Author: Will

The Critérium du Dauphiné week long stage race begins June 5th – official race site here. Of note, is the crazy steep 3.9 kilometre prologue above Les Gets (see profile at left). I know the area very well, but didn’t know the climb. Les Gets is a ski station in Haute Savoie, linked with Morzine. Mont Chéry is above town and covered with ski pistes. This route is basically a freshly paved ski-lift service road (in fact, they were paving it as I visited). Anyway, I was curious. So here is (an admittedly amateurish) video of the climb. Steep !…

Col du Mont Cenis is a mountain pass on the French/Italian border. At the summit is a huge lake created by a dam. From (possibly) Hannibal, to Charlemagne, to Napoleon, to the Tour de France, it has an interesting past. See this post for a brief history: Mont Cenis: From Elephants to Emperors to … Cyclists The Map: Blue route = 3rd way up (described in this post). Red route = Col du Mont Cenis both sides, on main road. Green route = Mont cenis, Petit Mont Cenis and (unpaved) Col du Clapier. I love big beautiful cycling climbs that…

Colle dell’Agnello (Col Agnel in French) is the third highest paved mountain pass in Europe. In the Cottian Alps, the summit is the border between Piemonte, Italy, and the Hautes-Alpes, France. I’ve cycled the French side, But never the very challenging Italian side, and this seemed the perfect time as it was cleared of snow weeks earlier than usual as the Giro d’Italia will cycle it tomorrow. My plan was simple and not too ambitious: Start at Casteldelfino. Ride up, and ride down. I decided against the valley below as it can be busy with fast traffic – and I…

Col de la Croix de Fer is usually the first of the giant Maurienne valley cycling climbs to open after a long winter. So while Iseran, Galibier, Madeleine, and even Glandon are still closed, I dashed off to visit an old favourite. Cycle Route 3549892 – via Bikemap.net Of the five ways up Col de la Croix de Fer – see here – the lower stretch of the direct route from St-Jean-de-Maurienne is perhaps the least interesting. So this challenging loop bypasses it by first visiting the ski station of La Toussuire. In recent years, La Toussuire has hosted several…

The Hautes-Alpes is a department in the central French Alps (the south-east part of the former Dauphiné province). It has a well developed cycling network and is full of very interesting, high, and quiet cycling climbs. In this post you’ll find: A map of all the official signed loops and signed climbs. My five favourite climbs in the department. The 2016 schedule of Col Reservés days (bike-only, no cars). The map below shows information about all the bike routes and signed climbs detailed at the official department cycling site. Specifically: The red tracks are 11 of the 12 departmental signed…

I decided to take my own advice and explore a nearby department after researching signed cycling routes on their official tourist web site. The French department of “Jura” is unsurprisingly in the heart of the Jura mountains. But, don’t confuse it with the entire mountain range. Most of the biggest cycling climbs in the Jura mountains are in the department of l’Ain or in Switzerland. Here is my map with Jura Mountain Cols – click col icons for ride details. Still, the “Jura” has an excellent network of signed road bike routes through hilly, scenic, sparsely populated, quiet roads. There…

France, Switzerland, and Italy are full of signed bike routes. And official/government tourist web sites can provide a wealth of information to cyclo-tourists, including free maps, route ideas, gpx files, lodging ideas, tour operators, etc. Here is an incomplete list of links to official cycling web sites. Note, I am focusing on road biking here, although many of the below links will also lead to very useful mountain biking info. The map outlines the French Departments that I discuss (click on flags for links – or just keep reading below). I’ve also added a few links to Italian regions, as…

A nice loop with the main objective to climb the steeper side of Col de la Ramaz from Taninges. The second part of the ride includes some unplanned col-hunting on an unpaved, snowy road. Stage 20 of the 2016 Tour de France will feature Col de la Ramaz. The stage route will also be used for the Etape du Tour. I reviewed the route in some detail here. But today I was climbing the side that the Tour will descend. I started at the nicely signed climb-summary-sign on the edge of Taninges. I followed the D307 towards Lesgets. This supremely…

I’m very proud of Doreen for completing a 230 kilometre, 3 day loop of southern Bourgogne (Burgundy). Burgundy is full of Voies Vertes (dedicated bike paths), and Voies Bleues (bike paths along-side canals). It’s superb for touring. The official tourist web site is full of route information, maps, gpx files, etc. See here. And the first thing we did when we arrived was walk into a tourist office for a free map (far more detailed than below). Day 1 – Chalon-sur-Saône to Montceau-les-Mines We started in Chalon-sur-Saône (map of our route below), and spent the first day riding along the…

The Parc Regional National du Vercors is a beautiful region for cycling, full of interesting medium mountains cols, cliff roads, and gorgeous gorges. Much of this ride is in the Vercors, but completely isolated from the rest of the Parc by a huge, spectacular ridge — with the Vercors Plateau on the far side — see photos. I have certain rides that I save for perfect weather to better enjoy great views – and this should have been one of them. Oh well, a good excuse to return. For more rides in the Vercors see here. I started in Vif,…