l'Alpe d'Huez, France Descent by bicycle

[FreemButston]

Wow, you're pretty fearless. This looks scary on an empty road already, but with occasional trucks and cars going the other way?... ;)

[TimpBizkit]

It would be nicer without the hairpin turns so you can get one big run without wearing out the brake pads. Looks more fun than going back up though....

[farouthippy]

wow

[oldirtybrza]

Very jealous. I took my bike overseas with me only to have it fall apart in Nice. I'd managed to ride around Paris a few times but when spokes snapped and I went to a shop, I discovered other hidden problems. My advice? Don't take ooooollld bikes on trips.

[oldirtybrza]

Very jealous. I took my bike overseas with me only to have it fall apart in Nice. I'd managed to ride around Paris a few times but was on my way to Monaco when spokes snapped.

[steven9987]

i will ride this place someday!

nice ride!!

[macpaulster]

90 km/h max spd.

[doomboy829]

@macpaulster damn! i have done 45 on my DH bike and thats sketch as hell. but this looks like its smooth as butter!

[xavigelciclista]

max. speed in the video?

[davetone]

Hey Paul, thanks for sharing the ride! Helps the winter spinner (laptop in front of bike on Manhassette music stand) Cheers! Check out my Haleakala descent!

[MegaJac69]

average speed?

[SirJazz]

its all a question of speed

[walkerjr101]

nice video

[BrundukasLT]

noob!

[1world2wheels4life]

Get ride of the music so we can hear the chains and gear changes, that is music!

[prettyshady]

the only sound you would here is the wind noise

[prettyshady]

and the smell of my brake pads melting

[1world2wheels4life]

like I said music to my ears!

[u674867]

The new format went well this year, Tony is hoping to run the yja trip to Italy next year. We are all off to Calais next weekend for a memorial ride for Andy arranged by the London to Paris organisers so we may have a better idea of Tony's plans.

[macpaulster]

Thanks John, I'd be interested in Italy next year. Say hello to Tony and any others on the ride. Wish I could make it.

[fonsdehaan]

Guys, great video and nice music. You should check out the Reetzweters video's at Youtube. translation = "the Ass Sweaters"

Every year we go into the mountains and have a 4day ride climbing and descending. This year the pyrennes, last year the dolomites, fabulous there, especially the pordoi and fedaia. Have fun and keep biking ! Fons

[u674867]

Great video Paul, climbing the Col de Sarenne and decsending the Alpe was a good option.

Andy and I passed you while we were gingerly descending the Sarenne. Andy was well impressed with this video and replay it regularly. John yja 04/5/6/7 until next time hopefully Italy 209

[macpaulster]

John, yes I remember seeing you guys. Another reminder of how much I will miss Andy. Such a great person and a wonderful leader. Will yja continue without him?

[prestger]

Wonderful video of this road that I did in ascent and descent. Wonderful mountains in the background.

Thank you also for the music.

C'est un grand plaisir de voir et de revoir ces images. Un grand bonjour de France pour nos amis américains.

[sussexbysea]

Cheers guys.

I'm hoping to persuade my wife to let me take her and our little boy who'll be a year and nine months old by the time of the TDF 2009 for a holiday there then.

I saw the race when it came to the UK in 1994 and passed through Brighton and it was pretty awesome to watch up close so I'd love another taste of that.

When is this climb first accessible after the tour is over as an alternative time to visit?

I don't plan to do it on a tandem with a baby carrier too by the way!

[TesterAnimal]

sussex, the climb is as hard as you want to make it. Just depends on the gear you use, and how hard you push!

[sussexbysea]

I know this is probably a near impossible question to answer but can you put into words how hard it is to climb this mountain as I'd love to give it a go at some point?

Going down you get a sense of it from this video but from personal experience how did you feel?

Did your respect for the TDF riders who go up it against the clock go through the roof as I should imagine it would?

Great video and never mind the editing.

[macpaulster]

Yeah, agreed with TesterAnimal. If you have easy gears and take your time, it's a manageable climb. I think the thing that impresses me most is the times the TDF riders are capable of. Some of the best climbers can do it in well under 40 minutes. But a solid club racer may struggle to break an hour! The TDF guys go up this thing unbelievably fast!

[MrAmish]

Hey, man, great descent. Makes me drool with envy.

Also, GREAT choice of music! Junior Brown is a god.

[f4tality69]

Yer It Was Pretty GD

[macpaulster]

No, didn't make it this year, just watching and longing on the TV. Maybe next year. Glad you were able to go. It's so awesome to ride those big climbs!

[f4tality69]

That Was A 3 Not A £ lol

[f4tality69]

Hi Buddy Just Gt Back From l'Alp D'Huez After The Tour. I Did 150k Of The Stage, Was Beautful. In Fact I LOved THe Climb Soo Much I Went Up The Climb £ More Times FOr THe " Days Afterwards!

Great Video Buddy BTW Did U Come Out To Watch IT This Year??

Keep Riding (Y)

[macpaulster]

Thanks for the critique. It would have been too long for YouTube uninterrupted, and also there are some less interesting parts of the descent, so I felt it might be boring to some to make it longer. Best way to see the whole thing is to ride it yourself. Have fun and be safe!

[EASYTIGER10]

Hate to be negative, because I love this sort of thing, but it was ruined for me by the editing. I so wished it was going to be an uninterupted run. Otherwise great though.

[dave2402]

AWESOME! Impressive stuff and a lot of fun to watch. Those guys cycling up the other way must have given u a few wry smiles. I'd love to cycle the alps, but 13st is a little heavy just now!

[macpaulster]

Hi, I was riding an Orbea Orca, an awesome machine! I was on Maxxis tires, and using standard Dura Ace brakes. Honestly, I didn't brake much, just a short hard brake before diving into each turn. So the rims would have been quite cool actually. It's a high speed descent so rim temperature was not an issue at all at the speeds I was traveling. Some riders do overheat rims descending this mountain, however. The cyclists I passed on the descent who were stopped had overheated their rims.

[MewFushisDad]

Very Cool video. What make of bike were you riding? What type of tires, brakes do you use?

Any guess how hot your rims were by the time you got to the bottom?

[bikejazz]

Excellent quality, brilliant dsecent (and clip)!

What camera did you use? any tips on setting it up?

[macpaulster]

Hi, I just used my little Canon Elf SD500 still camera on video mode. I mounted one of those mini tripods with velcro on my stem and just went for it. I had to adjust the camera here and there when it got knocked around. A little sketchy at 90 kph, but all in good fun for getting the shots!

[chsspartan]

awesome man, how was it climbing up it? :-p

[VCCharlie76]

What's the great music?

[macpaulster]

That's Junior Brown, a Texas Guitar hero. See him live if you ever get the chance, he's truly amazing.

[moosehound1999]

Excellent......just done it with a couple of friends, awesome experience

[bkermike]

how fast can u go down there on a bike? and how long in miles is it from the bottom to top where the stage ends? please

[macpaulster]

I was going up to 90 kph down the hill. You can go a little faster than that by tucking (I wasn't). But trust me, 90kph is plenty fast enough. I think it's about 12Km top to bottom, maybe 15 minutes or so.

[RAAMTS28]

Totally awesome video! I recognized much of it when I drove up this during Le Tour Ultime 2006 while crewing on the Kish Krew. Driving down was so fast I could not enjoy the scenery so much. LOL!

[bkermike]

Oh, and very very nice video, the picture quality is very good, and ur riding is excellent, I'm still worried about banking to much just in case my bike slides from underneath me... lol especially in wet weather, where i live its all ways wet roads...