Geneva and Day One

Arrival
We Arrived in Geneva and were very happy to find we were staying in a really nice hotel by the Lake in Evian. Once we were settled in we got the bikes ready and the atmosphere in the team was very calm, saying that there was an element of nerves especially amongst the firefly virgins.We had a beer in the bar outside under the canopy as there was torrential rain pour and dark clouds were forming... Was 2009 going to be a wet fireflies?

Day One
We woke up and were relieved to find the weather had turned and the sky was bright and clear. We had our first climb today, the Joux de Plane. A very tough first climb! An 1800m baptism of fire for the fireflies’ virgins! The descent was great, a little nervy as it was the first of the ride. The descents are fast but everyone arrives safely at the bottom!

Colombiere was next and it was hot about 30ºc plus and getting hotter and hotter. Last year we climbed Colombiere gently; it was the first climb of the day and it was okay. This year it is our second and this made it very different. It was SO tough!



A climb can be so different depending on where it is placed in the schedule. We descended together, all glad to be getting back but were unexpectedly faced with a cheeky little 15km climb up to the hotel. A real sting at the end of day! Happily we were greeted by a lovely 3 star hotel with a pool and a couple of beers (three large two small @ 28€!!) and a lovely meal. Finally we crashed!!!