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maviczap · 17-09-12, 07:57 PM

Well here's a summary of last weeks Alpes trip

Caught the Eurostar to Valance via Paris (not recommended!) and was collected by Roger from Velovercors

http://www.velovercors.com/index.html

Great location & great hosts, as Roger is an ex pro cyclist.

Unbeknown to us, we were the first group to book for their Alpe D'Huez tour, so we were the test pilots! I'd only seen the maps & route profiles the week before and all but one was rated as high difficulty!

Day 1

So we set off with some of the other guests, and our luggage would follow. The first part of the ride up the Grand Goulets was pretty damn hard for a first day climbs of up to 10%, and when we split from the group it didn't get any easier with some bits going to 12% and even 15%!!!

Once over the top (and after lunch) we descended down to the classic Tour town finish at Villard de Lans. Down the valley and then we turned off the main road and had a pleasant ride to St Nizer, where there was a fantastic descent, few cars at all. We missed a turn in our directions & descended too far and had to get back on route, which meant a bit more brutal climbing. Back on route we made it to the next point in our directions, but after that we got lost again! Not a great start, but the owner of the Chateau came and picked us up, as we were in the next valley! We'd already done 54 miles of hard riding & it was 6 pm! We'd have still been cycling at 8 at night!

Here's the route & link to my Garmin

http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220733746

Here where we stayed & I would highly recommend it if you were passing through or wanted to stay a while

http://www.lemanoirdesalberges.com/

17-09-12, 07:57 PM	#2565
maviczap Member Mega Poster Join Date: Mar 2007 Posts: 9,097	Re: The Cycling Thread Well here's a summary of last weeks Alpes trip Caught the Eurostar to Valance via Paris (not recommended!) and was collected by Roger from Velovercors http://www.velovercors.com/index.html Great location & great hosts, as Roger is an ex pro cyclist. Unbeknown to us, we were the first group to book for their Alpe D'Huez tour, so we were the test pilots! I'd only seen the maps & route profiles the week before and all but one was rated as high difficulty! Day 1 So we set off with some of the other guests, and our luggage would follow. The first part of the ride up the Grand Goulets was pretty damn hard for a first day climbs of up to 10%, and when we split from the group it didn't get any easier with some bits going to 12% and even 15%!!! Once over the top (and after lunch) we descended down to the classic Tour town finish at Villard de Lans. Down the valley and then we turned off the main road and had a pleasant ride to St Nizer, where there was a fantastic descent, few cars at all. We missed a turn in our directions & descended too far and had to get back on route, which meant a bit more brutal climbing. Back on route we made it to the next point in our directions, but after that we got lost again! Not a great start, but the owner of the Chateau came and picked us up, as we were in the next valley! We'd already done 54 miles of hard riding & it was 6 pm! We'd have still been cycling at 8 at night! Here's the route & link to my Garmin http://connect.garmin.com/activity/220733746 Here where we stayed & I would highly recommend it if you were passing through or wanted to stay a while http://www.lemanoirdesalberges.com/ __________________ We're riding out tonight to case the promised land Make everyday count RIP Reeder - Jolly Green Giant and comedy genius Last edited by maviczap; 17-09-12 at 08:11 PM.