I am in talks with a group of Montanans about a 10-day Alps tour they are eager to do next year and my proposal would probably take them over the Col du Galibier. I knew that Galibier had been climbed for the first time in 1911, but I didn’t know the route they took. After pulling out my trusty TDF history book (yes, a ‘book’), I found this photo – seemingly the only one that exists of Gustave Garrigou (winner that year) on the climb.

What really caught my eye, though, was the caption under the photo, which reads “…riding on a bike equipped with a freewheel and one gear, developing 4.2 meters per turn of the pedal“.

That distance is equivalent to a 50/24 or 34/17, if you are riding a compact, like most people these days. I’ve climbed Galibier in a 34/25, I think, but I never once thought that shifting to the big ring would have been a good idea. No wonder the guy is walking.

My New Year’s Resolution is to stop wishing for that extra gear and just be content with what I have – after buy an 11-34 for Christmas!