Wednesday 29th August
It was a pre-sunrise start for me as I had to drive over the Col du Glandon to get to the ride I wanted to do, and be back home for lunch to let Nicola and Heather go out to a workshop in the afternoon. In the end they decided not to do the workshop so I could have had a lie-in, however the upside was that I did get to watch the sun rising over the Alps which was very special.
The drive over the Col du Glandon gave me a chance to see the north side that I won't get a chance to do (doing the south side on Saturday). It was a strange climb as it was not apparent even up until the last kilometre how exactly the road was going to get you to the pass over the mountain. The climb looked tough and excellent, and the paint on the road indicated that the Tour had come over this way this year. I can't do every col in every direction so this one will have to wait for another day.
The drive also allowed me to look at Saturday's ride which as it turns out is very different to those I have done thus far. Instead of the normal long climb up, then long descent back down again, the climb up the Col de la Croix de Fer (with a side trip to the top of the Col du Glandon) is more of a roller coaster up, down, up, down and up again. The surrounding mountains are spectacular and the ride also passes two large reservoirs which are very scenic too. It may be a good thing I saw the views today as the weather forecast isn't looking marvellous for Saturday, however now I have seen the riding on offer I am looking forward to it immensely.
Enough of future rides and back to today's ride up the Col de la Madeleine. I started off in the rather oddly named town of La Chambre where the 19km climb commenced. Being the first ride after the long ride up the Galibier the short distance was good however in true Alps style the climb immediately started with a no nonsense 8% gradient and never really let up from there. As the map promised, this was a climb of continuous switch backs, climbing up to and beyond a number of ski stations on the mountain. The pass itself was 5 km beyond the last ski station and had magnificent views on the north side across to Mont Blanc, while on the south side I could see across the valley in which the car was parked up the impressive side valley which led up the north side of the Col du Glandon
From my vantage point this morning on the Col de la Madeleine I was also able to remain dry while watching a storm coming through the valley of Bourg d'Oisans which was getting a good soaking. By the time I was back over the mountains into our valley the road had dried up, however more clouds and rain arrived later this afternoon and more is forecast for the coming days and weekend. It therefore looks like I will have my first soggy rides of this trip which is much later than I had expected so I have been extremely fortunate with the weather.
Considering the weather, I will likely stay close to home for the next couple of days and will ride from here when a break in the weather presents itself. Likely climbs will be Les Deux Alpes (which I always consider the poor cousin to Alpe d'Huez), the Col du Lautaret (which would take me to the base of the Galibier, however it does go through those nasty mountain tunnels), or the Col d'Ornon (which I saw the sign for today and that is all I know about it). So many choices!
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