Col d'Ornon and Vaujany Ski Station

After yesterday's epic climb up the Lautaret, I had planned to take things a little easier today. The Col d'Ornon is a lower and much shorter climb with a nice sweeping descent. The threat of thunderstorms later in the day made this much more local climb attractive. I could always run for home if the weather deteriorated.

As it happens, it stayed dry, and got very warm in the afternoon. I was late away. The bike needed a little fettling after yesterdays exertions. The first few kilometers were flat, and merely involved navigating Bourg d'Oisan's Saturday market traffic and slightly idiosyncratic cycle lanes.

Once onto the climb, the gradient was forgiving, and the shade welcome. The road surface is pretty good and its a decent width, even if it does appear to have been nailed onto the vertical face of the mountain in a few places. with the carriageway suspended over not much in particular. Unlike the Lautaret, the Ornon is not a major through route, so traffic was very light. There were a few other riders going up, and coming down much faster. At one point I did have to stop for a few minutes. The need to change to the smallest ring on the front coincided with a bump in the road that unshipped the chain. Out came the small sandwich bag, and the chain was back on in time for me to tag onto a duo heading up. They were significantly faster than me, so I quickly lost touch. No matter, the scenery was spectacular, and I spend the time spotting places to stop and take photos on the way back down. There are only a couple of places where the gradient is above 8% so all in all, it's a very pleasant climb. There are a couple of false finishes though. First, Ornon village is many kilometers from the col. Don'e be fooled. Also, there is an activities centre that looks like it might mark the end of the climb. It doesn't. There is still over a kilometer to go to the top. Garmin estimate I used 816 calories to get to the top. I used only 9 on the way down. That's the kind of descent I like!

The scenery on the Ornon is spectacular


The track up the Col d'Ornon is available on Garmin Connect
The track own the Col d'Ornon is available on Garmin Connect

Having got back down from the Ornon, the question was what else to do? I headed off for the only other relatively flat ride in these parts. It leads up to the dam at Lac Verney, part of EDF's impressive hydroelectric scheme in the area. The route is actually the start of the climb up to the Col de Croix de Fer. Yes, there is indeed an iron cross up there. I intend to go and see it in the next week or so.

Not far beyond the power station are two holiday locations. The second of these is the ski station at Vaujany. It's only about 5km of climbing to get there. Should be easy. It isn't! The first sign on the way up warns of gradients in the 9% range. It's steep, and it remains steep all the way to the top. At least with Alpe d'Huez, there are some ramps significantly flatter than this. On the way to Vaujany there are none.

The route passes through two villages on the way up. In the second, I was able to replenish my bidons, which was a blessing. The afternoon had become blisteringly hot. I did stop a couple of times on the way up, to take some photos and to give my back some much needed relief. In the end, the climb was worth it. The views from the village are spectacular. The descent was tricky though. With ramps that steep, I elected to stop a couple of times to let my rims cool down from all the braking.

Lac Verney, part of EDF's Hydro Electric scheme in the area

The massive waterfall across the valley from Vaujany, with cloud enveloping the mountain top

The track up to Vaujany is available on Garmin Connect
The track back from Vaujany is available on Garmin Connect

The Col de Lautaret

The idea of being able to ride uphill for 34km is quite astonishing. Welcome to the Col de Lautaret. It featured on this years Tour de France as an aperitif to a climb of the Col d'Izoard, and a finish up a mountain in Risoul. And they started in Grenoble!

We set out today with the intention of riding together up to Les Deux Alps. This is another ski resort, with a similar access road to that for Alpe d'Huez. It's not quite as long, and not quite as steep. Actually this resort was the second, after Chamonix, to be constructed in the French Alps. It's also considered to be one of the prettiest. As it turned out, we didn't make it. Angela's exertions from yesterday took their toll and in the end after trying really hard, she abandoned the attempt early.

Since there is a cable car to Deux Alps, there is the possibility of meeting her up there for lunch. So rather than that climb, I headed onwards past the turning, intending to get to the top of the Col de Lautaret.

It was very hot in the valley, and the light was great, so on the way up I stopped to take photographs. The gradients are reasonable, often in the 4 to 7% range, a really nice change from Alpe d'Huez, where anything below 8% is a short lived luxury. It wasn't until I'd been riding for a long time, that I came to a sign announcing 18 km still to go! From this point on, at every kilometer, there is a sign showing current altitude, average gradient for the next kilometer and distance to go. These were really helpful, but they didn't arrive at the kind of rate I'd been hoping for! They did, however, allow riders to measure their suffering with Gallic precision!

That 18 km took the best part of 2 hours more climbing, but I finally made it to the top of the col, and the largest limonade I could lay hands on. The Lautaret is the start of a short climb to the top of the Col de Galibier. It's only another 8km, but pretty steep. One look at it, was all it took to decide to save it for another day. I'm planning to ascend it from the other side next weekend.

 The valley of the Romanches is spectacular all the way up.

 When we say that there may be rock falls, we mean it! We don't build these fences for fun.

 The road follows the river for quite a way, before heading up and away.

And yes, that is the road I'd just come up.

Needless to say, the return to Bourg d'Oiseans was very easy. Huge sections required virtually no pedalling at all.

The track for the ascent is available on Garmin Connect. Something went very odd with the tracking around kilometer 7. I didn't suddenly transport to the other side of the valley! It may have been something to do with a tunnel. It would not have taken 4 hours and 6 minutes but for the photography stops and trying to help Angela get up the pass. Still, even without that it would have been well over 3 hours.

The track for the descent is also available. Coming down was a much brisker 1 hour and 6 minutes. The long stop was to take off all the extra clothing that I'd put on at the top. It was cold up there.

Alpe d'Huez and the Col de Sarenne

The first real day of riding dawned fair. Angela sensibly decided to stick to the lower slopes, riding up to the dam and power station at Lac Verney.

I, on the other hand, threw caution to the wind and decided to head up to Alpe d'Huez. We parted company at the foot of the climb. Everyone says that the first few ramps of the climb are the hardest and indeed they are. The gradients are frequently above 10%. What no one tells you is that the rest of the ramps are almost as steep, with gradients between 8% and 10%.

Having seen the climb yesterday, I knew that heroics at the bottom would be doomed to failure. I rode the numbers. I tried to maintain around 200W, using more when I needed to maintain pace on a particularly steep part, or to overtake someone. Yes, I actually did that! After only a few of the 21 hairpin bends that mark progress to the top, I did start to get a little lower back pain, but as it didn't get any worse, I just carried on. I ended up riding in a small bunch all trying to survive to the top at about the same pace. I resisted the increasingly strong temptation to stop for a breather, even when super fit riders whizzed past going up at unfeasible speed. In the end I hit my target numbers all the way to the top, taking just a shade under 1 hour 50 minutes without stopping. Mind you, at the top, I was wrecked. I didn't dare even try to get off the bike for a couple of minutes for fear of falling over. I sat on the pavement at the finish line, re-hydrating and shouting a weak 'Chapeau' for each rider crossing the line. The selfie I took at the finish is rather grim faced, reflecting my uncertainty about remounting to ride back down to the village to get a drink.

Instead of that, here's my bike up against the finishing post!

The track for the ride up to Alpe d'Huez is on Garmin Connect.

After a very large Limonade, Chez Leo, and quite an extended rest, I started to wonder if I could complete the loop from Alpe d'Huez over the Col de Sarenne and back down to Bourg d'Oisans via the lower reaches of the Col de Lauteret. This is a popular scenic drive, known as the Tour de l'Oisans. The main snag with it is that it drops away from Alpe d'Huez, which is nice, but then has to climb back up to an even higher altitude at the Col de Sarenne. I decided to give it a go. The first problem was that on the short climb out of Alpe d'Huez, I got cramp in both legs. I managed to ride through it by knocking the power back and taking it easy for a few minutes. After that, the ride through spectacular scenery was only slightly spoiled by the road surface. As they say in France, chausee horribly deforme. Or at least, they should. The 2013 Tour de France raced over this route. It beggars belief!

I had a few problems with the connection between my head unit and sensors on this part of the route. Eventually I cured them using the Windows method. Turn it all off. Wait 5 minutes and then turn it all on again. I'd already decided to break up any steep descent by taking photos. It allows the brakes to cool off, really important on a hot day when an over inflated tyre could lead to a blow out. The overall result is that the track for the Tour de l'Oisans is in several pieces, with a few gaps.

Tour de l'Oisans Part 1
Tour de l'Oisans Part 2
Tour de l'Oisans Part 3
Tour de l'Oisans Part 4

The scenary behind Alpe d'Huez is spectacular

Yes, that really is the road down!

Even at this time of year, there is snow on the highest peaks.

One of the less scary tunnels on the Col de Lauteret. It's on the right...

So, I may have been slow, but at least I've proven that I can get up this sort of climb. If I can get out of bed tomorrow, I may well have a go at another one!

First Time Up

After a day and a half travelling, we've finally arrived in the Romanche valley. The autoroute was much busier today. We were using the sections that link Paris to the Mediterranean coast. The roads were wider, the traffic heavier and the service areas more like those on English motorway.

It's quite amazing how quickly the French landscape changes from rolling hills, reminiscent of Hampshire, to full-on mountain ranges. It happens between Lyon and Grenoble. One minute rolling agricultural land, full of sunflowers and vineyards, the next, towering mountains waterfalls and snow capped peaks.

We arrived in Bourg d'Oisans at around 3pm, and decided to head straight up to Alpe d'Huez. On our first ascent, we averaged a shade over 25 mph, but that was in the car! It's a long, hard, twisty drive. The steady stream of struggling cyclists is testament to the attraction of achieving the ascent, and the difficulty of getting up it.

Here are a few views from today.

This is the airport, which the locals call Altiport. That is the runway and yes, it does dive off the side of the mountain! 

There are quite a lot of mountains in the Alpes...

The lower part of the climb from further up the mountain.

 A rider doing it properly, together with evidence that we cheated...

The Romanche valley to the east of Bourg d'Oisans.

The forecast is set fair for tomorrow, so the plan is to ride up for real. I think it's going to hurt!

Gadget Update

A couple of months ago, I needed to get some new cycling shoes. The shoes I had been using were several years old and completely shot. I wanted a pair for the Alpine trip and that could take both Shimano SPD and Look cleats. I've been using SPD for years, but was still harbouring the desire to get a set of power measuring pedals, which only come in Look form

A visit to one of our local cycle stores resulted in purchase of some Bontrager shoes that fitted the bill perfectly and were on special offer. While chatting about my reasons for wanting shoes that could take both kinds of cleats, it turned out that the shop actually had the Garmin Vector pedals I'd been thinking about, and the matching Garmin Edge 1000 head unit. To cut a long story short, I ended up doing a deal on shoes, pedals and head unit. It goes without saying that they're not cheap. But if you can't be outrageously profligate in support of items on your bucket list, when can you be?

The data available from the new set up has been unbelievably useful. I've heard commentators and professional cyclists talk about 'riding the numbers', and now it all makes sense. For example, I can see how my power output affects my heart rate, and I can see and correct the balance between how much work I'm doing with my right and left leg. I now know that I can ride for long distances at power outputs around 200 watts, and can hit 500 watts when I need to. I'm expecting that the ability to set a pace based on power output is going to be invaluable when tackling unfamiliar Alpine geography.

My acquisition of an Edge 1000 means that Angela benefits from some technology trickle down. Her bike is now sporting a set of Garmin sensors and the Edge 750. Both head units have full European mapping, so we shouldn't get lost in the Alps!

It's Nearly Time

So here we are. The final weekend before we go away is upon us. Yesterday we did the final preparatory rides. Today we get to pack up the equipment.

We've had a glorious summer in the this part of the UK this year. There has ben very little rain and hardly any need to take a gilet or arm warmers when going for a ride. So yesterday was quite a change. Within a couple of miles of starting to ride, I was in a deluge of heavy, stinging rain. At least it was warm! I stuck with it and managed to complete the 50km I'd planned to do.

It didn't rain all the time, though the roads were wet all the way round. I did have to reacquaint myself with the rather different performance of my brakes in wet weather though. The 8% climb away from the A31 in Ropley, leading up and over the Watercress line, was more like a river than a lane, and I'll swear that a pigeon was taking a bath in the torrent on the railway bridge itself!

Angela was on a different course, and was bright enough not to set out in a downpour. She did have to shelter under a tree at one point, though.

Later in the day, I washed down both bikes, and removed all the parts that might be susceptible to loss or damage in transit. Today, we get to pack them up ready to travel.

Les Vêtements

Mountains are tricky things. Oddly enough, I learned this from a canyon. Well I say, a canyon. In fact it was the mother of all canyons, the Grand Canyon.

Canyons, like mountains, offer very different climactic conditions at their upper and lower extremities. The top of a mountain can be many degrees cooler than its base. They can also, of course, be swathed in cloud. Likewise, when the rim of the Grand Canyon is often quite cool first thing in the morning, lower down it resembles a desert. It's very dry and dusty.

For a cyclist, the difference in climate and difference in effort between climbing and descending demand different clothing at the foot and the top of a climb.The trick is to have just the right clothing available while avoiding carrying more than is absolutely necessary. Once again, modern materials come to the rescue.

My kit for the Alpine trip consists of:

• Wicking base layer, which in my case is a kind of string vest. Very Rab C. Nesbitt!
• Short sleeved jersy, in bright yellow so people can see me coming
• Bib shorts
• Separate arms that can be added to the jersy, yet fold up and fit easily in one of its pockets
• Separate legs that can be added to the shorts. These also fold up and fit easily into a jersey pocket
• Short sleeved gilet which is wind proof and shower proof and also folds up to fit into a jersey pocket

Needless to say, I've been riding with this kit for a few weeks now, and it really works.