velotel
10-24-2018, 03:55 AM
The tour continues, now in Bourg d’Oisans, arguably France’s most cycling-centric town. Almost 25 years living in the Alps, rode all the cols but one (Col d’Ornon) out of or near Bourg d’Oisans, and this is the first time I’ve spent any extended time in the town. A few times for a beer after a ride, once for lunch, a poverty of time in a town I’ve always appreciated, in passing. Now I’m here for two nights, in the Hotel Oberland, like the town a hotel I’ve always appreciated, in passing.
Hotel is decorated for cyclists with team jerseys on the small balconies, a couple of bikes suspended from railings, etc. But the real goods are out back, bike work stands, pumps, tools, hoses, brushes, etc. Plus inside a big room for storing and working on bikes and another room with a long sink for filling water bottles, rinsing clothes, whatever. I think I even saw some machines for washing your clothes. Upstairs the restaurant and bar walls are decorated with more bike stuff, photos, maps, books, etc. A biker’s dream.
The building’s old, the rooms small, noise passes through doors, bathrooms/showers are tight, beds are comfortable, the ambiance superb. In short the place is funky as hell and great. Breakfast is excellent, unlike the poor affair italians generally serve, french hotels as a rule know how to do breakfast. On the other hand the coffee isn’t italian, rarely is in France, italians rule for coffee. The bar serves draft beer with an outside terrace on which to drink it, talk about rides, look across the valley at the switchbacks to Alpe d’Huez. A cyclist’s hotel.
Plateau d’Emparis, today’s fun, a magnificent rolling plateau of alpine meadows and sunshine defined by ridges of high summits, deep valleys, plus one gorge of dark, wet, vertical rock. One of my favorite rides. I know, a phrase I use a lot but only because that’s the way it is.
Shuttle to le Freney to avoid the route nationale. On the bikes, up to the Chambon damn. Stop to show Mike and Lee where we’ll be. An impressive sight from the damn, the road carved across a small cliff some 700 meters (2400 ft) above and even higher, maybe 1000 meters (3280 ft), curling around a ridge. I don’t know what went through their heads looking up that but the first time I ever rode the plateau that sight made me wonder what the heck I was heading into.
Hit the ramp to Mizoën, a brutal welcome, a K at 12%. Mike attacks, me in my taking it easy mode, Lee follows my lead. Around the last hairpin, into the village, slide by a house dripping with geraniums, stop at a fountain to top off bottles. Lee yells he left his iphone on the damn, disappears back down the road. Mike and I relax in the sun. Could be awhile. I finally start circling on my bike then drop slowly through the village to look at the house garlanded with flowers. And run into Lee who looks at his watch and exclaims 11 minutes! Down and back in way less time it took us coming up! And his phone was still there!
The road to the plateau starts in the village, a one-laner squeezing past houses. Stays a one-laner from there to the plateau and down the back side to the village of Besse over 25 K away. Mostly a generous one-laner but with long sections that make passengers in cars want to sink down out of sight into the footwell.
From Mizoën to the high point is just over 17 K. 14 dirt and gravel, with a 10-K section averaging around 9,5%. Which is misleading because the first 5 K are distinctly steeper than the second 5. Like maybe the first 5 at 10,5% and the second 5 at 8,5%! Then it gradually turns into spin city until you’re finally ripping up the road on the big ring on top of the plateau! A climb honorably following in the footsteps of Finestre and Blegier. Finestre is way bigger with 450 meters (almost 1500 ft!) more vertical but Emparis has 2 K more dirt. Blegier also has more vertical, 110 meters (360 ft), and is dirt the entire distance. In the steepness department they’re all singing the same tune, sustained hard.
What sets the climb to Emparis apart from every other climb I know isn’t the road or the grades or vertical; it’s the views. They’re basically insane, all the way up. The lower two-thirds or more of big climbs are often in forests or in valleys with limited views. Not the road to Emparis. From Mizoën up and across the plateau then down the back side to the village of Besse is all but treeless, nothing but alpine meadows and scree fields and rock cliffs, mostly alpine meadows. There are clusters of trees above Mizoën and Besse but they’re so few that they’re peripheral to the overall picture.
The road from Mizoën has yet another aspect that’s pretty mind blowing, it’s the reason why I always go up that side. The road’s carved out of this crazy steep mountainside above a deep gorge and on the other side of the gorge is la Meije, a towering mass of rock, ice, and snow, one of France’s more spectacular peaks. The drop off the side of the road into the gorge isn’t vertical but it can feel like that. Probably why passengers in cars going up can get cramps in their butts. In short, it’s mind bogglingly gorgeous.
But steep, sustained steep for the first half then gradually easing off. Much, maybe most, of the time the dirt is relatively smooth, even this year despite a long drought. And the rocky sections turn out to not be nearly as bad as they first look when you see them in the distance. Still it’s one damned hard climb. Even paved it would be seriously hard.
We stopped a lot. Photo stops, or at least for them since for once, a very rare occurrence, I was riding without a camera. Kind of kicked myself a few times because this was a total silver dollar day. I already have lots of pics from here but still….. So I’d stop and let Mike and Lee freak out taking pictures and laughing like a couple of crazies. With reason, this road is totally nuts, and there we were on bicycles of all things, riding up this gorgeous mountain on a road you need to have under your tires to fully believe.
Unlike the road up Finestre, this one does not ride easier than the numbers. Mostly because it’s dirt and gravel. But it’s also wonderfully dependable, an unwavering grade that goes on and on and then ever so gently and steadily eases off the steepness. Not many switchbacks and those are mostly down in the bottom quarter. Otherwise it’s just this narrow road elegantly carving its way up the mountain. Actually there is one section that’s kind of a beater, just over a K long at a steady 8,5% and effectively straight. And rocky. And hot on a clear day. It’s really the only part of the entire climb where you have to kind of bear down and grin it through. Ends in a long swing around the head of a basin onto a wonderful dozing snake-like track up onto a round ridge. The surface is smooth and fast, the road curving, glued to the contours, with the grades slacked off enough that I usually move down a cog, two cogs on a strong day.
And it ends with an eye-popping view on that round ridge, the road slicing across a cliff section with la Meije spearing the sky right in front of you. I can’t imagine anyone being able to ride onto that ridge and not come to an instant stop. No way. Lee and Mike stopped, going on about how this is totally crazy.
The end of the steepness is past that cliff section where la Meije is filling the eyes. The road does a long, slow swing to the left into a shallow valley and up onto the plateau proper, a vast, rolling expanse of prairies washing up onto peaks like the sea on a shore. And we’re flying on our big rings, or rather I was since they both had one-ring Sram drivetrains, and grinning like idiots with the warm air streaming over our heads. One of those magical moments you really need to experience for yourself to fully understand.
Got to the road’s high point on the ridge overlooking the plunge down into Besse. Across from us the Col de Sarenne and just barely visible the summit station of the Alpe d’Huez tram perched on a rock ridge. The two of them walk out to edge of the small flat space we’ve stopped on and look down and are blown away, once again. The slope is crazy steep and below they can see the road looping back and forth across the slope. We end up hanging there in the sun for a good half hour, probably more, relaxing, soaking up the sun, staring out at the panorama of peaks, and me having a nap. Beautiful.
Into the plunge. Long and steep, steeper than the road from Mizoën. This is the road people driving to the plateau use. I was expecting lots of washboard but turned out to be fine for the most part. A fast descent if you want it to be. I did. Just had to slow way down for the switchbacks where the gravel tended to be deep and loose. This was a weekday in late September so no traffic at all and I was flying, riding the wave. There was always one track or the other that was pretty smooth but I think I spent more time in the verge on the outside than anywhere else. Just had to pay attention. Ended up being a way faster descent than I’d expected.
Finally stopped after the road crossed a stream and angled down at an impressive angle along the far side of the valley. From there I could see the entire slope with the road sweeping back and forth. Looked to see if I could spot Mike or Lee somewhere up there. Finally spotted Mike on a long traverse. Seeing how small he looked up there gave me a good perspective of just how big that slope is.
A splendid descent that a little further on turned into a paved road, barely. Kind of funny really, sort of a paved double-track with sections complete with a line of grass down the center. And still a one-laner, even tighter than the road above.
Finally rolled into Besse, a beautifully restored medieval village of stone houses in a tight cluster in this narrow mountain valley. A beautiful place but like I always say the places feels sterile, even though apparently people really do live there. Absolutely nothing there calling out hey, stop here, drink something on the terrace, put your feet up and enjoy. We rode through with only brief stops for the obligatory photos.
Below the village the ride gets way interesting, your basic wild mouse ride, the road diving down through linked S-turns and sweepers. Beautiful rhythm. Then up a short climb to the junction with the road to Sarenne. More descending, gravity pulling hard, some linked sweepers, a couple of round switchbacks, a long straight where you want to get all the speed you can because that’s followed by a steep but short climb into Mizoën. Loop closed. The drop from the top down through Besse nicely complimenting the climb up from Mizoën. But to be honest, after having ridden the road through Besse twice now, have to say that for me descending via the road to Mizoën is the way to go. Loops are always appreciated but in this case the plunge down the Mizoën road is just way too good.
Day 5 in the books, again one heck of ride. Some 1400 vertical meters of climbing in total makes it our second biggest day for vertical. In the van, head back to Bourg d’Oisans for well deserved alcohol, food, and rest, stocking up for Day 6.
Pics from early September ride on a day not nearly so clear and gorgeous
Hotel is decorated for cyclists with team jerseys on the small balconies, a couple of bikes suspended from railings, etc. But the real goods are out back, bike work stands, pumps, tools, hoses, brushes, etc. Plus inside a big room for storing and working on bikes and another room with a long sink for filling water bottles, rinsing clothes, whatever. I think I even saw some machines for washing your clothes. Upstairs the restaurant and bar walls are decorated with more bike stuff, photos, maps, books, etc. A biker’s dream.
The building’s old, the rooms small, noise passes through doors, bathrooms/showers are tight, beds are comfortable, the ambiance superb. In short the place is funky as hell and great. Breakfast is excellent, unlike the poor affair italians generally serve, french hotels as a rule know how to do breakfast. On the other hand the coffee isn’t italian, rarely is in France, italians rule for coffee. The bar serves draft beer with an outside terrace on which to drink it, talk about rides, look across the valley at the switchbacks to Alpe d’Huez. A cyclist’s hotel.
Plateau d’Emparis, today’s fun, a magnificent rolling plateau of alpine meadows and sunshine defined by ridges of high summits, deep valleys, plus one gorge of dark, wet, vertical rock. One of my favorite rides. I know, a phrase I use a lot but only because that’s the way it is.
Shuttle to le Freney to avoid the route nationale. On the bikes, up to the Chambon damn. Stop to show Mike and Lee where we’ll be. An impressive sight from the damn, the road carved across a small cliff some 700 meters (2400 ft) above and even higher, maybe 1000 meters (3280 ft), curling around a ridge. I don’t know what went through their heads looking up that but the first time I ever rode the plateau that sight made me wonder what the heck I was heading into.
Hit the ramp to Mizoën, a brutal welcome, a K at 12%. Mike attacks, me in my taking it easy mode, Lee follows my lead. Around the last hairpin, into the village, slide by a house dripping with geraniums, stop at a fountain to top off bottles. Lee yells he left his iphone on the damn, disappears back down the road. Mike and I relax in the sun. Could be awhile. I finally start circling on my bike then drop slowly through the village to look at the house garlanded with flowers. And run into Lee who looks at his watch and exclaims 11 minutes! Down and back in way less time it took us coming up! And his phone was still there!
The road to the plateau starts in the village, a one-laner squeezing past houses. Stays a one-laner from there to the plateau and down the back side to the village of Besse over 25 K away. Mostly a generous one-laner but with long sections that make passengers in cars want to sink down out of sight into the footwell.
From Mizoën to the high point is just over 17 K. 14 dirt and gravel, with a 10-K section averaging around 9,5%. Which is misleading because the first 5 K are distinctly steeper than the second 5. Like maybe the first 5 at 10,5% and the second 5 at 8,5%! Then it gradually turns into spin city until you’re finally ripping up the road on the big ring on top of the plateau! A climb honorably following in the footsteps of Finestre and Blegier. Finestre is way bigger with 450 meters (almost 1500 ft!) more vertical but Emparis has 2 K more dirt. Blegier also has more vertical, 110 meters (360 ft), and is dirt the entire distance. In the steepness department they’re all singing the same tune, sustained hard.
What sets the climb to Emparis apart from every other climb I know isn’t the road or the grades or vertical; it’s the views. They’re basically insane, all the way up. The lower two-thirds or more of big climbs are often in forests or in valleys with limited views. Not the road to Emparis. From Mizoën up and across the plateau then down the back side to the village of Besse is all but treeless, nothing but alpine meadows and scree fields and rock cliffs, mostly alpine meadows. There are clusters of trees above Mizoën and Besse but they’re so few that they’re peripheral to the overall picture.
The road from Mizoën has yet another aspect that’s pretty mind blowing, it’s the reason why I always go up that side. The road’s carved out of this crazy steep mountainside above a deep gorge and on the other side of the gorge is la Meije, a towering mass of rock, ice, and snow, one of France’s more spectacular peaks. The drop off the side of the road into the gorge isn’t vertical but it can feel like that. Probably why passengers in cars going up can get cramps in their butts. In short, it’s mind bogglingly gorgeous.
But steep, sustained steep for the first half then gradually easing off. Much, maybe most, of the time the dirt is relatively smooth, even this year despite a long drought. And the rocky sections turn out to not be nearly as bad as they first look when you see them in the distance. Still it’s one damned hard climb. Even paved it would be seriously hard.
We stopped a lot. Photo stops, or at least for them since for once, a very rare occurrence, I was riding without a camera. Kind of kicked myself a few times because this was a total silver dollar day. I already have lots of pics from here but still….. So I’d stop and let Mike and Lee freak out taking pictures and laughing like a couple of crazies. With reason, this road is totally nuts, and there we were on bicycles of all things, riding up this gorgeous mountain on a road you need to have under your tires to fully believe.
Unlike the road up Finestre, this one does not ride easier than the numbers. Mostly because it’s dirt and gravel. But it’s also wonderfully dependable, an unwavering grade that goes on and on and then ever so gently and steadily eases off the steepness. Not many switchbacks and those are mostly down in the bottom quarter. Otherwise it’s just this narrow road elegantly carving its way up the mountain. Actually there is one section that’s kind of a beater, just over a K long at a steady 8,5% and effectively straight. And rocky. And hot on a clear day. It’s really the only part of the entire climb where you have to kind of bear down and grin it through. Ends in a long swing around the head of a basin onto a wonderful dozing snake-like track up onto a round ridge. The surface is smooth and fast, the road curving, glued to the contours, with the grades slacked off enough that I usually move down a cog, two cogs on a strong day.
And it ends with an eye-popping view on that round ridge, the road slicing across a cliff section with la Meije spearing the sky right in front of you. I can’t imagine anyone being able to ride onto that ridge and not come to an instant stop. No way. Lee and Mike stopped, going on about how this is totally crazy.
The end of the steepness is past that cliff section where la Meije is filling the eyes. The road does a long, slow swing to the left into a shallow valley and up onto the plateau proper, a vast, rolling expanse of prairies washing up onto peaks like the sea on a shore. And we’re flying on our big rings, or rather I was since they both had one-ring Sram drivetrains, and grinning like idiots with the warm air streaming over our heads. One of those magical moments you really need to experience for yourself to fully understand.
Got to the road’s high point on the ridge overlooking the plunge down into Besse. Across from us the Col de Sarenne and just barely visible the summit station of the Alpe d’Huez tram perched on a rock ridge. The two of them walk out to edge of the small flat space we’ve stopped on and look down and are blown away, once again. The slope is crazy steep and below they can see the road looping back and forth across the slope. We end up hanging there in the sun for a good half hour, probably more, relaxing, soaking up the sun, staring out at the panorama of peaks, and me having a nap. Beautiful.
Into the plunge. Long and steep, steeper than the road from Mizoën. This is the road people driving to the plateau use. I was expecting lots of washboard but turned out to be fine for the most part. A fast descent if you want it to be. I did. Just had to slow way down for the switchbacks where the gravel tended to be deep and loose. This was a weekday in late September so no traffic at all and I was flying, riding the wave. There was always one track or the other that was pretty smooth but I think I spent more time in the verge on the outside than anywhere else. Just had to pay attention. Ended up being a way faster descent than I’d expected.
Finally stopped after the road crossed a stream and angled down at an impressive angle along the far side of the valley. From there I could see the entire slope with the road sweeping back and forth. Looked to see if I could spot Mike or Lee somewhere up there. Finally spotted Mike on a long traverse. Seeing how small he looked up there gave me a good perspective of just how big that slope is.
A splendid descent that a little further on turned into a paved road, barely. Kind of funny really, sort of a paved double-track with sections complete with a line of grass down the center. And still a one-laner, even tighter than the road above.
Finally rolled into Besse, a beautifully restored medieval village of stone houses in a tight cluster in this narrow mountain valley. A beautiful place but like I always say the places feels sterile, even though apparently people really do live there. Absolutely nothing there calling out hey, stop here, drink something on the terrace, put your feet up and enjoy. We rode through with only brief stops for the obligatory photos.
Below the village the ride gets way interesting, your basic wild mouse ride, the road diving down through linked S-turns and sweepers. Beautiful rhythm. Then up a short climb to the junction with the road to Sarenne. More descending, gravity pulling hard, some linked sweepers, a couple of round switchbacks, a long straight where you want to get all the speed you can because that’s followed by a steep but short climb into Mizoën. Loop closed. The drop from the top down through Besse nicely complimenting the climb up from Mizoën. But to be honest, after having ridden the road through Besse twice now, have to say that for me descending via the road to Mizoën is the way to go. Loops are always appreciated but in this case the plunge down the Mizoën road is just way too good.
Day 5 in the books, again one heck of ride. Some 1400 vertical meters of climbing in total makes it our second biggest day for vertical. In the van, head back to Bourg d’Oisans for well deserved alcohol, food, and rest, stocking up for Day 6.
Pics from early September ride on a day not nearly so clear and gorgeous