Despite getting up at 4:30am, the drive down to the Alps was pretty painless. That was until the mountains suddenly reared up in front of us:
Driving up Alpe d'Huez did nothing to calm my nerves either. It seemed so steep and appeared to go straight up a cliff.
Finally we reached the town and checked in. A nice relaxing evening with a pasta carbonara to start the carb loading.
With the weather forecast good for the morning, Jon and I decided to go for a light spin at the top of the Alpe, whilst Emily gave the fabled 21 hairpins her full attention as she whizzed down the mountain to attempt the climb. We headed off towards the Col de Sarenne, but only got about 4km before the road became too dangerous with big patches of loose gravel. Beautiful views though:
Not wanting to end our Marmotte before it had begun we turned around and instead descended the 'other' road out of town, before climbing the final 3 hairpins to stretch our legs.
A nice relaxing afternoon followed after signing in for the race, until the peace was shattered by a thunderstorm rolling across the Alpe. Unfortunately this is a precursor for tomorrow mornings forecast weather. Getting to the start line will now be tough enough.
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