Road Ride 6:44:00 [5] 140.0 km (2:53 / km) +4051m 2:31 / km
I had never been to the Morzine area to the west and north of Chamonix before so I signed up for a cyclosportif race to check it out...on Father's Day. In short, this was bloody hard. I just don't have the base fitness this year but I thought I'd give this a go anyway...and then they changed the racecourse and added a bunch of elevation. Sh!t.
The first 90k felt fine; I climbed well and I got steadily quicker on the descents. Although I passed all of ONE person while descending. It was a very balanced racecourse, having hellish climbs, very twisty descents, and some moderate ups and downs along the way. I would say that this was on par (or even more enjoyable) with Etape du Tour or Maratona des Dolomites as the landscape was incredible, the racecourse wasn't packed with 11,000+ riders, and the weather was perfect.
The last 40k+ was a slog. My speed slowed and I really had to gut out the climbs - 4,000m+ is a LOT in one session. I'm glad I did it and I know what I've got to work on for the rest of the season.