Author: Will

From the mid 1930’s to mid 1980’s there was a cable-car to the top of Mont Baron high above Lake Annecy. This mountain-bike ride reaches the old cable-car platform at the summit, although the station/hotel has been completely dismantled. The goal: To reach the summit of that ridge one cycles around and up the back side of the mountain. Previously, I’ve ridden up to Col de Pré Vernet (917m), and Col des Contrebandiers (1050m), but the goal today was to take the remains of old cable-car service road all the way to the top (1254m). The map at bottom labels…

The Vercors Massif, to the south-west of Grenoble, rarely disappoints. I’ve called it the most under-rated cycling region in the Alps. Not the highest cols, but it’s full of quiet, jaw-dropping gorge and cliff roads. See here for another favourite ride, and here for a longer list of Vercors rides. Combe Laval is a reculée (steephead valley), a deep, narrow, flat-bottomed valley with an abrupt ending. In the 1890’s a cliff road was built up to and along the top edge of this valley. The “fun” stretch is the last two or three kilometres of the climb to Col de…

The Vercors massif, south-west of Grenoble, is one of my favourite regions in the Alps to cycle. Not the highest mountains, but lots of quiet roads, cliff stretches, gorges, etc. Col de Menée is on the south-east edge of the Vercors. A 3D video of ride: For more Vercors rides see here. The north side is not the toughest climb, but very quiet with ever improving views as it gets higher. For the col hunters in the crowd, at 1197 metres, the route crosses Col du Prayet (see map at bottom). At the exact summit of Col de Menée, the…

You know a road will be good when it has its own official web site. And if you’re a fan of this blog you know that many of my favourite rides are up to high alpine dams/lakes … this ride has two. The Silvretta Hochalpenstrasse is at the top of a long valley that extends almost 50 kilometres bottom-to-top. Something that has impressed me on this Austrian trip is how often lower parts of valleys have high-quality bike paths segregated from the main/only through road. So while here the real climbing starts 16 kilometres before the summit, cyclo-tourists can safely…

Hyperbole Alert: This is one of the most beautiful paved roads I’ve ever cycled. I’d put it right there with my favourite Colle del Nivolet, and perhaps Passo dello Stelvio. Sunday, I rode the Glocknerkönig. A bike-only, car-free, day up the Grossglockner-Hochalpenstrasse (High Alpine Road) below the Grossglockner mountain. At 3798 metres, it’s the highest peak in Austria. The event would climb the north side of this great road until the Fuscher Törl (2404 metres). I was enrolled in the Ultra version and would continue higher on the most amazing cobbled dead-end road, the Edelweissspitze, up to 2571 metres. Note,…

This is easily the steepest 10 kilometre stretch of paved road I have ever cycled. Ouch. This is a road bike climb. But I brought my mountain bike so I could descend a lesser known gravel option (which is great). See below. It was foggy, but the weather stayed dry. The first several kilometres are all fairly similar. Steep, good quality road through grassy alpine pastures, with plenty of hairpins. How tough can 10 kilometres be? Really tough. On this Austrian trip, I have seen more e-bikes than regular bikes. Someone passed me half way up without any sympathy for…

Nothing ventured, nothing gained. A fun ride made special with a little route extension and a small snow hike. Kühtai literally means “Cow Alp” in local dialect here, which of course makes me happy. Apparently, a local farm pasture was first mentioned in local records in 1288. Sattel = Saddle = Mountain pass. The road is immediately steep starting from Oetz. It’s a pleasant climb with trucks forbidden, but occasionally steep, with one ramp reaching 16%. A couple of good hairpin sections: Nearing the top is a small dam/lake Speicher Längertal. Note, I would ride around this lake on way…

I was at the base of Timmelsjoch three years ago and a storm prevented me from climbing this super high road. So I wasn’t going to let a little rain bother me this time. At 2474 metres, the pass is on the Austrian / Italian border, hence its two names. This is one of those high strategically located paths that has been used for travel, trade, and smuggling since at least the middle ages. The paved road was completed in the late 1950’s on the Austrian side (Timmelsjoch) primarily for tourist purposes – there is a large ski resort lower…

Let me begin by saying: 1) Hahntennjoch is a big, beautiful climb. 2) I have never been passed by so many motorcycles in a single day. Never. Miserable. I made the mistake of riding this on an Austrian national holiday, “Corpus Christi” day, with perfect weather. So motorcycles kept getting in the way of photos: Unlike most of the big roads I’ve cycled on this Austria trip, there was no toll booth. Although these guys did make me stop: There are definitely some steep stretches on the climb, and plenty of nice mountain views. I was grouchy due to all…

In Tyrol Austria, the Kaunertaler Gletscherpanoramastraße is the 5th highest paved road in the Alps! It was built in 1980 as a ski station road. Amazingly, it’s kept open 12 months a year. It’s a fantastic climb. Drool. Where to start? It’s 38 kilometres from Prutz, and all good riding. 26 kilometres from the summit it becomes a toll road for cars (bikes are free). Beyond the toll, there are no more villages. I split the difference, starting roughly 31 kms from the summit. The long flat stretch on the profile below is beside a large dam/lake (see map at…