3350 metres: The highest ?surfaced road.
inaperfectworld
Posts: 219
The Michelin map has this road marked in red and white, i.e. difficult or dangerous route. It is just over the French border in Italyand leaves Brdonecchia to the west, at the entry to Fréjus tunnel. goes through Rochelolles, and finishes at Rognosa d'Etiache. I can't tell if it's properly surfaced; if it is I doubt there is higher.
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http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veleta_(Sierra_Nevada)
Highest paved road in Europe according to Wikipedia - a fairly leisurely cycle from Pradollano though.0 -
ah not quite there, but looks worth a visit
http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... tiache.JPG0 -
In the U.S. Mount Evans(paved) tops out at 14,500 feet, give of take a few feet.
It will leave you gasping on a bikeOr just walking around up there..0 -
You can run up from Leh in Ladhak and roll over the khardung la on a paved road (well paved with potholes and rubble) at 5,359m. On the positive side you do get lots of people taking your picture and treating you like an olympic athlete
but may you were talking about europe only...0 -
3350 is the summit of Pointe Sommeiller.
The road goes to the Col du Sommeiller at about 2990m, and it's not surfaced near the top anyway.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/13108469
The Veleta isn't surfaced to the top either, just to about 3200m.0 -
cookiemonster wrote:.On the positive side you do get lots of people taking your picture and treating you like an olympic athlete
I'm prepared to treat anyone who can cycle at 5,000 metres as an olympic athlete! (Although I suppose you have time to acclimatise before you reach the top).0 -
I'm informed that the whole of the Friendship Highway between Lhasa and Kathmandu is now properly surfaced. That would top out at about 5220m on the Gyatso La. It was a gravel road in 2001.
Andrew (olympic athlete)0 -
The Khardung La is officially supposed to be 5602m if I remember rightly; whatever the exact height, it's quite high enough thank you very much. And no, there is not time to acclimatise in the 30 odd km between Leh (at ~3500m) and the pass. There are a few other passes over 5000m between Manali and Leh, and others elsewhere in Ladakh.0
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I've recently released a book about cycling in the Indian Himalayas, with lots of photos throughout. On the trip we cycled over the Khardung La, it was absolutely beautiful and an incredible experience but very hard work! There's lots more about it on my blog http://www.tombrucecycling.com0
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With a road bike also include altro de letras in Colombia at 3688m
May be lower than mount Evans but it is about 2x the length in terms of the climb as you start near sea level. Done both - the thin air was the hardest factor; neither is particularly challenging profile wise.0 -
ah yes, they built the road for a ski area, well for summer skiing on the glacier up there, however the glacier has melted. The lifts were removed by an environmental group about a decade ago in their campaign to clean up the mountain.
http://www.summitpost.org/the-dying-glacier/836042BASI Nordic Ski Instructor
Instagramme0 -
I'm very jealous and it's my goal next time I go to colombia. I rode la cuchilla (the razor) which was a mere 14km topping out at 3300m and was the hardest thing i have done on a bike. My back muscles were killing me but what an experience.With a road bike also include altro de letras in Colombia at 3688m
May be lower than mount Evans but it is about 2x the length in terms of the climb as you start near sea level. Done both - the thin air was the hardest factor; neither is particularly challenging profile wise.0 -
There is also Haleakalā in Maui at around 10,000 Ft 3048 m. Not especially hard, superb road surface all the way.0
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The Khardung La is officially supposed to be 5602m if I remember rightly; whatever the exact height, it's quite high enough thank you very much. And no, there is not time to acclimatise in the 30 odd km between Leh (at ~3500m) and the pass. There are a few other passes over 5000m between Manali and Leh, and others elsewhere in Ladakh.
And I've done them all.
On a motorbike.0 -
The Khardung La is officially supposed to be 5602m if I remember rightly; whatever the exact height, it's quite high enough thank you very much. And no, there is not time to acclimatise in the 30 odd km between Leh (at ~3500m) and the pass. There are a few other passes over 5000m between Manali and Leh, and others elsewhere in Ladakh.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GG1vNTelJGc
Khardungla Pass World highest motorable Road'Performance analysis and Froome not being clean was a media driven story. I haven’t heard one guy in the peloton say a negative thing about Froome, and I haven’t heard a single person in the peloton suggest Froome isn’t clean.' TSP0 -
Having lived in Central Asia for 3 years, these places are n my bucket list:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tashkurgan_Town
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murghab,_Tajikistan
Basically a complete tour of Tadjikistan via the M1 highway and a similar tour of western Xinjiang.
http://www.goatsontheroad.com/travelling-pamir-highway-kara-kul-murgab/
A superb book on Tadjikistan, worth buying even if you don't intend to travel there simply for it's history and interest value:
'Tajikistan & The High Pamirs: A Companion and Guide'' by Robert Middleton & Huw Thomas'Performance analysis and Froome not being clean was a media driven story. I haven’t heard one guy in the peloton say a negative thing about Froome, and I haven’t heard a single person in the peloton suggest Froome isn’t clean.' TSP0
