A late bloomer, but since its first pass in the late 1960’s, the Col de la Madeleine has become a staple of the TdF, with 27 appearances and counting. That means it features on average every 2-3 years. A highly symmetrical and satisfying climb, here is Part 2, where i tackle the col for the second time in a day, returning from South to North, will i make it back before dark…
This Video also forms day 1 of my Tarentaise Triple challenge, tune in to see what monster climbs i got up to on days 2 and 3!
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[Music] [Music] what [Music] welcome back to part two of this called the mlin double first off if you’ve not seen part one where were you secondly you find a link to it here I’m not going to repeat myself too much just left lra which is the gateway to the C melin from the Southside this is the Morin Valley which is home to many many other classic climbs such as the cold G which hopefully you’ve seen my video for that already so from this side the climbs 19 km you’re starting from that slim back there you start from valy bottom about 20 km and again almost exactly the same elevation gain that’s from the other side you start at just over 400 m and yeah obviously top out the same spot so yeah very symmetrical very satisfying obviously it’s a short climb from this side which means it’s on average steeper just under 8% there’s also more consistent as well less up and down so the steepest ker is 10% but I don’t think there’s anything quite as steep as on the other side so you start off with a fairly gentle first kilometer again at 6% just to EAS you into it second K is already 8% you know hovers around 8% for most of the way up now it’s from this side there’s actually two or three different ways you can start the little half of the climb I’m going what I assume is the most main road cuz it’s the one that came down so I know where I’m going but yeah all end up at the same place obviously and they’re all very similar just one’s on each side of the valley and one com at the valley bottom first challenge for me today is not to throw up cuz I just stuffed a load of not particularly healthy food in my face cuz I’m need the calories later Second Challenge is to get up and over before dark which is not looking particularly likely but there we are so the cold the gland on another popular Tor crawl up that way and the called the G one Valley further up in that direction so yeah we climbing some thick and fast down [Music] here I’ve not seen a mile marker in a while so actually know how steep this bit is but I feel like this is definitely the steepest bit so far could be the steepest bit of the whole climb Maybe 11 or 12 kilm to go this must be over 10% just stopped because there’s traffic light in front of me Road works yeah that bit was just over 11 km to go and it’s steeper than this bit so at least N9 probably [Music] 10% [Music] around about halfway up at this little Hamlet of Le Planet good spot to your water bottles just over there so there’s no need to carry full full water all the way from the bottom unless it’s really really hot of course plus you can stop for a beer or whatever as well that little restaurant so yeah nice little rest stop to bear in mind 5K to go got to make it before dark it’s going be touching go but got no choice my car’s on the other side it’s pretty ugly ski this there you there made it just after 8:00 p.m. it’s nearly pitch black I’ve got the light of the Moon up here to help see the way but when I drop down into the trees won’t be to see a thing so have to hope some good Samaritan is driving down and picks me up but given that I’ve seen virtually no one on the way up chances are slim to none but oh well least from knowing being on the road at least it makes it safer I guess in the I could be down in half an hour if there was Daylight but I’m going to take it a lot slower than that partly because it’s cold mainly because it’s dark at least haven’t bonked today or had heat stroke as you can see I made it down in one piece yesterday descending the top half By Moonlight was actually relatively straightforward nearly a full moon if much of it you out in the open so can see the road really well obviously have to take it careful because you can’t see all the little cracks and stones on the road but it was fine got about halfway down when you start to get into the trees and then it pitch black so thought I’d try hitching took a little rest and saw the only Vehicles headlights I’d seen all evening coming down the road stck my thumb out looked miserable and it drove right past me but I thought [ __ ] it I have to ride down anyway but then lo and behold they came back they couldn’t pick me up cuz it was a van and they were full but they drove the rest of the way down behind me Illuminating the way over the headlights which was actually probably the better option cuz it meant I actually I got to finish the route and I didn’t stin the car out so all in all yeah I got lucky but it’s good day good climb good ride I had fun so now on to today’s Mission which I’m actually halfway up already the cold of the Lowe’s between keral and marabel so yeah tune in for the next video to see how I get on [Music] there a
1 Comment
I'm doing this one in June 2025…can't wait!!!!!!!!!