What a magnificent day riding in the high Alps!
After the Director Sportif allowed a visit to Annecy to be moved to the weekend (apparently I would just stare at the clouds frowning if it wasn't) the car was packed and I was zooming through the dark French countryside at 5:30am this morning heading towards the Col d'Iseran. With the weather forecast suggesting the window of opportunity would close by mid-afternoon I had plenty of motivation to get out early. An hour and a half later I was arriving at Bourg-St-Maurice just as the sun was rising. Having arrived earlier than expected I decided to do a longer ride directly from Bourg-St-Maurice, rather than drive up the valley to Val-d-Isere as I had planned. I was glad I did as I would have missed a beautiful scenic climb. There was forest, chalets and fine views back down the valley across to the mountains on the other side.
As I was riding along Tour de France climb markers appeared, however not for the Col d'Iseran, but for Tignes ski station which has hosted stage finishes. At the Barrage de Tignes this climb went right over the dam and up another valley, while I continued along the side of the reservoir through numerous mountain ski tunnels to get to Val d'Isere. After 32km of riding generally upwards my HC climb of 16km officially started. The scenery immediately changed, from low altitude forest and meadows to sparse alpine vegetation with magnificent high mountains towering over the road. It was (wait for it) awesome and the road was impressive too with lots of hairpins to achieve the elevation gain needed to get up to the Col d'Iseran which at 2,770m is easily the highest pass I will ride. At the top the legs were sore but it was worth it and this ride has easily made it onto my favourites list.
It was a slow descent back down as I was constantly stopping to take photos and after getting back to Val d'Isere then through the tunnels along the side of the lake, curiosity got the better of me and in a blatant col-bagging exercise I decided to finish off the climb up to Tignes. After getting to the top, taking the obligatory photo, I quickly descended and rejoined the road to get back to the car.
The riding today was simply magnificent. Bike riding simply doesn't get any better that this. Tonight the legs are stuffed but it is worth every ache and pain. Tomorrow is a rest day to see if the adverse weather predicted actually eventuates. The next (and last) ride looks like it will be on Friday, but I'll keep staring at the clouds and let you know.
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