T.R | Title | User | Personal Name | Date | Lines |
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1984.1 | Alps trek | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | Let's go out and have some fun | Mon Jul 01 1991 10:57 | 19 |
| I would go for a smaller inner than your suggestion as I don't actually
believe there's such a thing as a gear that's "too small", but what do
I know, I'm not much of a theorist on these matters. Since what you
suggest for this year differs only in the size of the inner ring, why
not go for a 32 instead of a 34? I'd keep the 52 and 14, sometimes it's
fun to pedal on descents.
As for brakes, I'm extremely happy with the Shimano 105SC (dual pivot)
brakes. There seems to be so much stopping power that I've really
enjoyed descents, knowing that I can brake late confidently. I note
that one of Raleigh's touring bikes, the Tourlite, comes equipped with
Shimano dual-pivot brakes rather than the more usual cantilevers.
I can't offer you any route advice other than to note that you seem to
have chosen some of the highest roads available in the Alps. What would
Mr Spock say to that? "Most illogical.", I bet.
Rod
|
1984.2 | better from the north? | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Mon Jul 01 1991 11:35 | 49 |
1984.3 | | CIMNET::MJOHNSON | Matt Johnson | Mon Jul 01 1991 12:56 | 7 |
| Galibier from the North, as you've planned, is a more "classic" climb.
It's also the only climb that I've encountered that's more than 2000m
bottom-to-top. The descent on the South towards Alpe d'Huez would also
be more entertaining, as it's milder and has fewer turns.
Croix du Fer from the South is a long grind up a valley all the way to
the top. It's pretty, though.
|
1984.4 | Shimano are too soft. | PAKORA::GGOODMAN | Number 1 in a field of 1 | Tue Jul 02 1991 03:42 | 16 |
|
Rod,
About the brakes. The Shimano brakeset itself works great, a lot
more feel to it than the Campag set up. However, my only concern is
with the pads. I find the rubber to be very soft, which makes it wear
down quickly with use and almost useless in the rain. I prefer the
harder Specialized pads (can't remember what they're exactly called),
but have had to trim them down to size since they were too wide to fit
in. I certainly would like the comfort of knowing that that was what
was stopping me at that hairpin corner.
Mind you, last Sunday I don't seem to remember touching the brakes
all that much...
Graham.
|
1984.5 | Heading for the hills | SIEVAX::CROWTHER | Pike | Tue Jul 02 1991 20:25 | 11 |
| Back to the Alps. I'm out there later on the 19th. Can anyone
tell me the gradient and distance of L'Alpe-d'Huez? I'm hoping my
current bike with 42T front 28T rear will get me up. Is this
ratio going to blow my knees away? Also, being a low lander, will
oxygen be a problem nearing the top? Perhaps I should take a bottle
of oxgen as well as a bottle of water :-)
BTW Rod - are we going to see you out there?
Nigel.
|
1984.6 | | RUTILE::MACFADYEN | Let's go out and have some fun | Wed Jul 03 1991 07:14 | 20 |
| Hi Nigel, I've got just the note for you. Go and read 278.45 and
surrounding replies in CASEE::CYCLE_RACING. It tells you more than you
want to know about Alpe d'Huez! As regards oxygen, since Alpe d'Huez
finishes at 1800m, it shouldn't be a particular problem, though no
doubt one's performance is degraded since the atmosphere's nearly 20%
thinner at that height. I have felt it a bit above 2000m, in the sense
that during a stop at 2100mm I began to feel generally poorly. While
cycling it's hard to separate altitude effects from the overall pain of
cycling up a big hill. I would like to do the Galibier this year, and
since that goes up to about 2600m, I wonder what I'll make of it.
Perhaps some of the participants in this conference who've cycled at
those heights will share their experiences... But what the hell, people
go skiing at much higher altitudes and don't make a big deal out of it.
Yes, you may well see me on Alpe d'Huez, I certainly plan to be there,
and may well come and join the Reading posse at their campsite for a
day or two, if that's feasible.
Rod
|
1984.7 | | FILMS::WIDDOWSON | | Wed Jul 03 1991 08:43 | 76 |
1984.8 | | CIMNET::MJOHNSON | Matt Johnson | Wed Jul 03 1991 11:49 | 2 |
| A long climb is such an out-of-body experience anyway that you won't
notice the altitude.
|
1984.9 | look, it's a FEATURE! | SUSHI::KMACDONALD | sushi: not just for breakfast! | Wed Jul 03 1991 12:55 | 7 |
| > A long climb is such an out-of-body experience anyway that you won't
> notice the altitude.
Besides, most biking records are set at high altitudes! Much less air to
slow ya down! You can go for loads of 'personal bests'! :-)
ken
|
1984.10 | Those records won't come easy
| ALEXI::MANDRACCIA | | Wed Jul 03 1991 14:48 | 8 |
| While there's less air resistance at altitude there's also less
oxygen. I wouldn't count on setting any records climbing at
altitude or anything else that involves hitting your anaerobic
threshold. All the world class juniors are here in Colorado Springs
in preparation for the Worlds this month and the ones from sea level
are gagging big time. The main complaint seems to be legs are fine
but no air to breathe.
|
1984.11 | nice route | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Wed Jul 03 1991 16:19 | 14 |
|
I've never detected altitude effects in the Alps. Or in the Rockies,
once one is acclimated. (There was a question whether pre-conditioning
was a good idea for the RAAM route, which gets about 10,000 feet on one
pass, but general consensus was "no.")
Isola 2000 and its pass (Col de la Larche, is it? I'm not sure) sounds
great ... also Turini, etc., and the Haute Corniche.
Bonne route, Rod.
-john
PS: Yes, must get out the old drogue chute. :-)
|
1984.12 | | BHAJEE::KONRAD | I hoab eam unterkriagt !!! | Fri Jul 05 1991 11:37 | 93 |
1984.13 | Thanks ! | FILMS::WIDDOWSON | | Fri Jul 05 1991 12:46 | 14 |
| Herman,
That's fantastic. Its nice to have ones impressions confirmed. I shall
take your list home and add it to my background info for the holiday.
Given that it calls the Cayolle hard I'd love to know it calls the
Tourmalet!
I used to live in the Ste Baume so I can also recommend it. Also the
the Canyon de Verdon.
As a matter of interest are guidbooks available (in English/French).
rod
|
1984.14 | Dialekt, oder wie? | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Mon Jul 08 1991 13:22 | 8 |
|
Herman,
I also am going to clip out and post your list.
What is your personal name ... bayrisch?
-john
|
1984.15 | ...Tourmalet? ouf!... | BHAJEE::KONRAD | I hoab eam unterkriagt !!! | Mon Jul 08 1991 15:18 | 15 |
| > Given that it calls the Cayolle hard I'd love to know it calls the
> Tourmalet!
The Pyrenees are not described in my booklet.
But I agree-Tourmalet is really a very hard climb.
I did it last year, starting with the Col d'Aspin in the morning,
and the Tourmalet at noon - it's steep over a long distance and it was
very hot too plus the traffic was really awful.
> As a matter of interest are guidbooks available (in English/French).
I'm sure there are some - but in Munich, I only get german ones. So
I'm sorry but I can't help you there.
Hermann
|
1984.16 | good guess! | BHAJEE::KONRAD | I hoab eam unterkriagt !!! | Mon Jul 08 1991 15:52 | 11 |
| re .14
> What is your personal name ... bayrisch?
You're right, John - it's a mixture of bavarian and austrian
dialect , a quote out of a kind of fun musical which is quite popular
amongst poeple that understand a little bit of bavarian, especially if
they do some mountaineering - but I can't explain the whole
story here, it would be a matter of some more pages.
Hermann
|
1984.17 | trip report... | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Two pork pies and a Strawberry Yoghurt | Fri Sep 06 1991 12:20 | 141 |
1984.18 | the OCD - is it for you? | SHALOT::ELLIS | John Lee Ellis - assembly required | Fri Sep 06 1991 12:35 | 14 |
1984.19 | How about those tunnels? | CIMNET::MJOHNSON | Matt Johnson | Fri Sep 06 1991 13:33 | 3 |
| How'd you like the tunnels coming down the north side of Croix de Fer?
Going up, I thought they were pretty spooky, but at least I was going
slowly. If I had been flying down the mountain I might have crashed~!
|
1984.20 | | MOVIES::WIDDOWSON | Two pork pies and a Strawberry Yoghurt | Fri Sep 06 1991 13:59 | 22 |
| >How'd you like the tunnels coming down the north side of Croix de Fer?
>Going up, I thought they were pretty spooky, but at least I was going
>slowly. If I had been flying down the mountain I might have crashed~!
The real long one is lit. Another short one has turned into a bridge
(!) and the other short ones are not toooo bad. Mind you you gotta be
real careful. My technique was to slow right down. Take my shades off
before entering the tunnel, and (believe it) shutting my eyes for less
than one second prior to going in. That way when you go into the dark
you can actually see...
re OCD. I was a member of the british `chapter' a couple of years ago
and I let it slip. The way it worked was that you add up the metres
that you have climbed (ever) in terms of the tops of the cols (so
Croix-fer/Glandon means 4000m) according to various rules (no col which
was approached going down is acceptable, no col more that 7 times a
year and so on). There were medals at various levels (50k, 100k and
250k) with the french version requiring more height. For me the major
advantage was description of cols (I was never one for counting the kms
I've climbed...)
rod
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