Recovery ride

Beautiful lake, but no one on it - maybe because it was Monday?

Well today was about some recovery for the legs but I didn't want to be static. A short ride with not too much in the way of climbing allowed me to finish the detour I started yesterday and prepare for the next few days, which will be tough.

The massive detour!

So point A was were I was last night, point B is where I wanted to go. The red skull and cross bones are where the road is closed. The blue lines ended up being the only options. Choices, choices.

Tough day!

Top of the Col de Sarenne

well, a tough old day in the saddle today. I think I had forgotten what it was like to carry 7kgs of additional weight with me and struggled a lot on the climbs. I also saw a big red bike, did Alpe d'Huez one and a quarter times by mistake and saw a big rock and a house. Still, another day of oer 3,500m of climbing and another couple of HC climbs done (HC stands for hors catagorie, which is designated when a climb is "beyond categorisation, as in it is really hard).

Galibier, Galibi-yeah!

An incredible day! Sometimes you get excited about something and when you see/do it will let you down, other times it will exceed expectations. Today was a day of exceeded expectations! I touched some snow, saw some art made out of hay, and saw a town that enjoyed a lot of wooden animal carvings. Ripper day!

Sore feet but a stunning day

High altitude fishing. Unsure what he was trying to catch but the view is worth it!

Such a stunning day weather wise, and a stunning climb to match (with a couple of other good ones as well). I had to give way to cows, saw a man fishing in a pond at 2,000m altitude, and have sore feet from wearing my icebreaker socks.

Surprise snow fall

That gap in the mountains in normally filled with the Madeleine

So the rain I expected to fall yesterday and overnight was delayed unfortunately, and also carried with it a lot of snow. The kind receptionist informed me this morning that snow had fallen to 1,400m overnight. No problem, over breakfast I make a quick change to the plan got dressed and ready. 

Doing up my laces!

Top of the Lacets de Montvernier

Interesting day. Started off amazing with the Lacets de Montvernier, then was OK over the Chaussy and up the Madeleine, then finished off amazing with one of the most fun descents so far. I saw lots of bikes used as decorations, a VW Combi gathering, and saw lots of roads carved into the sides of hills.

Testing the waters after tummy trouble yesterday

Nice day for it!

Well after a day of tummy trouble yesterday and not eating anything all day, today everything seemed fine. Just to make sure I only did a small ride and thankfully all seems well! Had a great day up to the Col du Grand Cucheron, saw Obelix (from Asterix and Obelix fame), and Rose sat in a meadow.

Two climbs to lakes, and sun!

Yesterday I ended after climbing the highest paved mountain pass in Europe (forgot to mention that), and today I have finished surrounded by famous Tour de France climbs. It is all going well! I climbed into clouds again, I saw two lakes, I got smashed by a headwind again, got pulled off a motorway, and raced against to try and beat the rain...again. But it was a great day!

Rain delayed but one of the best climbs to date!

Rain, rain go away...

Well today started out as planned, until it rained just as I was on the road. I waited it out before heading off to see the best dressed stop/go man I have ever seen, saw some famous ski fields (again), got sleeted on (better than rain!) and have a new best ride to date. So all up, after a rubbish start it all turned out aces!