Chapter 3: Is it possible to fry eggs on your helmet??

I know, I left you in suspence..but since I am writing this blog, you all know i survived the Glandon descent.

After I got tackled by the the cop/security man, I decided it was time to test my luck and get my butt down the mountain. The great thing was I was not the only one who thought this descent was totally INSANE!! at every corner for the fist 2 km, there was a volunteer dressed to the nines in neon (last year a rider ran one off the cliff killing both of them...hence the extra-neon this year) directing riders and keeping it at a reasonable pace. No one, and I mean NO ONE did the insane, crazy, dive bomb for the first 2 km, which I was thankful for. In my dreams the week preceding La Marmotte I had scenarios of crazy men trying to get around me on the descent and forcing me over the guard-rail...oh wait! there was not guard rail!..perhaps, that is what the neon-volunteers were for....

I was actually ok for the first 2 km of the descent, but then things got ugly...our first slow down was due to ambulances because some riders decided it was a good time to speed up on the final descending radius turn. Lets just say that there were 3 ambulances and a lot of trashed bikes.

This is a common theme amongst this descent although the tough part was over....I actually almost had my own little accident....

Yes, that is right, Ms. Paranoid descender let the adrenaline and "in the moment" get to her head...and when she realized that she was going TOO FAST and that there was a >120 degree turn that other riders were braking for and she did not brake soon enough..and THEN the wheels started to skid........ lets just say that I BARELY made it; someone was looking out for me on that one, there is no reason why I should have still been upright on my bike with out a scratch or concusion. That knocked some sense into me; lets just say MANY people passed me after that point.

So, now that I had the "SAFE CHEWY" hat on and descended like a slug (it was my anniversary so arriving at the finish/home with road rash and a concusion was not a good idea; I can't believe my husband was OK with this in the first place) I took pleasure in watching others descend; there were riders who took the turns beautifully with great bike handling skills and at safe speeds for them (waaay too fast for me); I was in absolute awe. Then there were the A-HOLES who would bomb by at a ridiculous pace into oncoming traffic (I saw one almost hit a car windshield but he swerved in time to hit the bush/trees instead); I think they lost their brain cells earlier in life (in total, I witnessed 5 crashes or remenants of crashes during this descent) And then, ofcourse, was me...Mrs. Slug, brakes squeaking at every corner but happy to make it to the bottom alive...phew...glad that was over...or was I???

The next part of La Marmotte is supposed to be the "easiest" part because it is the "flattest"...ummm yeah... 25 km at 3-4% average with rolling hills is REALLY flat. Then add Boulder strength HEADWIND, 30 degrees celcius with NO shade in a mountain valley and you get a 30 km journey through an inferno. Good thing is that you are still surrounded by MANY people so there is always a draft and min-peleton to help out.

First thing at hand was to EAT; that was a 45 minute descent without food or water (don't EVER take your hands off the handlebars) so I dug in for my cookies, but they were mush...bloody hell! I shoved what I could into my mouth; somehow hot gluten-free cookies taste the same as Nestle Tollhouse when they come out of the oven, so I loved that. But, I knew it was not enough calories, so I resorted to my gels which were disgustingly HOT...ugggghhh. So there i was with melted chocolate cookies smeared over my face trying to take in a what seemed a boiled gel while following a pace line...but the pace line was too slow! (I know, poor, poor me)

The problem I encountered during La Marmotte was that i lost all the guys I was climbing with on the descent because I am so slow going down the mountain, so when I arrive at the flats I have no-one at my pace. So I played a game; catch the group in front of you, suck some wheels for a bit while eating, drinking and recovering, then go again. I played hopscotch with the mini-peletons. Finally with about 7 km to go to the base of the next climb, a group about my speed cruised by and I hopped on; it was a blast. I must say I absolutely LOVE drafting!

When we finally arrived at St Michel de Maurienne, I pulled over to refill my bottles as I was parched after an hour in the sun. Also, because I had not been following my "allergy-diet" 100% I was having a few "issues" and was in need of a porto-john. Cool thing is they had 3 specifically set-up for girls!! The guys had to go in public; they pretty much had a cicular trough where 5 of them at once could whip it out and go in public. No me though, I am a modest lady, LOL! So, I waited in line, took my turn, refilled the bottles, and had some SALT. It was sooo ridiculously hot at this time and nearing mid-day so all those trees on the climb to Telegraphe would be providing no shade.

Below is a map of the course and the pink indicates how far I had travelled so far.

It dawned on me then, with my white and blue helmet and with white clothes...if I am THIS HOT, how are the cyclists in black dealing with it? Then gigglind to myself I imagined frying eggs on the pavement or on a hemet...Really funny until I realized this ride wasn't even 1/2 way over yet...then I realized that if I was thinking these thoughts already, what was to come? THEN I realized that this was going to get a hell of a lot harder.....