OK. July 2012. time to renew the writing on the blog.... content coming soon...
אוקיי - יולי 2012 הגיע הזמן לחדש את הכתיבה בבלוג - המשך יבוא

4th day in the Alps...being tagged as the crazy guy

well, - there was no 4th day in the Alps for us.
However, I said to myself I will probably not be here again for some time, so getting up early in the morning, before leaving back to the airport, I got up and climbed the Alpe dHuez again.

this, again was tough, but I knew what to expect, so not as bad as yesterday.
however - you can see in the pictures I took of myself, I tried to smile, but actually look quite miserable.
it was worth it!!!!

3rd day in the Alps

the 3rd day was the most impressive, as we did the most scenery Col De Galibier which is 2650m above sea level.
and we also did the Alpe dHuez which is really the most notorious of them all - very difficult, but very rewarding.

2nd day in the Alps

Thanks to Gonnen who prepared this table describing the hills we climbed.

Col name	Category of climb*	Altitude	Average gradient	Maximum gradient	Length of climb
Col des Aravis	2nd	1487m	5.6%	8%	7.5km
Col des Saisies	1st	1650m	5.6%	9.6%	15km
Col de la Madeleine	HC	1993m	6.3%	11%	24.5km
Col du Telegraphe	1st	1566m	7.3%	8.1%	12km
Col du Galibier	HC	2646m	6.9%	10.1%	18km
Alpe d'Huez	HC	1815m	7.9%	10.6	14km

So clearly - the Alpe dHuez is the toughest (and indeed - we could feel it)

Col De Madeleine was a tough one and long. it became steeper when we came to the end of it, plus it was never-ending type of climb.
Telegraph was rather short but quite steep as well, so we got to the top breathless.
Some more pictures:

Well - it had started.

HI all followers: today the Alps Challenge has started. our trip included Col Des Aravis and Col Des Saisies.
Col De Aravis was not to steep to begin with and we moved along quite leisurely, until we hit the steep part which was ok.

Col Des Saisies was long (more than 15Km and steep in places. coming down from both hills was lots of switchbacks and very steep downhill.

the day was sunny and beautiful (we have been promised it will rain tomorrow and Sunday)

at the end of the day we are tired and happy, and looking forward for tomorrow.
Tomorrow - Col De Madelaine (Long and steep), and Col Des Telegraph (Short and Steep[er])
Happy days.

If I had to choose my favorite rider

No - it would not be Lance Armstrong (I know its not popular, and indeed Armstrong is phenomenal)

I am not really into such rankings - but I would have to say Miguel Indurain is my favorite: he is about my age, was at his peak when I started being interested, he is a big tall guy, and he is humble and quiet. So he is not only a great rider, but seems a nice person as well.

As far as achievements goes: He was the first to win the Tour De France five times in a row from 1991 to 1995, he built his participation in the Tour from 1985.
He won the Giro Italia in 1992 and 1993, participated in Vuelta a España and all sorts of other races he did, not focused only on the Tour De France which is the most famous and most prestigious of all grand Tours (of which Armstrong is very good, not only in the race, but also in the whole marketing scene around it)

JUST A THOUGHT.....

well- I need to remind all why this blog.....

this blog is for providing information about my challenge to cycle the Alps in France for Macmillan Cancer Support, which does invaluable work for Cancer patients.
the Tour De France which started this week is a great inspiration (just hopefully, no drug scandals appear on this Tour)
I can't wait for the mountain stages - which I will follow up closely to see what I have taken on myself (hopefully I will not regret this)
so for anyone reading this, and has not done yet - please log into www.justgiving.com/jonathanrind and donate for this important cause
and again - thanks for all those who donated already.

חשבתי להזכיר לכולם ולעצמי - למה אני כותב את הבלוג הזה: גיוס כסף עבור הארגון מקמילן -לעזור לחולי סרטן ומשפחותיהם לעבור את התקופה הקשה הזו. הטור דה פרנס שהתחיל השבוע מהווה השראה - אני אעקוב אחרי שלבי ההרים לנסות להבין מה צפוי לי (נקוה שלא יהיו שערוריות סמים השנה) אוףףף
אז תודה רבה למי שכבר תרם, ותודה מראש למי שמוכן לתרום - מוזמנים להיכנס לאתר ולעזור בסכום קטן שיצטבר ויעזור

www.justgiving.com/jonathanrind