Day One - NICE2TRI.COM Tour de Chamonix.
Arrived in St Gervais circa midnight after a pesky flight delay and a motorway closure which led to Richard “the lord” Gordon navigating us through a busyGeneva town centre.
Through divine intervention and blind luck the lord found the right road and the rest is history.
Our accomodation is being kindly provided by Kevin “the gerbil” Gray. Upon arrival Lee “the brownedog” Browne made a ‘B’ line for the kitchen. For a man that could sniff out a cookie in a manure pile finding the gerbils pizza stash was childs play. Before you could blink….oven on……pizza’s done. With food in his belly the dog became approachable again and we cracked on with building up the bikes.Bikes done and 1.30am on the clock, time to hit the hay!
Richie “lost-boy” O’connor does the “waaaaaakey waaaaakey!!!!” circa 8.30am. Showers and breakfast and it’s time to slip into the Craft teamkit kindly supplied by NICE2TRI.com. Fit’s like a glove and the five of us look like the dogs proverbials (see pictures to follow).
Out the door and onto the bikes. The sun is shining and with the temperature gauge showing 25 degrees plus we’re off down the mountain (St Gervais sits at 850m). The initial descent is glorious,fresh tarmac a good few switchbacks and the bike computer showing 47mph puts cheshire cat grins on everyones faces. We hit the valley and due to lack of traffic in this part of the world can ride as a group. Those drivers that do pass toot and cheer with encouragement, a welcome change from the abuse and projectiles that come from those lovely road users back in good old blighty.
We ride through a small town/village called Servoz and hit the switchbacks that mark the start of our climb. The warm weather and the steep climbs mean nobody wants to push too hard so the group sits in and we set a pace that allows us too chat and admire the snowcapped views. Mont Blanc becomes clearly visible and the blue/green glaciers look awesome in the bright sunshine. As we climb the forested walls of the valley we are joined by a french lady who is 60 if she’s a day.She appears to be some sort of Human/Mountain goat hybrid. She rides straight through the group and up to Daniel “the sneddon” Shipton who is riding in pole position. With a few exchanged phrases in Franglais I can tell that they’ve made a special bond. Is no woman too old for the sneddon?
The ride continues on through to chamonix where we encounter an Australian dude who seems to have found the holy grail. He tells us with the biggest grin that he “did very well” in london, sold his company for “a fair few quid mate” and now rides bikes (in summer) and ski’s (in winter) the chamonix region just for something to do.
Through Chamonix, Argentiere and a few other villages and we top out half a km or so short of the ski resort Le Tour. Lunch is great and a few full fat cokes restore the blood sugar levels to max. Now for the return journey. One word……..AWESOME.Downhill damn near all the way back to Le Fayet (which sits in the valley below St Gervais. Once there ego gets the better of the group and the helmets come off. Lostboy and the sneddon come past like the Schleck brothers and I manage to tack onto the draft.Two thirds of the way up the final climb home my heart rate hits 196 bpm……..boom ! I drop off the back and try to restore my heart rate to a sensible level in the hope that my vision and hearing return when i get below 180. Lostboy and the sneddon are gone.
With a glimpse over my shoulder there is no sight of Brownedog or the Lord so I limp into St Gervais alone.
Lostboy and Sneddon are layed out on the flagstones in front of the appartment and I join them immediately. The lord arrives with news that the dog has punctured halfway up the climb and is growling at passing cars while walking his bike up a 9% gradient.
All in all an amazing first day and a good reminder why we work our nuts off back home.
3 Responses to “Day One - NICE2TRI.COM Tour de Chamonix.”
July 26th, 2008 at 7:42 pm
Good to hear all about it….it puts a smile on my face thinking of you lot struggling up mountains. I must admit you all look the nadgers in your kit. People out there might think your a pro team…..until they see you been over taken by Doris with a basket of shopping on the front of her bike! Love to you all. Have fun. xxxxx
July 30th, 2008 at 5:10 pm
All looking good boys, nice to think of you enjoying yourselves whilst im trapped in an office working me preverbials off for a new owner!!
…when did brownie start looking like the guy out of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century?
July 27th, 2008 at 11:37 am
tell browndog to get some of that rose
wine down him best fuel ever
well done lads