Tandem Cycling - La Marmotte on our Calfee

hi all,
last saturday my wife and i did a very nice ride in the Alps ( France) LA MARMOTTE, 175 km and 5000 meters elevation.
some pic's on our mini site; http://www.sheeptrickteam.com/trips.html
thanks for looking !!

You two are animals. 5k of climbing...wow. Nicely done. Beautiful scenery too. You are on a very sweet ride.

All over Europe, Thailand, Pakistan, China, Bolivia, US, and in October to Australia. You two are more peripatetic than your fellow Belgian, Tintin!

16,000 ft (4888 meters) of climbing in 107 miles (173 km) (http://connect.garmin.com/activity/96348958), that is quite a ride!

With the grade of 6.5% on the first long descent, were your brakes up to the challenge? That is an Avid with a 203 mm rotor?

What is your gearing? The Alpe d'Huez had a formidable grade of 8%.

The Rolf's have held up so far?

You had a flat (http://www.sheeptrickteam.com/marmottestory.html). Are those Continental GP4000's?

Congrats on your First Place in the tandem category!

Proficiat! Geel goed gedaan!

Great photos, and great job! Thanks for sharing.

With the grade of 6.5% on the first long descent, were your brakes up to the challenge? That is an Avid with a 203 mm rotor?

in front i have a regular Dura ace, in the back the Avid, that combination is ok for me, but at the end of the ride the avid cable had to be adjusted, was to loose.....


What is your gearing? The Alpe d'Huez had a formidable grade of 8%.

we ride a tripple , smallest is 32/28 , that's (just) enough, no reserve thought..;)

The Rolf's have held up so far?

just changed the bearings so far....for the rest very satisfied



You had a flat (http://www.sheeptrickteam.com/marmottestory.html). Are those Continental GP4000's?

yes , the duraskins, had one flat on the last
Alpe d Huez climb.....never had any flats on training...

Congrats on your First Place in the tandem category![/QUOTE]

wasn't hard, there where only two...!!;)

You two are animals. 5k of climbing...wow. Nicely done. Beautiful scenery too. You are on a very sweet ride.


we are like Ferrari my wife always jokes, the engine is in the back.....!!:D

Congratulations! That ride is tough enough on a single bike, on a tandem it must be really hard. We did some of the route last year on our tandem (we went up & down south side of Galibier and did Alpe d'Huez) and really enjoyed it. We've done a couple of sportifs with the tandem, and in the mountainous ones we are often the only tandem, which is a shame (but somewhat understandable).

There are a huge number of participants in the Marmotte, how did it go handling the tandem in the big crowds near the beginning of the race?

Congratulations! That ride is tough enough on a single bike, on a tandem it must be really hard. We did some of the route last year on our tandem (we went up & down south side of Galibier and did Alpe d'Huez) and really enjoyed it. We've done a couple of sportifs with the tandem, and in the mountainous ones we are often the only tandem, which is a shame (but somewhat understandable).

There are a huge number of participants in the Marmotte, how did it go handling the tandem in the big crowds near the beginning of the race?

the crowd is not a problem, , the first 10 k it was quiet speedy, but after that the uphill speed is slow so there is space enough for everyone...;)
the downhill was also no prob...i left enough space between the riders in front of me. Just in my arms it was hard, all that breaking....
We did a lot of +8u training rides in the last few months..... i did la marmotte on a single bike in 2007 so i knew what was coming...;)
After the ride we were tired, but not a tired as after the LEadville100 mtb race in Colorado last year, that was a whole lot tuffer....;(....especialy the altitude over there killed us.....we live at sea level..and arrived only 3 days in advance , it left us not enough time to adjust....we should have being there at least one week on forehand.

Lieven,

Great looking bike and nice job on all that climbing!!! I don't understand how you two end up with so many good pictures from all of your adventures. We don't seem to get many good pictures of us on the tandem...

We can't wait to hear about your Crocodile Trophy race later this year. Good luck to you both!

Dan

Those are extremely challenging rides. I have ridden part of L'Alpe Huez.
Congratulatiions.

It would be interesting if you uploaded your ride into Strava (http://www.strava.com/), so to compare your climb of the Alpe d'Huez with the other 154 riders (http://app.strava.com/segments/652851) on Strava that have climbed it