trip to the alp d'huez

[reacher]

next year i'm planning a trip out to the alp d'huez to make that climb with my daughter , can anyone suggest some good acommodation in that area that they have stayed in ? preferably a lodge not a hotel we are thinking end of july ,
their will be 3 of us one couple and myself , only 2 bikes to take , we are thinking that we will have to fly to geneva not leon , is that a real hassle to get from geneva to the alp ? or is it fairly easy via public transport or car hire
any pointers or help will be much appreciated from anyone who has done the trip
thanks​

 

[bikepacker]

I can't be of specific help as I have always camp in that area. At the base of the climb in Le Bourg-d'Oisans and surrounding villages there is a lot of differernt accomodation. I suggest contacting the Tourist Information there, the staff in the office are very helpful to visitors so may offer the same help to find accomodation.

The climb is excellent but take you time on the first ramp, it is steeper than it looks. Also while in the area you could do the even tougher (IMHO) Galibier.

 

[rich p]

I drove and stayed in a small cheap hotel in St Jean du Maurienne when I did the Alpe. I'm thinking of doing it again this June and a friend has suggested this place
http://www.cyclingascents.com/index.html

 

[reacher]

ok , thanks ,
regarding the ramp its the part every one talks about , what gearing did you use ?
its probably the most difficult bit to gauge as far as not going too hard at it , i'm guessing

 

[rich p]

http://www.zanibike.net/altimetria/223/Francia/salita_Alpe+d`Huez+-+Bourg+d`Oisans.aspx

I used a triple with the lowest gear of 30 x 25 but I like to spin and I'm getting on a bit.

 

[reacher]

i have a choice , standard chain set , buy and use a 27 cassette on that or a compact , i have tried the compact on a couple of steep 10% to 14 % baby climbs and i must admit its a very nice combo to use , 34 x 25 made it very easy , seeing as i might tackle the galibier as well i was thinking the compact might be the better choice to take , i'm only realy going their to climb anyway so i did'nt want to arrive and find i'm getting off half way up ,
i have gone up the same 10 % to 14 % on a 39 x 23 on a short climb but it was hard ,
are their any women on here that have done this climb or the galibier ? as my daughter will be doing this as well ,.

 

[bikepacker]

My gearing is 46-36-26 chainring with 11-28 cassette, but don't think I used my lowest on the climb. On my wife's bike I fitted a small chainring of 24 with a 11-32 cassette, great granny gears I tell her. She never did the Alpe but she has done Ventoux with that gearing.

 

[Crankarm]

Why not fly or TGV to Grenoble? It's far closer than Geneva or Leon in Spain.

Gearing depends so much on your cycling fitness, experience and weight you carry. Could you not take with you a couple of different size smaller chain rings as they are pretty light and easy to change? A 12-25 cassette is a pretty good all round spread.

 

[reacher]

okay , thanks my daughter has been arranging the flights and its all to do with flights out of bristol , so i think we are flying to Geneva it seems , hire a car and drive , but your right if we can get to Grenoble we will try to ,
i dont think i could do it on a 25 , i'v tried some short climbs on that , i think i would have to have a 27 in case i need a rest , but then i'm thinking i may as well leave the compact on , but i'm going to send for a 27 and try it on my standard set up ,
but evan then having experimented a couple of times with the compact that came on the bike i will be taking its so easy to climb on them its probably a no brainer to take that i'm thinking ,
its such a difficult climb to train for as we have no experiance of a constant 1 hour plus climb with no flat parts ,
i would be interested to hear how others have trained for these climbs

 

[Crankarm]

okay , thanks my daughter has been arranging the flights and its all to do with flights out of bristol , so i think we are flying to Geneva it seems , hire a car and drive , but your right if we can get to Grenoble we will try to ,
i dont think i could do it on a 25 , i'v tried some short climbs on that , i think i would have to have a 27 in case i need a rest , but then i'm thinking i may as well leave the compact on , but i'm going to send for a 27 and try it on my standard set up ,
but evan then having experimented a couple of times with the compact that came on the bike i will be taking its so easy to climb on them its probably a no brainer to take that i'm thinking ,
its such a difficult climb to train for as we have no experiance of a constant 1 hour plus climb with no flat parts ,
i would be interested to hear how others have trained for these climbs

Search out hills of all varieties - short and steep, long and steep, long and never ending ...............and climb them. In the UK hills are typically much shorter but can be a lot steeper, but ride them to the top turn around and go back down and climb them again ....... There is no easy answer fix to becoming a good climber you need to get the climbing miles in. Also keep your weight down so you have less to carry up the hills/mountains with you. The mountain climbs in the Alps / Pyrenees tend to be longer but not so vicious as some of the short really sharp climbs but that's not to say they are not steep and hard to get over, they are. If it was easy everyone would be a KoM. Of course the higher the climb the more affect altitude has on your performance. The only way to train for these climbs is doing high altitude climbs. You also need to eat properly and keep hydrated.

You don't give any indication of your cycling experience, hill climbing or long distance riding.

Re gearing. I suppose you could try a 13-27 rear cassette or take a couple of large rear sprockets with you and fit them as required on the day. All you need is a chain whip, cassette removal tool/nut, spanner and pair of nitrile disposable gloves. It's pretty easy.

 

[lulubel]

There are a few long off-road climbs around here, and to be honest, I didn't do anything special to prepare before I climbed them. I got a mountain bike, decided I wanted to ride up the mountains until I could see the sea on the other side, and off I went.

This ride was one of the first I did on the mountain bike. As you can see, it's a lot of up followed by a lot of down. The climbing is pretty much constant for the first 50 minutes or so, then there's a bit of a let up before some more climbing. Of course, it was off-road and done on a mountain bike, so it isn't a direct comparison, but the duration of climbing effort involved is similar.

The important thing for me is having small enough gears, and I can't emphasize that enough. I wouldn't consider Alp d'Huez on anything bigger than a compact, and in fact, I already have a triple with an 11-34 cassette on my road bike, so I would obviously use that.

My cycling prior to starting long climbs was around 150-200 miles a week of moderately hilly rides. I had been pushing myself quite a lot because I'd only got a new road bike a couple of months before and I was having fun seeing what average speeds I could achieve on it, so my level of fitness was probably fairly high.

As long as you've got low enough gears, the other thing that's particularly worth doing is training for sustained periods at high heart rates. My heart rate is generally around 170 when I'm climbing, so I would want to know I can sustain that for an hour or more (which I can).

 

[reacher]

whats TGV mean ?
i think thats the problem , every hill i find has a flat spot or some where to rest thats a low gradient so i was a tad worried about duplicating the ride to train for it , but i take on board what your saying , just climb hills ,
the point about sustaining the heart rate at high levels with out a single break for an hour is the one i'm having to work at as all my road work their is a rest some where in that hours ride where ever i go
no long distance realy , 1 hour minimum , couple of hours is max for me , weight is not too bad , its dropped from 85 kilos to 69 realy by just training and watching what i eat , height is 59.5 inches
this will be my 3rd year comeing up ,
plus i will have to do all my training pretty much this winter on a spin bike ,

 

[lulubel]

whats TGV mean ?
i think thats the problem , every hill i find has a flat spot or some where to rest thats a low gradient so i was a tad worried about duplicating the ride to train for it , but i take on board what your saying , just climb hills ,
the point about sustaining the heart rate at high levels with out a single break for an hour is the one i'm having to work at as all my road work their is a rest some where in that hours ride where ever i go
no long distance realy , 1 hour minimum , couple of hours is max for me , weight is not too bad , its dropped from 85 kilos to 69 realy by just training and watching what i eat , height is 59.5 inches
this will be my 3rd year comeing up ,
plus i will have to do all my training pretty much this winter on a spin bike ,

TGV is the French high speed train service.

If you're doing most of your training on a spin bike, maintaining a high heart rate is easy. You can control all the variables far better than you can out on the road. The biggest problem you're likely to have is boredom.

Whatever training you manage to do, the most important thing - and I'm aware I'm repeating myself - is to make sure your gears are low enough. With the right gears, you can get up pretty much anything - even if it is slow.

 

[reacher]

TGV thanks , now i know what it means ,
your right its actually easier for me to train at a very hard constant pace on a gym bike than on the road , boredom is a big problem though your right on that one ,
i'm pretty sure taking on board what you say that i will go on a compact now , that way i can go harder if i can , but i have plenty of low gears if needed ,
i looked at a hill we go up which i have done on a 39 x 23 and it says 17% on the sign at the top , will that be accurate ?
although its steep i'm aware its no where as long as what we will be doing , i think that will be the biggest challenge we both have is the duration of the climb ,

 

[lulubel]

i looked at a hill we go up which i have done on a 39 x 23 and it says 17% on the sign at the top , will that be accurate ?

Over here, the marked gradient is the steepest it gets. I'm not sure how they mark it in the UK. Are you on Strava? If you are, you can upload a ride that includes that hill, then create a segment for the hill (unless someone else already has, which is likely) and it will show you the average gradient.

You're right that the issue is the duration of the climb. I can climb a certain gradient for 5 minutes in a much higher gear than I'll use if I know the climb goes on for an hour. That's why I think the compact is the best choice. There aren't any prizes for getting up in the highest gear possible, and although you'll probably make it with your standard set up, you might have to stop for rests, and your legs might be so knackered when you get to the top that they'll stop you enjoying the rest of the trip. I always think it's better to have low gears and not use them than it is to want them and not have them.