Training Log Archive: redrider

Trail d'Embrue 22k trail race on the hillside of Mont Guillaume (2540m). Felt quite bad in the beginning and had to start easy but after the first 5k gradually feeling better, able to speed up, and took places along the way. Had one woman on my heals all the way and couldn't get rid of her not even on the technical downhill part. So I had to wait until the very end and finally on the last 2-3km when the path turned wider I sped up all I could and was able to finish half a minute ahead of her and claim the victory. To my big surprise I also ran the course about half an hour faster than I had thought before hand. My first real victory on trails! :) Can't believe how I manage to do that after the Izoard!

Col d'Izoard from Guillerste and back from Briancon. Climb was pretty nice (much easier than Alpe d'Huez) but all in all the ride was a bit too long and hard for me. It was extremely warm, we had too little to eat, and had head wind all the way back from Briancon, which meant that we had to push hard even on descend. I was totally knocked down and had absolutely nothing left after the ride.

Easy evening run to shake off my aching legs. Felt awful. No idea how I'm going to survive tomorrow...

Cycling to Embrun and back from our lovely B&B in Saint-André-d’Embrun to see the start of the stage 19 of the Tour. In the assembly we got actually quite near to the riders and could talk to them. Atmosphere was like in a big festival and the riders were the rock stars. Biggest crowd was obviously in front of AG2R La Mondiale's team bus where people had gathered to see a glimpse of Bardet. It was pretty crazy. Afterwards we went to see the riders some kilometers after the start but they were still riding behind the car so it wasn't very special.

It was raining in the morning and we were still pretty exhausted from yesterday so it was easy decision not to go to Izoard today. Instead we stayed in Italy and I went trail running to Lago Nero at 2000m. It was beautiful and kind of nice to take a day off from the bike. Climb was tough but it was different from cycling and on the way down I could shake off my legs a bit. In the afternoon we could actually follow the exciting stage on TV, which was much more than we got yesterday while standing on the hill side with no connection to the outer world.

Pilgrimage up to Col du Galibier with thousands of others to see the final climb of mountainous stage 17 of Tour de France from La Mure to Serre Chevalier. Epic! Stuck in the mountain side for about 6h but definitively worth it. Ride down from the top after the stage was a bit hazardous until we got down the main climb. Bigger problem was having the car on the wrong side of the finish (and needing to move the same evening). We should have moved the car to the other side of the finish village in the morning in order to avoid the queues. We had about an hour's drive to Cesana from Le Monetier-les-Bains but got stuck in the queues for over 3h. It was frustrating after a long day in the mountain with no real food. All in all the whole day took almost 12h and we were quite exhausted when finally in Italy in the evening.

Drive to Lac du Chambon and then short warm up to Le Bourg d' Oisans and climb up to Alpe d' Huez with hundred other riders. Epic!

Flight to Geneve, drive to Pont de l'Alpe in Le Monetier-les-Bains, and easy evening jog with Sami to the nearest hill. Gorgeous views!