The road to Epine was signed as closed due to the snow a couple of weeks back – but it was completely clear …. and with the closure also car free.

French Magazine Le Cycle currently has a special edition out, listing what it calls the 50 most beautiful routes in France. Eric and I decided to try one of their more mountainous suggestions.

Le cycle magazine once called this possibly the most difficult climb in France. An exaggeration, but tough work!

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

I am sometimes amazed how few problems I have when route/trip planning. But today was a small exception. I had mapped out an ambitious route through “Le Colombier d’Aillon” region of the Alps (between Chambery and Albertville) over three cols. But half way up the Col de Marocaz I ran into a snag. [...]

Fantastic loop around the Mont du Chat near Lake Bourget with Martin.
We packed the car to capacity as Doreen came along and – still recovering from a cold – did three 17 km loops around Lake Aiguebelette – while Martin and I climbed a little.
This loop is incredibly scenic and [...]

From a distance, looking at the TV tower a-top Mont du Chat – more than any climb I know – it seems impossible that it is cycleable. I love this climb.
Often I write that “I felt strong” – well today I felt weak as a kitten. Partly because I was [...]

Mont Revard towers above Lac Bourget (the biggest lake in France). I had climbed this a couple of year’s back, with Doreen on her birthday, from Aix-les-Bains. Today, I climbed from the other main route starting in Chambery.

Click here for Mont Revard – North Route
It’s a long, not too steep, climb (26 [...]

This climb is most famous as the last climb on the 1958 Tour de France stage when Charlie Gaul took back 12 minutes on the leaders and went on to win the Tour. Nicknamed Monsieur Pipi because he “invented” taking a pee while continuing to ride.
Last year a french magazine published its [...]

3d Satellite View of Today’s Ride – click to Enlarge.
MOM: We stayed in Aix-Les-Bains when you visited. The nice hotel with flowers etc. Where you had that huge fish stew with the crazy waiter.