Ride stats
Here’s the stats for the nine rides I did:
| Count | 9 Activities |
|---|---|
| Distance | 550.65 km |
| Time | 27:27:04 h:m:s |
| Elevation Gain | 13,129 m |
| Avg Speed | 20.1 km/h |
| Avg HR | 150 bpm |
| Avg Bike Cadence | 67 rpm |
| Calories | 16,957 C |
Mt. Ventoux Descent 3/3
(Source: vimeo.com)
Mt. Ventoux Descent 2/3
(Source: vimeo.com)
Mt. Ventoux Descent 1/3
(Source: vimeo.com)
Ride Day 9: Mt. Ventoux
After nearly two weeks, we arrived in Carpentras for our final ride at Mt. Ventoux. It was a pretty huge day at 90 km with 2000 meters of climbing. Mt. Ventoux was unlike any ride I’ve ever done. It is a very long climb that starts in forest and ends at an exposed summit. Today the clouds were at the top so it was intensely cold at the finish. The descent was equally thrilling. I think it is the fastest I’ve ever gone on a bike (I hit 76 km/h). Pete was flying seeing 90 km/h on his Garmin. I even made two passes on cars on the descent. It’s pretty wild passing a car on a bike.
We are back at the hotel now and beginning to plan for the trip home. We break down the bikes and go back to Geneva tomorrow to catch a very early flight to Paris then Seattle on Saturday. It’s been an incredible trip. I’m exhausted but had a great time.
Ride Day 8: Sault
After a much needed rest day, we went to the hills around Sault and did an easier ride. It was much less climbing and some great scenery. It was on the way to our next stop in Carpentras. It was good to do some riding without an extended climb. Next up - the last ride of the trip Mt. Ventoux.
Peter’s Flickr set for Alps trip
Ride Day 7: Col d’Izoard
We did a second ride out of Briancon to Col d’Izoard. It turned out to be our biggest day yet.
Izoard is another very famous Tour stage. We did the climb from Briancon. It is 20km long to the summit at 2361 meters. On paper, the average grade is only 5.8%. However there were some big walls that made for a tough climb.
We took the south descent to Guillestre. From there we went back to Briancon which was over 30 km away. We got two bonus climbs - one in a detour in a construction zone and another when we tried to stay off the main road. The second climb did me in. It had some more 8-9% sections though they were short.
My body is pretty tired now. Pete is of course weathering it better. There is 80% chance of rain the next two days. We are saying in a pretty nice hotel in Chorges so it’s a good place to rest up. We are planning for one more big day at Mont Ventoux on Thursday before we begin the trip back home.
Ride Day 6: Col du Galibier
We took Saturday as a rest day and drove the route before going to Briancon. Sunday we did the ride from the hotel and back. I felt pretty good but Pete didn’t. We climbed to the top and then just came back. It was still a great climb and very different than many of the other rides.
