La Marmotte 2018

aberdeen_lune

It felt a lot hotter than 29 degrees C. Saw a few guys stopped lying in the shade and a guy with his head in one of the small waterfalls. As I mentioned earlier total carnage. Much preferred the Glalibier climb it was only 15 degrees up there.

stueys

ugo.santalucia wrote:

That temperatures taken on a device left in the sun are meaningless? Could even say 50 degrees if you stop pedalling.

29 max in July is average for that valley, it can get a lot hotter... a few years ago I think it got to 36 on the Marmotte day. Anyone who wants to do the Marmotte needs to be prepared to deal with "average"

Short of carrying a weather station when I ride that's all I've got though isnt' it? My statement was that I saw 39.7 degrees on my garmin, I did. It's the only empirical data point I have on the temperature I experienced on the day.

I can go further though, it's not the first time I've ridden those cols, this was the hottest time I've been there (though I'm not sure that means much from my sample size of about 10), (ii) I know what 29 degrees feels like, it was hotter.

ugo.santalucia

Stueys wrote:

I know what 29 degrees feels like, it was hotter.

You must have a very mild touch, but you are right, it was actually 30 and not 29! Still kind of average, as you can see

https://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/le-bo ... her/151642

DeVlaeminck

Yes every time I've done it it has been at least that hot - I think it was 2015 (the change of route year anyway) the heat was incredible.

That was the year some poor chap died of heat exhaustion but I got through 6 litres of water climbing the Alpe 80% over my head. You could fill a bidon with cold water from a stream and 5 minutes later you were pouring lukewarm water over your head. I think something like 1/3rd DNFed that year.

Mamil22

Stueys wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

That temperatures taken on a device left in the sun are meaningless? Could even say 50 degrees if you stop pedalling.

29 max in July is average for that valley, it can get a lot hotter... a few years ago I think it got to 36 on the Marmotte day. Anyone who wants to do the Marmotte needs to be prepared to deal with "average"

Short of carrying a weather station when I ride that's all I've got though isnt' it? My statement was that I saw 39.7 degrees on my garmin, I did. It's the only empirical data point I have on the temperature I experienced on the day.

I can go further though, it's not the first time I've ridden those cols, this was the hottest time I've been there (though I'm not sure that means much from my sample size of about 10), (ii) I know what 29 degrees feels like, it was hotter.

Felt a little warm to me as well, no idea of actual temperature but I only stooped a few times for water and my Wahoo showed a max temp of 40 deg C. Anyway ended up with a nice bike tan and lost a few pounds too boot

itboffin

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Stueys wrote:

I know what 29 degrees feels like, it was hotter.

You must have a very mild touch, but you are right, it was actually 30 and not 29! Still kind of average, as you can see

https://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/le-bo ... her/151642

I was there this year although not riding, and yes it was in the mid 30s in Bourg and i know from previous attempts that those concrete ramps it would have been 40+ add to that your travelling very slowly and already totally knackered, not ideal conditions for cycling.

Well done to everyone that took part, oh and my cold cold beers in the Cafe de Paris were lovely

jethers77

Really enjoyed the event. It was hard work and I was a bit gutted to miss Gold time by 3 mins.... spent the 2 hours following wondering where I could have got 3 mins from

It was a hot day but I prefer that to a cold wet one so it wasn't too bad. There were a lot of people struggling with it though and I saw one chap climb in to a fountain on ADH.

I do think a lot of people went off too quick and paid for it later. I overtook a lot of people on ADH and I was only pacing up it so by no means flying along. I tried to hold myself back the whole way to ensure I could finish and now I know for next time how much it takes I can try and go a bit quicker.

The descent off the Galibier was the most fun I have had on a bike, absolutely incredible ride down.

I did a highlights video if anyone is interested in reliving it or getting a taste for a possibly future attempt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f6lAvPVHPTY

stueys

itboffin wrote:

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Stueys wrote:

I know what 29 degrees feels like, it was hotter.

You must have a very mild touch, but you are right, it was actually 30 and not 29! Still kind of average, as you can see

https://www.accuweather.com/en/fr/le-bo ... her/151642

I was there this year although not riding, and yes it was in the mid 30s in Bourg and i know from previous attempts that those concrete ramps it would have been 40+ add to that your travelling very slowly and already totally knackered, not ideal conditions for cycling.

Well done to everyone that took part, oh and my cold cold beers in the Cafe de Paris were lovely

Shush, don’t share any data from actually having been there with Ugo. He’ll be along shortly with a website no doubt

ugo.santalucia

Stueys wrote:

Shush, don’t share any data from actually having been there with Ugo. He’ll be along shortly with a website no doubt

I am sure Itboffin travelled to france with a proper dry bulb thermometer and made sure he measured the temperature in the shade and away from buildings and people...
otherwise we will have to trust the data the local weather station provided as good enough for this forum, shall we?

On a more general note, there is a tendency on here to overdramatise weather conditions to suit each individual's ordeal... often due to poor preparation and inexistent local knowledge... the Marmotte was exceedingly hot and the Ride London was so wet and cold that even penguins in the zoo struggled... obviously

jethers77

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Stueys wrote:

Shush, don’t share any data from actually having been there with Ugo. He’ll be along shortly with a website no doubt

I am sure Itboffin travelled to france with a proper dry bulb thermometer and made sure he measured the temperature in the shade and away from buildings and people...
otherwise we will have to trust the data the local weather station provided as good enough for this forum, shall we?

On a more general note, there is a tendency on here to overdramatise weather conditions to suit each individual's ordeal... often due to poor preparation and inexistent local knowledge... the Marmotte was exceedingly hot and the Ride London was so wet and cold that even penguins in the zoo struggled... obviously

I think what most people do forget is there is a difference between air temp and 'feels like' temp.

At the bottom of ADH it was circa 29-30 degrees however the feels like was probably 5 degrees hotter as heat radiates off the rocks etc.

Also 'tendency on here to overdramatise weather conditions to suit each individual's ordeal' applies to everywhere not just here. Everyone becomes a fisherman when recounting their experience

ugo.santalucia

jethers77 wrote:

I think what most people do forget is there is a difference between air temp and 'feels like' temp.

At the bottom of ADH it was circa 29-30 degrees however the feels like was probably 5 degrees hotter as heat radiates off the rocks etc.

You are right of course... however, perception can be different if you move three meters away where there is a bit of shade...... even in the sun, a bit of breeze immeditely makes you feel less hot... on the same climb, some bits will be more or less exposed to the breeze.
The point is that folks quote Sahara like temperatures as if they werre completely out of the norm and exceptional, when in fact the real temperature is a lot lower and perfectly in line with the average, hence basically they are going on about nothing... it's the south of France, it's July, it's 30 degrees... it's not newsworthy

jethers77

ugo.santalucia wrote:

jethers77 wrote:

I think what most people do forget is there is a difference between air temp and 'feels like' temp.

At the bottom of ADH it was circa 29-30 degrees however the feels like was probably 5 degrees hotter as heat radiates off the rocks etc.

You are right of course... however, perception can be different if you move three meters away where there is a bit of shade...... even in the sun, a bit of breeze immeditely makes you feel less hot... on the same climb, some bits will be more or less exposed to the breeze.
The point is that folks quote Sahara like temperatures as if they werre completely out of the norm and exceptional, when in fact the real temperature is a lot lower and perfectly in line with the average, hence basically they are going on about nothing... it's the south of France, it's July, it's 30 degrees... it's not newsworthy

Totally agree. After the first few hairpins there was a breeze and it was actually quite pleasant temperature wise. The biggest problem for most was riding too hard too early and not the weather!

aberdeen_lune

Great video Jethers. Shame you just missed out on your Carte D’Or.

I think the issue is the Alpe is a very tough climb after 100 miles of riding. Add in a bit of heat (that most of us are not used to) and it changes from a tough finish to a grovel to the end.