I have entered the Alpe D'Huez Triathlon short distance on July 29th (http://www.alpetriathlon.com/v5/), an event that I did last year.  It really is a wonderful event, very well organised and attracts lots of spectators.  It's a 1200m swim in a chrystal clear lake (I really do mean clear in fact clearer than Bury pool!), not only is it clear but it also tastes like mineral water, well it is straight off the Alpes!!  However, the 30k bike is not easy, well... the first half is!  The second half ascends the 21 bends, made famous by the Tour De France, up to about 2000m to the ski resort Alpe D'Huez.  This is where the spectators really help you, the screams of "ALLEZ ALLEZ" keep you plugging away to the top.  Once you get there an undulating 7k run takes you round the mountain.  The views are truly awesome, I can highly recommend it!  Last year I hired a 5 bedroom chalet (sleeps 10) for the week for about 900 euros although we did get upgraded to an eight bedroom, which was nice!!  I have emailed to get costings for the various size chalets that are available for this year so... if anyone is up for the challenge and interested in pitching in for a room drop me an e-mail and I'll let you know facts and figures when I have them.

Adi Barbrooke adibarbrooke@hotmail.com