Alpe d'Huez

Despite living less than an hour's drive from Alpe d'Huez, I had somehow managed NOT to do the climb before today. I've driven up it quite a few times, and rode up the first four or so switchbacks to watch the Dauphine, but never did the whole thing. One of my season's goals was to get off my a$$ and finally do it. Today was the day. I got to Bourg a little before lunch, parked the car, warmed up on the departmental and then started pedaling. It was a bit warm, but overall a good day to ride. The views of the mountains are spectacular, and of course there is something pretty special about doing such an iconic climb. The first bit is steeper than the rest, and is generally a fairly long climb. I think most people know that there are signs at each turn, counting down from 21 which can be demoralizing. For me though, the demoralizing part was seeing the road switchbacking waaaaay up the side of the mountain ahead of me. After hitting the Vielle Alpe tunnel, I managed to make a wrong turn but ended up at or near the TdF finish eventually.



Also, there was a cool car at the top: a Peugeot 504 coupé

The electron beam is on strike!

Notre Dame de la Salette

Today we went to the Sanctuary of Notre Dame de la Salette, near (in?) the Trieves with the Aussies. Chloe and I had actually been planning on going here for a long time, so we were excited when they called us to say that they were planning a drive out there. It's a really beautiful drive, and I have to admit that I was pining heavily for my road bike on the last part, which climbs out of Corps for ~850 meters to the sanctuary and looks extremely fun. Also, you can see a spectacular cliff to the West, which I think might be Devoluy. Happily, it was raining, which lessened the torture. Corps looks like it has some nice restaurants, but we instead ate at the somewhat institutional cafeteria at the Sanctuary. I was a little annoyed at being shuttled around by the maitre d'cafeteria, but it all worked out in the end because the kids got French fries. After fueling up, we walked outside a bit and then into the church. The sanctuary is still very much active and welcomes pilgrims from all over the world, apparently.

wooo!

A night alone, with DINNER! and no kids!!! Thank you Stephanie!!!!!



We stayed in Uriage-les-bains, which is beautiful: picturesque limestone studded lanes under horse chestnut trees in full bloom.

Cirque de St Même

We went to the Cirque de St Même today for a bit of walking with the kids. It's a lot closer than I thought it was and very beautiful. Our kids were not so willing to walk however. We have some work to do if we plan to do any camping or hiking with them

We saw one of the lower waterfalls, at least!

Mens

We took a little trip to Mens, in the Trieves today where we met Vanessa and the girls. The area and roads approaching the town are stunning, with soaring snow capped mountains to the West and East over freshly planted fields. Along the way you get a very cool perspective on the Mont Aiguille from it's thinnest aspect, which makes it look… like a needle.

As we passed over the col du Fau all I could think about was how cool it would be on a bike; must make it back there sometime soon en velo. My first impression of Mens from the outskirts was not favorable -- it looked like any number of smallish villages. However, after parking and walking around it became clear that it was actually a very beautiful little town. The Aussies soon arrived and we commenced our anglophone invasion of the town.





There were bits of detritus everywhere from the intense winds we have been having, and there was even a fire truck pulling loose roof tiles out of gutters.
(taken later on, when we about to leave)
I guess that's the down side of picturesque roofs! I saw the contents of a planter in one of the alleyways too. Getting planter-ed in the head would be an inglorious way to die, I think. Anyway, we went to the Cafe des Arts, which was pleasant and very pretty on the inside. Even better: the kids were at a separate table! I had the deep fried ravioli salad, which was excellent, and perfect comfort food after yesterdays epic ride. From the cafe, we went to the museum (also well worth a stop) and on to the small church. The churchyard had one critical feature, which was a lawn carpeted with dandelions, which are utterly irresistible to kids. Indeed, we spend the next half an hour cultivating them and at Chloe's initiative, weaving them into primitive pollen bombing necklaces.


Unfortunately, Erin had a close encounter of the Stinging Nettle kind, which are pretty painful for adults, let alone a little girl. After a little mommie time and some cool fountain water, she was okay though.



Soon after, we all headed back home and Chloe, Lolo and I did a Mont Saint Martin session. I was on my mountain bike and they were on foot. The trail descent utterly kicked my ass, as neither my brakes nor my shock was working very well, so my palms were bruised by the end of it.

Epic ride

I did an Epic (for me) ride today… Bike path to Cognin, up Mont Noir (had to turn around short of the col because of snow), down past Presles, back through the gorges and then to the plateau and home. There was brutal wind for most of it and I was really suffering and dehydrated by the end. So dehydrated, in fact that I had some of the worst hamstring and quad cramps of my life afterwards! Gotta look into some post ride nutrient mixes, I guess. 122 km, 1970 vert meters, 5:22 in the saddle

Sarcenas

Proveysieux, Gua, Sarcenas, Quaix




Still slow, but faster on Sarcenas and Quaix! The descent was cooold and a little wet.

Ride

the road to Charmette is *almost* clear

Laiterie Bayard

cool

Aix

In all our time in France, over two sejours, we had still somehow never made it to Aix-les-Bains. We figured with Stephanie here, it would be a nice chance for us to all see something new, so we packed everyone up and did some autoroute time. When we got to town, we saw barriers and banners up, as if they were setting up for a bike race! I also noticed a lot of guys puttering around on high zoot race bikes with fancy carbon wheels. Since it was almost lunchtime, we found a pizzeria and installed ourself on the patio, even though it was a bit cold. I asked the proprietor what was going on and it turned out that there was indeed about to be a race: a very old criterium: technical, short and lots of laps. In my very brief college racing experience, the crit was probably my most unfavorite discipline. However, it is pretty fun to watch. This one was called the GP de Paques (Easter) and was in its 108th edition. We watched a few laps go by, which was entertaining, but my favorite part was how a few of the riders brought their families. As they passed by, you could see the suffering faces light up slightly at the chorus of "A-LLEZ paPA A-LLEZ-paPA!". It's almost worth trying to race again just for that.

Clmbin!

St Egreve + the newish crag above Petit desert (Chez Roger). Was not so excited about the latter.

Circus

It was circus time again in our little town, which meant that the kids would be going to the circus, whether we liked it or not! I was somewhat underwhelmed by the last circus to visit, and to be perfectly honest was not really looking forward to this one, but such are the duties of a parent. This time, however, Chloe agreed to come with me, which was appreciated. I picked the kids up from the nanny's and quietly whispered into both of the kids ears: "who wants to go to the circus?". I was whispering because I didn't know if the other kids would be going, and I didn't want their parents to hate us after they were dragged to the circus by their kids. Anyway, my plan backfired badly and both kids started joyously prancing around and yelling "Yaaaaaaay Circus! CIRCUS! CIRCUS!" in front of the wide eyes of the other kids. We walked to the circus, which was set up in the small local park, paid for tickets, and entered the tent. Unfortunately there were not many seats left, and the remaining seats (actually all of them were like this) were gymnasium style wooden benches with no back support. Not a big deal, except there was no place to put your feet either! The result was a somewhat painful sitting experience, made more difficult by the fact that I had to hold onto both kids to prevent them from falling into the holes between the benches. Chloe eventually showed up, and the show started amidst the usual fanfare. The circus was better than the previous one that I had been to, and the kids loved it. Zoe in particular had a look of pure delight and excitement the entire time. It started with the introduction of the first of two horses: a somewhat stunted and perhaps optimistically named "Prince" who ran around the ring in circles and would occasionally put a hoof up on the ring. Then there was a bigger horse, a pony, a dromedary and then a camel. Even I thought the camel was cool, albeit a bit malodorous. Next there were various circus-y things like unicycling, swinging from a rope, and Zoe's favorite: the clown. The best part of the clown show, judging from the roar of the children, were the simulated farts. Indeed, it was all she could talk about on the walk home.

Granier

Another cool ride with Hank up the "other" side of the Granier. The tubulars are apparently well glued on :). Also, there was some kind of classic car rally, so we got to watch lots of beautiful old cars drive by.

park, etc

I did a nice ride with Hank up the Granier this morning (video soon) and when I got back, it was time to take care of the little monsters. The first order of business was to go pick up Zoe's new bike, which was locked to the bike stand at her school (her nanny does not have room for it in her car). Alex, Zoe and I walked there, with me walking the bike, and Alex insisting on going in the bike seat despite the fact that I was not actually *riding* the bike. When we were about halfway there, Zoe and I decided that it would be okay if I rode the bike, but only if I went really slowly. This went fine for a while, but even at the slowest pace I could muster without the bike toppling over, Zoe had to run. I found it inexplicably hilarious to have Zoe running in front of and behind me giggling and mock complaining about how I was compelling her to run. She did end up running quite an impressive distance however, and we eventually made it to school, where she unlocked her bike and set off back home. Alex and I were right behind her, and although Zoe is quite good on the bike, in absolute terms it is a little slow going. I therefore needed to put my feet down from time to time, which caused Alex much consternation for some reason. I would put my foot down, and then I would hear "PAPA! pied LA!" and point to the pedal. It actually took me a long time to figure out what exactly he wanted.

This morning I set off on a ride with a Fast Guy from Work (I guess that makes me the Slow Guy from Work) over a bunch of cols. First was Placette: easy grades, nice pavement, good surfaces. It's the standard warmup for many Chartreuse rides from this part of the valley. At the col, it was up to a small hamlet called L'Ayat, then a beautiful descent through gorges to Voiron (where Chartreuse is made, and Bonnat for the chocophiles ). From there, on to Mille Martyrs, a beautiful descent through Miribel, across the plains and then up towards Porte. Before Porte, however, we roll through a gorge that neither of us remembers as being very hard, but this time it is kicking my ass. Lots of extended sections of ten percent -- how could I not remember this?! Next: Porte proper. The last few km of Porte really ground me down. FGfW is long gone, turning the small cogs. My memory was playing evil tricks on me and every bend looked like the penultimate, but in every case (except one!) I was greeted with another long sweeping turn of climbing. Eventually the col appeared, glorius and sun drenched. Then it was descent time again, with a little bit more climbing up to Quaix, and then home. All told it was 102km, 2300m of climbing. Also, I gave up on the climbing challenge. Video below

Poo

Today I went for a long ride. When I came back, Chloe had that "I NEED OUT" look on her face after a little too much time with the feuding kids. Indeed, she was already in her running gear, and was out the door a few minutes after I wheeled my bike in the door. There was some cleaning to do, so I immediately got to work, and didn't even have a chance to take my bib shorts off! Happily, the kids were occupying themselves in their room building a tower with blocks. To find more blocks, Zoe was sending alex under the dresser to retrieve more blocks. A word of explanation here: Alex's most favorite past time is hiding things under other things, and most of the block collection was now under the dresser and crib. Anyway, as I was unloading the washing machine, I noticed an unusual smell. My first instinct was that it was the Diaper Genie, which is next to the washing machine, but I soon realized that it was not coming from there. I walked to the bedroom and gave alex a sniff and discovered that he was the source of the foul aroma. No real surprise there. So I picked him up, brought him to the changing table and to my horror realized that he had poo running down his leg. And not just a surface smear, but big clumps! I immediately went into biocontainment mode. If I had a haz-mat or biohazard suit, it would have been on. As I did not, I removed things from him at arms length and gingerly carried him to the bathtub, where I finished wiping him down, and then started spraying him with the shower. At about this time, Zoe wandered in with an unhappy look on her face and said, "ugh, I'm gonna wash my hands". I thought nothing of it, and then did a double take. "WHY?". I looked down and my heart sank: poo on her arms, poo on her hands, and was that a little fleck of poo in her hair? More stripping down and biohazard work, and into the tub for kid number two. I gave the shower head to Zoe and she started spraying Alex down as I washed every centimeter of their bodies and their hair. They were both laughing the entire time, because poo decontamination is hilarious stuff. Meanwhile I started the poo detective work. They had been in their room, and alex had been … crawling on the floor. Heart sinking moment number three. I let the kids spray each other down (drain OPEN of course) as I crawled, nose to the carpet around the room. I found a few turds ground into the carpet, which required much chemical treatment and several sponges, but I eventually got it all, I think. Who knows though. Chloe got home just as I was drying the second of the two kids off. My account of the excitement was met with smirks and barely contained laughter.

Tintin

I just watched "The Adventures of Tintin -- the Secret of the Unicorn" and here are my impressions, as a lapsed but loyal Hergé fan. First, the visual effects are not only stunning, but admirably faithful to the cartoon. I was happy to see how much like the drawings secondary characters like Alan and Bianca Castafiore were. I was less impressed with Tintin himself, who looked ridiculous. Haddock also was a pretty big departure from the comic, but in his case I thought he looked pretty good anyway. As for the story: butchery. I hate to be "that guy", but I grew up with Tintin. I knew almost every book by heart (except au Congo and the Blue Lotus -- the only books that I did not have). The quality of the lines, coloring and complexity of the stories are what make Tintin transcend a normal comic. Understanding that adaptations are required for film adaptation, it all felt pretty slapped together and arbitrary. I can sort of see why Crab was added: to introduce Haddock. I have no idea why Sakharine was converted into a bad guy though. There was not even a hint of that in the book. What about the Bird brothers? Rastapopoulous? The latter is as good a villain as you could hope for! Finally, very little of Red Rackham's Treasure made it into the movie -- why? The story arc of hunting for treasure on an island, only to find it back in Marlinspike is wonderful and the film is poorer for leaving it out. I was also sad to see no hint of Calculus... it was after all the story that introduced him. Props for using the right font for the credits though.

A stupid plan

I somewhat foolishly signed up for a challenge on Strava:

Riders, do you think you can climb the cumulative elevation of five Spring Classics in 47 days? Do you think you can do it not just once, not twice, but three times? Now is your time to find out. Specialized and Strava challenge you to climb a grand total of 105,312 feet (32,100 meters) from March 15 to April 30.
The Classic courses may be better known for their distances or questionable pavement, but here are the cold, hard, climbing facts:

Milan-San Remo - 6,260 feet (1,908 meters)
Tour of Flanders - 5,709 feet (1,740 meters)
Paris-Roubaix - 3,259 feet (993 meters)
Liège–Bastogne–Liège - 10,883 feet (3,317 meters)
Amstel Gold - 8,993 feet (2,741 meters)

Do you have what it takes? If so, a custom Specialized and Strava commemorative water bottle and surprise finisher gift is yours if you can climb this set of Spring Classics three times, not to mention the gargantuan bragging rights you’ll earn. This challenge is going to take some serious guts, but you'll get some serious glory. Good luck to all!

No, I am not doing it for the bottle, but for the challenge. However, as every day passes and I get further into the hole, I am confronted with the impossibility of finding time for all 105 THOUSAND feet. As of today I have 10,305 feet climbed. It's not looking good.

Galette du Roi

We all went over to Simon and Vanessa's for galette du Roi: it turns out that it's not that difficult to make! The kids loved it (especially Zoe, who was surreptitiously slipped the slide with the toy -- thank you Simon!), as did I. I think I scarfed down three slices.

Lab Ski Day!

The auto incrementing of runs was clearly broken

and so it begins

The Great Tubular Experiment begins

A new bike

One of the hazards of having Zoe accompany me on my trips to the bike store is that she found the kid bike section. Soon enough, as soon as we entered the store, she would run off to the kid corner, run back to me, tell me there was something she had to show me, and then lead me by the hand to here bike of choice: the Trek Little Pudd'in, with training wheels, a purple basket embroidered with flowers and a matching bell. "That one", she would whisper to me as if it would disappear if she spoke in her normal voice. We did this several times until Chloe and I realized that it was time to get it. It was spring after all,and she DOES actually love riding her bike. So today we went to buy it, and there was a new bike there. This one was pretty similar, really, but all of a sudden the Little Pudd'in seemed somehow less exciting to her. Chloe and I wer mostly fed up at this point, so we just went with it. After coming back home, Zoe then went on no fewer than three bike riding expeditions.