Dave and his Bike

Day 7

The campsite in Allevard was up the valley, meaning an early descent down to the main road. It was only 7°C so a bit chilly, but soon warmed up. It’s that time of year when it’s cool in the shade, but noticeably warmer in the sun. The road rose at a lovely gentle 1 or 2% for the first 30km so was easy miles in stunning alpine valley scenery. The water in the fast flowing rivers is grey-green, and looks bloody freezing, which no doubt it is!

We met for a coffee at Val d’Arc, then for lunch a bit later in La Chambre.

The further up the valley I rode the more industrial it became, with open cast mines and quarries scarring the otherwise beautiful landscape. The wind was quite gentle today, but managed to become a headwind on the steepest parts. Is it me?

Jane found a great little campsite (17 pitches) with lovely views in Orelle, a little bit up the side of the valley.

Feeling tired this evening, and a bit apprehensive about the amount of climbing and altitude tomorrow.

Day 8

It seems I’ve been going for over a week now. That’s gone quickly! Today was a day that I’ve been slightly concerned about for a while during planning. It’s been a long time since I climbed anything like an alpine pass, so a 2000+m summit was a bit daunting.

It didn’t start well. I rolled downhill from the campsite to find the road closed. Properly closed. Not a ‘sneak through on the bike’ kind of closed. Which meant a diversion. Hey-ho. That’s what the support is for 😁

Half way around the diversion the reason became very apparent – a rock fall, of immense proportions. Not too recent, but google maps forgot to mention it!

Once back on the route (about 5km down the road) and having avoided the additional 150m of climbing, I benefited from the closure. The road was virtually empty. Result.

The climb was steady mostly. We met up for a coffee (and a pain au chocolat) in Val Cenis but didn’t hang around too long as it was already quite chilly. The climbing got steadily steeper, and the temperatures lower. I ground away in low gears, stopping a couple of times for a drink, gel, and photograph, and eventually met Jane at the top. Food. Drink. Dry clothing. It was a drizzly 6°C.

Again, we didn’t hang around for long. The descent was awesome. I had to stop for my first border crossing sign, and again soon after to shed a couple of the few warm layers I had put on for the descent as the temperature rose. It was the fastest 20km I’ve done for a while…

The descent levelled out onto straight valley roads, and we went to a campsite in Garello. We are not staying there. Scruffy is an understatement. The Hotel Caprice around the corner won the day. Time for a shower, and a walk to find a pizza.