But to pass the day with a post I decided to talk about the climbs. Actually the first one: Cold du Marie-Blanque. The one I'm actually scared. And you know why? Because if you fuckup in this one. In the first 40 kms of the race, what is going to be the rest? A nightmare for knowing that the car is getting close and you can't go fast...
So, the first lesson since I started on cycling was: never trust the average inclination. They say it is 7.5%. But that is because of the easy beginning and middle. Look at the red parts. Between km 1 and 2 you have 10.5% and the 3 kms between 6 and 9 km it stays between 10.5 and 11%. This is really a killer. 3 kms above 10% it is hard.
The good news and bad news is that I'm comparing a bit with the Cote de la Redoute in Belgium. This is a hard climb also in the middle of the 160kms race. The good on it is that I completed and I was completed wasted on the top but could recover after end complete the reace in a good time. The bad is that after it I had to climb Drolenval (another very tough one = 18%) and couldn't complete. I had to walk and lost a lot of time... 20 minutes to be exact. And if you ever did an etape, you know that is a lot of time to lost...
You can see those climbs in www.climbbybike.com A fantastic website
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