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| The bus route today |
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| Packing into the bus |
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| Cold! |
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| Colder ! |
Wednesday 1st June: The first official day of summer up here in Europe and for us the stage that was cancelled – due to the weather ! There was talk last night at dinner that it was closing in and this could be a problem as today we have scheduled three Col climbs – two over 2000 metres. The organization last night cancelled the first climb, the Col d’Izoard at 2361 metres as logistically it would be a problem in terms of having vehicle support on all three climbs for all the groups needs. So the Col d’Izoard was gone. This morning we woke to light rain but windy weather in Guillestre that was quite cold and during our early breakfast – it got worse. And the calls went out to the authorities in regard to the Col du Lautaret and Col du Galibier (at 2647m). In short the roads up the Cols were open but it was freezing and snowing. Not a good climate for cyclists! So the organization smartly cancelled the days riding and very quickly organized a bus transfer for us on to the next town to here at St Jean-de-Maurienne. Many of us were quite relieved. The bus trip was enjoyable and 100 km long and took us around the Cols as such via a tunnel from Briancon into Italy briefly (see the map above) and then back into France via a 13km long road tunnel. The snow started falling as we drove up out of Briancon at just 1300m so one can imagine what it would have been like at 2600 m! Brrrrrr… When we got here, it was drizzling and all of maybe 4 deg C! The hotelier here told me just a few minutes ago that it was 31 deg C here just a few days ago and last time it was this cold was January 5th ! And on the Col de Telegraph climb just near here (at some 1500m) – there was 15 cm of snow there this morning. Crikey!... what does tomorrow hold for us then? We have 135km’s and the Col de la Madeleine at 2000m on the menu to ride over in the morning. The forecast is better and we will review it later today and in the morning. So today we ended up with plenty of R & R time here at the hotel and I guess a surprise 3rd rest day off the bike. So three days to go now. Looking forward to getting into Switzerland and catching up with our Swiss friends, Christoph, Claudia and their family and... Carol who as I type this is enroute up flying up to Zurich from Melbourne. Bonsoir for now!
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| Sisteron, France |
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| Europes biggest Lake. |
Tuesday May 31: And did the weather turn ! We woke this morning to steady drizzle and low misty clouds after a night of steady rain in Sisteron. Despite our best wishing over breakfast, the wet conditions were not going to clear before our 9am start so out for the second time this Euroride came the wet weather gear. We had 110km’s to ride today from Sisteron to Guillestre and a course that was not overly challenging thankfully after the fairly solid last two days. But still 110 km’s is 110km’s and wet weather tends to sap ones strength even if the terrain is not difficult. We had an interesting ride up over a few lower level Col’s (up to 1000m but long and steady climbs at low % gradients) and then we rode along and through some stunning deep valleys where we had high mountains with some cliffs on both sides of us. We also passed by a huge man-made lake and hydro dam system as you can see in the pics above. It is the biggest lake in Europe. It drizzled on and off lightly throughout most of the day and at best was some 13-15 deg C. But while we were riding, we were not that cold, just a little uncomfortable by being in cycling clothing that was fairly damp all through. On the climbs and flat it was OK but when descending we felt the cold air. Our group stopped for a lunch break at the 85 km mark at 12.30pm where a hot coffee and warm ham & cheese sandwich eaten inside was great. Getting going again after 45 mins or so was a challenge as the legs and body kind of go into hibernation or sleep mode and the first few km’s after lunch – the body somewhat resists –especially when it’s cold out. We arrived here in Guillestre which is another small town hugging the sides of the mountains that are tourist/ski/outdoor enclaves. The hotels in the last few days have been considerably older with less ‘stars’ and I guess typical hotels for the French but the beds are comfortable and the showers are hot so that is what really matters. This weather is a little of a concern tonight as it brings snow also and we are at altitude with three large Cols – two in excess of 2000m plus tomorrow to ride over…Lets see what the morning brings – maybe a break in the weather…or ?
