Le Tour de France has begun and there are just 8 participants this year: Peter, Mary, Karen, Tony, Angel, John, Kyle and myself. Kyle and I have been training for this event for the past 3 months. We've been riding Mt Lemmon every Sunday, Gates Pass hill repeats on Thursday mornings, A Mountain on occasion and long rides the other 2-3 days a week to condition our bodies for what's to come: France!

Cycling in France is what brought us here to Europe in the first place. We were kindly invited by our friends Peter and Mary. They rented a beautiful house for us all to stay at and we are beyond thrilled to be here. Le Tour de France has begun but it is 4 hours North of us this year so we won't have an opportunity to see any of the races. That's ok, we have plenty of hill climbs and dinners ahead to keep us busy. Let the tour begin..

Often times the Tour de France comes through the area that we're staying in so we'll get to experience the beauty and iconic mountain climbs that the pros ride, minus the crazy European fans. We'll do it at our own pace, sometimes at only 3 mph due to the 11% -12% and sometimes 13% grades here in the French Alps. Here's the rundown on our rides:

Day 1: Col d'Izoard

We set our our first day for a casual ride around town, only to find that there is a very, VERY long 11% grade hill that descends from our house into the town. This means CLIMBING BACK UP this hill EVERY TIME we head down it. After discovering the hill situation and learning how to navigate traffic and the roundabouts, we spontaneously proceeded to climb the Col d'Izoard. It was pushing 90 degrees down in the village, not exactly what we expected but we headed up that mountain and the higher we got, the cooler it became. It was beautiful and strenuous but we made it to the top, snapped a few pictures and headed back down. We got a good taste of what's to come.

Day 2: France to Italy & Back

Angel has a cousin Pier that lives in Turin, Italy which is a 1.5 hour drive from Briancon. He spoke English, just as most Europeans do and had completed a Iron Man Triathlon just a week prior. Pier was obviously well equipped to give us a tour of the area. Angel had never met her cousin before so he was new to all of us, including her. Pier was really friendly and a wonderful guide. We had an amazing ride and made friends with another cyclist from Austria that was doing a cycling tour of his own along with his Mother that was hiking along the way. We had a long, fun and exciting day. It was pretty hot for part of the ride but the mountain climbs provided an escape.

Day 3: Col du Galibier

This was in my opinion, one of the most spectacular rides we did. We rode from the house, through a valley and up into the glacier caped mountains. Every turn of the Galibier was spectacular. Waterfalls and glacier streams were everywhere. The water was ice blue, the surrounding mountains were snow caped, the clouds were hanging on the tips of the mountains and the fields were green. It was a pretty quiet road with 1 tunnel that presented a beautiful view of the valley. The Galibier is a mountain that I dream of climbing again I'm excited to see it the next time the pros come here for the Tour so that I can reminisces of every twist and turn. It was truly amazing!

Day 4: Granon "The Rain Ride"

We woke up on day 4 to find the clouds from the prior day had moved in and the forecast was 100% chance of rain with a high of somewhere around 48 degrees. The sun was nowhere to be seen. We hung around the house most of the morning waiting for the rain to begin but the clouds began to clear and so we geared up and headed out. The Granon was close to the house and no too long of a ride so it seemed like our only hope to get a ride in for the day. We started climbing up that mountain and the rain began. Karen and I made it 5k from the top and at that point, realizing that we were cold, wet and at 3.5 mph up this steep climb, it was going to take us another 45 minutes or so of climbing before we found the top. I told her that I had to pull over and we had a quick discussion about how we were NOT quitters. As soon as we stopped, Karen announced that she was 100% ok with turning around. We quickly put on another layer and headed down the mountain with a careful decent. We were anxious to get home, put on some dry clothes and get in the shower "not in that order". Together we decided that we made the right decision. 4 days later, Karen conquered the Ganon on a warm, sunny afternoon. 

Day 5: Notre Dame & Alpe d'Huez

We loaded up the van the night before and the next morning drove about an hour away in an attempt to do a double mountain ride: Notre Dame and the famous Alpe d'Huez. This was a long day for me. It was a lot of climbing and my legs were starting to feel the 150+ mountain miles I'd already put in. I teamed up with Angel and John for the day and decided to take it easy and enjoy the ride. The 3 of us had a great time chatting and stopping to snap a few pictures, just as we had done at Galibier.

Notre Dame was like riding through a fairy tale. It was lush, quiet, wildflowers were blooming and waterfalls were flowing near and far. I halfway expected to see gnomes with pointy little hats lurking in the ferns. There were no cars on the road and the tunnels were dark and dripping with moisture. We reached the top and proceeded to cross a pasture with white cows wearing cow bells. Some were just off the trail, only 5 feet away. I wanted to stop to take a picture but honestly I was a little intimidated by the size of the cows so I decided to just take a picture with my mind and move along. We made our decent down the backside of Notre Dame and then proceeded to head up Alpe D'Huez.

Alpe d'Huez: This was a must do on our list so we could say "we did it" and purchase a jersey to prove it. We were told it's "not all that" and a feels commercialized. Although it was a wide, busy road with traffic, lots of riders and yes, very commercialized at the top, it was a good hard ride. Not the most beautiful ride we'd done but it was still lush, green and steep. We made it to the top, bought a beer, burger, jersey and headed back down. "We did it!"

Day 6: Backside of Col d'Izoard

Legs are beginning to wear down. Knees are beginning to ache. Time to take some Advil and get over it. We have another big ride ahead. We headed out into a crisp, blue sky, sunny morning. We are finally clear of any impending rain. Our scheduled ride takes us up a mountain peak, back down it and then along the backside of Col d'Izoard which runs along a ice blue river where kayakers were braving the rapids. It was relatively flat and very scenic. By the time we reached the backside of Col d'Izoard the wind had picked up. This made for a difficult few mile stretch in an open field area. We stopped at the base of the mountain for a well deserved slice of pizza and then headed UP. The climb was steep, the wind was ON it was getting cold and I was ready for it to be over with. Kyle on the other hand was reignighted by the pizza and his experience was a blissful one, so he says. He put on a smile and pushed up the mountain. I stuck behind Karen and we counted signs to the top "only 6 more kilometers" "the next sign is just around the corner" the mountain was full of switchbacks which kept it interesting. "One more kilometer!" we cheered and were so happy when we reached top. This was the hardest ride I think I've ever done, mainly due to my exhaustion, the wind and the 9% - 13% grades we were climbing. Success!

Day 7: Easy ride

Today was the last riding day and we took a short ride up the mountain that leads from Italy down into the town of Briancon, France where we were staying. I hung with Angel and John and we took a slow easy paced ride to the top. We stopped at the ski village, had a slice of pizza and did a little people watching before we headed back down to Briancon. Kyle and Peter pushed on a little further and met us back at the house. I stopped by the Post Office to find out about shipping my bike clothes and shoes back the the U.S. so that I could be free of the extra weight and create space for the rest of the trip. Easy enough, they provided a box and told me it should arrive at my Tucson doorstep in 5 days. Perfect! After that Kyle and I returned out rental bikes and packed our stuff up for the next day's departure.

Departure Day: We loaded up and hit the road back to Turin to stay for 1 night before we hopped on another train to our next destination: Cinque Terre

Briancon Photos