Today I drove up to the ominously named town of La Grave to begin a ride up the Col du Lautaret. Technically the ride starts further down the valley however the climbing would be so flat and I wanted to avoid riding through the worst of the mountain tunnels. I chose this ride because it is on a cycling jersey I bought and I wanted to ensure I had ridden up all the climbs on the shirt (I appreciate my logic for selecting rides can be a little odd at times). I had ridden down this col when I descended the Galibier so it was also a good ride to do when it is wet, cloudy with no views in sight.
The climb was pretty easy and only nudged above 7% once on the way up. With plenty of energy still in the legs I decided to continue up the Col du Galibier, riding up the side I did not go up earlier this week. This side was both shorter and less steep, however I did not make up to the top. This was because the rain that was falling in the valley was falling as snow near the top of the Galibier. At the 2km to go sign, with me now riding in the middle of a snow storm, and the snow now starting to lie on the road (rather than melt away as it had been doing until then), in the interests of self-preservation and to avoid becoming hypothermic, I decided to turn around and head back to the car. The descent was absolutely freezing and my fingers and toes were like ice when I got back to the car. This may all sound terrible, but I had a great time. It was simply a pleasure just to be riding these roads and the rain, cold and snow just made the ride a little more adventurous than it would have been otherwise. Col de la Croix de Fer tomorrow.
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad