Grand Alps Traverse - 14 day bike tour

[karlos]

While I'm on this Grand Alps Traverse Tour, several people asked me to take photos. So, rather than bore you with a bunch when I return, I thought I would give my NCCC riding friends a day by day blow of the bike rides, with some links to photos. I'll just add the other days to this post, so it's all together.

First, this tour was put on by Adventure Travel Group (ATG), owned and operated by Gary Bezer and his wife, Lise Fleur. Those of you who ride bikes on Wednesdays out of Bonsall have probably ridden with Gary and he occasionally sits in on NCCC rides when in town. There are 20 guys on the tour, the largest contingent being 8 Aussies. Everybody I've met has been extremely friendly and we're all getting to know each other and having a good time. And I do mean, just GUYS.. Four women who signed up couldn't make it in the end. I wish Ursula were here to display her climbing skills to the group.

Most of us arrived in Ljubljana, Slovenia a couple days early to shed jet lag and make sure our bikes were in good working order after the long trip in a bike case and being partially disassembled and put back together. We've had good meals as a group and were raring to get riding this morning. I'll add to this post daily and I'll try to keep it short, with links to some photos.

Day 1: Ljubljana to Lake Bohinj in the Julian Alps. This was a 64 mile (103 km) ride with 4500 ft of climbing. Just one real climb was on this ride and it was kind of a warmup to what lies ahead as the tour is 14 straight days with an average of 80 mi per day and 8;000 ft of climbing a day. Ron Medak once told me that he thought that Slovenia was one of the most naturally beautiful countries in Europe. This ride proved that point - photos here don't capture it all (especially since my phone was acting up by mysteriously dropping photos). It was a very enjoyable day and I have to say the ride difficulty was on par with any of our NCCC weekend rides, possibly even a bit easier, though some of the grades on the climb were in the teens.

[karlos]

Day 2 - Traverse along Lake Bled and climb Vrsic Pass. This day the group stayed together along the beautiful trail (we actually rode a wide bike path suitable for good pace) by Lake Bled with the famous island castle seen on many Slovenia travel brochures. We encountered our first major Alps climb of the Vrsic Pass in the Julian Alps. It was a beautiful day, despite a poor weather forecast. I found the Vrsic Pass climb really enjoyable, probably not pushing too hard because I thought it might be harder. Really, Palomar is a more difficult climb, although Vrsic had a few 14+% (my Garmin seems to not display after about 17%, probably because I'm moving too slowly for an accurate gradient calculation) sections. An interesting feature of the climb from the south side was that every single switchback was cobblestones. A bit of a bone shaker, but the switchbacks were shallow compared to the straights and I couldn't imagine having to descend down the cobbled switchbacks. My camera was only slightly misbehaving - click here for photos. We encountered rain on the descent to Bovec, Slovenia over the last 30 km. There were 49 hairpin wet turns, which needed caution when negotiating - nobody went down, although a couple riders had their rear wheels slip out - they both recovered. We had a nice 4-man pace line, me and 3 Aussies, the last 30 km to the hotel. Great beer, wine and dinner and conversation. We managed 71 miles and 5,500 ft of climbing today. I hope we're prepared for the formidable Zoncolan tomorrow. We're way behind averaging 80 mi/day and 8,000+ ft climbing per day, so it gets a bit harder

[karlos]

Day 3 - Passo Predal and the climb up Monte Zoncalan. We managed 73 miles and 8600 ft of climbing today. The climb up Passo Predal was a bit harder than expected. It ended at the Slovenian / Italian border. A good group of eight stayed together most of the way on this climb, then down a short descent and up another short climb to Sella Neva. We stopped for coffee on the descent, then a long ride through a valley by a beautiful light green river (colored by calcium carbonite according to the Aussie geologists on the trip) to stop for lunch 10 km before the base of Monte Zoncolan. Not everyone chose to climb the beast, but I figured I would never get the opportunity again. Rode "grandpa pace" and stopped at most of the 1km markers, where they had photos of iconic past cyclists on plaques. It was a fantastic surface, groomed for cyclists (both ascending and descending). I have to say that this is absolutely the HARDEST climb I have every done and will likely ever do. Sounds terrible, doesn't it, but in a way it was one of the most satisfying bike moments of my life. Check out the profile in the photos. Note that the middle 6km section averages over 15% with a couple of 20% stretches. If you're ever over here, you gotta do it. Now, I need to hit the sack. Click here for the photos.

[karlos]

Day 4 - Italian army detour. I'll keep this short as I'm trashed. Today was a "recovery" day after Zoncolan. What happened to start things off was that we aborted the first climb near the top. The whole group was turned around by Italian army bombing exercise. Added another climb in the middle, finishing off with Tre Croci climb. It all amounted to 77 mi and 8800 ft of climbing. We had an extra climb in the middle due to the re-route which forced me to skip the optional Tre Cime climb, which would have been another 3000+ft. We have some very strong younger riders in this group who were able to do the optional climb as well. Three of the Aussies have UCI world rankings. They're impressive riders and all nice guys to us slower folks. Find some photos here.

[karlos]

Day 5 started right from the hotel with the classic climb of the Passo Falzarego. I would compare it with Mt Palomar, and I'll tell you that it was so pleasant after struggling up the Zoncolan on Day 3. The only good thing about Day 3 is that every other climb on this trip that warns of 10% gradients seems like a joke compared to the Zoncolan - that day toughened us all up for the rest of the climbs. The second climb was the Passo Pordoi, another Palomar South Grade look-alike. Finally, we climbed to Passo Costalunga, another South Grade clone with nothing more than 7-8% grades. We then had 100 km (60 miles) of descent and basically flat along the river, with 65 km of that as a bike path. I normally hate bike paths, but this was pleasant and you could easily cruise at 30 kph (18 mph) and the roaring river next to the bike path provided great views and sounds. The junctions with towns did provide some orienteering challenges, but our Garmins got through most of the route twists. I haven't mentioned rain much so far, but we have had scary rain forecasts every single day of the trip. Despite the warnings, the weather has been remarkable, and we have only got dumped on a few times. For those of you who know me, I'm carry my HUGE Burtolini Ortlieb bag stuffed with all my rain gear. I think I'm warding off the evil rain spirits for the rest of the group. They owe me a few beers for the extra kilos I'm packing. Still having fun, and finally starting to get into the rhythm of this thing, so that every day is not "OMG, we have to do Stelvio tomorrow - ugh." And that's exactly what we'll do tomorrow. Click here for day 5 photos.

[karlos]

Day 6 - One of the reasons I signed up for this tour was to climb the Stelvio, often seen in the Giro d'Italia. Today, I got my (probably one and only) chance. We started off with thunderstorms and pouring rain. I put on full rain gear - leg warmers, pants, booties, helmet cover... the works. I stayed warm and dry for 16 km, to the bottom of the start of the Stelvio. There were only 4 of us who took off into the rain and we shed our junk to the van and bags at the bottom of the climb as the weather was breaking. After the weather broke some, the rest of the group left the hotel and eventually caught up and passed the early starters (me, at least). The Stelvio is a 16 mi climb with 6,000 ft of elevation gain. Yikes! Turns out the weather was pretty nice as we started up the 48 switchbacks. When you get to the last ~20 switchbacks, the view up to the top is daunting as the switchbacks climb the face of the mountain. It turns out those last 6 km were "only" about 7-8% grade, so you just had to stick with it and ignore being depressed by the summit so high above. I once again rode "grandpa pace" to make sure I could easily get to the top. I made it (easily is certainly incorrect) in about 2 hrs 40 min of riding time. The only slight hitch was stopping to help a mate unjam his chain between the big cog and the spokes. Had a great goulash soup and cappucino at the top and even bought a souvenir jersey. The other side of the Stelvio, though, presented completely different weather conditions. We started on the descent in a flurry of snow. After about 2 km, we had pelting sleet that felt like hundreds of needles being stuck into my face, and after another 3 km, steady rain. The rain continued off and on up to the summit of the next little challenge - the Passo di Fascagno. After the descent, we started up one last bonus 3 km climb with a lovely 11% kicker at the end (trivial compared to 6km of 15+% on the Zolcolan, but annoying nonetheless). After descending to the hotel, we did manage 62 mi and almost 11,000 ft of climbing. I'm embarassed to publish my average speed (Strava hides nothing), but with the Stelvio, the insane weather conditions, and good company, I would have to say this was a massively epic cycling day - one that I will cherish forever.

The downside is that my Samsung S3 decided to completely die on this trip and my roommate's camera went dead. I will pull some photos together from this incredibly photogenic day by stealing from some of the other riders and updating this post. Click here for some photos stolen from ATG Facebook.

[karlos]

Day 7 - "Recovery" to Lake Como. Today's ride was to offer a little relief from the Stelvio yesterday. We started off in a downpour and were faced with 3000 ft of climbing in the first 21 km. Leaving the hotel with rain gear on, the 4-5% grades at the bottom of the climb felt like 22%. Cement in the legs from the Stelvio and Foscano passes the day before made it seem impossible to turn the legs in a circle. Fortunately, we got warmed up and the 7+% grades a little later actually felt more comfortable like the Palomar climb that I had gotten used to in preparation for this trip. We were welcomed by a 18 km descent into nice weather and after some gentle elevation to Maloja pass, we had another 30 km descent and some long straight stretches through incredible scenery with the last 20 km along Lake Como to our hotel in Varenna. We got in early before a thunderstorm and enjoyed some food and drink lakeside protected from the rain. The group stayed together the last ~115 km for the most part, so we all had an easy 17+ mph average for the day. I never thought that I would consider an 86 mi day with 3300 ft of climbing a "recovery" day. Very enjoyable but the memory will probably fade compared to the Stelvio (and Zoncolan).

Click here for some Day 7 photos.

[karlos]

Day 8 - Turned out to be a "rest" day along the lakes. We started by taking a ferry from our hotel in Varenna across Lake Como to Mennagio. We had mild, warm rain all morning. The ride started with a 200 m climb in the rain, which has been the normal start to many of the rides so far. The first segment of the ride was along the northwest shore of Lake Lugano, connecting over to the east shore of Lake Maggiorre. There we took a second ferry from Laveno to Verbania, where the sun was shining, the weather was warm, and we all had a very civilized lunch together on an outdoor patio - lots of pizza and pasta, cokes, coffee. We then continued along the lakeshore and then bridged over to the small Lake Mergozzo, and continued into the town of Domodossola, which is at the base of the 38 km climb back into the high Alps tomorrow over Passo Sempione (Simplon Pass to the Swiss). We again stayed together as a group most of the day and it was a pretty friendly/leisurely pace of 17+ mph again over 78 miles and only 2700 ft of elevation gain. We got into Domodossola to enjoy this little town and chow down on fries, gelato, burgers, beer, etc. These past two days have been good for everyone's legs as the real teeth of this tour is the next five days in the high mountains.

Photos to be added later as I poach them. Here are some from fellow rider John Brown.

The map below shows the route we have covered through these first 8 days. Only 6 more days to go!

[karlos]

Day 9. The day started out with a long 38 km, 5500 ft climb over Simplon Pass (not so simple). The gradients were manageable, so this just required a little patience as my roommate, Tim, and I kept a nice reasonable pace together. The next 110 km consisted of a great 24 km descent, then what we thought was going to be a pleasant, basically flat, run through the valley to our hotel in Martigny, Swtzerland. We had headwinds the whole way, annoying in the cold on the climb but truly brutal along the flats, especially the last 25 km into the hotel. We did 92 mi and 6800 ft of climbing but it truly felt about 50% more than that. Tomorrow, the real climbing begins. stay tuned.

Click here for photos.

[karlos]

Day 10. Today was a great climbing day. We got to do two HC climbs, the Col du Grande St Bernard and the Petite St Bernard. We started climbing out the door up the 40 km Gr. St. Bernard in the rain (as usual). It was a long climb of 6600 ft, the longest sustained climb I can remember since touring the Rockies in 1980. It was fairly brutal, with a few 9-11% sections. A couple of us just kept a moderate pace the whole way, stopping at a couple places for some nice photos of the Col. After the climb, we had a nice 30 km descent to a warm valley. Fortunately, we bottomed out and turned upward, without the terrible winds we encountered yesterday. After a gentle 1300 ft climb to a gelato stop, we began the "Petite" climb. This one was only 22 km in length with 3900 ft of elevation gain. It was very similar to our own Mt Palomar, a little longer, similar gradients and similar personal pain meter. It was quite a bit more scenic (sorry San Diego). I'm still dumbfounded why this would be called "Petite" but I'll at least appreciate it the next time I see it climbed in the Tour de France. We had views of the neighboring Col, Mont Blanc, the whole way up, especially at the summit. Again, I took a moderate pace. We had to put warm stuff on at the top with some cold, hard headwinds and rain, but only a 17 km descent to our hotel - a great steak and more than a dozen desserts to choose from - most of us went for the sampler option. All of us are beginning to actually look forward to the end of this memorable trip. Getting up every single day and facing another alpine climb or two requires persistence, or insanity - your choice. Yet today was another memorable ride, and especially cool since the ride spanned Switzerland, Italy, and France. Our route southward to Nice now makes sense and attainable.

Have some good photos (including Mont Blanc from Petite St Bernard), but a poor internet connection. Click here for the partial upload.

[karlos]

Day 11. Finally, we had a perfect day. Great weather - sunny and cool while climbing, warm in the valleys. More important was the spectacular scenery. We started out with a 35 km climb up the Col d'Iseran, totaling about 5600 ft of elevation. There was nothing steeper than 9-10% and most quite less, so this was a welcome change to some tired legs. The descent was TDF-like, with some pretty bumpy roads (due to construction mostly) and some steep drop offs should you lose control on the bumps and fly over the edge. The cruise along the valley floor was pretty nice, where we turned left in the little town of Lanslebourg to head up the 2300 ft Col du Mt. Cenis climb. The 30 km descent (5000 ft elev loss) to our hotel in Susa, Italy was one of the longest descents I've ever done and it was taken relatively slowly as the massive views to the valley below were not to be missed. I hope the photos capture some of the scenery - if I had my phone, I would have take a few panoramic videos. The majesty of the surrounding Cols and the depth of the valleys with rivers in the bottom and streams of snow melt feeding the rivers was breathtaking (as well as the climbs). I'm embarassed at how slowly I'm getting up these mountains, but I reall need to ride at a pace to both enjoy this entire tour and to survive. It was a short mileage day of 74 miles, but we managed to pack in 8900 ft of climbing.

Click here for photos when ready.

[karlos]

Day 12. Once again, out the door we began climbing and hit the summit of Montgenevre 43 km into the ride after climbing close to 5000 ft. This was not a sustained alpine climb until the last 10 km, so it was pretty pleasant. We had great weather, and we climbed on a cloudess day, mostly in the shade. The primary climb for the day was the Col D'Izoard (De L'Izoard). The D'Izoard was another one of the classic TDF climbs we see on TV every few years. It's fun to get within a few km of the summit of all these climbs and be urged on by "Vokkler", "Thomas", even "Pantini" (still painted out of respect for the legend) painted across the road. I also might add that the Alpine passes the past few days have statues of Hannibal, elephants, Napoleon, Julius Caesar. Many of the roads show clear signs of the roads that Napoleon had built for his armies. Today was a bit shorter at 68 miles, but it was nothing but climbing and descending for a total of 8900 ft of vertical.

Only one last day of climbing and I'm starting to regret that this is coming to an end. Although this second week of climbing was harder than the first due to the long, sustained climbs, the legs are finally getting used to it. Enjoying every moment.

Click here for photos

[karlos]

Day 13. On our next to the last day, we concenrated on some major climbs - two of them "beyond category". We started out the gate with the 20 km climb to Col de Vars, a 3600 ft climb. We had great weather and I decided to lift the pace a bit as there were no worries about day 14. That was a pretty good climb, followed by a 22km descent to start the climb of Col de Benette where we climbed to 2802 m, the highest paved road in Europe. That was a 5,000 ft climb. I had to slow down a bit, but kept ahead of the grandpa pace which I've perfected to survive this tour. It was a beautiful climb. The terrain at the top was closer to Colorado. We had no shade on this climb and I went through two full water bottles and stopped for extra fluids at a couple of van stops, in addition stopping beside a stream of snow runoff to try and cool down. The most annoying thing was that we were all covered by flies up until about 2400 m alt. They seemed to especially love my merino wool jersey. Some of the guys claimed that the flies would stay off you if you could keep your speed above 12.5 km/hr - no relief for me. The view at the highest point of the road was like sitting on top of the world. The 24 km descent down to the village of St Etienne was welcome, but it got hot at the bottom where at least a dozen of us stopped for cokes and water at a cafe. From there we only had 7 km to our hotel in Auron. The problem was that it averaged 8-9% and climbed an additional 1500 ft. This was mostly mentally tough as we had the two HC climbs behind us and we all were "done." Although this was short, it was the last real climb of the tour and, with the high heat, I found it quite difficult - definitely settled back into grandpa survival pace. At the top, 8 of us sat down at a restaurant and had burgers, potatoes, beers and cokes. Very welcome after a relatively short 62 mi ride, but loaded with 10,300 ft of elevation gain.

Click here for photos - more will be added later.

[karlos]

Day 14. I can't believe this trip is over. Starting from the little ski village of Auron at 5000 ft, it was a basically downhill run to Nice of 56 miles. We started by descending the 7 km to St Etienne in clear skies and cool temperatures, unlike the ascent at the end of the ride the day before, where many of us wilted in the heat. We kept together as a group and it was easy to keep a pace over 24 mph. After passing through a village at about 31 km, the group switched into a pretty smooth double paceline. I played my age card and just sat in the back and coasted at 30+ mph. We stopped for fantastic pastries and coffee at the halfway point. We had gone the first 46 km in an hour. For the last half of the ride to Nice, we slowed down to enjoy the final few miles on the road. We had a lovely 16 km bike path along the river as we approached Nice. The last 8 km were spent negotiating a few city streets and we ended with dipping our bikes (wheels, but I went in pretty deep) into the Mediterranean. Since we arrived in Nice at noon, we had a nice lunch on the promenade by the sea, did a little shopping, packed our bike boxes, enjoyed some group beers, had our wrapup dinner, and sought out gelato after dinner and a little scotch nightcap.

Click here for photos.

I'll try to wrap this story up with an epilogue in a few days. I have quite a few photos in the daily links that I haven't had a chance to upload yet.

This has been a thrilling adventure - probably the greatest thing and most fun (pain, too) I'll ever do on a bike but will keep searching for more. I would love to help arrange something similar for an NCCC group someday. It was great to meet new cycling friends, but having some NCCC folks along, too, would have been special.

[karlos]

Now that this trip is behind me, there's not too much more to add to the memories. The 14 straight days of riding were all of (1) difficult; (2) breathtaking; (3) epic climbing; (4) good company with 20 new friends; (5) great food and accommodations. In all, total mileage for the 14 primary days of the tour was 1,084 miles and 100,300 ft of elevation gain. Some of the more adventurous (i.e. faster / stronger) added options for another couple hundred miles and another 10-15,000 ft of elev. I thought this might be my one and only real guided bike tour, but I may be up for a few more before all is done.