France Alps high cols Sea to Lac

One of the big mountain road bicycling adventures is to ride over the high
passes between the Mediterranean Sea and Lac Leman / Lake Geneva. It's
getting promoted a lot for _driving_ by car or motorcycle as the "Route des
Grandes Alpes", with the turns marked by prominent signs beside the roads --
and even a special paper map for it on sale in shops, and its own website:
www.routedesgrandesalpes.com (see detail of routes further below)

Now I've found advertised on the web, three bicycle tours that are pretty
closely following this officially signed motor vehicle route.

But I don't think it's the best route for most cyclists -- lots more details
below.

My experience is that I climbed all the high passes on a route from Nice +
Menton north to Thonon on Lake Geneva -- but I did not ride them all in a
continuous sequence -- instead I climbed over them as part of loop routes
together with other nearby roads and cols -- during four separate weeks over
three years. I found this "piece-wise" approach rather interesting, often
enjoyable and/or exciting -- no regrets on not having done it "straight
through" -- hope I get to do several of those loops and climbs again.
(Looked to me like at least 85% of the other riders I saw on most of the
climbs were not doing it straight through either.)

Some thoughts on the overall route:

* It's a great route, with great achievements and big views along the way.

* Bicycle versus car: The best cycling route is different from the
"official" car-driving route, I'm convinced.

* Lots of the more fun and pretty riding in the French Alps is _not_ on the
grand route over the high cols.

* The paved roads with the closest biggest views of the highest and most
dramatic mountains are _not_ on the official route.

* Direction: I think the south-to-north direction has more interesting
bicycling. But it seemed like most of the "loaded touring" cyclists I saw
were going north-to-south -- I suspect because the passes in the north are
lower for acclimatization, and because if they finish early they prefer to
spend their extra days near sandy beaches.

I think a better base for planning a Sea to Lac _cycling_ route over the
high passes is http://www.chez.com/bikeevasion/alpes.htm

Below are some comments about alternatives for specific sections -- and a
sequence List of cols.

Ken
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Specific sections (south to north):

* Col de Turini? It's the obvious southern-most high pass (1604m), it's on
the official car route -- but lots of bicycle routes and tours skip it (one
alternative is below under "List of cols"). My memory is that I did not find
the climbing to Turini all that interesting, and the descent to the west
felt too steep to be much fun for me.

* Col de la Cayolle? versus Bonette + Restefond? The official car route
goes over Cayolle (with Couillole + Valberg). Cayolle is supposed to be much
more scenic, but I found that it had _lots_ of rough pavement (perhaps it
belongs on some "mountain bikers" grand route?). Also I didn't find the two
east-west connecting passes that interesting. Bonette instead I found had
mostly nice pavement, and the descent of the north side of Bonette +
Restefond was rather fun on that nice pavement. And it strikes me of some
importance to a "Grandes Alpes" route that Bonette is substantially _higher_
than Cayolle.

* Galibier versus Mont Cenis (Susa, Italy)? Tough call. I like Col du Mont
Cenis better because: (a) riding above that big lake up high is special for
the Alps; (b) fewer high-traffic roads taken in the uphill direction, more
in the downhill direction; (c) I like the idea of visiting Italy; (d) it was
rather fun to descend of the east side of Col Montgenevre to reach Susa and
Mont Cenis.

What about the notorious "old military road" (mostly on gravel) in Italy
between Sestriere and Susa? Myself I didn't think the views were worth the
extra labor (versus the valley road thru Oulx). Probably the views would
have seemed more worthwhile in early season with snow, but still that's a
lot of gravel and a lot of extra climbing. (If you like that sort of thing,
also consider Cormet d'Areches instead of Cormet de Roselend.)

* Romme? The official car route puts this col between Colombiere and the
valley city of Cluses. It does have a somewhat pretty view of some distant
mountains to the northeast. But the road between Romme and Cluses is so
steep that the descent was not very fun for me. My very rough estimate is
that it's like 750 meters of climbing at a steepness of at least 9% grade.
It's the only place in the Alps where I saw (south-bound) cyclists walking
their bikes uphill. Though I've never checked it, seems like the D4 might be
worth considering as an alternative, going directly between Le Reposoir and
Sconzier.

* les Gets + Morzine? The official route takes the obvious D902 from Cluses
over the Chatillon pass to Taninges, then over
les Gets to reach the Lac at Thonon-les-Bains. After riding that
north-bound, I then enjoyed more riding the D26 south-bound from Thonon thru
Vailly and Bellevaux over Col de Jambaz (1027m) to Megevette, then (due to a
road closure) the D226 down to the D907 west to near St Geoire, then
continued south on D26. Advantages of Jambaz over Les Gets: (a) better views
of sharp mountains; (b) better views of quiet farm valleys; (c) less
vehicle traffic; (d) higher col, more appropriate for a route that calls
itself
"Grand". (But seems like lots of experienced cyclists prefer a route still
more complicated route with higher cols with Ramaz + Habere-Poche.)

* truly Grand connection between Colombiere and the Lac? It strikes me that
neither of the north-most cols (Les Gets or Jambaz) in the paragraph above
is up to the "Grand" level of most of the route. How could a route called
"Grandes Alpes" fail to include the best and biggest views of Mont Blanc,
the highest mountain in Europe? But I found a road which has better bigger
mountain views than anything on the official route (e.g. the "old road" from
Sallanches south up to Combloux).

Seems to me that adventurous riders seeking a truly "Grand" connection on
its northern end to the Lac should consider trying to figure out it it's
possible to work out a route which finishes with some truly grand views of
the Mont Blanc massif -- possibly using like the Passy - Servoz road to
Chamonix, then over two cols into Switzerland and finish at the east end of
Lac Leman / Lake Geneva. (I'm guessing the main reason the official
car-driving route does not do this is in order to keep the route completely
within the boundaries of France, but I fail to see why a cyclist visitor to
modern Europe needs to be so constrained.)
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List of cols (and some cities) -- south to north:

* start in city of Menton
.. (some cyclists start in Antibes or Nice)
* Col de Turini (from Menton by way of Col de Castillon)
.. (some cyclists) Grasse - Col de la Sine - Col de Bleine - Gorges du
Cians - Col de la Couillole to St Sauveur sur Tinee
* Col St Martin to St Sauveur sur Tinee
* (official driving) Col de la Couillole - Valberg - Col de la Cayolle to
Jausiers
.. (most cyclists) Col de la Bonette (2715m) - optional Cime de Bonette
(2802m) - Restefond to Jausiers
* Col de Vars
* Col d'Izoard to Briancon
* (official driving) Col de Lauteret - Col du Galibier to Lanslevillard
.. (some cyclists) Col de Montgenevre - Italy - Susa / Col du Mont Cenis to
Lanslevillard
* Col de l'Iseran (2764m)
* Cormet de Roselend
* Col des Aravis
* Col de la Colombiere
* (official driving) Romme, then down to Cluses
* Chatillon
* (official driving) Les Gets
.. (some cyclists) Cluses - Araches - Taninges - Pras de Lys - Col de la
Ramaz - Col Jambaz - Col Terramont - Habere-Poche
* finish in city of Thonon-les-Bains

A helpful English-language resource for many of the higher cols is
http://www.grenoblecycling.com
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