Today was the decisive time trial day for the pros. It is decisive in that Lance is fourth and needs a great day to move up. The brothers sitting 2nd and 3rd aren't particularaly good time trial riders. Lance's mate Kloden is 5th and does ride a good TT. But I feared the brothers Schleck put too much time into Kloden to permit him to claw back into 3rd and perhaps enough time into Lance to permit Lance to climb back higher than 3rd. Contador did not need to attack yesterday to solidify his lead and his attack only hurt Lance and Kloden. Lance had an oK TT and moved to 3rd in the overall classification, but just barely. The Mt Ventoux stage on Sat will be an exciting watch. I look for the brothers Schleck to attack Lance. The last couple of climbs, Lance did not have the engine to go with them. We shall see.
Our planned ride for the day was a cruisy ride around Lake Annecy on the bike path. We got 20 km out and found ourselves at the base of a climb folks thought we should do. In the end, only 3 riders and two guides rode the climb. I was coerced into it. Not really, one of the guides, Dave, said "Comm'on mate, let's give it a go." So, I did. Didn't really need to twist my arm. It was a 5.5 mile climb, with an average grade of 8%. That's not the half of it. Some segments touch greater than 20%. This was a real ball buster of a climb. But, well worth it. At the summit, you viewed a grand vista of Lake Annacy and the town.
The lake is 20 km by 5 km, generally. The source of the water is snow and glacial melt. The water from that vantage point look a gorgeous color of blue, almost azure. The lake and region are surrounded by sharp peaks and shear cliffs. I got GREAT photos. The descent was awesome. The first 2 km were 13%, straight down with only a few turns, all of them sweepers - so, no brakes. It was time to let me BA fly and fly we did; touching over 53 mph. The next 5 km were a lot more technical. Lots more twists and turns, banked corners and road as narrow to accommodate only 1.5 vehicles; or a vehicle and a bike. I was still on the gas, but braking hard in the corners. The corners were steep enough you needed to brake hard before the corner and let it fly through the corner, otherwise, you lock your tires and off you go. Fun stuff.
Tomorrow, Mt Ventoux, the mammoth of Provence. So, for dinner tonight, I prepared by drinking a little mountain juice. A wine of the region named for the mountain. It is 22 km of average 8% grade. Gonna be a killer. Just thinking about it, the hammys are starting to quiver.
A not so frequently updated journal of people, events and experience encountered while riding my bike(s).
Welcome,
In the summer of 2008, I started my blogging experience. I wrote about the Epic Summer, my trip to the Tour de France. It was, for sure, a bucket list item for me. I liked blogging well enough that I thought I'd continue to blog about my cycling experiences. It will be an infrequently updated blog, but I hope the updates will be interesting. If nothing else, the exercise should prove useful to improving my rather weak writing and communication skills. Thanks for checking in and I hope you enjoy.
Take care,
Jim Dennedy
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