velotel
08-22-2014, 03:00 AM
A fine ride, but not for everyone. Not with 4 Ks of rocky dirt track - a chemin forestier in french though there are other terms too –traversing high on the mountainside. Also there’s this little climb to get to the dirt track, 360 vertical meters worth at around 12, 13%. That’s only part of the climbing but definitely the more significant part. This is not a Sunday afternoon bike path tour though as a matter of fact it started out on a bike path and it was indeed Sunday afternoon.
The bike path bit was from where I parked between Albertville and Ugineto the turn for the village of Marlens, the start of the climb to the Col de l’Epine. I rode this back in early March for the first time ever. Not a major col but an enjoyable one. Not so easy. Kept seeing K-posts with 8% on them. Finally one with 7% but the next was back up at 8%. Not long, 485 vertical meters. A good climb with equally good views. I wrote about it back in March so won’t bother again.
Gorgeous day, at last. Even felt like summer, something we seem to have mostly missed out on this year. Lots of paragliders floating overhead during the climb. Flying couch potatoes is what I call them, though fully recognizing that there’s a lot of skill involved. Still flying couch potatoes in my mind. Over the top and into the back valley where I start to think I’m in Switzerland. Fast downhill, not steep, just fast on the big ring through some nice turns. Get to the junction where in March for absolutely no reason at all other than that my legs wanted to keep climbing I turned right onto an anonymous road that didn’t seem to go anywhere other than up. Turned out to be a good call. Lane and a half wide, max, winding up the mountain, going where I had no idea. Turned out it didn’t really go anywhere so eventually when I hit too much snow on the road, I turned around.
That wasn’t where I was going this time. Across the valley from that anonymous road there’s a village, Le Bouchet, small place, nothing special, just another mountain village. What caught my eye in March when I looked across and down at the village was a road rising up the mountain from the center of the village. It looked wildly steep. Maybe too steep. Naturally I wanted to ride it just to see.
What sealed my desire to ride it, and why I was heading there now, was what I saw when I was gazing out from where I turned around in March. A road of some sort up high and traversing across the mountain before disappearing around the shoulder. It was all buried in snow so I couldn’t see much other than that it sure looked like there was some sort of road there. Checked on maps later and there it was, a chemin forestier traversing the mountain and eventually tying into the road to the Col de Plan Bois, a col I didn’t know. Looked interesting.
So here I was, rolling into Le Bouchet, looking around, enjoying myself. Saw the road going to the right and up, like double-digit up. Moved up the cogs as fast I as I could onto the 27 and tackled the ramp. Just one slight problem, I’d forgotten I was still on the 50-ring. Total stall. Okay, turn around, go back down, shift onto the small ring, into the climb again. Holy smokes that ramp out of the village is steep! And for as far as I could see it stayed that steep! We’re talking brutal. I’ll admit I stopped. But only because that was the only way I was going to get any pictures of it. Even if I’d had a mini camera I couldn’t have let go with one hand to shoot. No way. So I stopped, reluctantly. I was worried about getting going again. Turned out to be easy enough since I clipped into the second pedal instantly.
Kept thinking the pitch had to slack off somewhere but if it did, it was only because it had ramped up even more just before. Heard a car coming up behind me, slowly. He had to go slowly, there wasn’t all that much room between me and the other edge of the road. And that was with me hugging the edge to give him, or maybe it was a her, I didn’t look, some room to get by. Crazy road, but crazy good with asphalt that wasn’t buffed but not so far off buff either. And the views, gorgeous alpine scenery, simple as that.
You’ll see by the photos that I stopped more than once. Had to, not for the legs, for the camera. He was going nuts in my sack, wanting to get out and shoot. So I stopped a couple of times and looked around and exercised the camera. Wasn’t like I was in a race or anything and who knows when I’ll be there again. Just too beautiful to pass up. The crazy thing there is that there are all these super neat chalets all over the hill, vacation homes all in pristine condition, dressed out with flowers, rock walls, varnished wood. Most looked occupied. People would be out on their deck lounging or having a late lunch and they’d look up at me going by and just stare like they were trying to figure out what they were seeing.
Had no idea how far up I had to go before I’d hopefully find the chemin. Finally hit a junction, one branch going straight ahead, one going left. I knew the chemin went left so left I went thinking the road would evolve into the chemin. Have to admit the fact that going left also meant the end to the climbing appealed to me a whole lot by then. Long traverse, I was sure this was it. Stopped and decided since the climbing was finished, time for some food. Eat, empty the last of my water, stare out over the mountains. Beautiful.
Off again, not having to climb was feeling really, really good. Heading toward a forest but couldn’t see any line in the trees where the road passed. A farm up ahead blocked the road. Contemplated asking if I could top off my bottles with water and maybe ask where the heck I was until two dogs came out in full guard mode. The road did a ninety to the right in front of the house so right I went without stopping. Into full climbing mode, as steep as anything so far. Stayed like that for awhile. Around a switchback to the left, one to the right. Asphalt deteriorating, dissolving into dirt and gravel. I’m picking my line, off the saddle but low with weight pressing the back wheel down to keep from slipping. Road curves left and that’s it, climb finished.
I was on a sort of small, sloping plateau high on the mountainside, rolling fields of green spread out before me with a dirt road sweeping across it, following the contours, disappearing into a screen of trees beyond. To the right the slopes of a mountain covered in grasses down lower, scree and rock higher, behind me the serrated ridgeline of summits I’d been looking at during the climb. The highest summit is Mont Charvin. On the other side is Col de l’Arpettaz, one of my all-time favorites. Outside of the dirt track there was just about zero sign of civilization, a rare state of affairs in France, even in the mountains.
Time to go, easy rolling, even fast rolling, now and again weaving past puddles and rocks. What lay ahead I had no idea but for the moment all was looking exceptionally good. Through the screen of trees, across more fields, into more trees, slowly curling around the mountain, the exposure more and more northerly, the forest thickening. Over a hump, down to a junction, fortunately with directional signs for hikers. Naturally none of the directions meant anything to me but no problem. I knew I had to keep traversing the mountain so the road going left definitely wasn’t what I wanted.
Mountainside steep through here, the road carved out but still basically a contour. Hit another junction, signed also but still with no names that meant anything. One road went up, one angled down. The one going up was steep and loose and in a more primitive state so I took the other, hoping like hell I wasn’t going to have to ride back up it. Hit a small platform with another junction, this time with a name I knew, Col de Plan Bois. I was on the good track. Away I went. Hit a long downhill that was definitely too steep and loose to climb with the gearing I have. Rough ride but easy riding, my tires rolling smooth and sure over everything despite their narrowness, 25 mm Veloflex Masters that are closer to 23 than 25. By the time I was halfway down I was rolling along at a pretty good clip. Kind of nuts really.
The downhill ended, road went flat, then starting to climb. I was afraid of this, that the downhill would be matched by a climb on the other side. Nope, just a short and easy climb then out into the sunshine again. Road was a lot rougher now, picking a line required. Oops, steep little puppy hove into sight. Hunkered down ready for max effort but turned out to be easy, just pick my line, pull back on the bar, weight low, power through. Topped out and in the distance saw parked cars. Had to be the road to Col de Plan Bois. Weaved past some hikers who seemed stunned to see a cyclist and stood transfixed where they were. Maybe it was the road bike that stumped them.
By then I was riding pretty fast, sweeping from side to side, following the smoothest line, out of the saddle, working the bike under me. Up the final grade and popped up onto the pavement. That was fun. Pure luck that I did it in the good direction. Turned right and rode up to the col. Lots of cars parked along the road. No people, just cars, must be off hiking on the mountain above. On the col, yes, an auberge, perfect, just what I need. Two empty water bottles and still a good bit of distance to roll back to the car. Time for a beer. But first check out the view off the back side. Big drop into the valley. Across the way I can see the road zigging up the slopes to the Col de la Croix Fry. I rode that once during a loop from Albertville over the Col des Aravis then Croix Fry and back to Albertville. I’m kind of stunned by how many houses I can see on the slopes over there. Have to be vacation homes. I’d kind of had in my mind the possibility of doing Croix Fry to but one look at the drop into the valley and the climb up the other side instantly put paid to that idea. My legs were already turning around and heading to the auberge while my mind was still gauging the effort getting to Croix Fry would demand.
Sitting back in the sun, a cold beer in front of me, we’re talking total relax mode. Especially since I knew the return would be all downhill, or at least almost all downhill. Time to go, filled one water bottle, headed down the road I’d arrived on. No idea what it would serve up but what little I saw when I came off the dirt track looked potentially pretty steep. It was. Found a profile later. That’s the steep road to the col with lots of 10% and 11% grades. The acceleration going down was huge. Narrow road, tight squeeze for two cars, even for a bike and a car at times. Pavement excellent and fast, turns round and smooth. In other words a fun descent. And totally unknown to me so fingers constantly floating over the brake levers. No idea what the mountain looks like; I was too busy watching the road, gauging the turns as best I could. Kept thinking one day I was going to have to return and ride up that puppy.
Hit the valley, turned left, direction back to Ugine. I knew there was a hill but either I’d forgotten how much of a hill it really is or my legs were ready to call it a day. Nothing hard at all mind you, but by then I think anything would have felt hard. Lot of traffic, end of a three-day weekend plus summer vacationers heading home. Everyone in a hurry but the shoulder was wide so no problem. Still decided I didn’t want to stay on that road until the junction with the bike path from Annecy to Albertville. Which meant re-crossing the Col de l’Epine. I really didn’t want any more climbing but it was either that or traffic. The climbing won. Figured the road would be mostly an easy contour line up across the slopes to Le Bouchet. I already knew the climb from Le Bouchet to the col was pretty easy so the call was made. A good call, the climb really was easy, the views relaxing, and no cars going my way and only a few going the other way.
Got to the col. I kind of remembered the descent, or thought I did. Should be pretty fast with those 8% grades but also pretty easy as most of the road was fairly straight. Turned out to be a fast glide path, like a plane descending to a landing. Braking was mostly pretty limited, just light speed adjustments for bends until the first long, round switchback. Some short, steeper ramps after that upped the speed a bit but nothing dramatic. Down lower hit a section of back and forths that were great fun, but brief. A couple of switchbacks followed then more shallow bends that flew under the wheels. And into the valley. Really a good descent, fast and easy with no cars and excellent pavement. Then onto the bike path for the return to the car. A fast return, from time to time weaving around strollers, bikers, skaters, the rest of the time head down, time trial mode.
A fine ride in some of the most beautiful alpine scenery I’ve ever ridden in. An outstanding day. But like I said back at the beginning, not necessarily for everyone. Only for those who like a bit of adventure and like to see just how hard climbs can be. And for those who might be wondering, having followed past posts on Veloflex tires, the tires were once again superlative. Everywhere, in the climbs, in the dirt, in the rocky descent, and finally flying down off the cols. Around 64 K with 1650 vertical.
Some pics.
The bike path bit was from where I parked between Albertville and Ugineto the turn for the village of Marlens, the start of the climb to the Col de l’Epine. I rode this back in early March for the first time ever. Not a major col but an enjoyable one. Not so easy. Kept seeing K-posts with 8% on them. Finally one with 7% but the next was back up at 8%. Not long, 485 vertical meters. A good climb with equally good views. I wrote about it back in March so won’t bother again.
Gorgeous day, at last. Even felt like summer, something we seem to have mostly missed out on this year. Lots of paragliders floating overhead during the climb. Flying couch potatoes is what I call them, though fully recognizing that there’s a lot of skill involved. Still flying couch potatoes in my mind. Over the top and into the back valley where I start to think I’m in Switzerland. Fast downhill, not steep, just fast on the big ring through some nice turns. Get to the junction where in March for absolutely no reason at all other than that my legs wanted to keep climbing I turned right onto an anonymous road that didn’t seem to go anywhere other than up. Turned out to be a good call. Lane and a half wide, max, winding up the mountain, going where I had no idea. Turned out it didn’t really go anywhere so eventually when I hit too much snow on the road, I turned around.
That wasn’t where I was going this time. Across the valley from that anonymous road there’s a village, Le Bouchet, small place, nothing special, just another mountain village. What caught my eye in March when I looked across and down at the village was a road rising up the mountain from the center of the village. It looked wildly steep. Maybe too steep. Naturally I wanted to ride it just to see.
What sealed my desire to ride it, and why I was heading there now, was what I saw when I was gazing out from where I turned around in March. A road of some sort up high and traversing across the mountain before disappearing around the shoulder. It was all buried in snow so I couldn’t see much other than that it sure looked like there was some sort of road there. Checked on maps later and there it was, a chemin forestier traversing the mountain and eventually tying into the road to the Col de Plan Bois, a col I didn’t know. Looked interesting.
So here I was, rolling into Le Bouchet, looking around, enjoying myself. Saw the road going to the right and up, like double-digit up. Moved up the cogs as fast I as I could onto the 27 and tackled the ramp. Just one slight problem, I’d forgotten I was still on the 50-ring. Total stall. Okay, turn around, go back down, shift onto the small ring, into the climb again. Holy smokes that ramp out of the village is steep! And for as far as I could see it stayed that steep! We’re talking brutal. I’ll admit I stopped. But only because that was the only way I was going to get any pictures of it. Even if I’d had a mini camera I couldn’t have let go with one hand to shoot. No way. So I stopped, reluctantly. I was worried about getting going again. Turned out to be easy enough since I clipped into the second pedal instantly.
Kept thinking the pitch had to slack off somewhere but if it did, it was only because it had ramped up even more just before. Heard a car coming up behind me, slowly. He had to go slowly, there wasn’t all that much room between me and the other edge of the road. And that was with me hugging the edge to give him, or maybe it was a her, I didn’t look, some room to get by. Crazy road, but crazy good with asphalt that wasn’t buffed but not so far off buff either. And the views, gorgeous alpine scenery, simple as that.
You’ll see by the photos that I stopped more than once. Had to, not for the legs, for the camera. He was going nuts in my sack, wanting to get out and shoot. So I stopped a couple of times and looked around and exercised the camera. Wasn’t like I was in a race or anything and who knows when I’ll be there again. Just too beautiful to pass up. The crazy thing there is that there are all these super neat chalets all over the hill, vacation homes all in pristine condition, dressed out with flowers, rock walls, varnished wood. Most looked occupied. People would be out on their deck lounging or having a late lunch and they’d look up at me going by and just stare like they were trying to figure out what they were seeing.
Had no idea how far up I had to go before I’d hopefully find the chemin. Finally hit a junction, one branch going straight ahead, one going left. I knew the chemin went left so left I went thinking the road would evolve into the chemin. Have to admit the fact that going left also meant the end to the climbing appealed to me a whole lot by then. Long traverse, I was sure this was it. Stopped and decided since the climbing was finished, time for some food. Eat, empty the last of my water, stare out over the mountains. Beautiful.
Off again, not having to climb was feeling really, really good. Heading toward a forest but couldn’t see any line in the trees where the road passed. A farm up ahead blocked the road. Contemplated asking if I could top off my bottles with water and maybe ask where the heck I was until two dogs came out in full guard mode. The road did a ninety to the right in front of the house so right I went without stopping. Into full climbing mode, as steep as anything so far. Stayed like that for awhile. Around a switchback to the left, one to the right. Asphalt deteriorating, dissolving into dirt and gravel. I’m picking my line, off the saddle but low with weight pressing the back wheel down to keep from slipping. Road curves left and that’s it, climb finished.
I was on a sort of small, sloping plateau high on the mountainside, rolling fields of green spread out before me with a dirt road sweeping across it, following the contours, disappearing into a screen of trees beyond. To the right the slopes of a mountain covered in grasses down lower, scree and rock higher, behind me the serrated ridgeline of summits I’d been looking at during the climb. The highest summit is Mont Charvin. On the other side is Col de l’Arpettaz, one of my all-time favorites. Outside of the dirt track there was just about zero sign of civilization, a rare state of affairs in France, even in the mountains.
Time to go, easy rolling, even fast rolling, now and again weaving past puddles and rocks. What lay ahead I had no idea but for the moment all was looking exceptionally good. Through the screen of trees, across more fields, into more trees, slowly curling around the mountain, the exposure more and more northerly, the forest thickening. Over a hump, down to a junction, fortunately with directional signs for hikers. Naturally none of the directions meant anything to me but no problem. I knew I had to keep traversing the mountain so the road going left definitely wasn’t what I wanted.
Mountainside steep through here, the road carved out but still basically a contour. Hit another junction, signed also but still with no names that meant anything. One road went up, one angled down. The one going up was steep and loose and in a more primitive state so I took the other, hoping like hell I wasn’t going to have to ride back up it. Hit a small platform with another junction, this time with a name I knew, Col de Plan Bois. I was on the good track. Away I went. Hit a long downhill that was definitely too steep and loose to climb with the gearing I have. Rough ride but easy riding, my tires rolling smooth and sure over everything despite their narrowness, 25 mm Veloflex Masters that are closer to 23 than 25. By the time I was halfway down I was rolling along at a pretty good clip. Kind of nuts really.
The downhill ended, road went flat, then starting to climb. I was afraid of this, that the downhill would be matched by a climb on the other side. Nope, just a short and easy climb then out into the sunshine again. Road was a lot rougher now, picking a line required. Oops, steep little puppy hove into sight. Hunkered down ready for max effort but turned out to be easy, just pick my line, pull back on the bar, weight low, power through. Topped out and in the distance saw parked cars. Had to be the road to Col de Plan Bois. Weaved past some hikers who seemed stunned to see a cyclist and stood transfixed where they were. Maybe it was the road bike that stumped them.
By then I was riding pretty fast, sweeping from side to side, following the smoothest line, out of the saddle, working the bike under me. Up the final grade and popped up onto the pavement. That was fun. Pure luck that I did it in the good direction. Turned right and rode up to the col. Lots of cars parked along the road. No people, just cars, must be off hiking on the mountain above. On the col, yes, an auberge, perfect, just what I need. Two empty water bottles and still a good bit of distance to roll back to the car. Time for a beer. But first check out the view off the back side. Big drop into the valley. Across the way I can see the road zigging up the slopes to the Col de la Croix Fry. I rode that once during a loop from Albertville over the Col des Aravis then Croix Fry and back to Albertville. I’m kind of stunned by how many houses I can see on the slopes over there. Have to be vacation homes. I’d kind of had in my mind the possibility of doing Croix Fry to but one look at the drop into the valley and the climb up the other side instantly put paid to that idea. My legs were already turning around and heading to the auberge while my mind was still gauging the effort getting to Croix Fry would demand.
Sitting back in the sun, a cold beer in front of me, we’re talking total relax mode. Especially since I knew the return would be all downhill, or at least almost all downhill. Time to go, filled one water bottle, headed down the road I’d arrived on. No idea what it would serve up but what little I saw when I came off the dirt track looked potentially pretty steep. It was. Found a profile later. That’s the steep road to the col with lots of 10% and 11% grades. The acceleration going down was huge. Narrow road, tight squeeze for two cars, even for a bike and a car at times. Pavement excellent and fast, turns round and smooth. In other words a fun descent. And totally unknown to me so fingers constantly floating over the brake levers. No idea what the mountain looks like; I was too busy watching the road, gauging the turns as best I could. Kept thinking one day I was going to have to return and ride up that puppy.
Hit the valley, turned left, direction back to Ugine. I knew there was a hill but either I’d forgotten how much of a hill it really is or my legs were ready to call it a day. Nothing hard at all mind you, but by then I think anything would have felt hard. Lot of traffic, end of a three-day weekend plus summer vacationers heading home. Everyone in a hurry but the shoulder was wide so no problem. Still decided I didn’t want to stay on that road until the junction with the bike path from Annecy to Albertville. Which meant re-crossing the Col de l’Epine. I really didn’t want any more climbing but it was either that or traffic. The climbing won. Figured the road would be mostly an easy contour line up across the slopes to Le Bouchet. I already knew the climb from Le Bouchet to the col was pretty easy so the call was made. A good call, the climb really was easy, the views relaxing, and no cars going my way and only a few going the other way.
Got to the col. I kind of remembered the descent, or thought I did. Should be pretty fast with those 8% grades but also pretty easy as most of the road was fairly straight. Turned out to be a fast glide path, like a plane descending to a landing. Braking was mostly pretty limited, just light speed adjustments for bends until the first long, round switchback. Some short, steeper ramps after that upped the speed a bit but nothing dramatic. Down lower hit a section of back and forths that were great fun, but brief. A couple of switchbacks followed then more shallow bends that flew under the wheels. And into the valley. Really a good descent, fast and easy with no cars and excellent pavement. Then onto the bike path for the return to the car. A fast return, from time to time weaving around strollers, bikers, skaters, the rest of the time head down, time trial mode.
A fine ride in some of the most beautiful alpine scenery I’ve ever ridden in. An outstanding day. But like I said back at the beginning, not necessarily for everyone. Only for those who like a bit of adventure and like to see just how hard climbs can be. And for those who might be wondering, having followed past posts on Veloflex tires, the tires were once again superlative. Everywhere, in the climbs, in the dirt, in the rocky descent, and finally flying down off the cols. Around 64 K with 1650 vertical.
Some pics.