Recovery week means “just ride around” in my head so yesterday we checked out one of the local cross-country ski trail networks. Had some steep and bumpy descents that probably would have been more comfortable on a mountain bike but the Checkpoint managed just fine!
I walked up one of the 22% climbs. In the spirit of recovery.
Awesome effort 
Went up the Col de Cou again. It makes for a nice 80 km loop with 1023m elevation gain. Set a 20m PR when going up-hill (212 watt). Beautiful day, a bit hot. Couldn’t be bothered with pics but this is the route.
Went out on a course preview for the upcoming OZ Trails Off-road in Bentonville, AR. I’m signed up for the 50 but wound up doing the 30 with some elements of the 50 thrown in.
Another day in paradise, and another big climb.
My wife and I drove by car to Feissons-sur-Isere and basically started climbing from there on out.
Everyone at their pace.
The climb in question is a certain Col de la Madeleine - several climbs in France have this name, but this is the one Madeleine to rule them all!
It starts out at around 400m of elevation and ends at 1993m (the sign says 2000m, but that’s marketing).
Just over 6% average gradient for around 25km are definitely no joke. The high temperature in The Valley and the hardest day of my life in the legs didn’t make it much easier!
However, the climb is super enjoyable, no super steep bits, extremely beautiful scenery, and amazing views at the Col.
On this picture you can see the Telegraphe and Galibier in the far:
I went back down the same side and met my wife, pretty exhausted, but having climbed over 1‘000m for the first time.
Proud husband!
definitely, an absolute recommendation for any climbing aficionado. This climb is amazing.
Also, turns out my time is pretty competitive:
I am out of the Alps again, but apparently there are good climbs even in the south of France.
The view from my hotel room was this:
On a serious note, my wife and I set off from Bédoin to tackle Mont Ventoux and it is everything they say about it and more.
The views are amazing, the scenery changes so much, from Provence, to Forest, to Moon landing.
We were lucky that it wasn’t super windy today and also it was only 30C.
The beginning was nice and flat, but once you hit the forest, it gets really steep. It’s awesome to have all those recent writings on the road cheering on the pro riders. I felt encouraged although I wasn’t meant 
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Out of the forest and you reach the point where the road from Sault (the first ascent of this years‘ Tour) joins the one from Bédoin. This is where the „Charlet Reynard“ is - doesn‘t really look like an inspiring place, but probably a good place to rest, fill up bottles etc.
After the next corner, you almost always have the weather station in sight. Eyes on the prize. It feels much closer than it really is though. Especially the last 2 kilometers hurt very badly, but I was happy to reach the top.
I also wore my best gear, i.e. my Mont Ventoux jersey and socks:
My time was also pretty decent, finishing in 1:15h, well into top 1%:
The descent over to Malaucène is the greatest decent I have ever had the pleasure of riding. Good quality roads, super fast, easy to see the road ahead.
Then I found a few more Little climbs and headed home.
What’s greatest thing, though, is that my wife also managed to get to the top, too, only 4 weeks after taking up road cycling 
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I had planned to meet some mates this morning do a zone2 session with them and do a VO2Max session on my own in the afternoon. I got about 20miles into the ride though and my gear cable snapped. I could have messed with the limit screws but its pretty flat here so I did my VO2max (albeit unstructured and shorter) on the ride. I probably spoiled any benefit though with going to a beer garden 11miles from home.
After lunch I changed that cable 
It WAS a run, honest! 3hr 2min marathon within a 53km (was supposed to be 50km) race - bonked very hard at 44km in!
Spent the last 3 days cycling in the Dolomites! 
Cant recommend it enough, if you like climbing!
Day 1 - Maratona Dles Dolomiti (mid) Route:
Day 2 - Passo Giau:
Day 3 - Sella Ronda:
Random photos from all the rides 
Dolomites 
Unbelievable. Did you hire a bike out there or take your own?
My girlfriend and I both brought our bikes, drove down there from Sweden (a toasty 24h ride) so just had both of the bikes on the roof of the car!
Just arrived on the next leg of the trip, Lake Garda! So will be riding here for almost a week! A good 10c warmer down here so will see how fun it’ll be in the mountains with the heat, hopefully a bit better than the elevation in the Dolomites haha.
An indirect club ride down to a local cafe to give enough time for a mate to meet. The forecast was way wrong (a few light showers but mostly dry). The last few miles to the cafe was in heavy enough rain but the poor chap who was on his own was a bit later was soaked as it turned heavier still.
Final ride here in Lake Garda, a bit cold up in the mountains, but lovely weather down by the lake!
Some photos of the ride:
My final two rides in France.
This time I travelled from Bedoin (Ventoux) to Les Alpes Maritimes.
The first ride was right from my accommodation to Vence (where AG2R usually trains), up Col de Vence, down to Gourdon (famous for its Gorges) and up to Col de l‘Ecré.
Beautiful loop.
I did this ride before, so I didn’t take pictures, but here go some from google:
Today I did Col du Turini. It should actually be a bucket list climb, but the weather was horrid. It rained hard the entire ride. I was extremely cold at the top, where it was windy and only 8 degrees C.
The Col du Turini is famous for its hairpins, made famous by the Rallye Monte-Carlo.
For cyclists, it is interesting because it is hardly used by cars, and when adding the l‘Authion loop (comparable to the Cime de la Bonnette on top of Col de la Bonnette), you actually have a mile high climb. Also, the most southern 2‘000m Col in the Alps.
The l‘Authion is actually known for its beautiful views, where you can view deeply into Italy, but all I saw was clouds through my fogged up glasses, while shivering.
Also, i warmly recommend the Col Collective (in general) who covered this exact climb:
Very annoying having to shorten this ride, was supposed to be 105k and 3000m+
Now I have one big ride left, hope the weather holds up better…
I usually give the club chaingang a miss and save my legs for Thursday night. It was so nice tonight I broke that rule.
first time in New Mexico! Route 91 south from Santa Rosa; short road, but awesome
