Health & Fitness

SPORTS

Cycling In The Alps

Brad Schram
Special to the Jewish News

A

s soon as we arrived at the train
station in Geneva, Switzerland,
I noticed that 18 of the 22 men
had shaven legs. I then realized we were
in for a very serious week of bicycling in
the Alps with this self-selected group of
competitive racers and cycling club mem-
bers who had prepared for this grueling
event.
Detroiters Earle Erman, Michael Gorge
and I had been serious amateur road
cyclists for years. We had followed every
Tour de France minute-by-minute since
before Lance Armstrong captivated the
world scene with his unparalleled seven
straight Tour de France victories.
Riding in the Tour de France was a
"bucket list" item that we had all dreamed
about: climbing the Col du Colombiere,
the Alp de Huez and several other famous
Alps climbs of seven to 12 percent grades

(think straight up) that went on for eight
to 12 miles and separated the winning
Tour riders from the other world class
athletes.
We had booked this 100 kilometer-per-
day fantasy trip with Trek Travel, one of
the sponsors of the Radio Shack team.
On our second day, as we climbed two
mountain stages, the riders in the Tour
were hot on our heels. We had to complete
the endless switchbacks to the finish line
atop Morzine-Avoriaz or the Tour officials
would sweep us from the course one hour
before the professional riders arrived.
We all made it as throngs of interna-
tional fans cheered us up the steep route
with choruses of allez, allez (go, go),
offers of water and rounds of applause as
we strained to reach the summit in time
to watch the Tour riders race to the finish
line.
We attended the stage awards ceremony
with the French models draping the
winners with leaders' jerseys. The whole

Michael Gorge of Franklin, a real estate

owner and developer; Earle Erman of

Bloomfield Hills, a bankruptcy attorney;

Brad Schram at the famous Colombiere

David Eisenstat, a retired Aspen

on July 12. This was the first of two long

attorney; and Brad Schram at the top

climbs before his group saw the Tour

of Col d' Glandon, France, just before

cruise by at lunch. The last three miles

they descended 12 miles to start the

of this climb is very steep.

23 switchback climb of the "Beyond

Category" Alp de Huez (11 percent inclines

for the first two miles) on July 15.

scene vanished within minutes of the
ceremony as the barricades, concession
stands and stage were quickly broken
down into a caravan of trucks and moved
to the next day's finish line.
The adventure was a dream of a
lifetime; a fantasy camp that required
months of 200 miles-per-week training.
As we successfully (but slowly) ascended
the multiple Alps climbs under unseason-

ably high temperatures of 90 degrees, we
fought and conquered the self-doubts and
butterflies that had been building over the
months of training and anticipation. A
goal is a dream with a deadline, and we
had finally achieved our dream.

❑

Bradley J. Schram of West Bloomfield is a
founding shareholder of the law firm Hertz

Schram PC in Bloomfield Hills.

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August 19 • 2010

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