Author: Will

The last day of vacation. Climbing Alpe d’Huez is a great way to end a great trip. I woke up early and descended to the bottom of mountain. I tried to ride a few flat kilometres to warm up before the ride but it is the biggest travel day of the year and so I soon lost patience. The first two kilometres of this legendary climb are the hardest and it is a real jolt to the system. I was almost hyper ventilating. But I soon settled down and was grateful that I had given my legs…

We started our journey back north and arrived last night in Alpe d’Huez. With its 21 numbered hairpins, one of the most famous cycling climbs in the world. Dutch riders have won Tour de France stages here more than any other country and the Alpe d’Huez (France) is jokingly called the highest place in Holland. Dutch cyclists are everywhere. As usualy the Tour de France had a stage finish up top this year. This place is a cycling mecca and a nice ski resort as well.But after 6 huge cycling days and my crazy second ride yesterday afternoon our legs…

For a more recent post with map and details of both sides of Izoard, see here. 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 in a row. But we were leaving the region so …. why not. The Tour climbed just over a week ago, so plenty of fresh road art.I knew it…

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 kilometres then turns south — soon reaching the end of the valley. Only the last few kms are tough, as the road climbs out of the valley and over the mountains to the south. Doreen joined me again for this unbelievable ride.

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 away. North Climb (Blue): 21 kms (13.8 miles); Ascent: 1,150 metres (3,770 feet) South Climb (Red): 23.6 kms (14.7 miles); Ascent: 1,050 metres (3,445 feet) View Larger Map We were on that little cliff road below.

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 2,802 metres (well over 9,000 feet). North Side (Black): 23.8 kms (14.8 miles); Ascent: 1,600 metres (5,250 feet) South Side (Red): 25.8 kms (16.0 miles); Ascent: 1,700 metres (5,580 feet) View Larger Map View in Google Earth Two Austrian paved roads seem to be slightly higher: Söldener Gletscherstraße…

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 of the Alps. Vars ski station is about two-thirds of the way up. That’s me, the tiny speck on the right. Stele with lots of history. dating back to 1300’s. This was often a contested border point between Italy – France – Savoie – etc…

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 (canicule) and is it ever hot. This climb is in the Tour pretty much every year, although we were climbing the descent part from this year’s comptition. We are in cycling country, with big rides everywhere so kilometre markers give the altitude and the…

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 beautiful day and cyclists everywhere. The last kilometre is steep (see 12% photo) but Doreen persevered for her first Galibier. Chapeau. Now off to the South for some big climbs.

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.