Some good news and some not so good news: First some good- Late last week I was fortunate enough to land a new client that I've been looking to work with for years. Through patience, a little perseverance and a whole lot of "being in the right place at the right time", it happened. Who can complain, right? Now for some not so good news- the first project I'm working on with this new client will probably require me to be in the LA area the day (and night) before my planned L'Etape ride. So, this put a damper into my plans as you might imagine. Not only my ride but our overall July trip to France. I wasn't complaining (as I was fortunate to land the client and lucky to have problems like this), just a bit deflated. Of course, my initial thought- was all of this planning and training going to be for naught? Not a chance. I decided not to let this change much of my plans. I would just keep training with the faith that another plan would fall into place.
Well, just a couple of days ago I connected with this UK-based touring company who has a cycling trip planned to France a couple of days after when I was to ride L'Etape. His plan is to ride the infamous "La Marmotte"- one of France's most legendary rides consisting of 174km and over 16,000 feet of climbing- ouch! (Compare this to L'Etape which has 13,000 feet of climbing over 205km). La Marmotte notches up the painfest exponentially. Oh yea, then there's the difference in altitude. This route takes you over the alpine passes of Glandon (5964ft), Télégraphe (5150ft), Galibier (8668ft) and Lautaret (6749ft). Not only did I find a replacement trip, but one that knocks the pants off of the other ride. Got a few other things to work out with this itinerary but it's looking promising (I think...) Extra pain, here I come! Thanks for reading...
No comments:
Post a Comment