Col. de la Joux Verte Col. de Bassachaux
Door Zal ≺ 14 mei, de Categorie ≺ van 2008: Beklimt, Het cirkelen, Sneeuw
Het plan was aan cyclus op Col. de la Joux Verte.
Ik wist de weg nog gesloten was, maar het is zo warm wij dacht met bergfietsen geweest dat wij O.K. zouden zijn.
Het is een grote klim van Morzine voorbij Lak Montriond tot Les Lindarets (geitstad in de zomer). Maar 1500 meter bedroeg de weg unrideable.
Ik had aan Eric vermeld dat Col. de Bassachaux boven ons was en in de zomer was er een sleepaaneenschakeling het met Joux Verte. Zonder te berijden route beslisten wij naar Col. te zoeken.
Dit betekende duwend de omhoog steile fietsen, behandelde de sneeuw hellingen.
Wij hadden geen gedetailleerde kaart en wisten werkelijk niet waar wij gingen. Bij meer dan 1800 meter zagen wij definitief een weinig wandelingsteken en werden linker nog een weinig onzeker.
Onze voeten waren doorweekt en bevriezend, waren de meningen diep groot, de sneeuw en wij slogged.
Vooruit zagen wij de bovenkant van een teken dat uit de sneeuw een hoogtepunt bereikt: woohooo Col. teken. Rond de hoek was een klein restaurant en er was binnen iemand. Beschaving. Een vriendschappelijke kerel kwam uit en begon ons gek te roepen. Ik vroeg of werd de weg aan de andere kant ontruimd en hij lachte: „voor fietsen? Nr!“ hij had omhoog snowshoed.
Er waren geen het terugkeren, zodat volgden wij de weg, uiteindelijk vindend een ontruimde weg boven Chatel skipost. Het enige probleem was nu wij was in de verkeerde vallei. Zo om terug te keren vereist beklimmend Col. de Corbier.
Eerlijk gezegd, was ik uit gas, deelde Eric die (terug verdubbelt) me mee dat er bier bij de bovenkant was - en kocht me een glas van veelgevraagde brandstof.
Na het dalen Corbier was de weg terug naar Morzine gesloten en ik had een heuvelige omweg die me genoeg vertraagde om de laatste 15 minuten van de rit in een ernstige hailstorm door te brengen. OUCH!
Although this 6+ hour adventure exhausted me, Eric (a distant cousin of Superman) had ridden 60 kms to meet me and had another 60 home - while I drove!
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Will is Happiest while cycling uphill. More enthusiastic than talented, his 2008 Challenge is to (again) cycle 160,000 metres of vertical ascent.
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Will,
Guess what. Similar story on my side, except for the hail. After we shook hands in le Biot you continued left and I went right. As I got down there was a deviation sign saying Thonon over the Col de … CORBIER! I guessed I would be able to pass as a cyclist, but when I got there 1.5km later, there was already a guy on a race bike discussing with the road construction guys. NO passing! So I checked the map and concluded hat I was back to my initial plan : Col du Corbier from le Biot, then Col du Grand Taillet (beautifull, but I did it from the easy side), then up to Lullin for the col de Terramont and finally Col de Cou. End result is just over 210km and semi wet as the skies had been coming down over the Geneva region. I was running out of water for a while and started to kill me of. But after the next fountain and later on another Coca Cola stop, legs got back on track. This was definitely a fantastic ride. Crazy guys with bikes on snow covered cols R us.
Eric
Eric - wow …. you did a serious ride today - especially considering the mountains.
At least you have now done both sides of Corbier
Next time, we’ll explore above Col du Grand Taillet to Col de Trechaufée.
The hail was a first for me and it hurt!
You know what they say. HTFU
No I agree, hail can be very painful to the point that hiding is the only possibility. And agreed that we’ll have to go and discover the Col de Trechaufée. Question is what do we do if it is FERMÉ? There is no higher alternative.
Enjoy 2 days of relaxation now.
They are some great photos Will. I was skiing in Morzine in early March and we didn’t have enough snow. And now in spring when you want to take the bike out there is too much!
Crazy people. Its almost summer here and you’re still slogging around in snow. As for Eric’s amazing feat’s of cycling, well done. And hail!!!!!! Crazy people. I think its the European air, less oxygen up there?!?!
Thanks Hilton Meyer, but it sure is easier to ride the distance when sharing the hardest part of the ride with a great cycling buddy as Will. He’s always in the game for something new and never-done-before also sounds like music in his ears.
You guys — honestly I don’t know whether to be completely impressed or worried about you two slogging around in the mountains like this!! The amount of distance and height covered is already huge (to me, at least!) and then I learn that Eric cycled to & from the ride…just crazy.
Eric, I may need to re-think my answer to your question of whether I’m interested in a longer ride…to me longer = 60km (huge, tiring, etc) while to you 60km is your warm-up for the ‘real’ ride. Yikes!!!
Doreen
Interesting ‘Day off’ Will? Wait till I tell your coach
And stay away from Eric- he’s unatural breaking all the rules of cycling physics, i.e. Donuts = Ascent x Speed*2
What a great adventure - well done!
Will– Nice “Altitude” pictures. Great story along with a great ride… especially the hail part.
You know… I just realized something looking at the pictures… no helmets. I know it’s nice without one for the climbing but what about the descent? Now- I wonder… have you been without a helmet in most of your pictures? I have to go look now.
Will - OUCH re: the hailstorm. I’m relieved to read you got through this without mishap.
As for the adventure, you guys sure tackled it the difficult way but seemed to have enjoyed nearly every minute of it.
Hey Donald,
Yes, I virtually always wear a helmet, although I often drape it on the handlebars during long slow climbs on deserted roads (my specialty).
I have crashed twice in the past few years and banged my head fairly hard. No issue as both times I was wearing a helmet.
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