Day 4- Alp d Huez day. Bike-swim-run-bike.

Oooooh la la, peanut butter on the breakfast table this morning. I just knew it was going to be a good day :-)

We set off on the descent to Bourg d'Oisans from our hotel; the road got wiped by a landslide in one place so we had a scenic detour for part of it. The road wound along by a lake, then perhaps a river (?) engulfed by the mountains either side with snow resident in the higher valleys. 30km of net descent later we were at the base of the ADH, this was a timed 'stage" so we set off as a group and up we went, 14km and 21 switch backs to reach the official TDF finish line.

Its not a bad climb at all actually, I would say easier than the izoard and def easier than Ventoux. We did get hammered with rain at one point but eventually rode out of it and arrived in the town which was a lot bigger than I had imagined it would be.

We had the pool booked, an outdoor 25 m for a timed 1500m swim; we were flouting a few rules apparently ( swim wear, gear on the "beach". foot wear etc etc) so once ensured that we were all toeing the line we got started. I must say swimming at 1900m presents an extra challenge over and above the usual floundering :-)

After swim it was then time for a 2 lap 10 km run, following the course for the ADH triathlon ( why the HELL have I signed up for that ??!!!!! Oh, ignorance is bliss :-)
It was rather a struggle to start with ; slight up hill on a trail then turnaround by Oli ( support crew) then a slight down and an uphill again. I tried in vain to hold off the Holy Hammer on the 2nd lap after squeezing past him at the start of the first but alas, he was able to get away from me with a slight descent :-)

We sat had a lunch at a nearby cafe/bar then it was time to saddle up and head down again. Di and I chose to go back down the way we came up but it was pretty horrendous, cars, bikes, people everywhere. Chaos.

Once at the base we rejoined Z who had ( sensibly) descended in the van then the 3 of us headed off back on the 30km ascent back to La Grave. I have to admit I'd been dreading it but Philinator had assured us earlier it was only ~ 3% so it would be pretty easy. Aside from another soaking in a brief thunder storm which forced us to take a quick shelter under a roof in a village for few minutes it was relatively uneventful and we made it home in good time to get organised, showered, dressed, packed and ready for the next day. Then it was wine O clock.