Yikes.  After climbing the Col de la Cayolle in the morning (60 kms there and back) I had an itch to climb the legendary South side of Izoard (Doreen and I both climbed the North side on Sunday.   It is HARD (rated Hors Categorie) and my legs were bien cuit (cooked) after 6 big days [...]

Another stunning ride in the South Alps. 29 kms 1,200 metres vertical.
The beginning of this ride is pretty flat while the mountains get bigger. In other words it is deep in a river gorge along a tiny road.  The route rides along a cliff beside a river for about 15 [...]

5th big climb in five days as our Southern Alps adventure continues.  This may be the most scenic Col we have ever ridden.
Starting from Barcelonnette in the South Alps this little sinuous road climbs along side a cliff high above a steep canyon and then hairpins over the mountain towards the mediterranean 100kms [...]

COL DE LA BONETTE:

Col de la Bonette is the highest Tour de France Col (pass) as it is the highest paved road in France. The road signs claim to be the highest road in Europe, although there are certainly competing claims elsewhere. 24kms.  1,600 metres vertical.  The top is at [...]

As we head south to Barcelonnette, the Col de Vars is a perfect climb to break up the drive.
20 kmilometres.  1,150 metres vertical.  A beautiful winding route, although there is a little bit of traffic as it is part of the Grandes Route des Alpes and one of the only roads crossing this section [...]

As Doreen keeps pointing out: the name of the climb sounds a little like "It’s So Hard".  Yep.
20 kilometres.  1,200 metres vertical (4,000 feet). 
 
This is truly a legendary climb and one of the main objectives of this trip.  The good thing about cycling up mountains is it is a great way to avoid the heat-wave [...]

We are just starting a week cycling in the South Alps. On the way south we drove by the Col du Galibier — easily one of the top three climbs in France.
So we stopped off at the Col du Lauteret to climb the last 9 kms from the South side. A [...]

Today I cycled up the Col du Glandon and the Col de la Croix de Fer (23 km climb and about 5,000 feet vertical) to watch the second huge Alps stage in the Tour de France.

This was the 2006 Tour de France stage when Landis hit a wall - the day before his “miraculous” comeback.

Third huge Tour de France climb this week. 
This giant will bein Tour next Thursday.  One of the few climbs where Armstrong struggled.  
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CHALLENGE UPDATE: My 21st +1,000 Metre climb of 2006

After two good climbs on the weekend, I took tired legs up the difficult but great Col de la Colombiere.  This is probably the closest famous climb, only about 30 minutes away from home
See below:  The last three kilometres are brutal along a thin ledge up to a nice restaurant (bacon Omelette!!).   
 
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