Spinning class: The High Road to Briancon

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted - just shows you how much effort it takes to keep partying for a week! If it wasn't Halloween, it was a birthday or a fireworks party, a bonfire.... or just any old excuse. I've been recovering this weekend - not a glass of vino in sight! Right, let's get to this week's ride - another stage from this year's Tour de France, this time from Val d-Isere to Briancon and crossing the mythical Col du Galibier.

After the usual warm-up, it's straight into a climb - starting comfortable but getting increasingly harder with a resistance change every minute. Then the staggered descent with stretches of flat road that require some effort while keeping a high cadence. Once we get to the bottom, it's straight into another climb, making it increasingly hard and finishing with two minutes out of the saddle to get to the top. After a brief descent, the road heads upwards again, getting tougher and tougher, finishing with another two minutes out of the saddle at the hardest part towards the top. Although the final stretch to Briancon is downhill, we want to keep effort levels high to cross the finish line as quickly as possible so there are three sections of all-out effort, keeping cadence high. Simple, maybe, but not as easy as it looks!

Warm up - 4.5 mins
Seated climb - 6 mins
Flat road - 7.5 mins
Climb - 6 mins
Recovery - 2 mins
Steady climb - 8 mins
Flat road - 5 mins
Cool down - 6 mins

Profile:


Playlist:
Lebanese Blonde - Thievery Corporation
Changes - Alexander Kowalski
Clubbed to death - Rob D
Rays of the rising sun - Mozaic
Adagio for strings - William Orbit
Razorfish - Tranquility Base
Skylight - Overseer
Easter Song - A Man Called Adam