Moments in Time

Finally got round to editing together some material from stage six of the 2011 Raid Alpine so I've finally finished that little project and can now move onto the next unfinished one!

Enjoy the ride:

Still slowly working my way through editing this material and have now completed stage five which I uploaded the other day but forgot to publish on here. This clip covers the stage from Vars to Valberg crossing the Col de la Bonette, the highest paved through road in Europe, on a beautiful day. I still have stages four and six to pull together, I'll get there in the end!

Anyone who has visited this blog over the months will know that in 2011 I rode The Raid Alpine with Marmot Tours and had a great time. I've finally managed to pull together a collection of video material from both handheld and helmet cameras as well as a number of still images.

I hope the result coveys the spirit of what was a really excellent trip and that you enjoy it, this is definitely a "must do" route.

Next stage video produced, this is a mixture of HDC-SD700 clips, helmet camera clips and stills taken during stage two of the Raid Alpine. Great ride. When viewed on YouTube the video can be viewed also in HD at 720p or 1080p, great for full screen viewing.

If you decide to ride the Raid Alpine you get a card which you have to get stamped in certain towns to show that you have passed that way, hopefully on a bicycle ;-)

Here is an image of my fully stamped carnet, this then gets sent in and in return you get your certificate of completion, complete with a profile of the whole route detailing all the main suffering sites :-)

Here's the profile which is on the back of the certificate:

Finally managed to spend some time getting some of the Raid Alpine material put together into a video which I've now uploaded to YouTube, hope you enjoy it! Lots more to come in forthcoming weeks :-)

I thought it would be nice to keep a record of this, my Raid Alpine ID. This is issued to every rider to identify you as a bona fide Raid Alpine participant. I did see several discarded at the side of the road as a I rode along, presumably either sodden by the rain or discarded in disgust on yet another climb!

Seriously, it looks rather forlorn now that the event is over having travelled over so many high passes and passed through such wonderful countryside. I just didn't fancy just binning it without recording it for posterity, if you see one of these on your travels you know what the rider is up too!

Just a short introductory clip taken on stage one of the Marmot Tours Raid Alpine. If you've not cycled out there you should really think hard about making the trip, it's terrific. Best viewed on the HD (720p) setting or on 480p.

I have now had the chance to do some preliminary work with the photographs I took during the 2011 Raid Alpine Challenge. I have geotagged the photographs with an approximate latitude and longitude and uploaded them all to an online photo gallery where the photos can be viewed by stage either on a map, as slideshows, or as individual images.

Just follow the links to the stage you want to view by clicking below as required:

Links to photos of the Stages:

Stage 1 Monday 1st August 2011. Thonon Les Bains to Praz sur Arly (114kms with 2743m ascent).

Stage 2 Tuesday 2nd August 2011. Praz sur Arly to Tignes La Reculaz (105 kms and 3079m ascent).

Stage 3 Wednesday 3rd August 2011. Tignes La Reculaz to Cesana Torinese (127kms and 2620m ascent).

Stage 4 Thursday 4th August 2011. : Cesana Torinese to Vars, plus Col de Sestriere (105.5kms, 3004m ascent).

Stage 5 Friday 5th August 2011. Vars to Valberg (132kms, 3142m ascent).

Stage 6 Saturday 6th August 2011. : Valberg to Antibes (149kms, 2051m ascent).

Well, the raid Alpine is complete, finally arrives in Antibes in the South of France, the home of some of the world's super yachts. It was interesting wandering around the port looking at the toys of the mega-rich and it struck me how totally bored all aboard looked gazing out almost appearing to wonder what life was really about.

I wondered whether I would swap with them given the chance, in all honestly, I wouldn't.

This has been an excellent trip, 703km and 16,300m of ascent, that's over 10 vertical miles, in the space of 6 days. We crossed 31+ cols and saw some of the best scenery on offer to the cycling enthusiast.

It was really excellent that all of the riders setting off on the challenge completed it in it's entirety which I understand isn't always the case, so lovely that nobody was left at the end feeling as if they had "failed" - everyone was a winner.

All of us faced up to our own challenges, some facing difficulties unknown to others and often unmentioned. Some had longer days than others but we all covered the same distance and we all crossed the same high passes, a magnificent achievement.

The trip was brilliantly organised by Marmot Tours and the support throughout was the best I have experienced on a cycling holiday to date. The Marmot Tours team of Helen and Nathan couldn't have been more supportive and nothing was too much trouble for them from the start to the finish of the holiday, 10/10 from me.

It will be nice to get home and one of the nice things about making an effort with the photo and video recording side of things is that all the memories come back as you get home to sort things out in the weeks and months ahead. Without those records, for me at least, things al become rather a blur!

What next? Who knows? To be honest by deliberately taking my time on this ride and taking the time to ride steadily, to pause to take pictures and to enjoy the scenery I have probably awoken a latent interest in cycle touring. It seems to me that with time and determination one could have a fantastic time travelling slowly carrying one's own gear through the countryside covering 40-50 miles a day and crossing maybe one col per day and really savouring every mile.

For now at least it's well done to all those who rode the Raid Alpine with Marmot Tours starting on 1st August 2011 on the shores of Lake Geneva.

Watch this space!