Author: Will

Plan du Lac is the 7th highest paved road in France at 2385 metres. Cycling author/TV/podcast pundit Daniel Friebe once nominated it as a candidate for best “unknown” paved Alps cycling climb above 2000 metres. That’s a good call. Located in the Haute-Maurienne, Plan du Lac begins close to the starts of both Col du Mont Cenis, and Col de l’Iseran (highest paved mountain pass in Europe). This is cycling country. The Plan: There were storms in the afternoon forecast so my plan was simple: Start in Termignon. Cycle to the lake at the summit. Then simply descend while stopping…

There are several fabulous old military gravel rides high above Lac du Mont Cenis, but the “road” to Col de la Meta is a ski-lift service road. I started in Lanslebourg, in the Haute-Maurienne. The south side of Col de l’Iseran (highest paved mountain pass in Europe) also begins here. I would begin by climbing the paved road to Col du Mont-Cenis (2083m). See here for details of the three paved sides of Mont Cenis (the two Italian options are huge). Perhaps a half kilometre before the col and lake I turned left onto a gravel farm road and the…

Col de la Vallée Etroite starts at the exact same intersection in St-Michel-de-Maurienne as Col du Télégraphe/Galibier but heads in the opposite direction. The Col is almost 100 metres higher than Galibier at 2732 metres. I counted 52 hairpins. Wow. The Maurienne valley is home to perhaps half of the most famous cycling climbs in France – see here for 15 of the best there. This is a huge climb, roughly 2000 metres non-stop ascent. And it’s even tougher than the profile suggests as the majority of the climb is a rough old gravel road. But, this unknown “road” goes…

France has many beautiful gorges that make for fantastic cycling. Here are a few of my very favourite gorge rides (note gorge is usually the plural gorges in French): Gorges du Verdon, Gorges de la Nesque, Gorges du Nan, Gorges de l’Ardèche, and the Gorges du Bachelard. Les Gorges de l’Ain is on the western edge of the French Jura mountains. It’s possible to ride alongside the river Ain on both sides through the gorge. Doreen and I were looking for a beautiful but easy-ish ride. At the end of the post, I’ll link to two longer rides through les…

Oz Station (Oz-en-Oisans) is a small ski station linked with the Alpe d’Huez ski domain. I climbed it for the first time at the end of the ride up Col de la Croix de Fer car-free bike day – see map at bottom. But I thought I’d write a separate blog post for Oz so it didn’t get lost in that long article. Here is my guide of the best climbs in the Oisans regions: Beyond Alpe d’Huez – The Best Cycling Climbs from Bourg d’Oisans. I started beside Allemont just below Barrage/Lac du Verney (I used this photo in…

Tuesday, as part of the Oisans Col series, Col de la Croix de Fer (both sides) and Col du Glandon were closed to traffic on the upper kilometres from 9am to noon. See here for more car-free rides this summer around the Alps. I know Glandon and the Maurienne side of Croix de Fer better as they’re closer to home, but I would start from Allemont at the base of the south side not too far from Alpe d’Huez. The last time I climbed this was the 2010 La Marmotte Cylosportive. Today, I started just below the Lac du Verney…

Col du Sabot: higher, more difficult, and infinitely quieter than its neighbour Alpe d’Huez. Perhaps its only drawback for some people: it’s a dead-end. I started near Allemont, just below the Lac du Verney dam. This is also exactly where the south side of Col de la Croix de Fer begins (first climb in La Marmotte cyclosportive). After climbing the dam, it’s flat briefly then the real climb (and the profile above) begins at the turn off up to Vaujany ski station. Until Vaujany, it’s a relatively wide, modern ski station road – but not busy. Just before Vaujany, I…

The Massif du Sancy has the highest peak in the Massif Central. This loop visits three cols while circling this peak, the Puy de Sancy (1886 metres). I started in the old spa/ski town of La Bourboule, climbing immediately on quiet roads towards Col de la Croix Sœur (1149 metres). There’s a small lake/dam at the col. Here’s another loop that starts/ends in La Bourboule and visits 4 cols. Note, both loops finish with the interesting Col de la Croix St. Robert. The route descends Col de la Sœur and meanders through scenic country until Picherande, where the route turns…

On Sunday, I cycled up the legendary dormant volcano Puy de Dôme, the most famous cycling climb in the Massif Central. Woohoo! For a LONG time, cyclists have had very limited access to this climb. Last decade it was a couple of hours every Wednesday morning. Then in 2012, they opened a train that takes up half the road on the final 4.8 kilometres and cyclists were permanently banned, except for ONE day a year. That one day was Sunday! The event was limited to 300 cyclists. I was so excited when I initially heard of this a few months…

The Massif Central is the mountain range in the middle of southern France. It covers roughly 15% of the country. It’s separated from the Alps by the Rhône river. I’ve cycled a few parts of it close to the Rhône but this is my first visit to the Puy-de-Dôme department (province). The Puy-de-Dôme department has an excellent network of signed road bike routes. Tourist offices will give you a map. All the signed routes are all also listed online with gpx files available. This ride crosses 4 cols and passes in sight of the highest peak in the Massif Central:…