At the turn, I told Eric it would be impossible to reach and totally covered in snow.

He gave me a half-smile. I knew we were going up.

That funny white thing with wings is a giant monument to the French Resistance.

Glieres was a major base in WW2 for the Maquis.

Pré means meadow in French - so Col des Prés clumsily translated means “mountain pass of the meadows.”

Col de Solaison seems only to be there for the pleasure of tourists, and amateur climbing cyclists in particular.”

- Atlas des Cols des Alpes

Up top there was about a foot of snow, but it was hard and seemed rideable so I continued on.

Today I got pretty lost cycling up into snow-filled woods

I started to run into snow and ice on long stretches shaded from the sun. My tires were slipping and I considered turning around - but I promised myself I would descend the crazy parts by foot.

OK cycling season in the high (and medium) Alps is winding down for 2007. I awoke this morning to snow in Zermatt, the beautiful car-free swiss ski village below the Matterhorn - and had a terrible time renting a bike.

Well I still haven’t Learned my lesson. It snowed last night up higher and I failed to notice a very strong Bise (north wind) in the forecast.
Today was a great 50 km loop in the Vallée Verte over the Col de Cou, Col de Saxel, and a detour up to 1450 metres […]

The plan was a loop starting in Taninges, up to Col de la Ramaz, down the other side (which I climbed last April), and back to Taninges. Good Plan!
The secret of this route is to take the tiny route D307 out of Taninges and not the far busier D902. The routes run parallel […]