Notice Marty’s company logo. You see a guy on a bike. But the top tube is a fork. This trip combines cycling with great French cuisine. The other feature this trip provides is Marty’s knowledge of France. Since he has lived and raced here for 10 years, Marty lead us through some great training roads. In addition, who else can show us exactly where the tour sets up the finish lines; for example on Alp d’ Huez? More on that later.

Wed, Aug 17
We were picked up in the MJCT vans from Kyriad hotel near Lyon airport and drove 50 minutes to Chambery. Here we stayed at the Chateau de Candie, pictured right. After unboxing and building bikes (see below), we rode ~40km around Chambery, spinning and generally making sure the bikes worked ok.

Thur, Aug 18
Drove about 20 minutes from our Chateau in Chambery. Weather was pouring rain. Marty asked if we wanted to start the ride at the base of the Glandon or do the full ride. We came 6000 miles to ride. So we began our epic day in the rain. Marty took us over some quiet, narrow roads. Many of these roads resemble Mines or Patterson Pass: a car and bike can barley pass. We first climbed the cat 4 Col du Grand Cucheron, ~ 12km climb, after a short descent, we then climbed the cat 4 Col du ….., ~6km climb, followed by an 8 mile descent. We refueled at a park, removed arm and knee warmers etc to prepare for the ascent of the Col du Glandon. The grade felt like Del Valle climb ~7%. The tough part was the ~24 km distance, and the last 2 km kicks up to 13%! See photo at right.

Sat, Aug 20
Alpe d’ Huez today! Descend the Croix de Fer, past a beautiful lake, then a short very steep climb; maybe 2 km and +12%. Then a very long descent to a reservoir. Here we refueled for ~12 km flat ride into Bourg d’ Oisans. By the time I was on switchback #15ish, Lance had already finished. I didn’t really time myself, (I left computer and HR monitor at home), but based on super Dave’s time of around 1:15, I figure I came in around 1:20ish. Of course Lance’s time is 39:27?

The first 4 switch backs are about 11%, it then settles down to ~8%. Marty caught me on the last switchback, right before the town. I’m now looking up at those infamous condos I’ve seen in sooo many Tour tapes. Honestly, I had goose bumps. I mean WTF, I’m here! And I’m riding with USPS/US Pro champion!! I’m soaking wet with sweat. Here is Marty, not a bead of perspiration. So he says stay on my wheel and I’ll show you where the Tour finish is. We ride through town, into the ‘tunnel’, a short incline, sharp right downhill, big ring, into a roundabout, left turn and we’re on the finish straight. Uphill, into the wind, wide finish. We are both in our big rings. It’s a two-up sprint! I can hear Phil Liggett now, “Hollaway has been sitting on all day, Marty has to go now, but can he hold off…” Not even close. Marty started his sprint, I lasted maybe 50 meters and blew to ‘smithereens’ (aka Paul Sherwen). I even had to drop into the small ring. I must have lost 2 minutes. At the top, Marty asked, “where were you? All you had to do is stay on my wheel…” I said thanks for the opportunity, I gave it all I had. We rode back to Alpe d’ Huez town for pizza and cokes.
After eating, we rode down about 3 switch backs, then we took a side road off the mountain. It is a very narrow road that descends on the other side. Wow, what a great road/downhill. This road put us back at the reservoir where we started earlier in the day. Another day, another epic ride.

Sun, Aug 21
Col du Madeleine today. Plan was to descend Glandon, ride through town, then start the Madeleine. First problem was I drank way too much beer and wine. What can I say, it was in celebration of Alpe d’ Huez. Second problem was pouring rain and very cold. The Glandon descent would be too dangerous. So we drove down 24 km. Wow, I almost blew my breakfast. I was nauseated from the start to the end of the van ride.

Whatever, I sucked it up. When the climb started I was OTB all the up. The climb is like the Glandon, long (22km) twisting, 7-9% grade. Very cold. I could see my breath the entire climb. At the top it was ~45 degrees F. At the summit, I had some coffee and ½ a Clif bar. We descended the ‘tougher’ side of the Madeleine, towards Albertville. When we reached the bottom, it started to rain hard. Too bad, because the roads and route were just awesome. Marty pulled us the entire way to Albertville, ~20km. The vans were waiting for us with a great lunch. Pizzas, cokes, quiche, and pies for dessert.
We still had ~45km to ride. About half of us abandoned. Deciding instead to drive to our bed and breakfast, looking forward to hot showers. The others toughed it out on a beautiful bike trail that follows the valley into Lake Annecy.
That evening I was starving for dinner. I’m looking for an In-and-Out burger, pasta, Mexican, Sub-Way, anything! Instead we had a very formal Wine and Cheese tasting. You gotta be kidding me. Not only was the wine paired with the cheese, but we were given a history lesson about where the cheese is from and how it was named, blah, blah, blah. I mean, I’m sitting there chugging wine and eating French bread trying not to bonk at the dinner table for crying-out-loud. I lost 5 lbs that night. I could not eat one morsel of that rotten cheese. No joking, I have several pairs of running shoes in California that smell better than that crap.

Mon, Aug 22
We were going to climb the Col du Forclaz today. But rained all day. So, we took a rest day and walked into Annecy to shop, eat and well, I guess drink wine.

Tues, Aug 23
After a light breakfast at the hotel Chavorie, we mounted our bikes and rode into Annecy for a group photo. After that we rode through the old town and a huge farmers’ market. There were so many people, we had to get off our bikes and walk.
After a steep climb out of town, we entered the Parc Natural du Massif and the climb of Col de Leschaux. This was an 18 km grind. The roads were still wet from the previous night rain. The scene was right out of a Ricola commercial: lush meadows with cows and their bells echoing. Sheep with herders and their dogs. Dense pine forest which kept the roads shaded. As we climbed, it got colder and colder.
At ~14km to go mark, Paolo (brazil) upped the tempo. Brett (Colorado), Gus (Conn.), Lee (Liv.), Ian (Eng), Ben (Can.), Joe (Can.), Jim (Utah) and I moved to the front so we would not get caught behind the ‘B’ group. (in case you haven’t noticed, everyday was a noon ride. Competitive on the climbs, single file on the flats, all-out on the descents. Then, Paolo shoots of the front. Marty is going ballistic. He’s at the front yelling at all of us, “there’s the move! This is the second to last climb on the last day of riding. You guys gotta go”. So, what the hell, we all went with the move. Paolo blows up. We are now going 100% for 14 km. Brett took some very hard pulls. I was barely hanging on the back. Lee just popped off. Another 2 km, the road kicks up and I losing contact. I dropped off, but still kept them in sight. 3 km later Paolo bridges back to me. He gave some good pulls and we just got back onto the lead group. But wait, Brett and Ian weren’t there. Oh well, those two finished first on most of the climbs anyway. I sat in for ~6km. Pace was hard enough that I could never get my HR down. I finally popped with 2 km to go. Overall, a good, hard effort on the last day. At the top, we had hot chocolate and clif bars.

Next: a very fast descent, into a beautiful green, warm valley. We stopped at Bellecombe-en Bauges for lunch. One note to show you how hard even the employees ride. Brett (Col), Ian (Eng) and Casey (Utah and MJCT mechanic) bombed the descent. In a 180 degree turn, Casey loses his traction, skids, blows a tire, saves the bike, but bends the wheel. See photo at right. Below is a picture of the valley we rode down to on our way back to our first Chateau de Candie in Chambrey. And the photo at the lower right is a typical local cafe you’ll find in many small villages.

All-righty then. Now we are heading for the last climb of our trip, the 8km Col d’ Pres. This was a full-on, lay-it-down hard, attack it like Midway on a Monday noon ride kinda pace. It seemed liked everyone wanted to rip the last climb of the tour. Even Marty was in on the action. He said there were too many riders with matches to burn. In other words he had a few strong riders on his wheel most of the day. So, he felt he had to put them in their place by first setting a blistering pace and then turning it up ‘another notch’ and dropping the strongest riders. By the time I got to the top, those riders were amazed at how effortless it was for Marty to just ride away from them.

After the final climb, we still had a handful of 1-2km climbs to tackle on our way back to the Chateau de Candie in Chambry.
That evening we had another gourmet meal. We also had the honor to dine with Marty. He had many USPS stories to tell.

Special thanks goes to Dave Neal. He researched many tour companies and then told us this was the one. Thanks Super Dave. Thanks to Carolyn for riding with me. We were OTB on many climbs due to our injuries. I was still hurting from my March crash, and Carol was hurting from her July crash. Thanks. Tom and Teresa Healy, you couldn’t find a better couple to vacation with. Thanks Tom for the pepto on that cheese and wine night. You save my a**. And finally to Lee, thanks for drinking all those beers with me at those sidewalk cafes.

Ok, to sum this all up, I think most riders on the noon rides and the local racing teams would enjoy this type of cycling vacation. You get to ride hard and enjoy fine food and wine. Plus you’re being led by a 10 year pro that knows the language, back roads, and tour finishes. I highly recommend it before ya’ll decide to climb off your bikes for good.