Our ride is better!
Recently a prospective whine and diner sent me an e-mail asking about the WnD rides. He wanted to know how this Tuesday’s ride compared to the Alpe d’Huez in the Frech Alps. The Alpe d’Huez is the most famous mountain climb in the Tour de France. Here is my reply:
The Tuesday whine and dine rides (up Kennedy/Shannon and Reynolds) are going to be doing some serious climbing. The pace is going to be mellow, on the “mellow” ride, but the grade on Reynolds is rated a 5 (our club’s highest is a 6.) Reynolds has 1,289 feet of climbing in 2.6 miles with an average 496 feet per mile.
Both rides will also be doing Shannon/Kennedy which is less steep, a 3 with 790 feet of in 3.6 miles. Counting the climbing it will take to get to both the climbs, there will be around 2,000 feet of climbing Tuesday in less than 10 miles. In addition, K. L. Seh will be leading the “Quick Spinners” up Harwood for some additional adventure. (There will also be a mountain bike ride led by Fletch.)
In comparison to Reynolds, Alpe d’Huez has over 3,670ft of climbing in 9 miles, with an average of 407.7 feet per mile. Alpe d’Huez is much longer but less steep on average than Reynolds, the steepest hill we will be climbing Tuesday.
So, some of the pitches on Reynolds indeed are steeper than Alpe d’Huez. But, in general, the steep pitches will be much shorter than Alpe d’Huez, however the grade on Reynolds is constant for over 2.5 miles.
So, where should a rider be to be ready for Tuesday? If you are in shape for a mellow ride up Alpe d’Huez, I think you will be fine.
Of course, unlike riding Alpe d’Huez, there’s burritos at UnaMas after our ride! You won’t find that on the Alpe d’Huez. So, our ride is better.
More information about these rides will be posted soon. If you can’t make it to the ride on Tuesday, you might want to try the Alpe d’Huez. Of course, that’s not (yet) a Whine and Dine ride.
