Blog Post Nine – Col de la Colombiere

All I can say about today’s ride is OUCH. To be honest, I would like to say other things, but this blog is currently rated “PG” and I would like to keep it that way.  If it’s not the hardest climb I’ve even done, it’s close. From a different perspective, maybe it just seemed extreme because it’s the fourth HC climb in five days. Our respective Garmin’s vary, but in about 72 miles we climbed close 7,000 feet. The first half was all up and the second half all down. Along the way we cycled through beautiful villages, past very happy and large cows, and of course lots of manure, both fresh and dried. When we point and yell shit in France, we actually mean it.

The Col de la Colombiere is a favorite on the Tour de France. That’s because like their medieval counter parts, Tour organizers actually love torture. Now having experienced it first hand, the Col de la Colombiere is physical torture. Not the swift kind, but the slow kind that tears your knees apart bit by bit. Sort of like being stretched on the rack. To make it worse, they have installed signs at every kilometer on the way up telling you how much cartilage you have left in your knees before you reach the top. The last 2-3 km averages about 11%-12%, with the worst part is that you can see the top and the finish. Believe me, it a long journey to the finish line. 

When we designed this tour with our friends at The Cycling House, the major climbs were spaced between days when we would spend more time in the valleys. However, the impending bad weather has changed our itinerary. This is way we have done so many major climbs in just a few days.

The weather forecast calls for rain tomorrow morning so our scheduled start time is not until 10:30AM. With no alarms being set, we’ll have what the French call a “Fat Sunday” tomorrow. Perfect timing, we need it!