Cycling in the high mountains. Alps, Dolomites, Pyrenees etc

We did the night train to Lourdes many years ago. Almost missed the stop! For some reason we had to sleep in the station waiting room until it was light and we could ride on to our destination, but seeing real mountains for the first time, emerge at dawn, was something I’ll always remember.

That and the religious tat shops.

That and the religious tat shops

Ha! Me and my eldest stayed in Lourdes when following Le tour circa 2015 and both agreed that it is a very weird place.

Coincidentally we were in Norfolk earlier this year and got very similar vibes from Walsingham.

Yea, the town itself is definitely one of the strangest I've ever been in. Monks, nuns, priests and scouts of all ages wandering the streets in packs...

Saint-Martin-en-Vercors today?

yep, was great, @pastry_bot. still hasnt uploaded strava

Last year's trip was great! Getting hit by a range rover driver a week before wasnt ideal, I was hurting; had to ride up Glandon with painkillers, still banged! The worst climb was Alp d huez, its essentially A21/Polhill. The Zwift version is better.

This year, I want to go off road and camp/bikepack in the same-ish region with same logistics (drive there > park car for a week > ride and come back to the car > drive back).

I have been looking at France/Italy borders and military roads around there, some feature on Torino Nice etc. Has anyone done something similar?

Never done it obviously but this looks amazing

https://bikepacking.com/routes/trans-dolomiti/

🙏

Went up there to check how much white stuff is left.
There is only 20 m of snow on the north side.
No cars, very pleasant, it's a circus up there in summer.

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man that climb was such a torture, you can see the summit from quite far back and yet it just doesent arrive! great views on the other side though

If you go the Glandon again I recommend staying at this spot. There's never anyone else there. And in the morning you can realise the van's toilet is not working and you can sneak in to the shelter there where you can shit in to a plastic bag.

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I always get confused: is Colombiere the same as Grand Colombier?

we stopped there! also massive EDF power station in Allemond by the dam

Is this the same climb?

https://strava.app.link/E2uKGBLKRyb

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That's the one.
The begining of the north side is very often littered with rocks in the summer.

Colombière is in Haute Savoie,
sits beetween Cluses and Grand Bornand.

👍

@amey please re-title this thread the mis-spelling is unforgivable. The French ("best country in the world") surely don't deserve it either

Can anybody recommend a nice place to base ourselves for a couple of weeks in the summer with good high mountain climbing AND flat ride options?

Currently thinking Annecy area (can go round the lake, and NW of the city looks flat(ish), but we've already been there. I'd quite like my wife to come and she absolutely won't want to do 2000m+ climbing every day.

Aix-les-Bains/Chambery? Not far from Annecy but some excellent climbing - Mont Revard, Col du Chat, Grand Colombier, the Chartreuse Massif - in the local area and flattish roads around the lake and in the valleys.

I'm off to northern Italy for 2 weeks at end of June. My first time there so super excited after watching the Giro every year to finally get to go.

I'll be based in Bormio so have the Stelvio, Gavia and Mortirolo on the doortstep, but any other recommendations around there? I'll have a car so can drive around to find some epic spots.

Its quite near the borders of Switzerlnd and Austria, I don't even know if I'm allowed to take my hire car to those countries or if I have to stay in Italy where I booked car, but if I take my passport with me on a ride is it quick and easy to just pass to and fro across borders lycra'd up on a bike, if I wanted to venture into some Swiss or Austrian rides? And any nearby you'd recommend? Or is border crossing like this likely to be a lengthy ball ache and best avoided? Any other tips, I've heard you can get fucked over with data roaming charges in Switzerland, but I think you get fucked over financially for everything there so that's no real surprise.

I was always wide eyed with wonder watching the Giro seeing them ride stages with descents that go on for 40km, and so I'd love to do a bit of that. Any idea what the actual longest descent in northern Italy would be? The Colle del Nivolet from Locana seems to be one such 40km descent/ascent, so I may venture over there for that as that looks lovely riding too. And on the way to there/way back I may visit around Lake Maggiore/Como/Garda too. I'm not a fan of cycling in super hot weather so if the lakes are proper scorchio at end of June/early July I'll maybe stick to the mountains.

Other options I've loosely penciled in are a few days in the Dolomites, Passo Pordoi looks pretty amazing, Passo Boldo with the crazy tunnels. Any other must do's?

As just mentioned on the MTB thread I'm also due to go to Val Di Sole to watch and cheer on a mates son who is in the yoof UCI downhill champs, and may try and some MTB there, so will be there from 30th June to 2nd July, but otherwise I'm free to do what I want. I can't be arsed with any city action so just cycling fun for 2 weeks. Any other recommendations or GPX's for nice rides there you've done there you can share? Thanks all.

there's a lot in your post, but to pick up on one point, the Niviolet is incredible but that's pretty much all there is in the valley and it's not a through road, so just an out and back. I rode it from Locana a few years back and though it's an astounding climb I'm not sure it's worth the 5 hour drive from Bormio.

I've ridden that area quite a lot, although not for 15 years or so, and have spent a week based in Bormio.

It's difficult to do loops from Bormio unless you are looking at mega-days out, i.e. you could do the Mortirolo and the south side of the Gavia in one day, but it's a 110 km day with over 3k metres of climbing. It's worth it though (and I'd do it anti-clockwise as the Mortirolo is fairly low so can be very hot, best to ride it earlier in the day before the heat builds).

You must do the north side of the Stelvio, and doing it from the south side, then turning left at the Umbrail pass and heading down briefly into Switzerland, before heading back up from Prato is another big day out, but worth it.

Livigno is worth a visit too, you have to go over the Foscagno and Eira passes to get there, but it's a decent ride, although the road can be very busy (like many mountain principalities, it's a duty free zone so there is a queue of cars waiting to get out most of the time).

I wouldn't worry about border crossings, I think any border guards see little point in stopping cyclists in my experience at least.

The Dolomites are definitely worth a visit, easily the most visually stunning mountain range I've visited. The Sella ronde is the classic route, which takes in the Pordoi, Sella, Campalongo and Gardena passes. I'd also recommend the Giau and the Valparola passes too.

The roads can get very busy so going off the beaten track can be worthwhile.

I love the umbrailpass. Just watch out for the top twats in sports cars and no sense.

Wow thanks a lot, great info and duly noted, time to get route planning. I am already ridiculously excited, and was kind of expecting ones like the Stelvio to be super popular with sports cars and bikes too, but hopefully still nice compared to cycling around London.

Actually the drive from Milan airport to Bormio is the bit I most anxious about as I not driven on the wrong side of the road for 15 years, and never in Italy, so only have the old stereo types to go on, so lean on the horn and do the sign of the cross before each roundabout and hope for the best. And those aren't dents, they're parking kisses :)

Do you get mobile phone reception in all these high mountain places?