Marmotte 2015

Leroy42

No, nothing yet

marathon50

Following a thread on one of the bike forums the general
view is that the route will be up and down the Glandon as usual
you would then tackle the climbs of the Col de Mollard
followed by the Col Croix de Fer back down the Glandon to Bourg
to finish with Alpe de Huez.
This would give roughly 179km with 5000m of climbing.
I have done the Marmotte 3 times so looking forward to the new route
adding another few new cols to the list.
A small bit disappointed as well as I was training all out to beat my
previous best time for the Marmotte usual route.

Kyran7

Hi Marathon man,
Would you regard this possible route as easier or more difficult?

marathon50

Hi Kyran7 any spin with 5000m of climbing over 180km is going to bite
and I find with the Marmotte its always about the final climb of 13km up the Alpe
no matter how well I was going I always found the Alpe hard. You are always
hitting it at the hottest part of the day with 160 hard kms in your legs
and at that stage its all about survival.
The only thing with the Galibier not been in this years event is it wont be as epic.
Anyone going out there for their first Marmotte try not go home without doing the Galibier.
We have 2 in our group doing for first the time and we hope to drive
to the base of the Telegraph and do it and the Galibier on the Sunday Morning.

Kyran7

Right Lads, forgive me if you've gone through this already but I have a question around nutrition on the day.

What are your thoughts on energy gels etc. I currently don't use anything but I intend to start. What will you guys be carrying on the day or what/how many bars/gels would people recommend?

I don't want to die a death because I haven't fuelled correctly. Cheers

Jim Stynes

Kyran7 wrote: »

Right Lads, forgive me if you've gone through this already but I have a question around nutrition on the day.

What are your thoughts on energy gels etc. I currently don't use anything but I intend to start. What will you guys be carrying on the day or what/how many bars/gels would people recommend?

I don't want to die a death because I haven't fuelled correctly. Cheers

I have been using power bar gels and their other products for the past 6 months in order to get used to them as that is the nutrition sponsor for the day. I find their stuff nice, easy on my stomach etc. I am getting better at eating as I go but for an event like La Marmotte I intend to eat constantly throughout the day. I use nutella sandwiches wrapped in tin foil as well and it works brilliantly for me. Im going with a tour operator so they will be meeting me somewhere on the route and I intend to put some sandwiches and other nice things to stock up on for the last part of the day. I suffered badly in tenerife from not eating and drinking properly, it's a horrible feeling. Didn't make the mistake the next time and it was much better. In terms of amount to bring with me, I am not sure really at the minute. Couple of bars, sandwiches, gels and two full bottles of fluid (filling up when I can) is what I have been using for my long events at the minute.

TGD

Has anybody who has ridden it done their pacing through HR or power. If so, what percentage of 1-hr threshold did you ride at approx and how did it work?

fat bloke

TGD wrote: »

Has anybody who has ridden it done their pacing through HR or power. If so, what percentage of 1-hr threshold did you ride at approx and how did it work?

Was wondering the exact same thing myself lately, if anyone has an answer.

Leroy42

From what Ive read you shouls be aiming fot 80% of ftp to get a steady ride. This is the 1st year I've had a PM so no idea on that but certainly on the climbs you want to keep your HR out of the red (about 85% of your ftp HR) all the time as it is very difficult to get it down once you go to high.

Remember that the climbs are 1 hour+ so very different to anything we have over here. Trick is to keep it steady,not worry about what is going on around you. Let others going faster go ahead.

If you arrive already busted at the bottom of Alpe you can loose buckets of time on that climb(as I have found) so I would always err on the side of holding someback back for the Alpe.

There are very few cycles that you will have faced such a tough last portion as the Alpe presents

cheerspal

Balls

https://bikelodging.wordpress.com/2015/05/13/closures-to-the-tunnel-du-chambon-bourg-doisans-briancon/

Jim Stynes

Still no announcements!!

Red Belly

I suspect they're hopeful that the original route may still be possible. The tunnel repairs are not scheduled to be complete until mid-July but there is a proposal under consideration to build a temporary road around the other side of the lake with an estimated 15-day completion schedule, which would mean there is no need to significantly re-route the marmotte.

Jim Stynes

Red Belly wrote: »

I suspect they're hopeful that the original route may still be possible. The tunnel repairs are not scheduled to be complete until mid-July but there is a proposal under consideration to build a temporary road around the other side of the lake with an estimated 15-day completion schedule, which would mean there is no need to significantly re-route the marmotte.

I was thinking that too. It could mean we will still be going ahead as normal but you would think they would have let us know by this stage. Im assuming they have their plan B finalised. Would love to do the Croix de fer if we do have to go with plan B.

Hope the training is going well lads. Im taking a few days off here, had a tough couple weeks there and have now a lovely saddle sore to put up with! Killing me to sit down on a chair never mind a saddle.

Jim Stynes

Still no word! Jesus christ they're keeping us waiting!! Ridiculous that they haven't even announced if they're waiting to see if there is a bridge being put in place and that their plan B is such and such! Anyway, do I need to get my doctor to get sign a form or something like that to say that I am fit to cycle?

decrrrrrr

Spoke with the company I'm travelling with on Friday last. They had spoken with the organizers but there was still no news on the new route

Been keeping an eye on this thread as well: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40007&t=12985296&sid=0d0b0b4b86964dbffd3c12446078372f&start=120

They also took a Cycling Ireland license from me as opposed to a medical cert.

Leroy42

While I understand the problem the tunnel closure presents for the Marmotte organisers, such a lack of information on an event on this scale is terrible. You have thousands of people travelling from lots of foreign countries and nothing.

Having dealt with SportCommunication in the past I am aware at how poor they usually are but this really takes the biscuit.

No reason why they can't at least say what alternative route they are working on, with the hope that the original route will go ahead.

My feeling is that they expect lots of people to pull out when the alternative route is announced and what to keep it to a minimum. Of the other routes suggested I just can't see how they are going to achieve it without doubling back on the course and the major problems that is going to create. Whatever route they do go for, it is not going to be the Marmotte. Its reputation grew because of the mountains included in the route. Glandon, Telegragh, Galibier and Alpe all combined. No matter what climbs they put in taking out the Telegraph/Galibier takes away a lot of the mystic of the event.

I would reckon that a large amount of those already signed up (and paid up to tour companies, flights etc) would not have picked the Marmotte had the lack of the Telegraph/Galibier been known, I certainly would have saved my money for next year/another event. I don't blame them for that, but the lack of anything other than a brief message on the website two weeks ago is really frustrating.

Rant over, damn I'll regret wasting this time writing this and not training in July!

fat bloke

Jim Stynes wrote: »

Still no word! Jesus christ they're keeping us waiting!! Ridiculous that they haven't even announced if they're waiting to see if there is a bridge being put in place and that their plan B is such and such! Anyway, do I need to get my doctor to get sign a form or something like that to say that I am fit to cycle?

Don't sweat it man. I seriously doubt, as we face into the Alpe d'Huez at km number 150 in 35 degree midday sun, that any of us will be muttering and grumbling under our breaths at the crushing disappointment of not having gone "up" more. :rolleyes:

Get your medical cert from your login page - download, print, get it stamped and then scan and upload it again. Nothing to worry about then only enjoying the day.

Be graaaand

andy69

Nightmare!! Sitting in Mullingar A&E department right now, waiting for doctors to assess me.....Hit the deck hard when out for a spin at lunchtime. Triage nurse says it's my collar bone that took the brunt of it. Jeez I'm hurting here, can't get a comfortable position no matter which way I stand or sit.
Raging now over this, if it's a break I'm fooked for Marmotte I'd say.
hopefully it isn't broken....but it's hurting like hell.
Was cornering at about 30kmh or so, and there was a couple of stones on the road and down I went.
Only positive note is it was a left turn so no damage on the drive side to add to my woes!!

Bloggsie

sorry for your troubles andy69, hope to fook its not fooked up to bad!

andy69

dammit!!!!!! broken collar bone. one month to Marmotte....anyone got Alberto's doctor's phone number?

just curious now....I can start another thread - anyone been through a collarbone break before, I was wondering if one of these sports injury clinics was worth switching to, or are they basically the same as seeing the specialist ortho guys in a normal hospital?
I'll see tomorrow anyways in Tullamore what they think.

fcuk it anyways - seriously depressed now. Nearly cried when doctor showed me the x-ray, but things could always be worse....I saw some people today in the a&e that I felt embarrassed being there with my little shoulder injury.

fat bloke

Fcuk, that's sh1tty bad luck man .

Kyran7

Sorry to hear that Andy

Jim Stynes

Jesus Andy that's bad luck. This La Marmotte has had everything ffs. I would think you would miss a few weeks of training no doubt. But you should be fit to cycle by July? It would be different if you were playing Gaelic. Just think of the story you will be able to tell about how you suffered like the pros going up the Alp with a broken collar bone haha. Keep the faith and keep us updated.

Bloggsie

thats a kick in the horlicks man, as you said, it could have been worse, other people in A&E in worse condition. Its just bad luck. chin up.

Jim Stynes

From a different forum:

OK, I phoned them just now, they were actually very helpful.

They are waiting for authorisation from one final departmental (ie regional) authority for the new route.

There is a meeting scheduled for early next week to this effect and they hope that they will be able to make an announcement by next Wednesday. There is no danger of complete cancellation.

The start and finish will remain the same, Galibier is definitely out, and the route will "probably" feature the Croix de Fer and the Lacets de Montvernier "or something like that" instead. The total distance and elevation will be roughly the same as the original route.

Wait and see...

Leroy42

On another forum? Jim, we feel cheated. I thought Boards was good enough for you. Is the other forum prettier? What does it do that we can't? Jebus, I thought this forum meant something. What I am going to tell the other threads?

I feel such a fool. I thought there was something different but this, I never dreamed you would do this to us. Is that why you haven't been responding to some posts on other threads, because you were too busy having fun with your other forum.

Leroy42

On a more serious note, I have looked at that alternative route based on the Glandon, Lacets de Montvernier (for anybody who doesn't know it like all the Alpe D'Huez haripins shoved into 3.7k climb), back up the Croix de Fer and back down to Bourg and up Alpe.

http://www.strava.com/routes/2397219

Comes out at 155k (I assume they will add a bit on to get the 170+ & elevation gain is 5,643). I am never ridden either the Lacets (although based on You Tube is looks very tight and twisting but short enough) or the CdF so can't comment on how hard they are likely to be. I have descended down the CdF to Bourg and it's fairly straightforward.

Not sure what they are going to do with the left hand turn at the bottom of the Glandon. That takes you across the main road to head back into Bourg so traffic would need to be stopped for pretty much the entire day for safety.

Jim Stynes

It was nothing serious and I was thinking of this forum the whole time!!

Euro Fred

awooga

mp2012

Col de la Croix de Fer, as usual made look easy by Mike Cotty. Long climb at 30k though. Looking forward to finally finding out how much more we will have to climb!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aqK9s1epBqw