Route des grande alpes

Izembard

I am planning a group trip for next summer, the group will have a variety of fitness levels.
The brief plan is to fly into Geneve and out of Nice.
I dont want this to be a beastathon but we would like to do Alpe DHuez on the way (I'm sure some will go up in the backup van).
Could anyone please suggest a route that is less challenging. If there are any!!
Secondly I would also like some hotel suggestions along the way, I note that most on first glance wont let you book for one night only!!
Thanks in anticipation.
(I've got a sneaky suspicion that my lot are going to have to do some serious training for this) :twisted:

mididoctors

how many days in total and how many to get to the alpe?

the Pretty way is huez> briancon >col d vars >isola >nice

thats not flat even if you ride the flattish way down to grenoble first before turning left towards the hills... it is fairly direct but there are some big lumps in the way

I question the wisdom of this endeavor for those of low fitness

you could go grenoble>huez (backtrack to)>gap>digne les bain and wiggle eastwards through the relatively easy alpes martimes

wakemalcolm

Izembard

There's an excellent Cicerone book of bike tours in the Alpes. One of them is the route from Geneva to Nice.

Enjoy!

RyanBrook

Try and get a copy of the discontinued lonely planet cycling France book. It has some nice routes in there and has served me three times now. The vercors contrast is a a beautiful place with the Grand canyon du verdon. Its hilly but worth it.

pneumatic

I rode from Geneva to Grenoble a couple of years back.

The plan was Aravis, Saisies, Roselend, Iseran, Telegraph, Galibier, Alpe in 7 days.

The reality was that I blew up on the Roselend (day 2) and so took the valleys by Albertville and then along to the foot of the Telegraph and then did Galibier and the Alpe.

The reason I blew up was that I didn't have a good food and water strategy. You need to take that seriously when in the mountains, just as much as you need to strengthen the legs (although it is impossible to find anything comparable to alpine climbing in these islands).

Otherwise, it was totally brilliant. Do it.

Stay at the Hotel Edleweiss at La Grave. It is a rider's paradise.

john ponting

Ideas for a route from Thonon - Menton . May be a bit mountainy. Not much accomodation ideas. Many other good routes (balades) on the site.

originally produced by a motorcycle group.


http://solrv.club.fr/B_023_C.html

Izembard

Thanks everyone, some good suggestions, cheers.
Mididoctors:
"low fitness levels"
Your phrase not mine!!
One of our members can TT a ten in sub 22 mins. (won't help on the Alpe mind!!)
Personally I can grind out a century in 6 and a half. (a flat one mind)
So we not talking sit up and beg with shopping baskets here.
I do though fully appreciate that the sort of fitness required for this venture is vastly different from the Sunday cafe run.
I'm merely being overly cautious as I don't want to lead the group into something that will not be enjoyed. That said we are all fully aware that we plan to go into the Alps so the next 10 months will be full on prep.
I know you weren't being critical and I know that its solid advice so thanks for your suggestions.

Zonc Hastings

this is a FANTASTIC expedition but hard and you really need to be mentally prepared to ride up hill day after day. I did that route some years ago and friends who ride audax did it this year. The weather can be VERY dodgey even in the summer. This year there was snow and blizzards on the top on the col de Bonnette. Even though they were technically tours they put every item of clothing on and eventually took a lift down with a very kind french camper wagon.

Go for it - the Cicerone guide is good. Use it.

Keep em turning

Zonc

mididoctors

Izembard wrote:

Thanks everyone, some good suggestions, cheers.
Mididoctors:
"low fitness levels"
Your phrase not mine!!
One of our members can TT a ten in sub 22 mins. (won't help on the Alpe mind!!)
Personally I can grind out a century in 6 and a half. (a flat one mind)
So we not talking sit up and beg with shopping baskets here.
I do though fully appreciate that the sort of fitness required for this venture is vastly different from the Sunday cafe run.
I'm merely being overly cautious as I don't want to lead the group into something that will not be enjoyed. That said we are all fully aware that we plan to go into the Alps so the next 10 months will be full on prep.
I know you weren't being critical and I know that its solid advice so thanks for your suggestions.

oh in that case take it all on..... straight over the Bonnette do not pass go...

andrew_s

The Route des Grands Alpes is an officially defined, signposted route from Thonon les Bains to Menton (or vice versa).
The route is Thonon, Les Gets, Col de Colombiere, Col des Aravis, Col des Saises, Cormet de Roselend, Col de l'Iseran, Col de Telegraphe, Col du Galibier, Col d'Izoard, Col de Vars, Col de la Cayolle, Guillaumes, Valberg, Col de la Couillole, St Martin-Vesubie, Col de Turini, Sospel, Menton
The French cyclosportifs regard is as a week's ride, supported/hotels. When I did it, we took two weeks camping, with a rest day in Barcelonette. Doing it over 2 weeks was quite good, as it mostly meant that you only had to do 1 major col per day, and could pick your overnight stops so you rode up the col first thing in the morning before it had got too hot. It's not always hot though - there was sleet on the Colombiere and the Saises.

If you wanted to do the Alpe, you would stay in Bourg d'Oisans rather than Briancon, and have the Lauteret as well as the Izoard to do the following day.
Doing the Bonette instead of the the Cayolle is a popular diversion off the official route.

frenchcy

Alternatively to get from Lake Geneva to Antibes is the route of the Randonee Alpine Thonon-Antibes - do it in 8 days and you get a medal! http://www.frenchcyclingholidays.com/sp ... alpes.html
The day from Lanslebourg to Briancon is a beast including Mont Cenis and Sestriere but the rest is manageable

craigenty

I do my own version of this. I don't like tours where you're living out of a suitcase everyday. My tour has at least 2 nights in each hotel and a 3 night stay in Barcelonette with an optional rest day thrown in - it's an arduous tour!
Last one I did had an itinerary like this:

Day 1 - Arrive Geneva - transfer to hotel in Moutiers (near Albertville)
Day 2 - Cormet de Roseland, 80km circular loop
Day 3 - Madelaine, Telegraphe, Galibier to Briancon (150km bigday!)
This could be changed to do Glandon and Alpe d'Huez and stay one night in Bourg d'Oisans.
Day 4 - The Izoard from the south (80km loop via Guillestre)
Day 5 - Izoard from north then Col de Vars to Barcelonette
Day 6 - Rest day or 30km round trip to Col de Larche for lunch in Italy ;-)
Day 7 - Col de Bonnette
Day 8 - Col de Cayolle & Col de Champs to Castellane near The Verdon Gorge
Day 9 - Transfer to Nice

Should be some ideas for you there. Have fun.

Barbes

Some good hotels to consider:

In Albertville try Hotel de Savoie run by a friendly French / Dutch family and in Bourg St Maurice Hotel L'Autantic just out of town has a great pool and sauna. In St Jean de Maurienne, Hotel Dor was friendly and gave us an extra large sportif breakfast. All 3 had good, secure bike storage.

We had no trouble with single night bookings on our tour in June.

meenaghman

For my first ever bike tour I decided I might as well go the whole hog. I can do 100miles in about 6hrs but am 100kg and I toured in the Alps - Geneva - Grenoble using the route in the Cicerone book to get to Bourg d'oisan and stayed a few days there doing Galibier, the Alpe and col de la seranne and deux Alpes Aug/Sept 2007.
Worst day - I flew into Geneva on a Sunday and was out of the town before I realised I'd forgotten to buy water or food. Made it to the hotel in St Jean de Sixt (prebooked) in a bad way but had a meal and recovered. Ate a good breakfast (better breakfasts nearer CH) then went to the Post Office in town and emptied a load of gear out of my Paniers and sent it home ! best 14 euros I ever spent. Next night was spent in Albertville after going over some mild hills. I think I stayed in the Savoie in Albertville(Prebooked). Went up the madeline down to St Jean de maurienne. Didn't have a hotel booked here, but tourist office booked one for me. Best hotel on the trip. Had planned Croix de Fer - Bourg d'Oisans but they were working on the tunnels so went via Glandon. Pissed it down Descent off Glandon was scary as brakes wouldn't hold me (mr Mo and his friend Mentum). Also the fog was really thick in parts like nothing I've seen. I had lights but don't think I would have been seen.
Arrived in Bourg and hotel wasn't great.. shared bathroom .. and most expensive of the trip. I decided to do a laundry of all my gear, the roads were covered in grit, so I cleaned my bike and then put on my evening gear and brought the rest to the launderette as it was well wet and filthy. Had dinner and came back collected my gear and slept well that night. The rest of the days in Bourg were good for cycling.. I could dispense with Panniers but i kept my rack bag with camera and went up some of the cols in the region.. 30 miles of downhill from the top of Galibier was fantastic. (I know there's a bit of uphill after the barrage) but you get my gist.
I went to Grenoble for last day .. downhill from Bourg D'oisan, and got train back to Geneva the following morning and flight back to Dublin. I did enjoy myself and would have gone back to the Alps to do some more cols this year but for time constraints.
I'd say go for it.. You seem to have a backup vehicle which makes it easier.

pneumatic

Yes, if you want to have a lot of fun on a bike for minimal effort, start at the summit of the Galibier and ride to Grenoble. It is 90km long, 2200 metres of descent, it is downhill all the way (apart from the odd short ramp) and the scenery is utterly stunning.

I told this to a mate of mine who listened patiently and then told me he had done the same ride THE OTHER WAY. 1-0 to him, I think. :oops: