Day three saw us heading for Alp D'Huez! We were all fairly excited to be going to this part of the tour - some were excited about cycling up Alp D'Huez and others were excited about the awesome atmosphere!
The plan was for the ones who weren't cycling to catch a ski lift up the top and for the cyclists to ride up and meet us. To execute this plan, we parked the car on a neighboring mountain and planned to make this our departure point. The cyclists plans went swimmingly as they soaked up the glory of all the onlookers lining the routes of Alp D'Huez. We, on the other hand discovered we had a long trek ahead of us, after discovering there were no ski lifts. Luckily there was a solid stream of people all walking in one direction, which was a good indication that we were heading in the right direction.
Along the way, we managed to catch our first glimpse of the winding road of Alp D'Huez...........
And saw some desperate attempts at pitching a tent...........
As our road spat us out onto the climb of Alp D'Huez my first sight was this row of bottoms nicely perched on this ledge......
As we walked on a little further I was amazed by what surrounded me. It was just incredible to see how many people were prepared to go to huge lengths to watch and support this race! The mountain oozed joy and celebration as people sought out a space to sit along the side of the road, amidst all the bikes and people.
Supportive messages were painted on the road and people of all ages, shapes and sizes chose to ride up that monster of a mountain.
CH was pretty chuffed to have tackled the famous climb!
I was so impressed at the enthusiasm and passion that I saw on Alp D’Huez.
Despite Holland putting on a fairly impressive show on bend 12, in my books the best dressed was the Aussie in full 60’s Australian sporting tracksuit complete with a Merv Hughes moustache. He was flanked on either side by Hasselhoff wannabes, who were out showing their support in nothing but their Budgie smugglers. Now nothing says Australia like Budgie smugglers and thongs does it?
Eventually the wait was over and the cyclists came through, parting the crowds along their way.
As the last of the Tour riders rolled through, we began to prepare for our journey home...........
Of course what goes up, must come down and all of those supporters lining the mountain, had to get back down after the race was over. As a result, our short 1.5 hour drive home became a very slow 5 hour drive. Check in time -1:00am - The sight of our beds were so greatly appreciated that evening/morning!
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