Day 4 - Galibier

Click here to see some of the most amazing photos of our tour so far

Well unlike the Tour de France, after 4 days of riding we are happy to say we still have 10 GC contenders and 2 domestique's (Andy and Sim) still riding. We have covered 307km's and climbed 7310 metres in altitude in these 4 days. So far there has only been one flat, Thanks Barney for your $50 over the bar, one rubbing wheel as mentioned in yesterday's blog, and a couple of minor adjustments. It has been a unanimous decision by all the the Wilier GTR bikes with ultegra gearing we are riding have been a winner. They handle well on our many downhill runs, and also are are pleasure to ride up hills (some may not agree)

 Today was the first day we awoke to a cloudless sky in the morning, and the moon was actually still in the sky above the mountains as we woke. As tired as we have been each evening after our hard rides, sleeping has been a struggle for some. There were two independent incidents which caused some laughter amongst the crew even before we got on our bikes. To respect the character of both no names will be mentioned
1. An early riser was trying to not wake his fellow riders by watching highlights of the previous days tour in the lounge room on his iPad with his headphones. Little did he realise that he had the volume on full, and the earphones.....unplugged.
2. Another who had already delayed our punctual start, had to rush back to the bathroom after thinking that he had rubbed deep heat on his chamois instead of Aussie butt cream.

Today's ride was another to tick off our bucket lists. The famous Col du Galibier. Our course went from Venosc, via La Grave to Col du Lautaret, then turning up Galibier.  Our route (apart from Galibier which is not included in this years tour), will be covered by the Tour de France boys in Saturdays stage 14. So therefore today we saw the first signs the tour is coming to town, many campervans setting up, locals mowing the grass in town, the famous Luxembourg flags, and some road painting.

The landscape as we neared Galibier was very baron, with the ruggedness of the snow capped mountains a standout.
After the 42km mark, and having already climbed 1800 metres, we turned left to the slopes of Col du Galibier. A 8.8 km slope at an average of 6.5%, with the last km @ 9%, but what a summit it was. This Galibier is well known amongst Cadel followers, as it was this climb that he single handed lay dragged the 'heads of state' to the top while pegging back time on Andy Schleck in his winning 2011 Tour. At the summit, we were able to cheer on the Kidsons riders as they struggled up that last few switchbacks. Dydeys new bright orange Northway shoes were clearly visible from the top as he duelled with Barney for a summit finish.

After riding 50 km, and climbing 2400 metres, our reward was a downhill run almost all the way home. There were smiles all around after our descent to La Grave after this amazing descent.

Our ride was finished with a dip in the local river, which we think could be a high 8 or 9 degrees. Barney and Chambo floated a good 50 metres down stream to the crew, and it was clear they were feeling the effects of the cold.

What a great day it was, and at time of writing we have just agreed that tomorrow there will be no rest day and on we go again to work on our cycling tans.

Written by the skinniest, and now beard free member of the crew.
Hamo