Chapter 1: What exactly is La Marmotte??

I’m sore, really, really sore. I’m tired, really, really tired. I’m happy, really, really happy!

This is going to be an “epic report” that will have a number of “Chapters”. Today, before getting into the nitty gritty, I am going to give an overview of the La Marmotte race after experiencing it firsthand. Every cyclist in Europe will know what you are talking about when you say La Marmotte, but only a handful or so do in America. This is very unfortunate because there is such a vast opportunity for American cyclists in Europe. If you don’t mind camping, it can be very affordable as well.

Brief recap for those of you just joining in on the blog or are not aware of the bike race La Marmotte (it is HUGE in Europe). La Marmotte has been labeled the hardest one day cycling event in the world; as to whether or not that is true, I don’t know, but it sure as heck was the hardest bike ride I have ever done with physical and mental feelings of torture and pain that can only be compared to Ironman. La Marmotte is a 174 km bike ride that takes you over 3 mountains and 5 Col’s: Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier, Col du Lautaret, and Alpe D’Huez.

The reason I know about La Marmotte is because last year at this time I had just finished Ironman Nice and was in Allemont recovering with Gregory. There were a bunch of signs between Allemont and Bourg d’Oisans displaying the “roads were closed” on Saturday for a cycling event. Of course Gregory, Joelle and Claude and everyone else in Allemont knew what was going on. In my head I was thinking “why would they close the roads for cyclists? In America they only have cops at intersections”. Gregory asked me if I wanted to go watch some of the race Saturday morning. So we walked to the bakery and had breakfast by the damn as the cyclists started arriving. I thought it might go on for 10 minutes or so….then it was 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 1 hr…you get the idea. NEVER had I ever seen so many cyclists at once. I then thought that this ride has something special about it.

A few weeks later after I had recovered from Ironman Nice, I decided to tackle Col du Glandon/de la Croix Fer for the first time. Let’s just say that this climb is really, really cruel! You go up for 45 minutes at avg. 9% then down for 5 minutes that puts you back near where you started, then up again for an hour, then down..then up to the summit. A disclaimer; when you look at the gains in altitude for a climb (where you started vs. where you end up), you get the number referring from the bottom to the top, but that does not include all the ups and downs that occur during the climb. So where some people think that you only have to climb 1300 meters it is actually more due to these descents during the climbs that take you back down and you have to re-climb.

Back to the subject matter at hand; I had done Alpe d’Huez before Ironman Nice and the climb at that time rendered me “out of order,” I was toast afterwards. So, when I put two and two together, Col du Glandon + Alpe D’Huez…+ TELEGRAPHE AND GALIBIER!! (which, I had never done) I realized this ride was EPIC, like INSANE! And yes, only then did I tell myself I wanted to someday do it.

Fast-forward to this year. After such a disappointment at Oceanside, I realized I needed to get back to the “roots” of why I enjoy sports and needed a goal that was not triathlon related and something that could help me dial in my nutrition. There was a little devil tugging on my ear whispering “you know what you could do, don’t you?” Then I took the plunge and registered online. Heck, it was only 40 Euros, so if I don’t do it, at least I am not losing my life savings! (like Ironman, LOL!) Then tickets were booked to France; we decided 3 weeks would be enough time in the mountains to determine if I could “finish it” and learn some French! Which I have! (those experiences in another blog entry). So in June I crossed the pond to start a new adventure…

Back to the ride...

The interesting thing about this “ride” is that it gets more and more popular every year. Last year there were 6000 participants, this year there was just over 7000; and the real kicker is that they turned down over 1500 late registrants! The magnitude of this event takes my breath away and the amount of time and effort to organize it, I cannot fathom! All of this for 40 Euro’s…yes that is around 60 American dollars. Why the heck we pay $275 and >$500 for ½ Ironman and Ironman I cannot answer. All I can confirm is that the support, resources and encouragement matched and even surpassed that of any Ironman event I have done.

There were numerous stops along the course and they had spread them so precisely! There were water stops with bathrooms which were most frequent. There were hoses flowing with filtered water for bottle refills (such a great idea! With >7000 riders it is impossible to do individual bottle refills). At Col du Glandon (which was insanely busy! More on that in Chapter 2) because there was no place for the “hose” system, volunteers had gigantic tubs of water and used pitchers of water to refill your bottles. There were 3 major food stops along the course that served exactly what you wanted! The first one had bananas, fruits and gels; the second stop brought out the salty food, soup and sandwiches, and the last one had everything imaginable; my favorite was the Pepsi! Along the way I recall 4 Mavic stops for bike repairs and an endless amount of security and support passing us (every few minutes a motor bike or support crew would pass and help anyone in trouble). And last, but definitely not least was the medical support. I will not go into detail now, but the number of lives these people saved because they were prepared and got to them instantly (mostly on the descents due to crashes) blows my mind. I saw 5, yes 5!! Accidents and many people being loaded into ambulances during the first descent….not pretty, and not the reason I signed up for this event, but the fact that there were police and ambulances pretty much lining the descent every 5 km is very reassuring.

Next up…the beginning; my Journey to the starting line and what it is like to be in a tiny village with over 7000 cyclists!