2005 Maxxis 12 Hours of Pont de Vaux, France

[Andy Lagzdins]

It's that time of year to pack up the bags and head over to Europe for the 12 Hours of Pont de Vaux. I always try go go over a few days early to check out the area and also to get acclimated to the 6 hour time difference.

[Andy Lagzdins]

The first order of business after a 9 hour flight was to get a shot of caffeine. I thought I had asked for a large coffee! Not exactly a Great One 24oz from Dunkin' Donuts.

[Andy Lagzdins]

The next thing on the list was to assemble my bmx bike which I had smuggled into the country in a guitar case. I put the wheels and front fork in my gear bag.

[Andy Lagzdins]

This is the bike known as "PeeWee". I know its not the most technically advanced bike in the world, but its beauty lies in its simplicity and durability. The goal was to get PeeWee into the country, and ride it up the most notorious hillclimb of the Tour de France!

[Andy Lagzdins]

The Alpe d'Huez is a monster of a hill in the French Alps. It is a road that starts in a town called Bourg d'Osains and goes 3400 feet up a mountain to the ski resort of Alpe d'Huez. The hill is 9 miles of constant uphill at an average grade of 9%. Some sections are 12%, and the amount of grade is painted on the road along with other TdF graffiti. This is a view from about half way up.

[Andy Lagzdins]

The road has 21 switchbacks on the way up, and many are cut into the side of the mountain. Make sure you have good brakes before going down this sucker! It took me about 1 1/2 hours to get up it. Guys on nice road bikes were passing me and talking in French and German, but I could only make out a few phrases- "going all the way up?" and "single speed" were the two I remember most.

[Andy Lagzdins]

This is the top. The finish line from the Tour de France was still marked. I figured a 12 hour quad race should be a cake walk compared to the suffering involved with pedaling a bicycle up this *******. They were having a Supermoto race at the summit on the weekend, but I had the Pont de Vaux to attend.

[Andy Lagzdins]

Friday morning and time to go to the race track. Pont de Vaux is a small town in southeast France. The race is a big event and ads for it can be seen on all the surrounding roads and in the towns.

[Andy Lagzdins]

The track is laid out in a totally flat field. The track is best described as a very long and fast TT course if you would compare it to tracks in the US.

[Andy Lagzdins]

The longest straight on the track is about a 1/4 mile long. It is long enough that 120 teams can all pit down the side of it next to one another. We ran 16-36 gearing on our TRX450R and had it wide open down this straight every lap.