Today was to be a tough stage with about 104 miles to cover and 9500' of elevation gain. Given the location of our wonderful village bed and breakfast about 50 miles from the start line, and our charming hostess's refusal to serve breakfast before 8:30am (anything earlier wouldn't be "civil") we could see we just were not going to complete this stage. We decided to accept the fact we would have a wonderful breakfast - Florence Gautier served organic whipped cheese of some type that was like very delicious plain yoghurt, along with locally made croissants that were much more filling than the commercial variety, grapefruit, etc. Throughout the meal she hovered, wanting to feel a part of our stay at her home. We didn't leave until about 9:30am and tried to intersect the Stage at about the mid-point. We were looking forward to a couple of Class 2 climbs (we hadn't faced more than a Class 4 at this point, Class 2 being very long (perhaps 5-10 miles) and very steep, stretching the competitor's ability to maintain speed over long distances with 5% to 8% grades).
We exited the van and prepared to ride. Rain drops began to fall and a very dark cloud approached. We rode down hill about 7 km as the roads began steaming with rain, the rain began coming down quite hard and our brakes had to be constantly pumped to maintain a safe amount of friction. When we reached the small town of Cernon, we decided that the sometimes heavy rains and wet, slick roads would make biking potentially both unsafe and unpleasant. The dark gray clouds were ominous. We abandoned the bicycling and drove the route to Morez, just past the end point. We passed winter ski chalets and numerous ski lifts. We were now up in the edge of the Alps, in mountains that brought to us images of Sounds of Music. Let your imagination go crazy from there.
We checked into our hotel in Morez, a large resort community servicing the skiing community, spent an hour foraging for food - restaurants and stores seem to close on Sundays - don't count on getting gas, either, if you need it, which, fortunately, we did not. We found one small Turkish restaurant that served a wonderful combination of eat in take out kabobs, fries, and wine, and we had a delightful dinner.
Tomorrow, Gwen will stay behind at the hotel and work. Roy and I are determined to move forward on Stage 9. This stage is the first of the Monsters, and we would like to conquer it. Over 10,000' of climb and two Class 1 climbs and one Class 3 climb in the last 30 km. About 117 miles to travel. We're looking forward to an early start and a lot of serious peddling tomorrow. The rest over the last two days has been good for us, and we both feel very healthy and ready to face a challenge. We'll just have to see if the mountains can win this one. For any of you "bike geeks", I have switched my rear cassette from a 12-25 combination to a 13-29 combination. I think I will be peddling that 29 tooth cog a lot tomorrow, will feel like a snail going up those climbs, just peddling away. But, steady wins the race. Or...so I'd like to think.
We exited the van and prepared to ride. Rain drops began to fall and a very dark cloud approached. We rode down hill about 7 km as the roads began steaming with rain, the rain began coming down quite hard and our brakes had to be constantly pumped to maintain a safe amount of friction. When we reached the small town of Cernon, we decided that the sometimes heavy rains and wet, slick roads would make biking potentially both unsafe and unpleasant. The dark gray clouds were ominous. We abandoned the bicycling and drove the route to Morez, just past the end point. We passed winter ski chalets and numerous ski lifts. We were now up in the edge of the Alps, in mountains that brought to us images of Sounds of Music. Let your imagination go crazy from there.
We checked into our hotel in Morez, a large resort community servicing the skiing community, spent an hour foraging for food - restaurants and stores seem to close on Sundays - don't count on getting gas, either, if you need it, which, fortunately, we did not. We found one small Turkish restaurant that served a wonderful combination of eat in take out kabobs, fries, and wine, and we had a delightful dinner.
Tomorrow, Gwen will stay behind at the hotel and work. Roy and I are determined to move forward on Stage 9. This stage is the first of the Monsters, and we would like to conquer it. Over 10,000' of climb and two Class 1 climbs and one Class 3 climb in the last 30 km. About 117 miles to travel. We're looking forward to an early start and a lot of serious peddling tomorrow. The rest over the last two days has been good for us, and we both feel very healthy and ready to face a challenge. We'll just have to see if the mountains can win this one. For any of you "bike geeks", I have switched my rear cassette from a 12-25 combination to a 13-29 combination. I think I will be peddling that 29 tooth cog a lot tomorrow, will feel like a snail going up those climbs, just peddling away. But, steady wins the race. Or...so I'd like to think.
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