Col de la Frasse and Col du Plane
By Will • Sep 17th, 2008 • Category: Climbs, CyclingI received a nice comment from Colin recently on my Top 5 Cycling Climbs from Lake Annecy post.
He mentioned a road up to Col de la Frasse that I had never heard of - so i got the maps out and made a plan.
I started near Annecy - with 10 kms alongside the lake on the cycle path. A few hundred metres before the cycle-path tunnel and before Duingt there is a little right turn. The climb starts here (see map below).
Col de la Frasse in distance (from Bauges side):
It’s a charming climb - fairly steep through woods and pasture. The climb lasts 10 kms on a good surface - a great little climb for a road bike - requiring a U-turn back down as the paved road ends at about 1150 metres. But for me the adventure began here.
There is a Grand Randonée hiking route here. To be clear - even with a mountain bike - it is
not ride-able. So I just pushed my hybrid and hiked along a VERY muddy/steep trail for the last 1.5 kms to the Col.
My plan was to go over the top and down the other side. So another 2 kms of steep descending/hiking with cow bells ringing everywhere until I ended up in Mont Derrière or in English: Bum Mountain (ok, a rather loose translation).
I was now in the Bauges Alps. Sparsely populated, green, rolling roads. Really nice cycling. I took a quick detour left on a deserted dead-end road to climb Col du Plane. I met a road cyclist - and sensed he was a bit disappointed when the paved road ended - I rode the last 2 kms on ride-able gravel trails to the Col without him .
At the Col, a u-turn and a fast return to Annecy via Col de Leschaux with views of the Lake.
Thanks Colin for the suggestion!
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Will is Happiest while cycling uphill. More enthusiastic than talented, his 2009 Challenge is to cycle a 100 Cols (mountain passes) and lose a couple of pounds.
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Clouds are really cool in the pics - looks like it was a beautiful ride!
Was there no col sign for Mont Derriere?