Marmotte 2015

Jim Stynes

Anyone doing this or interested in doing it? I would love to but I would need to lose 2 stone and get as much training in as I can over the winter!
Anyone got any training plans?

fat bloke

I am very interested in doing it.

I'm basically trying to justify to myself what is a very expensive one day's cycling!

furiousox

175k taking in Col du Glandon, Col du Galibier & Alpe d'Huez. :eek:
I'd love to do it but I think it would kill me!

EDIT: Link here http://www.sportive.com/events/la-marmotte-2015-sportive/2015-07-04/526/cycling

Jim Stynes

fat bloke wrote: »

I am very interested in doing it.

I'm basically trying to justify to myself what is a very expensive one day's cycling!

I am thinking of it as maybe a once in a lifetime trip around the most famous climb in the world!

http://www.classiccyclingtours.co.uk/cycling-holidays-french-alps/la-marmotte-2014

That is the company i am thinking of doing it with

Gallant_JJ

Few of us in our club thinking of doing it. Again need to shed some baggage.

MichealD

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Anyone doing this or interested in doing it? I would love to but I would need to lose 2 stone and get as much training in as I can over the winter!
Anyone got any training plans?

A crew from Slaney CC have completed the Marmotte over the past few years. The attached post will whet your appetite or put it out of your mind forever!

http://www.slaneycyclingclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Marmotte-2014.pdf

sbs2010

Did it 4 years ago. 3/4 way up the Galibier I swore I'd never do again.

But 12:05 wasn't a great time - I reckon I can knock an hour or two off that:)

I think I'll enter anyway and see how the winter training goes.

Jim Stynes

MichealD wrote: »

A crew from Slaney CC have completed the Marmotte over the past few years. The attached post will whet your appetite or put it out of your mind forever!

http://www.slaneycyclingclub.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/Marmotte-2014.pdf

Makes me want to do it even more now! I just want to convince a mate to do it with me! Would be much easier having a training partner

barryf42

yes - I'm doing it next year - flight and accommodation booked already and just waiting for it to open for entry at start of november

was due to do it in july but had to pull out the week of the marmotte as my wife required emergency spinal surgery - so looking forward to next year.

jiffybag

I last did it in 2005 , finished with time of 7.35 but was a few kgs lighter back then . We have a few lads in our club having a serious look at going in2015, im trying to motivate myself to train and enter it .
Best to plan for at least 5 days in the area , plenty of good biking to be done around Bourg .
Its a savage day out but well worth the effort

Jim Stynes

Anybody else signed up for this? Ready to book flights here at this stage!

QueensGael

More inspiration if anyone is wondering if they should pull the trigger - hang sanngiches and chocolate milk will get you there!
http://www.sineadekennedy.com/blog/la-marmotte-2014-tortoise-tactics

fat bloke

I thought entries weren't on sale til November?

barryf42

according to sports communication website, it opens in November if you are booking a slot directly with them. can expect it to open on the Monday 3rd - it opened around lunchtime last year and the site is very slow due to the volume of traffic

Jim Stynes

I'm going to go with a place called classic cycling tours and they include entry in their price. But I don't think the official website entries open until November.

Jim Stynes

Before I book has anyone any recommendations of who to book the Marmotte with? At the minute I am going by myself to do it as I can't convince anyone else to go with me!

mp2012

I am going to do it next year, again waiting on entries to open. I am planning to arrange around our family holiday, going to take the caravan down to the Alps for the first week, then carry on our holiday after that. Hopefully be successful when the entries go on sale.

andy69

Jim Stynes wrote: »

I'm going to go with a place called classic cycling tours and they include entry in their price. But I don't think the official website entries open until November.

Just wondering if anyone has booked through that company for 2015? Only links there are for 2014 and 2013 events....was wondering if someone had already been in contact with them and maybe already booked and have an idea of cost etc (and if they are still in business).

Planning to do this myself - was just looking at getting the bike over. Think it's about 80-eur via Aer Lingus, assuming they have room on the day.

Other option is http://www.shipmytribike.ie/index.php/main/event/la-marmotte-sportive-2015 for 195eur unless maybe 20 of us from boards get together and we get the discount?

Flights about 160eur
Bike transport 200eur ?
Tour cost 800eur (last year, incl dinners and entry fees)

expensive auld weekend - could hire a bike locally for a day, but then for 175km on a bike that's not your own might not be a great idea I think.

LeoD

andy69 wrote: »

expensive auld weekend - could hire a bike locally for a day, but then for 175km on a bike that's not your own might not be a great idea I think.

Brought my own bike a few years ago but after a few days reccying the climbs in the week leading up to it, I decided to go with a triple on the day so hired a bike just for the Marmotte. Moved my wheels, pedals and saddle over the rented bike and it worked out grand. There are decent bike shops in Bourg d'Oisons (sp?) with a good range of rental bikes so if you're only going for a couple of days, hiring a bike is not a bad option. I have also done the Maratona on a hired bike so I wouldn't be overly attached with the idea of having to do long rides on my own bike.

andy69

yeah, good point - saves a fair few bob as well, and sure an hour or so messing with the rental and it'd be set up close enough to my own I suppose.

just actually got a reply from that tour operator in the meantime if anyone interested - they have a new website now, with the 2015 marmotte details on it:

http://www.classiccyclingtours.com/French-Alps-Cycling-Holidays/la-marmotte-granfondo-2015/

Jim Stynes

andy69 wrote: »

yeah, good point - saves a fair few bob as well, and sure an hour or so messing with the rental and it'd be set up close enough to my own I suppose.

just actually got a reply from that tour operator in the meantime if anyone interested - they have a new website now, with the 2015 marmotte details on it:

http://www.classiccyclingtours.com/French-Alps-Cycling-Holidays/la-marmotte-granfondo-2015/

Who's up for it then! That seems good. Group deal if we can get together and arrange something with that company

oheilis

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Before I book has anyone any recommendations of who to book the Marmotte with? At the minute I am going by myself to do it as I can't convince anyone else to go with me!

I've done it three times, and arranged it ourselves. Very doable, particularly if you're going with a few friends. Have flown in and out of Grenoble and Geneva, just depended on flight prices. I'd recommend checking out prices of a DIY trip before booking with a company.

Stayed in a lovely spot called Ferme Noemie just 3/4 ams outside Bourg - big farmhouse/campsite place which is totally geared towards the cycling tourist.

andy69

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Who's up for it then! That seems good. Group deal if we can get together and arrange something with that company

yeah I'm pretty certain that I'll be going anyways - I had been looking into a DIY-job, but on my own that was expensive, as it worked out about 1100eur or so (incl flight/car/diesel/accom in campsite chalet /dinners/bike transport/event entry).
Tour Operator comes to the same (ish), but you only have to worry about getting to the airport and getting your bike transported.

Both estimates were without adding in spending money, although the TourOp has lunches and dinners included....

DIY would certainly reduce if there were a group sharing a car and accommodation, but ye'd want a fair sized MPV/bus to take a few bikes and people. Also, fair bit of planning/coordination too.... maybe the extra cost of a TourOp might be the better option

fat bloke

I'm considering going with one or maybe 2 other lads. Nothing organised yet. Was going to just see about getting an entry first and then take it from there. Based on the opinion that flights with no entry is slightly more useless than entry with no flights.

If there was a group idea going I might be interested. Surely there's a camper van driving boardsie out there working in a travel agency out of Grenoble, married to a bike shop owner, running a gites de vacances...

Jim Stynes

Why don't we all book with that classic cycling holidays and set up an Irish base! Take control of the place :-)

Seriously though it would be good if few were going to book with the same place. Could arrange a few training runs before hand to make sure no one is a serial killer or anything ;-)

Just need to get the flights booked here! Then it's go time. Weight loss is my main aim at the minute. I need to drop about 15kgs ffs

andy69

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Why don't we all book with that classic cycling holidays and set up an Irish base! Take control of the place :-)

Seriously though it would be good if few were going to book with the same place. Could arrange a few training runs before hand to make sure no one is a serial killer or anything ;-)

Just need to get the flights booked here! Then it's go time. Weight loss is my main aim at the minute. I need to drop about 15kgs ffs

yeah I think that's a good idea - that's two of us so far lets say, plus FB above (if he's interested???), and his mates as well????, sure that'd be 5 of us and therefore get the group discount if we picked the Tour Op.

I'm leaning towards hiring a bike - saw one place for 95eur for 3-days with full carbon, full Ultegra-spec bike. So that's half the price of shipping my own one over, and means I don't have to send my bike off 10-days before the event (which is crap), and that's also not too far off the flight price of 80-eur for bringing it with me, (and of course not having to lug it to/from and through the airports and all that hassle and worry about whether it will be damaged (or worse: my friend recently came home and his bike is just basically gone....never turned up....written off now, so these things happen)).

If we DIY'd it, just had a quick look there on the interweb at minibus hire, gite, and so on.... at a very fast glance (under time pressure today), I got a figure of about 925eur in total for flights, entry fee, and with 5 people sharing a 5-bed house, and splitting the van hire and diesel and tolls etc.
I'm coming up with 1015eur for the tour option (hiring a bike), and 1120eur transporting my own bike over.

All of course without spending money, although the tour option covers you for all dinners and for some grub during the day, and they have a van en route if you wanted to shed some gear, or have some real food for yourself in a bag they'll bring in their van or whatever....

Seems much easier via Tour Op, and not a huge difference in prices - but I haven't had a few hours to really look into it. Will do so over the coming week, and book my flights before they start increasing.

Spokes of Glory

Did it this year. The major advantage of going via an operator (apart from guaranteed entry) is the extra support. They will usually have their own separate food stops because the official ones are pretty chaotic (think 9000 riders trying to fill water bottles and grab bananas). They'll have some mechanical support and tools at your base hotel, and most importantly of all, a sag wagon on call should the worst happen. And even with all the training, it does happen; fouled Di2 gears, heat stroke, and just plain old exhaustion saw 3 riders from my hotel having to be picked up around the course. Trust me; you don't want to be waiting hours halfway up the Galibier waiting for the official wagon to pick you up.

Yes it is a pricey trip and you can definitely do it under your own steam, but the peace of mind and having somebody sweat the small stuff on your behalf is worth it in my view.

A tough day, but great atmosphere all weekend, and sense of achievement when you cross the line. Good luck with the trip.

Spokes

andy69

little update.... was talking to the tour operator, I was just concerned about the flight times home because there's only one flight outta Geneva at 10:40am, and they have on their website that the Monday transfer is based on getting people to the airport for midday - they told me that they would accomodate the earlier flight if there was a few taking it.
just in case anyone else saw that and was worried

andy69

right - pay day today, so.....trigger pulled!

I'm booked for my flights, my bike hire, and the tour operator.

(and apart from all that I put it on my Facebook page, so now I definitely HAVE TO go ha!)

07Lapierre

andy69 wrote: »

right - pay day today, so.....trigger pulled!

I'm booked for my flights, my bike hire, and the tour operator.

(and apart from all that I put it on my Facebook page, so now I definitely HAVE TO go ha!)

Lucky you! ...did it last year with @SpokesofGlory. Enjoy and you might find last years thread interesting....
http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2057044244

Jim Stynes

andy69 wrote: »

right - pay day today, so.....trigger pulled!

I'm booked for my flights, my bike hire, and the tour operator.

(and apart from all that I put it on my Facebook page, so now I definitely HAVE TO go ha!)

What your operator and what flights did u book if u don't mind me asking? Flying from Belfast would be handier for me but there are no available flights showing at the minute!

andy69

went with the Classic Cycling Tours guys recommended above (http://www.classiccyclingtours.com/la-marmotte-granfondo-2015/), and am flying out from Dublin (AerLingus) to Geneva on the Thursday, returning on the Monday.

The event entries are open I think this coming weekend, and sell out pretty fast I believe. The TourOp says I have an entry guaranteed now with my booking, so hopefully that's everything sorted now

velo.2010

Andy69, which event have you booked for? Your flights seem to indicate that its the Etape your doing but all your references here have been for the Marmotte - and it is the Marmotte thread!


Apologies if I've misinterpreted what I'm reading.

Leroy42

Pressed the trigger myself today. Had been trying to coax some others into it but they are stalling a bit so did my end of it anyway. One is never alone on the Marmotte!

Doing it myself, as I have been over a few times so fairly happy with the whole set up. Fly Dublin to Lyon on Thursday, returning on Sunday. Hired a van/big car thingy and will drive down. Staying in a lpace in Bourg. Bike box booked as well.

From what I can gather on t'interweb, the registration will be open from 3rd November, but thats not confirmed. Just keep on eye on the site each day but it will be around then I guess.

So I guess its goodbye to friends and family and hello Mr Turbo trainer for the next 9 months!

velo.2010

If I am going to do an event next year, I think I might do the Etape. It works out over e200 cheaper plus its effectively an extra decent day on the bike as the event is on the Sunday.

andy69

velo.2010 wrote: »

Andy69, which event have you booked for? Your flights seem to indicate that its the Etape your doing but all your references here have been for the Marmotte - and it is the Marmotte thread!


Apologies if I've misinterpreted what I'm reading.

:eek: jaysus!! trying to give me a heart-attack?

I just tripple-checked there....

2nd to 6th July are my flights - check
4th July is Marmotte date - check
5th July is the TT up Alpe d'Huez - check
Tour Op e-mail confirmed the booking for Marmotte and the dates - check
Phew!!!


I think the Etape is the 19th or so? I would have done that but I did it in 2012 and the course is almost identical so thought I'd give this auld spin a go ha!

velo.2010

So sorry, Andy. My bad! Aer Lingus flights for Geneva are at the same time for the month of July. I was looking at the Etape page when checking times.

andy69

no worries. was good to double-check anyways....I've had some bad experiences with Geneva in the past so I wouldn't put it past myself to have booked the wrong flippin dates or something! ha!

Jim Stynes

Booked today with ClassicCyclingTours!! That's two of us going from here! Get it booked lads! You know you want to.

fat bloke

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Booked today with ClassicCyclingTours!! That's two of us going from here! Get it booked lads! You know you want to.

What was the damage? All in. If you don't mind me asking.

Jim Stynes

No problem. Costs so far are £150 return flights (including 20kg bag) and the £190 deposit to secure my place. Full payment due 10 weeks before the event.
Still to sort bike transport/bike hire. Leaning towards getting my bike shipped over at the minute.

The lady said she would look after us and keep all the Irish lads together if we wanted. She said it is a great few nights as everyone is there for the same thing so everyone is in the same boat.

Also booked a trip to Tenerife at Easter with the wife. I am a teacher so its only time we can go. She doesn't know that it is for me to cycle up Mt Teide two or three times that week haha

Im excited and ****ting myself at the same time. I will find this very tough as I am 90 odd kgs at the minute so I will def need to drop a stone or 2 by the time the event comes around!

Sure if it was easy everyone would be doing it haha

fat bloke

Jim Stynes wrote: »

No problem. Costs so far are £150 return flights (including 20kg bag) and the £190 deposit to secure my place. Full payment due 10 weeks before the event.
Still to sort bike transport/bike hire. Leaning towards getting my bike shipped over at the minute.

The lady said she would look after us and keep all the Irish lads together if we wanted. She said it is a great few nights as everyone is there for the same thing so everyone is in the same boat.

Also booked a trip to Tenerife at Easter with the wife. I am a teacher so its only time we can go. She doesn't know that it is for me to cycle up Mt Teide two or three times that week haha

Im excited and ****ting myself at the same time. I will find this very tough as I am 90 odd kgs at the minute so I will def need to drop a stone or 2 by the time the event comes around!

Sure if it was easy everyone would be doing it haha

Woah. Yeah I'm 70kg and looking at what I can shed!!!

andy69

Jim Stynes wrote: »

...The lady said she would look after us and keep all the Irish lads together if we wanted...

Good man! yeah was just talking to Steve there from the Tour Op, and he said there's a few heading out from Dublin, so that's no bother for the bus transfers back to Geneva for the 10:30 flight anyways
Still can't believe Aer Lingus bloody dropped the flight prices after I booked at 160eur! ha! typical!

Red Belly

+1

I must be crazy!

rb

neris

fat bloke wrote: »

Woah. Yeah I'm 70kg and looking at what I can shed!!!

You need to change your user name to scrawny whippet

Jim Stynes

Red Belly wrote: »

+1

I must be crazy!

rb

With the same company?

fat bloke

neris wrote: »

You need to change your user name to scrawny whippet

I prefer it as is, to keep me on the straight and narrow!

Red Belly

Jim Stynes wrote: »

With the same company?

I'm going with Sportactive. Depositing the family at a campsite before joining up with the package trip based in Alpe D'Huez.

Bulmers

Lads,

Half thinking of signing up for this, been on the list a while, but just to confirm the costs with classic tours, it's £650 + flights + bike ( ship over or rent)

Didn't realise it was opening this wend so prob need to think quick!!

andy69

Bulmers wrote: »

Lads,

Half thinking of signing up for this, been on the list a while, but just to confirm the costs with classic tours, it's £650 + flights + bike ( ship over or rent)

Didn't realise it was opening this wend so prob need to think quick!!

yep! spot on.

So initial payout now would be your...
- flights at 133eur
- deposit for tour Op (195GBP)
- bike hire deposit (was 50eur for me)

barryf42

sports communication who run the event have posted an announcement on their Facebook page, that entries for the grand trophee will open tomorrow morning Tuesday 4th - they have not given a tie