maxn
12-05-2011, 12:45 PM
In between the rain, I did a classic local loop: Warm up on col de Clemencieres (http://www.cols-cyclisme.com/alpes-du-nord/france/col-de-clemenciere-depuis-grenoble-c432.htm) , drop down to the pont de Vence, up the basically car-free climb to Col de Palaquit (http://www.cols-cyclisme.com/alpes-du-nord/france/col-de-palaquit-depuis-grenoble-c431.htm) , then on to Col_de_Porte (http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Col_de_Porte_(Chartreuse)) , down the back side, through the gorges carved by the Guiers Mort, left at St. Laurent du Pont, over col de la Placette, then back home. It sounds like more cols than it is, but still around 1400m of climbing. It was pretty cold but was not raining, and not a soul was out on bikes, with the exception of a couple of mountain bikers around Palaquit. Once I got over Porte, I threw on the Gore-Tex and slowly did the descent. There was a lot of water on the road from the night before, and even going slowly I could feel some slippage. Once in the gorge, things really got cold but it's all downhill, and you have scenes like this to distract from the temperature and road spray
http://maxnanao.com/portepano1.jpg
Two years ago my buddy and I skipped out of work early to ride up from Grenoble to St. Laurent du Pont to see the finish of one of the early stages of the Criterium de Dauphine Libere, so St. Laurent du Pont has a special place in my heart. It was the first time I had been at the finish line of a euro stage race, and it was super exciting to watch. The whole time I was thinking about how awesome it was to be able to see a stage of the Dauphine Libere… after work … on our bikes! After the sprint came in, we of course went to check out the team cars and gear. Pretty exciting stuff, even it mega dollar CF bikes aren't your thing.
Anyway, from St. Laurent du Pont, I followed the same route as my buddy and I had used two years ago. Worth noting: pretty much every team car and bus was respectful of riders on the road that day EXCEPT Quickstep (both their station wagons and bus), which came within inches of us and other riders.
Nothing much to say about the ride until Placette, which was bone dry and one of my favorite descents in the area: Big sweeping turns on new pavement, with excellent lines of sight and very little gravel or rocks on the road.
This morning on my way to work I could see snow on some peaks in the Chartreuse (you too, velotel?) so that will probably be my last time over Porte (1326m) for a while!
http://maxnanao.com/portepano1.jpg
Two years ago my buddy and I skipped out of work early to ride up from Grenoble to St. Laurent du Pont to see the finish of one of the early stages of the Criterium de Dauphine Libere, so St. Laurent du Pont has a special place in my heart. It was the first time I had been at the finish line of a euro stage race, and it was super exciting to watch. The whole time I was thinking about how awesome it was to be able to see a stage of the Dauphine Libere… after work … on our bikes! After the sprint came in, we of course went to check out the team cars and gear. Pretty exciting stuff, even it mega dollar CF bikes aren't your thing.
Anyway, from St. Laurent du Pont, I followed the same route as my buddy and I had used two years ago. Worth noting: pretty much every team car and bus was respectful of riders on the road that day EXCEPT Quickstep (both their station wagons and bus), which came within inches of us and other riders.
Nothing much to say about the ride until Placette, which was bone dry and one of my favorite descents in the area: Big sweeping turns on new pavement, with excellent lines of sight and very little gravel or rocks on the road.
This morning on my way to work I could see snow on some peaks in the Chartreuse (you too, velotel?) so that will probably be my last time over Porte (1326m) for a while!