Cycling the Alps

cyclingthealps

Hi,
I love cycling the beautifull passes of the alps. I started to put very detailed information of each pass on a website. www.cyclingthealps.com
You will find 3D tours, bikemap, video, pictures, streetview(if available) etc.
Have a look and please tell me what you are missing?
What kind of information are you looking for if you plan to cycle a pass in the alps.

Cheers

Langman

That's a great website.

bahzob

Great, thanks very much for taking the time to put this together. Having spent time cycling in France last years I'd already decided to head east next year to Switzerland and Austria. This will be a great help.

Regards stuff to add, on the summary maybe pass length/average gradient?

Also I'd be interested in seeing your personal view of how much you like the pass in the summary. I know there are some (little traffic, nice changes of scenery, quite steep so a good challenge, bar at the top) that I'd be happy to ride every day.
(Your first col, Pre is one of these, just lacks a bar)

Others I ride, tick off my list and say "never again". Obviously its very subjective but doesnt matter.

Couple of suggestions for links
- BIG http://www.challenge-big.eu/

- a subsection for sportives that take place in the Alps. Only know of one

http://www.alpenbrevet.ch

but sure there must be a lot more

(also found some of the links not working)

northernneil

bahzob wrote:

(also found some of the links not working)

+1 on links

col du madeline

harpo

I'd add this link:

http://www.veloland.ch/en/welcome.cfm

the interactive map is the best bit. No Alp specifc but helpful none the less.

There are loads of detail on cycle routes, some of them covering the alps. Plus lots of add ons like ability to view different accommodation types in the area which would be handy for anyone travellig to the area for a while or travelling through the area.

It is one of the best if not the best interactive websites on cycling routes that I have came across.

bahzob

Thanks v much for above link. Met some swiss ladies while walking earlier this year and they mentioned that lots of good routes there. Meant to search out for next year hols but you've saved me the trouble..

cyclingthealps

Hi everybody,

Thanks for your replies.
I know I have some problems with a few links. I will fix it as soon as possible! I will add additional content to each pass as well. And some day I will have all the information of the +- 480 paved passes of the alps. Thank you very much.

Cheers

cyclingthealps

Hi,

I started to update some passes with a few more links and information.
Have a look at these links for example.

Three great passes of swiss which can be cycled in one day.

Furkapass http://www.cyclingthealps.com/Home/cycling-furkapass
Sustenpass http://www.cyclingthealps.com/Home/cycling-sustenpass
Grimselpass http://www.cyclingthealps.com/Home/cycling-grimselpass

Cheers!!

bahzob

Fantastic, thanks

cyclingthealps

Hi there,

I am creating a central place for all the information of 480 alp passes.

Use the tooltip for a short description of the pass
Use the right mouse button to get direct access to a lot of information.

Post your experiences on the pass if you want to.

It is pretty cool no more links everything in one place

http://www.cyclingthealps.com/

Cheers!!

iPete

Hi,

This looks fantastic, as somebody trying to re-search how to cross the alps on a London to Rome tour this could be invaluable. Kudos for entering all of this information and putting it all together.

As a tourer however, I'm less interested in the individual passes like l'alpe de huez (one day!) and would find it invaluable to have a variety of complete alp crossings mapped.

For instance I'd love to find advice on the Martigny/ St Bernard pass. Not just the climbs but a recommended safe route from one side of the Alps to the other. So it'd be great to eventually have 4-5 big routes complete so people can find out how best to cross the alps safely. Not sure how possible this if of course, given the variety of possibilities but would be good for a first timer whos never been to the region to work from.

Pete

cyclingthealps

Hi Pete,

Thanx for your commend!!
I did cycle from Grenoble to Turin and crossed the alps from west to east. Could map that route without any problem.
Have to figure out other alps crossing routes and map them as well.
The complete alps routes will then be marked with for example a blue cyclist icon. Need some time for it.

Cheers

Dennis

cyclingthealps

Hi everybody!

Let me write a short explanation of how this website works.
The website www.cyclingthealps.com shows pictures, video's and much more.
Let me explain the website interface because I think it is pretty cool what I did.

First of all there are three different cyclist icon's
Black --> already cycled
Green --> planning this year
Red --> nothing done with yet (only Zoom in and Zoom out)

I wanted to create a website without links. All the information is available with the right mouse button.

Using the right mouse button on the black and the green cyclists and this shows you following possibilities.

Zoom in --> Zooms in
Toggle route --> loads a route with pictures geotagged
Video --> Our cycling video
Pictures --> Our cycling pictures
Bikemap --> Distance, climbing meters
Streetview --> Opens the streetview if available (Beatenberg, Grosse Scheidegg, Petit St. Bernard
Motobike video --> Show a motorbike driving this pass
Fly into --> Shows the route in 3D (Latest version of google earth needed, or the google earth plugin)
3D tour --> Only external link in this website. Starts a 3D tour (Latest version of google earth needed, or the google earth plugin) Not working in FF due to problems with translation thing of google
Zoom out --> Zooms out and show you the passes nearby. Good for selecting a new pass.

Use the tooltip for a short explanation about the pass.

Have you been cycling the pass by yourself click on the pass (only black and green at the moment) and post your commends, your own video's or whatever you want.

That is about it!

One more thing hit the F11 then you get this website in full screen! (like this very much)

Cheers

Dennis

timman

Thank you - I particularly like the streetview feature.

Another website for those like to cycle in the Alps - I guess many here may have come across this before:
http://www.cycling-challenge.com/

Cheers

iPete

Hey Dennis,


Your welcome on the feedback. I created a route example on bikemap.net, something that I'm planning to do, I'm fairly sure its accurate!

http://www.bikemap.net/route/409431

cyclingthealps

Hey iPete,

You want to cross the "Col du Grand St. Bernard" that is probably one of the busiest pass roads. Not the last 5km but the first 39km from Martigny are full with cars and trucks.

I would definitly prefer the smal St. Bernard like we have been cycling. If you have more then one day you could do Albertville - Aosta and stay over in Bourg Saint Maurice
for example. And climb Col du Pre(Great one), Cormet de Roselend and Col du Petit St. Bernard(also very nice).

Now go to my website and do the following. Go to the three cols described above, use the right mouse button and toggle the tour of all three passes. You have a very nice route with pictures geotagged to it and you get a good idea of how it is cycling these passes.

Cheers
Dennis

cyclingthealps

One more thing.
Go to http://cta.cyclingthealps.com
It is the same website but it is working a little bit better, faster and the fullscreen mode (F11) makes it very nice.

iPete

cyclingthealps wrote:

Hey iPete,

You want to cross the "Col du Grand St. Bernard" that is probably one of the busiest pass roads. Not the last 5km but the first 39km from Martigny are full with cars and trucks.

I would definitly prefer the smal St. Bernard like we have been cycling. If you have more then one day you could do Albertville - Aosta and stay over in Bourg Saint Maurice
for example. And climb Col du Pre(Great one), Cormet de Roselend and Col du Petit St. Bernard(also very nice).

Now go to my website and do the following. Go to the three cols described above, use the right mouse button and toggle the tour of all three passes. You have a very nice route with pictures geotagged to it and you get a good idea of how it is cycling these passes.

Cheers
Dennis

Thanks, much appreciated, this is the kind of valuable information that I'm trying to get hold of Its quite hard to come by for a first timer whos never seen the roads except on google street view!

cyclingthealps

Hi everybody!!

Made some updates!

- All passes above 2000 meter are marked with a star!
- You can toggle pass layers! For example only show passes above 1500 meter
- Added a camping layer! Want to know where a campsite is! Toggle the camping layer! Use your right mouse button to zoom in completly and get a fast overview of how the campsite looks like.
- Start a discussion on all passes above 2000 meter
- All passes above 2000 meter now have a Bikemap, Profile, 3D view, 3D tour, Streetview and Motorbike video!

And much more!

Have a look!

http://www.cyclingthealps.com

Cheers

Dennis

CumbrianMan

Great website Dennis, and with so much information.

So, when are you making a start on 'Cycling the Pyrenees' ?

Keep up the good work.

Cheers

cyclingthealps

CumbrianMan wrote:

So, when are you making a start on 'Cycling the Pyrenees' ?
Cheers

As soon as I become a "professional cyclist" (Professional means: don't need to work anymore)!

cyclingthealps

Hi there,

In June we cycled Nufenen, Oberalp and St. Gotthard pass! We did this with 0 degrees celcius and snowfall! You can watch the pictures, movies and more on http://www.cyclingthealps.com.
The pictures as well as streetview and 3D tour is now fullscreen. Pretty cool flying the pass in 3D on full screen!!

Cheers

cyclingthealps

Hi everybody,

I've made a tutorial on how my website works.
Watch this video to understand how to use my website.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t48vMj-UzII

We have been cycling some great passes again around the lake of geneva which was really nice.

Cheers

durhamwasp

No Alpe D'Huez? Great site though

cyclingthealps

Thanks for the compliment.

Alpe D'Huez is in it. I have not cycled it yet but it is one of purple ones near col du calibier and col du lautaret. The 3D tour needs an update but the rest of the information is available.

Cheers

cyclingthealps

Hi everybody,

Added some really cool new features.
Like cycling the pass yourself with a game.
http://www.cyclingthealps.com/game/col-de-liseran.html

Or what about the new streetview tours. Hit the play button and see all streetview images available of the pass.
http://www.cyclingthealps.com/#col-des- ... streetview
Search for streetview to see all passes which have a streetview tour.

Added also all the mountains above 4000m. It is just fun to explore the mont blanc.
http://www.cyclingthealps.com/explore/mont-blanc.html

Cheers
Dennis