Breakfast was a bit of a bun fight by all accounts, the hotel was not very organised and Rae and I enjoyed a more leisurely time after everyone left. This was the day to conquer the Kolonel, and everyone was kitted out in the 2009 team vests for the team photo at the top.
The guys who struggled yesterday have given themselves a pep talk, reminded themselves that this is not a race and they are having fun, and left first. Chris and Ben, the cycling aces, left an hour or so later.
We stopped off to buy bananas and peaches - there are so many guys that one tray of is only enough for 1 each – at a total cost of six euros they were a bargain.
The guys climbed up Col d’Izoard for the second time, from the opposite direction. This time there was no stopping at the summit and they cruised down the other side. Rae and I had a close encounter with a large mobile home, we inched past very slowly with our van on the outside edge!
Now to ascend the Kolonel. The front, take it easy, group stopped to enjoy a tiny café along the route at the bottom. This is a very long climb and with a summit of 2,744 metres and lengthy stretches with gradients’ of over 12% even the van struggled, often in first gear as we manoeuvred around the hair pin bends.
We soon hit the snow line and more spectacular scenery. The van made it to the top first and we managed to find a suitable parking space giving us a clear exit later. Rae and I both changed into our tour tops ready for the group photo and waited for the guys. Gary Lyttle arrived first closely followed by the rest of the guys, who made it one by one. We had some great views of the bikes coming up, we watched the last half dozen get off their bikes and have a snowball fight a couple of metres from the top…. Lots of big smiles as they all in turn beat the Kolonel. The peaches and bananas went down well after the guys had taken five to get there breath back! Rae was great handing them round and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her as she struggled with the boxes.
One everyone had recovered, with an armful of cameras, I took pictures using each one at a time. We asked another cyclist who had scaled the dizzy heights to take a picture including Rae and I and the smiles you see are a result of what was happening in his light blue lycra! I seem to be the only one who didn’t notice, even Rae made a comment!
The summit marked the French Italian border and after some hairy hair pin bends which saw the guys really having to squeeze on their breaks Rogers back wheel started behaving like it was a fixed wheel affair. For the second time the spare rear wheel came into action at a quick road side swap-over. The Italian drivers are something else and the contrast between the state of the roads and the attitude of the drivers was considerable, the SA guys said the Italian drivers are much worst than the guys back home and they thought they were bad!
Although everyone wase fairly spread out we managed to meet up at Sampeyre for lunch, two lovely Italian girls served us and brightened up a lovely day even more with their charming smiles.
I was on the look out for a supermarket to get a few bits and pieces and, after turning off the road in the wrong place, ended up in a dead end. My van turning skills are sadly lacking and a friendly local came to my rescue, turning the van around for me after his helpful hand signals were unable to do the trick.
Rae and I got very lost near the hotel. The Tomtom I am using in the car is not nearly as precise as the boys’ Garmins and, although we made it in the end, by this time my nerves had severely frayed!
The boys had enjoyed a swim, improvising with cycle shorts, in the fantastic open air pool while they waited for my late arrival. Our evening meal which started with bread dipped in fantastic virgin olive oil, with vegetable salad followed by a big bowl of pasta meant they were all struggling to get the meat and potatoes that followed down and hardly any of them were up to the rich chocolate desert! We had almost dropped to sea level and were very glad of the air conditioning in the hotel as we all had an early night, too tired for poker.
The guys who struggled yesterday have given themselves a pep talk, reminded themselves that this is not a race and they are having fun, and left first. Chris and Ben, the cycling aces, left an hour or so later.
We stopped off to buy bananas and peaches - there are so many guys that one tray of is only enough for 1 each – at a total cost of six euros they were a bargain.
The guys climbed up Col d’Izoard for the second time, from the opposite direction. This time there was no stopping at the summit and they cruised down the other side. Rae and I had a close encounter with a large mobile home, we inched past very slowly with our van on the outside edge!
Now to ascend the Kolonel. The front, take it easy, group stopped to enjoy a tiny café along the route at the bottom. This is a very long climb and with a summit of 2,744 metres and lengthy stretches with gradients’ of over 12% even the van struggled, often in first gear as we manoeuvred around the hair pin bends.
We soon hit the snow line and more spectacular scenery. The van made it to the top first and we managed to find a suitable parking space giving us a clear exit later. Rae and I both changed into our tour tops ready for the group photo and waited for the guys. Gary Lyttle arrived first closely followed by the rest of the guys, who made it one by one. We had some great views of the bikes coming up, we watched the last half dozen get off their bikes and have a snowball fight a couple of metres from the top…. Lots of big smiles as they all in turn beat the Kolonel. The peaches and bananas went down well after the guys had taken five to get there breath back! Rae was great handing them round and I couldn’t resist taking a picture of her as she struggled with the boxes.
One everyone had recovered, with an armful of cameras, I took pictures using each one at a time. We asked another cyclist who had scaled the dizzy heights to take a picture including Rae and I and the smiles you see are a result of what was happening in his light blue lycra! I seem to be the only one who didn’t notice, even Rae made a comment!
The summit marked the French Italian border and after some hairy hair pin bends which saw the guys really having to squeeze on their breaks Rogers back wheel started behaving like it was a fixed wheel affair. For the second time the spare rear wheel came into action at a quick road side swap-over. The Italian drivers are something else and the contrast between the state of the roads and the attitude of the drivers was considerable, the SA guys said the Italian drivers are much worst than the guys back home and they thought they were bad!
Although everyone wase fairly spread out we managed to meet up at Sampeyre for lunch, two lovely Italian girls served us and brightened up a lovely day even more with their charming smiles.
I was on the look out for a supermarket to get a few bits and pieces and, after turning off the road in the wrong place, ended up in a dead end. My van turning skills are sadly lacking and a friendly local came to my rescue, turning the van around for me after his helpful hand signals were unable to do the trick.
Rae and I got very lost near the hotel. The Tomtom I am using in the car is not nearly as precise as the boys’ Garmins and, although we made it in the end, by this time my nerves had severely frayed!
The boys had enjoyed a swim, improvising with cycle shorts, in the fantastic open air pool while they waited for my late arrival. Our evening meal which started with bread dipped in fantastic virgin olive oil, with vegetable salad followed by a big bowl of pasta meant they were all struggling to get the meat and potatoes that followed down and hardly any of them were up to the rich chocolate desert! We had almost dropped to sea level and were very glad of the air conditioning in the hotel as we all had an early night, too tired for poker.
Thank you for doing this for SOS Children's Villages - you have no idea how many lives you change and how many dreams can become reality. You are also excellent role models for children who may want to do similar when they are your age.
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