Day 4: Madeleine and Tour

In what was the most fun day, we hoofed it up the Madeleine just hours before the Tour came steaming through...started with a long ride in the valley leading up to the base of Madeleine, following Tour route...one section of road was covered with Livestrong stuff people had paid fir in memory of loved ones...the climb is quite beautiful, shaded for much of the first section before a short slight downhill section...very steep in parts...started at around 1300 feet...people were camped out along the whole length, must have been tens of thousands on the mountain...felt pretty strong for most of climb, the last steep section was around 9-11 percent in stretches, but the view to the top was inspiring...it tops out around 6500 feet..the crowds grew near the top where the Thomson tents were located.. Got there around 2:30 with lead riders arriving at 440...the riders were more noticeably suffering than on the Avoriaz finish...they had also done the Columbiere, which we did day before, a tough Cat 1 climb...getting off mountain was a mess, with cars motorcycles and people festooning the mountain. The descent was also difficult and hands were fried from riding brakes...we then drove back to hotel over the spectacular Col du Glandon...