie

Nice vid, I have to say I think the Pros were taking some risks in some of the passes though, lost of traffic and peds all of which is unpredictable.

I had in every near miss on a decent when a car came round a hairpin completely the wrong side of the road and I was out on the white line to open up the corner, had I been 1 second in front of where I was I would have hit him hard, no shadow of a doubt, as it was I missed him by less than 12", that's the risk you take on a decent at speed, your margins for coping with other peoples errors is tiny or non existent.