Col de Telegraphe, Galibier, and Chaussy with the lacets de Montvernier
This weekend I travelled to the Maurienne valley in France. If you like big climbs, this place is a Mecca. Will has much better posts than I could ever create so if you are curious about the valley visit his blog about it
here.
On Saturday I climbed the Col de Telegraphe and Col de Galibier. Two monsters in their own right and my fat ass did them back to back. By the top at over 8500' I was nauseous, gaseous, exhausted and had a headache. I'm pretty out of shape. On to the pictures!
Just your standard highway rest stop....
All the signage was bike specific. Even the highway exits tell you which cols are at that exit. This sign was 10K into the climb. I've never been more intimidated.
Small signs on the Cols telling distance to go and avg grade for next km.
Top of Telegraphe
View at top of Telegraphe
Pretty much going there....
In the pain cave but happy to be done. I came from the left side.
Savoire side (the side I came up)
Hautes Alps side (maybe next time)
The road I came up.
I'm alive!
Sunday was the Col de Chaussy with the lacets de Montvernier. Imagine two French Civil Engineers in a bar, a few glasses of wine, and someone boasts that they can build a road up a cliff. I think that is what happened. Better pics on Will's blog
here.
This is just below the start of the climb. You can make out some of the retaining walls for the hairpin turns. It was fun to ride as the view of the valley didn't change, other than the angle!
Another picture from the bottom.
About 4K to go on the Col de Chaussy. The road was blasted into the cliff as the cliff was too steep to build a road on! The right side is about a 1000' drop!
I had trouble getting a good picture cause the sun was just behind the roof and would wash out my camera but you get the idea.
To the right of this sign is the 1000' drop.
Here is the drop. It was hard to photograph. I didn't want to drop my IPhone or myself.
Much happier today. I took it easy as I had trouble getting out of bed and wasn't sure how my legs would do on day 2. Ran out of time before running out of Cols.
Nice little restaurant/bar at the top of Chaussy.
Stopped at the big cliff on the way back down. My Orca in it's natural element.
Prolly a poster for the garage!
Don't know why I put my hand on my hip. It looks stupid.
Went a different way down. This is the town of La Chatel. Of course their playground has a view of the Haute Alps, an ancient fort, and a gorgeous little church. I bet there is never any crying at this playground!
The fort from the South.
St. Jean de Maurienne in the Maurienne Valley. Stunning beauty.
A last shot of the lacets de Montvernier. You can see the road/switchbacks a little better here.
It was an amazing weekend. If you only have a few days and want to conquer as many big Cols as you can, there are worse places to go.
Good night!
