Cycling in the Alps Day 5. (Quite Cols)

Cycling in the Alps day 5

It was the last day of the trip and with no sign yet of an ultimate croissant or a good mountain top cafe I felt a new approach was needed. Therefore we left the cycling Mecca of Alpe d’Huez and headed the other way to quieter Cols. As a treat I promised Andrew it would an easy day for our final ride although after I told him that it was over 60 miles and nearly 2000m of climbing he felt we had different definitions for easy.

There was no time to check the dictionary as if the ultimate croissant was to be found today we had to get over the first climb and to the target bakery by midday before it shut. Therefore I still had the challenge of once again crowbarring Andrew away from his petit dejeuner and morning tea drinking routine.

After Andrews 3rd cup of tea I eventually got us on the road with pedals down at an outrageous 9:35!

At the start of today's first Col

It was a similar start to yesterday with a short ride to the start of the Col meaning anyone who had had a long and leisurely breakfast might struggle on the digestive front once climbing started.

We were soon on to the first climb of the day

As we set off, and were soon separated, I was passed by a very speedy bloke who told me in English that he was going to do some efforts? I had no idea why he told me this. But then I was caught up by a young chap in Wales cycling shorts. He explained they were part of a group of 17 riding from here to Ventoux on a trip. His mate was a very good cyclist who had gone up Alpe d’huez in 47 mins yesterday which is only 10 mins short of the all time record. He was using the trip for training. Not that I’m competitive but I decided that no one else in their group was coming passed and rode up with my new Welsh friend. Apparently he is part of the Welsh U23 cycle squad and about to go to university so we went quite fast.

Trying to get away from the group that had caught us up

I was obviously pleased with my achievement although his gears were set up for flatter road racing and I couldn’t have got up on his bike. I suspect with the right gears he would have been off into the sunset.

At the top of the first climb

As I had got to the top quicker than planned (the 6294th fastest ever in fact, according to Strava) then I didn’t fancy a long wait so texted Andrew to say I would meet him at the bakery while I took a leisurely ride down with the views still restricted by the low clouds and mist.

There was lots of cloud about today

Much to my surprise the Boulangerie du Entraigues was actually open and had croissants available. 

Outside todays bakery stop

As Andrew hadn’t arrived yet then there was no one to do the French speaking but using the gift of pigeon French I established that they only sold coffee and no tea or hot chocolate, so as a non coffee drinker I was stuffed on the hot drink front. The croissant, however, was the best of the week as it looked the most French, however it still didn’t score as well as the best In the Pyrenees. When Andrew arrived he was able to report that the coffee was pretty average too so not the great cafe find I was after either (and it wasn't up a mountain).

First refreshment stop of the day

The sun was now out and we had the most gentle section of riding we had had for several days as we were either on a slight up or down so kept together for some time for once. The scenery was still tip top although not as dramatic as the high climbs of yesterday.

Despite lack of height there were still nice views available

We then hit our final step section of the week giving you the last change to play where’s Andrew?

Once again Andrew was nowhere to be seen

Once at the top it was a sad moment as I got my final summit top photo of the week.

Top of the final climb of the week

Morte was another deserted ski resort so it was no surprise that the target mountain cafe was shut. As by now we had learned this was likely we ate the emergency cheese baguette we made from leftover breakfast which felt a much more French thing to do.

Eating our emergency lunch

The final descent was another good one on wide roads with some good hairpins. It felt the most like those you see on the telly although none of the riders ever seem to stop to take photos.

Great views on the descent

Once down there was a disappointing section along the main road before a final treat of off-road cycle path along the river with more fabulous views.

Nice finale along cycle track by the river

Having survived all day on a croissant and half a cheese baguette I needed some refuelling so it was straight to the Boulangerie where I discovered it was the other branch of the one we found open at the top of Alpe d’Huez yesterday.

Time for refuelling

Although bizarrely the croissant scored much better than the one up the mountain, not that that was difficult.

Back at the apartment tea was drank, pastries eaten and bikes packed in boxes.

My bike was put back in it's box

But after a weeks cycling what have we learnt?

1. Croissants are better in the Pyrenees than the Alps

2. Mountain top cafes are shut by the end of September so organise any trips in search of them during the summer season.

3. You can ride up 3 category 1 Cols in a day on just 3 gels and 2 energy bars as long as you eat the contents of the local bakery straight afterwards.

4. Rides to ski resorts are not as satisfying as rides to the top of deserted cols

5. The best cols, for an enjoyable and scenic climb, are probably not the famous TdF ones

6. The best cycling guests don’t like a leisurely breakfast

Sadly my search for the ultimate croissant still goes on and I have not added to my list of good mountain top cafes but despite this we both agreed it had been an excellent trip for actual cycling and next year my quest will continue.

Todays Route

Profile

Cafe ratings

Cafe	Drinks	Food	Atmosphere and Ambiance	Rating
Col Du Vars	6	7	7.1	6.7
Chez Barulo	7	6.5	5	6.17
Café de Lac	6	6.8	7	6.60
Le Fournil Savinois	5.5	8.1	7.2	6.93
Auberge Roche Grande	6	0	7.1	6.55
Salazard, Alpe d’Huez	5.6	6.8	5	5.80
Boulangerie Du Entraigues	6	8	6	6.67

Croissants

Cafe/bakery	Freshness	Frenchness	Flavour	Rating
Luton Pret	4.5	5	10	19.5
La Marandiere, Barcelonnette	7.2	5.5	15	27.7
Café du Vars	5.8	5.7	14.t	26
Le Fournil Savinois	8.1	7.1	16.8	32
Chalet la Cachette	6	8	14	28
Salazard, Alpe d’Huez	6	7	13	26
Boulangerie Du Entraigues	7	8.9	16	31
Salazard, Bourg-d’Oisans	7	6	16.5	29.5

Trip statistics

Route	Miles	Average Mph	Time on Bike	Metres climbed
Col Vars	76.9	12.3	6:15	2168
Tour du Lac Serre Poncon	72.6	13.1	5:33	1748
Three Cols from Barcelonnette	77.5	10.2	7:36	3240
Alpe D’Huez	44.6	9.48	4:42	2107
Quiet Cols recovery	61.7	12.2	5:02	1882
Totals	333.4	11.44	29:08	11,145

Cycling in the Alps Day 4. (Alpe D'Huez)

Cycling in the Alps day 4

After yesterday rest and transfer day then today was the big one with an iconic ride as we tackled Alpe D'Huez. Our new apartment is small and modern and the owner provides breakfast. As Andrew (who is notoriously hard to please) speaks French he arranged for breakfast at a ridiculously leisurely huit heures (8 o’clock). When it arrived it consisted of a superb selection of local produce including omelette. I normally only ever have a bucket of porridge for breakfast so the first task of the day was to separate Andrew from his petit dejeuner in order that we would be setting off before lunch time.

Excellent french style breakfast

There was also croissant provided giving me my first rating opportunity for a couple of days. It was nice but slightly underbaked in the middle and too brown on outside (too hot an oven methinks) so not the ultimate one.

Latest croissant for testing

When Breakfast extraction was eventually complete it was pedals down at 9:30.

Pedals down from outside our new apartment

The late start was probably a good thing as there was still low cloud and you could barely see that there were any mountains near by let alone the one we were about to tackle.

Early morning visibility issues

Today’s route would go up Alpe D’Huez by the Tour de France route. After descending most people return to base and pat themselves on the back but this would only be a 35 mile ride at most so instead we (I) decided to add on an additional climb up Deux Alpes (2 Alps) also often featured on the TdF making it a more respectable 42 miles and over 2000m of climbIng. Again we would be either going up (which I’m better at) or down (which Andrew is better at) so would probably not see much of each other today.

So as to avoid the ”no food all day” scenario of our last ride we turned the remnants of breakfast into emergency ratios so were ladened down as we left the village and were straight on to the climb.

Start of Alpe D'Huez climb

Alpe d’Huez has 21 hairpin bends. The guide book claimed the numbering of them was inspired by the 26 numbered hairpins on the Vrsic pass in Slovenia. Coincidentally that was the climb myself and Andrew did on the first mountain top cafe hunt several years ago. I only hoped that there would be a better cafe at the top of this one (spoiler alert, there wasn’t).

One of the many famous hairpin bends

It was very cold going up but after about 7 bends the cloud lifted and we started to get some decent and dramatic views. One advantage was that the weather had put off other cyclists and especially the dreaded motor-bikers so it was a relatively peaceful climb with only the noise of my beating heart and panting breath to disturb things. I was pleased as I had been warned it can be a bit of a procession during the height of the season.

The cloud started to lift as we approached halfway

It’s not the hardest climb ever but still pretty tough. It starts very steep for about a mile then is at a steady 8% with no rest bite for the next 6 miles before a final flat section through town. So after about an hour I was pleased to see the famous mast and ski resort coming into view.

Approaching the summit village

There was no sign of Andrew so I looked down the mountain to see if I could see him and also so that you could play today’s round of where’s Andrew.

Wheres Andrew today?

From here it was a final push into town. On all the other climbs I have done you know you are at the top as there is a sign telling you that it’s the summit and then the road starts to go down. Alpe d’Huez isn’t actually at the top of anything mountain wise as it’s a large ski resort so I couldn’t find the official end point and spent some time cycling round town looking for it. It was a bit of a disappointment, coming halfway up a random street, but at least I can now say I’ve done it.

Official end point of climb

Meanwhile there was no sign of Andrew so I went in search. I followed my route back through town hoping to see him. With no sightings I was starting to worry we could be stuck here sometime when the phone rang. It was Andrew confirming he was lost. As neither of us knew where we were I asked him to describe his whereabouts. He described a bridge he was standing nearby which sounded just like the one I was at and as luck would have it he was only 10 meters away on the other side. The one advantage of having cycled round town was that I had found the only Boulangerie open, so we headed there for a debrief.

The only bakery open in town

It even had one last croissant which I have to say was particularly disappointing, with only views of nearby ski apartments and hot drinks from a machine this was not the top mountain top cafe experience I had hoped for so it was time to move on.

Not a great summit cafe

Alpe d’Huez is probably the most famous climb in the world and that’s why everyone has to do it but to be honest although the views on the way up are good and the hairpins make it interesting it wouldn’t be close to my top 10 although I was pleased to have done it. However once we left, out the back way, we were treated to some of the most spectacular scenery I’ve ever seen.

Amazing views down the less cycled side of the mountain

We now rode over to Col de Sarenne without a soul around enjoying the dramatic views.

A lovely empty mountain to enjoy

The summit (with a proper sign and everything) was the high point (literally but not metaphorically) of the day.

Top of Col de Saremne

Once over the top the views were even better although the road was very narrow and a bit gravely in places so the descent was rather cautious.

More extraordinary views

As we approached the bottom we decided to stop to have our emergency ratios from breakfast and we discussed our options from here. My plan was to go up to Deux Alps, another ski resort finish used on the tour, although we could skip it and take a more scenic route back to base. I decided to stick to the original plan (who’d have thought), while Andrew decided that he didn’t need to see another resort so would go the pretty way, although as it turned out he got lost and headed down the main road instead, so here his story ends.

Andrew deciding to take the short way back

Meanwhile I headed up to Deux Alps on a rather boring climb with similar gradients to this morning but without such good views or history.

A rather dull climb up deux Alpes

Once at the top it appeared that Deux Alps was still being built and despite cycling through it in both directions (and it's a pretty big resort) everything was shut.

Deux Alps appeared not to be complete

I decided to have my emergency pain au raisin, take my “I was there” photo and head back rather relieved that I hadn’t encouraged Andrew to come on an extra climb for nothing.

Requisite I was there photo

The descent down started as normal but after I headed through a small village it turned onto the most vertigo inducing stretch of road I’ve ever been on. I hand the brakes hard on and cycled as near to the non edge side as possible with my heart pounding more than on the way up. Any nose blowing would have to wait.

Not a route for anyone scared of heights

I won’t show you what the drop ever the edge looked like as I wasn’t brave enough to take a photo but when I got down further I looked up to see where I had come from.

Route down looked even more frightening from the bottom

For once I wasn’t disappointed to be joining the main road for the last few miles back to town. Back at the apartment I needed a sit down and for the second time this week an almost unprecedented second cup of tea.

Today had been dedicated to TdF ski resort finishes but to be honest they are not nearly as good as the not so famous cols we have done this week. However the views on the two descents were some of my most memorable.

For our final ride tomorrow we are doing a less demanding route away from the cycle tourists and hopefully unearth some more cycling hidden gems.

Todays Route

Profile

Cafe ratings

Cafe	Drinks	Food	Atmosphere and Ambiance	Rating
Col Du Vars	6	7	7.1	6.7
Chez Barulo	7	6.5	5	6.17
Café de Lac	6	6.8	7	6.60
Le Fournil Savinois	5.5	8.1	7.2	6.93
Auberge Roche Grande	6	0	7.1	6.55
Salazard, Alpe d’Huez	5.6	6.8	5	5.80

Croissants

Cafe/bakery	Freshness	Frenchness	Flavour	Rating
Luton Pret	4.5	5	10	19.5
La Marandiere, Barcelonnette	7.2	5.5	15	27.7
Café du Vars	5.8	5.7	14.t	26
Le Fournil Savinois	8.1	7.1	16.8	32
Chalet la Cachette	6	8	14	28
Salazard, Alpe d’Huez	6	7	13	26
Alpe
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Trip statistics

Route	Miles	Average Mph	Time on Bike	Metres climbed
Col Vars	76.9	12.3	6:15	2168
Tour du Lac Serre Poncon	72.6	13.1	5:33	1748
Three Cols from Barcelonnette	77.5	10.2	7:36	3240
Alpe D’Huez	44.6	9.48	4:42	2107
Quiet Cols recovery
Totals	271.6	11.3	24:06	9263