1 September 2019 Col Du Telegraphe

After a few hard rides we opted for a less difficult climb from the other side of Col Du Telegraphe from a town called Saint Michel de Maurienne. A 12km ride .Like al rides there is no such thing as an easy climb.The road does kick up a bit .There were a few 8 and 9percents but generally it was a good ride at 12km short. We had coffee at the top be it not so good coffee and then rode back to the hotel in Valloire with a 2km climb at the end . We did about 950m of climbing. We have now done Col Du Telegraphe both ways.

Soft toy marmotte for Molly

31 August 2019 Alpe D'Huez

We travelled from Valloire today to Bourg D'Oisans , a town at the base of the famous Alpe D'Huez .Last Time I was here in 2015 I rode up the Alpe and did a triathlon as well a few weeks later with the famous climb part of the bike route.

The Wikipedia blurb states:

Details of the climb[edit]

The climb to the summit starts at Le Bourg d'Oisans in the Romanche valley. The climb goes via the D211 from where the distance to the summit (at 1,860 m (6,102 ft)) is 13.8 km (8.6 mi), with an average gradient of 8.1%, with 21 hairpin bends and a maximum gradient of 13%.^[7

The drive of over an hour took us to the town at about 10am and we then started from the car park at the base with lots of cyclist doing the same. It was a slow ride for just 14km of climbing but with the heat took me 1.45 .Slow but acceptable with the fatigue I was carrying from the biking and running. The gradient is more demanding with the 21 switchbacks .At the top it was a bit of a struggle finding the official finish line I went around the resort just for good measure.

Again in the afternoon another short run of about 6km .this time a flattish run along the river .The legs were truly tired.

30 August 2019 Col Du Galibier

Today was one of the iconic rides of the trip.The climb to Col du Galibier from Valloire.This was about 18km and about 1500m of climbing. we rode down to the village a 2km descent and then slowly started the long climb to the top.It was great if not hot weather and lots of motor cycles zooming along to the top. It took me 2.5 hours and Ian passed me about 100m from the top . But we all finished . great views from the top .definitely a harder climb from Valliore then col du Lateret but both iconic in their own way . The last time I did this was coming back from a long ride from Briascon having climbed Galibier , I had to do it again so it was a long day and very hard.This time it did not feel as bad .

In the afternoon I did a short run of 8km getting about 360 m but felt really tired in the legs having ridden for 3 plus hours earlier in the day. I turned back when I reached a herd of cows who started to move when I arrived.

28/29 August 2019

After the hard hike yesterday to Mount Crocione, today was an easy day for me.I opted for a short ride to Menaggio just to get the legs moving.it was just 25kms and fairly flat. Lots of tunnels that I had to ride round and coming back meant having to cross the road a few times on a fairly busy road.

In the afternoon a trip by hydrofoil to the town of Como for a bit of sightseeing and dinner,

View from Top of Funicular in Como

The next day it was off to Valloire ,France ...a 4 hour drive though the Mont Blanc Tunnel .Lots of tolls later and we are at Valloire driving over the Col Du Telegraph at 1500m .

We then had a quick ride to the top from our hotel .A short 7km ride . I did a 5km run really slow with about 200m elevation along the river flowing to Valloire.

Col Du Telegraph

Run in the evening

View from Room ,Valloire

27 August 2019 Climb to Monte Crocione

Today a non ride day with a climb to Monte Crocione which is behind the Hotel Villa Marie and stands at 1400m .

Monte Crocione

Crocione in Italian means large cross, and that is what adorns the top of Monte Crocione, a 1641 metre peak directly above the town of Griante. From here you will experience breathtaking views of Lake Como, and the Swiss and Italian Alps.

Here I describe two options for hiking to Crocione: the most direct and difficult route beginning at the foot of the mountain in Griante, and a gentler more comfortable route beginning a lot further south in the mountains above Argegno. But first, a little bit about the mountain.

Turned out to be quite a climb. Started out at 7am and the first km was through the quiet roads nnd footpaths along the houses sitting behind the hotel .It was still cool and comfortable .I ran where I could but it was mainly hiking the steep cobblestone paths.At about 1.5km it becme the footpath with stones

I did't follow the conventional route from Grante but it was still about 9km mainly steep footpaths though the paths and most of the sights in the video .

Got bitten lots by a flying insect .not sure what it was but that was a pain. It was pretty humid and luckily there was a spring with a trough of water so got atleast some water.On the way down I did run out of water and had 4 kms without any till I got to the spring which was about 3 km from the bottom.

The climb took me 2hrs 49 mins and the last bit was hard as I literary climbed on hands and knees to the top .There were a few hikers from Greece there they had parked their car and hiked in for an hour and were surprised I actually climbed to the top.

The run down was better but still slow going with the stone footpath.  Had an encounter with some goats above the Tuneel .One came and licked me and there were a few with some horns so I tried to carefully pass them . The legs were feeling the hike of 1400m and I was glad to finish in 4.40 hrs

Pictures were blurred by the condensation on the lens of the phone camera

26 August 2019 Ride around the lakes

Lake Como

Todays  ride was a loop around the peninsula on Lake Como. We again took a ferry from our side of the lake to Bellagio and then rode clockwise heading to Erba with some solid climbs first out of Bellagio and then to Erba before heading into a very busy Como with lots of traffic .After getting out of Como we tried looking for a café before we found a small café in a small village before Nesso .Fortunately after Nesso it was a pretty easy and fast ride back to Bellagio with a gentle downhill all the way.A good 75kms with 900m of elevation.

In the afternoon it was a hot 10km slow run along the coast and the Como del lago Greenway which is I believe an old Roman route along the coast and off and above the main road along the coast for most of the way .it was pleasant to run along the cobble stones and old houses even though there was still a bit of climbing.

25 August Ride to Ghisallo

CRT Group at Ghisallo 25 August 2019

Huw, JC , Mike & Ian 

Sunday 25 August 2019 , it was appropriate we rode to Church . A special Church dedicated to cyclist called  the Church of the Madonna Del Ghisallo , a church dedicated to cycling heroes.

We started with a short ride fromt the hotel to the ferry point and then a short ferry ride to Bellagio before a climb out of the town for about 12kms to the church at the top .A climb of about 650m but the climb started straight out of Bellagio ,a climb without a chance to warm up.I found it hard and coughed up a lung before I settled into a reasonable cadence .After about 13kms there was a flat section before a short kick at the end. There was a cycling racethat morning  , I assume a local race , and so there was a crowd at the top .We had pictures and a look at the church and then went and had a look at the Museum with an interesting collection of bikes and the history of Italian cycling especially the Giro D'Italia.

A very enjoyable day. we then rode down to make a loop back to Bellagio for lunch and the ferry back to Tremizzo.