velotel
07-21-2020, 02:56 AM
Five in the morning, silver dollar day coming in, time to move, feed the cat and dog, fill the bird feeder, feed me. Skip the yoga and exercises, get moving. On the road, heading to Le Freney to do the Plateau d'Emparis. Last time was August 019. That was a hard day, my brain squeaking like a dry chain, over and over, telling me I'm too old to be doing this. Proving once again how little the brain knows!
Parked in Le Freney before the sun's even arrived. Like Gaston Rebuffat wrote long ago, you're never sorry for starting too early and always sorry for starting too late. Bit of a heat wave these days and the climb to Emparis can be a pizza oven. Maybe I can knock off half or more of the climb before the rocks start bubbling. Time to bowl and roll and get this show on the road.
A stunning climb, steep but nothing exceptional. Actually the start, the short climb from the Chabon reservoir to the village of Mizoën. Is brutal, 12, 13, 14% grades, but thankfully short. Mizoën's one of those picturesque french mountain villages with old houses with wood balconies decorated with a profusion of bright geraniums. Always a pleasure to look at, but otherwise somewhat barren of interest.
After Mizoën 15 K and 1100 vertical meters (3600 ft) of sustained up, all but the first two and a half K dirt. Road a tight one-laner most of the time with scattered places were cars can pass. No problem, cars are rare here. Apparently most drivers and passengers are freaked out by the drops off the edge and prefer the road up from Besse. For me this one is vastly better, carved into this massive, steep hill side, flowing back and forth across the terrain, hugging the contours, the switchbacks round and smooth, beautifully fused into the slopes.
I always see the climb in three acts. The first is the longest and hardest, 9% grades, sometimes steeper, sometimes less. The surface relatively smooth, sometimes remarkably smooth, all depends on weather and traffic. No trees outside of scattered groves, just grass meadows with this narrow road arcing back and forth up the slopes until a long cliff section where it was carved out of the rock. This is the section that really freaks people out. Part of it is even paved, or sort of paved, probably to ease maintenance with all the rock fall from the crumbling cliffs above. The end of this cliff traverse is the end of the first act.
In some respects the second act is harder than the first but only because the road surface is more often than not rocky and loose. The road's also stepped back from the abyss and is working its way over round, broad knolls and small basins thick with grass, at least until the sheep arrive. Then there's a curve to the left into a long, almost straight climb directly away from the gorge to the head of narrow basin. I always dread that straight. It's steep enough to keep your attention, invariably rough with edgy, chunky gravel, and seems to go on forever. Usually with a headwind to kind of round things off.
The head of the basin is the end of the second act, the end of the steepness. Or at least steepness of consequence. From here on it's cruiserville on this dirt road guaranteed to psychedelicize the gray matter. I mean you're way the hell up on this mountain, inside this huge basin, invariably all alone since hardly anyone goes there, even by car, you're still climbing only now your spinning out your gear and probably dropping down a cog or two and just flat flying along on up this smooth, dirt, one-laner of a road. Or at least that's how I always feel there. Marvelous riding through gentle curves draped across the slopes.
Then there's a sweeping curve to the left up onto a sort of plateau and your eyes go all wobbly and your brain is short circuiting like someone set off a fireworks show inside your head. The road's almost flat, smoother than ever, and right there smack in front of you are the rock spires and ice fields and glacier of La Meije, one of France's most stunning peaks, with your road carved out of another cliff above some monstrous plunge into the gorge. All a bit nuts to be honest, and totally spectacular. Or at least it's like that for me.
This third act is why I love riding the Plateau d'Emparis. The first two acts are the price to pay to get here. I mean I definitely enjoy all that climbing and effort and the spectacle of that amazing road twisting up the mountain but it also kind of wears me out, even on a good day. But the third act, what joy! Hammering out a good pace, carrying some speed, flying over this dirt road that's way the hell and gone on top of this mountain, a mountain that got shaved off and transformed into a sprawling plateau of shallow valleys and soft ridges with a huge sky overhead, it's quite crazy. I mean you're over 2000 meters high in the Alps and jamming on the big ring! Okay, I exaggerate. It's only for a few hundred meters that I'm ever on the big ring but I'm sure young, strong riders would do way more big ring spinning up top. There's also this delightful refuge up there, the Refuge de Mouterres, run by a young couple who serve up some seriously good food.
Cols over 2000 meters in the Alps aren't all that common and usually you go up and up until the col and then immediately drop down the other side. Not on the Plateau d'Emparis. Here you get to hang out at over 2000 meters, rolling on a smooth dirt road surrounded by a vast space of rolling meadows back-dropped by sharp summits and snowfields and glaciers. Plus there's this fine bonus, a couple of outrageous trails to ride, as in hiking trails or for those of us on bikes single-tracks. The more spectacular crosses the Col du Souchet then drapes itself across the slopes on the back side to make for an outrageous loop. I've done it once and that was one of the finest cycling experiences of my life. Today's ride is a sort of prelude to riding Souchet again, checking my strength to see if I can do it, hopefully soon. The other trail I don't know, yet, but apparently it's good.
I knew my form wasn't good enough for Souchet so I stopped for a relaxed beer at the refuge before doing the plunge down the road to Besse. Fun descent, lots of attention required as there are always sections with a pretty loose surface, especially in the switchbacks, and lots of sections that are really fast if you let go of the brakes. Actually all of it is really fast if you let go of the brakes; road's pretty steep. Finally turns to asphalt well above the village of Besse and from there down a ripper of a ride. Makes for a heck of a loop, a definite have-to.
Parked in Le Freney before the sun's even arrived. Like Gaston Rebuffat wrote long ago, you're never sorry for starting too early and always sorry for starting too late. Bit of a heat wave these days and the climb to Emparis can be a pizza oven. Maybe I can knock off half or more of the climb before the rocks start bubbling. Time to bowl and roll and get this show on the road.
A stunning climb, steep but nothing exceptional. Actually the start, the short climb from the Chabon reservoir to the village of Mizoën. Is brutal, 12, 13, 14% grades, but thankfully short. Mizoën's one of those picturesque french mountain villages with old houses with wood balconies decorated with a profusion of bright geraniums. Always a pleasure to look at, but otherwise somewhat barren of interest.
After Mizoën 15 K and 1100 vertical meters (3600 ft) of sustained up, all but the first two and a half K dirt. Road a tight one-laner most of the time with scattered places were cars can pass. No problem, cars are rare here. Apparently most drivers and passengers are freaked out by the drops off the edge and prefer the road up from Besse. For me this one is vastly better, carved into this massive, steep hill side, flowing back and forth across the terrain, hugging the contours, the switchbacks round and smooth, beautifully fused into the slopes.
I always see the climb in three acts. The first is the longest and hardest, 9% grades, sometimes steeper, sometimes less. The surface relatively smooth, sometimes remarkably smooth, all depends on weather and traffic. No trees outside of scattered groves, just grass meadows with this narrow road arcing back and forth up the slopes until a long cliff section where it was carved out of the rock. This is the section that really freaks people out. Part of it is even paved, or sort of paved, probably to ease maintenance with all the rock fall from the crumbling cliffs above. The end of this cliff traverse is the end of the first act.
In some respects the second act is harder than the first but only because the road surface is more often than not rocky and loose. The road's also stepped back from the abyss and is working its way over round, broad knolls and small basins thick with grass, at least until the sheep arrive. Then there's a curve to the left into a long, almost straight climb directly away from the gorge to the head of narrow basin. I always dread that straight. It's steep enough to keep your attention, invariably rough with edgy, chunky gravel, and seems to go on forever. Usually with a headwind to kind of round things off.
The head of the basin is the end of the second act, the end of the steepness. Or at least steepness of consequence. From here on it's cruiserville on this dirt road guaranteed to psychedelicize the gray matter. I mean you're way the hell up on this mountain, inside this huge basin, invariably all alone since hardly anyone goes there, even by car, you're still climbing only now your spinning out your gear and probably dropping down a cog or two and just flat flying along on up this smooth, dirt, one-laner of a road. Or at least that's how I always feel there. Marvelous riding through gentle curves draped across the slopes.
Then there's a sweeping curve to the left up onto a sort of plateau and your eyes go all wobbly and your brain is short circuiting like someone set off a fireworks show inside your head. The road's almost flat, smoother than ever, and right there smack in front of you are the rock spires and ice fields and glacier of La Meije, one of France's most stunning peaks, with your road carved out of another cliff above some monstrous plunge into the gorge. All a bit nuts to be honest, and totally spectacular. Or at least it's like that for me.
This third act is why I love riding the Plateau d'Emparis. The first two acts are the price to pay to get here. I mean I definitely enjoy all that climbing and effort and the spectacle of that amazing road twisting up the mountain but it also kind of wears me out, even on a good day. But the third act, what joy! Hammering out a good pace, carrying some speed, flying over this dirt road that's way the hell and gone on top of this mountain, a mountain that got shaved off and transformed into a sprawling plateau of shallow valleys and soft ridges with a huge sky overhead, it's quite crazy. I mean you're over 2000 meters high in the Alps and jamming on the big ring! Okay, I exaggerate. It's only for a few hundred meters that I'm ever on the big ring but I'm sure young, strong riders would do way more big ring spinning up top. There's also this delightful refuge up there, the Refuge de Mouterres, run by a young couple who serve up some seriously good food.
Cols over 2000 meters in the Alps aren't all that common and usually you go up and up until the col and then immediately drop down the other side. Not on the Plateau d'Emparis. Here you get to hang out at over 2000 meters, rolling on a smooth dirt road surrounded by a vast space of rolling meadows back-dropped by sharp summits and snowfields and glaciers. Plus there's this fine bonus, a couple of outrageous trails to ride, as in hiking trails or for those of us on bikes single-tracks. The more spectacular crosses the Col du Souchet then drapes itself across the slopes on the back side to make for an outrageous loop. I've done it once and that was one of the finest cycling experiences of my life. Today's ride is a sort of prelude to riding Souchet again, checking my strength to see if I can do it, hopefully soon. The other trail I don't know, yet, but apparently it's good.
I knew my form wasn't good enough for Souchet so I stopped for a relaxed beer at the refuge before doing the plunge down the road to Besse. Fun descent, lots of attention required as there are always sections with a pretty loose surface, especially in the switchbacks, and lots of sections that are really fast if you let go of the brakes. Actually all of it is really fast if you let go of the brakes; road's pretty steep. Finally turns to asphalt well above the village of Besse and from there down a ripper of a ride. Makes for a heck of a loop, a definite have-to.