37 Days to Go: La Marmotte Recce part 2 - Col dus Telegraph & Galibier

Wednesday was a much cooler day, which was fortunate because it was the day to attempt the beast that is Galibier.  In order to recce the route we first drove over the Glandon to see the descent.  It is scary!  The top section is steep and narrow, with tight bends and exposed drop offs.  There is a momunent at the top to a cyclist who was killed in La Marmotte in 2005.  I have done some pretty hairy descents in my time but this is pretty serious stuff.  My advice is stick to keep away from the far right and take it very very slow.  Good brakes and attention required.  Even after the first bit it looks quite steep and twisting so be prepared for a slow descent.

By this stage I was beginning to wonder what I had got myself into. I had expected the Glandon to be the "easier" part, now I was dreading what was to come.  Soon I was on the bike and heading up the Telegraph. Thankfully the gradients were much more forgiving at around 6 to 9%, which suits me as I can just chug up keeping a steady rythym.  The road has recently been patchily resealed and hadn't been swept so there was loose gravel for a lot of the climb. This didn't make the climb any easier, but at least that should be sorted on the 3rd July.  Once over the summit of the Telegraph it is a nice descent of about 5 kms into Valloire. 

After Valloire things change. Boy do things change.  The climb out of the village is tough going until the climb opens out to head up Galibier.  I was finding it really hard now as I had not mentally prepared for the rest of the climb.  The Galibier was shut so I knew I could only get part way up so I had  no idea what I was faced with.  In retropsect I don't think I had taken on enough food either.  This was all compounded by the road seeming to have endless sections that all looked the same. It is like having false summits when hillwalking, you keep thinking it would change around the corner but nope it just looked like the last corner.  I was struggling to get a descent speed and the gradient was only around 6 to 10%. Finally I got to Plan Lachat where the road was blocked. I was done in. I could have honestly thrown the bike in the ravine at this point.  An then when I was the road ramping up I felt absolutely beaten.  I had been passed by a snow plow earlier, my first thought was "Oh no they are going to open the road". 

I rested for 10 to 15 minutes, had some food and drink and then in my usual style wondered what all the fuss was about.  Honestly, do I need a sports physcologist?  Half the battle is in the mind and sometimes my demons appear to be winning.  After a rest I thought I could probably attempt the final 8 kms and it normally looks worse than it is.