Last weekend Le Poseur found himself high in the Sierra Nevada Range at more than 9000 feet. The lack of oxygen at that altitude apparently caused temporary amnesia, for I cannot for the life of me recall what could possibly have driven (ridden?) me to climb to such an inhuman altitude!
On the descent from some godforsaken place called Kaiser Pass, the threatening thunderclouds lived up to their promise, and the cold rain and hail (thankfully, no snow!) met Le Poseur and his companions between some location called Tamarack Summit and Shaver Lake. It was COLD going downhill, even at cautious (sub 60 kph) velocities required by the wet and slippery road.
After reaching the end of the ride, Le Poseur pondered the fact that Le Tour de California had ventured into the Sierran foothills months ago! While those riders were at much lower altitudes than your humble scribe, the reality pertains that snow, sleet, hail, rain, postmen, and the National Health could all have descended on the peleton of the Tour de California. What an unfortunate mess that would have been. As it was, snow on the side of the road was charming but harmless. Asking the peleton to forge through 6 inches of snow on the road would have been unacceptable, not to mention very bad publicity....
Le Poseur will keep his fingers crossed that the Powers That Be will move Le Tour de California to June, a generally much more civilized month in the mountains.
Wait!!! Le Poseur was a rider around Lake Tahoe on June 2! On June 1 the weather was thunderstorms, sleet, freezing rain, and hail! Perhaps the Tour de California route should be modified, and the race renamed Le Tour de Coastal California!
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Thinking Down the Road, So To Speak...
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3 comments:
Pardon Moi, Monseiur le Poseur. I forgive your lapse, explained conveniently by this altitude-induced amnesia. I will turn a blind eye and but discreetly cough to indicate that I feel you are, dare I say, wrong on this point. How can you forget the heroism of your countryman Henri Alavoine, who crashed in horrendous snow, hail and rain during the 1909 Tour, and was forced to carry his bike through freezing, ankle-high water to the stage finish some 10km away. His courage is documented by the British, on that American invention, the Internet.
You need to keep a STIFF UPPER LIP, man!
Monsieur Smith,
I doff my chapeau to you for your facile knowledge of the facts of the matter of the 1909 Tour in this regard, yet the actual truth, as Monsieur Holmes was so find of saying, must be what remains, no matter how improbable.
M. Henri Alavoine went on to finish third overall in the 1914 Tour,despite spending 30 minutes in a ditch, deciding whether or not he should continue. All of this heroism due to the antediluvian reality that spare bikes, help with mechanicals, team vehicles, etc. were unknown at that time.
The story you recount actually probably applies to Henri's brother, Jean Alavoine, who reportedly suffered a mechanical failure in the 1909 Tour, and then carried his inoperable bicycle the 10 km to the finish, thus winning the stage by a margin of 6' 30". No mention of inclement weather is present in this account of events.
Thus, despite the natural Gallic tendency to revel in past triumphs of the Tricolour, Le Poseur maintains that spandex is far superior to wool for bicycle garb! Vivia la carbon fiber! And don't make racers ride through snow! S'il vous plait!
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