April 2002 Diary
April 18th - The Col du Lautaret, les Deux Alpes and halfway to Auris en Oisans
I had originally planned to take a half day holiday from work, but a clear and crisp morning changed that to the whole day off. I drove to Bourg d'Oisans, set the bike up, and quickly bought a pizza slice and pain au chocolate, before joining the main road to Briancon.
The Col du Lautaret is 40 kilometres from Bourg d'Oisans, and is 1300 metres higher than the town at 2058 metres. It's a main route to Italy so the road is clear through the winter, so I knew I'd be able to make it to the top. I'd ridden this route in April last year past huge banks of snow.
The Lautaret should be a nice and easy 2000 metre col as the gradient is never more than five or six percent, but the wind can turn it into an absolute horror and five percent can feel more like ten for 40 kilometres. Last April, it had been a headwind, but I was lucky as it was a tailwind day and I was blown along towards the Col.
The first three kilometres of climbing took me through tunnels and along the right hand side of a gorge and after a brief descent to Freney d'Oisans, I climbed up to the Barrage du Chambon and passed the turn off for les Deux Alpes. This would be the same route the Tour de France riders would take in July.
I continued past the lake and made good time to the main village on the climb, La Grave. The cafes were busy, and bronzed people were sat watching life go by. There were clear views of La Meije, the 3,900 metre peak that towers over the town. On the climb, marmots chirped up the mountainsides but were too far away to be spotted and ten kilometres after the town I arrived at the Col.
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The view of the Ecrins and La Meije from La Grave |
The
Ecrins from the Col du Lautaret |
The mountains were clear all around and one small ski lift was still running, and the small slope it fed was busy with skiers getting the most from the snow. Snow had been piled up against the Col sign in April last year, but this year it was clear. However, the road to the Col du Galibier was still blocked so there was no chance of exploring any higher so I stopped for a quick drink in a bar, took pictures of the mountains and donned my windcape for the descent.
It was certainly chilly dropping down from the Col and it was only as I reached the small uphills near the Barrage du Chambon, that the air had warmed up enough to take off my windcape. I crossed the dam and immediately turned left to join the climb to les Deux Alpes. I had ridden this climb in 1994, but couldn't remember to much about it, and the Tour de France would be using it.
The first three of the nine kilometre climb zigzags up the mountainside above the lake, on a pleasant seven percent gradient. Each hairpin was numbered as on Alpe d'Huez, starting at ten and each one telling you the distance to the ski resort. I filled my water bottle in the hamlet of Mont de Lans before the final kilometres to Deux Alpes. The climb is not in the same league as Alpe d'Huez with no kilometres of one in ten.
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Climbing to Les Deux Alpes |
Each
hairpin is numbered on Les Deux Alpes |
The climb did get a little steeper and the final kilometre and a half from hairpin one took longer than I felt it should have done. Before the resort I passed under a small bridge that advertised the Tour de France's two days here in July, then up into the flat roads of the village centre. People were skiing on the mountainside above, and spectacular mountains added to the backdrop of the resort.
I ate a sandwich in a bar at the top and then descended back to the Barrage and then down to le Freney d'Oisans. Instead of taking the main road from the Le Freney to Bourg d'Oisans, I chose to climb up towards the ski resort of Auris en Oisans. The road looked innocent enough from the other side of the valley, a small road winding it's way through and then above the village. This was the first time I'd ridden this route and I couldn't remember the profile of the climb. The first kilometre was ten percent, and then another, and one of just under 12 before the road finally leveled out before a two kilomere descent. It felt warm, and sweat was running down my face and my legs were tired. The mountain views were great with snow covering the peaks in every direction.
After the hamlet of la Balme, the road carried on to Auris and I took a small road off to the left in the direction of la Garde, that would eventually take me onto the climb of Alpe d'Huez. I had hoped that the climbing was finished but it contined to 1350 metres before starting to drop down.
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The view from the mountain road above Bourg d'Oisans |
Looking
back from Armentier le Haut |
The road I took runs along the cliff face, 500 metres above the valley below. I felt like I was looking down from an aeroplane window as the buildings in Bourg d'Oisans looked tiny, and minature cars drove along the valley road to the Col du Lautaret. I stopped for cars and wondered what happened in the summer when holiday makers were driving in both direction. Passing places were in short supply, but fine on a bicycle.
I joined the road to Alpe d'Huez and descended the last six hairpins into Bourg d'Oisans. A number of cyclists were climbing up but I decided that after 110km and 2,500 metres of climbing, that my legs had done enough for my first trip to the Alps this year.
April 20th - The Chalet du Gioberney in the Ecrins Massif
Over the winter I've studied maps of the area to look to discover new places and todays route was one that had stood out. Similar to the climb to La Berarde from Bourg d'Oisans, the road from St Firmin to the Chalet du Gioberney climbed in one direction into the heart of Ecrins massif. We would also be only a few kilometres from La Berarde with a few mountains in the way to stop us getting there. From the map, the chalet was situated at the end of a road surrounded by a cirque of 3,500 metre peaks. If the clouds weren't too low, there should be some great views.
To get to the valley, we left Grenoble and drove south on the Route Napoleon through La Mure and in the direction of Gap. The turn off for St Firmin was ten kilometres after the village of Corps.
When climbing to the Col du Lautaret on Thursday, I'd had a tailwind on the climb and thankfully today, the wind was in again our favour as we left St Firmin market square. According to the Atlas des Cols, the ride started at 850 metres and would climb to 1,635 to reach the Chalet du Gioberney, 26 kilometres later.
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Early on when climbing to Gioberney |
After
leaving La Chapelle |
The road averaged around three percent for the first 18 kilometres, which often felt flat with the tailwind. The mountain views were beautiful, blue skies and a few clouds on a few random peaks. At the end of the valley, one peak stood out, the 3,000 metre Rouye. It was difficult to imagine in places that we would be able to ride 26 kilometres up the valley, but the road passed through hamlets, and would turn a corner and the valley would again open up.
The road was very quiet and hamlets we cycled through were empty until we passed through La Chapelle en Valjouffrey. Locals were chatting in the streets, saying hello as we rode past, and two stalls were selling the same local delicacy - tourtons, a kind of fried food with different fillings. Two kilometres after the village, we passed through Le Casset, and the real climbing started. The two and three percent gradient was replaced with seven and eight percent and the road hugged the left hand side of the valley, and looked remarkably steep in the distance as it climbed to a number of huts sat on the mountainside.
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The view back to the valley |
Climbing
below Rip du Sap |
We cycled past waterfalls and under high peaks on each side, with snow covering the high mountains at the end of the valley. The mountains on the other side of the valley often looked as though they were susceptible to erosion with regular landslides and avalanches.
The kilometre before Rip du Sap was tough and the sign on the way down told us it was 12 percent. Rip du Sap was nothing more than six chalets on the mountainside but the gradient did ease there and after a brief downhill we started the final two kilometres of climbing. The road took us up the first hairpins on the climb, and after six, the Chalet appeared with a kilometre of climbing to the summit. We were greeted with a backdrop of mountains, some of which were shrouded in cloud. Behind, the mountain view opened up, with the peaks shining in the sun.
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| The
Chalet du Gioberney and a backdrop of 3,500 metre mountains |
The
spectacular view when starting to descend |
We took some photos and realised we should start descending. The weather around the Chalet du Gioberney had quickly changed and snow flakes appeared in the air. The descent was chilly and after a kilometre, the odd snow flake had been replaced by lots of flakes and it was snowing properly. It didn't last but we didn't stop in La Chapelle and carried on back to St Firmin, worried about the grey clouds that covered the mountains behind us.
