Day 4- Alp D'Huez

In Le Bourg d'Oisans we rented road bikes and headed up the road to the Alp d'Huez. the road averages a 7% grade, but reaches 10% or steeper in parts. Here is Katherine coming up to the first swithback, only 20 more to go!.
Spencer was an awesome cyclist. I tried several times to leave him behind, but despite his lack of recent training, he stayed right on my tail. He let me finish first though, since I paid for the trip. Smart move.
Rick on the climb up the Alp d'Huez.
Le Bourg d'Oisans from about halfway up.
Along the road up to Alp d'Huez are several small villages with churches that date from the 11th century. It is amazing to think that people lived high up on these mountains millenia ago. They must have had roads, although not paved. They were mostly sheepherders, and were very isolated, which probably provided them protection from invading armies.
This is a view of Le Bourg d'Oisans, the city where we stayed, and where we started our ride, taken from the road about two-thirds of the way up. The side of the canyon that we are on looks just like the opposite side, large granite cliffs with a few trees on either side. The road up to Alp d'Huez snakes through the cracks and fissures in the rock.

We arrived at the top of the Alp d'Huez approximately two hours after beginning. It took Lance Armstrong 37 minutes. Marco Pantani holds the record at 35 minutes. The sign reads "Arrival of the Climb of the Alp d'Huez, the Island of the Sun. 13 kilometers, 21 switchbacks, 1100 meters of ascent. Stage of the cycling Tour de France. As soon as you arrive, make your performance official by receiving a diploma from the tourism office, at the House of the Alp, Paganon Place. (This we neglected to do.)
From the village of Alp d'Huez, we decided to bike the Col de Sarenne. To get to this hill we took a different road that runs downhill for a few kilometers, then climbs again. Once over the top of the hill, it drops down to the highway, and it is14 kilometers back to Le Bourg d'Oisans.
As we headed along the road to the Col de Sarenne, the road was much rougher. There were many areas that had been patched, and where the snowmelt crossed the road, there were large stone pavements. I heard a loud pop, and Spencer had a flat front tire. We discovered a weak spot in his tire wall. We tried patching the tube three or four times, and each time we put new holes in it with our tire irons. I was running out of patches, so we said a prayer, and the next patch worked. With a weak tire, we decided to return the way we had come, and go down the road from the Alp d'Huez. This is a much more heavily travelled road, and if we experienced any more bike trouble, we would be able to get help from a passing motorist.
This is the "Gorge de Sarenne" which we passed by. We were not able to bike over the Col de Sarenne, as we thought it best to turn back with Spencer's bad tire. We rode back down the 21 "virages" to Le Bourg d'Oisans, and after showers, enjoyed pizza at a French Restaurant run by Orientals.
Next: Le Parc des Ecrins