French-Italian high gravel trip

[alessandro]

I just returned from a trip I've dreamed of for years: Multiple days of riding high mountain passes in the Alps with my brother. Michael has lived in Geneva for 20 years, and constantly tells me about this or that col he climbed, day trips he's made, weeklong bike tours he's taken, etc., many of them them close to home, some as far away as the Pyrenees or the Dolomites. This year I finally made it over there, and we did a gravel tour in France and Italy.

After a screw-up at the rental shop that threatened to derail our entire itinerary, we drove 5 hours south of Geneva, past Grenoble and Gap to the town of Barcelonette. (Insert here an argument for assuming that nothing is certain in life, and that if you really want a bike that fits you, bring your own. I certainly saw plenty of nice bike cases in luggage claim at Cointrin Airport.)

Day 1: Col de Parpaillon. From Barcelonette we rolled 13 km along the Ubaye River, through Jausiers to the village of Condamine-Chatelard. Then the climbing starts: 17 km from there to the Tunnel de Parpaillon, completed in 1911. The last 11 km are gravel. Here is where we learned some basics: 1) bring bigger tires; 2) bring lower gears; 3) elevation profiles and total distances mean little compared to the truth on the ground. Especially when the ground is pitched at 8%, is rocky, and is above 2000 meters of elevation. We walked and pushed our bikes up probably 5 km of that gravel, because the gravel was too rough and the grade a little too steep. The ride down was another illustration on why larger tire volumes are better.

63 km total, 1,447 meters of elevation gain, total time 7 hours, rolling time 5:15. Not the most dénivelé, not the longest distance, but besides it being hot and high, it was just plain hard. At dinner that night I pushed my brother to consider a change of plan, but he assured me that it would be OK. How he knew I am not sure, but it was OK.

Pics: Michael walking one of the steeper sections; the view looking up the valley from treeline; looking down from much higher up; and finally at the tunnel, which is at 2643 meters. There was another col on the far side of the 550-meter-long tunnel, but that tube is dark and very chilly, our bright lights were no match for that blackness, and we were toast.

[alessandro]

Day Two was mostly pavement, except for 3 km on gravel. We parked in St. Etienne de Tinee and climbed first the Col de la Moutiere, at the top of which there is a 3 km gravel road that leads to the Col de la Bonette and then, if you're interested, the Cime de la Bonette. At some point the French wanted to keep up with the Joneses in terms of having the highest paved road in Europe (it's not), so they put a 2-kilometer loop around the black summit cone of the Cime de la Bonette, topping out at 2802 meters, or 9193 feet.

The Moutiere was narrow, paved, steep, and quiet: Absolutely lovely. About 4 cars passed us. From the top of the Moutiere, the gravel road ascends to the Col de Restefond, where you rejoin the silky smooth pavement, at that point at a 5% or 6% incline.

At the Col de la Bonette, you can either cut through the road-wide notch in the rock wall that is the Bonette pass itself, or ascend the 1 km loop road to summit the Cime. We went counter-clockwise up to the top, which was the wrong way to go--the last two-thirds of that kilometer ramp up to about 15%, and you feel the lack of oxygen.

We descended the south side of the mountain, on pavement back to the car. The descent was fantastic, a nicely paved swoop after swoop of turns and views and hairpins, with only one flock of sheep to avoid. The road runs right through the middle of the 19th-century barracks of the Camp des Fourches.

53.6 km for the day, with 1656 meters of elevation gain. Moving time was 4:30, with total time an hour longer, for resting and photos and side excursions to off-road cols.

Pics: Climbing the Moutiere, looking down on the Moutiere road from the top, pano from just below the Col de la Bonette, obligatory summit post, the ruined barracks at the Camp des Fourches, sheep.

[chunkylover53]

Great write up! Looks fantastic

[weisan]

thanks for sharing.

[XXtwindad]

Kudos!! Well done!

That's MY dream trip. In and out of the Alta Via Del Sale. Hopefully, next year. Staying in Saint Dalmas Les Selvage to tackle the Bonette, and working our way down to the Col De Tende, and the Ligurian/Mediterranean Alps. Ending up in San Remo and taking the train to Cinque Terre.

I'm planning on using a 36/46 combo, so up won't be a problem

To top it all off, you live in the Alps of the USA. AKA Vermont. Great Cols. (Oops. Gaps.) And great local breweries. Jealous again...

[morrisericd]

Great trip report and pictures! More threads like this, please!

[Vientomas]

Awesome! Thanks for posting.

[alessandro]

My brother is a dedicated passhunter, and is a member of the Club des Cent Cols--the CCC. Col-seeking is a thing.

Day 1 cols: Parpaillon, at 2643 meters. C'est tout.

Day 2 cols (all above 2000 meters): Col de la Moutière, Faux Col de Restefond, Col de Restefond, Col de la Bonette, Col de Raspaillon, Col des Fourches. The last two required short hike-a-bikes on basically flat hiking trails, because they're in a national park, and riding on those trails is interdit.

[wc1934]

Fantastic - I too am jealous.
Why the heck did you wait 20 years - haha

[alessandro]

Day Three started from a very funky B&B in Vievola, a tiny place just north of the town of Tende, which was part of Italy from 1861 to 1947. Vievola is also handily 4.5 km from the Tende-Tenda road tunnel on the D6204 road from France north into Italy (it's odd, but there's this little bit of France that sticks out into Italy, so you travel north at this point). The old military road that climbs the pass is 250 meters before the tunnel. The tunnel is a one-laner, which means that north-south traffic alternates, controlled by a traffic light that lasts 30 minutes (they've been working on a second tube for years). We had to ride up about 4 km on the main road, with some cars, to the traffic light, which is about 500 meters before the turnoff. Fortunately, we were told that cyclists don't have to wait for the light. Cars traveling in the opposite direction all come in one pulse, because they've been waiting at a light on the other side. Our timing was fortunate, because the light on our side was red, so the cars were stopped, oncoming cars had already gone by, and we rolled through and up to the old road.

This day was for me probably the highlight of the four days we rode: Up and up the 46 stackbacks, climbing higher and higher above the Vallée de la Roya and its high, narrow canyon walls, to the Colle di Tenda and its 19th century fort and barracks and 20th-century bunkers.

At the top (just 1870 meters), on the Italian side, above the Limone Piemonte ski station, we checked out the fort and then rolled east along the alta Via del Sale towards the cols of Perla and Boaria. There is a hut that charges admission for motorized vehicles to the Via del Sale, and limits the number of daily passes--bikes are free--and also sells beer, wine, and cold water. We continued to the top of the highest ski lift, at this point above 2000 meters, and decided to turn around. It was hot, high, and bumpy. We heard later that the road above was smooth, but it was my brother's choice to bail on col-seeking, and I was fine with that. We rolled back downhill to the Chalet le Marmotte at 1800 meters, and had a big bowl of fettucine with ragu on the deck. This was a bigger meal than I'd normally eat on a ride, and it was a key move for the afternoon: Salt, carbs, protein.

After lunch we rolled west, back into France, along nice gravel, occasional pavement, and into some spectacularly beautiful high alpine sheep and cattle meadows, forested roads, splendid isolated gravel with plenty of exposure, and more passes. After a detour to the Col de la Porte, with its rock portals like Scylla and Charybdis, we started down another military road, with plenty of hairpins. Why not build another road so close to the Tenda road, when you've got cheap military labor? This descent was steeper than the Tende road, badly paved in some sections, and beautiful, twisting down through the steep grassy pine forest. We had to stop every so often to shake the hands out, and thank you, hydro disc brakes. I would not want to climb this road, gorgeous though it was.

Cols: Tenda, Tenda Est, Cannelle, Baisse de Peirefique, Baisse d'Ourne, Col de la Porte (it may have another name), Colle Megiana.

Just 53 kilometers, 1668 meters elevation gain, 5:50 moving time, mind-blowing.

Photos:
-Me failing to illustrate the steepness of the incline;
-Looking down at some hairpins (you can see the cars waiting at the light for the tunnel below);
-Looking up at some quality military construction;
-Me at the top of the pass;
-The central fort;
-A panorama showing the climb, from the highway at bottom right to the fort at upper left;
-Some nice exposure along the backside of the Mont Chajol along the road between the Baisse de Peirefique and the Baisse d'Ourne;
-Col de la Porte;
-The hills-are-alive sheep meadow below Mont Chajol, with the Baisse d'Ourne col at the right;
-The beautiful, long, steep descent (cows graze under those fir trees, and I bet that would be dynamite tree skiing in the winter--look at the slope);
-Michael in the twisties.

[LegendRider]

Very nice.

Tell us about your bike set-up. Would you have done anything different with your equipment if you were to do the trip again?

[XXtwindad]

If you guys climb Saccarello, Monte Ceppo, or Passo Tegila, I'm going to piss in my pants.

The hairpins of Tende, the views from Saccarello, Monte Ceppo, and the village of Triora. A dream trip ... that you're taking.

[AngryScientist]

A+ riding and trip report.

I have to say alessandro pal tough, you have got to get your act together. A brother who has lived in geneva for 20 years? you need to get yourself a frequent flyer credit card and a bike stashed at his place pronto. actually you should have done that 20 years ago!

make it an annual trip!!

[alessandro]

Thanks folks. I started riding seriously 10 years ago, so I’m only a decade behind, not two

XXtwin pal, we did not climb Saccarello, Ceppo, or Passo Teglia, so there’s no need for any sudden voiding. Those are in Liguria, and once we crossed into Italy, we stayed in Piemonte. Just to be super-provincial and all. But we did more stuff in Piemonte...

The ancient via del sale—the salt road! Bringing salt from the Mediterranean and olive oil from Liguria over the Alps to Piedmont, to the plains of the Po River valley and cities like Torino, and people brought wheat and wine on the return trip. There were many routes, but the high mountain roads of the Alta Via del Sale look like an amazing trip, either on a mountain bike or something with big 650b tires, starting from Limone Piemonte or right up at the Tenda Pass, and the then out into the wilderness, where you can stay overnight in a refuge, and then down to the sea. An older Torinese couple on very nice road bikes we met at the Chalet la Marmotte told us they’d done it on MTBs, and then taken the train back to their car in Limone.

Angry pal, I like your idea. There’s a nice direct flight from Montreal to Geneva, and we are already planning to return for some unfinished business. Not sure when, but maybe in a couple of years.

[Vonruden]

Amazing trip and beautiful pics, those hills would kill me.