Photo notes

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Day 7 (2) - More Col de l'Iseran photos

Day 7 - over Col de l'Iseran

July 19 - The rain and snow stopped, and the passes were once again open, so we climbed up through the beautiful ski town of Val d'Isere and over the Col de l'Iseran, the highest pass in France. There was still some fresh snow on the sides of the road, but it was melting fast. The views were amazing, and one of the riders said it was his second favorite day on the bike, his favorite being the previous climb over Col du Petit Saint Bernard from Italy.

I recorded another helmet cam video of the descent from Iseran. The winds and gusts had kicked up, and the scenery was beautiful, so we went slower to catch the views and stay safe. The videos will be posted after we get back to the States.

WiFi (WeeFee in French) again

We are now settled in the camp at the base of Mont Ventoux where we will be spending the remainder of our tour. Many of the camps the last few days had no Internet service or it was too much of a hassle after some of our most difficult and tiring days.

If you can read French then you might be interesting in this link to descriptions of 10 of the classic most difficult climbs from Tour de France history. We have climbed all but one of these (la Faucille) in this or previous rides in France.

http://www.linternaute.com/sport/cyclisme/dossier/grimper-les-cols-de-montagne/grimpez-vous-aussi-les-cols-du-tour.shtml

Day 6 - Forced rest day

July 18 - The temperature dropped and the rain continued through the night. We were all wearing gloves, hats and raincoats to eat breakfast in the camp this morning.

We were supposed to be riding the 30 mile climb up to Val d'Isere and over the Col de l'Iseran, the highest mountain pass in France. But snow and ice has forced the closure of this pass and the Galibier too (our next day). So we're taking one more rest day here and will skip the rest day we had scheduled next week to get back on schedule.

Day 5 - Rest day in Bourg St. Maurice

July 17 - We had a scheduled rest day, and would have done some local rides, such as up the beautiful Col du Roseland, but it rained on and off all day so most of us stayed close to camp. The rain became heavy and steady so after watching the Tour on TV we stayed in the camp party room and ordered pizza delivery.

I had lunch at a cafe, and that wasn't enough so I walked further down the street and had another one. Still, there was room to eat a whole large pizza by myself later, as did most of us. We have a great group, so we all had a good time laughing and telling stories until it was time to get back in our soaked on the outside, dry on the inside, tents.

Day 4 - Sarre, Italy to Bourg St. Maurice, France

July 16 - We had a beautiful ride up the Val d'Aosta in Italy through La Thuile and up to the French border on the Col du Petit-St. Bernard. We had a great lunch at the top, some of us eating pasta on the Italian side of the border, and others (including myself) opting for crepes on the French side a hundred meters away. We were here in 2006 and I had been thinking about the ham and cheese and egg crepe since then.

The descent into Bourg St. Maurice was a blast. I followed Mark, one of our New Zealand guides, all the way down with my HD helmet cam. We pedaled the whole way except for the turns, going 35-45 mph a lot of the way, and it still took almost 40 minutes to get down. Of course it takes much much longer to climb.

Bourg St. Maurice is fully decorated and ready for the Tour de France to arrive on the 21st. In one day the pros will do the same two big mountain passes and route that we took two days to do. There are yellow jerseys, bike sculptures, posters and banners all over town.

Day 3 - Switzerland to Aosta, Italy

July 15 - We crossed the Col du Grand St. Bernard, the location of the hostel that bred the dogs used to rescue people in trouble in the pass. Napolean brought 10's of thousands of troops over the pass into Italy. This is the first of the two big mountain passes that the Tour de France will cross on July 21st. The 6,000 foot descent into Val d'Aosta was a lot of fun, but parts of the road were torn up and road crews were furiously repaving the road in preparation for the Tour coming through. I asked one of the road workers if they would be finished in time and he said it was "a necessity". Seems like they should have started earlier!

At the top, just across the Italian border, I had the best gnocchi I've ever had. Pasta and rice are staples when you are riding up mountains every day.

Day 2 - Chamonix, France to Champex, Switzerland.

July 14 - Two mountain passes and a very steep 7 mile climb at the end to the camp that had even the Cat 2 racers in the group struggling. Some of the riders added a side trip up the Verbier climb that the Tour de France riders will do on July 19th.

Day 1 - Chamonix

July 13 - Acclimation day at the base of Mont Blanc in Chamonix, France. Most of us went up the first pass Col des Montets near the French-Swiss border to check our bikes and warm up our legs.

Chamonix is surrounded by glaciers and the waterfalls and streams they create. We'll see a lot of snow and glaciers for the next few days.