Paris-Roubaix (and the BIG around)

At the end of year 2016, three of my friends, Pascal, Marc and Patrick, decided to register for the Paris-Roubaix race, which was to be held Saturday 8th of April, the day before the famous pro event. I was very attracted by this mythical race, but, in a general manner, I have difficulties to make plans like that months ahead. Furthermore the distance to the start line appeared to me quite important for a one-day event, so I didn’t follow them, but with some regrets.

Months went by, and a few days before the date, I suddenly realized that the Lille-Nice football match was scheduled the same week-end. I wouldn’t have crossed the whole France for just Paris–Roubaix, or for just the football match, but a combination of the two was sure not to miss. What’s more, it was the beginning of school holidays, so I was freer at home, and another colleague, Fabrice,who was going to Paris on the Thursday proposed to take me in his car. So all the stars were aligned and I couldn’t do anything else than go.

The journey started with an early ride, as my driver lived 30 km away from my home and gave me a meeting hour of 6am for the start. After that, I had time to relax in the car, and we arrived in Paris in the afternoon. I then went by bike to the Gare du Nord and took a TGV (high speed train) that had a space for bikes (with a 10 € extra fee). So the Thursday night I joined the three others in the flat they had hired in Roubaix.

I had of course targeted the surrounding BIG, in Hainaut and Flanders. The day after my arrival, I then went for a ride, alone because the others had already climbed all these BIG, having raced De Ronde van Vlaanderenthe year before. I started with Mont Saint-Aubert, then Mont de l’Enclus that I climbed down on a forest track, and the famous “berg” of the Ronde: Vieux Quaremont, Paterberg, Koppenberg and some other ones I had added when designing my route at home. At

first I had excluded the Mur de Grammont, as it was a bit away from the others and I knew I would be back in Grammont in July for the Transcontinental Race. But the brutal death of Mike Hall, organizer of the TCR, just a week before had made the holding of the event much questionable (in fact it took place, but it was all but certain at the time). So I finished my BIG collection with Mur de Grammont, then turned back to Roubaix, with Kruisberg on the way, to get my package for the race (queue on the picture aside).

In the evening, as promised, I went to the Stadium, where I was happy to see my favorite team win with two goals of the famous Italian player Mario Balotelli. The match finished at 23 pm, and I had to be at 5am in the morning at the meeting point for the coaches that would take us to the start line in Busigny, 100 km from Roubaix. As I didn’t want to disturb my friends with such a late come back and early leave, I went into a hotel in Roubaix, where I was not the only cyclist of course.

The departure of the coaches was very delayed, as we were still waiting in the buses at 7am. Finally, we left for Busigny that we reached after more than one hour of driving. So I was at the start line at about 9pm (there was no group start, except at 7 pm for those who were there at this time). This late start didn’t bother me too much as this two hour delay allowed me to benefit from less cold and wet conditions at the beginning of the ride.

I finally discovered the famous cobblestones of Paris-Roubaix, and I have not been disappointed! Compared to the cobbles I had ridden the day before, the contrast was brutal. The cobbled stretches are little paths between the fields, used by tractors, with very big and bad joining pavés. When you discover that, you think that the idea to ride a bike here is weird, so a pro race!

As more as I could, I rode on the tiny dirty part of the road, between the cobbled part and the field aside (sometimes visiting the field aside). At each cobbled stretch’s beginning, there was a sign telling which color it was, from blue the least, to black the most difficult. A special mention to Trouée d’Arenberg, as here the cobbles are bigger and shake more than anywhere else. And all along the 2 km cobbled track, there’s a nice, smooth and very inviting cycle lane, but what would be the use to come here if it was to cycle this lane?

At the end of the first cobbled sector, I wanted to drink and I realized that my bidon was gone away, but it was not a problem as every 10 meters bidons were lying on the ground. So I picked one which luckily stood better on my bike and that I kept to the finish. I was less lucky with my multi-tool, because I realized when I arrived that I’d lost mine, so I had to buy a new one, after having neglected all the ones I saw on the road.

The arrival at the Vélodrome de Roubaix was the last great moment, to ride on this track I have seen so many times when watching race arrival on television. Having never ridden on a track like this, I was surprised by the inclination in the curve. At a momentI rode too slowly and I was too high on the track to feel secure, so I came back soon at the bottom of the track, strange impression.

All in all, Paris-Roubaix appeared to me even harder and more mythical than before I saw it from the inside. As a cyclist races watcher, I have been in awe of what the riders were doing, but now I am even more admiring. And it was a sunny day! I still wonder how it can be ridden under the rain, with all the mud on the tracks.

The day after, the four of us moved to Bailleul by car to ride the Gand-Wevelgem BIG of this area.My friends had hired a small van, with three seats at the front and an empty space at the back. So I travelled to Bailleul in the dark, among the bikes, holding them in the curves. It was not a long way anyway and we were soon on our bikes.

First it was a flat part to Mont Cassel, and then we began the climbs. The ride we had planned was not very long, but the tendency of my friends to climb every side of the BIG lengthened it a little. Furthermore, we added the climb to Mont des Cats before going to the next BIG, Mont-Noir. After Mont-Noir, we wondered with my friend Pascal why we had both a trace that made a detour before going to Rodeberg (I was happy because Noir was black, and Rode was red, and red and black are the colors of the OlympiqueGymnaste Club de Nice that I saw winning in Lille two days before). We then realized that the summits of these two BIG are very close to each other and we wouldn’t have climbed anything if we had gone directly from Mont Noir to Rodeberg. So we went down and climbed Rodeberg from the official BIG NW side.

We then just had the Kemmelberg to finish. I was happy to reach the war memorial at the top, as it was the last of this fructuous 10-BIG weekend (even if here again, we climbed it once more from the north-east side). After Kemmelberg, we just had to get back to the car, but as we were some 30 km from the house, I said I’d rather go back by bike than at the back of the van. I was joined by Patrick for this ride back home. At a moment, we were fooled by the GPS that led us to a dead-end, so we asked a local cyclist, whose advices lengthened our route of no more than 10 km, but we were finally back in Tourcoing.

Then, I left my friends, as they had a plane back home later in the evening, and they wanted to go to see the pro race meanwhile. In Lille station, I was told that, due to the beginning of school holidays, I couldn’t expect to take my bike in the TGV. So, I had to take six different trains to get back to Nice, passing by Arras, Paris, with a stop for the night at my sister’s home, Dijon, Lyon and Marseille before finally reaching Nice in the evening of the Monday.

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Italian lakes

For my usual Toussaint (All Hollows) trip, I chose like last year to go to Italy. This time I targeted the 12 BIG between Chiavenna and Ornavasso (11 in Italy and 1 in Switzerland). I would have added with pleasure Passo San Marco and Val Malenco to my program but as I wanted to be back in Nice for the Nice-Nantes football match, I had no time for them.

As I did several times before, I woke up at 2 am (it’s early) to catch the 5 am train from Ventimiglia to Milano. I chose to start with the Menarola climb so headed to Chiavenna. In fact I wanted to stop at the station before, but as it was quite a long name (Prata Camportaccio) I couldn’t remember it and took instead a ticket to the simpler Chiavenna. From Milano one has to take the train towards Tirano then change in Colico.

I discovered in Colico that, due to works on the line, the train didn’t go further than Novate-Mezzola. So I began my bike ride a little sooner than expected. After a few kilometres on the busy valley road, I saw on my left a nice cycling path, along the Mera River. In Ponte Nave there was a bridge crossing the river so I quit the cycling path as I knew Menarola was on the right bank. But another bridge 3 kilometres further took me back to the same cycling path. I finally found the good bridge to reach Gordona and the start of Menarola climb.

As I climbed this tiny road in the forest, I was confronted in some parts to carpets of fallen leaves, a feature that would follow me the entire trip. Thanks to my 25 mm Pro3 tires (no advertising, but I found they performed extremely well), I was not too bothered by that (with one exception, we’ll see later).

During the climb, I could enjoy some nice views over Valchiavenna, the valley that leads to lago di Como, and Val Bregaglia, the one going east towards Maloja pass and Sankt Moritz. After having passed the houses of Voga, I finally arrived at some lonely houses in a curve, where the asphalt stops. I continued for 400 m and arrived at a pylon where I stopped, as the track in front of me seemed to get “wilder”. Further investigation back at home showed me that I was just 150 m away from the end of the road, so it would have been maybe a better place for a finish.

Down in the valley, I stayed on the bike path all the way this time, down to lago di Mezzola where it finished. In Colico I stopped for a snack. When I got out of the bar, the rain started, and was to continue all the rest of the day. I followed the road along the north-east shore of lago di Como, and turned left in Dervio to climb Monte Legnoncino. In Tremenico, the place where the dead-end road to Monte Legnoncino leaves the Valvarrone road, a hotel was indicated. As it was still raining and night was arriving, I asked for a room but I was told at the bar that the hotel was closed. So I had no choice but to keep on climbing.

It was some kind of horrible climb, in the night, under the rain. The wet pine needles kept on gathering in my brakes, so regularly I had to stop to take them off. I finally arrived at some car park, with big stones on the ground. My GPS showed me the road was continuing, but it turned to be a forest track. Unaware of where the BIG was set, I wanted to follow the track to its end, but renounced quickly. Riding in the dark, under the rain, and on a non-asphalted track was too much for me, so I turned back and started to go down, whether I had completed the BIG or not (I was happy to find later that I had reached the official top, at the end of the asphalt).

I have planned initially, after Monte Legnoncino, to continue in the valley, turning back in Valsàssina through sella de Piazzo, to reach the foot of next BIG, Croce di Muggio. But it was night, it was raining, and I doubted much finding a hotel in the upper part of the valleys, so I turned down to the lake. In Dervio and Bellano I saw no hotel so continued to Varenna where there was a lot.

The morning after the weather was fine as I was back in Bellano to climb croce di Muggio (in fact it is the official side of the BIG challenge). The road finishes in a little ski resort, Alpe Giumello. There’s a village with some houses but nothing after. I then went back to Varenna to take the boat to Bellagio. This is a very convenient crossing for BIGgers who want to climb Madonna del Ghisallo.

In Civenna I was fooled some instants, as the place looks very similar to Madonna del Ghisallo (for someone who’s never been there), overlooking the Lecco branch of Lago di Como. But as the chapel was devoted to hunters and not cyclists, I realized it was not the good place. Finally I reached the top, with everything I expected: the cyclists’ monument and the chapel (unfortunately, there was someone working inside and he had closed the door to public). At the top I talked briefly with a cyclist that told me it was its 99th climb of the year, and he expected the 100th for the next Sunday. A quadruple godfather of Madonna del Ghisallo, I should have enrolled him for the BIG challenge!

After a short descent, I started the ascent to Colma de Sormano. I had the intention to climb the Muro de Sormano, even if I feared it, as it is renowned to be so steep. But as I said, we were in autumn, and there were more fallen leaves here than anywhere else. On a slope up to 10°, it was not a problem, but with the muro di Sormano gradients, and the amount of wet leaves on the ground, it was impossible. I walked up to the next switchback but discovered a road completely hidden under the leaves. So I turned back to the main road, which is rather steep itself, and reached the pass without problems.

At the end of the descent, I was back at the lake, on the shore between Bellagio and Como. This road is nice, overlooking the lake with little ups and downs, and much less traffic than I had feared. From Como to Cernobbio it was much busier until I reach the Monte Bisbino road. Beautiful views of the lake and the city of Como are offered at the beginning of the climb, and unlike all of the other BIG of the region, Monte Bisbino is reasonably steep, so it was a nice climb. I headed then to Switzerland and Mendrisio, where I stopped for the night, at the foot of Monte Generoso.

Monte Generoso climb begins in a very steep street of Mendrisio, calms down when crossing some houses, then climbs steadily to the finish. There is a train going up the mountain but not functioning as I was there as a new hotel at the top was being built. The road ends at a stop called Stazione Bellavista, but I was not able to confirm that, as a thick fog surrounded me, and I unfortunately saw nothing of the supposed nice views over Lago di Lugano.

Down in Mendrisio, I turned towards Varese and entered Italy again. I passed along the north of Varese, and some very small roads around Olona, to go to my next BIG, Campo dei Fiori. A huge building, which is in fact an abandoned hotel, can be seen on the top when climbing. But the BIG is set at the observatory nearby, on top of a very very steep ramp. When going down, I thought about go and see the hotel, but was not sure of the way as two roads leave the observatory road in two different hairpins, so I continued my descent directly.

After Campo dei Fiori, I took the direction of San Martino, which is also a dead-end road that leads to a solitary chapel. During the climb, and also at the top, I could enjoy nice views to the Valcuvia below. There were children plays, and also a restaurant up there, but on a week day at the end of October, everything was desert.

Down in Valcuvia, I had not a long ride to be at the foot of passo Cuvignone. In fact from this side, you climb north to passo Sant Antonio, where, instead of going down to lago Maggiore, you turn left to go to passo Cuvignone, which takes you back to Valcuvia again. It’s a steady climb all the way, and the descent towards Cittiglio appeared to me quite steep also.

I took once again a boat in Laveno to cross lago Maggiore, as the last two BIG, Alpe Rossombolmo and Mottarone, were on the Piemontese side. I stopped when I saw a hotel in Mergozzo, along a nice lake, just before Ornavasso, the foot of Alpe Rossombolmo. It was not very late when I arrived, so I was thinking of climbing Alpe Rossombolmo in the evening, after having set up in the hotel. But I feared this climb, and riding at night is nice in a way, but of course hides the scenery, which is the main motivation for this kind of trips. So when the man at the hotel locked my bike in his garage, I let him do without protesting.

The morning after, I headed towards Ornavasso under a generous sun. At the Santuario Della Madonna Del Boden I felt something strange about the road, and realized I should have turned right just before. After a few kilometers on a steep road, the asphalt began to deteriorate, and the road became so steep at a moment that I couldn’t no more stay on my bike. After a flat stretch in the forest, and another impossible to ride steep ramp, I arrived at a wooden arch that showed the beginning of the path to Alpe Cortevecchio. From this point, the road was all rideable, even if there were still very steep ramps, and I arrived finally at the top of the climb.


The road finishes abruptly a few hundred meters before what appears as the last house in this part of the mountain. From here you can see a little below the few houses of Alpe Cortevecchio, and in the distance Isola Madre in the middle of Lago Maggiore. I have read, but after my ride, that walking to the crest just over the road would have allowed me to discover wonderful views of the Ornavasso valley below.

After a cautious descent, I was on the highway towards Gravellona Toce and Omegna. At the south exit of Omegna, I took the Mottarone road. As this road climbs along the lago d’Orta, I expected nice views over the lake but it was hidden most of the time by a wall of trees. After Agrano and a little descent, I climbed to Armeno where I took a one-way street (it’s bad) to save me 20 m of elevation loss before reaching the last part of the Mottarone road.

This was the last BIG of this four-day trip, but it turned to be by far the most beautiful, and one of the most (if not the most) extraordinary climbs I’ve ever done. On the first hairpin over Armeno, I began to see a snowy peak (Monte Rosa) rising over the lower, forest-covered, mounts around me. As I climbed, more mountains were showing in every direction. On a stretch looking south, I was even happy to see the familiar figure of Monviso, at a distance of 170 km!

The road from Armeno joins the road from Stresa for the last stretch to a little ski resort. There the road performs a loop around the peak and a cemented, deteriorated and very steep ramp allows to reach the top of the mountain, where stands a big antenna.

From here I enjoyed one of the most beautiful panoramas that can be found, with mountains everywhere: Monte Rosa, Breithorn, high peaks from Saastal, Bernina, and so on. Below could be seen all the lakes: Maggiore, Orta, Varese, Lugano … It was a splendor.

After a long stop and a lot of pictures taken, I started the descent towards Stresa. I passed a tollbooth that seemed strange here as the other road was free and arrived above Stresa, enjoying some last nice views over the town and the Borromee islands.

The trip was now finished and it was time to take the train back home. The Stresa line leads to Milano, where I was unlucky to miss a train to Genova for a few minutes. So I had to wait two hours for the next one that went to Albenga. I finally stopped in Genova, as I renounced to do the ride from Albenga to Nice from midnight to 3 am. When I found myself alone in my hotel room in Genova I thought I should have done it anyway, but never mind, the Sunday afternoon I was back in Nice to see my favorite team defeat 4 to 1 the FC Nantes, and with 12 more BIG in my musette.

Pictures : http://cathie.charbonnier.free.fr/piwigo/index.php?/category/7

Torino Nice Rally 2016

I fell one day on the internet on an event called Torino Nice Rally (TNR), proposed by an English guy named James Olsen. The purpose was to go from Torino to Nice, over a mix of roads and non-asphalted tracks. It was not a race, nor even a Randonnée, but just an occasion to have a good time on the bike in beautiful scenery. The route was loosely designed by James, with many places where riders could choose between difficult or easier roads. There were some BIG on the way, some nice non-BIG climbs and some wonderful mountain tracks.

As I live in Nice, and that Torino is easy to reach, I was immediately attracted by this project. The fact that it was a MTB bikepacking ride and that I had no MTB except an old rigid bike with non-functioning derailleur, and that I had no camping gear, was of little impact, as six months were to pass before the start in Torino. Furthermore, having ridden every road in the Alps around Nice, I was willing to enlarge my territory by adding dirt tracks to my possible routes.

So on Monday, September 5^th, I was ready to take the train to Torino, with my MTB, always old but now fully operative, loaded with sleeping bag, bivy bag and everything needed to sleep in the wild (the fact that I hardly used all this expensive stuff is another problem). I have been joined by another rider, Craig, coming from England, that I picked at the airport the day before, and we met two others at the Ventimiglia station. As we arrived at our destination in the beginning of the afternoon, I left the others to find me a hotel, and once installed I went on a ride around Torino, visiting the parks along the Po, and climbing colle della Maddalena where I enjoyed nice views over the town. At the pre-ride diner, in a Torino restaurant, we were about 50 persons or more, hardly knowing each other, with a mix of nationalities brought together by the magic of Internet. And we spent a very nice evening, talking of course only of bike.

The Tuesday morning, we were back at the same place for the official start. To go out of Torino we followed an Italian guy that led us through some beautiful parts of the town, and the palace of Veneria Reale. The program was to go to the airport on the way, to pick some other participants. But it happened that at a roundabout, while I was at the very last position of the peloton, the two riders just before me turned left instead of following the group. I decided in one second to follow them, feeling that they aimed at a shortcut to reach the mountains quicker, what they confirmed as I asked them. 

We rode a bit on the highway, then on a cycling path nearby. On the first climbs, I saw that my young new friends were faster than me, so I told them not to wait. Later, I saw them at a fountain making water. I kept on riding, thinking I would see them again soon in the climb, but never did, I don’t know why.

And so I was the first one of the rally to reach the foot of the colle del Colombardo (don’t worry, I was not the first one at the top). This pass connects val di Viu in the northwest of Torino to val di Susa, a little bit south, with an unpaved road. There’s a solitary church at the pass, and nice views to the Mont Viso. The track continues to climb after the pass, reaches another pass and then a cairn where the descent to Val di Susa begins.

After some 20 km in Val di Susa, I began the ascent to colle delle Finestre. The first part of the climb after the last village has a lot of hairpins in the forest, and then the unpaved part begins, up to the pass, where the asphalt turns back. It was now nearly the evening and I advised an open refuge, Alpe Pintas, where I decided to stop for dinner. I was soon joined by Craig, that I had at home the day before, funny hazard, then three Italian guys arrived, then two more riders, so we were 7 at time to go to bed. When I arrived, the people at the refuge had proposed me to put my tent in some part of their ground, but they finally allowed us very kindly to sleep inside a large room they had in their house.

The morning after, we left at dawn to climb Strada dell’Assietta. It’s an unpaved road, winding its way on the ridge between Val Chisone and Val di Susa, crossing many passes: Colle dell’Assietta, Col Bleiger, Col Lauson, Col Bourget and Col Basset to finish. From the Pian dell’Alpe, in the descent of colle delle Finestre, there’s a long climb to Colle dell’Assietta, then ups and downs to Colle Basset, where begins the descent to Sestriere.

The normal route of the TNR from Sestrière was through col de Montgenèvre directly to Briançon. But as I’ve already climbed this pass, I went instead to the col de l’Echelle that I had not ridden yet. So, in Cesena, instead of taking Briançon road, I went down to Oulx, then turned towards Bardonecchia where I headed in the “Colle della Scala” direction. It was a nice climb, with large hairpins, and views over Bardonecchia to the Rochemolles valley, where I’ve been some years ago to climb the Sommeiller.

I then went down to Briançon towards Izoard. The program of the TNR proposed, leaving the Izoard road in Cervières, a detour by Col de Peas, which lies a little east of the Izoard. But I left that to the real MTBers, being myself only a road rider that turned MTB for the occasion. After the Izoard and a good stop at the nice bakery of Arvieux, I continued on well-known roads to the Agnel pass.

From this point, if I can annoy my readers with personal considerations, something went wrong in my head. I had evaluated at home my journey at about 600 km and 17000 m of elevation gain. According to my usual standards with my road bike, it was a trip that could be easily done in 4 days, so I aimed a finish on Friday. And despite I was perfectly aware that riding on stony tracks with a fully-loaded old MTB was of course slower than on tarmac with an efficient carbon road bike, and that I had no particular reason to come back home earlier than the Sunday, I was not able, for some weird twist inside my mind, to set a new, more realistic and more relaxed, planning. And so I kept pedalling late in the evening, stopping too late to have dinner, leaving too early and not sleeping enough, until the final exhaustion that made me renounce to the last part of the route.

This being said, let’s continue with the trip. It was getting late as I was climbing Agnel pass. I could (should) have stopped at the refuge at the top, but I had fixed Sampeyre as my stop for this evening. So I kept on climbing and was at the pass at about 21 pm, as the last days of light were fading away. I then went on a long descent, reached Sampeyre like I wanted to, and stopped at a hotel there at about 22 pm.

Nevertheless, the morning after, I was in the colle Sampeyre climb before dawn. Of course, when I reached the pass, the sun was up. At colle Sampeyre, like in Cervières, two routes were proposed: the road going down through Elva directly to Ponte Marmora, or an unasphalted track, named Strada dei Canonni, that followed the ridge between Val Varaita and Val Maira, mainly on the Val Maira side. This road has been presented by James as a rough one, so at first I decided to avoid it, especially as, despite having climbed colle Sampeyre a few times now, I never passed by vallone d’Elva, which looks quite spectacular. But when I saw some views of the Strada dei Cannoni on the internet, it looked so nice that I had to take it. And in fact the scenery was wonderful, winding along nude slopes, overlooking Val Maira of more than 1000 m. But as promised, it was a tough part to ride, the track being very stony.

After having left the high altitude, I entered in the forest, with much less to look around, and on a track that wasn’t getting easier at all. The route has been drawn by James down to Dronero, on the very beginning of the Val Maira. Going all the way back from this point to Ponte Marmora on the valley road had appeared to me as a serious drawback. So when, arrived at some point called Colle Birrone, I saw a sign on my right indicating San Damiano Macra, I went this way without hesitation. Well, I have not ridden the part between colle Birrone and Valmala, and I don’t know what I’ve missed, but when I was on the road it appeared to me as a very good compromise.

So, after a not so long than I had feared ride along the valley, I arrived in Ponte Marmora. The program here was to ride the altopiano della Gardetta, a high plateau lying between Val Maira and Valle Stura. An unpaved road crosses it at an altitude between 2100 and 2500 m. Here again, there were two solutions for reaching the plateau: via Acceglio, Chialvetta and a hard to cycle MTB path, or via the asphalted colle del Preit, both sides joining just below passo della Gardetta.

Apart that I feared the MTB side, I had something to conclude with colle del Preit. Two years ago, I cycled all the way from Nice to climb this pass, as it was the nearest over 2000 m I have not been yet. But after having ridden all day and arriving at the top by the late afternoon, my camera ran out of battery just for the last picture, of the sign pass. I promised then to turn back, as climbing a pass without taking the picture at the top is doing half part of the job. So in Marmora road I turned right towards Canosio (turning left would have taken me to the Esischie and colle dei Morti/Fauniera passes). The climb was as steep as last time, but I finally reached the pass. I took my picture and continued climbing, on a dirt track but well rideable, up to the crossing of the passo della Gardetta road (I have a little regret not to have gone to this pass, but this will be a motivation for coming back next year). I found that the road through the plateau was much longer, and rougher to cycle in some parts, than I had expected. And I was happy that a flat in the descent of the Esischie delayed me and made me renounce to ride it with my road bike the last time I’ve been there.

Apart from the cycling considerations, I have no words to describe the scenery. It’s beautiful in every direction.  From colle del Preit, the road performs a big loop all around the place, first going westwards to passo Gardetta, then following the south side eastwards, with many passes on the way. At some point, the crests over the Tinée can be seen in the distance, then the track comes across some military ruins and a funny open air sanctuary at the colle della Bandia, overlooked a good part of the way by the impressive Rocca la Meija.

But all good things must come to an end, and the exit of the plateau arrives, at colle Valcavera. There begins the descent to Demonte, 2 km below colle dei Morti. In Demonte I just had to cross Valle Stura to climb Madonna del Colletto. It’s a road quite steep all the way, but not very long. From the pass, I went down on the other side to Valdieri, in Val Gesso. To leave Val Gesso, the TNR proposed another pass, colla delle Goderie, that allows to reach Vernante through a little valley called Roaschia.

I arrived in Roaschia as night was falling and should have stopped there. But I had fixed Limone as my stop for this day, and the end of the valley seemed to show a pass that was not far away, so I continued. But what looked ahead like the top of the road was in fact just the beginning. The pass turned to be much higher than I had expected and furthermore the road turned to gravel. There I began, for the first time of the trip, not to appreciate my ride. I was climbing in the night, tired, not seeing the end of the pass (but, as I said, it was all my fault).

I finally reached the pass, which was followed by little ups and downs before the beginning of the real descent towards Vernante. I arrived there of course very late, and stopped at the first hotel I saw (that was about to close). Here again it was too late for meal, and here again I was back on the road in the very first hours of the morning, long before sunrise. I began the gentle climb leading to Limone, annoyed by the traffic that was important despite the early hour.

But, after a few kilometres on this road, exhaustion fell suddenly on me. I had nothing to eat but one or two bars, that didn’t change much my physical state. I continued to climb, at a very slow pace. I passed along Limone as it was still very dark so thought it was not worth the detour to look for something open. In the Limone 1400 village I saw nothing open, so I continued climbing. A little before colle di Tenda there was a bar announcing an opening at 8:30. I could have waited for its eventual opening but thought finally it was useless.

I felt in fact so exhausted that I was quite certain that even after a (hypothetical) good meal, I wouldn’t be in a good condition to ride all the way the Via del Sale, which I knew was hard, having ridden the beginning a few years ago. So in the col de Tende I called it quits. The fact that the Roya valley is reachable from Nice also led me to think that I could do this ride anytime and that it was stupid to do it now when I was too tired to appreciate it.

So I went down towards Tende through the many hairpins of the descent. When arrived in Tende, I had finally the good breakfast I was striving for since hours. Having looked at the train timetable I saw I had time to go down and catch it in Breil, but when arriving in Saint-Dalmas, I finally chose to stop and wait quietly there. Finishing the ride with the train may sound strange, but for me that live in Nice, it’s a thing I do frequently when I go riding in the Roya. And I was not in the mood for riding a 10^th time in the year col de Brouis and col de Braus roads.

In the train back to Nice, I had time to think about my journey. I couldn’t understand, and don’t understand even now, why I decided to finish at all cost my trip on the Friday. At the day of today, I have not yet ridden the via del Sale like I promised myself on top of col de Tende. So now I hesitate between riding it next spring or keeping it for the 2^nd edition of the Torino Nice Rally. 

Despite this little frustrating end, I have only good souvenirs from this TNR, from my little ride in Torino the day before the start to, let’s say, the beginning of my climb to colla delle Goderie. I will certainly do my best to join the 2^nd edition, and I’ve already started to think about my future route, linking the parts I’d like to do again and the ones I’d like to discover.

More pictures : http://cathie.charbonnier.free.fr/piwigo/index.php?/category/8

Pyrénées Orientales, Catalunya, Andorre, Val d’Aran

The day after my Canigou ride, I was back in the train to Perpignan. Ignorant of the roads around this town (except the one I took two days before), I intended to take straight ahead the road to Céret and Spain, but it turned out to be a highway, with two lanes on each side of the road, and cars going well over 100 km/h. I went back, but found myself inside a web of highways, trying to find, with my road map and my GPS, another route that would take me on the Céret Road, avoiding the first part so hostile to bikes. I tried some cyclist path, but that led me nowhere. I looked at my GPS, and it showed me a small road nearby, that I finally reached crossing a vineyard. This kind of adventures makes you complain at first about not preparing well enough your trip but turns some days after into funny souvenirs.

I finally took the Canohès and col de Llauro road. At the pass, I thought that staying on the crest of the hills would allow me to get back to my route in Amélie-les-Bains, a little higher than Céret, so I turned right towards Oms. In fact my map fooled me as it showed a road that turned out to be a footpath. Instead I found myself in La Vila where I had a good climb before arriving in Amélie-les-Bains, that I reached finally with much more climb than expected. Apparently, there is a cyclist path between Céret and Amélie-les-Bains so I certainly would have done better to go down directly to Céret.

A nice cyclist path, the continuation from Céret, well indicated, led me from Amélie to Arles-sur-Tech, keeping me away from the main road. In Arles it was time to stop for the night. In my optimistic schedule, I should have passed the col des Ares this day, but all my wanderings in Perpignan, and the extra climbing on the small roads delayed me of course a lot. But no matter, I was happy to be on the road, my mind filled with the climbs that expected me the days to come.

No more cycling path after Arles, so in the morning, I was on the road to Prats de Mollo and col d'Ares. It was foggy and cold at the pass. In fact I found a quite cold weather at the beginning of my trip. It was not always easy, especially when going down early in the morning, but I kept in mind that too hot would be worst. And in fact, the temperature increased the last day and confirmed me that climbing in the heat causes more problems than enduring cold in descents.

After col d'Ares, I went down to Camprodon, where the climb to my first big, Valterr 2000, was to begin. It’s a long climb, 22 km, where the nicest part are large hairpins in the forest, a little before the ski resort. Back in Camprodon, I had to go to Berga for the Rasos de Peguera climb. First it was on a highway to Ripoll, but as it was mainly downhill, it was quickly done and not too annoying. In Ripoll, I had to take briefly the Barcelona road, but turned right just before entering a big tunnel.

A very enjoyable road led me to Berga, through Les Lloses and Pantà de la Baells. After the Rasos de Peguera climb, I took the direction of Bagà, trying to avoid the Puigcerda main road as much as possible. I finally stopped for the night at Guardiola de Berguedà. As always, I had to explain at the hotel that I wanted to leave at 6. It was not easy this time but finally I was early in the morning on the road to coll del Pall. At the top of this climb the road turns into a dirt track. I chose nevertheless to go down this way, as it was only a few kilometres long and avoided me a very large detour. It was very rough, and I had to walk frequently, but it was worth doing it. But cyclists must be aware that it is a tough track.

To reach Coma Morera, I went down to Puigcerda and Bourg-Madame. I could have gone directly through Queixans and Osséja, but had to take some food before the climb. At some point in the climb to Coma Morera, the road separates in two. Both ways go to the top, but the left side is much shorter. Of course I turned right, which allowed me to visit all the parts of this climb, as I went down the direct way. The road is narrow, steep and not in very good state but the views at the top, in all directions, reward us from the climb.

I spent the last part of the day climbing Puymorens and Envalira passes. In the port d’Envalira climb, there’s a surprising town (Pas de la Casa), 2000m high in the middle of nowhere, built for the tax-free shoppers coming from France. I came into a shop called Supermercat, in the hope of finding some things to eat, but it sold nearly only alcohols and cigarettes, so I found only a bag of nuts as a food.

I stopped in Encamp for the night. The hotel on the road to Els Cortals was full, so I had to go down in town, where I found a cheap hotel on town’s main street. I ate in a restaurant nearby where I had a full course for 11 €. I feared at first that Andorra would be expensive, but it wasn’t at all.

The breakfast at the hotel was at 8 am, but I left earlier to climb Els Cortals and so was back at the hotel with a good appetite. After breakfast I left towards col d’Ordino and Arcalis. In the town of Ordino, I saw a lot of runners as the Andorra Ultra Trail was taking place there this very week-end.

After Arcalis, I went down to La Manassa to start the Port de Cabus climb. I found this pass the most beautiful of all the climbs I did in Andorra. The last part after coll de la Botella is gorgeous. In fact it was so beautiful that it could have ruined my trip. I started the descent with my eyes on the scenery and not on the road. It happened that there was a little crack in the asphalt, and my front wheel chose this very place. I finished on the road, hearing the hiss of my back wheel losing its air. Well, a scratched

elbow and a flat are no big deal, so I fixed my tire and started to go down normally. But as soon as I started to brake, I realised that my front rim had been worn when entering the crack and prevented me nearly to use my front brake. So I started to go down like I could, hoping to have my bike repaired in la Manassa, or to the worst, being able to buy a new wheel in some shop. Suddenly I felt something missing in my back pockets, and realised that my purse was not here anymore. I turned back immediately and had to go up 2 kilometres before finding it in the middle of the road, with everything inside, but with my identity card and my credit card folded in three parts.

So the situation was the following: I was in Andorra, with a bike nearly unusable, no credit card and only the little cash that remained in my purse. Furthermore it was Friday and I feared not to find an open bank before Monday, if ever the case of a damaged credit card was handled. Well, at this point the only thing to do was to go down to la Manassa. On the way I had another flat on my front wheel that frightened me, as I didn’t know if my damaged rim would not cause other flats regularly. But it didn’t, and I finally arrived in la Manassa a little before 7pm, where I found a bike shop (that dealt mainly with MTB, as la Manassa appears to be the place in Andorra devoted to MTB) where my wheel was repaired, to my great relief.

I then resumed my ride but had still in mind the problem of my credit card. I stopped to have a more attentive look and found that even if it was folded in two places, the plastic was not broken and that maybe I could flatten it with precaution. When this was done, I advised an ATM nearby to test it. When I saw the notes going out of the machine, I was of course very happy.

As I was at the top of port de Cabus about 5pm, I had hoped being able to climb my last Andorran climb, Bosc de la Rabassa, before the end of the day, and be able to sleep in la Seu d’Urgell. Of course, with my wheel incident I had to stop in Sant Julia de Llorat instead, where I took a room at hotel Floch, nearly at the foot of the Rabassa climb. Like in Coma Morera, two roads can be chosen to reach the top, that join in a pass called la Peguera just a few kilometres before the end of the climb. This time I chose the most direct way, turning right where the roads separate, but through curiosity I took the other one for descent, which has a little bit more ups and downs. The top of the Bosc de la Rabassa is the entrance to an attraction park, called Naturlandia. Again, I was able to do the climb before breakfast, so I was out of Andorra by 9pm, with the last three Spanish BIG of my trip ahead: col Canto, Estany de Sant Maurici and Port de la Bonaigua.

Coll Canto is steep at the beginning, the road is a bit busy, but it offers nice views to the Segre valley on the left. Closer to the pass, the road gets easier, and the pass takes place in a nice reddish rocks environment.

As I said before, it was exceptionally cold the first few days of my trip, but normal July heat came back on my last day. So I began to be overheated on the valley road that climbs slowly along the Noguera Pallaresa river to the beginning of the Espot and Sant Maurici lake climb. When getting out of

Espot, one has to turn right to reach the Estany de Sant Maurici (and not go to the Espot ski centre like I did, stupidly). The road to the lake is a very tiny one, where very steep ramps alternate with flat sections. There’s a car park a few kilometres after Espot, and from there the only authorised vehicles are 4x4 taxis that carry people to and from the lake. As one may expect, the scenery at the lake is very nice, and is even more appreciated I think when you have struggled one hour and a half to reach it.

By now, only port de la Bonaigua was to climb, but as I said, the heat, and maybe the tiredness from the previous days, caused me to

find this last climb much difficult. The fact it was on a busy road, with many cars, and even more of those motorbike cretins, passing by worsened things. But I have passed by enough of these moments to know that the only thing to do in such cases is to keep pedalling, and that even if going very slowly, the top of the climb always finishes to arrive. This climb to la Bonaigua could have been nice, except for the motorized traffic, but the valley is totally spoiled by a web of high tension wires.

After the pass, I just had to let me down to Vielha, where I arrived at about 9pm and went into my last hotel. The day after, I climbed the col des Ares. Having started with col d’Ares, I found that funny. I then went down to Saint-Gaudens (with a last little pass on the way) where I jumped into the train to Toulouse, and finished this fructuous 14-BIG trip.

Pictures: http://cathie.charbonnier.free.fr/piwigo/index.php?/category/12

Mont Canigou

After two unsuccessful attempts with my road bike, the first time I didn’t find the good track, the second time I renounced a little after the col del Forn, where the unpaved track begins to get rougher, I finally managed to take my MTB to perform this climb. What I finally saw of the chalet des Cortalets road showed me how ridiculous I had been trying to make it with a road bike.

So on Sunday I took in Nice the train to Perpignan with my MTB. My plan was to stay the night in Prades, climb the Canigou on Monday and join my wife Monday night in Roquefort des Corbières, a village in the Aude department. Meanwhile she would have done the trip from Nice with the car and could bring me my road bike for a further BIG trip in the Pyrenees.

After having left the Perpignan station, I followed at first the old Prades road, parallel to the new main road, through the villages of Le Soler, Saint-Féliu-d'Avall and Corbère. In Bouleternère, I finally turned towards the mountains. I had time before being in Prades and was happy to visit some passes before. So I photographed my bike in front of the col Fourtou, col Xatard and col Palomère signs and went down to the Prades road, that I joined through Finestret. This was a little diversion from the direct road, but it was all downhill and it allowed me to be back on the highway a little closer from Prades.

In the morning, after having annoyed the man at the hotel for being able to leave at 6 am, I headed to Villerach, where starts the Canigou track. The road to this village is found at the south exit of Prades, and there is also an access through Los Masos, a little downer on the Perpignan road. Up to Villerach, the road is asphalted, but immediately after, it turns to an unpaved track. For a few kilometres, before arriving to the coll del Forn car park, the track is nice, with no stones, but from this point to the end, it’s a mix of good track, bad track, with even some asphalted parts, with a tendency to get worst as we advance. But, after a long climb, I arrived happily at the chalet des Cortalets, and was very glad to have finally reached this BIG, that the use of the MTB prevented me to climb before.

To go back to Roquefort, I went through Fenouillèdes and Corbières. These countries in the north of the Pyrénées-Orientales and south of the Aude offer nice roads, hilly and quiet, and are a pleasure to cycle. Furthermore, I was able to pass by the gorges de Galamus, which are a curiosity to see. And in the evening as expected I found again my wife and my beloved Time.

Pictures : http://cathie.charbonnier.free.fr/piwigo/index.php?/category/9