Raid Alpine – Day 1

First Time for Everything

First Day

Thonon les Bains to Cluses Distance: 81km Climb: 1913m

First Team Gathering

Lake Geneva

First Climb

Col de Moises

First Celebratory Beer

First Day Summary

Hot, hot, hot, humid,, hilly, hellishly hard, hurting everywhere, happy it’s over ….until tomorrow.

Personal Perspective – Alison

One of our ‘lighter’ days today, we set off for the lake for an 8am start. Inevitable first day pfaffing ensued and it was nearer 9am when we set off for our 81km ride to Cluses. The first Col was hard but enjoyable with a welcome stop at the top where we were met by our support team, Callum and Rory. Topped up with water, sugar, snacks, suncream and chamois cream, we enjoyed a wonderful descent only marred by the fact there was a huge climb to follow! In the heat of the day, this climb was hard, really hard. Having completed the first climb at a reasonable pace, I finally completed this one at snail’s pace. The long descent afterwards was hard on neck, shoulders, hands as I tried to relax into the twists and turns of the road. It was wonderful to have Claire’s company throughout the day and a couple of lovely cafe stops. It was also wonderful to finally reach our hotel, at 6.30pm!

A long day, a sense of satisfaction, a sense that this was hard, really hard and it only gets harder.