Back to the Alpe, with added Serenne and Balcony

Today was my first day of riding in the Alps this year. As usual. I started out by riding up Alpe d'Huez, to test my fitness. I left Le Velo Jaune just before 10 am and rode along the valley. The bike seemed to be working, after being rebuilt yesterday evening, and I had good power and good pace. So far so good.

Passing km 0, the gradient kicks up to 10% and stays there pretty much all the way to La Garde. This is probably the hardest section. I felt good, and even managed to pass a number of other riders on the way up. There were extra kilometre markers today. There was an organised ride later in the day, apparently part of a triathlon. More on that later.

The road up from the valley to Alpe d'Huez

Bourg d'Oisans 

 Maybe it's because I've ridden this route a number of times in the past, but it didn't seem long before I was heading through Huez village, and out onto the meadow that marks the final part of the climb to the village.

Not far now!

I remembered to zip up my jersey for each of the photographers. Before I knew it, I was heading into the village itself, which is where the first problem occurred. Being Friday, there was a street market right by the village finish. I turned off my Garmin and trudged the 50 metres or so through the crowds, before I could get back on the bike and head for the Tour de France finish. It's relatively easy riding from there, and I even manged to sprint to the line! Looking at my Strava data, I estimate the climb itself took 1 hour 20 minutes, which is similar to my quickest time from last year. Details of the ride up are on Strava.

At the Tour de France finish line

I ate the ham and tomato roll that I had taken with me, then set off to climb the Col de Sarenne. There is lots of new building going on in that part of town. Looks like a new hotel is being built next to the Altiport.

On the way to the Col de Sarenne

 Once past the airport (Altiport), the road drops away for several kilometers, before kicking up again for the final climb to the col. The temperature was over 39 degrees during the climb to the col.

Col de Sarenne once more. Not sure about the company Coco is keeping...

This year, I decided to take the short hike from the col up to the view point overlooking the descent. It was not easy, scrambling over rocks wearing cleats, but the views were worth it.

The road down from the Sarenne

The surface on the top of the Sarenne was as bad as ever. It's narrow and steep and has lots of hairpins, meaning a lot of braking and pressure on arms and hands too. It's a very physical descent.

This pristine Renault Dauphine was parked in Clavans le Haut. Took me back to my youth!

Lower down, the road is wider and straighter. Part of it has been resurfaced, so I went for a play, and was able to hit 65 kph for a bit. Nice, but still warm!

Lac du Chanbon

Like last year, I stopped in Mizoen for the views over the lake,. It's part of a big hydroelectric scheme in the valley. Once back in the valley, I turned left and headed up the road to the Col du Lautaret, to have a look at the first tunnel. This is the one that partially collapsed a couple of years ago, cutting off the main road to Italy and putting an end to the Marmotte for a while. A new tunnel has been bored to bypass the collapse in the original. It's very impressive. It's also wonderfully cool! Inside, you can see where the new bore diverges from the original tunnel. At the top, the new tunnel emerges next to a short section of tunnel that was part of the original route.

The new tunnel, on the right, emerges next to one of the old tunnels.

 After investigating the new tunnel, I headed back down through it and emerged onto the dam that creates Lac du Chambon. I headed back down towards Bourg dOisans. At Le Freney, I took the road which leads to les Balcons d'Auris, or what we all know as the balcony road. Balcony makes it sound flat. It's anything but.

Lac du Chamobon and the dam

It's a very steep climb from Le Freney, with gradients of 10% and above. After the first few kilometres, it settles down and then continues to climb at a steady 9% or so. When it reaches the balcony section, the views are spectacular.

The balcony road hugs the cliffs above Bourg d'Oisans

The road runs all the way back to La Garde

The road soon starts descending again, eventually meeting the road to Alpe d'Huez at La Garde. When I got there I was greeted with a feed station for the organised event I mentioned earlier. It had been happening during the afternoon. The had taps running continually providing water for the riders..

Feed station at La Garde

I mnaged to fill my bottles and then headed down. It was a fast descent, but near the bottom , I got passed by a small group who were really giving it everything. I didn't try to stay with them. From the bottom, it was just the short time trial along the valley, back to Le Velo Jaune. I still felt pretty good at this point and was able to push hard along the valley. Details of this ride are on Strava.

I arrived back at the same time as Martin, who at been up to the Lauteret, the first time he'd ridden the entire route.

After dinner, Martin Sean and I went to the Brewry, who were holding their weekly open air night. They had entertainment from Nevin, a local singer and guitarist. It was really good. So was the beer from the brewry! Once back at Le Velo Jaune, I tried to write this blog, but fell asleep over it a couple of times, despite having a coffee. I had to finish it the following morning.