OTH French Alps 2011

Day 7 - Provence Ramble

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Our first dinner in Gourdes was excellent. The winning appetizer seemed to an avocado pate with shrimp. The winning main course was dorado "ravioli" which was wonderfully prepared fish between two sheets of thin pasta.

And the stats of our Mt. Ventoux day included a little under 5.5 hrs riding time over 62 miles with 6800' of climbing...worthy of a good dinner.

We were welcomed this morning by the best breakfast spread of our trip (see photos) including scrambled eggs and smoke salmon along with multiple cheese's and breads.

Our final ride was a ramble through the rolling hills of Provence. We headed first towards Menerbes and then to Bonnnieux. Scott, Jeff and Sam did a quick detour to Lacoste where they saw a small but pleasant modern art exhibit in the old castle ruins.

After a quick stop for coffee and cokes we headed into Roussilon for lunch. the lunch winner was the salades des Ocres which as grilled eggplant, mozzarella and peppers on a bed of greens.

We rolled out of Roussilon and headed for the Abbaye de Senanque which requires climbing back up to Gordes, then up a couple of kilometers further before descending to the 12 century abbey (which is still operating). As you can see, Chris and Deepak tried out a little begging for alms.

After a few photos, we climbed back up to our hotel. Those who are leaving early tomorrow broke down and packed their bikes, joining the others later to catch the end of the Tour.

Our mileage for today was 40 miles with 3,100' of climbing but at a leisurely pace. Overall we covered 272 miles in seven days, climbed 36,000' (averaging 5,000' a day) and finished off plenty of bottles of wine, sports gels and water bottles.

Tonight we eat at our hotel which has a two star Guide Michelin restaurant.

I'll probably not post any more as we leave before the crack of dawn to catch our flight. Overall, we've been blessed by good weather, wonderful companionship and an opportunity each day to ride some of France's classic climbs.

Day Six - Mt . Ventoux

One last shot of us riding to Gordes next to the lavender fields

Day Six - Photo additions

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Here are some shots from last night and
today's ride up the Ventoux, our descent to Gordes and shots along the way.

Day Six - Mt. Ventoux

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As Sam, Scott, Deepak and myself sit on the patio of the Bastide de Gordes. It's windy but thankfully today's ride up Mt Ventoux did not have big winds.

We had a great dinner last night in Mazan which between yesterday's lunch and dinner, made the day a clear winner for food.

There are three routes up Mt. Ventoux. Starting from Bedouin is the most common and the one most of our group did. The second is from Malaucene which starts steeply but has "stair steps" of steep and less steep. Howie and Chris did this. It took longer to get to the start. The third is from Sault which is the least steep, roughest and longest.

We are still awaiting Jeff's arrival at the hotel because he's challenged himself to ascend from all three. All power to him but it's a fine line between motivated and .... Fill in the blank.

The rest of us regrouped at Chateau Reynard where the "moonscape" and road to Sault meet. Those who came up from Bedouin had a lunch of omlettes, duck salad and crepes. Howie and Chris went with a ham and cheese and ice cream cone respectively.

We regrouped in Sault where after a very short climb we descended for about 29 kilometers to Gordes where we had a three kilometers climb into this hill town. Most of today's photos will follow shortly in another post.

Day Five - Alp d'Huez

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Towards late afternoon yesterday, the rain began to break. By the time the stage of the Tour was finished along with some beer, wine and French fries, the sun was peeking through.

After a not too special dinner in our not too special hotel (photo included - quaint on the outside), we woke to what Kodak used to call "cloudy bright". Dial in a chilly temperature to remind us we're in the Alps and we prepared to ascend Alp d'Huez.

Alp d'Huez has been in the Tour de France more than any other climb. It consists of 21 turns that zig back and forth up the face of the mountain overlooking Bourg d'Oisan. Each turn is numbered so you have constant countdown as you climb.

The grade is pretty consistent at ~10%. The summit is a large ski village that in the summer caters to cyclists. The Tour riders do it in less than 40 minutes, strong riders aim to break an hour and the rest of mortals take longer.

Shortly after we arrived, the lead riders in a local amateur race began to arrive. As we donned jackets and arm warmers for the descent back to Bourg d'Oisan, the back of the race group was still climbing.

We showered and walked into town for lunch before heading to the Giant of Provence: Mt. Ventoux. Our lunch was an unexpected delight. We stumbled into a little cafe that had terrific salads and plats du jour. (The seafood salad is included in today's photo gallery.) Clearly the culinary highlight of the trip so far.

Today's ride began with a little warm up plus the ascent and descent of Alpp d'Huez for a total of 2.5 hours with 3,750' climbing over 24.5 miles. A day of straight up and down.

I'm writing as we drive to Provence and the temperature is rapidly rising.

Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be in the 90's but hopefully the legendary Mistral winds won't be too bad.

Day Four - Col du Telegraphe + Col Du Galibier

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We woke up to the sound of tires on wet roads outside our hotel. It wasn't raining at the start but the skies suggested that wouldn't last.

Today's schedule had us climbing the Col du Telegraphe to the town of Valloire where we would ascend up and over the Col du Galibier and descend into Bourg d'Oisan.

After a quick 13k, we arrived at the base of the Telegraphe. The climb stays in the trees and summits about 6k before Valloire. it's a nice climb with plenty of challenge but it also is shorted than many. At the top, folks refueled and traded clothes to get warm and we headed downhill into Valloire.

The descent didn't take long but it quickly got wetter. With the exception of Jeff, Howie and Chris, guys decided to forgo the climb up Galibier and jump in the van and head straight to Bourg d'Oisan.

Howie and Chris headed to a local patisserie to refuel on something other than GU and bars. Jeff, as usual, was gone in a heartbeat.

Our hotel in Bourg d'Oisan can best be described as slightly below the average college dorm. It's virtue is that it's 5 minutes from the base of Alp d'Huez, tomorrow's climb. One could argue it caters to cyclists is a plus but that would be stretching it. Still this is a guys trip and it's just one night. The alternative, Les Deux Alps, has more choices but would add a bunch of time getting to Alp d'Huez.

The ride up the Galibier started with steady rain but quickly calmed down. Unlike other cols, this side of the Galibier has many straight sections that rise anywhere from 5-9%.

Closer to the summit the grade rises to 10-11% where we were met with some hail as well as rain. It sounds a lot worse than it was -- the climb itself presents most of the challenge.

At the top Howie chose to descend rather than get in the van as Chris and Jeff did. We followed him down and shortly after the turn at Lautaret with traffic, rain and wind, Howie joined us in the van. It's tough to enjoy a big descent in this weather.

We regrouped at the hotel and went to the local bike shop for memorabilia such as jerseys, etc. This was followed by a stop the local bar to watch the end of the Tour.

The ride to the summit of the Galibier took 4 hours, covered 30 miles as we climbed just over 7,000 feet.

Day Three: Croix de Fer/Glandon

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Last night we had a great dinner at a restaurant that specializes in tartare of all sorts - salmon, tuna, scallops, etc. We added wine and carbos to fuel today's ride - a loop out of St Jean de Maurienne.

Ridden clockwise, one ascends the Col de la Croix de Fer and descends the Col du Glandon. The last two kilometers of tune Glandon kick up to 11% so if you go counter clockwise, there's a stiff finish in front of you. Howie and Chris went counter-clockwise up the Glandon while the rest started up the Croix de Fer. We'll leave it to readers to figure out the motivations of any of us.

Since your reporter went up the Glandon, I can tell you it's yet another gorgeous climb through a couple of villages surrounded by meadows and well shaded. The top section is steep but we rode at a pace that left us with plenty of energy to handle it. (any climb can be tough depending how fast you go).

It is 2.5k from the summit of the Glandon to the summit of the Croix de Fer where we met up with those who rode up clockwise. After lunch and drinks, each group continued their respective downhill back to St. Jean de Maurienne. It took 4 hours, over 5,600' climbing over 40 miles.

Photos today include some shots from last night's dinner, Deepak with the Queen of the Mountains, and a group shot atop the Croix de Fer.

Stats of the day-Col de la Madeleine

Todays ride took about four hours and climbed about 6,000 ft and covered about 55 miles.

Day Two - Col de la Madeleine

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After discussing in detail the advantages and disadvantages of an early start, adopted for a theoretical 8:30AM wheels up. In practice, this meant actually leaving at 9. It's a function of the first day of real riding, getting everyone's bags to the van and it being vacation.

The ride to the base of the climb was quick and painless. Starting up the Col de la Madeleine, changed that quickly.

Te Madeleine begins weaving through a narrow, shaded road with old iron railings on the side. Fairly quickly the pitch goes up to 8-9%. The vistas through the trees start intermittently but then become more constant as you look ahead and across the Valley.

The day was hot - over 90 towards the end. The climb has a shallow break after the first third and then kicks back up again with stretches of 10%. At the same time the scenery never stops amazing you. After winding through a couple of mountain villages, you ride in the open...as bait.

Bait? Yes there a couple of sections that are policed by large and hungry flies. You can't speed past them so you flinch and slap hoping to deter their interest. The climb kicks again just before the summit.

At the top, several hung around for pizza and beer while three others descended into La Chambre and heading down river to St. Jean de Maurienne for the next two nights. Assorted groups and collections of groups searched for bike jersey souvenirs and beer with more success on the latter.

Jeff, of course, added in some extra climbing miles by going up and back to the Col de Chaussy. However, he forgot to eat before doing so and was last seen with a sandwich in one hand and ice cream in the other sitting on the curb in town!

Dinner & a few more pictures

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Dinner started with carrot cappuccino -not necessarily biker food but was followed by ravioli, fish or veal and desert of which 2 unnamed ordered extra ice cream.

Having figured out how to shrink photos for uploading on my iPad, here are a few more from today.

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