La Rando des Marmottes

secretsam

Anyone done this? it's basically the normal, brutal 177km/5000m Marmotte, split over two days. I quite fancy going down there for some riding, some insights would be great. Don't think I can raise the fitness for the full fat ride!

pblakeney

Do it! Stunning scenery and great roads. Should be easy enough over two full days.
I'm old, overweight and I did the full in one day, plus plenty cycling on days either side.

paul.weborders

Definitely do it..it’s beautiful.

Marmotte give training plans to get you up to speed for the big days. If you can do it in two days you can do it in one!

Get in quick for accommodation in and around Le Bourg d’Oisans though.

For rides around Bourg d’Oisans check out this site, his rides and details are superb. https://cycling-challenge.com/

I can recommend riding from Bourg and climbing the Sarenne to Alpe d’Huez down to Villard-Reculas and descend the back road to Lac du Verney just before Rochetaillee at the river join the riverbank cycle path all the way back to town. It’s a stunning ride.
Also great rides are to Villard Notre Dame & Villard Reymond. Le Collet and also La Berarde with a cable car ride to Les Deux Alpes and descend back to Bourg.

wallace_and_gromit

paul.weborders said:

I can recommend riding from Bourg and climbing the Sarenne to Alpe d’Huez...

We did this on our recent jollies, missing out the main road from Bourg to the lake (for the turning to the Sarenne) by going up the traditional road to the Alpe for a few bends (to La Garde rings a bell) then heading right to take the Balcon d'Auris, which is essentially traffic-free with much better views. Comes at a cost of an extra 400m or so of climbing, but on civilised gradients.

Dorset_Boy

The balcony road from La Garde (Bend 16?) is stunning, but probably not good if you don't have a head for heights!
La Berarde is lovely too, one tough section when you leave the riverside, but worth going all the way until the road runs out. Not sure I see the point of the cable car from Venosc to L2A as the main road back to Bourg goes through a few horrible tunnels that are generally busy with traffic.
Couple of nice clims on the opposite side of the valley to the Alpe too, and the climbs up to Oz en Oisians and Vaujany (and onto the Sabot) are others worth doing.
On the Croix de Fer, watch out for the downhill section half way up!

wallace_and_gromit

Dorset_Boy said:

The balcony road from La Garde (Bend 16?) is stunning, but probably not good if you don't have a head for heights!

That doesn't bother me particularly. What might prove ultimately to be my nemesis is being distracted by views when descending through stunning scenery. So far I haven't ridden off the road yet though!

rick_chasey

wallace_and_gromit said:

Dorset_Boy said:

The balcony road from La Garde (Bend 16?) is stunning, but probably not good if you don't have a head for heights!

That doesn't bother me particularly. What might prove ultimately to be my nemesis is being distracted by views when descending through stunning scenery. So far I haven't ridden off the road yet though!

I've heard riding off riding off cliffs by accident is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

wallace_and_gromit

rick_chasey said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

Dorset_Boy said:

The balcony road from La Garde (Bend 16?) is stunning, but probably not good if you don't have a head for heights!

That doesn't bother me particularly. What might prove ultimately to be my nemesis is being distracted by views when descending through stunning scenery. So far I haven't ridden off the road yet though!

I've heard riding off riding off cliffs by accident is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

A profound observation!

Joking aside, I'm sure I'm not the only rider to reflect on how just fine the margins are when descending, even when doing so prudently.

I don't know exactly how much one has to spare relative to overhangs, drop offs and upcoming vehicles etc. but given the speeds involved, the gaps are really very small. (Well less than a metre on most occasions?) Everything depends on other vehicles not suddenly changing course and avoiding stones etc. in what might be challenging lighting conditions.

It's obviously "safe" in general though as accidents are thankfully very rare.

pblakeney

What I’ve learned through painful experience is that your braking distance to on coming traffic in a blind corner is doubled. You have to allow for their braking distance too.

wallace_and_gromit

pblakeney said:

What I’ve learned through painful experience is that your braking distance to on coming traffic in a blind corner is doubled. You have to allow for their braking distance too.

Surely the pain part and the oncoming traffic's braking are largely eliminated as considerations by also braking early so as to not need the other side of the centre line when cornering.

pblakeney

wallace_and_gromit said:

pblakeney said:

What I’ve learned through painful experience is that your braking distance to on coming traffic in a blind corner is doubled. You have to allow for their braking distance too.

Surely the pain part and the oncoming traffic's braking are largely eliminated as considerations by also braking early so as to not need the other side of the centre line when cornering.

Ah, the assumption that all roads are dual lane. 😉

wallace_and_gromit

pblakeney said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

pblakeney said:

What I’ve learned through painful experience is that your braking distance to on coming traffic in a blind corner is doubled. You have to allow for their braking distance too.

Surely the pain part and the oncoming traffic's braking are largely eliminated as considerations by also braking early so as to not need the other side of the centre line when cornering.

Ah, the assumption that all roads are dual lane. 😉

Fair point. I maybe should have added that at my stage of life - mid-50s; no longer bounce; never a good descender - on such roads I make use of my disk brakes and essentially brake all the time, just in case!

pblakeney

I was on my brakes as I rounded the corner.
Might have been hitting a mighty 16 mph. 😂

rick_chasey

wallace_and_gromit said:

rick_chasey said:

wallace_and_gromit said:

Dorset_Boy said:

The balcony road from La Garde (Bend 16?) is stunning, but probably not good if you don't have a head for heights!

That doesn't bother me particularly. What might prove ultimately to be my nemesis is being distracted by views when descending through stunning scenery. So far I haven't ridden off the road yet though!

I've heard riding off riding off cliffs by accident is a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

A profound observation!

Joking aside, I'm sure I'm not the only rider to reflect on how just fine the margins are when descending, even when doing so prudently.

I don't know exactly how much one has to spare relative to overhangs, drop offs and upcoming vehicles etc. but given the speeds involved, the gaps are really very small. (Well less than a metre on most occasions?) Everything depends on other vehicles not suddenly changing course and avoiding stones etc. in what might be challenging lighting conditions.

It's obviously "safe" in general though as accidents are thankfully very rare.

A miss is as good as a mile is a truusim that comes to mind a lot when cycling

paul.weborders

wallace_and_gromit said:

paul.weborders said:

I can recommend riding from Bourg and climbing the Sarenne to Alpe d’Huez...

We did this on our recent jollies, missing out the main road from Bourg to the lake (for the turning to the Sarenne) by going up the traditional road to the Alpe for a few bends (to La Garde rings a bell) then heading right to take the Balcon d'Auris, which is essentially traffic-free with much better views. Comes at a cost of an extra 400m or so of climbing, but on civilised gradients.

Yes I rode the balcony road on the way to the Sarenne, beautiful climb. I descended it on the way back from the Galibier once, came down it way too fast and scared myself getting a bit close to the small barrier.

I descended the Col de la Colombiere on the JPP sportive last year, the guy in front of me didn’t brake enough… straight over the edge. Saw him at the finish with a cast on his leg and an arm. Made me slow down a lot on rim brakes.

DeVlaeminck

secretsam said:

Anyone done this? it's basically the normal, brutal 177km/5000m Marmotte, split over two days. I quite fancy going down there for some riding, some insights would be great. Don't think I can raise the fitness for the full fat ride!

Yes a mate did it one year when the rest of us did the standard one day Marmotte.

I seem to remember seeing him off at a low key start in Bourg, him staying overnight in Valloire and then overtaking him on the Alpe the next day. Can't remember what the logistics were - think he may have dropped some stuff at his hotel by car the day before.

So basically day 2 you'll be caught by the main Marmotte and be in amongst the mass participation. - day 1 I imagine will be small groups like a uk audax.

secretsam

DeVlaeminck said:

Yes a mate did it one year when the rest of us did the standard one day Marmotte.

I seem to remember seeing him off at a low key start in Bourg, him staying overnight in Valloire and then overtaking him on the Alpe the next day. Can't remember what the logistics were - think he may have dropped some stuff at his hotel by car the day before.

So basically day 2 you'll be caught by the main Marmotte and be in amongst the mass participation. - day 1 I imagine will be small groups like a uk audax.

Yeah, I hadn't realised that it was a two-centre thing. That's a pain, as I would be riding solo (Billy No Mates) so the logistics would be a challenge. Having said that, I'm tempted by just booking into somewhere down there and staying a few days, although as others have posted, the accommodation's going, going...