A Shop Owner in France, Finale
We return once again to find our hero, Andrew, continuing his journey through the french alps…
*note- due to the length of the write-up, you will have to click on the link below to read the whole piece!
Day 3:
On Day 3, we awoke in Les Hieres to 40 degrees, pouring rain and sub-100 meter visibility. Our gregarious host, Kurt, was unworried, cooking a killer pancake breakfast and planning the day’s itinerary after consulting the French weather gods (aka MeteoCiel). We threw our bikes on his Thule racks and our grupetto sped off a start about 1.5 hours northwest of Les Hieres, on the opposite side of Grenoble.
The region, which surrounds the Parc Naturel Regional du Vercors is, aptly known as ‘the Vercors’. Our ride started in the town of Pont-en-Royans, which seem very proud of its aquatic natural resources with a musee de l’eau prominently advertised as a main attraction.
Pont-en-Royans is situated spectacularly at the base of a mass of limestone cliffs that mark the edge of an expansive plateau, where a river exits to the broad valley below. The ride began with a relatively mellow climb up to the plateau, albeit one that would grind on for 45 minutes or so, and included a claustrophobia-inducing 1700m tunnel.
While the roads in the High Alps are a testament to French engineering, those in the Vercors pay homage to brute force. There are a few tunnels in Alps, but here, most of the roads head directly through the rock faces — likely because there is simply no way around them. It’s clear that the forefathers of this region perfected their dynamiting and stone cutting skills as their independent spirit led them to do things their own way. It’s not surprising, then, that this area was a crucial part of the French Resistance in WWII — in fact the Free Republic of Vercors was the first territory to declare its independence from German occupation in 1944.
The climb leveled off onto the plateau, revealing views unlike anything else we experienced on the trip. Photos just don’t do the plateau justice; it is ringed by cliffs and crags, the rocky earth jutting out around it. Agriculture is the main way of life around here and activities like fishing and cross-country skiing are prominently promoted. As seems to be the trend in this part of France (and possibly the country over), great cycle routes are peppered with picturesque hamlets, each with its own charms. We punctuated the ride with an espresso stop at an empty hotel café, and snacked on a few Lion bars for good measure.
Further along our exploration of the plateau, we encountered some unexpected road closures that redirected us a bit and cut a few kilometers off our intended route. The detours led us down a road that followed the river as it cut down a canyon – literally – on its way back through Pont-en-Royans.
The ride, at about 3 hours in length, was the shortest of the trip (not counting our jaunt up the Alpe d’Huez on the first evening), however, its balance of climbing difficulty, pace, coffee, vistas, and adrenaline pumping descents made it stand out as a highlight.
Total Distance: 56k
Total Ascent: 1050 m
Route: http://beta.mapmyride.com/routes/detail/23234874/
Day 4:
Rain, cold, and poor visibility continued through the night and into our fourth day. MeteoCiel was not optimistic about a single ray sunshine in the Alps until day 5, so we drove 120k north of Les Hieres to Saint-Jean-d’Arvey in the region of the Savoie. Thanks to lingering jetlag, a few too many cocktails the night before and our penchant for lazy mornings, we found ourselves yet again with some time constraints – nightfall was only 6 hours away – we didn’t have any time to waste.
Also, it’s worth pointing out that if there’s one thing that we learned on our trip (besides that Larry Page and Sergey Brin don’t know s**t about distances in france) it’s that the Alpine trifecta of the Vercors, Chartreuse, and Alps proper are NEVER flat — no junk miles here kids — it’s either up or down.
We started with a quick descent to a river before an immediate climb up an unnamed Col. (thanks Google Maps, though maybe we shouldn’t be so hard on them. Perhaps the monks in the Chartreuse were the ones providing the map data, drunk on the Green Nectar for which they are internationally famous). We were expecting a speedy, rolling ride north to Lac d’Annecy, but the Savoie region’s alpine terrain disagreed and 40 minutes later we were finally descending again.
By now, we had knowledge of the French retail schedule (i.e opening and closing hours are inconsistent and arbitrary, especially during the “strike month” of September) so we made an early stop for food while something was still open.
The local Carrefour provided some tasty pre-made sandwiches and enough stinky fromage de chevre to temporarily satiate us, while Tom downed an entire Chocolat Yop!, something he would pay for on the rest of the ride. Collectively, thought the lunch was enough to power us up another 900m’s of climbing before the route led us down to what felt like sea level and around the touristy but beautiful Lac d’Annecy. Once in Annecy proper, and about 3½ hours into the ride, we would make a hard left to the base of the day’s big challenge: Le Semnoz.
The climb up the Semnoz was on our radar as the highlight and most challenging part of the day. However, the length and pitch of this monster took us by surprise. Though signed as 18k, the Col topped out closer to 22k from its base at the lake Annecy, and afforded some spectacular, if chilly, views of the valley and lake below, as well as the evening sun reflecting off of the cliff on the other side of the lake.
We bundled up and headed down off the east side of the mountain for a very fast descent to the valley floor below. We knew we still had a good quantity of kilometers ahead of us, though the exact number and profile seemed like they were a bit off (thanks Google!). It was best we didn’t know our exact fate, as darkness found us slogging up the last climb of the day, which seemed 2-3 times longer than anticipated (notice a trend?). Tom commented that the final 600m of hurt was especially intense after a full day in the saddle. But, the great thing about climbing mountains is the pleasure of going back down them.
Tonight there was an added element of fun: it was now pitch dark. Screaming down a foreign mountain pass cloaked in darkness with only a single red Knog light between us added some excitement to our journey, one we hoped wouldn’t end with one of us plastered on the bonnet of an oncoming Renault. Tired, cold, and hungry, we limped back to the car, only to discover that our host was whipping up another tasty meal for our return to Les Hieres. Kurt was beyond a good sport about us arriving at 10pm, having bitten off a bit more than we thought we realized on another fine day of riding.
Total Distance: 134 k
Total Ascent: 2700(+) meters
Route: http://beta.mapmyride.com/routes/detail/23190732/
Day 5:
Our final day in the Alps saw us following Kurt up one another key Tour de France climb, the Col d’Izoard (to be included in the 2011 running of the race).
With his immense local knowledge we had high expecatations for his “favorite ride in the Alps,” and the day didn’t disappoint. The loop departs about 45k south of Les Hieres, in the town of Briancon. heading west and tackling the famous climb towards the end of the ride. Though relatively close to Les Hieres, the terroir here is much drier, affording mountain views that were starkly different, and Ventoux-esque.
We started out with an hour or so of rolling and downhill terrain as the sun, unencumbered by clouds, quickly warmed the tarmac. Yep, a perfect day: 55 degrees and not a cloud in the sky. After about 30k down the valley, our route turned back towards the mountains. The climb back up in the direction of the Col d’Izoard started innocently, quietly running up alongside what appeared to be a world-class white water rafting river. After 2+ hours in the saddle, we met the turnoff for the road that led up to the summit of the Col d’Izoard.
But first, Kurt announced it was time for lunch, coming through for the team yet again by letting us in on a culinary secret that made a good ride great: a tiny cafe on a back street in the town of Chateau-Ville-Vieille, just below the Chateau Queyras. He knew the menu well, and we followed his recommendation of a salad with goat cheese ravioli, jambon, potato, and honey. When teamed with a fresh espresso, it was a great meal to fuel the day’s upcoming formidable challenge.
We set off from lunch up the remaining 14k to the top of the Col d’Izoard, with grades ranging from 6-11% to the summit at 2360 meters. After an hour and a quarter of climbing, we were rewarded with crisp, clean air, abundant sunlight, and amazing views, with a lunar landscape that recalled Ventoux. The 20K ride back down to Briancon was as exhilarating as promised, and was punctuated by several French cyclists we passed trying to race us downward (guess who won?).
Side note: at the base we encountered a local “street fair,” which, shockingly could just have easily been in New York. Yes, it turns out that bad taste (FBI t-shirts, faux tibetan weaves, etc) and inauthentic street food is universal. Shockingly, we were able to resist the siren song of fried dough and had just enough time to make it home and shower before grabbing some goat cheese and the TGV back to Paris.
Total Distance: 87k
Total Ascent: 1600m
Route: http://beta.mapmyride.com/routes/detail/23234346/
The trip to the French Alps ended on an entirely positive note, though I can’t remember any negative ones… Plans are already in the works for a 2011 version to include a larger group, stay tuned!
Two more notes:
1) The sheer amount of great cycling around is stunning. Whether your on a mountain bike or the road, you could spend several months before even skimming the surface of all of the great rides (the atlas we picked up has nearly 70 cols highlighted in the Alps alone!). The most surprising thing is that while the Alps gets all the love stateside, the Vercors and Chartreuse are equally as enjoyable, staggeringly beautiful and difficult. What they lack in notoriety, they make up for in substance.
2) French Roads are incredible. 60% of French GDP is generated by the government and it’s clear that a whole lot of it goes into maintaining their roads. I’m not sure we encountered a single pothole the entire trip – even on back roads. A grand “chapeau” to the hardworking men and women who make it such a pleasure to be on pavement.