Made my first cycle ride up the Col d’Izoard this year in preperation for the Big Col Tour that we run in June. The pass had only just open and there was still plenty of snow at 2360 metres above sea level.
On Thursday of this week I made the trip from our base in Bourg d’Oisans to Sault at the base of Mont Ventoux. I took the beautiful ride a long the gorge to Bedoin – where I turned right and started the long climb up to Mont Ventoux. I chose this route as its meant…
I headed off with my friend Radboud – who lives in Grenoble – to ride the long version of the Challenge du Dauphiné Vercors Sportive today. Despite a start time of 8AM the weather was perfect and approximately 700 people turned up to do the various distances. We decided on the 158 KM distance (with 3500 m…
We have just had our first batch of More Than 21 Bends T-Shirts in for our first Big Col Tour in June. If you are in the market for a stylish new Alpe d’Huez t-shirt (for those in the know there are More Than 21 Bends on Alpe d’Huez – even though its known as…
With the Col du Glandon now open it is fairly easy to get to the base of the Col de la Madeleine and although it is still technically closed I thought I would see how far up I could get. This is a monster of a climb over 20 km gaining 1500 metres in height and is…
I have just entered the Challenge du Dauphiné Vercors sportive for May 23rd near Grenoble France. The 158km route with over 3200 metres of climbing will be an optional extra in our Alpe d’Huez to Mount Ventoux week in 2011 (Dates 21st May-28th May 2010). and is a good early preperation for La Marmotte in July
While 5 of our Irish guests staying as part of our Tour d’Oisans holiday today cycled Alpe d’Huez I have been busy planning 2011 holidays. Yes it starts already !. Anyway good news is that we have set our dates and prices for our Alpe d’Huez to Mont Ventoux week for the 21st May 2011 until 28th May…
I set off this morning on a training ride that consists of the 1st day of our Big Col Tour. This 100km loop takes me approximately 4 hours to ride – with no stops. Despite it only being April at the moment the Oisans have been basking in mid to high 20 degree temperatures. This…
Yes we know 2010 has barely started but we have just made available our spring cycling holiday in Southern Spain. Based in Monachil in the heart of the Sierra Nevada National Park you get a weeks worth of big col riding with a guide, accommodation, breakfast and evening meals. More details can be found on the website.…
We took a family trip over the Col du Lautaret passed the foot of the Col d’Izoard and onto the nearby town of Briançon. It certainly is not cycling weather at the moments with the snow up to 2 metres high at the side of the roads on the Lautaret (we tackle this one way on day…