Donger
Convoi Exceptionnel
- Location
- Quedgeley, Glos.
I'm in the process of booking a week's holiday just South of Annecy next September, and I'm looking around for suitable Alps for me to climb by bike. I just know someone on this site will be able to come up with a good idea or two.
I stayed at Annecy last year and climbed the Combe d'Ire and the Col de l'Epine. The latter involved a climb of just over 500 metres over about 7km, and I managed to do it in one go. I have since managed to climb Britain's biggest climb, Bealach na Ba, albeit with a couple of stops on the way, and this involved a climb of 2,053 feet (626 metres) over about over about 6.5 miles . That's all I can say about my current ability level.
At this point I should mention that I am not your typical climbing cyclist, being 6 foot 6 inches and around 20 stones, so I'm trying to be realistic about what I can do next, while wanting to push on from what I have done so far. I'll also be trying to grab periods of 2-3 hours at a time to do my cycling in, as my missus is not a cyclist and deserves to get taken to nice places by car every day too, so I won't have whole days or even half days available to me for my cycling. It might be that I'll need to leave Mrs D somewhere nice with facilities while I am doing the climbs, so Le Grand Bornand looked good to me for doing the Colombiere.
I'm looking for any beautiful and interesting climbs in the Annecy area that have average gradients of between 5% and 7% and are no longer than, say, 12km in length and hopefully between 600 and 900 metres of height gain . So far, I have identified the Col de la Colombiere and the Col des Aravis as being perfect for me, but I don't know what they look like. Can anyone think of any similar cols in the area that I might consider? They must have featured in at least one Tour de France, and been categorised at least Cat 1 or Cat 2.
Has anyone ridden the Col de la Colombiere or the Col des Aravis, and if so, what did you think of them? I want it to be spectacular and memorable. I really liked the Cormet de Roselend when I drove it, but that might be just a little too far away to be feasible.
Any advice please?
I stayed at Annecy last year and climbed the Combe d'Ire and the Col de l'Epine. The latter involved a climb of just over 500 metres over about 7km, and I managed to do it in one go. I have since managed to climb Britain's biggest climb, Bealach na Ba, albeit with a couple of stops on the way, and this involved a climb of 2,053 feet (626 metres) over about over about 6.5 miles . That's all I can say about my current ability level.
At this point I should mention that I am not your typical climbing cyclist, being 6 foot 6 inches and around 20 stones, so I'm trying to be realistic about what I can do next, while wanting to push on from what I have done so far. I'll also be trying to grab periods of 2-3 hours at a time to do my cycling in, as my missus is not a cyclist and deserves to get taken to nice places by car every day too, so I won't have whole days or even half days available to me for my cycling. It might be that I'll need to leave Mrs D somewhere nice with facilities while I am doing the climbs, so Le Grand Bornand looked good to me for doing the Colombiere.
I'm looking for any beautiful and interesting climbs in the Annecy area that have average gradients of between 5% and 7% and are no longer than, say, 12km in length and hopefully between 600 and 900 metres of height gain . So far, I have identified the Col de la Colombiere and the Col des Aravis as being perfect for me, but I don't know what they look like. Can anyone think of any similar cols in the area that I might consider? They must have featured in at least one Tour de France, and been categorised at least Cat 1 or Cat 2.
Has anyone ridden the Col de la Colombiere or the Col des Aravis, and if so, what did you think of them? I want it to be spectacular and memorable. I really liked the Cormet de Roselend when I drove it, but that might be just a little too far away to be feasible.
Any advice please?
