I was a little nervous about the lodging I had found since it was one of the last available and it was rated 1 star. It was supposed to be a hostel like place but on the plus side, it included breakfast and dinner and also had secure bike parking and wifi. It was a little better than expected; the hosts were really nice and helpful. We talked biking with a bunch of the guests since most people were there to mountain bike and watch a bit of the tour.
First order of business once we were in morzine was to go find our bikes. Morzine is a ski resort town which means it is a mountain bike mecca in the summer. I had had to scour the internet looking for some road bikes to rent a few months earlier so we ended up getting a Specialized Roubaix bike for C and a Felt road bike for me. On the way to get our bikes, C spied the Radioshack team cars at a hotel only 2 blocks from us.
After we got our bikes, of course we went for a ride. It was the rest day for the tour so C said we may see some pros on the road biking around at a leisurely pace. Our route for the day was the Col de Joux Plane which is rated a Hors Categorie climb meaning it is beyond characterization because of its difficulty. At the time of course, I didn't realize this. I think C left this information out on purpose. So the first part of the ride was mostly downhill and then flat until we got to the base of the mountain. On the way, 2 Radioshack racers went by idly chatting. C said he wasn't sure who they were but as we caught up to two other cyclists just starting up the mountain as well, they asked us if we had also seen Lance go by like they just had. Oops. So I guess we did see Lance! sort of.
How to describe this climb? Pain. Lots of pain. It was insanely long (12k) and we started riding in the afternoon so the heat was also somewhat intense. After one very steep switchback, I had to stop on the side of the road and stuff sugar into my mouth. Then I sat on the ground for some time. What was kind of amusing is that a few other cyclists stopped near my same stop while I was sitting there so at least I wasn't the only one dying. I don't remember much of the rest of the climb, I think I've blocked it out. At the top of the climb was a restaurant where I think I had the best orangina of my life.
The next day was stage 9 of the Tour and since the race was leaving Morzine, our best bet was to try and climb the first mountain pass (Col de Colombiere - Cat 1 mountain) before racers got there. Every person we mentioned this plan to all said "Wow. That's hard. Good luck with that." Hrm. I was feeling optimistic before we headed out since Cat 1 is supposed to be easier than a HC category mountain. Right? What I didn't really comprehend was that this mountain was even longer (16 k) than the climb yesterday. Halfway up the climb, the roads started getting closed off to cars but the police started telling all the cyclists to walk. At the time I was secretly cheering this inside. That is until we realized how difficult and slow it is to walk up the mountain while pushing the bike. So then it became a walking/biking situation where we would start biking again when we were out of sight of the police. It was like interval training. The worst part of this climb though was that it got steeper near the top and at this point all the spectators were already out there waiting so they all watched me suffer. Then again, they all shouted encouragement to me as well.
But this was our reward for making it to the top:
I guess I shouldn't be scared of hilly 100k bike rides any longer.
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