Saturday, June 13, 2009 – Col d’Glandon
Chambre to Bourg d’Oisians
Early start this morning – 6:15 a.m. Negotiated several low traffic roundabouts getting out of town, and then as Tony promised, about one mile into the ride, the climbing began. At first we are climbing through shady forested landscape. I took my mind off the climbing by talking to the beautiful brown and white cows that glanced my way as I pedaled at a crawl up the road. Ed is falling farther back so I wait. Where the heck is he? Finally, I turned around where it was not so steep and pedaled back. Finally I saw Ed and noticed that John N. was with him……not to worry. So I turned around and continued to climb. One switchback and then another……and another, and another. You get the point. This was getting tough! Was this climbing ever going to end? It was getting hot. I HATE climbing!! But, I knew this trip was in the Alps…..can’t blame anyone but myself for not being in shape. One pedal stroke, another……stop and rest a few seconds, pedal, stop again, pedal, stop. At times I am spurred on by the encouragement of French riders…..in French one of the passing riders said, “Col d’Glandon, challenging (in French but I understood), heh?” Got that right! One rider warned Ed as he was passing, “The last 2 kilometers, very mean!”
Okay, now this is seriously getting hard. It’s time to dismount and hike-a-bike. Ah, so much easier. Signage indicates I have 3 kilometers to go…..okay, let’s see, not quite 2 miles…..I can walk! And, I did. I am greeted at the top by Tony and Jean and then the others who have enjoyed their 1 ½ hour lunch just on the other side of the Col d’Glandon summit. John Nerness arrives……he offered to carry some of Ed’s gear and seemed to be looking after him (thank-you John), and then Ed arrives. Whoopee!!
At the summit restaurant Jim had recommended we order a Coke…..he said that it was the best tasting Coke in France…..and we agreed!!! I ordered spaghetti bolognaise and it arrived with a raw egg in half a shell….lovely to look at. The spaghetti was delish!
Did I mention how much I dislike extreme descents…….but I was so done with climbing that I just hung onto the handlebars and brakes and headed downhill, on the other side of the Col d’Glandon. But, what is this I see ahead at the river bottom……what, the sign says 12% grade uphill! I have no legs for this. A bump in the road as the roadies call these nasty climbs! So, off the saddle again. I enjoy the scenery as I hike up the grade…..so beautiful! We ride scenic rollers into Bourg d’Oisans…..I am praying for nothing more than 10%. Back home I avoid anything over 6% if I can. Now I am happy to do 10%. Arrived in B d’O around 5:30 p.m. On the ride through town to the hotel I notice a bus station. My mind is clicking and hatching Plan B.
Judy and Chris, who are English and Scottish, own the Cascade hotel where we stay for the next three nights. Chris prepared a delicious beef bourguignon dinner for the group tonight.
Helen’s cyclometer: 40.22 miles; 5436 ft climbing
Sunday, June 14, 2009 – L’Alpe d’Huez or Rest Day
Bourg d’Oisans
Let's see.....rest or climb L'Alpe d'Huez......REST, and not embarrassed to admit it! I know, the Ad'H is legendary, but we will enjoy it vicariously through the others. The group, minus Ed and I, head out to do the famous climb. Our hotel is situated on the outskirts of town so we decide to ride our bicycles into town. Near the river we see Jerry who had decided that he would start the climb up the Alpe d’Huez with the others but would turn around when he felt like it. He rode to the #21 switchback and saw the next steep pitch and turned around. The Alpe d’Huez has 21 switchbacks, with the #1 switchback at the top.
We locate a bicycle shop where Ed inquires about some locking nuts for his fender. The shop owner gives him some nuts and Jerry spies and buys a fluorescent orange jacket that is just his color and offered at a reasonable price. The mechanic recommends a cafe to buy sandwiches so after purchasing our sandwiches we head to the river. We are joined by ducks and pigeons looking for offerings. They were not disappointed. The baguettes were huge and more bread than we wanted or needed. We begin some preliminary discussions about another way out of town other than bicycling in order to avoid the next two days of climbing (apologies to all the ACTC ultra distance riders and serious Billy Goat riders) and discuss the bus schedule with staff at the tourist information center. It appeared that the bus required 24 to 48 advance reservations but we learned that advance reservations are required only on week-ends. Perfect!
On our way through town we see the Alpe d’Huez group enjoying lunch at an outdoor café . We order cold beers and enjoy hearing about their climb. All seemed to very much enjoy the climb while we enjoyed our day by the river.
Spaghetti dinner at the hotel and wonderful salad. Chris is a super chef and the presentation of his dinners is very appealing. We are still adjusting to late dinners. Tony discusses the ride on Tuesday. Not sure whether one of the tunnels will be open, this may mean climbing back up and taking a longer alternate route. As it is, the ride will climb up the mountain pass we rode down on Saturday and then up the Croix d’Fer to St. Georges. We mentioned to Tony that we had checked out the bus schedule and knew that there was a bus from B d’O to Briancon, his destination in two days time. It was our plan to take the bus to Briancon and wait there for the group to join us after their two days of climbing. After considering the options, Jerry indicated that was his plan as well.
Monday, June 15, 2009 – Rest Day & Finalizing Plan B (the escape route)
Bourg d’Oisans to Venosc and Back
Jerry, Helen, Ed, Paul, and John M. decide to ride to the alpine village of Venosc, about 8 miles outside of B d’O. The others decide to give their climbing legs a rest by walking into town. The ride out is uphill, along the river. It’s a warm day and riding along the river in the heat creates a sauna affect. Venosc is a quaint little alpine village that perks up during the peak summer holiday months, but this time of year all we found available was a squat WC and free drinking water. However, the view of several waterfalls was awesome and the quaint village appealing. Several large groups of bicyclists passed us both coming and going so this is obviously a popular route that continues beyond Venosc.
Later we rode to the bus station and after checking with the attendant learned that we could purchase our bus tickets to Briancon on Tuesday for 15 Euros/person; 10 Euros/bicycle. The bus leaves for Briancon at 6:50 p.m. and scheduled to arrive around 9:00 p.m. Done deal!
Chris prepared a lovely salmon dinner for the group. We will miss his wonderful dinners.
Helen’s cyclometer: 18.41 miles; 1169 ft. climbing
Tuesday, June 16, 2009 – Bus Ride and Bad News
Bourg d’Oisans to Briancon
Today, all except Helen, Ed and Jerry are headed up the reverse side of col d’Glandon, up col Croix d’Fer, up col d’Mollard to St. Georges. Jerry and I watched them as they rolled out at 6:30 a.m. (Ed was sleeping in) on a nice cool morning….perfect for climbing. We whiled away the day sipping coffee, packing, and seeking out breakfast at a downtown bakery. Enjoyed pizza and beer for lunch at an outdoor café and sat by the river filling out postcards and updating my paper journal.
The hotel held our panniers for us so when we got ready to head to the bus station we rode back to the hotel, picked up our panniers and moseyed over to the station. Jerry was able to connect to WiFi just outside the station and learned from an e-mail from John M. that John N. had an accident descending the col croix d’fer and was taken by ambulance to the hospital in St. George. Apparently John N. had a braze-on break causing his front rack to go into the spokes of his front wheel and sending him over the handlebar.
While waiting for our bus to Briancon we notice that riders are catching a bus to the summit of Alpe d’Huez with their bicycles. Heck, maybe we could have claimed to have ridden the Ad’H if we had taken a bus to the top and ridden our bicycles down today instead of killing time all day long.
Lucky us…..the bus had room in cargo for only three bicycles and no other bicyclists were boarding....Yippee!
The bus ride to Briancon was very scenic, cliff hanging ledges, waterfalls, tall steeples, twisty roads. We saw numerous bicyclists riding along this route which had very little shoulder in many places and many long and dark tunnels. This was the alternate route for those who didn’t want to climb the big cols. We noticed where Tony and the group would be joining this route into Briancon in two days time. They would be in for a very long nice descent into Briancon which should be very welcomed after all the climbing they will have done.
After disembarking and gathering our bicycles and gear we put on outer layers, turned on our lights, and set out for the hotel, which was within a mile of the bus station. We didn't really need the lights to see as sundown doesn't occur until 9:30 p.m. But, the lights alert the traffic that we are sharing the road. Jerry’s GPS set the course. The hotel was situated high on a hill and we knew we didn’t want to overshoot it on the ride down as we didn’t want to have to climb up the steep street (we go to great effort to avoid unnecessary climbs). We came within a 100 ft. so had to walk up just a short distance. It was nice to be in a new location. We enjoyed cold beer on the outdoor patio after checking in; thought about John N., hoping he was okay.
We got word that John N. was being kept in the hospital overnight and expected to be released some time the next morning. If all went well he would be taking a taxi from the hospital to Briancon to join us. We got word that we should look into transportation for John N., which was already being considered as I had looked at the next two days of riding and decided it was still more climbing than I would enjoy. A car seemed to be the best option as it appeared there were no train stations in the next couple of upcoming overnight towns and we weren't confident that the small overnight towns would have buses or schedules that would mesh with ours.
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Briancon – Rest Day
Heard from Tony that John N. apparently suffered either a broken or cracked rib but will be able to taxi to Briancon with his crumpled bicycle. Should be released some time this morning. Jerry, Ed, and myself walked up to Old Town and enjoyed exploring the fortress like everyday tourists. When we returned we noticed John N.’s bike in the bike garage. The staff indicated that he appeared to be in pretty bad shape.
Ed and Jerry walked down to New Town and located a bicycle shop that had a rack that could carry 3 bicycles in the event that we can rent a car. With the assistance of helpful English/French speaking hotel staff we learned that there were no car rental businesses in Briancon willing to provide one-way rental cars or did not want to rent cars to non-Briancon residents. The hotel staff offered to call the larger town of Gap to see what they could provide. Hertz in Gap is near the train station. Ed and Jerry picked up a sandwich for John N. for lunch and we made arrangements with the hotel to prepare him dinner.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Briancon – Another Rest Day
After hotel breakfast we rode our bicycles down to New Town, along the river and out on the main road which would be easier than climbing col d'Izoard. Ed and Jerry(and me, if it meant taking a taxi) were considering bicycling this route out of Briancon as an alternate on Friday. The GPS showed a trail along the river that turned out to be a dirt trail. So we turned around and had the GPS reorient us to paved road. We then rode to the train station and checked out the time schedule to Gap. Decided to catch the 7:55 a.m. train the next day to check on a car rental.
When we returned to the hotel we discovered Jim’s bicycle in the bike garage. We asked about Jim at the reception desk and they said he had arrived about 11:30 a.m. so we assumed he had gotten an early start. Turns out he had decided to forego the remaining climb up the col d’Galibier and the col d’Lautaret. He indicated that the ride on Wednesday was “death defying” along steep narrow rocky trail. John M. later described that same ride as “ungodly”. Boy, were we glad we made the decision to take the bus to Briancon.
The remaining riders arrived and we decided it was easier to walk up the hill to Old Town for dinner instead of climbing the hill from New Town after dinner. While Jean and Tony enjoyed a dinner elsewhere in Old Town the others decided to eat at a café where Jerry, Ed and I had eaten lunch the day before. The special on the menu was andouillette or lasagna. John M. and Jerry ordered the andouillette. This turned out to be another of John M.’s “delightful delectables”. The andouillette was a good sized sausage that had grill marks on it but was served cold. Neither Jerry nor John M. liked the flavor or the fact that it was served cold. Jerry managed to eat his entire sausage, but not enjoying it, and John ate what he could but both agreed that it tasted awful. Later that night I googled Andouillette http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andouillette and learned that they had eaten pig tripe…..a very French dish, an acquired taste. I couldn’t keep from rolling over in laughter! The next morning I asked Jerry if he had ever eaten tripe…..he said he didn’t believe so……well, he’s had tripe now! Couldn’t wait to ask John M. the same question. Lots of laughter over their andouillette specials.
John M. commented that the downhill ride into Briancon ranks among his top 5 all time favorite downhill.
Friday, June 19, 2009
Briancon to Gap and Back – By Train and Automobile
Jerry, Ed and I are up early and walk from the hotel down to the train station to catch the 7:55 a.m. to Gap. I haven’t mentioned that dogs are welcomed everywhere…..in restaurants, stores, and even trains. They appear very cavalier about hopping on and off trains with their owners. We enjoyed our ride to Gap and arrived by 9:00 a.m. Located a nearby bakery for coffee and a pastry. Walked over to Hertz where they had a too small car reserved for us. Ended up with a larger Renault Scenic van…..6-speed, diesel engine. Ed and Jerry took turns driving back to Briancon.
The bicycle shop in Briancon was closed from noon to 2:30 p.m. so parked the car and walked to a café for lunch. Met an interesting English fellow who was riding a fully loaded English Dawes touring bicycle. He was between jobs so had decided to tour on his bicycle for two months and do some hiking. He is trying to avoid climbing large passes but it seemed that he could if he needed or wanted to. After lunch Ed purchased a reasonably priced Thule bicycle rack and we headed back to the hotel.
