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