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#11
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favorites in the French Alps?
Sergio wrote
Let me have your address and you will have pictures of it Thanks -- I sent it to you. Ken |
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#12
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favorites in the French Alps?
Tim McNamara wrote
. . . If you stay in Jausiers . . . . . . But I think I liked Bourg-d'Oisans and the Romanche Valley the best. This idea of using a village or city as a base sparks some other possibilities: Modane -- some spectacular rides from near the * Col de l'Iseran up and back (or even across to Val d'Isere?). * bus thru the Tunnel de Frejus to Italy, then ride from Bardonecchia to Susa, then back to France over Col Mont Cenis, thru Lanslebourg back Modane. If I had the strength, I'd add to that a side-loop to that: Col de l'Echelle to Nevache valley (France) then Col Montgenevre back to Italy again. * Col du Galibier up and back by way of St Michel de Maurienne + Col de Telegraphe. * possibly even all the way to Col de la Croix de Fer (perhaps with help from train service between Modane + St Jean de Maurienne), could make a loop with Col du Mollard and St Albiez le Vieux. (see TdF 19 July 2006) (? or with lots of endurance could continue all the way to Bourg d'Oisans?) [ myself I'd choose any of those rides over l'Alpe d'Huez. ] Bourg St Maurice ? but with conditions on some of the rides: * Cormet de Roselend over to Lac de Roselend and back (perhaps add some other climbs around Beaufort and Areches). * Col de l'Iseran -- but I'd only do it with first taking my bike on a bus up to Val d'Isere, and only from there climb Col d'Iseran up and back (or even across to Bonneval-sur-Arc?). I've heard some unfavorable reports of riding from BStM to Val d'Isere -- lots of traffic with some tunnels. * If can tolerate a long stretch (? 8-10 km ?) on gravel, I rode an interesting loop with Cormet de Roselend - Lac de Roselend - (? Col du Pre + village of Areches ?) - Cormet d'Areches - Granier village - Valezan - Montgirod - BStM. * ? Col du Petit St Bernard up and back ? -- high pass into Italy, but I haven't tried it. * ? "Versant du Soleil" bicycle route between Aime + BStM via Granier village - Valezan - Montgirod -- (I much enjoyed the part of it I did) * ? mostly off-road bike path that connects between Seez and Aime Grenoble city lots more ideas for "foothills" riding in the northern French Alps: http://www.savoiehautesavoie.com/ima...chure_velo.pdf Ken |
#13
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favorites in the French Alps?
In article
, "Ken Roberts" wrote: Tim McNamara wrote . . . If you stay in Jausiers . . . . . . But I think I liked Bourg-d'Oisans and the Romanche Valley the best. This idea of using a village or city as a base sparks some other possibilities: snip Those sound nice. From Bourg-d'Oisans: Up l'Alpe-d'Huez and then take the D25 out of town to the Col de Sarenne, which has a nice rustic quality and a great descent to the Ferrand valley; then up to the D211a for a spectacular ride along the cliffs above the Romanche Valley overlooking Bourg-d'Oisans. The D211a will bring you back to the road up l'Alpe-d'Huez so you've got a nice descent back into town. A great ride. http://www2.bitstream.net/~timmcn/alps2002-2.html For a grand day out from Bourg-d'Oisans, take the route of Lam Marmotte: up the Col de Croix de Fer, down into the Maurienne Valley, then up the Telegraphe and Galibier, and finally to many kilometers of descending back to Bourg-d'Oisans. Just don't do it when it's nearly 100 degrees F (38 degrees C). I drank 18 water bottles in just over 100 miles in 9 hours; Floyd used 70 a couple days ago on his ride in the mountains at similar temps, and I probably should have too! Although he was going a bit faster than me... If you want to do the full route of La Marmotte, then you'd need to climb l'Alpe-d'Huez at the end. Yikes. http://www2.bitstream.net/~timmcn/alps2002-3.html I didn't have a chance to do the ride from Bourg-d'Oisans to La Berarde and back, but have been told that it's a wonderful ride. There are also a number of other rides in the area that are not usually used in the Tour, so many people have never heard of them. There are probably many places in the Alps where you could establish a base and do luggage-free day rides. The riding there is SO spectacular and the varieties of terrain, geology, microclimate ecology, etc. can keep you fascinated quite endlessly. I've not yet ridden the northern Alps at all and only scratched the surface between Grenoble and Nice. http://www2.bitstream.net/~timmcn/alps2002-1.html |
#14
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favorites in the French Alps?
Ken Roberts wrote: Sergio wrote Let me have your address and you will have pictures of it Thanks -- I sent it to you. So did I, the pictures of Nivolet. Feel free to share with anyone else, if desired. They were taken at the beginning of june, this year. The road was open up to one kilometer from the summit. Sergio Pisa |
#15
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favorites in the French Alps?
I've done an awful lot of the climbs mentioned here in previous years,
France and Italy. Some of the best cycling, however is not in particularly high mountains. Some favourites of mine. The Cele valley (Tributary of Lot). Gorgeous. The Southern side of Verdun Gorge. The Pink Granite Coast, Northern Brittany. The Dordogne area. The Auvergne. |
#16
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favorites in the French Alps?
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#17
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favorites in the French Alps?
Tim McNamara wrote
From Bourg-d'Oisans: Up l'Alpe-d'Huez and then take the D25 out of town to the Col de Sarenne ... Thanks for some other ideas beyond just going up and down l'Alpe d'Huez (which I find over-rated). For a grand day out from Bourg-d'Oisans, take the route of La Marmotte ... Col de Croix de Fer ... Telegraphe and Galibier ... back to Bourg-d'Oisans. I've always thought of doing that in the other direction, but now that you mention it there's a lot to be said for riding all those tunnels (with traffic) thru La Grave back to Bourg d'Oisans in the downhill direction. I didn't have a chance to do the ride from Bourg-d'Oisans to La Berarde and back I once rode in a car after a premature end to a multi-day ski tour thru the Ecrins -- seemed pretty intimidating -- very steep-sided valley staring down a long ways to the side of the road. And fairly intimidating mountains above the road. One idea I do _not_ like is riding the main road up from Grenoble to Bourg d'Oisans. Ken |
#18
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favorites in the French Alps?
In article ,
"Ken Roberts" wrote: Tim McNamara wrote From Bourg-d'Oisans: Up l'Alpe-d'Huez and then take the D25 out of town to the Col de Sarenne ... Thanks for some other ideas beyond just going up and down l'Alpe d'Huez (which I find over-rated). There are several alternatives, including a sheep trail ride towards Croix de Fer, although I didn't check that out at all. There's a route sketched out somewhere on the Internet, maybe on the Rough Stuff Fellowship Web site. I thought the Sarenne was wonderful, including seeing a house built against a barn-sized tumulus that looks as though the rock came rolling down and bumped into the back of the house. Probably the house was sited that way to offer some avalanche protection. For a grand day out from Bourg-d'Oisans, take the route of La Marmotte ... Col de Croix de Fer ... Telegraphe and Galibier ... back to Bourg-d'Oisans. I've always thought of doing that in the other direction, but now that you mention it there's a lot to be said for riding all those tunnels (with traffic) thru La Grave back to Bourg d'Oisans in the downhill direction. It's almost completely downhill from the summit of the Galiber to Bourg-d'Oisans. There's only one or two very brief rises in that direction. That's why I picked that direction. OTOH, the ride up the Telegraphe and the Galibier is harder from St. Michael de Maurienne than riding up the Lauteret and then Galibier IMHO. Going the other way, up the Lauteret/Galibier and coming down Croix de Fer/Glandon, means riding up a false flat from Rochetaillee back to Bourg-d'Oisans. Yuck. I didn't have a chance to do the ride from Bourg-d'Oisans to La Berarde and back I once rode in a car after a premature end to a multi-day ski tour thru the Ecrins -- seemed pretty intimidating -- very steep-sided valley staring down a long ways to the side of the road. And fairly intimidating mountains above the road. One idea I do _not_ like is riding the main road up from Grenoble to Bourg d'Oisans. Getting out of Grenoble is not great but not that bad, certainly compared to most American city riding. Lots of one way streets going the wrong way. As I recall we took the D5 from Grenoble to Vizille and they joined the main highway. The main road is the busiest in the Alps, I have read, but at least at the time of day we were riding (mid morning) it wasn't too bad at all. We found that French drivers readily accommodated cyclists (although they have no mercy towards each other). Riding from Grenoble through Rochetaillee to Bourg-d'Oisans gives you a visually beautiful introduction to the Alps and the Romanche Valley. It's really dramatic. However, it feels like quite a slog due to being a false flat practically all the way from Vizille to Bourg-d'Oisans. |
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