Orwell Marmotte Trip 2017

Hi all

So the Autumn has begun and it's that time of year again where you need to decide what's on your plans for 2017! For some of the more popular overseas events this means signing up around now.

I've been in touch with Sportactive about Marmotte 2017 and the message from Flora(owner of Sportactive) is below
It's based on Wed-Mon option staying in Alpe d'huez.

The Marmotte is probably one of the icons of the cycling world and takes in 180km across 5000+m of climbing across Col de Glandon, Telegraph, Galibier and finishes on the top of Alpe d'huez. It's easily one of the toughest days you can have on the bike but if you're looking for a challenge for 2017 and you're a veteran of cycles such as the W200, Sean Kelly, Inishowen, Rebel Tour etc etc then this is for you.

It's sells out extremely quick and you'll need to book and pay deposits by mid Oct latest..
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We can offer you the following package for 5 nights, from Wed 28/6 to Mo 3/7/2017, in hotel Le Dôme in Alpe d'Huez

minimum 5 pax : 1146 €/pps
6 - 10 pax : 1045 €/pps
11-15 pax : 996 €/pps
16-20 pax : 976 €/pps
Single supplement : 42 to 60 €/night, depending on room
the above prices are early booking for deposits received before 30/9/2016. I'll be strict on this date.
The package includes
registration to the Sportive (10 € will be given back to you at the finish of the Sportive as you give back the timer)
3 cars on the course in which you can put a little bag with personal things like food, clothes...
pre-race information meeting
We recuperate the registration packs for you, and give them out during the group meeting we hold on the day before the race, in the hotel in Alpe d'Huez
Bike mechanic for security checks on your bike and help for assembling, if help is needed.
assistance with car in case of difficulty
SportActive Marmotte cycling jersey
bus transfer for persons and bikes to the Hotel ; on Wed 28/6 and Mo 3/7/2017
5 nights B&B in Hotel Le Dôme in Alpe d'Huez, based on 2 sharing room ; very nice & comfortable large rooms, en suite.

Not included are
single supplement : 42 to 60 € / night
meals
private medical insurance
travel insurance. Need to buy travel insurance ? UK residents : click here to buy your travel insurance. EU residents : click here to buy your travel insurance
registration to "La Grimpée de l'Alpe" (Time Trial on Sunday morning - departure 9:00 from Bourg d'Oisand) ; if you wish to register, please ask us.
Private medical & travel insurance.
please make sure you have Travel Insurance. If you don't have it already, you may try using the following :
UK residents: click here to buy your travel insurance
EU residents: click here to buy your travel insurance.

To confirm your booking please send in :
the specific Marmotte booking form (attached). One form per person is required. The form indicates the arrival date on Th 29/6/17 ; please amend for arrival on 28/6/17.
deposit : 500 € /pp
Your booking will be confirmed with the receipt of the deposit
Once we have received your deposit, we shall send your invoice and further travel documents such as hotel address, contact numbers etc.

Payment :
We wish to receive the quoted amount in euro, by cheque (made payable to SportActive) or bank transfer.
details for bank transfers :
€uro account : Account name : SportActive-Martin Birney. IBAN: IE76BOFI90491550484410, BIC number: BOFIIE2D
Please use as reference "your name/Marmotte" to allow us to identify your payement.
Payment by credit card is possible via Pay Pal; but the card fee of 3.55%, charged by Pay Pal, needs to be added to the package price. We would send a Pay Pal money request to your e-mail address
Payment of the full holiday is due 8 weeks before you travel, i.e. on 29/4/2017.

Flora
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I've also been in touch with David of Ship My Bike who we've dealt with over the last 3 years on 2014 Marmotte, 2015 Raid Pyrenees and 2016 Classic Cols of the Alps and they provide excellent service of shipping your bike as is(doesn't require breaking down into a bike box) alongside taking a small suit case or bag to Alpe d'huez from Dublin and then back again the night of the event for €255 via online payment
www.shipmytribike.ie/index.php/main/book...rmotte/?event_id=114

You can also use Aer Lingus to ship your bike over in a bike box but the airlines are sticky on the max numbers of these allowed and it's never 100% guaranteed it will get on the flight.

Currently Flights with Aer Lingus to Lyon return on these days are around €200.

Everyone will have to pay their own way direct with Sportactive and Shipmybike and I won't be handling anyone's cash etc

For now all I need is an email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. saying you're interested. We already have 5 fairly well committed so pretty confident we'll get somewhere in the mid teens to early 20s.

Any questions pop up here. If you want to read about the Marmotte pop Marmotte into the Search section top right of this page and read all the articles by club mates over the years. This is a bucket list event and I couldn't recommend it more if you're willing to knuckle down and train over the winter.

You will not regret this one....

Garret

Hi all

We've had around 12 firm people committed to the Marmotte for 2017 and around another 10 enquiries from people about it. Most of the people who are asking about it are unsure if they are at the level you'd need to be to tackle the Marmotte. Lots of questions like what type of training would you need to do between now and Christmas and then in the new year etc to get ready.

I firmly believe that anyone that is capable of doing a hilly 100km or above this year is fit and able to aim at the Marmotte 2017 with the right mindset and willingness to commit to training across the next 8-9 months.

Here are some of the best articles written by fellow members over the last few years on the Marmotte:
www.orwellwheelers.org/leisure/news/521-la-grande-marmotte-2013 Billy Parker vs blindness in 2013

www.orwellwheelers.org/leisure/news/670-...ycling-2014-week-14b Sinead Kennedy vs nature in 2014

If you're really desperate for reading material you can check out my account of the 2014 event, the year's training before and the events we used as warm up for the big day.
www.orwellwheelers.org/leisure/news/730-...armotte-story-part-i
www.orwellwheelers.org/leisure/news/734-...rmotte-story-part-ii
www.orwellwheelers.org/leisure/news/736-...motte-story-part-iii
www.orwellwheelers.org/leisure/news/740-...rmotte-story-part-iv

There is plenty of other articles on the website, just search(top right of main page) Marmotte and you'll see plenty of reports over the years.

It's getting close to decision time for the Marmotte 2017 and if you're interested in joining the group email me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. I'm hoping to do a quick 10 things to do between now and June if you want to get Marmotte ready. As I said if you've done a 100km spin that was 1500m in climbing you're capable of doing the Marmotte in 9 months....

Garret

ps the Marmotte is on this year on a Sunday(usually Saturday) so the provisional plan is to do trip Thur and return Tues. This allows for 1 day off post Marmotte for lounging/shopping/drinking etc on the Monday
garret

Hi Garret, I'm tempted, but not sure I need 5 nights b&b for a 1 day sportif......I guess it's not quite 6 days annual leave as it covers a weekend, but is leaving friday, back monday out of the question?!

Hey john. If you're interested in a shorter trip best to contact flora at sportactive direct and get prices.

Fao everyone who is interested deposit at rate quoted will need to be paid latest October 10th.
After that it will be full price on their website and you'll need to organise yourself.

Was talking to Flora today and I'm sending my deposit and entry in the morning. I was going to ask about the flight details but reading the above, I'll hold off booking anything just yet till we confirm dates. FWIW I'd agree with the extra day to chill if it's running on a Sunday.
I presume they'll still do a hotel - airport transfer if we leave a day later?

Just Booked the 5 day trip for €899. Lower price if booked before tomorrow

Deposit paid.

Hi all.
Spoke to flora yesterday. The Orwell group early bird price remains until October 10. I was just compiling names into 1 list before emailing everyone at the weekend so last call!!
Garret

Hi Garret ,
Can you put my name on the list provisionally , please ?
Will confirm tomorrow latest .
Paraic.

HI Garrett,

Please include me on the list.

Thanks,

Peter

Did you book that separately or did you say you were part of Orwell group? The 899€ is for 4-nights in their website

John wrote:

Hi Garret, I'm tempted, but not sure I need 5 nights b&b for a 1 day sportif......I guess it's not quite 6 days annual leave as it covers a weekend, but is leaving friday, back monday out of the question?!

Hi John,
Did you enquire with the company re shorter trip? I'm in advanced domestic negotiations about this trip at the moment and I'd prefer to do the full 5 days with the Orwell gang but one less day might make all the difference !

hey guys
The prices I got off Flora are for 5 nights. Thurs to Tues. 100% recommend taking the monday as a day off after the event to chill, relax, enjoy a few beers, doing a bit of shopping etc. You won't get anything done the night of the Marmotte.
Deadline for Orwell group to pay deposit is Oct 10th. I'll email round the group over next few days.
Garret

Hey Donal, I booked the 4 night trip too, booked directly with SportActive from Thursday-Mon. 899 Euro if booked by tomorrow. I have the details from Flora so send me your email address and I will send it to you if your interested.

Garrets option of the 5 nights is does sound like the more sensible option but I will need to get home earlier.

Hi Peter. I don't have your email address. Could you email me on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Hi all

So there is the 21 people who expressed an interest in the Marmotte(excluding Brendan Lawlor, John Kirby and Peter Morrissey who I don't have email address for, Please forward on if you know their emals)

The Marmotte this year has sold out quicker than expected with Sportactive and they only have 10 twin rooms left in the hotel. I've asked her to hold them until Wednesday and then they'll go back on general sale.

In other words you have until this Wednesday to book in using the booking form on their website sportactive.net/en/ and and pay the 500euro deposit to secure your place.

Some people are doing separate dates but the official Orwell trip will be Thurs 29 June to Tues 4 July 5 Nights.

Flights on aer lingus will need to be sorted yourselves.

Whether you bring your bike via aer lingus(risky as you are not guaranteed to get bike on plane as they only guarantee 2 bike boxes per flight) or the much more sensible Ship my bike option which will allow you to bring your bike fully made up alongside a suitcase too. The options are up to you and you'll need to book yourselves in as per your decision.

Once again this trip is almost booked out via Sportactive and they are holding the 10 rooms until Wednesday and after that they go back on general sale.

Decision time for Marmotte 2017 is here!

Garret

ps if you have any general questions feel free to get in touch. For specifics like how you can shorten your trip with Sportactive you need to get in touch with them.

10 things to concentrate on between now and next Spring to go from w100 to Marmotte or Etape.

Okay so have had a few queries about level of ability etc for marmotte etape etc. I firmly believe that anyone from light light yellow upwards has it in them to complete one of these iconic events. With the right training you'll get around it. Here's a very simple top 12 things to do to get Marmotte ready by July 2017.

1 Move up a Colour.
If you finished on mid yellow aim to be moving to dark yellow by end of October. If you were dark yellow move to light orange and so on. From January aim to be moving up again another shade. You should always be aiming at next level pushing you that bit further.

2 Do Spinning Classes
Vital for those who are aiming at a big marmotte or etape challenge is to join a weekly spinning class. Also turbo is brilliant if done right but you'll need right motivation.

3 Post Christmas go from 2 training sessions(1 Sunday spin 1 spinning) to 3 sessions(usually 1 long spin/2 spinning or turbo)

4 Nutrition
The most overlooked area in all of cycling can have the most dramatic improvements in your performance, levels of sickness, recovery and power to weight ratio(quicker you climb)
Eat natural unprocessed foods, switch from white food(rice pasta bread) to whole grain is an easy switch that will make a huge difference. Spend a bit of time on researching nutrition and it will make a huge difference.

5 Get a Coach.
Invaluable at the top end but all together really worthwhile at all levels. Starting at 50 per month it's really worthwhile. Fully recommend Orwells own Aidan Hammond.

6 Bike Fit
Easily the best 100 quid you'll ever spend. Will mean you'll be much less likely to be injured in knees back etc and you'll actually go faster as the power you will exert into pedals will increase from even the smallest change. Anyone that has strain injury knows how much a physio could cost over a few months so spend the 100 quid now and avoid the cost!

7 Get a Winter Bike
Carbon bikes are no use in mucky wet salty gritted road weather. Get a nice chunky work horse of a bike. The heavier the better! Leave the fancy machine in hibernation til March.

8 Have a Plan and Peaks for Season Agead.
If fail to plan you're planning to fail!
Aim: Marmotte july 2017

9 Get Your Winter Gear Right
Nothing worse than under dressing on a cold wet winter morning. Get your Hanley hat, winter jacket, under jersey, gloves, tights, socks and shoe covers right and everything else is easy.

10 Set a Target and Stick to it
Aim to move up a group etc
Aim to do the Gerry Branigan in 2 weeks.
Aim to do the w200 4 weeks pre Marmotte.
Write your aims down and tell people about them!

11 Regular Sports Massage
In a sport where people spend 1000s to save a few 100g they often forget the most important piece of equipment is the body. Spend 50-60 every 4-6 weeks and you will become a better cyclist! After a good massage you can see pretty massive improvements in performance 48-72 hrs later.

12 Race!
Okay so not for everyone but it's the easiest fun way to do intervals that you'll need to do in the spring. The club league is a fantastic way to get into racing and has a level to suit all kinds. Racing above everything else will help improve your overall fitness for the big climbs.

This is all really basic info but cycling is a simple sport. What you put into it you get out of it. Get the basics right and you'll be smiling on the top of alp d'huez at around 4-6pm on Sunday July 2nd.

If anyone else would like to add anything to this list post up here

As I mentioned get busy booking!

Garret

Hi Garret
Once again thanks for all of this valuable information.

Re booking:
I have paid deposit €500 tonight 03 October.
My mate Brendan Lawlor has also paid deposit €500 deposit tonight.

I'm on the 5 night package; Brendan on the 4 night.

Catch you soon Garret.
Ken

Hi Garret ,

Paid my deposit this morning .
Bring it on !

Paraic