More road touring from Charlie Docherty in the Haute Pursuit team along with ex Chamonix resident Phil Miller this time we decided to cycle up some of the most stunning and steepest road cols in the northern and southern alps starting from Chamonix for 4 days and 470km.
Day 1
Unfortunately the first 8 hours in the saddle of the tour were in driving rain from Chamonix to Moutiers via the Col du Saisies, though there were few other cyclist around. The col rises from Flumet for 15km to 1633 metres and ends close to Beaufort then a fast flowing descent to Albertville before heading easily up the impressive steep glacial valley to just before Moutiers, the rain ended as we found our perfect wild campsite for the night beside a loch teaming with trout facing up towards the following days challenge.
Day 2
Blue skies and sun for the 26km climb up the Col de la Madeleine with plenty of other friendly waving cyclists: though none with panniers or classic 70’s racing bikes like us. Myself on a Mercier and Phil on a Gitane. The climb was hard, but beautiful. Views of the Mont Blanc range behind and the forthcoming Ecrins more than made up for the sweat ,tears and blood. The descent was fast with speeds up to 74km with a lot of car overtaking by team Chamonix and a few lost spokes. The descent ended in Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne which is a great cycling town with all the major cols surrounding it, spot of lunch and many espressos before the Col du Télégraphe a 12km uphill with a following 26km uphill with the Col du Galibier tagged on top, we decided to cycle the 6km down from the Télégraphe to Valloire for a huge dinner and camping spot under a ski lift. We decided to not attempt the Galibier that evening as we were dragging tents and supplies and the sun was setting.
Day 3
24km uphill with gradients of up to 11.5%, more cyclist on the road than cars and cars that were well behaved which is what we like. The last kilometre was extremely hard at 2642metre high with biting winds, mist and rain. At the top there were perhaps 70 cyclist from all nationalities all posing for the obligatory summit photo. The descent was huge some 48km through the Col du Lautaret down through La Grave which looked like a mini Chamonix for glacier skiing then still down all the way to Le Bourg-d’Oisans another great cycling town. We managed to dump our heavy baggage and cycle up the 21 hairpins of the L‘Alpe-d’Huez, I recorded a time of 65minutes which was not bad considering we were booming in 100km a day, we arrived as the sun was setting and blasted down at break neck speeds. We then visited our friends Alex and Will who have a new 2 month son called Max, they run the EcrinsLodge.com for ski and cycling holidays. A shower, bed, some drinks and large meal ensured two happy sleepy cyclists.
Day 4
Rolling or flat all the way down to Grenoble for 54km with a unexpected wasp sting around the saddle area at high speeds made for nearly the second high speed crash. Huge lunch with wine before the last afternoon slogging past Saint-Pierre-de-Chartreuse and the Chartreuse mountain range which has smaller 5 to 7 km Cols but hard all the same in 32 degrees celsius. The final downhill of 15km to Chambéry was one of the finest descents I have ever ridden as the sun was setting and the huge alpine vista opens up before your eyes, next up our first level section of the tour at 35km per hour for 20km straight to Aix-Les-Bains slipstreaming each other until the car and a much deserved dip in the lake before the celebration dinner and sleep in a park before returning to Chamonix: which is still the most visually stunning and interesting of all the places I have ever visited. Haute Pursuit and Charlie Docherty can help organise your tour with extensive on and off-road cycling knowledge around the alps and beyond, email or call the office for details. Next up cycling wise is a wee jolly to Gibraltar via Nice: 3000km
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