What's New in 2008
 9th August - Bryan from Chalet Michelle gave me a call to try this weekend. He has two guests who are visiting for the first time from Kenya, who are looking for people to ride with. Zakayo Ndbri and Mwangi Samwel want to become the first black African cyclists in the world, and have come to France to try and beat the record for the fastest ascent of Alpe d'Huez. They are looking for competition over the next week on the Alpe d'Huez. They have already ridden the ascent in 43 minutes, which is astoundingly quick. If you, or if you know somebody who will be able to ride with our visitors, please contact Bryan. Read more about the inspirational story behind Zakayo and Mwangi visiting the French Alps on their website - www.theafricancyclist.com.
9th July - YouTube have now updated my Marmotte video diary to include the 'Watch in High Quality' option. It's much better than the standard quality as we can see all the detail and you can find it here.
8th July - Good luck to Matt, Colette and their son, Joseph, in this weekend's Ironman Triathalon. Matt is participating to raise money for research into finding a cure for Joseph, who has been diagnosed with an incurable neurological genetic disease called Leukodystrophy, and for others affected by similar demyelinating diseases. Joseph has a rare form of Leukodystrophy, called Aicardi Goutieres Syndrome, which leaves Joseph with very little control of any muscle in his body. Visit the Grenoble Cycling Blog to read more about their journey to the Ironman and how you can donate to help research in to Leukodystrophy. You can also visit their blog at www.tri4joe.com.
6th July - Perfect conditions yesterday for the 2008 edition of La Marmotte. It was the sixth time I'd ridden the event, and the first time I'd ridden since 2004. I joined more than 7000 cyclists on a 174 kilometre tour of the Alps. With 5000 metres of vertical climb and a route that took in the Col du Glandon, Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and finished in the ski resort of Alpe d'Huez, it was a great day in the mountains. You can see my video diary on YouTube here. Remember to click the high quality option.
30th June - With less than a week to the 2008 Marmotte, I rode la Vaujany event as preparation with a 109 kilometre route taking in three climbs. Family commitments meant I couldn't ride the full event, but it was still an enjoyable day on the bike with stunning views on quiet roads with some great people from around the world for company. You can see the video of the ride on my Youtube Channel here - remember to click the high quality option. As for the Marmotte, I realised that it's going to be a tough day on the bike.
24th June - Summer has finally arrived with temperatures of around 30 degrees in the city. A week ago, I rode on the edge of the Vercors with three layers and a wind jacket. Yesterday, I was sweating with just a single cycle jersey.
I've updated the site to link to the Grenoble Cycling Youtube Channel and plan to film the Vaujany and Marmotte events over the next two weekends and include them on the Youtube Channel - do remember to click the High Quality option. The two recent additions include two rides close to home - the cold Vercors ride and enjoying the heat of the Col de l'Arzelier yesterday.
13th June - It may have been Friday the 13th, but the weather finally broke to give us a sunny and dry afternoon on the Alpe d'Huez. For the second year running, my team from HP conquered the Alpe d'Huez. You can read a little more about the day, as well as see the video on the Blog here.
9th June - Stop Press - The 2646 metre Col du Galibier is now open, and we're just waiting for the 2770 metre Col d'Iseran to open now. The weather has been cool and grey since the start of May so let's hope that things start to improve in June.
1st June - It's been a very wet May, but summer is just around the corner with the high passes starting to open up. The Croix de Fer is now open although Col du Glandon is still closed. The 2646 metre Col du Galibier is still closed, and it's difficult to say when we can expect it to open as the mountains are still covered in snow. Remember you can check the closed passes on the Inforoute website here.
My cyclosportif season started yesterday with the 123 kilometre Challenge du Dauphine event in the Vercors. I didn't have the kilometres in my legs to think about doing the 173 kilometre event, but it had been a few years since I've ridden the 123 kilometre event and it was a fantastic day. I'll be updating the blog with the diary from the day - great organisation, great company and a lovely route through the Vercors mountains. You can read about the event in the Blog here.
6th May - The route for the 2008 Dauphine Libere has been announced with a route taking the riders through the Alps with the final stage finish in Grenoble. The climbs include the Col du Joux Plane, the Croix de Fer, and on the final day, racing through the Chartreuse and over the Col du Granier, Col de Cucheron and Col de Porte. More details of the route and race can be found on the official website of the race.
Official 2008 Dauphine Libere Website
The Dauphine Libere is a fantastic race to follow, and it is well worth spending a week following each stage through the fantastic scenery in the Dauphine region. All this without the crowds of the Tour de France, and the chance to get close to the riders.
2nd May - We're already into May and the mountains above Grenoble as still covered in snow. I think it will be a few weeks until we see the high mountain passes open this year.
The Grenoble Cycling Pages website was hacked this week. I've no idea how they did it, but every page was updated with malicious code. I've now reuploaded the site, and reinstalled the blog, forum and gallery with new installs and the site is now clean. Google blocked the site so I now need to contact them to request that they check it and let visitors know that things are clean. If you did visit the site over the last week, please check your PC for any problems. I can only apologise, and let you know that this was out of my control.
5th March - I'm now back from a month in New Zealand, having spent a wonderful time on the other side of the planet. It's a beautiful place with so much to see and do, and feels remarkably empty after spending so much time in Europe. Here are a selection of photos I took over the month. It would be a fantastic place to tour on a bicycle.
Now it's time to get back on the bike and to start preparing for the summer. It's only four months until the Marmotte.
1st January - Happy New Year, and best wishes for 2008. It's a typical winter in the French Alps with early snow in the mountains around the city allowing many of the local ski resorts to open early this year. It's also been a good winter for anybody keen enough for cycling, with cold temperatures but many sunny days.
My main goal of the summer will be to ride the Marmotte event for the sixth time with some of my old club from Cheltenham in the UK. With some time in New Zealand early in the year, I'll be looking to start my training in March to be ready for the event at the start of July. Wherever you are, I hope your training is going well and that you've got your goals for the year in the diary.
26th September -
I spent the weekend on the south coast with three friends from my old club, Cheltenham Cycling Club, and we spent four days exploring the mountains around Menton. Highlights for me included Lance Armstrong's favourite climb, the Col de la Madone, as well as the Col d'Eze and the Col de Turini.
You can find photos in the Gallery here.
23rdJuly -
Yesterday, I rode the 225 km Brevet de Randonneur des Alpes, an organised event which started near Grenoble in Vizille at 5:30am. Other groups had already left at 2:00am and 3:30am. The route took me over the Col de la Croix de Fer, Col du Mollard, Col du Telegraphe and finally the 2646 metre Col du Galibier, totalling over 4,600 metres of climbing. It was a brilliant day, the Galibier looked stunning, I met some great people, and my legs amazingly kept going to the end and I finished in 9 hours and 57 minutes. No photos this time, but I wrote an account for the diary that also includes video diary from the ride. You can read and watch here.
15th July -
As part of my build up for next weekend's Brevet de Randonneur des Alpes, I rode the 2067 metre Col de la Croix de Fer, the 1630 metre Col du Mollard, and the northern side of the Col du Glandon, on a hot summers day here in the Alps. In total, 135 kilometres with over 3,500 metres of climbing and all went well until the 20 kilometre climb to the 1924 metre Col du Glandon. I suffered like I haven't suffered for many years on the second half of the climb as it was hot and my legs were tired on the steep gradients. You can read about the ride, check the map and see photos here .
30th May -
Three news climbs for me today around Bourg d'Oisans. Firstly the 1680 metre Col du Solude, a climb to the south of the town with a number of unlit tunnels and a few kilometres of dirt track at the top. The second climb was to the village of Oulles, and again, a quiet road with lovely mountain views. Finally, the high point of the day was riding to the 2,100 metre Col du Sabot above the ski resort of Vaujany. Steep gradients with fresh snow at the top and a view over the Col du Glandon. All of the climbs are within easy reach if you visit Bourg d'Oisans, and all are well worth riding - today, we didn't see one other cyclist on any of these climbs. You can read the ride report in the diary here which also includes an online map and photos.
10th May -
Today I rode one of those rides that I've been wanting to cycle for a long time. I started from Valbonnais near La Mure and climbed to the Col de Parquetout. It's only seven kilometres but with a gradient that reaches 15 percent in places, I had tired legs at the top. I then descending to Corps and rode the 15 kilometre climb to Notre Dame de Salette. To finish, I rode back over the Parquetout from the easier direction. You can see photos in the gallery here.
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