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10 mins slower on Alpe D'Huez?

Posted: 22 Jul 2013 23:14
by Kermit
We got back early Sunday morning from a great holiday and thoroughly enjoyed watching the action on Alpe D'Huez. However I can't fathom why I was 10 minutes slower than the last time I rode it when I went up on Wednesday morning. My training was much the same, ride to work three times a week with the occasional climb up to the Peacock pub. As was my pre-ride preparation, plenty of local wine and cheese the night before. I reckon it must have got steeper than when I rode it in 2003 age 53 :wink:

Mind you, the ride down was a bit different. With literally thousands of cyclists coming up by the time I started my descent, it was a tad busy and I had to be patient waiting behind vehicles as they struggled with the volume of traffic. Close to the bottom I managed to find a bit of space and started to move more swiftly. I came round a bend between turns 17 and 18 to find an impatient car driver overtaking a bunch of cyclists and completely on the wrong side of the road leaving me absolutely nowhere to go. I hit the brakes and just managed to avoid his car but by now had lost control and was heading toward the low concrete guard wall. As I hit it I was flipped straight over the top and hurtled 25 ft down the mountain side to come to rest lodged between two trees and avoiding falling 60 odd feet to the road below. There I spent the next 30 minutes waiting for the emergency services conscious but unsure how severe my injuries might have been.

A very kind Dutch cyclist (who of course spoke excellent English and French) climbed down to assist followed by others and a while later an English doctor. The Fire Service and Paramedics finally managed to hack a few saplings down, get a stretcher under me and haul me back up the mountain. They finally got me to a hospital in Grenoble and released me several hours later with apparently nothing more serious than a few scrapes and bruises and possible cracked ribs.

To my surprise my bike was only slightly damaged and I was able to ride part way up again the next day on race day with Debs. 24 hours later I couldn't have done it as by then had seriously got stiff and sore. Incidentally, the car driver never stopped.

Boy, how lucky have I been? but I think it will be a week or two before I'm back on a B ride.

Blimey!

Posted: 22 Jul 2013 23:44
by smorty
You have had a lucky escape there for sure! - hope you are back on top form soon.

Posted: 22 Jul 2013 23:54
by laurence_cooley
Blimey, Paul, sounds like you had a very lucky escape there. I was hanging on every word to find out if you'd survived the ordeal. Hope you're feeling better and up to a club run soon.

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 07:25
by AlanW
Heavens above !!! Glad that you are okay Paul, that could have quite easily turned out so much worse.

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 07:34
by Pedlo Mudguardo
Blimey Paul, 10 minutes !!


Really glad you're still in one piece. :D

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 07:39
by rdleaper
Pedlo Mudguardo wrote:Blimey Paul, 10 minutes !!


Really glad you're still in one piece. :D
And that the bike is too, of course :lol:

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 08:50
by Andy Terry
Ouch! Glad you are OK, Paul. (Guess you won't be at Droitwich on Sunday though.)

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 10:05
by Dave Cox
Blimey a lucky escape Paul, so glad you sound basically OK and are able to tell the tale

alpe

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 10:27
by bobg
That did sound nasty Paul, and obviously could have been far worse. I have been up there quite a few times either by car or coach and always thought that those walls don't offer much protection, I used to sit on the coach on the way down wondering what would happen if the brakes failed. always glad to get to the bottom. By the way I wouldn't have thought 10 mins over 10 years was to bad. Maybe in another 10 years you will be back to your best.
I guess Debbie was getting a bit frantic while all this was going on, so hope she has now recovered

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 11:34
by Neil Compton
Glad you are ok Paul.

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 13:30
by David Cole
Glad to hear that you are ok Paul and that you will soon be back on your bike. Sounds like you were lucky to escape relatively unscathed
Dave

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 13:46
by Kermit
Thanks all. Deb was down at the bottom doing a bit of shopping in Bourg D'Oisans when she heard all the sirens and inevitably thought "I hope that isn't Paul" I finally managed to get a message to her advising that I'd had a 'slight' mishap and they were going to check me out at the hospital. The problems I had trying to find the name and address of the hospital finally convinced me that it was time I got to grips with this parler Francais mullarkey.

No, I won't be doing the Droitwich Tri at the weekend but will be leading the club run the following Sunday - the intro ride!

Perhaps its time I slowed down a bit.........then again

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 17:29
by gmac
Glad to here your ok Paul it sounds like you've been hanging around with Dave Hughes too much :)

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 17:46
by Philmondo
Crikey Paul, glad you came out of that as well as you did!

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 21:55
by CakeStop
Hmmm... on Sunday I was grovelling up to the Weatheroak crossroads and consoled myself with the thought, "at least being so much slower than Paul, if a car pulls across in front of me I'll be able to stop" and, guess what, a car did just that and I had to slam on the brakes to give the driver time to stop and block the road so she could apologise profusely.

I must not think of Paul when descending, I must not think of Paul.....

Seriously, glad you're OK.

Posted: 23 Jul 2013 22:17
by Grogz
Glad you and the bike are ok, Paul.

Posted: 24 Jul 2013 11:45
by George
Cripes, Paul, sounds like a close call. Glad to hear you're relatively unscathed.

On no account must you recount this experience to my wife at the club dinner or some such occasion.

Posted: 24 Jul 2013 13:27
by GrahamGamblin
Sounds terrifying, glad you are ok. Re. the 10 mins - you are probably transforming from a nimble climber into a powerful sprinter. :wink:

Posted: 24 Jul 2013 18:50
by paul.farrell
Were you one lucky person or what ??? glad to hear you are ok.

Posted: 24 Jul 2013 19:03
by Philmondo
On no account must you recount this experience to my wife at the club dinner or some such occasion
Yes, not a story I'll be recounting to my wife either!

Posted: 02 Jul 2014 19:09
by Tim
http://road.cc/content/news/122335-brit ... alpe-dhuez

Sad event at weekend. Hopefully there won't be any similar stories in Yorkshire at the weekend

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 17:22
by Patch
That's quite a remarkable escape phew.....glad your ok.

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 18:44
by Si_Walker
Glad to hear that you are OK, that was quite a nasty event!

Posted: 07 Jul 2014 18:49
by CakeStop
Patch wrote:That's quite a remarkable escape phew.....glad your ok.
Hang on he didn't survive (unless you're talking about lucky Paul last year).

Posted: 08 Jul 2014 08:55
by Kermit
No I'm fully recovered twelve months on thanks. Came down Holm Moss on Sunday with no incidents.