Story
<p>Here goes the update for Day 3. If you would like to donate, please go back to <a href="http://www.justgiving.com/teams/santitdfcustmf/">http://www.justgiving.com/teams/santitdfcustmf/</a> to do it!</p>
<p>Day 3 (Wednesday 20th July) started with slightly better weather than the previous day, and we therefore decided we could venture further afield and climb La Croix de Fer. One of the legendary climbs of the Tour, which the race was not going over this year but which has featured in other Tours, with people like Fausto Coppi and Gino Bartali leading at the summit. (You can read more about La Croix de Fer here: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_la_Croix_de_Fer">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_la_Croix_de_Fer</a>).</p>
<p>This really is a monster climb, full of mystique. It is 29.5 km long, with an average of 5.75% but sections at more than 11% incline. Despite this, we set off for it with relish about 11 am (our objective was to be back at Venosc before 20.00, as we had discovered there was a Telecabine up to Les Deux Alpes which would avoid us having to climb that col again - however much you like cycling, climbing the same col every day does get a bit much). We flew down the Les Deux Alpes descent in drizzling rain, with Chema managing to hang on to my wheel for the whole descent (I confirmed myself on this Tour as not only the slowest ascender, but the fastest descender ;-) ). We did the 25 km to Bourg d´Oisans and continued towards Allemont bit by bit, at a respectable average of about 30 km/h in the flat, covering in total 45 kms to the foot of the climb. We stopped quickly at the Allemont reservoir, which has beautiful views, for a photo and some food, and then started the spectacular climb to Croix de Fer. The first part, through the forest, is very demanding, with most ramps about 10% for the first 7-8 km, and Carlos immediately went ahead. After a while, Chema decided to follow after him. Nacho and I decided to stay and climb together.</p>
<p>The climb is split in 2 by a very disappointing 2.5 km descent (it is disappointing as it is very steep and therefore you lose a lot of what you have climbed, and have to climb it again!). Immediately after the descent you are hit by a 1 km straight climb at about 14%, where there are not enough gears on the bike! I was seriously thinking of getting off the bike, but managed not to and ground my way up. Knowing the climb would have helped morale, as it certainly gets a lot less steep after that.</p>
<p>The top of La Croix de Fer is at 2067m altitude and the views are really spectacular. Nacho and I got there 3 hrs and 25 min into our stage, 20 min behind Carlos and Chema (Chema beat Carlos again in a sprint, apparently because Carlos got the finish line wrong). The temperature was excruciatingly cold, 5C with a very strong, sharp wind, so we decided to go back down immediately, and initiated a fantastic descent, 29.5 km of sheer speed where Chema and I reached 85 km/h. The only thing spoiling the descent was the 2.5 km climb we had gone down the other way, but we made it up for a very late lunch at Village de Allemont (i was first to this spot, a rare victory for me after a climb, even if short, taking advantage of the long descent that preceeded it!). After a plate of spaghetti bolognese and after watching the real Tour de France stage finish with 3 Aussies, 3 Frenchmen and 2 Italians, all also cycling, we continued back to Allemont and then, bit by bit again, to Bourg and Venosc, reaching 40 km/h on the flat! We made it to Venosc, after 125 km, at 19.02, to find, to our dismay, that the Telecabine ticket office had closed at 19.00, due to offseason timetable. It was absolutely amazing when the telecabine operator, knowing we had come from La Croix de Fer and were staying in Les Deux Alpes, let us on, answering our request to pay with a ´pas important´.</p>
<p>And so we made it back to the apartment, after a total of 6 hrs and 7 min on the saddle, at an average of 20.6 km/h, and truly weather beaten after another day of unseasonal cold, wet and windy conditions. The climb to La Croix de Fer took me 2 hrs 10 min. Details of the ride can be seen here: <a href="http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42841602">http://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/42841602</a>. In total, we climbed 2,326 m vertically, so close on 7,000 feet!</p>
<p>For those amongst you who are cyclists, a very good alternative can be to descend the other side of La Croix de Fer and to end up at St Jean du Maurienne, ready to climb the Telegraph and Galibier the next day (as we would do on Friday).</p>
<p>You can see the profile of our stage and some photos on the left.</p>