August 2002 Diary - Part One
13th August - The Col d'Izoard
A four hour hike under the Mont Thabor should have been enough for the legs but the weather was warm and the sky was cloudless with a clarity in the air that doesn't happen every day. It was a perfect day for cycling.
I'd only ridden the Col d'Izoard once before which was back in 1994. I'd cycled from Geneva to Nice and ridden over the Galibier, eaten lunch in Briancon and ridden the Col d'Izoard in the early evening. I had also had the good fortune to meet a friend from England at the top, but the chances of something bizarre like that happening again were small.
I left the campsite on the road to Montgenevre and descended through Briancon, riding through the commercial lower part of town to the start of the Col d'Izoard. The signpost told me the top of the climb was 19 kilometres from the town.
The first four kilometres climb steadily at around seven percent, and soon took me above the town. I passed the road to the Fort de l'Infernet, a fort that sits high on the mountain above the town. The road then descended for a kilometre before starting the climb to the village of Cervieres, ten kilometres after Briancon. Cervieres was quiet with little sign of life, and the road climbed up above the houses to a hairpin to then turn south and take me through the pastures.
;) |
| Riding
towards Le Laus |
The Le Laus was the final hamlet before the climb starts to wind its up through the trees over a number of hairpins. The road surface was good. I'd walked up the climb from Le Laus in 2000, when I'd driven to Briancon to watch the Giro d'Italia and remembered the frequent hairpins. I passed three riders in Rossignol team kit, with their white van following them up the climb. There was little chance for mountain views here as the trees blocked any views.
After five kilometres, the road briefly left the trees and the top of the Col could be seen on the horizon with the sandy coloured distinctive cliffs above. There were still a number of hairpins left before the Refuge Napoleon, and then the final kilometre to the Col. There were plenty of cyclists descending but I'd still only seen the three climbing up.
;) |
| The
Refuge Napolean and the Col d'Izoard |
I rounded the final corner to see the 2,360 metre Col d'Izoard, nearly 20 kilometres after Briancon. The view was perfect in every direction with clear air and no clouds on the mountains around me. I didn't stop but continued to descend towards Guillestre until I reached the other side of the Casse Desert, just before the road dropped down into the trees. I took pictures of the climb back up to the Col and then rode back to the Col up the ten percent gradient. The road passed the memorial to Coppi and Bartoli, and this was the same piece of road I had seen Marco Pantani bring Stefano Garzelli and two other riders up in the 2000 Giro d'Italia.
;) |
| The
view south from the Col d'Izoard |
The Col d'Izoard is marked by a tall stone pillar with the alititude carved into the rock. The mountains surrounding the mountain pass are eroded with large slopes of small sandy coloured stones underneath the peaks. From the Col there were views of snow covered peaks towards the Col Agnel, south of the climb, with the Mont Thabor to the north. The Col was crowded with cars and a number of cyclists around their backup vans. I didn't hang around but descended back down towards Briancon , stopping briefly in Cervieres at the water fountain in the village.
The climbing wasn't finished and outside Briancon, there was a kilometre at a gradual gradient before dropping down into a busy town. The climb through Briancon was horrible, a kilometre at 12 percent on a narrow road. The traffic on my wheel wasn't able to get past and the cars in the next lane were stopped. The early evening felt hot after the cool conditions at 2360 metres, but it was only a few kilometres back to the campsite.
14th August - Col de Granon
I left early in the morning and rode through Briancon, thankfully on a road that stayed above the town and never dropped down. Briancon has some steep roads through the centre and I wanted to avoid strenuous climbing so early on the ride. My climb of the morning was the Col de Granon, at 2413 metres, one of the high Cols in France. The climb is used in the Luc Alphand sportif, an event that always takes place the day after the Marmotte, and it was a Col that I never ridden it. The climb was just over 11 kilometres in length with an average gradient of over nine percent, and over a thousand metres of vertical climb.
I didn't take a map and was soon lost as I had ridden too far towards the Col du Lautaret. I'd seen a sign for the Col de Granon when driving in the other direction and I had expected to see a similar sign when cycling from the Briancon side. When I realised I had probably ridden too far, I cut up a side road in the village of Chantemerle and then asked a couple of people, who looked like residents, for directions to the Col. Eventually I did see a sign for the Col confirming that I was on the right road.
The road soon left the village started to wind up the northern side of the Vallee de la Guisane. Ski runs started to appear on the mountainside opposite, as well as the principle peaks of the Ecrins massif behind them.
;) |
| The view
from the early kilometres of the Col de Granon. |
I climbed past trees on a steep road, and caught a group of three happy cyclists chatting away. We all said our 'bonjours' as I climbed past. From half distance, the climb opened up to a desolate mountainside, devoid of trees with rugged stony peaks above me on my side of the valley. There were lovely views towards the Col du Lautaret as well as across the valley with more snow covered mountain peaks appearing. I could see the road above me as well as cyclists riding the road I would reach a few minutes later.
Following a number of hairpins, the road climbed up to a walkers refuge before changing direction and climbing in an easterly direction for the final kilometres to the Col. There were regular kilometres stones giving me the altitude and the distance to the Col. After the 'walkers corner' there were no more hairpins for a few kilometres, just a road that hugged the mountainside and climbed at a steady ten percent. It was probably the most difficult stretch of the climb as each time I rounded a bend hoping I would see the top, I would just see another bend in the distance.
With 700 metres to the Col, I rounded a bend to see the Col du Granon above me. The road climbed past a number of building with a number of hairpins before rounding the final bend and the Col. The cafe was quiet. The view was incredible with a view across to the mountains on the opposite side of the valley with glaciers and all the principal peaks of the north eastern Ecrins massif. I cycled over to look at the the north side of the Col, and saw the road immediately turned into dirt track, suitable for a mountain bike or different tyres.
;) |
| The view
south from the Col de Granon. |
I donned my wind jacket before the descent and enjoyed a great drop back down to the valley. At the top of the climb, there were a number of sections of road where it was possible to see the road below and to know that it was safe to cut the corners and take the racing line through the bends. It wasn't possible futher down, as the trees obscured the view and more cars were appearing
