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

Hadn't really got that far in my planning. Might do it on a weekend, might do midweek. Probably end of August/beginning of September to maximize the chances of actually being able to get over the top.

I did pico veleta in the second week of Sept a few years ago - foggy and cold at the top, but still very doable. My fingers froze on the descent though.

It was 0C when I was at the top in the middle the night in summer in Transiberica. Some other riders had it a couple of degrees colder. Much nicer if you're up there in the day, obvs.

Up and down Ventoux yesterday. The mountain seemed pretty daunting as it loomed on the horizon, and I was starting to worry the two months I’ve just spent in Denmark with basically zero climbing were going to do me in, but in actual fact I reckon they made for pretty good training. I climbed solo from Bedoin and got up in 1:24. The fact the gradient never really kicks makes it much more manageable than I was expecting and the descent into Malaucene was spectacular.

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Good luck!

Nice one, love that ride

Cheers and kudos for your quick time. I made it round today in 8:13 - which I'm happy with. In hindsight I should have taken it easier the other day as the legs were not at the races today. Struggled to get enough food down me so felt like riding on the edge of a massive bonk for large periods. Just about held it together but was a really testing day out.

A nice Belgian chap captured the moment I crumpled in front of the sign for the 3rd time.

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Are all the stickers on the sign pulled of?

Going (hopefully) up in about two weeks, @ghostface words calm me down =)

Today I rode up to Lac du cap de long from Saint Louy Soulan, a 23km climb, 5.7% average with 1354m of altitude gain. The average percentage belies how testing this climb is at times with two particularly steep albeit beautiful hairpin sections. The top is a dead end, as you summit at a spectacular dam. The descent is technical and hard to open up too much on, though there are several other dams on the way back down you can drop down to and then climb back up from. Well worth a visit for anyone in the area looking for a tough but quieter climb than some of the more famous Pyrenean climbs.

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An old favourite for me yesterday. First time I'd done it on a bike from the Italian side. Much easier than the Swiss side.

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Rode up the Tourmalet yesterday morning as part of a 100km loop, starting and ending in Argoles-Gazost. I climbed the west side taking the Voie Laurent Fignon, which has the advantage of being closed to all traffic. Weirdly there were no other cyclists on it, maybe not that many people know about it but compared to the endless caravans it is infinitely preferable. The summit was like a building site and packed with people for good measure. Other than the fantastic descent down the east side, a real highlight was an alpine marmot scuttling along next to me during the brutal penultimate km on the way up.

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This seems as good a place to ask...

Have two weeks in the Alps coming up and bafflingly booked my flight to Geneva a day before I should have. This means I have around 24 hours free before my partner arrives. I've booked a hotel in Versoix for the night and was considering a very early start to do the 175km round Lac Léman. I read some positive words about the route, but (dated in fairness) street view imagery makes it look like it could be a bit faffy with a decent amount of traffic. Has anybody done the route?

Alternative is a climb into the Jura which will be quieter, but I will have two weeks with no option but to climb, so thinking a flat lake route would make a nice gentle intro.

Paging @Brommers as, if memory serves, he’s done the sportive around Lac Leman.

I did, but it was the early days, so we only did Geneva to Lausanne. Which, at the time, seemed pretty damned epic.

There are better routes out there, I'd say, unless doing a lap of the lake means a great deal by itself. Otherwise, it's not that good a ride.

Few lesser-known climbs pointed out here https://twitter.com/cyclingalps/status/1549106854869061640

Thanks. Did 20km around the lake and it wasn't very interesting as you say. Ended up not bothering and did a climb instead.

I'm currently in Annecy and this guy's website is so helpful. 4 and 9 are to be done over the next 10 days.

Ended up not bothering and did a climb instead.

Which climb? Something near Geneva?

I was staying in Versoix for the night so did Barillette. Was tougher than expected and quite warm...Very quiet and a lovely view of Mont Blanc from the top though.

Looks like a stiff climb! I've never done that one, although I have done the climb next door up to Saint-Cergue.

Just using this now. Actually quite useful.

UK, France, Spain train sites, all useless for finding "no I'm not going to take apart my bike and box it, you pricks" journeys.

Just spent a few days riding in the Pyrenees. Based myself in Lourdes which worked excellently. Flight from Stansted to Lourdes airport and a 30 min €3 bus ride to the town centre. Cheap Air BnB for a few nights.

Great roads, beautiful climbs and patient drivers. Highly recommended.

I wanted to avoid flying, but it didn't quite work out in the end. The next leg of my journey however was a train to Milan. Overnight to Paris as per recommendation from this thread and TGV to Milan. Overnight from Lourdes to Paris is a great service. Super convenient. Both legs to Milan were delayed slightly. Was able to claim compensation for this. Second leg compensation was in the form of a €30 SNCF voucher that I'm unlikely to use. Free to anyone who can make use of it.

Sounds great..was already checking routes from Lourdes, as we were planning to make a stopover there, but didn't happen in the end. Did you take your own bike?

Yea, I brought my own in a box, but that's partly because I needed it for the next part of my trip too. Was a slight pain on trains etc due to size, but not too bad.

There's a nice bike shop in Lourdes which rents bikes. I spent time there in their cafe/bar and they were pretty friendly/helpful. It's called Bike and Py.

Thanks for the info, didn't even know there is an airport in Lourdes, so this might be an option one day..