Tour de Suisse...

Last Friday, I headed down to Martigny to see the Liquigas boys off at the Tour of Switzerland. Roman was sitting in second overall just 27 seconds behind Kim Kirchen. I had breakfast with the guys and then the pre-race plate of pasta before they took off for the late start... just time enough to wish them good luck. I did see Santadorito, who was a little upset that I didn't bring the illegal Doritos - can you imagine the scandal? "Liquigas Rider Tests Positive For Nacho Cheese".

I then took advantage of the looming long drive which would put me in Italy late that night. If I arrive to the hotel at 9:00 or 12:00, what's the difference? From Martigny, I headed straight up the Col des Planches. The day was hot, and the black bugs hovered just behind my helmet, driving me crazy. I had the climbing wheels on (28 hole GEL 280's laced to Record hubs with VERY thin spokes). They flexed a bit much, and with parts of the climb hitting 18%, the rear der wanted to head into the spokes so I had to take it a bit easy. The descent was sweet, followed by a windy ride back to the car. So a short mountain climb, 35km with 1035m gained, followed by a long drive to the boot.




Towards the summit...




Why not?