RAF2022 / CP3

I left Gueugnon just before sunset and felt fresh, rested, and most of all pretty excited for the third control point lying a bit more than 400 kilometers ahead of me, in the middle of the Alps, actually at the foot of Mont Blanc. Another night started fast and energetic, but honestly, I didn’t realize, that to get to Megève, I have to conquer a lot of pretty hard stuff on my way.

At first, it was two rather small but pretty demanding cols just before Lyon. Col des Enceints and La Grange du Bois. These two hard climbs woke me from my night autopilot riding and they were like a little intro to some serious stuff awaiting after Lyon. After descending these two little devils, there was a pretty long and rather flat section taking us north of Lyon without having to go into the actual city. The worst hour for the sleep monster arrived. It is when it is still dark but the actual night is no longer here. I remember falling asleep on my bike, or forgetting for a tiny little second why I ride my bike. I’ve met a few other riders there, and all of them were having the same issues. All were tired and pretty sleep deprived. Here I started to play a power nap game and stopped at first just before sunrise for 5 minutes in the little tiny copse in Thoissey, 110 kilometers after the last CP.

Morning light brought new energy, and the chance for an open Bakery was getting bigger. I found one in Saint-André-de-Corcy and had a quick coffee, typical French croissants, and some tart. Refilled my water bottles, took all the extra layers off myself and moved forward. It was going to be hot.

Roads around Lyon were super busy, probably because I got there in the middle of the morning rush hours. Riding wasn’t nice at all, and I was easily considering it pretty dangerous. The landscape was super nice, with endless, beautiful yellow fields, nice little and not steep at all hills. It could be an amazing place for a bike ride, but because of the cars, trucks, and some drivers passing me by pretty close, it was a mental fight instead. Sun was stronger every hour and the sleeping monster came back one more time. I believe that I had two more 5-minute naps there. Every time decision was fast and easy to make. When I only felt that I’m losing connection to the road I took off straight to the field next to me. Lied my bike on the grass, set an alarm for 5 minutes, and was asleep faster than the blink of an eye. Not handy really but still super nice was the fact that some drivers were stopping, and asking me if I’m all right, and why I lay on the grass on the side of the road. It was a hard section and I was really happy when I got further from Lyon and started some real climbing with less car traffic, around The Bauges Mountains, and my gate to the Alps.

The sleeping monster was gone, excitement was back, and after climbing Col de Leschaux I was on another thrilling fast descent of the day, this time down to Annecy and the beautiful lake of the same name Lake Annecy. Just before the bottom, I bumped into an amazing dotwatcher waiting for me with his two daughters on the Bullitt!!! That was a pretty energetic meeting I have to say.

The cycle lane around the lake is generally cycling heaven. It was also pretty busy with local cyclists, but it was nice to be out of the cars for some time. I chatted with one cyclist, complementing the infrastructure and the place. He agreed, that he loves where he lives. I must have been pretty tired at this stage and didn’t realize what he could think about my visual image, but when I told him about my whole trip, what I have done, and where I’m going he said: „Oh, so this is why you are cycling so slow.”

On the other side of the lake, I had a pretty nice surprise. A Sébastien Jarrot, an Assos team member was waiting for me to ride together for a few kilometers. It was super nice to see some familiar faces for a while and chat a bit with somebody who knows what is happening within the race. He told me a bit about the Annecy and the coming Col de la Colombière, which was going to be my first big col of the race. He left me at the beginning of the climb, just when we left the lake behind, and once more I was on my own, with my thoughts only.

In Thônes, just before the final 15 kilometers of the climb, I stopped in another bakery for a quick coffee. I remember trying to have some cake and sweets with it but it wasn’t easy at this hour, and what is generally hard to understand, there is no such thing like coffee and cake in France. Or maybe I just couldn’t find one? A few hundred meters further I found an open Carrefour where I did get chocolate milk and some crisps. No big shopping this time as my resupply bag was waiting for me in Megève.

Even if I was expecting to be there a bit earlier, I was still super happy to summit Col de la Colombière before sunrise. The downhill was a well-known answer to the question, „why do we climb mountains”. It was long, it was fast, it was thrilling and after descending to Cluses, I knew that I’m fully in the Alps now.

The final climb to CP3 was hard. It was nearly 10 kilometers of the steep straight road with the first part super steep. It was the only part of the race where I decided to walk. I was pushing and pulling my pedals up and down hard, but the more I was doing this, the more my achilles was starting to be painful. I decided to take my shoes off and walked the steepest part of this climb in my socks. I didn’t find this a bad choice after all, and I felt, that my achilles was pretty grateful for making it like this.

I arrived to Megève in the middle of the night, somehow after midnight. Was welcomed with fantastic enthusiasm by volunteers there, and was offered a lovely soup and pasta with pesto. Had a shower, did my resupply bag, changed my summer jacket into a winter one, and packed Thermo Rain ShellPants into my saddle bag. I did set my alarm for 2,5 hours and fell asleep in only a couple of seconds. This longer sleep was the plan to give my achilles a brake after this amazing 1540 kilometers covered already from the start line.