Renault Assistance Rocks

After breakfast at the hotel, I rode my bike back to Albertville to check on the car.  I managed to get the accident report filed with some help, and we faxed it to the insurance company.  At first the insurance company wasn't going to approve the repairs until this afternoon or tomorrow, but the mechanic got on the phone and I had my car within 30 minutes.  A big thanks to the mechanic and the woman who helped me fill out the accident report and a big thanks to Renault Assistance.


I am now in St. Jean-de-Maurienne.  Tomorrow's route is go to the end of the block, turn right, and go up the Col de la Croix de Fer.

The Tale of the Two Flat Tires

Col des Aravies

I did a beautiful loop yesterday---Ugine to Col des Avaries to Col de la Fry and back to Ugine.  There were four major climbs altogether---some more major than others.  To start the first climb, it was leave the hotel and turn right.  Great descents.  The photos are at http://gallery.me.com/twjmath/100006

Hotel du Bourg, Ugine, and Albertville

I liked the Hotel du Bourg.  It's a typical two-star French hotel---not fancy, but it's clean and the price is right.  The couple that runs the hotel seem really nice.  It's a great base to explore the area.  You could stay here for two weeks and not run out of new places to explore.  I will return.

The Tale of the Two Flat Tires

After breakfast this morning at the Hotel du Bourg, the plan was to drive to St. Jean-de-Maurienne.  Since I couldn't check into my hotel until this afternoon, I had some time to kill and decided to take the back road over the Col de la Madeleine.  This is the climb that Lance Armstrong crashed on twice in the 2010 Tour de France, essentially eliminating him from the race.  The road is barely wide enough for two cars in some places.  In other places, it isn't that wide.  About 6 kilometers up the 20 kilometer climb, I hit a rock.  It only took me a minute or two to realize that I had a flat tire.  I drove the car about 200 meters to a straight stretch in the road and got out to put out the hazard triangle and check on the damage.  Both tires on the right side of the car were flat, and at least one of the rims was bent.  OUCH!

My first break was that I had cell phone coverage.  I called Renault Assistance, and they contacted a Renault dealer for a tow truck, which arrived from Albertville (25 kilometers away) in under two hours.  The driver/mechanic loaded my Clio onto the flatbed of the emergency vehicle and we were off.  He had to drive up the mountain a kilometer or two until he found a place to turn around.  He then negotiated the hairpin turns on the way down and more often than not he was forced to use more than his half of the road.  This guy was talented!

There was no damage to the body of the car, but I suspect that both tires and rims will need to be replaced.  It's a pretty simple repair (one hour?), but today is Sunday, and virtually nothing is open.  First, there was talk of a rental car, but Renault Assistance decided that they would put me up in a hotel for the night.  They sent a taxi for me. Total time elapsed so far was about 3 hours from the accident.

Since Albertville is by far the largest city in the area, I assumed that Renault Assistance would find me a hotel there.  Surprise!  My hotel is the Ibis Hotel in Moûtiers about 30 km away.  I watched the meter on the taxi climb higher and higher figuring that a high fare was the price that I had to pay for my stupidity of hitting the rock.  In the end, the fare was 72 euros.  I offered to pay the driver, but he said it was covered by Renault Assistance.  Renault Assistance could have put me in a nicer hotel in Albertville and saved a bunch of money.

I still have to fill out the accident form and fax it to the insurance company.  I received at least two calls from Renault Assistance reminding me that the form must be faxed within 24 hours.  Unfortunately, this form is in the glove box of the Clio, so I will have to take care of this in the morning.

The plan is to get up early tomorrow, eat breakfast at the hotel, check-out and store my luggage, and then ride my bike back to the Renault garage in Albertville.  Yes, I put the bike in the back of the taxi, since I didn't want to leave it in the car overnight.

I called the hotel in St. Jean-de-Maurienne to tell them I would be a day late.  Hopefully, this is all going to work out and not cost me a fortune.  If it does, a big thank you goes to Renault Assistance.

Other Items

• I got the laundry done.
• I figured out how to recharge my French cell phone.  I have done this before, and all that you have to do is to dial a number and enter the code that you purchased.  The trick is that all of the instructions that you hear are in French.  Given today's events, it is a very good thing that I got this done.
• English works fine if the only person that you want to talk to is yourself.  So it looks like I am speaking nothing but French until I get to the Lantern Rouge on July 12.

Better Option for Viewing Photos

Here is a better option for viewing the France 2011 photos.

http://gallery.me.com/twjmath/100006

France 2011 Photos

The France 2011 photos are available on my facebook page or at  http://photocast.me.com/twjmath/100006/

The Sun is Out

I rode to the top of the Cormet de Roselend today.  One hundred kilometers (62 miles) roundtrip with over 1800 meters (6000 feet) of elevation gain.  The sun was out, and the view was great.  The only thing bad that happened was when a water bottle (the full one of course) bounced out somewhere on the descent.  By the way, you get down the climb a lot faster.

The weather yesterday was terrible in the morning.  I met the Veloski group at 9 AM with the intention of riding up toward the Cormet de Roselend for an hour or two and then turning around.  Three hours for the first day would be enough.  It started raining about 20 minutes into the climb, so I turned around early.  I ended up riding over the Col du Vorger on the other side of the valley, and it was raining hard when I went over the top.

The Veloski group went on to the top of the Cormet de Roselend, descended to Bourg St. Maurice, and then climbed up to Val d'Isère.  Fortunately, the sun came out on top of the Roselend, as the descent on the other side has a reputation of being particularly nasty.  Just ask Johan Brunyeel.  He went over the edge into a ravine the 1996 Tour de France.  Fortunately, he survived without serious injury.

I have several other small victories to report.

• I purchased a new SIM card for my French cell phone, as the old number expired.  The cost was only 9 euros.
• I managed to find a replacement mount for the Garmin on my bike.  The cost of the cheap plastic part was 12 euros.
• The ATM is right across the street from my hotel.  My debit card works.
• The coin laundry is right around the corner from my hotel.  I plan to try it out tomorrow.

France 2011 Kickoff

I finished the Sage worksheet for Lab 1 for Calculus I this morning and and left Nacogdoches on Tuesday around noon to catch my 4:10 PM flight to Paris.

Flying Air France

I love Air France! The ticket agent was very pleasant and didn't charge me for my bicycle (thanks to Silver Medallion on Delta).  The food is great, and they don't charge extra for wine in economy, which would be very un-French.

June and July seems to be the time that all parents use to take their small children to Europe. I can tolerate the children, but sometimes the parents are just a bit too overwhelming.  The flight was delayed for one hour due to thunderstorms over Washington DC. Unlike last year, I left plenty of time for my layover at CDG.  I made my connecting flight to Lyon with no problem.

As I was boarding my flight in Houston, the customs officers were there asking everyone if they were carrying over $10,000 in cash.  My first response would have been "I wish," although I am sure that that would have been a very incorrect response.  Fortunately, I didn't get a chance to open my mouth. They asked the people in front of me and behind me, but they just waived me through. I guess that I just look honest (and poor).

Getting to Ugine from Lyon

I made it to Lyon with no problem.  My luggage and the bike made it also this time.  I had to call the rental car place three times before they sent someone to pick me up at the terminal.  However, once I got to the car leasing place, my brand new Renault Clio was waiting for me.  Only three kilometers on the odometer. As soon as I pulled away, I noticed that the fuel tank was very close to empty.  I spent the next 40 minutes looking for a gas station that would take an U.S. credit card.  All of the self-service stations require and European credit card with a chip and a PIN.

Once I had the fuel problem solved, I set the GPS (the Renault comes with built in GPS) for my destination.  However, I didn't read the instructions properly and chose the avoid toll road options.  I began to realize that I was being routed through every small village and that it would take me over three hours instead of 90 minutes.  I guess that you do these stupid things when you are sleep deprived.  And did I mention that all of this was occurring in a rainstorm and in a part of France that was totally new to me?

I finally arrived at Hotel du Bourg in Ugine.  The hotel is small with only ten rooms.  There is no restaurant, but they still serve petit déjeuner  (breakfast) in the bar.  The rooms are large, and there is a nice place to store the bike.

After quickly checking in, I headed back to Albertville (10 km) to meet Larry Smith and his cycling group for dinner.  I was only 30 minutes late.  After dinner, Larry helped me put my bike together in the basement of Hotel Million.  I finally made it to bed around 11:30 PM, which means that I was up for almost 36 hours not counting brief naps on the plane.

France 2011 Countdown

I leave for France in two weeks.  Taking a bicycle to France for several weeks is now becoming an annual trip (starting in 2008).  In fact, I have gone to France for 2-5 weeks every summer since 2005 with the exception of 2008, which was the year that I moved to Texas.  I plan to spend three weeks in the Alps this year and two in the Pyrenees.  I will be spending one week in the middle of the trip at a language school in Chambéry.  One of the many highlights of the trip will be watching two stages of the 2011 Tour de France (TDF) up close and personal in the Pyrenees.

As usual, this is a self-guided trip.

• I am leasing a car this year instead of relying on the train and renting a car when I need it.  I leased a brand new Renault diesel for $1631 (zero deductible insurance included).  Last year I bought a Eurail Pass ($558.00) and rented a car from Hertz for two weeks ($1,179.14).  I also  paid some cab fare around Paris ($70) and had to buy an extra rail ticket (about $120), when the Eurail seats were all booked.  The grand total was well over $1900.  And no wrestling bikes on trains this year!
• I am flying Air France and KLM.  Bikes go as regular luggage as long as they are under 50 pounds.  The cost for an extra bag is $50.  Compare with Continental ($100 each way), Delta ($200 each way), Lufthansa ($250 each way), and United ($200 each way).  Even worse, the airlines charge you in euros going from Europe to the U.S.  So $200 becomes 200 euros.  At today's exchange rates, that's around $290!
• I booked my lodging for the Tour de France stages in October.  Book your TDF lodging reservations ASAP.  Everything else can wait.
• I am deliberately scheduling a rest week in the middle of the trip.  Five weeks of riding mountain passes in the Alps and Pyrenees is tiring.  My rest week will be spent bringing my language skills back up to speed.  Crea-Langues (http://www.crealangues.com/) was booked during the times that I wanted, so I am trying a different language school in Chambéry (http://www.ifalpes.fr/learn_french_france/institute_ifalpes_chambery.php) this year.  It comes with a recommendation. 

Training Tires

Here are the results of an informal, totally unscientific poll on training tire choices.  The poll was conducted by Michael Medina and is available on the OBRA listserve (http://obra.org/posts/obra/2011/6). 


10 - 2 = 8 Conti Gatorskins
4 Bontrager Race Lite Hard Case
3 - 2 = 1 Specialized Roubaix Armadillos
3 Conti 4 Seasons
2 Conti 40002 Vittoria Diamanté
2 MIchelin Krylion1 Conti Ultra
1 Maxxis Detonators
1 Serfas Seca
1 Schalbe Durano S
1 Schalbe Marathons
1 Vittoria Rubino
1 Continental Giro Tubulars
1 Anything under $10


I added in my own choices (Conti 4 Seasons and Michelin Krylions)