Author: Will

Le Semnoz is the big massif along the north-west side of Lake Annecy. The summit, Crêt de Châtillon (1655 metres), is the highest paved road near Annecy. It’s another of my late winter favourite climbs. The summit is a small ski station. My route – see map at bottom – climbed the south side via St- Eustache and Col de Leschaux. This is easily my favourite way up. I would descend the shorter, steeper, busier, (more famous but less scenic) direct route to Annecy. See here for five paved routes up Le Semnoz, plus a mountain bike route to the…

I like this loop on a late winter day when it’s been sunny for a while – so the roads are fully ice free. It starts near Annecy following the Annecy bike path along the west side of the lake. Scenic and flat, so a good way to warm up. A local fisherman was having fun too in the morning haze: I followed the bike path all the way to Marlens (see bottom of post for a route map). Note, the bike path goes all the way to Albertville – see here. The village of Marlens is beside the bike…

A hilly but not too difficult little loop in the French Juras. Col de Richemond and Col de Cuvery are in the same massif as the much tougher and more famous Col de la Biche and Col du Grand Colombier. It’s been sunny and warm enough that the roads were clear and a road bike was fine. As usual in the Juras, even these relatively main roads are very quiet. I usually do this loop in the opposite direction, so for a change I started with Richemond. I climbed the side that Thomas Voeckler descended to win a stage in…

This has become one of my favourite annual traditions – the 5th straight year. Bike up one of the great climbs of the north French Alps and cross-country ski at the summit. It’s surprising that they often keep the famous Samoëns side of Col de Joux Plane open in winter. But it gets lots of sun and the cross-country skiing at the summit is beautiful. The Morzine side of Joux Plane will be closed probably until May. It’s a ski slope. Fermé? Don’t believe every sign you read: I always wait until there have been a few consecutive days of…

Happy winter. Cycling can be difficult when the snow arrives, although on a sunny, dry day – an open climb can be too much fun. I’ve been enjoying the season with a mix of cycling and skate cross-country skiing. For me, no sport gets my heart-rate as high and for as long as a session of skate skiing in the Alps. So no new rides to report yet in 2019 but I’ve been successfully losing a little weight while having some cold weather fun. Frankly, I’ll do anything to avoid an indoor trainer. 🙂 Here are a few of my…

Happy New Year! Year 15. I appreciate all the support from people last year when I considered ending the website given how the world has moved to social media. But I realised I’d keep writing this blog even with zero readers. Because for me it’s like a personal journal. As in recent years, I expect that 75% of my rides will continue to be on gravel/unpaved roads. I just enjoy the solitude. I’ll also continue to ride a lot more locally than I used to. I am lucky to have so many interesting options from home, including numerous routes up…

I am getting old- On January 1st, 2005 I launched this blog with a New Year’s Resolution to cycle 10,000 kms that year. That’s why this web site was named “Cycling Challenge.” I barely succeeded but had become addicted to riding a bike. 14 years later I still like making New Year resolutions Cycling Challenges as motivation. In the last couple of days I’ve published two articles detailing my favourite rides of 2018: The Ten Best High Alps Road Bike Rides of the Year The Ten Best High Alps Unpaved Rides of the Year Anyway, here’s how I did versus…

Another fun year on the road bike. This list is dominated by a few high Austrian climbs after my first multi-day trip there – but there are also climbs from France, Italy, and Switzerland. Here are my 10 favourite rides. Each includes a link to a detailed blog post including a map. See here for “The Ten Best High Alps Unpaved Rides of the Year.” #1 Kaunertal At 2750 metres, Kaunertal is the 5th highest paved road in the Alps. In Tyrol Austria, just west of the Ötztaler Gletscherstraße, the Kaunertaler Gletscherpanoramastraße was built in 1980 as a ski station…

2018 was another fun year for getting high on unpaved Alpine roads. Here are my 10 favourite rides. Each includes a link to a detailed blog post including a map. See here for an overview map of big Alps mountain bike / gravel climbs from all years. See here for “The Ten Best High Alps Road Bike Rides of the Year.” #1 Passo dello Stelvio Unpaved This was an easy top choice. Forty kilometres from Bormio to the Cima Garibaldi just above Passo dello Stelvio via four mountain passes (one even higher than Stelvio). The last 26 kilometres completely unpaved.…

I am no expert on cycling in Austria but it’s full of high, often very steep, beautiful climbs. Similar to Switzerland, there are lots of climbs to high alpine lakes/dams – always extra beautiful. Here’s a map with most of the highest paved climbs in the country. Red icons: Climbs I have done (details of each below map). They are all very high and highly recommended. Orange icons: Climbs above 2000 metres that I’ve yet to ride. Green icons: Climbs between 1500 and 2000 metres that I’ve yet to ride. This list is only for paved climbs. I used the…