Cool Dude Laughter and the Halibut

After yesterday's trip up to Alpe d'Huez, Andrew wanted to do something flatter today. He ended up doing a 10km run into Bourg and back, and picked up an 11 speed front mech on the way. He also rode to Allemont and did the loop around the lake.

That left me free to ride something a bit bigger than yesterday. So I chose the daddy of them all, and rode up the Galibier. I've not been up it from the Bourg side before. First order of the day was to ride up to the Col du Lautaret, which my phone's predictive text helpfully offered as 'cool dude laughter'. This is a roughly 35 km climb from where we're staying, and has an altitude of 2058 metres. Then there is the small matter of the last 8 km to the top of the Galibier, for which my phone's best effort was 'halibut', at an altitude of 2642 metres.

From Le Clapier to the Barrage du Chambon, the road runs in a steep sided gorge. This is the hardest part of the climb, with gradients up near 9 and 10%. There are also a number of tunnels on this section, with the longest at around 400 metres. These can be quite intimidating, and lights are a must. This  year, there is much less traffic on the route, because of the closure of the road above Lac du Chambon. A tunnel collapsed there a couple of years ago. They've had to bore a new tunnel, which won't open fully until December. In the meantime, local traffic is catered for by the 'refuge road'. After the tunnel collapse, the local authorities spent 6.8 million Euros converting a track into the RS1091 road, which runs around the other side of the lake. It's very narrow in part, and even has traffic lights to control traffic in one direction at a time at a point where it literally clings to the side of the mountain. Having ridden it, it was worth every cent! It's full of twists, turns, short steep climbs and descents. It doesn't have an air of permanence, however, so once the new tunnel is complete, there is a chance it will fall into disrepair, and ultimately, the lake!

The mountains are spectacular. Remind me
again why they look like that?
Oh yes, water, that's it!

Rejoining the main road above the problematic tunnel, the gradients ease back for a while, until the road reaches the pretty villages of  La Grave and then Villar d'Arene, after a couple more tunnels.

Not something you see in Hampshire

By Villar d'Arenne, the valley has opened right up, with broad vistas on both sides.

Not far now

The road makes it's way across, broad alpine meadows, finally reaching the Col du Lautaret.

Right, that's the first bit done

The main road continues down from the Col, towards Italy, by way of Briancon. The road to the Galibier is off to the left. Pausing only for some photos, I headed on up, determined to make this a single ride.

Just as well

There is definitely less oxygen at this altitude, and I was generating less power, but even so, the fairly unrelenting 6 to 8% gradients weren't really an issue. It goes without saying that the entire ride is spectacular.

That's the Lautaret down there.

 At one point there was a herd of cattle grazing at the side of road, and on it.

Reblochon, on the hoof!

Are we nearly there yet? Well, yes actually.

I paid my respects at the memorial to Henri Desgrange, the instigator of the Tour de France, and headed up the final, and steepest kilometer from the tunnel to the summit. 

Chapeau Henri!

Once again, despite the altitude  and the spiteful 14% ramp just below the peak, I felt pretty good when I reached the top.

Made it!

The Activity for the climb is available on Strava.

In previous years, it's been particularly cold, and the only order of business after reaching it, was to get down as quickly as possible. This time it was very different. It was warm. I took some photos, and then spent a fruitless half an hour trying to post a Strava update from the top. I could never get the phone coverage and Bluetooth connections to work together long enough to do it, and finally gave up.

The road to Italy

I put on a rain jacket and full finger gloves, before finally heading back, and strapped on my small Sony action camera. I have a new chest strap this year, which seems to work better. My arms take up less of the frame! Pausing to allow a group of motorcycles to leave first, I headed back towards the Lautaret. For the first time, I was actually warm! It's a brilliant descent, when you have proper control of the bike. Previous attempts have been a white knuckle ride, punctuated by a fervent hope that it would be possible to operate the brakes at the next corner. No such problems this time. Traffic was light and it was possible to use the entire width of the admittedly narrow road in places. I didn't stop at the Lautaret on the way down, preferring to try and get a single, continuous video down as far as the refuge road. It was great fun all the way down. I even had enough energy to pedal to keep the pace up. The only really scary moment was entering one of the tunnels where the absence of lighting and my sunglasses gave me no visibility at all for a short distance!

Reaching the refuge road, and beginning to overheat, it was time to remove my jacket, and prepare for the final part of the descent. I did stop a couple of times on the refuge road. There are views across the lake that may not be readily accessible in future.

Mizoen and the cascade

Then it was back into the gorge, and the final plunge back to Le Clapier.

One of the tunnels in the gorge

The Activity for the descent is available on Strava.

Epic!