UKC

Hello there.

A few of us have been talking about doing a small tour (a week or two) in the alps, taking in some of the passes. We have hopefully roped in a friend to be our support driver, so were thinking we could start at point A, cycle for several days and finish at point B. This means we could avoid being at a base location and having to ride circular routes each day.

Initial thoughts are to ride up Mont Ventoux then head north to Gap and start cracking into the Alps. Would be great to hear from any of you who have ridden such a tour (or circular for that matter)
Are there;
Must see Cols?
Cols to avoid?
Better places to cycle in general around Europe?

Thanks very much.

In reply to adventure_vulture:
You could get some ideas from this: http://www.cicerone.co.uk/product/detail.cfm/book/551/title/cycling-in-the-...

The ultimate A-B in the Alps is probably the Route des Alpes, which goes from Geneva to Nice or Menton. It's a brilliant trip, if you want any info PM me, Ms B and I did it credit card style in September.

You could also start in Grenoble, head to Bourg d'Oisans and bag Alp d'Huez, go over the Glandon, Croix de Fer & Mollard to St Jean de Maurienne, take a train to St Michel (the road is not pleasant unless you do it very early in the morning), ride over the Telegraphe and Galibier, on to Briancon, over the Izoard, the Vars and then if you have time over the Bonette down to St Saveur, over to Guillaumes and back to Barcelonette via the Cayolle, then ride out to Gap and get a train back to Grenoble. There are several possible variations to this.

There are myriad other possibilities. More ideas here:http://www.cycling-challenge.com/

The only other place I'd suggest would be the Pyrenees. Maybe slightly less dramatic in places but quieter, more mellow, better food (imho) and generally better roads though if you are accustomed to UK roads then this not a consideration. The climbs are neither easier nor less magnificent.

In reply to adventure_vulture:

Come and ride the Ventoux - then you need a transfer of about 3 hours over to Barcelonette to ride the Col de Bonette which is just an up and down ride unless you want to do a 200km + loop.
Then ride to Briancon via the Col de Vars and The Col d'Izoard.
Then ride to Moutiers via the Galibeier and The Madelaine.

Or better still do all of the above from north to south instead of south to north.

E

In reply to adventure_vulture:
as Enty says do them north to south, the Madeleine from the south is not one of my favourites although I prefer the Croix de fer from the south.

In reply to adventure_vulture:

Another vote for Route de Grands Alpes (GVA - Nice not that I've done all of it just parts.)

I live in morzine and having cycled some of the big cols down south (as we call around AdH etc) the roads up here are a bit quieter and generally a bit nicer to ride, due to them not being main throughfares.

highlights are Col de Joux Plane, Colombiere, Aravis, Cormet de Roselend which takes you to Bourg St Maurice. A friend runs a company that runs a tour of the grand Alpes (knows the route, minibus support and moving your stuff day to day and organises accom each night kind of thing). Let me know if you'd like some more info.

generally the roads here are for the most part pretty good, and drivers are much more considerate for cyclists thank in the UK.

Ali

In reply to adventure_vulture:

Some really good advice there. Thank you guys. Route de Grands Alpes looks like a winner. Would be pretty awesome to do the entire thing in a week but I suspect reality will be somewhat different.

I may pm some of you closer to the time for the low down on the best cafes

Thanks again.

In reply to adventure_vulture:
Yes get in touch nearer the time and if we're free can give you a send out team, and point you in the direction of the best pain au chocolat stops. I spent most of last summer checking them all out! Ali

In reply to adventure_vulture:
Second the route des grandes alpes but would also recommend the Dolomites too for something a little different. Arguably prettier with better views and dare I say it (I dare, I dare) better food. Not so much cheese though.
Based around Cortina and the Eastern Dollies you could do the road up to the Tre Cime, the following passes Giau, Pordoi, Gavia, Stelvio, Mortirolo etc.
Ride up to the top of the Monte Grappa by one of several routes is great value too. There's a ton of less well known passes too and plenty of cheap accommodation.