Fall riding in the French Alps -advice needed

[MadRocketSci]

Hey all, especially forumites currently residing in France (aka lucky b*stards :p)

It looks like I'll be in northern Italy again for work, probably around the beginning of October. I'm definitely going to take the opportunity to ride again. The advice I need is whether to go early, before I need to be there for work, to ride in the Alps (I'm thinking around Morzine), and to take advantage of the late september riding conditions, or if it's not a big difference or disadvantage to go after the work trip, which would put me around the mid-October time frame. I'm hearing reports of much rain and cooler temps this year. Would it be getting unpleasantly cold, requiring me to pack more cold weather gear if I waited until then? Or should I go ASAP and ride first before going to work?

Merci beaucoups for any help!

[Lionel]

The sooner the better. It gets cold up there.

[Joel]

The last two years I was riding in the Vercors in mid September along with some of the high passes (Glandon etc.).

We had very cold rain, and on a couple of days, snow.

Bring the warm stuff and to the prior post go as early as you can.

Enjoy and please post pictures for the rest of us!

[MadRocketSci]

thanks, seems like conditions can change pretty quickly going from sept into october, esp in the alps. Some searches around the web also confirm this. I've seen recommendations that Provence (Ventoux) and the Vercors are more ideal during this time, so I'm starting to shift my plans that way. I'm thinking of doing a week with a cyclotourism outfit, and I know about Velo Vercors, which also rents bikes. Does anyone have any other recommendations that I should check out in that area? Looking for any place that rents good road bikes as well.

thanks again.

[Joel]

If you're serious about the Vercors, definitely check out Velo Vercors!

I stayed there the prior two years and fully intend to do so again. Roger and Teresa are great. They know the roads - and the roads are simply fantastic. A mind blowing assortment of types of rides and almost no traffic. It's just amazing!

Super nice folks who run a great place. You may want to check in with Teresa quickly though to see when the last week of the season is for them to be open this year.

If you have any questions or need their direct email, just PM me.

Bumming out that I can't go there right now...

Joel

[velotel]

What the weather will be is literally impossible to call. September, October are usually excellent in the Alps, days warm to hot, nights cold but who's riding at night. But, and this is a big but, this year so far has been an odd one to say the least. Summer end of May, early June, July and August wet and cool, but I still rode probably 5 times a week and really never in the rain. Then again most of my rides were short local rides, not big jaunts but I usually get one of those in (big defined by my legs, not some youngster's legs) most every week or two. So while summer was great, wasn't as bad as many like to say.

My answer is just plan on what works for you and worry about the weather the day you roll out because anything else is just pure guessing with as much chance to be wrong as right.

If you plant yourself in the Grenoble area for part of the time, I can, normally, get away enough to show you some roads. Just need to know in advance I'm old.
Ventoux in the fall is always a terrific ride but I still prefer the Alps in the fall because there can be some terrific colours on the lower to medium high cols. Oh yea, by the by, my rides only do climbs so if you came here and wanted to do flat, I can't help you. Wouldn't be surprised if Maxn would pull some time too.
In short the options are huge so if you're here with a bike, you'll have some great riding, guaranteed. Just the way it is.

[MadRocketSci]

Hey Velotel, that's a really nice offer. I understand that it all depends on schedule and location. I'll make some plans and let you know where I'll be (possibly looking like St. Jean-en-Royans at the moment), and if time and location work out, great, if not, no worries at all. But it would be great to ride/meet with you and/or Maxn...

The only fear i have is becoming part of one of your ride reports, which would go something like "and then, despite riding as slow as we could, we still ended up dropping that guy from the forum and never saw him for the rest of the ride" :)

But yeah, i'm all about the climbs.

[572cv]

Velotel has been posting all summer, with sideways comments about the challenges of figuring out the weather this year in the French Alps. I'd take his comments seriously.

We were in the Vercors a few years ago in September, fabulous riding there. We had some sun, some rain, it was all good. It was close enough to the big Alps so we could get over one day to Alp d'Huez and do that and the Col de Solour ride.

Last year we were in Annecy at this time, tail end of August through part of the second week of September. This is a really great area. We found primarily sunshine and hot weather. The only time I had a jacket on was up on the col de Roselend, which was about as high as we got.

I too am an old guy, but love the climbing. The Annecy area has great riding. We're going back in two weeks. I plan to bring a real variety of clothing this time, expecting it to be colder or wetter. Last year was too perfect. At least this year, we have a heated pool to come back to.....

Hey Velotel! I'll drop you a PM with our domicile location and dates of our trip. Perhaps we can hook up on a ride!

There is little more cheerful than contemplating a cycling trip to the French Alps, really. :)

[MadRocketSci]

Yup, I got to spend a long weekend in Annecy this summer, around mid June, coming off a previous work trip. Rode up to Semnoz on a perfect, gorgeous Saturday, then around the lake. Actually wasn't expecting the ride to be that nice. The only downside was in procuring the rental bike!

If I ever get around to getting a dropbox acct i'll post some pics, and a mini ride report.

One of the few things better than contemplating a cycling trip to the french alps is looking up your first climb, and thinking "I'm actually here" to yourself.

[basilic]

My advice would be to research a few riding areas but to put off booking a hotel until you have a reliable weather forecast, say 3 days ahead. Betting on weather as a function of calendar time is hopeless; it can work as a series average, but you only have that one opportunity. I also think that October can have the best riding, with fall colors and nice cool temperatures.

At this time of year I'd select a normal town like Annecy over an out-of-season resort like Morzine. If you cannot ride for a day you won't feel trapped. But widen your options - look at places in Italy (where will you be working?), the Pyrenees, etc.

[MadRocketSci]

My advice would be to research a few riding areas but to put off booking a hotel until you have a reliable weather forecast, say 3 days ahead. Betting on weather as a function of calendar time is hopeless; it can work as a series average, but you only have that one opportunity. I also think that October can have the best riding, with fall colors and nice cool temperatures.

At this time of year I'd select a normal town like Annecy over an out-of-season resort like Morzine. If you cannot ride for a day you won't feel trapped. But widen your options - look at places in Italy (where will you be working?), the Pyrenees, etc.

Excellent advice. My only issue is that this is a work trip, and I can't be dragging around my bike so I need a rental. That limits my choices and flexibility a bit, especially since I'm a bit picky about bikes.

Point taken about Morzine. This trip was supposed to happen in early september but kept getting pushed back, and I was thinking about the mtn biking opportunities there and Les Gets, and I have an overwhelming desire to evaluate Samoens as a place to base my work afterlife. Also wanted to ride the Joux Plane, but perhaps this isn't the trip to do it.

I'll be in Turin. A friend of mine is organizing a trip in the Pyrenees next year, so I'm deferring that. I've found that from Turin it's very easy to get to Chambery and then on to other places (like Annecy). But I'm open to suggestions that have fairly easy access to Turin, particularly in Italy. Perhaps Lake Como?

[oldpotatoe]

Excellent advice. My only issue is that this is a work trip, and I can't be dragging around my bike so I need a rental. That limits my choices and flexibility a bit, especially since I'm a bit picky about bikes.

Point taken about Morzine. This trip was supposed to happen in early september but kept getting pushed back, and I was thinking about the mtn biking opportunities there and Les Gets, and I have an overwhelming desire to evaluate Samoens as a place to base my work afterlife. Also wanted to ride the Joux Plane, but perhaps this isn't the trip to do it.

I'll be in Turin. A friend of mine is organizing a trip in the Pyrenees next year, so I'm deferring that. I've found that from Turin it's very easy to get to Chambery and then on to other places (like Annecy). But I'm open to suggestions that have fairly easy access to Turin, particularly in Italy. Perhaps Lake Como?

https://www.google.com/maps/place/GIOS+biciclette/@45.195843,7.788341,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x0:0xbd0be209f83c80c8

[bocarider]

Three summers ago my wife and I did a week of self guided touring in the Alps and then did Trek's classic climbs of the Tour trip. We spent 3 days in Grenoble and did some nice rides near there, including in the Vercors (we rode the Col du Coq, which Velotel tells me is almost the street where he lives). We then moved on to Megev for a few days where we rode the Cormet du Roseland, the Col de Aravis and the Columbier. With Trek, we road the Forclaz, the Telegraph/Gallibier (f*ing hard, so be careful with that one) and Alp d'Huez.


I have .gpx files for most of the rides we did on ridewithgps.com, so if you have a garmin and want to cop my routes, you are welcome to them:



http://ridewithgps.com/users/480/activities



Scroll down to the 2011 dates and you should be able to spot them. They are either out and backs or loops, so they should work nicely for you.

[MadRocketSci]

Bocarider -

This is good stuff. You have data for the french alps, Czech republic, the Dordogne, Piemonte, Slovenia, ventoux...wow. and thanks.