Cycling in France
As a reward for all the travel to India, I signed up for a Trek Travel tour in France. This particular tour rode over many of the famous climbs used in the Tour de France over the years. Trek provided the trip logistics, hotels, most of the food, guides, and a bike! It was practically an all-inclusive cycling vacation, which was well worth it given how much riding I had signed up for. The total riding over the course of 9 days was about 400 miles and about 50,000 ft of elevation gain! We began in Lourdes…
I did this whole cycling adventure with my friend Cy. We both arrived about 2 days before the actual start of the trip to ensure we didn’t miss the start with flight delays and to help get through some of the jet lag. Lourdes is a small town in the Pyrenees, famous for a cathedral and some sightings of the virgin mary. But we weren’t there for that! Instead, we saw the amazing fort/castle that loomed above the town and ate some delicious food from the local boulangerie.
Day 0 and Day 1: Lourdes
On the first official day of the bike tour we were introduced to our guides Freddie and Gav. They gave us our bikes and helped tweak the fit as we rode around the parking lot for a few minutes. Most people brought their own saddles and pedals to make things more comfortable. There were a total of 10 guests on this trip.
After the bike fit, Cy and I did the Day 0 ride which was a short loop out from town to get acquainted with the bikes and warm up the legs for the ambitious ride schedule to come. This was about 37 km and took just under 2 hours, which is a bit more of a warm up than I expected but I was glad to spin the legs.
Day 1 came with the first real climbs of the trip. We covered 103 km and 2200 m of elevation. The famous climbs on Day 1 were the Col de Soulor and the Col de Spandelles. The weather couldn’t have been better as we rode through green alpine meadows. The sun was shining, the snack table was stocked (the guides followed along in the company van and provided snack stops along the rides), and the lunch was delicious. France, and Europe in general, does food properly. Not only in freshness and flavor but also in location. It seems that every remote mountain pass or recreational area has at least 1 high quality cafe to visit while you are out on your day’s adventure. On the descent, we found a semi-famous place where Pogacar had crashed during a previous Tour de France. Cy had to recreate the moment.
Day 2: Saint Lary
A fantastic aspect of the Trek Travel experience was not having to worry about our luggage or returning to where we started each day. For Day 2 we rode out of Lourdes and finished at the next hotel in Saint Lary. This also turned out to be the ride with the most elevation gain of the whole trip at 3,246 m. More iconic climbs were tackled on this day including the Tourmalet (1 of the “big three” from the TdF), Hourquette d’Ancizan, and Cy and I made it about 60% up Pla D’Adet. This last climb was the “avid” option for the day. The trip had optional, extra credit riding each day and this was one that we attempted. Across the ride, we again had superb weather. There were cows and sheep grazing up in the high meadows and we wondered if they knew just how great a life they had there. We had another great lunch at a cafe and even rode around a little pump track on our road bikes. The weather was reminiscent of California as the heat played a large role in Cy and I not finishing the extra credit climb.
Day 3 and 4: Mazan
From Sanit Lary we had a “rest day” and long bus ride to transfer from the Pyrenees to Provence. But like any good cyclist we still rode after the bus ride. This was a quick 24 km out in the surrounding country side to spin the legs and flush out the lactate from Day 2. Our new hotel was historic in someway as the party house of some wealthy French magnate. It felt like a lovely summer retreat with a nice garden and pool area.
The reason for coming all the way to Provence was to climb the 2nd of the big 3 from the TdF, Mont Ventoux. We learned that it wasn’t a bald mountain because it was high above the tree line, but actually Napoleon had instructed soldiers to use all the trees at the top of the mountain in some construction project. Since then, the high winds have made it so none of those trees ever grew back. Apparently, people are trying to rectify the situation and trees are slowly but surely progressing up the mountain side.
We rode up the mountain from the forest to the barren landscape. It was an extra special day in that the Olympic torch was set to visit the summit of Mont Ventoux that very day! So it was quite crowded with hikers and cyclists all the way up. Towards the top, with about 1 km to go, we were forced off the road by police and had to walk our bikes. Despite the road being free and clear, we had to walk in the gravel on the side. Not great for road cycling shoes, and it turned out to be easier for me to walk in my socks than fumble over the rocks in my rigid riding shoes. Even with the uncomfortable hike we made it to a windy summit with many others awaiting the torch’s arrival.
Cy and I couldn’t wait around long enough because of the wind and cold. We decided to go down the mountain where we were hit with winds but had the most amazing descent I think I have ever rode. Beautiful views, smooth tarmac, and the curves flowed so well. We chased each other, as well as our guide Freddie, down through all the turns to a lovely lunch. Luckily, one of our tour mates stuck around long enough and grabbed a few photos of the torch procession.
Day 5 and 6: La Grave and the Alps
A much shorter bus transfer got us over to the French Alps. We arrived at a grocery store parking lot where our guides had all our bikes set up, ready to ride. We all quickly changed in the grocery store restroom before setting off on a rather wet and miserable ride. We began on a flat-ish valley road through a busy industrial area. It felt a lot more like riding around LA with trucks passing all the time at high speeds. The roads were wet and I was really glad to get the first 20-ish kms over with so we could get some peace in the mountains. The very positive thing about French (or European) roads was that we didn’t hit a single stoplight or stop sign. Roundabouts everywhere allowed us to keep moving, which was much appreciated.
Once we got off the highway we started climbing up to the lunch stop and the first summit of the day at Col du Telegraphe. There of course was a cafe there where we got to dry off a bit and prepare for the next ascent to the highest point of our trip, the Galibier!
The big climb up the Galibier was quite the experience. Rain opened to actual rainbows as we wound our way up. Since we were climbing the weather wasn’t too bad as all the exercise kept us warm. The mountain meadows had many cows and sheep along the way as well as a cheese shop, presumably all made from the local animals. As we climbed to the highest summit of the trip, we had to stop about 1 km from the top once again. This time it was due to snow and avalanche risk rather than the Olympic torch. So instead of going over the summit, we were driven through a one-way at a time tunnel since bikes weren’t allowed to go through. On the other side the weather was much worse. Low visibility, rain, and wind made the descent a tricky one. I was just holding on and trying to stay warm. I checked into the hotel in a shivering state but was brought back to life with the warmest welcome from the hotel proprietors and a warm shower.
Our next day had a change of plans due to the weather. Apparently, our route for the day had been closed due to serious land slides wiping out the road. This also wiped out Cy’s dream of tiramisu just across the border in Italy. Instead our guides re-planned the day to go back up the way we came to Col du Lautaret for lunch and the Galibier again for those who wanted to brave it (I did not…). The previous day’s descent had me feeling on the verge of illness so I was grateful for essentially what became a rest day. I did have a serious raclette burger for lunch to aid in the recovery!
Day 7 and 8: Alpe d’Huez
At this point in the trip I felt like I had made it! My body and legs were holding up after so many days/hours/kms of riding. I knew I could go for the avid option on Day 7 since only a short-ish day remained after that. Unfortunately, Cy and another guy Hal both got some sort of stomach bug that caused them to sit in the van for the day. I was able to ride in Cy’s honor and made it up the most named summits of the trip. I hit Croix de Fer, Glandon, Pas de la Confession, and Alpe d’Huez all in one ride!
Riding up Croix de Fer at the beginning of the day was somewhat of a race against the weather as clouds were creeping in. Myself and another guy Matt were able to hit Croix de Fer and Glandon and make it back down to the lunch cafe just in time! Glandon was just a short bonus on the way down from Croix de Fer. You could almost coast to the top with the momentum gained descending. There were a couple small climbs to get back down for lunch that Matt and I made quick work of as the weather was looming. The rain came only minutes after we were inside the cafe ordering lunch. Some of our team mates weren’t so lucky as they got poured on before making it inside for lunch.
After lunch some folks took a shuttle up to the hotel (at the top of Alpe d’Huez) while I and a few others opted for the avid option of riding up to the hotel. This took us up another awesome climb and the “backdoor” to Alpe d’Huez, the Pas de la Confession. The road was quite narrow here but the views over the valley and mountains were stunning! This bonus climb connected with the famous Alpe d’Huez switchbacks near-ish the top, about 6 switchbacks to go. This is where the weather did catch up to me as I got rained on through the last 3 km up to the summit hotel. But I made it and in much better shape than a few days previous. I had more clothes on this time and kept warm by working hard to finish the climb. This brought us to the nicest hotel of the trip: the 5-star Hotel Grandes Rousses. This offered beautiful views of the surrounding mountains and a somewhat familiar ski-resort feel.
After a not-so-optimal sleep (not sure what happened but several of us just couldn’t get to sleep), we woke up to what would sadly be our last day of riding of the trip. I was extremely happy to have done all the kms and climbs and still felt ready for another day. Since we stayed on the top of the mountain we had to get back down to ride the famous 22 switchbacks and 3rd out 3 big TdF climbs. On this final day of riding we started with a cold descent going past the “most scenic bathroom in the world” as the guides described it.
We made it back down to the valley floor and rode along some of the same roads as the previous day. Cy was back from his stomach issue and able to ride! He and I inadvertently passed the snack stop at the base of Alpe d’Huez and realized our mistake once we saw the km 0 marker at the base of the climb. We had talked about giving our best effort up the switchbacks since it was the final day and the final climb. Might as well empty the tank and see how we stack up against the world’s best (with very fatigued legs). So that is what we did! We stuck together for the first 5 or so switchbacks but then I pulled away from Cy. I kept as strong a pace as I could muster for the remainder of the climb, having a waffle and beta-fuel to keep the engine running. I passed by many a cyclist going up and was only passed once (maybe twice?). At the end, there were a couple round-abouts to the TdF finish line. I had enough energy left to genuinely sprint to the finishing gate. In the end it took me exactly, to the second, 1 hour to finish Alpe d’Huez.
I hung out and had some snacks with our guide Gav as the others made their way to the summit finish. We all celebrated together atop a podium recognizing all the previous winners of the Alpe d’Huez stage. Our guides had some champagne, 1 cheap bottle to spray, and 1 good bottle to drink. We had done it, riding complete!
Day 9: Geneva
It was nearly time to go home but luckily for us, the best place to fly home from was in Switzerland. We took the 2-ish hour train ride to Geneva and got to spend about 24 hours in the city before having to catch our flights the next day. It was surprisingly hot but the breeze from the lake helped keep the temperature manageable. We didn’t have bikes anymore so instead we walked around Geneva all afternoon. I had to go see all the watch shops, of course. We visited about 4 different shops and saw nearly every brand you have ever heard of (and some you haven’t). Turns out the Swiss watch industry is huge and most prominent in Geneva. Although it was tempting, I didn’t buy any Swiss timepiece. Cy sought out some fine Swiss chocolate which we did purchase as a gift to our partners back home.
We had a great dinner and then spent time by the lake watching people and swans go by. We saw the giant fountain that apparently has more to do with the city’s water pressure and water system associated with the lake. Nonetheless, it has become a tourist attraction, sort of a man-made Yellowstone Old-Faithful. It was the end of our trip, we had accomplished so much and found new physical limits! It was time to return to the USA with fatigue in our legs, photos in our phones, and lifelong memories!