Day 4

Day 4 was probably the hardest day for me, because of how hard day 3 was and the fact that this was the 4th day in a row of riding. I really haven't been riding much this year. So, I was way over my head on this trip.

Anyway, the day's ride was just 107K, but with another 2800m of climbing. Start off by going down Alpe d'Huez (this only means I'll have to come back up at the end of the ride) to the town of Allemont. Make a few turns and up we go on the Col de la Croix de Fer (2064m). This climb is almost 28K long. It gives you two breaks to recover on but after each it starts back up with some steep sections of 11%+. The climb was pretty much a death march for me, but I made it.

Ran into the little deli/store at the summit and ordered a few cokes and a ham and cheese sandwich to fuel up for the ride back. Yeah, back up Alpe d' Huez.

Half of the group got in the van at the bottom to get a ride back up to the hotel. At first, I was one of them but for some silly reason, at the last second, I asked Curtis to get my bike down from the top of the van so I could ride up. 59min of pure misery!

-bosch