La Marmotte 2023

He’s being selfish. You do you and have a great day out riding your own ride to your own potential.

OMG, you’re not being selfish at all. Everybody should just ride their own race at these events. How can you be motivated to train otherwise? I say this as a pretty damn slow cyclist who nonetheless loves riding in the mountains.

Both my hubby and I are signed up for Etape du Tour 2023. Not only are we riding our own races (sub 6 or 7h for him, sub 9h for me) we’re even going in separate groups. But even if we were travelling together I would never ever expect him or anyone else to ride a big event like that at my pace.

I rode etape 2018 on my own and it was pretty fun, had all kinds of interesting chats and when I was alone I just drank in the scenery (helped distract from pain). Granted, it helps that Etape puts your first name & nationality on your bib which I don’t think Marmotte does.

Your friend, alas, needs to grow a pair.

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Maybe he should ride tandem :rofl:

Guess better now then a couple of weeks before the event.

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Great ride and fabulous photos!

I just registered too, I’m doing it with a friend and we’re both doing our own race even though our level is similar…

Make sure to check out the pictures after the event - Pictures are great (on another level from, say, RideLondon)

Marmotte 2022


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Well the latest in the group stay together saga is I told him I’ll be riding my own pace. He pulled out initially but changed his mind and is now back riding it. Sometimes I feel like a cycling therapist :smiley:

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He sounds like a right wet lettuce :sweat_smile:

You do you, can’t live ya life trying to make others happy :+1:

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After my first Marmotte (2013) i will start again in 2023…exactly 10 years later…
The first Marmotte was in 8u20 but at that point I had only been cycling for a year. Cramp everywhere on the Galibier and loosing a lot of time on the Alp. Now with 10 years more training i will try to finish in 7:00 incl neutralisation Glandon, thats around 6:40 netto. My FTP is now 300. In the april 2021 my FTP was 310w and i will try it to pull it up to 320w with more fatique resistance. (I prefer fatique resistance more than FTP).

In 2018 i have rode Trois Ballons in 7h44min but this was 40km more than Marmotte (210km)

We will see…

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Good luck. I also did in 2013, not fortunate enough to be doing in in 2023 though. I can remember getting to the first climb and folk were walking, as I went on it was more and more folk and when I got to the Alpe Du Huez it seemed like there was more folk walking than cycling. I ended up convincing my self, ‘as I done the Alp in a oner the day before, it was OK to get off and stretch’. Big mistake that was, something cramped big time and I had to join the walk procession to the next corner or two to ease it off :joy:

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Fortunately I was able to keep cycling despite the cramp, but it wasn’t going fast anymore.
The tank was completely empty.

This time my Fatique resistance is a lot better and i need better to fuel and drink.

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Currently in the middle of sanding down a frame, hoping the extra 150-200g saved from the paint will get me up the Alpe at the end faster :sweat_smile:

(I’m being serious lol)

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Same here. AiFTP puts me at 318 currency (74kgs) which feels about right. An extra 10/15watts would be nice but last 8 weeks of training will be all about extending TTE and maximizing the time I can ride at sweetspot.

Maybe if you put pedals, wheels etc on :wink:

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I signed up for La Marmotte 23 and just found this thread, so hope to see some of you next year!
At the moment I’m a little bit apprehensive about this sportive, but hey, every year I try to tackle a challenge that I don’t know if I will be able to achieve it or not.

In any case, looking at the website, I found these links that I thought were interesting for the preparation:

And this video: Training Guidelines for the Marmotte Alpes 2022 - YouTube

Anyone tackling it similarly as in there :point_up: ?

Cheers!

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@jroncero Thanks for those links, pretty good information in there. It does fly in the face of a trainer road plan and assumes a high number of hours available to train.

Personally I will use the Trainer Road Gran Fondo plan and when time allows get the long endurance rides at the weekend as recommended in the Alpine Cols plans. If I can’t get out on the road at the weekends then I will stick with TR prescribed workouts.

How’s everybody getting on with their training?

Mine seems to be going well, ftp is steadily creeping upwards and i’m hitting more all time PB’s, however, my weight has also crept up slightly and doesnt want to go down.

Slightly concerned as I’m currently 85kg and wanted to get down to 80kg, but I’m now worried if i lose the weight i’ll drop power too :see_no_evil:

Everyone has said it looks like I’ve lost weight, but the scales say otherwise. Hopefully it’s useful weight in the legs :woman_shrugging:

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I really haven’t increased my FTP yet. But I do have been riding a lot of Z2. And my volume is my all-time high for this time of year. With also weight-lifting 2x per week I have yet to really increase structured interval work, I’m looking forward to decrease gym work and increasing on-bike intensity.

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That all sounds prudent and sensible. Don’t go too quick. It’s very easy to peak too soon and pay for it when your A event comes around.

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