Second workout around the 3 valleys. The ski lift here are Champagny is actually still operating! It’s pretty easy to see why it isn’t a destination ski resort – but it joins up with La Plagne up above. This is where the Tarantaise Tour from Tignes links up with La Plagne and Les Arcs. 
During this workout there was nothing in the legs and it was 2 minutes slower than the last one – 3hrs 12mins – despite the gearing working this time. Empty legs are empty legs – they hurt by the end and were verging of cramping several hours later on. Still that’s almost 5000m climbing in a few days so it’s a good start. 75.6Kg has to get down to 67Kg – but the fat is a good reason for being on the bike – not a reason to avoid it. The gearing problem on the last workout turns out to be that the rear sprockets are worn out. The temporary solution was to put the old chain back on while waiting for delivery of a new cassette. The existing cassette is Dura Ace and the largest four sprockets are titanium – which is why three of them have worn out! In addition I’d been using the large chainwheel in front because it is the Osymetric dual camber one and I preferred to use it with the big sprockets (low gear) more than using the small chainwheel and the smaller steel sprockets. This situation just demolished the cassette – which to replace costs between €184 to €144! In the end I decided to just add 40 grams and get the Ultegra all steel version at only €44. Not a tough decision and no such worries again in the future. I’ll change the chain a bit more frequently from now on though. 7000km in the mountains is a bit too much for any chain – even if the amazing Continental tyres can manage that distance. I’ll make 5000km the change out point for all of this stuff now. Once again 90 grams of mixed sugars – 2:1 maltodextrin to fructose did the trick and there was no tiredness after the exercise – even though there was no energy during the workout. The moon was amazingly bright tonight so i couldn’t resist photographing it. Two things surprised me – the bright point on the left and the crater on the bottom right that makes the moon look like an orange. 