Its been a while, but its ON!

So, the Ventoux is on. And Alpe d'huez. And the Col du Semnoz. And even the Col de la Forclaz.

We leave on the 14th September, flying to Marseille before driving over to Bedoin. Depending on the time and the weather I may ride up the Ventoux in the evening. Otherwise, its going to be a long day on Sunday: Bedoin to Malaucène and back again. I had thought about coming back up from Sault to back it three ascensions, but by all accounts thats a relatively boring route and repeats the top section from Bedoin. Besides, there are more challenges to come...

Because of Easyjet's flight schedule getting back from Marseille was more difficult. If I had thought harder, we should have gone down to the Tourmalet and then flown back from Toulouse. But I didn't. Instead it occurred to me that I could ride up Alpe d'huez and then the Semnoz outside of Annecy. Ive done the Alpe before in an hour (when I was young and carefree), and seen the Semnoz from time spent in Annecy. And the Col de la Forclaz on the other side of the lake is also on the list.

All of these plans are weather dependent - the primary aim is Ventoux and if its stormy then plans might have to change. Ironically the reason I am going in September is because my Directeur Sportif (Dad to me) advised against the heat of July. Fine. Only July in south Wales turned out to be one of the hottest in a long time. It wouldn't have made much difference. And it means I have to train for another 6 weeks as well...

At least the training is going well though. This year I have had the added incentive of using a power meter which measures the power (in watts) generated as I ride. Its a fascinating piece of kit and makes you think not just about your training, but how you actually ride. You can see all the training Ive been doing on Strava

Dont forget to donate either.