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Eleven days trip in the Alpes, July
1999
24 - 7 - 99, Suze-la-Rousse → Remuzat, 149 km, 2100
m
Suze-la-Rousse – Carpentras – Col de N.D. des Abeilles – Sault
– Col de l'Homme Mort – Sédéron – Saint
Auban-sur-l'Ouvèze – Col de Peyruergue – Col de
Soubeyrand – Remuzat
There we were, a busload of cyclists, at the square in
Suze-la-Rousse, at the cold, windy break of dawn, 5:45 a.m - the
bus being three quarters of an hour before schedule. It took some
time to get the bikes and bags from the interior of the bus, to
munch away the last rolls from Nootdorp, so it was almost 6:30
when I finally set off, alone, for my fifth Tour des Alpes in the
nineties. With the wind blowing from the hoped for (as well as
expected) direction, and the sun slowly rising above the Mont
Ventoux, it didn't take me long to make it to Carpentras, where I
had my first coffee break with pâtisserie, just like
in '94. After that the sun soon started to make it a warm day. I
turned East for a considerable gain in altitude, viz. the Col des
Abeilles, which I had skipped during my last Alpine expedition,
because of tube-problems. The climb was alright - it just took
its time - and the views onto the Mont Ventoux were nice. In
Sault, where it was already quite hot, I had lunch-break on the
doorstep of some shop, with the map on my lap, during which I
decided in the afternoon to take the harder alternative, over the
Col de l'Homme Mort (nice descent there, through lavender hills).
I did my best not to overexert myself, mostly so on the south side
of the Col de Soubeyrand. Around five o'clock I arrived in the
warm (I mean chaleureux), very old gîte (in a three
centuries old building) of Remuzat, with a very friendly couple
of owners. I cooked my own meal, spaghetti á la
André, enjoyed it in the garden, and went to bed in my
'own' room at about ten p.m.
Good start!
25 - 7 - 99, Remuzat → Remuzat, 154 km, 3200 m
Remuzat – Col de Soubeyrand – Col de Peyruergue – Col de Perty
– Laborel – Col de Saint Jean – Laborel – Col du Reychasset –
St. André de Rosans – Col de Palluel – Col de Tourettes
– Col de la Fromagère – Remuzat
Alarm at 6:20 a.m. Breakfast some ten minutes later, alone of
course at that untimely hour. Cool morning. Nevertheless, not yet
halfway up the Col de Soubeyrand I took of my coat – without
getting off my bike (hardly any risk of cars passing by). Nice
climb! The problem of this (Sun)day: where to buy my food? In
Saint Auban I was lucky to find just a little restaurant (which I
hadn't noticed the day before) for a grand café (no
gâteaux though). The road over the Col de Perty was very
quiet, very winding, and very very nice. In Laborel I had planned
to find a small supermarket, which happened to be absent. So I
rode up and down the Col de Saint Jean before I had a
casse-croûte (some spaghetti-with-salad thing) under a big
limetree in Laborel. A short rude climb to the north, an easy
ascent to the Col du Reychasset (with an unexpected fast descent),
and like on the first day I chose the harder alternative,
including both the Col de Tourettes and the Col de la
Fromagère, both with very nice descents. For the last one,
beforehand planned for the third étape, I needed to gain
some courage and refreshment in La Charce, on the sidewalk, as in
that hameau again there was neither shop nor restaurant.
And from the top it was only downhill to Remuzat, where I arrived
'home' before six - with six new entries on my all-times
list of cols ! An hour later:
another selfmade pasta-dish in the garden, another 100 or 200
pages in my book, which I would finish the next morning, to leave
it on the varied bookshelf of the gîte.
26 - 7 - 99, Remuzat → Rambaud, 148 km, 2400 m
Remuzat – La Motte-Calancon – Col du Fays – Valdrôme –
Col de Carabès – Aspremont – le Saix – Col de la
Bassachette – Col d'Espréaux – Vitrolles – Col de
Foureyssasse – la Freissinouse – Gap – Col de la Sentinelle
– Jarjayes – Rambaud
At 7:30 a.m the owner of the gîte was just in time to say
goodbye to the col-storming Dutchman. I rode slowly up the D61 to
Establet, where I turned right to take the very tiny, very silent,
reasonably steep road to the Col du Fays. The only living being I
met on my way to the top was a fox! After the first col of the day
there was hardly a descent, and with the next col it was just the
other way around. In Valdrôme there was a hotel-restaurant,
but it was closed! For this kind of emergency I usually have some
cookies in my bags, and so it happened this sunny morning. The
warm road to the Col de Carabès, quite close to the
sources of the river Drôme, was crowded with lizards. I
didn't want to descend to Serres - which would mean a ride along
the 'red road' (according to the Michelin map), and hoped for a
supermarchée at Aspremont. And . . . . . there was one,
how nice! It was just a (warm) day for 1.5 litre bottle of pops.
After the crossing of another 'red road' I passed five small
passes in the quiet area between the D944 and the N85, three of
which with amazingly barren rocks around them (amazing, since
they are not very high). In Gap, between 4 and 5 p.m., I had my
first coffee since breakfast; how well that tasted! And how nice
to read that the Rabo Bank team had finally won an étape in
the Tour - indeed the final étape. I had some time (and
energy) left to make a small detour via Jarjayes, with quite a
climb to get back to Rambaud (at least as hard as, and certainly
higher than the Col de la Sentinelle). I arrived sort of home in
the gîte d'étape of Rambaud, owned by friendly Mme.
Orcières, where I had stayed three nights in '97. Nice
company at the dinner table, a French family with three young
children; lovely dinner. Only disadvantage: over there dinner time
is (still) 8:30 p.m, so I went directly from table to bed.
27 - 7 - 99, Rambaud → Rambaud, 148 km, 3650 m
Rambaud – Tréchâtel – Col de la Sentinelle –
Remollon – Mont Colombis (!) – Col Lebraut – Chorges – Lac
Saint Apollinaire – Chorges – Col de Moissière – Col de
Manse – Saint Laurent-du-Cros – Col Bayard – Col de Gleize (!)
– Rambaud
Beforehand this had seemed too hard an étape for the fourth
day with three steep climbs, even without the Lac de St.
Apollinaire (which I had only discovered the evening before), but
during the first three days my condition had proved to be super.
In fact one of the main reasons for returning to Rambaud had been
the proximity of the Mont Colombis, whose existence Mr.
Orcières had informed me of in '97. After the Col de la
Sentinelle (with still a lot of RIIS and BOLTS on road) as an
appetizer, it was the first in a five-course dinner. The climb to
the top (really the top) of the Mont Colombis was steep, mostly
around Théux and during the last five km. The view down,
onto the river Durance, was nice, the faraway views were a bit
disappointing, due to a slight haziness. After coffee in
Espinasses I took the D3, first up to the Barrage de
Serre-Ponçon, and then up to the Col Lebraut, for the first
time since thirteen years. In Chorges I decided to turn East, to
go up an extra 600 m to indeed include the climb to the Lac de St.
Apollinaire. The endpoint of the D509 was a bit disappointing too:
the lake was very small, and there was again little panorama to
enjoy. Back (down) in Chorges I left the N94 as quick as possible
for the fourth dish, the second really steep one, the Col de
Moissière. I had to walk for fifty metres when the pavement
was nonexistent in a very steep hairpin bend. After an icecream
in St. Laurent-du-Cros I was ready to attack the Col Bayard, not
being sure yet to include the Col the Gleize as well. I did, and I
have to admit that one was as much as I could take for that day,
it almost 'killed' me in the end. I was in a bit of a hurry too,
seeing the clouds covering more and more of the sky. The descent
from the Col Bayard is steep, the road is wide and well-paved, so
I think I reached my highest speed of the whole trip there. I
did not register the exact value, since I had to be cautious because
of the heavy traffic. I arrived 'home' before the rain set in
(which it only did between eight and nine).
28 - 7 - 99, Rambaud → Menglas (Corps), 161 km, 2750 m
Rambaud – Gap – Montmaur – Col du Festre – Corps – N.D. de
la Salette – Col de l'Holme –
Col de Parquetout – Pont du Drac – Col Accarias – Mens – Col de Mens – Menglas
Clouded morning, but clear enough to take a picture of the
mountain range north of Gap, with the Col de Gleize clearly
visible. A short descent to Gap, a 3 km climb to get out of Gap,
and after that during half an hour a quick even part, before I
turned north for the Col du Festre. At first a wide road, with a
very good surface, and hardly any traffic. Moreover, it was okay
for a change to ride through mountains half or wholly hidden
behind, or in the clouds. On the top it was by far not so cold as
in '97, when it had been pouring with rain between the Col du
Noyer and this one. The villages in the fog on the north side
breathed a special atmosphere. After 65 km I had my first break in
Corps, which was quite late, and well-earned after the climb to
get up from the Barrage de Sautet. Mainstreet in Corps, which is
in fact the N85, is quite touristic. I looked for a seemingly
appropriate restaurant where I could have my coffee, read my
journal, and leave my bags for two hours to go up to N.D. de la
Salette. Nice climb! While riding up I had no idea where the road
above me was leading to, the fog getting thicker and thicker, but
during the last kms it started to clear a bit. There was one
special moment when over the Col de l'Homme through the thin
clouds, the sanctuaire got into view. At the top there was
not much to enjoy for me: it was just a touristic site with
busloads of visitors. So I returned without even unclipping my
shoes. Very soon it was possible to look down and see quite a bit
of the road I had rode up to. Great! In Corps I had my second
coffee (with pie this time). In the meantime the restaurant had
got a different outlook with the many people who had entered for
lunch, so I lingered a moment on the threshold, doubting whether
I was in the right place. I took the N85 to La Mure, and left it
at the earliest possible opportunity - by a road so small that for
a moment I feared I had taken the wrong turn. At Villelonge I
turned right (onto the D212F) to the Col de Parquetout which isn't
indicated on the Michelin map edition 1996/1997, but which I
remembered well from my '94 tour: from the north it's a real
killer, something like 650 m up in 6 km; from the south there is
only one steep kilometer. The last 17 km to Mens have become quite
well-known to me. For instance I wasn't surprised finding
bungee-jumpers on the Pont du Drac, from which, I had been told
on an earlier tour, you can make the highest jump but one in
France. In Mens I found myself a bench near a fountain to sit
myself with my eatables, when shortly after a group of tourists
with a guide arrived: Mummy seemingly interested, Daddy with a
baby on his back looking bored, a couple in their seventies,
supplied with pen and paper, making notes of all the things the
guide (a seventy years old lady herself) told them, and others. I
got all sorts of food from my plastic bag: chocolate, peaches,
yoghurt, cookies, and I felt some of the group were more
interested in me and my plastic bags than in the history of Mens;
I was a curiosity myself. Before I found the gîte (in fact
it was a chambre d'hôte), three km south of Mens, I
couldn't resist the call from the Col the Mens, in a really
unearthly beautiful environment I rode up and down. Dinner was late
again: the cook/owner had had problems with a new recipe!
29 - 7 - 99, Menglas → Die (Abbaye de Valcroissant), 161 km, 2300 m
Menglas – Lalley – Col de la Croix Haute – Col de Grimone –
Valcroissant – Saillans – Col de la Chaudière –
Saillans – Sainte Croix – St. Julien-en-Quint – Col de Marignac
– Die – Valcroissant
For a change I had breakfast with some people, namely the
family of the gîte, Mummy, Daddy, and ten-months old,
lively baby-boy. Very cloudy morning. First the D66, going up,
going down, even passing a col (Col du Banchet), to the N75. Then
the last 4 km to the Col de la Croix-Haute over this N-road,
which in the early morning wasn't too bad. On the south side I had
a moment's whim to follow this road to Nice, but of course I
suppressed it and turned right at the earliest possible
opportunity, the D539 to the Col de Grimone, which isn't very
special around the top, even with the blue sky getting through,
but halfway down the descent the Gorges des Gats are simply
amazing. After the usual coffeebreak, this morning in
Châtillon-en-Diois, I arrived at my sleeping address, at the
end of a tiny road with two very steep km, around noon. I left
almost all my luggage there, including my raincoat, and started
the afternoon part some 15 kg lighter. First an unusually long
even part along the river Drôme to Saillans, with a lot of
signs announcing
Vente et Dégustation, Caves and
Musée de la Clairette (Clairette de Die is the local
champaign). From there, a warm climb, the first half reasonably
hard, to the ('new') Col de la Chaudière. A short rest at
the top, not worth being photographed, a descent without helmet
(that too I had left in the gîte), and the ride along the
Drôme more than halfway back to Die. No luck with
supermarchées, so I tried to extract some energy from an
icecream and a coke in a unsightly restaurant a little before Ste.
Croix. From there I took the nice detour over Saint
Junien-en-Quint to Die. There I bought stuff for another pasta
meal, put it in a box on the luggage carrier, and for the second
time rode the last 4 km to Valcroissant. The road was wet. Two km
before my destination the rain caught me, and as it was right in
the steepest part, I had a ten minutes' shower (my raincoat was
in the gîte!). In the dormitory – this one looked like a
'real' gîte – I met Frederique with his son Marin, who kept
shouting 'Freddy!!', without ever getting his father impatient.
They wanted to make a hike of several days through the Vercors,
but they had been sort of stuck near Die for three days, because
of the risks of thunderstorms. In the evening there was some
thunder and lightning, and Marin indeed completely panicked.
30 - 7 - 99, Valcroissant → la Diat (St. Pierre-de-Chartreuse), 154 km, 2300 m
Valcroissant – Col de Rousset – Col de Proncel – St.
Julien-en-Vercors – Col de Romeyère – la
Rivière – Voreppe – Col de la Placette – Gorges du
Guiers Mort – la Diat – Col de Cucheron – la Diat
After the thunderstorms of the night, the clouds had not yet
disappeared, but they did not form such a thick cover, it seemed,
as the two mornings before. The étape started with its
longest climb: the Col de Rousset, with its very characteristic
route on the map (I think I would recognize it from between a
hundred others). Long, that's what it is, at a steady pace the
road keeps going up, and further and further down you can look.
And when the view down is the deepest, you get into the tunnel, to
find that at the other side the scenery is quite different. After
Vassieux-en-Vercors, where there was an (open) pâtisserie
without a shop-asistant – strange! only after ten minutes someone
arrived; the pastry was excellent, though – after Vassieux, I was
saying, the landscape was a bit Jura-like boring. After La
Chapelle the road down the Grands et Petits Goulets looked
very attractive, but I stuck to my plans and descended to the
Gorges de la Bourne, where I could (again) not resist the urge to
make a picture. The climb to the Col de Romeyère was not
difficult, nor very interesting, but I experienced some enticing
moments during the descent. First the Gorges des Écouges,
where I held a short rest, to make the moments last longer, and
then the sudden change of scenery when I left the gorges: an
amazing vertical view, an amazing road along a phalaise of
four- to five-hundred m. Incredible how they managed to build a
road there, really incredible! I hated to get onto the N532, so I
postponed this unhappy moment to La Rivière, even if it
meant getting lost for a while around Les Monts. The racetrack to
Veury was terrible, the sequel to Voreppe and Saint-Laurent not
much better (warm and until Voreppe very dusty). I was a bit tired
when I started to go up through the Gorges du Guiers Mort. I
learned I had to change my plans for the next étape: the
(steep) road to the Col de la Charmette had not been maintained
for at least five years, and appeared to be closed for traffic
(though a woman of the Forestry Service told me every now and then
cyclists did pass along it). I was lucky to find that the
gîte was one km (of eight per cent) before Saint
Pierre-de-Chartreuse, namely in La Diat. I was warmly welcomed by
the owner. I would be the only guest, she told me, but it was okay
with her when I had dinner with the family, consisting of herself,
her husband, a physician who in his free time (the months around
october and around april) had turned a shed into a very nice
gîte d'étape, and three teenage sons, who arrived
each at their own time. The evening meal was completed by a
delicious dessert: icecream made of the local drink, the
Chartreuse, distilled by the monks of the monastery of the
Chartreuse. And then there were just four hard days that remained
– 'big' question: would I manage another plus que quatre
mille? (The last time I accomplished this, had been in '97,
with a ride from Le Bourg d'Oisans to the Col de la Madeleine and
vice versa.)
31 - 7 - 99, la Diat → la Diat , 135 km, 3350 m
la Diat – Col du Coq – Col de Porte – Col de Cucheron – Gorges
du Guiers Vif – Col de Couz – Col des Egaux – Col de la Cluse
– Entremont-le-Vieux – Col du Granier – Col du Cucheron – la
Diat
The first possibility for an 'over 4000'. Hell of a nice clear
morning, with the moon in the south, and the sun rising – as
usual – from the East. It was great fun attacking the Col du Coq
from the west, even though it was the sole climb where I needed
the smallest (thirty) chainwheel. Nice descent too, with views
back to the col and the Dent de Crolles. After a 'coffee with' in
one of the suburbs of Grenoble I started the second hard climb of
the day, viz. the south side of the Col de Porte. A little before
noon I passed 'my' gîte, and continued over the Cucheron, to
have lunch on a bench in St. Pierre-d'Entremont. In the afternoon
a tour through the northern Chartreuse was on the programme. First
I descended along the Gorges du Guiers Vif, from where I had a
nice view up to the D45 around Corbel. Via the Col de Couz I rode
up to the Col des Égaux, which was no big deal. A few km
later I had a look down onto the D520; picture! Between Corbel and
the Col de la Cluse I was treated to a fugue by Bach from a villa
close by the road. As I was getting tired too, I hesitated a
moment whether I would stop and listen for whatever might follow,
but however beautiful it sounded, I continued my journey. In
Entremont-le-Vieux I turned left and without much ado I reached
the Col du Granier. There, alas, they did not serve hot dishes, so
I had a coffee with a sandwich au jambon. I hesitated
again, whether or not I would descend to Chapareillan to include
the Granier from the east, and this time I did not opt for the
hard way, so no 'over 4000' this day. Getting back to the
gîte was easy, with just the Cucheron in between. I arrived
'home' around five, meeting a charming French girl, about my age,
who was making a randonnée á pied through the
Chartreuse, just by herself. We chattered away the hours till
dinner, where we were joined by a friendly French family of four.
I think it was because of my enthusiastic reaction of the evening
before that we were again offered glace á la
Chartreuse for dessert.
1 - 8 - 99, la Diat → le Bourg d'Oisans (le Vert) , 142 km, 3100 m
la Diat – Col de Porte – Grenoble – Uriage-les-Bains – Col de
Luitel – (Col de) la Morte – Valbonnais – Col d'Ornon – le
Vert
Another hell of a nice morning, with the same positions of the
celestial bodies. First the Col de Porte. The first time I came
across there, in '85, I found it quite something (in series with
the Granier and the Cucheron), but nowadays I think it's no big
deal. During the descent there's this sudden moment when Grenoble
comes into view. Grenoble itself is terrible, but viewed from 500
m up it's okay. The road to Uriage was easily found, and so this
Sunday morning, before ten o'clock it was not so terrible to get
through the city. I rode up with a German boy with destination
Briançon for half an hour, which was more than with any
other companion during the whole trip. In Uriage we split up. He
would follow the easy (and busy) way to the N91, namely to
Vizille, whereas I, after coffee in this mundane place, chose the
much harder way over the Col de Luitel. The condition was super! I
even passed some bikers sans bagage. To be honest, I must
confess I was overtook by more, on this sunny Sunday. The descent
to Séchilienne was rightdown terrible. Steep, steep, steep,
unreliable pavement, and to make things worse trees along the road
making shadow patterns. Due to all the braking my fingers almost
cramped. Down in Séchilienne it was really hot. I had a
second piece of apple pie, before I began the second col de
première catégorie of the day: La Morte. I was
lucky to be on the good (= shady) side of the mountain, and there
were quite a lot of trees too, so it took its time, but not much
sweat. The climb brought me into the high mountains, and for the
rest of the étape it was just enjoy, enjoy: the views to La
Mure, the Obiou and the other mountains around. I converted my
enthusiasm into photographs. The descent to the north from the Col
d'Ornon is very special because of the view onto the spectacular
road from Huez to Villard-Reculas, and when riding to le Bourg
d'Oisans one gets restless because of the many roads going up
into all directions; well, I did, thinking of tomorrow's
étape. A funny thing happened when I arrived at the
gîte (to make it look international they called it
'guesthouse') in Le Vert, just east of Le Bourg (with the road to
Villard Notre Dame clearly cut against the mountain behind it). I
saw a guy, my age, with a huge traveling bag, get out of a Belgian
car and into the guesthouse. Two minutes later he returned,
changed into (professional) cycling attire. So I asked him, in
Dutch, whether he spoke Dutch (well, half the Belgian
population does), and he answered: "Je ne comprends pas, je suis
Americain". It appeared he was in a hurry to get to l'Alpe
d'Huez and return before dinner time, which was less than
one-and-a-half hour from that moment. During dinner (and after) I
learned he was as crazy about cycling in the Alpes as I was. His
project was to conquer all passes above 2000 m in Europe (the
roads in the U.S.A. did not attract him), and to accomplish this
he needed a car, to bring him to the feet of the climbs. E.g. that
day he had done the Iseran from Bourg St. Maurice, and Alpe
d'Huez, where he'd also set his timer. We shared a dormitory
between our two, and the next morning when I was ready to leave he
woke up, asked me what the weather was like, and when I told him
the sky was clear all over complained: "Oh dear, then I can't take
the day's rest which I need so much!" I think he was definitely
crazier than me.
2 - 8 - 99, le Bourg d'Oisans → le Bourg d'Oisans , 147 km, 3850 m
le Vert – Barrage du Chambon – les Deux Alpes – Col de Sarenne
– l'Alpe d'Huez – Lac Besson – Huez – Villard-Reculas –
Collet de Vaujany – Rochetaillée – Villard-Reymond – le
Vert
I said goodbye to my American colleague, contrary to whom I
did welcome the clear blue sky. I did not like the speed of
the cars on the N91 to Brainçon, so I definitely decided
not to pay the Galibier a sixth visit (which I had more or less
decided the evening before). The climb to Les Deux Alpes was
planned in Nootdorp, and it was the first and last time I did it.
The views are okay (well, I admit, a little more than just okay),
but the village at the end is simply crowded and boring. Because
of the multitude of bars and restaurants it took me time to choose
one. It might be because of disappointment due to the skipping of
the Galibier, but I didn't feel happy there. I wrote a card to my
best friend saying: "What the hell am I doing here? What's the
fun? Is this fun?" Well, the fun returned after I had crossed the
N91 and was confronted with quite a steep passage to get up to
Mizoën. After the exit to Besse the road (to the Col de
Sarennes, of course, which nowadays is well-paved) got very quiet.
After the hameau of Le Perron the road got steep again
(9-11 % ?), and with many virages, too many for the
Michelin map. As I gained altitude, the views got wider and wider,
and also whiter and whiter, as more and more of the glaciers of
the Massif des Ecrins showed themselves. Between the col and
l'Alpe d'Huez there were quite a lot of bikers and hikers; the
road itself, through a barren valley, I found rather
disappointing. In l'Alpe d'Huez I chose the "Route des Lacs", to
ride up to the overall highest point of the trip: the Lac Besson,
which I guess must be about 2050 m above sea-level. I made a
picture of this historic place (being surprised at home to see so
few people on it, as it was really crammed with cars and people up
there), and returned to l'Alpe just before afternoon closing-time.
After some food and drink I followed the main road till Huez,
where as in '93 I took the alternative route down over
Villard-Reculas, which is one of those spectacular roads that you
can see from the valley around Le Bourg d'Oisans. From the lower
storage lake I chose the road up to the Collet the Vaujany. Partly
due to the heat, partly due to the exertions of the morning,
partly due also to the percentage (about 10 % on average?) that
climb took the greatest effort of the day from me. In Allemont I
needed a refreshment, which I took: first an icecream on a shady
terrace, second some milk and peaches at a pump. The canceling of
the Galibier had given me enough time for a fourth
ascension. I decided to ride up to Villard Reymond, taking
a small risk, as I didn't know its altitude, but when the
afternoon before I had descended from the Col d'Ornon the parts of
the road that I had seen had looked more appealing than the quite
straight road up to Villard Notre Dame (which would have been less
'risky', since I knew that village was situated 1500 m
s.l.m.). The climb was reasonably steep, the pavement was
alright, and with all the trees (and the shady side of the
mountain itself) it wasn't so bloody warm. Around 6 p.m. I reached
the mountain village, had a well-earned beer, and returned for the
final descent to Le Bourg. (In the evening I learned that from the
point where you leave the D526 it's about 750 m up in 9 km.) Final
meal in a gîte (in fact, in the garden), and early bedtime
(looking ahead to the following night in the bus).
3 - 8 - 99, le Bourg d'Oisans → Annecy, 159 km, 2600 m
le Vert – Col du Glandon – St. Rémy-de-Maurienne – Aiton
– Sainte Hélène – Col de Tamié –
Faverges – Col de la Forclaz-de-Montmin – Annecy
Simple breakfast, put ready the evening before by the people of
the gîte, hence no fresh baguette. On the N91 I more
or less expected to see the OAD-bus, which was due in Les Ougiers
(some 8 km from Le Bourg, in the valley of the
Vénéon) at 8:30 a.m., and which was to pick me up in
Annecy at 9:30 p.m., but no, I was too early. By a small
alternative route, viz. over Allemont-l'Eglise, I got onto the
D526 to the Glandon. I know the hard parts of that climb: the last
4 km to Le Rivier d'Allemont and the passage through the
Défilé de Maupas, around the collapsed mountain, but
this foreknowledge did not help me much: it was just hard. I
managed the whole climb without the usual break for some breath
near the Barrage de Grand-Maison. On the north side, right after
the summit, I was lucky to find it much clearer than in '97.
Exhilarating descent! Coffee in Saint Colomban-des-Villards, apple
pie in Saint Rémy-de-Maurienne; I tried to avoid the N6 for
as long as possible. I came onto this 'red road' at the junction
near Épierre, and in fact it's not so bad anymore since
they've opened the autoroute Chambéry – Modane. At Aiton I
left it for the D925 to Albertville. In Sainte
Hélène I ordered a big salad and I mounted my bike
for really the last bits and pieces of the trip. I (thought I) had
had the Col de Tamié in view already miles before Ste.
Hélène. The road goes up through slopes with
orchards, orchards with apple trees. During the last part, with
quite a few lacets, I overtook a sweaty person with a light
bike and no luggage, but all in all (I mean, including himself)
with about as much weight to carry upwards as me. The Col de
Tamié offers a nice shortcut from the valley of the
Isère to the N508. After Faverges a short busy track, and
then to the right for the last bit, the very last climb, and what
a climb! From Vesonne I saw the road like a sharp, overturned "V"
against the slope. I expected that the worst would be over after
the second turn, but it remained steep steep steep till Montmin,
much harder than I had expected from looking at the map (700 m up
in 9.5 km ?), and considering my good condition. I was sweating
all over, and found an excuse to have a short rest in Montmin when
a couple without luggage did the same. Well, at Montmin it's in
the pocket. You can see the top, and from there it's just one km
down, and then one very steep km up to get to the col. I was
surprised to find such a crowd around the summit; in '93, in the
rain, there had been no one out there, and in my remembrance there
had been just one little restaurant. This year it was a touristic
site, a.o. because of the many delta-flyers. Also, this year I did
not miss the view over the Lac d'Annecy – indeed how could I have
missed it in '93! Time for a beer! After the steep descent (though
not so steep as to the south) and some fifteen km along the lake,
I arrived in the center of Annecy shortly after six, with the
kilometercounter indicating a total distance of 1658 km, and a
total trip time of 89.5 hours. Which left me just enough time to
buy my girls their desired souvenirs, i.e. T-shirts with horses .
. . . . and one hour to sit at the lake and meditate on the
forthcoming reunion with my family.
Total distance: 1658 km (151 km on average);
Elevation gain per day: 2870 m
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