Vibeke Stærkebye Nørstebø: Alpe d´Huez Triathlon, and vacation in France

Last lap on the way to the finish

One month after Swissman, it was time for my second adventure-triathlon-competition for the year, Alp d´Huez Long Distance Triathlon. Not completely, but still somehow recovered after Swissman.... And at least, very motivated, and really looking forward to the triathlon. The weather was super nice, and the area around Alp d´Huez too! :-)

The day started with, somehow unusual, 22 km cycling to the start area, by Lac de Verney, a 14 degree cold "power station lake"at about 600 metres altitude. Not my favorite temperature by swimming (Yes, by bathing/cooling down it is nice, but for 2.3 km swimming it is too cold...) My swim wasn´t very good, but at least there were still plenty of bikes in the transition zone when I arrived, although plenty were already on the way cycling too.

On the bike, happy :-)

The bike part started with a long, slightly downhill, before the first mountain pass of 1000 metre ascent came. The whole bike leg was nice, sunny and warm. We went over two mountain passes before the Alp d´Huez climb started, and my legs were feeling really OK. Alp d´Huez is some of a mountain pass! 14 km, 1150 metres ascent and 21 serpentines..... And not really moving "forward" as by other passes, only upwards, you can almost see the top of the pass from the bottom.... Still, it is quite nice and motivating to cycle. Pretty steady steep, and all the curves are marked with a number, starting with number 21, and then counting down, so the time actually went pretty fast. After 115 km on the bike I arrived the town of Alp d´Huez at 1850 metres altitude, and with the 4th best bike time (in my age group), very satisfied. And still sick of gels and bars, I got energy from biberlis and dried apricots instead - mmmm, really enjoying that meal:-)

Still going strong... :-)

Then it was time for the half marathon, consisting of three laps, a mixture of asphalted roads and mountain paths, and with a beatiful view of the mountains!! It went up and down all the time, but not long hills and not steep. I ran a bit faster than expected, the course was also a bit easier than expected, not pushing too hard, and really enjoying the nice surroundings. With the 3rd best run time I finished as number 4, at a time of 7 hours, 53 minutes, finishing healthy and happy! :-)

Just finished

Alp d´Huez was a great competition, nice course, and good organised, to be recommended!

Nice after-race offers

Still, I didn´t went only for the triathlon, but I actually had a whole week of vacation in France, with a lot of great experiences, nice mountains and lakes, bathing, swimming, super weather,
good food and drinks and good friends!

Celebrating :-)

Before Alp d´Huez we were spectators at one Tour de France stage. That was fun seeing all the people, the atmosphere and so forth, and the cyclists too, although we didn´t see much of them...:-)

On the way to Tour de France

Knitting and waiting..:-)

Annecy - a nice little city

Afterwards I was visiting a good friend of mine and her family having a house by the lake of Annecy, very nice there too, and very nice meeting her and her family.

Breakfast on the terrace in
Alp d´Huez

Then we (Lars was joining me) went too Alp d´Huez, also a nice city, with great surroundings. And a very special city, an enormous amount of hotels and restaurants, but still nice:-) We stayed here for 3 nights, having a nice hike the day after the competition, and of course including a bath, in the cold Lac de Blanc....

Bathing in some degrees warm Lac de Blanc

After Alp d´Huez we went to Chamonix, hiking and running, and enjoying the view if Mont Blanc. And I even saw steinbock!! :-) Both male and female - really cool! :-) On the way back to Switzerland we stopped for a hike by the Trient glacier, and I ended my vacation with a bath in Lac Leman, ice cream (as each day on the vacation...) at Lars´ terrace, before I set of back to Zürich after a great week in France!!!