Author: Will

“Ride the Alps” is a series of non-competitive bike days in Switzerland sponsored by Switzerland Tourism and a sporting goods company. Yesterday I attended the “Ride the Alps Vaudoises” day (Vaud is a canton is the western, French-speaking part of Switzerland). See here for more of their upcoming events. The route was a short but scenic 47 kilometre loop reeking of Alain’s local knowledge: tiny paved roads, three cols, avoiding traffic, and beautiful Swiss views. I had never ridden the featured climb: Col de la Pierre de Möelle (1657m), so I was excited to visit. Given the current heat-wave, I…

Col de l’Iseran is the highest paved col in Europe (2764 metres). It’s a beautiful road, but similar to many famous passes along the Route des Grandes Alpes it can suffer from loud summer traffic: motorcyclists love this road. But once a year, the road is closed to motorised traffic. It is tough to explain how quiet and relaxing these car-free days are. See here for almost 100 car-free bike days in 2019. This is our 4th time attending a Col de l’Iseran bike day. It’s just too great an opportunity to pass up. The closures included all the best…

It can be very annoying to drive the Autoroute with me. I keep pointing up and saying “Col du XYZ is up there,” or “look an amazing cliff road over there, ” etc. Recently driving south of Annecy, I realised I knew nothing about the mountain stretch south of Le Semnoz, but just before Mont Revard. Not anymore. WARNING: This ride is mainly gravel up high. Sometimes trails. There is some pushing and one place where I briefly carried the bike. But mostly it is very rideable. The route visits three cols: Golet du Pont (1050m), Col du Pré Bernaud…

Bourg St. Maurice is at the very start of four famous road bike climbs: Col de l’Iseran, Cormet de Roselend, Col du Petit St. Bernard, and Les Arcs 2000). Far lesser known is this great gravel climb. Fort de la Platte (1993 metres) was built in the late 1800s when France and Italy were busy fortifying strategic points along or near their Alpine border (it is also known as Blockhaus de la Platte or Fort des 2000). Today the Fort is private property and the owners make and sell Beaufort and goat cheese there in summer. The cannon platform is…

This is exciting: a beautiful new high Alps paved road (and the top 6 kilometres are closed to motor vehicles). The Trois-Vallées Ski Domaine claims to be the largest in the world. Each of the three valleys features a famous ski station: Courchevel, Méribel, and Val Thorens. They are separated by high mountains covered in ski slopes. The paving of the road to Col de la Loze is a first step to linking all three valleys with a high paved road just for cyclists. Previously, one could road bike above Courchevel until the airport at roughly 2000 metres. The climb…

Many of the great Alps roads owe much of their celebrity to cycling (Stelvio, Gavia, Galibier, Tourmalet, etc). Whereas Col and Lac du Mont Cenis is a famous passage that just happens to occasionally welcome a bike race. This post will map and detail eight rides in this beautiful location high on the French / Italian border: Three road bike options including the best option via a little known alternate Italian route. Four fantastic gravel rides well above the lake. A super-high ride (2850m) that I have never ridden (yet!). The bottom of the post includes some history and fun…

This ride includes the entire paved road up the west side of Col de la Ramaz (map at bottom). But then I would take gravel higher to Col de Sommand. And much of the descent is on very fun unpaved roads/trails. See here for details of the other paved side (south-west) of Col de la Ramaz. And see here for one of the best paved loops in the north French Alps including Ramaz, Col de Joux Plane, and two other cols. The steepest part of the paved climb is in the modern tunnel that replaces an old cliff road roughly…

Another north Alps col has just re-opened after a long winter. This is one of the more famous climbs near to where I live. My plan had been to climb the toughest “third” way via Romme but the route was completely fenced shut. Probably some issues with the fun cliff roads above. No worries, I turned around and rode up the classic north side. It’s a climb of two parts, split by a flattish stretch at Reposoir. The initial 5 or 6 kilometres are not too steep, pleasantly climbing through a forest. After Reposoir, the views open up and the…

Col de la Croix de Fer (Pass of the Iron Cross): The Maurienne Valley has several of the most famous paved climbs in France (Iseran, Galibier, Madeleine, Glandon, Mont Cenis, etc). Usually the first above 2000 metres to open every year is Col de la Croix de Fer (2067m). When I saw that it had just opened I rushed to visit and hope for a snow wall or two. I kept the route simple this time, climbing the direct east side from St. Jean-de-Maurienne (map at bottom), so I could take photos and do little video. I would also visit…

Recently I wrote a 2019 Giro d’Italia Mountains Preview over at Podiumcafe.com. The article includes a ranking-by-difficulty of all the categorised climbs in the 3-week race. The 7th most difficult? Verrogne. It’s a little village in the Val d’Aosta region of Italy above the city of Aosta. I’d never heard of it, so I decided to have a look. I was a touch tired so my ambitions were limited. Just a short loop up and down. I was pleasantly surprised. Super quiet roads and lovely views throughout. It’s a perfect time of year for a climb of this altitude as…