Day 16: Col de la Madeleine

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Updated: September 14, 2018

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It is our last day of biking with Alpine Chaingang. While the Tour de France has moved south out of the Alps, today we will ride up the northern approach of the Col de la Madeleine — a portion of the route the Tour covered yesterday (before getting to Alpe d’Huez).

On the bright side, it looks like we saved the best for last, as the Col de la Madeleine might be our most scenic route yet. The road is usually buried in snow from November to June. It is a very popular with the Tour, having been featured nearly thirty times since 1969.

Feeling great on day six!


Setting off 21km from the top

The varsity team was a man down today, as Phil and Eileen visited some local friends for lunch. That left Paul, Jason, Martha and Dave, all of whom started from the Chalet driveway and biked down from Courchevel through Moutiers to reach the base of the climb. Matt is getting pretty good at this — but he’s not that crazy — so he hitched a ride in the support van and started his ride near the base of the climb.

Great weather, once again


For all you blog/waterfall fans

Meanwhile, I joined Ben (Dave’s son filling in for Amy) in the support van and had a great time. Ben is an avid skier recovering from an ACL injury (which he incurred playing soccer, of all things), so my helpful duties included taking pictures and offering snacks/water to our riders.

Traditional French Alps KwikTrip


Scenery leveling up


Scenery leveling up some more

The north approach of Col de la Madeleine is considered an “HC” climb by the Tour mainly due to its 26 kilometer (16 mile) length. The gradient averages 7%, but there are several 9-10% sections to make it a challenge. There is roughly a 1500 meter elevation gain along the way, topping out at 2000 meters.

Turns out the French street and sanitation crews do a pretty good job of cleaning up after the Tour. The only remnants from yesterday’s race were chalk/paint messages on the road. Only one or two unclaimed sponsor caravan freebies were seen lying on the embankments.

Paparazzi getting shots of Matt on Col de la Madeleine


Scenery reaching critically scenic levels


Scenery meter busted

Matt reached the summit feeling good and we enjoyed a celebratory smoothie/espresso from a patio bistro while taking in the view. The weather on the other side of the Col looked a little bit threatening (but cool!), so we opted to eat lunch inside one of the friendly alpine restaurants at the summit.

2000 meters above the sea


Dramatic-looking weather to the south


Alpine patio furniture


Best support van wing-woman


Salads in the French Alps are legit

By the time lunch was over, the weather cleared a bit and we started our descent on a nice, dry road. Everybody made it down in one piece, which means it’s official… Matt (and I) have survived the biking portion of our bike trip!

Dave, what if I want to go 70 mph down the mountain???


Ok, how about ~20-30 mph

After loading up all the bikes and riders at the bottom of the mountain, we drove back to the chalet in Courchevel and had plenty of time to finish our last bottle of cider while watching stage 13 of the Tour de France on TV. As a special treat for our final night of the trip, Dave arranged a celebratory dinner with the group at a local restaurant called Refuge du Bois in Champagny Le Haut.

Garden behind the chalet

On our way to dinner, the rain started coming down as soon as we got in the car. Knowing our biking was finished, this was oddly satisfying! To reach the restaurant, we drove down the mountain, passed thru Bozel, and followed switchbacks on a small road up into the mountains on the other side of the valley.

The Refuge was aptly named and very cozy. Dave’s menu selections were amazing, with lots of local cheese and house wine. The delicious main course featured turkey breast, wrapped in ham, doused with melty cheese along side a generous portion of hearty Savoie region specialty pasta called Crozets. Afterwards, we ended up with a bottle of Genepi on the table and everybody downed some celebratory shots.

Arriving in Champagny Le Haut


Traditional herbal liqueur in the Alps

After our best dinner in France, we made our way back to Courchevel in the foggy rain and enjoyed our last night hanging out in the chalet listening to the storm. Tomorrow we all head back to Geneva and most of the group flies home.

Day 15: Alpe d’Huez

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Updated: September 14, 2018

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It’s our fifth and final Tour de France day! Today, the 12th stage of the tour starts in the familiar location of Bourg Saint-Maurice and concludes atop the legendary climb of Alpe d’Huez. The Alpe d’Huez is a staple of the Tour de France with an elevation of 1850 meters (6070 ft), a length of 13.8 km (8.6 mi), and an average gradient of 8.1% (with maximums of 13%) over 21 hairpin turns. So — obviously — that’s why Matt and the boys will attempt to bike it before watching the stage finish on the same roads later in the afternoon.

2018 Tour de France Stage 12 map

First order of business was getting to the town of town of Borg d’Oisans, which lies at the base of Alpe d’Huez — about a two hour drive from the Chalet. We set our alarms for an earlier wake up call and breakfast and got on the road by 7:30am. Most of us nodded off a bit in the van ride for a little extra sleep. When we arrived, we parked a few km outside of town to help avoid getting caught in traffic on the way out.

Learned my lesson yesterday, so attaching a second water bottle bracket today


Another beautiful day in the French Alps (heading into Bourg d’Oisans)

After biking into town and finding the base of the climb, it was immediately clear why people say Tour de France day on Alpe d’Huez is something to behold. It was 10:30am, the race was not scheduled to come thru until roughly 4:30pm, but the place was already bustling with thousands of fans and other bikers starting their trek up the climb. Crazy costumes, music blaring from speakers, you name it.

The well-known Devil dude is a Tour de France fixture


Going up, up, up…


Friendly support from these chaps

The first six turns (counting down from 21) are the steepest part of the climb. If you can power your way thru those, the gradients get a little easier. But — as Dave suggested — don’t look up yet, because you’ll see a massive wall with the rest of the 15 turns winding back and forth as high as you can see.

Looking down is more encouraging than looking up


Another turn in the books

Eventually, in the final turns, the ski village of Huez comes into view. The village center was packed with fans and cyclists milling about, buying souvenirs and eating lunches at the bars. Matt biked to the point where security has closed the area for the finish line, and then immediately looked for a place to buy a giant bottle of water.

Approaching the ski village of Huez


Only finish line security or dehyrdration can stop me now!

Meanwhile, as the guys biked up the mountain, Eileen and I walked from the car to Bourg d’Oisans and stocked up on supplies including waters and sandwiches. We continued walking through town and headed up the base of Alpe d’Huez to just beyond the first turn (Turn 21), where we found a good spot in the shade (for the moment) to camp out and watch the race go by — plus the always-exciting sponsor caravan.

Phil reached the top and came back down the mountain first. He descended so fast that neither of us saw him pass our location, but after a few calls, he made his way back up to turn 21 and joined Eileen and myself. Next down the line was Paul and Jason, who proceeded into town and found a bar to spend the rest of the afternoon.

Finally, I spotted Matt on his way down and successfully got his attention to join us as well. It probably helped that I was not trying to flag him down in any of the crazy party zones he biked thru higher on the mountain, including the well-known “Dutch Corner” on Turn 7 of the climb. Here’s a video Matt shot at Dutch Corner — about 4 hours until the race arrives: Video

Approaching Dutch Corner


It’s a full-on party up here


Wave anything in the air like you just don’t care!


Those Brits at Turn 20 are not as crazy, but still going strong

It wasn’t long after Matt arrived, that race officials shut down all bike and car traffic on the road. Dave warned us about “getting stuck” up the mountain, but from our location, we would be able walk down from Turn 21 if needed.

As the afternoon sun crawled across the sky, our shady race-viewing spot slowly became quite sunny (thanks astronomy). The four of us braved the heat and drank every last drop of water in our supplies. Then… like a miracle, the trusty Vittel water truck appeared! Unfortunately, they weren’t handing out water this time. But… they were handing out really nice race shirts. Score!

The rest of the usual sponsor caravan came through shortly thereafter and we got even more free crap that, alas, was not water.

Our — now very sunny — viewing spot just beyond Turn 21


Thanks for spotting me, Jo! And bringing sandwiches!


Best race swag yet! Vittel water is our new favorite water company

After the sponsor parade, the arrival of the Tour cyclists gave us a jolt of energy. A Dutch rider named Steven Kruijswijk passed first with a ~4 minute lead, attempting to revive the storied history of Dutch riders winning Tour stages on Alpe d’Huez. See: Video

Steven Kruijswijk is the first to reach the climb

The next group of cyclists that passed included Team Sky, who were working together for Geraint Thomas (current yellow jersey wearer) and Chris Froome (defending Tour champion). Despite a nearly 4-minute gap as they passed us near Turn 21, the importance of teamwork during climbs was made obvious when these guys later caught the Dutch rider and Geraint Thomas won the stage. See: Video

But Team Sky will eventually catch him

After several more groups of riders passed, we started walking down the course along the fencing. We were able to stop and watch the other groups of bikers as they climbed up the mountain. Because we were on a mountain, the riders were actually riding slow enough to really see what was going on. 🙂 Here’s is a video I took of Peter Sagan as he passed by: Video

Once we made it to Bourg d’Oisans at the base of the climb, we IMMEDIATELY bought water and coke popsicles (or “ice lollies” as Eileen says). Refueled, we continued our walk back to the car, loaded up the bikes, and waited for the rest of the group to return.

Walking back to the van


Bike loaded… mountains in view… and more snacks!

We managed to hit the road just before 7pm and we arrived back to the Chalet around 9pm. After dinner, we relaxed a bit with the group before going to sleep. Tomorrow we have a bit later start (yay!) and the plan is to ride the Col de la Madeleine, while I’ll cheer/help out from the support van.

Day 14: La Rosiére

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Updated: August 11, 2018

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It’s our fourth Tour de France day! Today the 11th stage of the race starts in Albertville and works it’s way eastward to the ski station of La Rosiére. The fun part about this stage is we (ok, mostly Matt) already biked portions of the route. On Monday, we biked from Areches to Bourg Saint-Maurice, passing over the Col du Pré and the Cormet de Roselend. Today, Matt and the others will bike from Bourg Saint-Maurice up to La Rosiére to watch the end of the stage. I’ll hike into town with Eileen and watch the race come through at the base of the climb.

2018 Tour de France Stage 11 map

Due to traffic and road closures, we parked the van a bit outside of Bourg Saint-Maurice, at the base of the 18 kilometer (~11 mile) climb to La Rosiére. La Rosiére is familiar because on Sunday we passed through the resort town on our ride to and from Col du Petit Saint Bernard. Today the Tour is taking a different (and slightly steeper) route thru Montvalezan to reach La Rosiére — which will also be the route Matt and the gang are headed up.

When the Tour shuts down automobile traffic


Biking through Montvalezan before TDF madness


Just two guys who totally look like seasoned cyclists heading up to La Rosiére


Winding up the mountain above Montvalezan

While Matt and the others trudged their way up almost 5,000 feet on two wheels, Eileen and I stayed on two feet and walked from the van to Bourg Saint Maurice. We found the restaurant where we had lunch on Sunday, and Eileen managed to use her French to make us a reservation before we set off on a walk.

Our path took us from Bourg Saint Maurice to Séez, the next town on the route. Plenty of camper vans and cars were getting ready for the race. When we got to the end of the town, we turned around and walked back to the restaurant in time to meet Dave and Phil.

Meanwhile, Matt was riding to the top, along with Paul and Jason to watch the race. During lunch, Dave called Paul, who confirmed that Matt was “sitting under a tree, drinking a beer,” so I knew he was safe and happy.

Fans watching the race on the big screen down the hill


Mountain bleachers


Biking up that pink portion suuuuuucked!


Access to finish line is limited on race days, but I got within 250 meters


Dehydration and heat exhaustion, but with a view!!!


All better. Exactly as Jo imagined

When we finished lunch, Dave and Phil moved inside to watch the Tour on TV, while Eileen and I found a good spot outside. Matt, Paul, Jason and Martha descended to various portions of the steepest part of the climb (ranging from 4-6km from the finish line) to watch the race.

We saw another sponsor parade and scored some more TDF SWAG. I successfully caught some candy and snacks and stashed them for later. By comparison, it sounded like Matt’s catches up the mountain might have been vital for his survival (ok, slightly over-dramatic) and apparently his Goldbears/meat snack things were consumed ASAP!

Yellow jersey stuffed lion car


Watching the race in Bourg Saint Maurice


Matt waiting for the race up on the mountain


“You remember what color we are supposed to use there?”

Finally, the racers passed though. The earlier part of today’s stage included some very difficult climbs (including the Col du Pré and the Cormet de Roselend that Matt biked on Monday), causing the riders to be pretty spread out. After most packs of riders passed us in the town, we returned to the restaurant to watch on TV. Then the race turned uphill where Matt, Paul, Jason and Martha had camped out in various spots. Here’s a video from Matt’s spot as Team Sky passed him on the mountain: Video

My roadside view about 5k from the top


Greg Van Avermaet has the yellow jersey on, but is going to lose it shortly


Not a stage for Sagan, but he’s ok with the other sprinters

Once the race finished, Dave and Phil biked back to the van, while Eileen and I walked. The four watching from the mountain started to make their way down with the throngs of people and bikers. Paul, Jason and Martha were diverted to the main road down the mountain (the route we descended on Sunday), but Matt was already headed down the actual race route through Montevalezan, where he and hundreds of other bikers needed to wait about 20 minutes for Mark Cavendish to pass through, far behind the peloton. Spoiler alert: Cavendish didn’t make the time cut and was ousted from the race.

Waiting for Cavendish to get the green light

Paul and Jason made it back first, followed by Matt and Martha about 20 minutes later (thanks, Cavendish). The race finished atabout 5:30pm and we arrived back to the Chalet at about 8pm. We settled in and devoured another delicious dinner. Tomorrow we have an early start as we will bike/hike the epic Alpes d’Huez and watch Stage 12 of the Tour.

Day 13: Col de la Croix Fry

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Updated: August 11, 2018

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It’s another Tour de France Day! Today, the tenth stage of the race begins in Annecy, where it heads south and east around the lake before going up a small category 4 climb and passing through Thōnes. Our plan is to bike the category 1 climb from Thōnes to Croix Fry in the morning before they shut down the roads, and then watch the race pass over the Col.

2018 Tour de France Stage 10 map

As usual, the varsity team opted for a warmup ride over the Col du Marais, which starts to the south in Saint-Ferréol. But warmups are for wimps, so Matt and I put our pedals to the road at the base of the climb in Thōnes. Just kidding. Those guys are just really good at cycling. We’ll be good with our 12.8 km (8 mile) ride from the bottom to the top.

Applying sunscreen is no joking matter

The top of the Col has an elevation of 1,467 meters (about 4,813 feet) so that won’t be as large a factor as our previous rides. However, some of the gradients on certain portions of the route are pretty tough — some as high as 13 percent — which is why it has that catgory 1 designation. This Col has been used in the Tour de France a few other times, most recently in Stage 19 of the 2013 Tour.

Heading up from Thōnes


Biking thru village of Manigod


Switchbacks above Manigod are legit


View to the south

Because the Tour was scheduled to pass thru in a few hours, the road was lined with extremely fun and supportive fans who cheered us on through the end. One couple we spoke to said we should come back and hang out at their chalet (next time!). Matt cycled up the entire time, while I honestly took more of a hike with my bike.

Tour fans cheer all the amateurs up the mountain


Showed up exactly when I needed more water


One of the final turns near the top

The view from the top was stunning. After grabbing a sandwich, we found a great spot on a hill to watch the Tour pass over the Col. As an added bonus, we found two “unused” chairs to chill in. Well, at first there were three chairs, and we assumed they must be reserved. But then we saw some random dude grab one of them, so we figured hey, let’s get in on that!

Hungry from the biking


Upgraded seating


Hydration is important for EVERYBODY

Turns out, that sponsor parade we experienced in Sarzeau and Lorient follows the entire stage, not just the start and finish. But we certainly didn’t want to give up our spot, or carry back too much junk, so we opted out of participating in the melee after we scored a pack of gummy bears and let the kids grab the rest. Fun fact: In the middle of the race, the parade cars drive much faster, and the thrown goodies become semi-dangerous, high-velocity projectiles.

Wanna gummy bear? They’ve been in my pocket for a while, so they’re real warm and soft

From our vantage point, we could see the riders coming down the road, and since they were climbing a 7 percent grade, they weren’t going quite so fast. Of course, “fast” is the relative term here given that they were probably biking uphill as fast as I descend. Here’s a video of the first rider over the Col: Video

Riders go over the Col de la Croix Fry

Once the race passed, the barriers were removed and people on foot, in cars, and on bikes flooded the streets, making the decent back to the car rather difficult. The group agreed to meet at the van at 4:30pm and we made it back with 10 minutes to spare. Once the rest of the group came through (after riding a bit more through the town), we loaded up and headed back to the chalet. There was a bit of traffic due to the race, but we managed to make it back in time for our evening routine and another fantastic dinner.

Ready to bike down among the crowd


Loading up the bikes for the day

Tomorrow we’ll do another ride to watch the Tour. Or to be slightly more accurate, Matt will still be doing the cycling. Due to my difficulties biking in crowds and staying vertical when getting on and off the bike, I’ll happily take a break from biking and enjoy the day watching the tour with Eileen.

The M&Ms do help Jo feel better about her biking war wounds

Day 12: Col du Pré

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Updated: September 3, 2022

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Good news. We can still move after biking up a mountain yesterday, so let’s do a couple more! Today we bike the Col du Pré at 1748 meters (5735 feet) and then Cormet de Roselend at 1967 meters (6453 feet). Our exact route is a portion of the Stage 11 Tour de France route the riders will bike on Wednesday.

Dave hooks up the trailer


Preparing the bikes in Albertville

As with yesterday, the varsity team started the day several km farther out from the col in the city of Albertville. We got off on the next stop as Amy drove us to Areches, a village about 11 km from the base of the col at roughly 1000 meters elevation.

Arriving in Areches with Amy

Based on information from Dave — and cycling websites — we were aware that today’s route was going to be more challenging than yesterday. No kidding. Even though the climb from Areches to the Col du Pré is only 11 km, the average grade clocks in at about 9 or 10 percent with some sections cracking 13. When the Tour comes by here on Wednesday, the climb is classified as ‘HC’ which means it’s beyond the difficulty of their usual scale of five to one (one being hardest).

Jo powers up the first switchbacks above Areches


If you farm well, you get awards for your rafters, just like pro sports

I got off to a rough start and struggled with the switchbacks as they got steeper and steeper. There are absolutely no flat sections for any sort of relief, which made it trickier to gain any momentum to get back on the bike and clip in. When the support van passed, I decided it was best to get a ride to the top and get back on the bike for the next section. Meanwhile, Matt continued on the road and somehow pedaled all the way to the top.

Some serious switchbacks


Paparazzi getting shots of Matt on Col du Pré


Don’t worry Jo, some trucks can’t handle the switchbacks either


Good news, 2 km left; Bad news, 10.7% AVERAGE grade


That was insane, but… Mont Blanc! (mostly)

With everybody gathered together, we stopped for lunch at the top of Col du Pré. Matt and I smartly split a delicious salad and avoided tummy aches. After settling the check, everybody got back on their bikes (me too!) and descended to Lac de Roselend, where we passed over the reservoir dam.

Made it in time to steal a few bites from Jo’s salad


Our group and Lake Roselend


Route to Cormet de Roselend heads up on opposite side of lake


The most epic Paul photo

From Lake Roselend at 1557 meters, the route to Cormet de Roselend is roughly 8 km. Paul, Phil and Martha stayed on the road and knocked out the whole thing. Matt jumped out of the van to do the last 4 km to the summit. Jason and I took it easy in the wagon. The road was already filling up with camper vans for the Tour in two days, creating quite a fun atmosphere.

One left to go!


People already claiming their spots for Wednesday


The cows will have an excellent view too

Passing over the Cormet de Roselend, the next part of the ride was a long and technical decent down to Bourg Saint-Maurice. Although I descended well off Col du Petit Saint Bernard yesterday, I didn’t feel as comfortable with today’s slightly more death-defying route, so I continued my van adventure. Meanwhile, Matt cruised down the mountain on his bike (cautiously, of course).

Descending carefully… at up to 35 mph!


Doing my best to stay out of alpine ravines

We all met up at the bottom in Bourg-Saint-Maurice, which is the same city we descended to yesterday (from a different direction). From there, we all rode the same 15 km bike path back to the van waiting for us.

Hanging with the varsity team peloton

By the end of the day, Matt logged about 32 miles and almost 4,000 feet in elevation gain. Thank goodness we have several bottles of Cider left to drink upon our return to the Chalet. We relaxed, ate a delicious dinner of homemade ratatouille, and hung out with our biking compatriots into the evening before checking in for the night.

Day 11: Col du Petit Saint Bernard

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Updated: August 6, 2018

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So it begins. Today we biked the Col du Petit Saint Bernard, which lies on the border of France and Italy. The saddle of the pass lies at an elevation of 2188 meters (or 7178 feet) and the road is only open from May to October. Apparently, archeologists have found various objects that indicate humans have been using the pass since the Iron Age. Hopefully they won’t find us there someday.

Ready to roll (L to R: Phil, Martha, Jason and Dave)

After breakfast with the group, we loaded up the van with our gear and snacks and secured the bikes to the trailer. We drove about 30 minutes to the base of the Col du Petit Saint Bernard in the municipality of Bourg-Saint-Maurice. From here a portion of the group started up the mountain for the full 26km ride (the portion not named Matt and Jo).

Varsity team hits the road (L to R: Phil, Martha, Jason and Paul)

We stayed with Amy and the van for a bit longer and started our ride at roughly the halfway point of the mountain near the ski resort of La Rosière, which is where stage 11 of the Tour de France concludes on Wednesday.

Ready for the arrival of the Tour

Our ride was about 13km of 5-6% grade incline up to the summit, starting at about 1600m. A couple rest stops along the way to catch our breath in the elevation and we soon reached the top. The scenery was amazing, of course.

Helpful km markers with distance, elevation and grade


Looking back down at Bourg-Saint-Maurice


Heading up toward Italy


About 1-2km from the top


Final switchback


One mountain pass down!


It’s nice up here

At the top, we waited for the rest of the group to catch up. As suggested by Amy, our group proceeded to cross the border into Italy and take a cappuccino break — as one does in Italy. We were treated with beautiful views of Mont Blanc (most of it), the highest mountain in Europe, and the surrounding Alps.

Much better than the French cappuccino place


The hills are alive with drying laundry

The weather started to turn, so rather than descend into Italy (to La Thuile), we determined it would be a better plan to get back down on the French side to about 400 meters above sea level for lunch in Bourg-Saint-Maurice. The ride back down started with rain, but quickly warmed up.

Almost beat the weather off the col


Better weather descending thru La Rosière


Claiming a prime spot for Wednesday’s stage 11

It only took about 30 minutes to descend from the top back to Bourg-Saint-Maurice — despite riding the breaks the whole time. According to the bike-tracking app we downloaded, Matt hit a top speed of 35.8 mph (which can’t be right, can it?!?). After that adrenaline rush, lunch was delicious. Plus, the weather was sunny in the valley, which was perfect for the gathering throng of French soccer fans preparing for tonight’s World Cup Final.

Celebratory lunch Cokes


French soccer hooligans

After lunch, we rode along a 15km bike path (flat) to meet up with the van. The ride was very pleasant and the path followed a rushing river with plenty of kayakers, rafters, etc. We managed to keep up with the group (for the most part) and made it back in one piece, having survived the first day.

All together, Matt and I rode 35 miles on the day, including a gain of over 2,000 feet in elevation. When we got back to the Chalet, everybody ended up watching France beat Croatia in the World Cup Final, 4-2.

Back in Le Praz


Afternoon view from the chalet


Everything coming up Milhouse for France

Dinner again was once again fantastic and we were able to watch a recap of the ninth stage of the Tour de France over dessert. We hung out for a bit before getting to sleep. Another mountain to climb tomorrow, so hopefully we will be functional.

Day 10: Geneva/Courchevel

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Updated: September 14, 2018

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Now we begin France Trip Part 2: Crazy Biking Adventure! We won’t actually start biking until Sunday, but today we meet our tour group in the Geneva Airport, and head deeper into the Alps to our chalet in Courchevel.

We didn’t need to meet our Alpine Chaingang group until mid-afternoon, so we took advantage of the extra time to sleep in. We enjoyed a leisurely hotel breakfast and fixed the fancy espresso maker ourselves when it looked like there was going to be an interruption in the caffeine intake.

World Cup fever in the Ibis lobby

Since we practiced taking the train from the airport to downtown Geneva yesterday during our rental car return operation, we had no problem getting ourselves the opposite direction, back to the Geneva Airport.

That’s the train


Meet your cycling destiny here

At the airport, we found the Montreux Jazz Cub which was our designated meeting point at 2:30pm. We were a bit early and hung out while waiting for the others. Dave Beattie, the owner of Alpine Chaingang (and unmistakably a biker), soon arrived to greet us and help load our bags into his van’s trailer.

Bags (and bike bags if your not a bunch of novices!)

On the tour there are seven people. The five other participants are: Paul and Jason, two friendly gentlemen from Manchester who are seasoned cyclists and members of their local biking group called the “Northern Collective”… Martha, a triathlete and nurse from Cleveland… and Phil and Eileen, a couple from Scotland who are frequent guests on the ski trips Dave’s company runs here in the winter. Phil is a Royal Military engineering corps veteran and will be biking with us. Eileen is not biking, but may potentially be our best friend as she’ll be in the support van riding along. 🙂

No matter how things go from here, we tried a Royal with Cheese

The ride from Geneva to Courchevel was roughly two and a half hours, taking us back into France (our fourth border crossing in the last 24 hours, lol) and south toward Annecy and Albertville. The road became more mountainous and the temperature cooled off a bit. For the fist time on the trip, we saw some rain drops. But do not fear, from what we can gather on the weather apps, there are often rain showers on even the nicest of summer days in the Alps.

Heading to Courchevel

When we arrived at the chalet, Dave set up our bikes and spent about an hour helping us practice with them. Divvy bikes these are not. For starters, they are incredibly light. Also, these suckers use pedal clips. As predicted by literally everybody we talked to, both Matt and I fell over due to the clips on our first attempts (Matt made it until he attempted to turn about 30 yards away, while I made it about an inch).

With requisite impact injuries under our belts, we devised a series of mental rules to hopefully avoid the next ones. Rule 1: Remember to clip out before coming to a complete stop (or to be clear, before you even think about stopping). Rule 2: Failure to clip out is not an option.

For example, you might try to clip out and fail. Your brain will then say, “Hey, so I see that clipping out didn’t work, but that’s ok, let’s just move on to the next task of bringing this bike to a complete stop.” But your brain is an idiot and gravity is persistent. So with these concepts in mind, we managed to stay upright for the rest of our practice session.

Here’s hoping I can tame this beast


And these in particular!

After bike practice, we all met in the chalet common room to go over some general information for the week, and outline the specific plans for tomorrow. The more seasoned riders will start at the bottom of the Col de Petit Saint Bernard, while Matt and I will start a bit higher up. After tomorrow we will have a better idea of all of our levels so we can plan and adapt the rest of the rides.

Plan of attack (L to R: Jo, Martha, Paul, Jason, Phil and Dave)

Alpine Chaingang is a family business and Dave’s daughter Amy will be with us for the first few days as well. She’ll be our support van driver, chalet host, and chef. As far as the chef part is concerned, she already proved amazing, serving up a wonderful three-course dinner. This tour might be worth it for the accommodations and food alone.

Our chalet’s common room area


Very cool light fixtures

After dinner we relaxed in the common room for a while and heard Bastille Day fireworks in the distance. Checking in for the night, we are excited to see how tomorrow plays out on the bikes.

Day 9: Auvergne/Geneva

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Updated: September 14, 2018

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When we planned our epic drive across France to reach the Alps, we decided to forego chateaus and wineries (see yesterday) in exchange for today’s main event — a sunrise hot air balloon ride over the Auvergne Volcanoes Regional Park, which is located in the Chaine des Puys region of Massif Central in central France.

Waking up before dawn, we gathered with our fellow travelers, the pilots, and a very friendly Saint Bernard at 6am. We were happily surprised with cappuccinos and madeleines before lift off. We followed along as best as possible since the pilots didn’t speak much English. However, we did have a few people in our group who kindly translated the key information for us.

Saint Bernard oversees the setup

We lent the pilots a hand during the set up process, including getting the basket off the truck, unrolling and untying the balloon, and filling the envelope with air. Then the pilot fired up the burners to create a 160-degree difference between the air in the envelope and the ambient temperature, which was about 50 degrees. Here’s a video of the balloon prep: Video

Flying with a flamethrower


Now over 200 degrees in the envelope


How you rev the engine in a hot air balloon


Flight attendants prepare for take-off

After the balloon rolled to its upright position, we climbed into the basket and were ready to fly. Turns out hot air balloon rides are surprisingly smooth and don’t give us the same butterflies we might get on ledges, such as a 15-foot city wall in Port Louis. And since you are generally moving with the mild wind, it is quite peaceful and quiet. After rising up over Lac Chambon, we floated by the Chateau de Murol.

Floating peacefully in the morning


Chateau de Murol seems well fortified

From our view above, the area consists of cones and craters from volcanoes that erupted between 7,000 and 100,000 years ago. Over time, the area has eroded, leaving exposed granite and basalt. Volcanic ash acts as a fertilizer, which allows the land to be covered in grass. Today, the area mostly consists of farms.

Lac Chambon and surrounding area


Circular footprint of an old cinder cone


Those cows are thirsty

As the flight descended, our recovery truck was following nearby to retrieve the balloon after the wind and the pilot came to an agreement on the location. We braced for landing as instructed, but the impact wasn’t nearly as bad as they made it sound.

Let’s avoid the trees


Mayday! Mayday! Small thud. Never mind.

We landed in the front yard of a house next to a field. When the the lady who lived there drove up, she just cut around us on the grass because we were in her driveway. Completely unfazed by a giant balloon in her yard. We helped pack up the balloon much like a giant sleeping bag. Is it worth pondering that eight other random people helped pack up our balloon before we rode it? Nah.

World’s biggest sleeping bag

We finished loading up the balloon and were driven back to Lac Chambon. We were treated with a super official flight certificate and fun paper lantern hot air balloons.

Certificate confirms we lived

Having completed our hot-air ballooning mission in Auvergne, we walked back to the hotel to gather our bags and complete the last three hours of our drive to Geneva. We skipped the hotel buffet and the local cafes because we liked the options at the surprisingly nice freeway rest stops here in France. So long Auvergne… which based on our impressions, is pretty much the Wisconsin Dells of France.

Beverage menus don’t usually make the blog, but DAMMMMANNN!


Sorry Doritos, France has won the lady chips race


What have the Romans ever done for us?

By mid-afternoon, we crossed the border into Switzerland and found our hotel in downtown Geneva. Geneva is not the easiest city to drive through — back in the land of idiot motorcyclists and one-way streets that don’t appear to have much rhyme or reason. We finally parked in a nearby garage and checked into the hotel. Upon arrival, we were given free passes to use on public transportation and were told that we probably parked in the wrong place. Not wanting to venture out in the traffic again just to re-park, we decided to avoid the problem altogether and just take the car back to the airport a day early, and use the train passes tomorrow instead.

So, returning the car at the airport is easy, right? Well… about that. Geneva airport is located in Switzerland (mostly), but has a section that is legally in France. When we picked up the car in Paris and they upgraded us to a Mercedes, we agreed to drop it off on the French side to avoid a 400 euro fee.

To do this, we essentially had to cross the border back out of Switzerland and take a very hidden turn onto a road that enters the airport from France. A helpful Europcar agent in Geneva gave us the information we needed to complete this crazy maneuver and it all worked out. In retrospect, we could have probably avoided driving into Switzerland altogether, but hey, it was an adventure. Also, we will miss you, Mercedes.

France looks better defended than Switzerland

We walked through the airport — passing a border checkpoint back into Switzerland — and found the train station with ease. The directions weren’t explicitly clear which line to take because it’s more like Metra than the El, but with help from some friendly passengers, we made it back to the city center and our hotel.

We spent most of the night relaxing and catching up on the blog. We did venture out for some food and to see the Jet d’Eau in Lake Geneva (aka. The Buckingham Fountain of Lake Geneva).

Holy Cow burgers for dinner in the Mausolée Brunswick park


Southern end of Lake Geneva in the dusk

Tomorrow we can actually sleep in so we are pretty excited about that. Then our crazy biking tour begins. Wish us luck!

Day 8: Drive to Auvergne

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Updated: July 26, 2018

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If you are behind on blog posts, today is your lucky day! This is clearly the entry you should skip. It documents seven hours of driving halfway across France. Just think… you could browse back to two days of Tour de France photos and videos, but now you are about to get photos of car snacks. 🙂 Still here??? OK! here we go…

Breakfast is served


Afterwards, visit the Antidonterie

On our last morning in Port Louis, we returned to the boulangarie for a baguette traditionale. This time, we also correctly ordered a torsade (chocolate twist pastry). We continued to the Caucutts and ate breakfast with Nate, Alan and Hannah before saying goodbye.

Nate before coffee


Nate after coffee

We ducked inside a small convenience store and stocked up on some car snacks before heading out for our seven-hour drive to Auvergne.

French car snack stamp of approval #1


French car snack stamp of approval #2

We stayed on the tollroads and freeways, but at least our route did take us through parts of the Loire Valley, which were quite picturesque. Our apologies to fans of vineyards, chateaus and Leonardo da Vinci for not spending more time here.

Doesn’t look like anything to me

After traversing the the Loire Valley, we passed Borges and saw the Borges Cathedral in the distance — a UNESCO World Heritage Site. With Gothic and Romanesque architecture — and a period of re-construction in roughly the 12th century — it sounds like it might be very similar to the Abbey of Mont Saint-Michel. Again, our apologies to historical European architecture fans for not stopping. It was, however, surprisingly easy to spot at distance because it seems to be the largest thing in Borges by a long shot.

Fun Fact: Next along the drive, we found ourselves seeing signs for what they kept calling the “Center of France”, which honestly sounded like marketing for some new retail operation. But, after passing a funky, pyramid-shaped bridge proclaiming to be “The Center of France”, it occurred to us that they might be speaking geographically. Neat-O.

Cruising onward toward the center of France


Strong contender for today’s blog name was “Mercedes Day”

As the afternoon wore on, we finally reached the volcanic region of Auvergne, and we were treated to views of extinct volcano cinder cones with old towns built on them.

Approaching the Auvergne Volcanic Natural Park region


Entering the Volcanoes of Auvergne park

The Chateau de Murol is very close to our hotel and was build on top of a basalt outcrop in the 12th century to protect itself from attacks. Turns out, building a giant fortress on the top of a huge volcanic rock surrounded by mountains is a good way to keep enemies at bay.

We found our hotel and I took a quick walk to check out the area.

We have arrived


Lac Chambon across from hotel


A Thursday Afternoon on Lac Chambon


“Don’t Forget the Lyrics” French version

Afterwards, we kicked back and relaxed. Evening plans included resting, blogging, working on that case of cidre we bought, and then getting to sleep early for our 6am hot air balloon flight tomorrow.

Day 7: Port Louis/Lorient

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Updated: September 14, 2018

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Tour de France Day, the sequel! Today, the fifth stage of the Tour de France begins across the bay from Port Louis in the city of Lorient. This gives us the chance to watch the start of a stage and compare it with a finish (from yesterday).

2018 Tour de France Stage 5 map

With some help from our local translator/guide (aka. Alan), we picked up a couple of loaves of bread from the Caucutts’ favorite boulongerie and ate breakfast back at their house. The bread lived up to the hype and the homemade jam was delicious.

Breakfast bread advice from Alan


Why did we go with bread, Alan?

We then took the bus, conviently located right across the street, to the ferry dock. The town of Port-Louis — which has only two stop signs (yes, two) — has a surprisingly well-run public transit system.

Despite Port Louis’ impressive transit system, the locals seemed to be a bit thrown off by the the influx of race fans as they were just trying to get to work. The first ferry filled up quickly, but a second arrived shortly thereafter and we grabbed a couple seats on the top section.

Port Louis 72 bus picks up right by the Caucutt’s place


We let the locals get on the first boat

The Caucutts recently signed the lease for an apartment in Lorient that happens to be located about a five minute walk from where the Tour was getting started today. Although they are not yet fully moved in, we stopped by for Nate’s new apartment tour — not to be confused with THE Tour.

After checking out the Caucutt’s new place, we made the short walk to the “Athlete’s Village” and found a festival with a large main stage and an emcee introducing and promoting various things to the crowd. There was music and sponsor booths to get/win free crap, which are always fun. We attempted to enter the official hospitality area, but discovered that area is reserved for the sponsors, team guests, and fancy-pants people who bought tickets.

The same sponsor parade that we saw during yesterday’s race also runs at the starting line. But, as Hannah so wisely put it, “We saw this yesterday. We don’t need more.” Instead, we avoided the throngs of people and walked along the park several blocks south of the starting line to reach a quieter area along the route.

Hannah also mastered DSLR basics in about 30 seconds

When we arrived, we found a bakery and sandwich shop to meet our snacking needs. We ate and relaxed as we awaited the start time. We were positioned near a curve in the road after a bridge so we figured that might look cool.

Lunch time!


ATTENTION! Everybody have your baguette-wiches at the ready!

The start of each stage features a “controlled start” where the riders warm up. They aren’t truly racing until they reach a point later down the road from where we were observing. Even so, they are biking as fast as you’d be driving a car on these same roads, if not faster. Here are the videos from our vantage point(s): Video 1 | Video 2

Yellow jersey sponsor bike with friendly chalkboard messages means the bikers are close


The controlled start rushes by only feet from Jo’s corner


And now… only ~200km from here to the end of today’s stage

When the very exciting minute concluded, we made our way through the fishing district of Lorient to board a different ferry back to Port Louis. This boat didn’t have a top deck, but it still allowed for some pretty good views.

Back in Port Louis, we met at the sailing club and tried our hand at paddle boarding. After a quick lesson, I was up and paddling. Matt not so much, but he gave it a good shot. We paddled around Lorient Harbor for a couple of hours. There is a very nice view, and while difficult, it is quite peaceful as well.

Port Louis Sailing Club has it all!


Sailing Club is just east of the old Citdel Fortress


Preparing to paddle board


One of us was actually good at paddle boarding

We were able to relax a bit before dinner at Le Tan’Pouce, a restaurant specializing in mussels convientiently located right on the water. Alex translated the menu for us and taught us a key trick in how to use one shell to pick the mussles out of the others. She made sure we knew not to eat the closed (dead) mussels so that we don’t get sick.

Delicious moules dinner on the docks

The name of Port Louis was established 400 years ago, but the town has been here for much longer. There are still clear remnants of this history. One is the giant city wall that surrounds the town. After dinner, we walked around (and on top of) the wall as the sun set, enjoying the views of the low tide.

Standing by the dock of the bay, watching the tide roll away


Caucutt clan meets the guy who owns the second (I think) oldest house in town


Fun with forced perspective on the Port Louis wall


Sunset behind the Citadel

We will depart Port Louis tomorrow, but plan to have breakfast with Nate and the kids one last time before we hit the road. A big thank you goes out to Nate, Alex, Alan and Hannah, who helped us plan, execute and thoroughly enjoy the last two days!

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