Day 6 – Alpe D’Huez Ascent 2 We had a cracking sleep then woke up to a hot Alpes day and the D’Huez beckoned. We went into town for croissants and coffee and a bit of morning market shopping then I knocked out another D’Huez ascent. This area seems to have a pattern of awesome […]
Trips
Day 4 – Climb Avoriaz, drive to Chamonix The next day we rolled up toward Morzine en route to Chamonix. After having a look around. We parked up and I rode toward Avoriaz. The weather was typical Hautes Alpes sketchy arvo weather with threatening rain. I bailed short of the Avoriaz peak due to rain […]
Day 1 – Packing, Departure We arrived to Melbourne airport with my precious Look packed carefully away. I’ve described how to do this before, but I’ll re-iterate how important it is to pack your bike properly. Here’s the link to my video showing how I pack my bike in an EVOC bike bag (check out […]
Sorry this all out of order. Ordinarily I’d provide some detail of the previous day’s adventures but thought you’d want TDF stuff first and foremost! What a nightmare. I’ve seriously learnt even more TDF tips about campervanning and watching the TDF on this stage. We rolled into town after a long drive from the base […]
This 2011 Etape du Tour report will demonstrate that even if you train for 48 weeks and turn up ultra-fit, Etape is still hard. After a lack of sleep I woke at 4.45AM to get ready. I was ready very early and planned to meet VeloNomad reader and all round nice guy Peter H’AC at […]
I love receiving emails from readers with photos and stories of their travels through France, particularly when they tell me how useful the Guide to Cycling through France was. The below email is from Chris H, of Sydney, Australia. Bonjour Tim, Cycling in South of France during this years 97th Tour of France has ruined […]
The L’Etape registration is a very fun part of doing L’Etape. Apart from the necessary registration, the L’Etape registration is a fun few hours hanging out at a mini bike show. Loads of manufacturers like Time, Ridley, Look, Specialized, Trek, SRAM are at the registration with loads of things for sale. You’ll be able to […]
Sadly our last day was upon us on our Cycling France 2010 trip. I’d not had anywhere near enough riding so was glad to be heading out for a final long hit out in delightful warm France. I keenly felt the approaching return home as I’d been told it was miserable, cold and wet in […]
After the let-downs of Stage 16 and Stage 17 (at least in terms of photos, and compared to last year), we headed into Salies-de-Béarn for the start of the 2010 TDF Stage 18. We dropped Andrew off at the Pau train station (which by the way has the BEST croissants I have ever had, EVER […]
Well, sometimes you plan and make allowances and things just go wrong. Our plan for the 2010 TDF Stage 17 was to get to the Col du Marie Blanque, the first climb of the stage and only 30km from where we were staying, and a reasonably steep climb. This would allow me to get good […]
Stage 16 Tour de France: from the road Well, the irony is impressive. After I wrote in my Guide to Cycling in France, for Tour stages, where you plan to ride up a mountain, you MUST ride up a few hours before hand. I also wrote that you can ignore the gendarmerie. Both of these […]
So, our friend Andrew Clark, who rides under the assumed Dutch name of Oondreuw Klook, won a solo sprint into Bielle yesterday, blasting everyone away in the process. It was a sight to behold and the excellent commentary (in Dutch) lends a certain extra excellence to Klook’s solo sprint breakaway win.
June 2010: Cold, raining Melbourne. “Boy, I can’t wait to get to France for L’Etape. We should be able to improve on last year’s 1800th position. It’s going to be so warm, with lazy days filled with riding, Le Tour and croissants”. July 18th, 2010. 5AM. “Awesome, I can’t wait to see the broken souls […]