Chartreuse - May 13
I didn't take a lot of pictures today...though in retrospect this was a great ride, it definitely had some rough moments. This was the ride Chartreuse 3 from the grenoble cycling website, although it came in @ 103km for me. The first 45km or so were pretty mellow--some rolling hills, and a bit more traffic than I would have liked, but nice views of the side of the Chartreuse with some hang gliders above on the L, and the Alps on the R. It did remind me of two things that are absent from riding in California: humidity and bugs...somewhere near a freshly manured field I went through a stretch with lots of flies, one of which managed to nail me in the back of the throat.
The first climb (Col du Granier) felt like one of the hardest I've done on a road bike, comparable to some hard stretches in the East Bay but much, much longer. As soon as I started climbing, my legs felt more tired and achy than at any point yesterday. It was also hot and humid, and made me a bit nervous since it was the 1st of three big climbs on the day. At one point I thought how ridiculous it was that I was carrying fleece gloves & various other bits of cold-weather clothing.... It was also through a protected forest, so after the first few ks there were few cars and no settlements.
Before entering the forest, there was a steep stretch through a vineyard--this was the only spot on the rides from Grenoble where I saw a vineyard...view is E to the Alps:
Looking up, to the summit of Mt. Granier--the pass at the Col is about 1000m below the summit:
A view of the summit from further up, deep in the woods:
At the top there was a restaurant, with bathrooms, running water, & everything seemed ok again. There was a guy sitting there drinking a coffee next to a fancy Merlin titanium-frame bike & another group of mountain bikers having some lunch. I refilled my water bottles but didn't linger long.
It wasn't quite as steep as this...
A couple of the towns up here and lots of business have "Entremont" i.e. "between the mountains" in their names, & it is a pretty dramatic location. From the sides I've seen, the Chartreuse looks like a huge, inaccessible, stone-walled plateau, but up on top there is a deep, steep-walled valley scattered with farms and a few villages--like a hidden little world that you could completely miss driving by down below. I can imagine there was a time when people would live most of their lives without leaving the plateau--maybe some still do. Anyway the descent down was beautiful, dropping into this concealed valley.
West from St Pierre d'Entremont
N/NE
The next climb (Col du Cucheron) was also pleasantly easy, compared to the first. Again, Berkeley was great preparation--this was about the same height / distance as one of my regular rides to Grizzly Peak. Although I was inexplicably coughing right at the start, maybe an after-effect from that fly, I soon felt fine & things seemed ok except for a little hint of light rain at the top.
Looking back down...
Unfortunately it started raining harder on the way down, & even loaded up with clothes, by the time I got St-Pierre-de-Chartreuse it was a little chilly. I stopped for a few minutes under a bus shelter (public buses run up here!) to warm up & ate a bit more.
The next climb started pretty easy, & right at the start there was a sign saying Col du Porte 8km -- even at a slow climbing pace that shouldn't be much more than 40 minutes. Unfortunately at a sign indicating 4km from the summit it got a fair bit steeper, & started raining harder, & I found myself watching the odometer rather closely... A kilometer is NOT very far. Just over ten lengths of a football field. And at this point I knew I had maybe 20 minutes before I was done with the climbing for the day and could coast downhill for 20km into Grenoble. Even when it flattened out with 1.5 km or so to go it still was really trying. I didn't know then how good I had it at the time.
It's as cold and wet as it looks...
Fortunately there was an open restaurant at the top of the Col, where I stopped to see if the rain would let up and had two hot chocolates. Those were awfully good. My extremities were chilly but my core was definitely still warm. Even so when I went downstairs to the bathroom I spent a few minutes in front of the hot air dryer trying to warm up my socks, my shoes, blowing hot air down the back of my shorts (once the bike seat got rained on this became a matter of urgency...) etc. When I got back upstairs the rain was worse, but after a few minutes it seemed to be turning into more of a drizzly fog, so I got back on the bike.
On a warm, dry, sunny day a 20km downhill dropping 1100m would be really fun...in the rain, however, the extra 40kph windchill was absolutely miserable. I think this might be the only time I've had to stop on a downhill.
Twice. At one point I felt this strange shuddering in my bike & stopped at another bus shelter but everything seemed fine. I was really cold at this point, teeth chattering. When I stopped for the second time, I realized that the shuddering was because I was getting waves of uncontrollable shivering that were making the handlebars shake.
A view from the cozy bus stop.
I was really glad to see Grenoble but the first few little towns I passed through had nothing open. Finally I saw an open store & got a banana -- I think the credit card I had with me is on the floor of that store somewhere b/c a bunch of stuff fell out of my jersey pocket when I was trying with my gloved hand to get the money out to pay. I need to call and cancel that... In Grenoble itself the rain had stopped, & fortunately this road dropped me in only about 6 blocks from my hotel. Still, I managed to bump against a curb pulling out of an intersection & instead of bouncing off like a dry wheel would, my tire kind of slid up & the bike went over sideways & I harmlessly, slowly, but thoroughly without dignity hit the sidewalk next to the half dozen or so drivers behind me in the intersection.
I didn't really care at that point, and maybe ten minutes later I was soaking in a hot bathtub in my hotel room.
The first climb (Col du Granier) felt like one of the hardest I've done on a road bike, comparable to some hard stretches in the East Bay but much, much longer. As soon as I started climbing, my legs felt more tired and achy than at any point yesterday. It was also hot and humid, and made me a bit nervous since it was the 1st of three big climbs on the day. At one point I thought how ridiculous it was that I was carrying fleece gloves & various other bits of cold-weather clothing.... It was also through a protected forest, so after the first few ks there were few cars and no settlements.
Before entering the forest, there was a steep stretch through a vineyard--this was the only spot on the rides from Grenoble where I saw a vineyard...view is E to the Alps:
Looking up, to the summit of Mt. Granier--the pass at the Col is about 1000m below the summit:
A view of the summit from further up, deep in the woods:
At the top there was a restaurant, with bathrooms, running water, & everything seemed ok again. There was a guy sitting there drinking a coffee next to a fancy Merlin titanium-frame bike & another group of mountain bikers having some lunch. I refilled my water bottles but didn't linger long.
It wasn't quite as steep as this...
A couple of the towns up here and lots of business have "Entremont" i.e. "between the mountains" in their names, & it is a pretty dramatic location. From the sides I've seen, the Chartreuse looks like a huge, inaccessible, stone-walled plateau, but up on top there is a deep, steep-walled valley scattered with farms and a few villages--like a hidden little world that you could completely miss driving by down below. I can imagine there was a time when people would live most of their lives without leaving the plateau--maybe some still do. Anyway the descent down was beautiful, dropping into this concealed valley.
West from St Pierre d'Entremont
N/NE
The next climb (Col du Cucheron) was also pleasantly easy, compared to the first. Again, Berkeley was great preparation--this was about the same height / distance as one of my regular rides to Grizzly Peak. Although I was inexplicably coughing right at the start, maybe an after-effect from that fly, I soon felt fine & things seemed ok except for a little hint of light rain at the top.
Looking back down...
Unfortunately it started raining harder on the way down, & even loaded up with clothes, by the time I got St-Pierre-de-Chartreuse it was a little chilly. I stopped for a few minutes under a bus shelter (public buses run up here!) to warm up & ate a bit more.
The next climb started pretty easy, & right at the start there was a sign saying Col du Porte 8km -- even at a slow climbing pace that shouldn't be much more than 40 minutes. Unfortunately at a sign indicating 4km from the summit it got a fair bit steeper, & started raining harder, & I found myself watching the odometer rather closely... A kilometer is NOT very far. Just over ten lengths of a football field. And at this point I knew I had maybe 20 minutes before I was done with the climbing for the day and could coast downhill for 20km into Grenoble. Even when it flattened out with 1.5 km or so to go it still was really trying. I didn't know then how good I had it at the time.
It's as cold and wet as it looks...
Fortunately there was an open restaurant at the top of the Col, where I stopped to see if the rain would let up and had two hot chocolates. Those were awfully good. My extremities were chilly but my core was definitely still warm. Even so when I went downstairs to the bathroom I spent a few minutes in front of the hot air dryer trying to warm up my socks, my shoes, blowing hot air down the back of my shorts (once the bike seat got rained on this became a matter of urgency...) etc. When I got back upstairs the rain was worse, but after a few minutes it seemed to be turning into more of a drizzly fog, so I got back on the bike.
On a warm, dry, sunny day a 20km downhill dropping 1100m would be really fun...in the rain, however, the extra 40kph windchill was absolutely miserable. I think this might be the only time I've had to stop on a downhill.
Twice. At one point I felt this strange shuddering in my bike & stopped at another bus shelter but everything seemed fine. I was really cold at this point, teeth chattering. When I stopped for the second time, I realized that the shuddering was because I was getting waves of uncontrollable shivering that were making the handlebars shake.
A view from the cozy bus stop.
I was really glad to see Grenoble but the first few little towns I passed through had nothing open. Finally I saw an open store & got a banana -- I think the credit card I had with me is on the floor of that store somewhere b/c a bunch of stuff fell out of my jersey pocket when I was trying with my gloved hand to get the money out to pay. I need to call and cancel that... In Grenoble itself the rain had stopped, & fortunately this road dropped me in only about 6 blocks from my hotel. Still, I managed to bump against a curb pulling out of an intersection & instead of bouncing off like a dry wheel would, my tire kind of slid up & the bike went over sideways & I harmlessly, slowly, but thoroughly without dignity hit the sidewalk next to the half dozen or so drivers behind me in the intersection.
I didn't really care at that point, and maybe ten minutes later I was soaking in a hot bathtub in my hotel room.
posted by Derick at 5:02 AM
<< Home