Author: Will

During summer over beers, a few of the Steel Wheelers encouraged me to go cycling at the Vélodrome de Genève once winter arrived. So I signed up for a training course with friend and fellow Vélodrome virgin, Tim. The Vélodrome de Genève was built in 1991. The track is named after Tony Rominger – the Swiss Champion who won the Vuelta (3x), and Giro d’Italia among other honours. The circuit is only 166.66 metres, short for a Vélodrome. At 56 degrees, the turns are the steepest in Europe. A few items displayed at entrance. Bicycle Club de Genève, founded 1886:…

The west side of Col de la Croix Fry is one of my favourite winter climbs. It is open all winter (ski station at summit), gets plenty of sun, and is simply beautiful as the snow covered L’Etale peak dominates the entire climb. It’s an annual tradition to stop at the same hairpin above Manigod and take a view of L’Etale (see a decade worth of photos at this spot at bottom of post). This year’s edition: As the map below shows, I took a quick detour from Col de la Croix Fry to the dead-end Col de Merdassier -…

I hate cycling indoors. In years past I have used TrainerRoad, Sufferfest, and this month I have in fact done a couple of Zwift rides. Horrible. 🙂 I would far rather snow bike no matter how cold/windy/icy it is. Secrets to winter cycling: Many layers of warm clothes (plus spares), thick tires, Sorel boots, mittens with chemical hand warmers, as many car free trails as possible, and a sense of humour. I have a series of local routes on gravel roads/trails that I ride regularly from home. And a few times, like today, I climb Mont Salève. Here is a…

Winter Dreaming: When I try and rank my favourite cycling climbs I think of difficulty, altitude, and most of all beauty. The landscape, snow-capped mountains, cliff stretches, alpine lakes, and of course hairpins. Who doesn’t love cycling a good hairpin or two? Across the Alps there are a few extra-special climbs where the first word used to describe a road would be “hairpins!” Here are Ten of my favourites. Hopefully there are a few that are new to you. Feel free to suggest your favourites in the comments. At the bottom of the post find a few honourable mentions as…

Happy 2017! This blog is now 12 years old. I understand that the “age of the blog” is long gone and most people use social media instead. But I will continue posting here at Cycling Challenge for another year. 🙂 Here are my 10 favourite rides of 2016. Unlike 12 years ago (when I challenged myself to cycle 10,000 kms), happily I don’t really need a formal challenge to motivate me to bike. These days, I love riding as much as possible. But, in keeping with tradition, here is my 2017 Cycling Challenge: Cycle 100 Different Cols New stuff, old…

I like to take photos while cycling. As the sun sets on 2016, here are some highlights of the past 12 months on a bike. January February March April May June July August September October November December

I had the good fortune to cycle some great roads in 2016. As in recent years, I continued leaning towards high Alps mountain biking versus road biking. But this list has some of both. Similar to last year, I especially enjoyed several super high, old, Italian/Piemonte military roads along the French border. Anyway, here are my ten favourite rides of 2016. All ride links include maps, profiles, and more photos than you probably want to see, #1 Colle Fauniera & l’Altopiano della Gardetta Colle Fauniera is the 5th highest paved road in Italy. Mountain Higher author Daniel Friebe described Fauniera…

Lately, I’ve been enjoying some good “photo shoots.” As happens here in November/December, most days have been overcast, dank, and miserable down low. But higher nothing but glorious sunshine. Last week I had fun with sunset photos as well as cycling-above-the-clouds photos, which then inspired me to try and combine the two. First, the inspiration: Behind where I live the roads go up steeply, and just a few minutes away there are some nice spots for sunset pics. Separately, higher up, Mont Salève offers endless views above the clouds of the Jura mountains, the Alps, etc. Last weekend, exploring off-road…

It’s not ski season yet! A very fun ride up the super steep (paved) Col des Annes, then an unpaved traverse through some Le Grand Bornand ski slopes into the next valley, and finally a quick dash up the currently closed Col de la Colombière. Beyond dressing appropriately, the best advice for cycling in the Alps in winter? Pick south/west facing climbs (low sun means dark/cold north-facing roads), wait for a sunny day, and no recent snow. Col des Annes is one of the highest paved roads in Haute Savoie (1721 metres) – the super high north French Alps stuff…

Mont Salève is my home mountain, I cycle it a lot without usually posting, but I was pleased with today’s photos. 🙂 We are in the time of year where it is often dark, overcast, and depressing down low. But sometimes it is possible to cycle above the clouds into glorious sunshine. I am lucky enough to live at the foot of Mont Salève. So I headed up, soon entering the clouds: After a long, great climb through some woods the route reaches a lookout with the first peek at Alpine peaks. I was in no rush and would leave…