We arrived in Bourg d’Oisans literally just as Rachel had been involved in a crash with a car! I was driving down the main street in to town and there, sprawled on the road, was a bloodied Rachel looking totally dazed and surrounded by people…
It turned out that a car had pulled out in front of her and she had narrowly missed a side impact, which could have been much worse than the front impact she did have with the car. Not that it was pretty as it was! She was bleeding from her head – thank goodness for helmets!
By the time we’d parked and got back across the road there were Gendarmes, an ambulance, and Pompiers everywhere. Assessing the “crime” scene, taking statements, photos, etc. Oh, and of course tending to Rachel’s injuries! Andy was managing the scene well trying to get the French to understand what had happened.
Luckily as it turned out Rachel was relatively unscathed – she’s a tough cookie that one!
Col du Glandon
The next day I set off from our campsite near Allemond to cycle up to the Col du Glandon – my final training ride before the Marmotte. Cycling part of the actual route of the Marmotte went against the grain as I always reckon that it can be a mental mistake if one finds it tough as this could work as a tricky mental barrier on the day. Of course if one finds it easy it could be a positive thing too. So for me, I generally just try to stay clear of the route and tackle it “on sight” on the day. However, on this occasion I couldn’t think of a reasonable challenge close enough to keep mileage to a minimum and therefore not over strain the legs whilst also providing the right degree of muscle memory preparation. Besides on the day I should still be fresh for this, the first of four big climbs. 🙂
At the top Laetitia met me and we went for a short walk around the Col du Glandon and the Col de Croix Fer, both famous alpine cycling venues in their own rights. It also saved me from having to ride back down! 😉 I’m pretty good at descending so that was enough riding for the day – just the big day to look forward to now…
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