Ride profile and map: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40673289
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Italy Trip -- Lake Como (Pigra, Madonna del Ghisallo)
Just the pictures and maps for now. More to come later.
Pigra ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40673322
Ghisallo ride: http://connect.garmin.com/activity/40673315
Sunday, June 20, 2010
Father's Day Loop on Alpine Dam/Paradise
Hooked up with Tom for a fast loop of Alpine Dam, then continued on to Paradise and to the top of Belvedere Island. Finished with killer Corned Beef Hash at New Morning Cafe. Good way to begin Father's Day.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
Bday Ride
Big crew out yesterday afternoon/evening for DS's birthday. We did the standard loop, leaving from the Depot, up RR grade to the top, Eldridge down to Blithedale, then steep ups to the secret singy to the golf course exit. Drank them out of beers at Small Sheds, then dinner. Killer end to the week! Here's the team breaking at the West Point Inn.
Sunday, June 13, 2010
Perfect Trip to France
I got back Thursday from a week-long business trip to Europe. Because part of the trip involved a visit to our office outside Grenoble, naturally I wanted to bring my bike and ride some of the classic terrain in the area. The trip was made possible only with the travel-friendly Choots and some creative transportation plans. I had meetings in London and Paris as well, so travelling light was mandatory. I flew into Lyon, rented a car for the Grenoble part of the trip, then took trains to Paris and onto London (from where I flew home). Everything worked like a charm.
On my arrival Thursday night, I quickly built up the bike and rode up into the Chartruese Massif -- a compact mountain range that forms the north wall of the valley in which Grenoble sits. And a wall it is: I climbed the Col du Coq, one of two main routes into the Chartruese from Grenoble, and it was a very steep climb. This was a relatively short evening ride, but I still managed to climb over 4,000' in a 27 mile loop. Welcome to France, land of the granny gear.
After my work meetings on Friday, I drove up to Bourg d'Oisans at the foot of the mythic Alpe d'Huez climb that regularly features in the Tour de France. This is a very cool town, full of bakeries, restaurants and cycling and mountaineering shops. My hotel was in the main square of town. Perfect. After checking in, I had time for a quick ride up the Alpe in preparation for the big plans I had on Saturday. The adreneline was pumping and I was trading leads with a very fit woman cyclist who was time trialling the climb. I didn't do an official time but I think we came in just under an hour, which is pretty respectable for a jetlagged guy coming out from behind a powerpoint deck a few hours earlier.
At the top, I poked about here and there, but the town was pretty empty. One thing about these places is that they really are more winter resorts and most tend to all but shut down in the summer. The weather was perfect, so I continued on to the top end of the town at the ski lifts and found the sign to the Col de Sarenne. I had read about this col, which winds above and behind Alpe d'Huez on a very narrow and twisting road. Even though it was getting late, I decided to go for it. And I was very glad I did. This was a gorgeous (albeit bumpy) road up to 2,000m with zero cars, zero people and stunning vistas over the alps. The backside of the pass had a spectacular 15 mile descent which was incredibly steep at the top, but then eased into a perfect "no brakes required" grade. Highly recommended.
Back in town, the restaurants were packed with Dutch cyclists who had participated in the previous day's "Alpe d'Huzes" charity fundraiser, which climbs the Alpe d'Huez 6, 7 or 8 times in a row to raise money for cancer research. Whoa, that is tough!
Saturday was the epic day I had been wanting to do for years. I rode a 105 mile loop from Bourg d'Oisans to the Col du Glandon, over the Col de la Croix de Fer, then down to the Maurienne valley, and back home via the Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and Col du Lautaret. This is basically the same route that the legendary "Marmotte" ride takes in every July, but withouth the finish on the Alpe d'Huez. Even without the final climb, this was a very difficult but utterly fulfilling day. I kept my pace pretty low all day because I could not afford a bonk. I was travelling solo, in unfamiliar territory, and doing a loop that absolutely required I get back over the pass in order to get home. So I was perfectly content to let other cyclists pass me today (although frankly there were not many out on the road today). I learned to ride at what I began to call "fly speed" (which is the speed at which flies can comfortably land on you while you ride) and to "embrace the granny". Riding slower also has the benefit of allowing you to soak in the incredible scenery this area has to offer.
To make a long story short, I had a fantastic ride up to the Glandon and over the Croix de Fer (my favorite pass ever). I stopped in Saint-Michel for a monster pasta lunch to fuel up for the nearly 7,000' climb over the Galibier. Nevertheless, I suffered hard and was cramping severely when I finally made the pass at around 2600m. In fact, I was basically rescued by a pair of guardian angels in the form of two Dutch guys pulled over at a switchback who offered fresh cut cantaloupe to the stupid American guy doubled over and cramping on the side of the road.
Lots of photos were taken at the top and much celebration was had with a few other hardy souls who climbed up through the snowbanks and streams of meltwater to get to the summit tunnel (the top 100m was still closed due to snow). From the top, I am not kidding you that I had a 30 mile ripping descent through terrain that was like Yosemite Valley but with no cars and an insanely smooth tarmac running down its length. Huge waterfalls on one side, big looming seracs above on the other, steep gorges, snowcapped peaks, tunnels bored through mountainsides -- you get the picture. It was nuts!
On Sunday I had a late afternoon train from Lyon to Paris (conveniently the train leaves right out of the airport where I also rented my car. How great is Europe??). So I drove back to Grenoble, then a little bit closer to Lyon where I found the Vercours Plateau -- an area so perfect for cycling that I can hardly believe it isn't more well known outside of France. I was still pretty bushed from the long day yesterday, but with the opportunity to ride through limestone gorges on perfect roads with no cars, I still ended up doing 4,400' over 42 miles. The highlight was climbing up the "Combe Laval" to the interestingly named Col de la Machine. This is an absolutely spectactular road carved into the side of a cliff that leads up to a pass that goes nowhere but around to the other side of the valley down a similar cliff face. In short, this road has no reason to exist other than to appear in some Michelin tour guide, or to provide jobs to French highway workers and civil servants. Why don't we do this stuff here?
I had a great riverside lunch in Pont-en-Royans, then found a nice grassy park to break down the Choots and pack it back into its suitcase. I drove the hour back to Lyon to dump the car and caught my train. Two hours later I was in Paris and ready to sit myself down in a brasserie for a well-earned Steak Frites. A few days I won't soon forget!
Photo album from the trip:
On my arrival Thursday night, I quickly built up the bike and rode up into the Chartruese Massif -- a compact mountain range that forms the north wall of the valley in which Grenoble sits. And a wall it is: I climbed the Col du Coq, one of two main routes into the Chartruese from Grenoble, and it was a very steep climb. This was a relatively short evening ride, but I still managed to climb over 4,000' in a 27 mile loop. Welcome to France, land of the granny gear.
After my work meetings on Friday, I drove up to Bourg d'Oisans at the foot of the mythic Alpe d'Huez climb that regularly features in the Tour de France. This is a very cool town, full of bakeries, restaurants and cycling and mountaineering shops. My hotel was in the main square of town. Perfect. After checking in, I had time for a quick ride up the Alpe in preparation for the big plans I had on Saturday. The adreneline was pumping and I was trading leads with a very fit woman cyclist who was time trialling the climb. I didn't do an official time but I think we came in just under an hour, which is pretty respectable for a jetlagged guy coming out from behind a powerpoint deck a few hours earlier.
At the top, I poked about here and there, but the town was pretty empty. One thing about these places is that they really are more winter resorts and most tend to all but shut down in the summer. The weather was perfect, so I continued on to the top end of the town at the ski lifts and found the sign to the Col de Sarenne. I had read about this col, which winds above and behind Alpe d'Huez on a very narrow and twisting road. Even though it was getting late, I decided to go for it. And I was very glad I did. This was a gorgeous (albeit bumpy) road up to 2,000m with zero cars, zero people and stunning vistas over the alps. The backside of the pass had a spectacular 15 mile descent which was incredibly steep at the top, but then eased into a perfect "no brakes required" grade. Highly recommended.
Back in town, the restaurants were packed with Dutch cyclists who had participated in the previous day's "Alpe d'Huzes" charity fundraiser, which climbs the Alpe d'Huez 6, 7 or 8 times in a row to raise money for cancer research. Whoa, that is tough!
Saturday was the epic day I had been wanting to do for years. I rode a 105 mile loop from Bourg d'Oisans to the Col du Glandon, over the Col de la Croix de Fer, then down to the Maurienne valley, and back home via the Col du Telegraphe, Col du Galibier and Col du Lautaret. This is basically the same route that the legendary "Marmotte" ride takes in every July, but withouth the finish on the Alpe d'Huez. Even without the final climb, this was a very difficult but utterly fulfilling day. I kept my pace pretty low all day because I could not afford a bonk. I was travelling solo, in unfamiliar territory, and doing a loop that absolutely required I get back over the pass in order to get home. So I was perfectly content to let other cyclists pass me today (although frankly there were not many out on the road today). I learned to ride at what I began to call "fly speed" (which is the speed at which flies can comfortably land on you while you ride) and to "embrace the granny". Riding slower also has the benefit of allowing you to soak in the incredible scenery this area has to offer.
To make a long story short, I had a fantastic ride up to the Glandon and over the Croix de Fer (my favorite pass ever). I stopped in Saint-Michel for a monster pasta lunch to fuel up for the nearly 7,000' climb over the Galibier. Nevertheless, I suffered hard and was cramping severely when I finally made the pass at around 2600m. In fact, I was basically rescued by a pair of guardian angels in the form of two Dutch guys pulled over at a switchback who offered fresh cut cantaloupe to the stupid American guy doubled over and cramping on the side of the road.
Lots of photos were taken at the top and much celebration was had with a few other hardy souls who climbed up through the snowbanks and streams of meltwater to get to the summit tunnel (the top 100m was still closed due to snow). From the top, I am not kidding you that I had a 30 mile ripping descent through terrain that was like Yosemite Valley but with no cars and an insanely smooth tarmac running down its length. Huge waterfalls on one side, big looming seracs above on the other, steep gorges, snowcapped peaks, tunnels bored through mountainsides -- you get the picture. It was nuts!
On Sunday I had a late afternoon train from Lyon to Paris (conveniently the train leaves right out of the airport where I also rented my car. How great is Europe??). So I drove back to Grenoble, then a little bit closer to Lyon where I found the Vercours Plateau -- an area so perfect for cycling that I can hardly believe it isn't more well known outside of France. I was still pretty bushed from the long day yesterday, but with the opportunity to ride through limestone gorges on perfect roads with no cars, I still ended up doing 4,400' over 42 miles. The highlight was climbing up the "Combe Laval" to the interestingly named Col de la Machine. This is an absolutely spectactular road carved into the side of a cliff that leads up to a pass that goes nowhere but around to the other side of the valley down a similar cliff face. In short, this road has no reason to exist other than to appear in some Michelin tour guide, or to provide jobs to French highway workers and civil servants. Why don't we do this stuff here?
I had a great riverside lunch in Pont-en-Royans, then found a nice grassy park to break down the Choots and pack it back into its suitcase. I drove the hour back to Lyon to dump the car and caught my train. Two hours later I was in Paris and ready to sit myself down in a brasserie for a well-earned Steak Frites. A few days I won't soon forget!
Photo album from the trip:
Ride maps:
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