Training Log Archive: revy

Very last ride of the trip and it was a good one... Col de Cayolle, Col de Champs, and Col D'Allos loop. This is a classic loop south of the Ubaye valley. The girls again left a little ahead of the guys and we caught them at the start of the Champs climb. Cayolle was a very nice climb - very different than Bonette though as it gently climbed along the river valley (through a gorge) for a long time. Eventually it entered alpine meadows and finally meandered through the open rocky slopes at the col. Much more enclosed rather than open and expansive but still lots of nice mountain views. The road was single lane with almost no traffic - felt very peaceful. Other than the last few km the grade was very comfortable. On the other side the descent started with some nice stacked switchbacks and views down the valley. We passed through some nice fields and then along open side slopes.

Col de Champs started with a number of switchbacks in the forest which were not super interesting but halfway it entered open slopes and you could see the road snaking up the hillside above. This section seemed to go on longer than I expected and was probably the steepest and hardest climbing of the day. The pass itself is quite broad but nice views in various directions. The descent was a pleasant surprise as I expected bad pavement but it had been repaved at some point in the last couple years. Turned out to a fun ride down on a narrow single lane road that weaved through the forest down to Colmars. Again almost no traffic on this section of the loop.

From Colmars to Foux D'Allos the road was wider and busier - we stopped in Allos for a snack break. I climbed with Stuart after Allos so pace was a little higher though our discussion made the time go by faster. Interesting to see the ski area though it detracted from the scenery a bit. After we left the last houses behind the road became more interesting with several km of switchbacks snacking up a green alpine slope. The weather at this point was a little cloudy (sunny this morning) and it looked like it might rain but other than a few sprinkles we stayed dry. The pass itself was nothing special but the views on the ride down were spectacular again. The narrow road hugged the side of a steep slope weaving in and out of reentrants for 20km. Quite and impressive feat of road building given the road is over a hundred years old.

After closing the loop finished with a short spin back up valley to Jausiers. Pretty easy pace for most of the day today though could feel some fatigue in the legs and pushing much harder might not have been an option.

Had planned for an alpine trail run from the Col de Larche but fog and cool temperatures lead to an audible and a steep hike from the village of Larche into a couple small side valleys. Turned out to be a rarely travelled trail - felt like some of the local trails in the Selkirks from that regard (though the scenery was again more like the Rockies). It never cleared up much but at least we had better weather than the fog at Larche. The basins were nice with lots of nice looking ski terrain.

A great day of riding today - Cime de Bonette and Col de la Moutiere. The climb over Bonette felt like a classic alpine col with a nice lower valley section on both sides, a fair bit of time in a big alpine bowl, a very high pass (2800m), sections of road high up on mountain sides with expansive views, and lots of switchbacks. Interesting how different the lower valleys felt - on the Jausiers side felt like the high mountains while on the other side if was much more maritime and similar to the forest around Turini.

We started 40 minutes after the girls today - Stuart and I climbed most of the way together until he put some space on me 2/3rds of the way up. The pace was pretty steady for 1:15 and then dialled it back a bit. Caught the girls about 3km from the top. Nice weather with lots of sun and was pleasant at first but the wind eventually made things a little chilly so headed down. I found the road on the other side especially nice - I love high roads with expansive views. We stopped for coffee at a nice gite and waited for everyone to regroup.

The climb up to Col de Moutiere was on a narrow backroad. I had read some comments about this climb being nicer than Bonette but I'm not sure what those people were smoking. It was nice enough with some alpine sections near the top but not even close to Bonette. It was a really steep climb too with lots of out of the saddle grinding - made hard by me giving Courtney a push half the time:) To connect back to the Bonette road required 3 km and 200vm on a gravel road that still had a few unmelted snow patches. Not too bad as mostly rideable but certainly adventurous. Back down Bonette and still lots of cyclists coming up later in the day...

I'd put this route in the top three of the alpine cols I've done (Gavia would still be number one I think).

Alternating riding with hiking... except for Mike and Stuart who went on a big three col ride today. The rest of us drove to Maljasset and hiked up towards the Aiguille de Chamberyon. Very interesting that most of the trees were larch... though we did break out into the alpine pretty quickly as we started at 1900m. The climb to the first col was fairly steady and never too steep in a vast alpine valley. Like yesterday I felt like I was some parts of the Rockies - the area around Skoki? The nicest scenery started when we hit the first col though (and continued on the way back as the views were better heading back). It was a little cloudy in Italy (we spent 1.5km in Italy) but remained sunny on the French side. We continued to climb beyond the first col to the second col at 2800m. Didn't seem to notice the elevation today though pace was never very hard. Great views in the little upper valley we entered with nice alpine lake as well. There used to be a glacier here but it has melted. The Aiguilles de Chamberyon is a 3400m peak and it was quite impressive from this close vantage point.

Once we completed the lollipop section of the loop I decided to descend the valley on a rougher parallel trail which actually had better views than the ascent trail. Legs were a little sore from the downhill run but not too bad.

Felt very different than other european hiking we have done as we saw very few people (20 total?) and there were no refuges or chairlifts. Overall felt quite wild and empty.

Stopped at a cool narrow bridge on the drive back that was built between two high cliffs that was built 140 years ago.

First day of riding in the Ubaye valley saw us heading upstream to St Paul Ubaye and up the Col de Vars. A nice valley and then quickly into the alpine. Nice weather this morning with clear blue skies (forecast in the afternoon was for rain). Good views south towards the Chambeyron massif. We descended a few km down the other side until we got to the Vars ski area then back to the col for a coffee stop. No glaciers this far south in France so the mountains remind me a bit of the Rockies in spots (less forest though). Nice pavement for the descent.

On the way back we added another out and back climb to St Anne de Condamine (a small ski area). This road was a short stiff climb of 550m on some rougher pavement. The end of the road was a little anticlimactic as the views were nicer along the way.

Our last week of the trip is taking us to the Southern Alps and the Ubaye valley. The peaks in this area are up to 3400m so lower than the central Alps but still quite impressive. Today's forecast was for mixed weather so we went for a trail run closer to Jausiers (where we are staying).

Started by driving to Condamine and the plan was to run back to Jausiers on a trail I could see on the IGN maps. The first few km were pretty steep so mainly hiking at first but then a longer section that traversed across the steep mountainside. Very nice views down the valley and nice running. We reached a fort that was built over a hundred years ago to defend France from Italy. The run back down was pretty steep - might feel that in a few days. Once we were back in town James joined me on the extra 6km to retrieve the car. We found a nice trail that climbed over the cliff and then traversed through some sub alpine fields. Kept the pace steady and felt pretty good (though feeling it on the descents by the end).