Author: Will

One of the more special days of our Flanders trip was cycling the Ypres (Ieper) Peace Route, riding past many World War 1 cemeteries, monuments, and museums. Many thanks to the military historian Jeremy Banning who helped me plan the visit. I was with some Podium Cafe friends (Jens, Jimbo, Megabeth, Chris, Drew, and Susie). We would leisurely ride the well-signed 45km route adding another 10 kms or so with various detours to worthwhile sites. The route starts and ends in the Ypres Grot Markt – the main square. It is signed as the Vredesroute (Peace Route) in a counter-clockwise…

Cycle Route 3940213 – via Bikemap.net After a great week in Flanders cycling with Podium Cafe friends, the final ride of the trip was in France: Saturday’s Paris-Roubaix Challenge. I chose the 145 km event which included 19 of the cobbled sectors from the Pro race, including the three 5 star sectors: Trouée d’Arenberg, Mons-en-Pévèle, and Carrefour de l’Arbe. Some Bucket List items should only be done once. Cycling the Roubaix cobbles was an amazing experience that I have absolutely ZERO interest in ever trying again. 🙂 I received a nice sticker for my bike warning me of all the…

I lived in Belgium for a couple of years in the late 90’s but it was before I began cycling. So I was excited to meet up with several Podium Café friends to ride the Tour of Flanders Cyclosportive on Saturday, the day before the pros. I would ride the 141 km route with Drew, and Paul. I had an absolute blast, but wow, do I hate descending on cobbles! BUMPY 😉 We were given a helpful chart with all the climbs on the route: At the start, Jens screamed rather loudly as he realised he had forgotten his helmet.…

Stuck with a long, boring car drive? I like to stop part way and go for a bike ride. Last week, I faced a 7.5-hour drive to Flanders from home in Haute Savoie, so I needed a plan. Here’s how I planned my ride: I Google-mapped the drive and saw that the Champagne region was roughly half-way. So I ordered a booklet with signed cycling routes in the area and to my delight saw that there was a nice canal bike path leading to some lakes starting near the auto-route. A plan! Starting near Troyes (see map below) I joined…

Another of my favourite early season climbs. Le Semnoz is the huge massif to the west of Lake Annecy – the summit is called Crêt de Châtillon and is home to a little ski station with both downhill and XC skiing. It is the biggest/highest climb in the region. The difficult 18 kilometre north side featured in the 2013 Tour de France. But I prefer the more scenic, quieter, and longer (thus less steep) south side via and St. Eustache and Col de Leschaux. It’s a big climb: 26 kilometres, +1300 metres ascent. Detailed map at very bottom of post.…

Whenever someone tells me they have just cycled the well-known but completely over-rated Col de la Faucille, I obnoxiously ask them if they realise there are nearby climbs that are higher, more scenic, and aren’t filled with fast traffic/trucks. The road to La Dôle and La Barillette is a great nearby example (La Baudichonne is another). It’s one of my favourites. By my count, it’s the 3rd highest paved road in the Jura mountains (1522 metres). It’s a fabulous climb on steep forest roads usually completely traffic-free. See here for the ten highest paved climbs in the Jura mountains. It’s…

Doreen took me for a quick weekend to Vienna for my birthday. We explored the city using their bike-share program managing two rides: 40 kms and 30 kms. This is our sixth “city-bike weekend” in a big European city. I would rate Vienna as an excellent place to visit on a bike. The other five with links to details – Excellent: Paris, Torino, and Berlin. Good: London. Better without a bike: Rome. Vienna’s bike-share program and cycling infrastructure are superb. Bike paths everywhere. Bike lanes throughout the city, often well separated from traffic. Several bike-only bridges across the Danube, etc.…

It is becoming one of my little annual traditions to cycle up to Col de Joux Plane and then cross-country ski from the col. The Morzine side of Joux Plane will be closed probably until May, it’s a ski slope. But the more famous Samoëns side is often open in winter, especially in warm weather, to facilitate XC skiing. For those that enjoy 3D route videos see below (although the route was far whiter than the satellite photos suggest): This is my 4th consecutive year doing this. The other three were in March but it’s been very hot in the…

From the Autoroute it seems impossible that a road could climb to the summit of Mont du Chat. The west side will appear in the 2017 Tour de France as the final climb in the terrifyingly tough stage 9. It will also appear in stage 6 of the 2017 Critérium du Dauphiné. Here is a post with Grand Colombier and Col de la Biche – the two giant climbs before Mont du Chat in the TdF stage 9. Before tackling Mont du Chat I would need to get to the far side of the mountain, climbing Col du Chat and…

There is currently a heat wave in the Alps. Too hot, but at least good cycling. Col de la Forclaz de Montmin is a favourite late winter climb. Combined with the Annecy bike path, it’s the best way to do a loop of beautiful lake Annecy. And just for a little extra sweat I added the very nice Col de l’Epine first. Starting from Annecy it’s a good 30 flat kilometres along the Annecy bike path before the climbing begins. I didn’t take many photos along-side the lake. But it’s a wonderful path built along an old railway line. The…