French Alps Tour 2003

Alp d'Huez - Turn One

And this is just the middle section of the climb!

What a surprise, a trip to the French Alps for a 60th birthday! Judy outdid herself with this. Cycling heaven for 9 days. I was joined by Eric Evitt, who was doing the trip for his 50th birthday celebration. Eric was a great roommate and inspiration on the ride as he had the wonderful attitude of 'if I am here, I am going to ride every climb I can find on the map!'. We ably represented Team FOG ('fast old guys') travelling several of the major climbs of the Tour d'France including the legendary Alpe d'Huez (more about that later). We spent 9 days with fantastic weather, friendly riding companions, great food, and of course, some of the best cycling possible. The highlight was watching the riders came up the road to Alpe d'Huez, being able to cheer them on right from roadside; being a part of the celebration on that amazing mountain with 600,000 other fans.

The Col de Madeleine, Telegraphe, Galibier, I'zoard, Leuteret, and the Alp d'Huez! Almost all the major climbs of the Tour d'France, at my feet (or at my wheels as it were). A fantasy trip if ever there was. We rode nearly 400 miles and climbed over 42,000 feet! (Actually Eric did 472 miles and over 59,000 feet, but then he did win the King of the Mountain jersey).

Here is a link to a Quicktime movie (you can get Quicktime from Apple for free) if you have a fast connection or if you have a lot of patience - it may take up to an hour to download at 56kps. It is Race Day at Alpe d'Huez! It should open in a smallQuicktime window. Because of the low resolution, I don't recommend enlarging the window :).

I have also included a few links along the way to Tour information, I hope they are helpful and enjoyable.
Here's one on everything you need to know about the Tour de France (well, almost!)

[click on any of the images below to see a larger version, use your 'back' key to come back to this page]

And now, on to the ride!

I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport at 9:40 am on Friday July 4th. Overcast and warm, getting even warmer as the day wore on. I trucked backpack and cycle case around and around finally finding my way to the shuttle bus to the Hotel Ibis. Eric was there when I got there and Scott and Vicki showed up with the minivan minutes later. Putting 4 cycle cases in the minivan (operative word is "mini") was a neat trick but we finally did it and then spent the next two hours in Paris traffic.

Motoring into the Alps, we got a taste of what the next days would bring. High mountains, steep valleys and tiny villages. We arrived at the Hotel Million in Albertville too late for a ride, but early enough to assemble the bikes and find a good dinner. I managed to stay awake until 10:30 and then even managed to sleep until 5:30. The chef (and owner) of the Hotel Million is a cyclist, so breakfasts were wonderful - eggs, cheese, fresh yogurt, lots of croissants and homemade jam.

Our ride didn't 'officially' start until the 7th, which gave Eric and I two days to get used to the hills and the time change. On Saturday (the 5th) we rode to the Col des Saisies, a 4400', 10-mile climb. The start of the climb was about 10 miles from town and we started up a valley immediately on making a left out of town. "Started up" means just that. Upon making that turn, we climbed about 400 feet in the fist mile and a half, and then it was a gently climb up the valley to our turn off to the col. The town of Saisies was founded in 1963 as a winter resort. It is not particularly attractive and is full of tacky children's games, miniature golf, slides, jumping games etc. As we would come to expect (and hungrily anticipate) however, the food was wonderful. I had a chicken liver salad. (Not that I knew that when I ordered it, but it was delicious).

The descent was as glorious as the climb was difficult. We traveled over 15 miles before we had to turn the pedals more than a few times. Then we hit a headwind, but we were still going downhill, so it didn't hurt too much. We were blessed most of the week, since whenever we had a headwind we seemed to be going downhill.

The view from the top.

Albertville sits among steep mountains at the confluence of 4 valleys - three rives joining together and leaving through the 4th valley. The Alps were carved by glaciers and streams and have hundreds of beautiful valleys with steep sides rising up to 10 and 12 thousand feet and more. They are incredible beautiful and rugged, and have tiny villages scattered throughout. On the climbs, we struggled through the villages, enjoying the beauty; on the descents, we flashed through them, feeling like Tour riders racing to the start of the next climb. Sometimes we sat at the cafe, enjoying our Cafe e creme or un pression.

This morning, (July 6th) Eric and I embarked on what was advertised as a 45 mile over three passes. It turned out to be 67 miles but very beautiful. The first climb started right in Albertville, the Col de Tamie, an 8-mile gentle (7%) 1700' climb with views of Albertville and the several valleys outward, as well as a spectacular view of Mont Blanc from the top of the col. The road alternated between forest and grassy slopes. After a thrilling descent for 11 miles into Faverger, a lunch stop for some, most of the group rode onto the bottom of Lac d'Annecy. The adventuresome among us (although they didn't know they were that until too late) turned off. They didn't notice the triple chevrons or the little 13% notes on the map, but they did a wonderful lunch at the top of the Col de la Forchaz. All but Scott and Vicki of that group headed back to Albertville the way they came after lunch. The intrepid duo followed the rest of the route and got back to the Hotel at about 8:30 - a long day indeed at 87 miles and over 8000' of climbing. The lunch stop did set the stage for the rest of the week since it became de'rigour to temper each climb up to a major col by a two-hour lunch. These are the French Alps after all.

Eric and I opted out of the Forchaz (not because of the steepness - we didn't know any better either) since we didn't want to ride that much distance before the Col de Madeleine the next day. We rode along side the very beautiful Lac De Annecy for a while and turned west towards Entrevernes along the D10. The lake (1500') was stunning; a calm cobalt surface reflected the high peaks around it. We turned off earlier than planned as the bike path we were on veered away from the lake and became tedious. Our alternate route climbed up into open countryside behind a ridge running parallel to the lake. Then a right turn took us up even more sharply to the D912 to St. Eustach and the Col de Leschaux at 3000'. The route descended past villages into Le Pont where we turned onto the D911, climbed out of a little river valley into pasture and farm land. Just outside of Ecole we were stopped by a gendarme who, with the help of an also stopped motorist, told us there was a funeral in the town and that cars had to wait until it was over. We could ride our bikes into town, but had to walk them past the service.

We rode into the village and stopped at the main square. The funeral was for a local military hero with flags, rifle honor guard and a six-piece brass band (which finished with a solo trumpet rendition of the Marseille). The service was on the square in front of the church. We listened to three elderly men read stirring testaments and watched the honor guard present arms before leading a procession to the cemetery just outside of town.

From Ecole, we climbed up to the Col de Freine at 3200'. The road down the other side dropped down to the Isere River and then to Albertville. Dropped down literally - it came down the side of a cliff, dropping 1600' in less than 3 miles. How did they build these roads? Why did they build these roads? It was an exciting descent, with views straight down the cliff side every so often. The hotel was a welcome sight, even if we did miss the end of that day's stage race. Dinner was wonderful (once again) with a killer desert.