Ride 7 - Col de Sarenne & Col de Poutran

Not getting good sleep and waking up hungry (fame in French) I rolled downstairs where our cycling team (all 50 of them) were eagerly stuffing their mouths, stomachs and rear pockets of their jerseys before embracing the another big day of cycling in the alps. Just outside the Chateau, a fresh boulangerie was baking fresh breads and a woman was selling Frommage de chevre from here wagon.

Bill and I got ourselves motivated around 10am for an 11am departure. With so many options available for riding and a weather pattern that looked as good as the day prior, we trusted our Chateau host, Eric on the ride he said was probably the most scenic in the area, the ride to the top of Col de Sarenne.

Riding from Allemont (our cycling base) we cruised in the crisp morning air, light valley fog and occasional sun bursts through le Bourg-d Oisans, up to Mizoen...grabbing some frommage and pain in Clavens before making the long, narrow, barren and curvy ascent to the Col de Sarenne (which is about 200 feet higher than Alpe-d' Huez). This climb and reaching the summit felt like we were riding our bikes to heaven; passing through a layer of clouds hovering around edges of shear mountain edges, trees left behind, grasses moving in the wind and mist gathering on the blades. The road seemed more weathered from the exposure and hardened conditions as we climbed. I was eye to eye with the tops of this world...I was near the top, and feeling at the top of my game...I was saying..."YES I'm alive!"

As we started the final ascent, weather came in from somewhere...not sure when or from where but it arrived and I was getting nervous on my mountain descent given my bike gauge was now reading 45 degrees without wind and water factored in, AND now it was now starting to drizzle from the sky.

Descending down into Alpe-d' Huez I kept warm, but the cut over and 3500 foot drop from Huez through Villiard Reculas into Allemont, took me and Bill through a wet cloud that froze me. Now back at my hotel, I just finished a SUPER hot shower and now I'm snuggling under a duvet blogging to get warm. Now the stats for the day:

Temp: 65F at the start, 45F at the top of Sarenne - Mostly cloudy then
turning to rain (after returning from my ride).

Distance: 45 miles
Ascent: 5300 feet
Time: 5 hours (including stop at Alpe-d' Huez to snag a Jersey and poster.
Calories: 1200 (excluding those to keep me warm during the ride and now)

Will be dinning with the Dutch and Belgian cycling teams in about 1 hour
again. Fun!!!