My Steel Wheeler friend Tim kindly hosted three of us in his home in Sigale (Alpes-Maritimes) for a few rides. This part of the south French Alps is completely new to me. This post is the third of our four rides in the region (in addition to a dawn ascent of Bonette). A super quiet, very scenic loop with three main climbs including the hyper-steep Col de Buis. Forty kilometres into the route we’d seen more col signs than cars! This post is the blue route on the map below. See here for the orange route: 5 cols and 3…
Author: Will
Will
Happiest while cycling uphill.
My Steel Wheeler friend Tim kindly hosted three of us in his home in Sigale (Alpes-Maritimes) for a few rides. This part of the south French Alps is completely new to me. This post is the second of our four rides in the region (in addition to a dawn ascent of Bonette). Another beautiful route that would pass five small cols (labeled on map), but the highlight and highpoint (1549 metres) of the ride was the truly fantastic climb to the top of Mont Vial. This is the red route on the map below. See here for the orange route:…
My Steel Wheeler friend Tim kindly hosted three of us in his home in Sigale (Alpes-Maritimes) for a few rides. This part of the south French Alps is completely new to me. This post is the first of our four rides in the region (in addition to a dawn ascent of Bonette). We would pass five cols and three “clues.” The entire 90 kilometre route is beautiful. Sparsely populated forested mountain valleys, gorges, cliff stretches, etc. This is the orange route on the map below. See here for the blue route: 3 Cols Trébuchet, Buis, and Laval. See here for…
My Steel Wheeler friend Tim kindly invited Alfie, Richard, and I to ride for a few days from his home in Sigale in the deep south French Alps. It’s a long drive from Geneva, so we decided to stop along the way to cycle for the first time to Montagne de Lure in the French department of Alpes-de-Haute-Provence. Montagne de Lure appeared in both the 2009 and 2013 edition of Paris-Nice. The south-west side is better known by cyclists exploring the Provence “wilderness” beyond Ventoux. However, we would be climbing the north side starting near Sisteron. (feel free to comment…
Day three of my Tour du Mont Blanc by Mountain Bike adventure with my pal Alfie was definitely the toughest. But like the two preceding days, this final stage was filled with unbelievable scenery and plenty of glacier views. We started soon after sunrise and “closed-the-loop” on our Tour du Mont Blanc 30 minutes after sunset. Woohoo! WARNING! This loop requires LOTS of bike pushing – both uphill and down. Much of the 3-day route, especially the higher slopes, are on steep, rocky, difficult mountain terrain. It’s often completely unrideable regardless of how strong a cyclist you might be. But,…
This was the “easiest” day of my three day Tour du Mont Blanc by mountain bike adventure with my pal Alfie. But it might have been my favourite. Our main goal was climbing Grand Col Ferret (2537 metres) high on the Italian/Swiss border. Glacier heaven! WARNING! This loop requires LOTS of bike pushing – both uphill and down. Much of the 3-day route, especially the higher slopes, are on steep, rocky, difficult mountain terrain. It’s often completely unrideable regardless of how strong a cyclist you might be. But, many of my favourite stretches along this stunning circuit were along these…
One of the more amazing cycling trips I’ve ever done. A three day loop around the Mont Blanc Massif by mountain bike through France, Italy, and Switzerland with endless glacier views. Paradise. I rode with my friend Alfie, the President/King of the Steel Wheelers, my local cycling club. See here for details of Day 2 – Entrèves (Italy) to Champex (Switzerland) via Grand Col Ferret. See here for details of Day 3 – Champex (Switzerland) to Les Contamines (France) WARNING! This loop requires LOTS of bike carrying – both uphill and down. Much of the route, especially the higher slopes,…
Forty kilometres from Bormio to the Cima Garibaldi just above Passo dello Stelvio via four mountain passes (one even higher than Stelvio). The last 26 kilometres completely unpaved. One of the most fun rides I’ve ever done. And the descent of Stelvio wasn’t bad either. This post will walk through the various sections of the route. I was with my old Aussie friend Bazza – a road biker. It was only his second Alps mountain bike ride ever. Me being me … there will be lots of photos. Sorry. I Torri di Fraele (0 – 14 kilometres) The first 14…
The massif to the west of Bormio has a little ski station, a century old fort, and a tiny perched 17th century church at 2484 metres. The plan was to visit them all with thicker tires. Barry’s first Alps mountain bike adventure! It’s a big, modern road to the village of Oga with quite a few fun hairpins. The previous day, I had climbed to the top of that mountain behind me in the photo below – Bormio 3000. Then things get quiet. The road is paved until roughly 1700 metres where there an old fort – Il Forte Venini…
Woohoo! It’s not easy cycling above 3000 metres in the Alps. Bormio is a popular ski resort in Lombardy. It is also a cycling paradise as it sits at the base of Passo dello Stelvio and Passo di Gavia, two of the very best paved cycling climbs in the Alps. I was in Bormio meeting my old friend Bazza. After a great ride up Gavia the previous day, the weather looked questionable. So the paved road to Bormio 2000 seemed a perfect 10 kilometre relaxing climb. It’s a big, well-surfaced road. But I brought my mountain bike and a back-pack…