Col du Galibier - Home to the Gods of Cycling - Exhibition
£1,200.00
Gifts for cyclists, cycling photography prints. Cycling Art.
Coming into view on the road at the bottom of the picture you could be forgiven for thinking maybe the Galibier isn’t so bad, well into the climb and apart from the initial ramp out of Valloire nothing has really tested you. All that training must have been more effective than you thought. You might even consider a coffee or an ice cream at the very attractive little cafe by the side of the road.
That is all about to change, crossing the bridge over the stream and the Galibier turns from being kind and gentle to anything but, with just a few pedal strokes. Unless you’re super fit and have brought your A-game with you by the time you are halfway up that first serious 10% ramp all the training will have melted away like ice cream in the midday sun.
What’s left is determination, grit, stubbornness and pride. Any two of which gets you to the top, or at least to the fork in the road that leads to the tunnel. After that, it’s just pride. There’s no shade or shelter on the Galibier, not a tree in sight, nowhere to hide or recover, no let-up to the relentless gradient. But if you insist on visiting the home of the cycling gods you can’t expect it to be easy, can you?
Like the man said, we don’t do it because it’s easy, we do it because it’s hard.
Additional exhibition prints coming soon
We are adding more pictures as they become available in this size.
Alpe d'Huez - Colour
One of the epic road climbs of the Tour de France. The average percentage of Alpe d'Huez is quite high at 8.1% with a length of 13.2 km and 1,071m. of climbing. But, isn't on paper at least, one of the toughest climbs. However, what Alpe d'Huez lacks in altitude and length is made up for in intensity. The climb is full-on from the bottom to the top with very little respite from the gradient or the heat bouncing off the south-facing, rock-lined road.
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Don't Look Back - Colour
Heading out onto the Col d'Aubisque under a thick blanket of low cloud, which soon turns into not so low cloud, you could be thinking it’s just going to be one of those days. Visibility drops to below 30 metres then 20 as you continue to climb up into the thickest cloud you will ever see.
Some days this could be all you'll ever see, but not today. Slowly out of the enveloping blanket of thick cloud, rounding another hairpin and out into the brilliant sunshine, what was an im-possibility day, turns into one of the very best days ever.
Click to ViewCol du Galibier - Home to the Gods of Cycling - Colour.
Coming into view on the road at the bottom of the picture you could be forgiven for thinking maybe the Galibier isn’t so bad, well into the climb and apart from the initial ramp out of Valloire nothing has really tested you. All that training must have been more effective than you thought. You might even consider a coffee or an ice cream at the very attractive little cafe by the side of the road.
That is all about to change, crossing the bridge over the stream and the Galibier turns from being kind and gentle to anything but, with just a few pedal strokes. Unless you’re super fit and have brought your A-game with you by the time you are halfway up that first serious 10% ramp all the training will have melted away like ice cream in the midday sun.
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Time to Play
It’s easy to believe that cycling is all just effort and toil, but that’s not true. There’s also exhilaration, excitement, the full-on adrenaline rush. Descending off the mountain tops is not for those of a nervous disposition, you’ll need to let go, find the flow. But you don’t need me to tell you that. You’re already gone.
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