Day 7 TdF - 2009

Today we rode from Lutry, Switzerland, near Lausanne to Chamonix, France. It is approximately a 120km ride. The first 60km are around Lake Limon - flat. Lake Limon is a huge lake, high in the Alps; beautiful scenery, snow capped mountains surrounding the lake, bright sunshine. On one side is Switzerland, on the other France. As we rode around the lake, the mountains get larger as we approach the first climb.

Our tour pro guide and me took turns on the front setting a solid pace to the base of the first climb. We averaged 34 kph for the first 60 km to the base of the climb; a pretty quick pace. Only nine riders were in the fast group today and not many others are attempting today's ride. The first climb is an eight mile effort, with an average grade of nearly 8%. The climb was good for me. I did not stay attached to Freddy and the other two good climbers in our group. They ascended pretty fast and I did a bit of work on the front for the first 60 km. Overall though, a good climb. I averaged just under 10 mph on the ascent, but worked extremely hard doing it. At the top, I rewarded myself with a HUGE slice of strawberry tart, a coffee and a coke at the mountain top restaurant. Oh, and I also ate one of my two ham sandwiches I made at breakfast. Got to eat lots while working this hard.

The second climb was a bit more to my liking. A four mile climb, 5% grade. We were riding into a head wind. Freddy flicked his elbow indicating he wanted me to come to the front to take a pull and block the wind for a while. I pulled for about 1 km, setting a 10 mph (16 km) pace into a head wind, and was looking for one of the other mates to take a pull. From the back, I heard one of my mates say, "Good work Jim, keep the pace going." At that point, I realized I would be on the front until we hit the summit. So, onwards we climbed. It was good. This is my kind of climb, hammered away. Felt GREAT.

We hammered our way towards Chamonix; Freddy was setting a fast tempo, Doug on his wheel, I was on Doug's. We took strong pulls with a fast tempo. Near the town sign, I pulled out and took the sprint; not that Freddy or Doug contested it too much.

Chamonix is a beautiful Alpine town, right at the foot of Mont Blanc. The town has a cable car to the top of Mont Blanc. We are hopeful to find some time to take the trip to the summit for a look around. Our hotel isn't much to speak of. It appears designed to cater to the mountain bikers and snowboarding crowd. Even the hotel managers sport the underwear showing saggy pants look. It's cool, tho. All we're here to do is eat, sleep and ride. Compared to the prior hotels, tho, this is pretty low budget. The room, however, is pretty awesome. Open the doors to the small balcony and you view the glacier covered Mont Blanc. Great sunrise and sunset views.