Cycling France June 2023

A friend invited me to go on a cycling holiday in france, a couple of days in Bordeux and headdiing to the Alps for some big climbs!

Decisions had to be made as to which bike to take, My Domane, or Checkpoint. The checkpoints gearing would be better suited to the mountains, however in the end I took the Domane.

The first 3 days based in Beaune were mainly flat rides through vinyards, and villages. the routes for cyclists were quite well maintained and the cycling infrastructure in to Dijon was superb. It provided a good warm up for what was to come.

The transfer day to Briançon took us past Alpe D'Huez. After findig a carpark and some lunch we set off up the Alpe. after 16km and 2 hours of climbing I make the top, All that was left was to enjoy the descent back to the car.

After getting to our accommodation in Briançon we head into town to find beer and food, a little bar sold Chouffe Beer at a mere 8.8% !!! feeling the effects of that and a good meal meant I slept well.

The next couple of days were spend cycling up the Claree valley and the Guil Valley, both rivers I kayaked many years ago. The beauty of the rides up the valleys is once you run out of road or the legs give up, you turn round and coast back down to Briançon or the car.

The third day in the alps saw a very wet ascent of the Col du Lauteret, but the last three days were glorious sunny days, as we went over the Col du Montgenevre into Italy for lunch in Bardonecchia, then back over the Col de l’Echelle. This was follwed the next day by an assault on the Col du Izoard and a fast 70-80kph descent. The final day was again up the Col du Lauteret, but this time at the top we turned right and headded up the Col du Galibier after making the final 15%+ push in the last 350m the summit was reached. a careful descent back to Lauteret for lunch then a 30km descent, where you didn't have to breal for about 20km, and then only because there was a speed limit in the village. The whole descent back took under an hour. A well earned ice cream and beer at the bottom, before we had to pack up for and early start for the drive home.

A good holiday was had and a great sense of achievement gained. I may not be fast up them hills, but i got there.

The numbers: 736km (457miles), 10,297m (33,72ft) ascent. It took just over 40 hours of cycling over 11days.