The Marmotte 2008 - possibly the hardest day I have had on the bike and certainly one of the best. The basic facts - 170km, over 5000 metres of climbing over the Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and Alpe D’Huez, finishing time 7hrs 47mins.

But the facts tell very little of an epic day, so here are the memories:-

-Arriving in the starting line with Matt knowing I was in for a hard day if I was to stay with him, only to be met by Colin Roshier, who along with Matt must be one of the top Veteran riders in the UK - so now I had two tough wheels to try and follow.
- Storming along the valley road out of Bourg D’oisans behind the Colin Roshier led train, we must have passed a few hundred riders in the opening 10k.
- The beautiful climb of the Glandon with the morning sun warming us as we climbed to the Col.

- Descending the Glandon at full pelt, and enjoying it!
-Catching the back of a 100 strong group along the valley road to St.Michel-de-Maurienne and hitching a free ride.
-Feeling rubbish on the Col du Telegraphe and having to let Colin’s wheel go. It was the right thing to do though as I could tell that by pushing too hard I was storing up trouble for later.
- Getting into a nice rhythm on the Galibier and chatting to a Spanish rider, concentrating on my Spanish grammar helped keep my mind off the pain!

- The last kilometre of the Galibier - steep and brutal. The cheers from the side of the road made a huge difference.

- Descending off the Galibier, beautiful sweeping bends with great views all round. Then on to the descent of the Lautaret where Matt set a fantastic pace and we picked up riders till we had a group of about 20 descending in sychronisation. As we rode through the village of La Grave we got some great cheers.

- Our group getting picked up by a couple of Gendarme motorbike outriders who escorted us through the tunnels and all the way down to Bourg D’oisans. All in all the descent from the top of the Galibier was about an hour with a top speed of 50mph.
- Taking the roundabout outside Bourg D’oisans at speed in the group and then getting cheered on by hundreds of people lining the stretch of road to the bottom of the Alpe. For a climber in the Tour that must be the same feeling a lone leader gets as he enters the Roubaix velodrome at the end of Paris-Roubaix.
- The sheer hell that is Alpe D’Huez. After six and a half hours it was an hour of pain, it is such a brutal climb, grabbing the poor cyclist with it’s opening torturing bends and not doesn’t let go until the final 100 metre downhill run to the line. It was a case of selecting smallest gear and grinding away the only respite provided by pulling away out of the saddle for a few pedal revolutions. This was also where I said goodbye to Matt, his stronger legs climbing the Alpe 10 mins faster than mine.

- A final sprint for the line and the overwhelming feeling of satisfaction and joy that comes with finishing such a great event.

So it was a good day. The organisation is superb, we had our diplomas printed out within minutes of finishing and then had a bowl of pasta before descending back down to Bourg D’Oisans for a beer and to catch the final 3 km of the opening stage of the Tour! After that a cyclists evening of reminiscing about the days events, a few glasses of wine, lots of food and a fine nights sleep.

On sunday we were entered to ride the Grimpe De Alpe - basically a mass start race up Alpe D’Huez. The day dawned grey and as we set off for the start the heavens opened, we foolishly fought the desire to turn round and begin the drive north to the Channel, and carried on to the start where lo and behold the sun came out. So, I got to ride up Alpe D’Huez again, this time 10 mins quicker than the day before but no less unpleasant. The winning guy did it in 44 mins whilst I trailed in with a time of 1hr 2mins, very much towards the back of the field - a climb too far perhaps? Matt managed a great time of 52 mins and a placing of 20th overall.

For anyone contemplating an event such as the Marmotte, these are my thoughts on what worked for me and what didn’t.

- Eating and drinking wise I used 6 bottles plus several cups of water at the feed stations. I carried SIS powder with me to add to the bottles each time I refilled. In addition I ate 3 SIS bars and several gels. It seemed to work as I didn’t cramp up or bonk. I think it helps to have a nutrition plan worked out in your head beforehand and try to stick to it. It’s difficult to eat when climbing and almost impossible when descending at speed which doesn’t leave a lot of opportunities in an event like the Marmotte.
- I used a 34/25 as my lowest gear which did for me, just. Only you know how your legs will feel faced with over an hours of climbing after seven or eight hours in the saddle, if in doubt be cautious and fit a lower gear.
- Arriving a day early and going out on the bikes the day before over a high Col was great as it got us into the feel of the high mountains.
- Pace yourself and ride within your limits. Both Matt and Niall rode with pulse monitors and they found it a great help in keeping an eye on level of effort they were putting in.

So, that’s the Marmotte over for 2008. Will I be back, as ever if you had asked me as I crossed the line on Saturday the answer would probably have been no, but now? maybe, I wonder if sub 7 hours is possible!

And the next event? The Three Peaks Cyclo-Cross in September, time to start running.

Well if I’m not ready now it’s too late! The miles have been put in, time has been spent worrying about gearing (compact 50/34 with a 11-25 cassette for the record) and snatched moments spent  reading the thoughts of Marmotters past and present on numerous web forums.

 Tomorrow we hit the road for the drive down to Grenoble. Hopefully we will get out for a ride on friday - although I have heard worrying soundings from Niall and Matt about how it would be ‘nice’ to ride up Alpe D’Huez to check it out, to which my reply is we will be getting plenty of chances to ‘check out’mountains on saturday!

Weather forecast looks good at the moment but I shall certainly be taking my lightweight Montane H2O jacket to keep warm on the descents, it can get chilly at 2600 metres on top of the Galibier.

So all that is left is to clean the bike, pack and dream of ‘dancing on the pedals’ up the Alpe D’Huez!

To all those riding the Marmotte or the Etape this weekend I say, Bon Chance et Bon Courage.