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

Yes, there's a really good road up a gorge near Ventoux. Buggered if I can remember where though.

Gorges de la Nesque is the one. Obvs ride all the ascents up Ventoux as well

Cheers ( also @Brommers )

Got a few days over by Briancon/Susa (not sure which) too so trying to avoid burning up all my (very minimal) stamina on one mountain

Nice. The climbs out of Susa are madness, enjoy

Finestre, Izoard, Lautret/Galibier and Granon

Go over Izoard from Briancon side and you can do a big ride via Vars, in reverse you would love the gelato at the bottom in Briancon.

@elswick - Did the Finestre last year bikepacking, would do it again without the bags :)

@amey - Not done the Granon or Galibier so they're on the list.

Also would like to do the Agnel in one ride rather than getting stuck for the night in a storm at the refuge just below the summit so that's a possible too.

Definitely. The Gorges de la Nesque is definitely worth a visit by bike, some stunning roads and scenery. I did the Etape back in 2009, from Montelimar to the summit of Ventoux, and have always wanted to go back to the area around Nyons, which was very scenic, and the road round the back of Ventoux to Sault, which was great to ride.

Edit: Reply interrupted by dinner, said what others had already said.

excellent tips; i am looking for where to go for 2024

granon was my first ever alps climb; its awful

nairo did it on tramadol

Thanks all, so gorges, ventoux, galiber+granon then a more touristy day with a loop from Briancon to Bardoneccia, down to Cesana Torinese and back to Briancon.

Then might find another one to do on the way back home (cenis or petit st bernard maybe)

Mont Cenis from Susa is long and is a far more interesting side than the French (north) side, which is a big, wide open main road as I recall.

I think my first proper alpine climb was the Colombardo on the TnR route... was fucking horrible. Regretted my life choices for most of it.

hmm... maybe I'll drive home via Susa then :)

petit st bernard

i found this quite boring from french side, there are 4x4 tracks which bang if you are on a gravel bike

Hmm. Fuck. Two bikes then maybe

Gorges de la Nesque is the one.

That's the bunny. Very scenic.

Has anyone descended the dirt on the Finestre? Instinct tells me it’d be no fun but to get back to Susa is quite the trek if you go down the tarmac to the other side.

It’s another climb I did bike packing so it’d be nice to do it on a lighter bike.

No, but it's also not that long - a few km so I'm sure you could go down gingerly then the majority of the descent is paved. It's a long was around, but mostly downhill once you're past Sestriere though. I really enjoyed that loop, and the huge fort is worth seeing

These are both amazing on the back side of Fenistre, the first particularly worth it regardless of what side you're heading back down on

https://maps.app.goo.gl/aeSS8STSdrsphWmB6

https://maps.app.goo.gl/iNtsrR8NdSY2XLna7

And we stayed a few days in Usseaux which was lovely

Yes on tcr on a road bike. Crack on.

Back to susa via sestriere isn't long (in my memory)

The cool guys walked the TT bike.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=04Vfr7Bdxxk

The checkpoint in Sestriere was at the start of the section that had caused people the most anguish when choosing their equipment. The Strada dell’Assietta is an old military road along the top of a mountain ridge, and when combined with the gravel descent of the Colle delle Finestre, it meant doing about 40 km of dirt and gravel roads that were mostly above 2000 meters elevation. Everyone knew that it would be unpaved, but many people were not prepared for just how rough it would be on a road bike. Even the fastest people took 3 hours to traverse the short distance, but many others took a lot longer due to punctures and having to walk up and down some of the steeper sections.
https://ridefar.info/races/transcontinental-race/tcr-no3/

You can miss all that out using roads. It’s paved from the top of the Finestre, you descend, then turn right and climb up to Sestriere, then descend down to Cesana Torinese, turn right again and follow that road all the way back to Susa. It’s mainly downhill.

I've climbed up the gravel side, descnded the road side stopped at a cafe and then I think we rode up Sestriere. Does that make sense? I dunno, I was having fun that day, the missus less so.
I'd need to see a map and then try and work out wtf we did. I just ride. Brain like goldfish.

That makes a lot of sense.

Found it. ALPI4000 Day 3

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