Mountain Challenge 2014
Chead90
Posts: 2
Hi everyone,
Me and my friend are planning a trip to the alps next summer and raise some money for charity. The climbs we have planned so far are: Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Agnel and Stelvio. We plan to do this over the course of about 2 weeks with rest days. We are both experienced cyclists but have never done anything quite to this extent. I have a few questions if anyone could help:
We plan to start from Ventoux and work our way into the alps, which would be the best airport to fly to? (We are based in the north west of England). I know that Avignon airport would be the closest but it doesn't seem to have great links to the UK with it being so small.
As you can probably tell, we will be moving around quite a bit. For example, say we were staying at the Lautaret side of the Galibier one night and ascended the Galibier down to St Jean de Maurienne and stayed the next night there (with hotel being booked in advance), is it safe to do such things? (Ie. a storm or incredibly poor weather may make it impossible to do out ascent).
It is most likely we will have to do a bit of train travel. Would you say it's worth getting one of the rail passes, rather than booking our trains in advance? (Allows us flexibility as we won't be tied down to getting one specific train)
Any other pointers are welcome!
Thanks!
Me and my friend are planning a trip to the alps next summer and raise some money for charity. The climbs we have planned so far are: Ventoux, Alpe d'Huez, Galibier, Agnel and Stelvio. We plan to do this over the course of about 2 weeks with rest days. We are both experienced cyclists but have never done anything quite to this extent. I have a few questions if anyone could help:
We plan to start from Ventoux and work our way into the alps, which would be the best airport to fly to? (We are based in the north west of England). I know that Avignon airport would be the closest but it doesn't seem to have great links to the UK with it being so small.
As you can probably tell, we will be moving around quite a bit. For example, say we were staying at the Lautaret side of the Galibier one night and ascended the Galibier down to St Jean de Maurienne and stayed the next night there (with hotel being booked in advance), is it safe to do such things? (Ie. a storm or incredibly poor weather may make it impossible to do out ascent).
It is most likely we will have to do a bit of train travel. Would you say it's worth getting one of the rail passes, rather than booking our trains in advance? (Allows us flexibility as we won't be tied down to getting one specific train)
Any other pointers are welcome!
Thanks!
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Comments
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Hi there,
having done most of those climbs, im not sure you will need to use many trains, and certainly wont need a rail pass.
Alpe d'Huez, Galibier and Col d'Agnel are all reasonably close, and you could cycle from Ventoux to the Alpe in 2 days steady away. Once you have completed the Agnel, I guess this might be the time for you to take a train.
Ventoux - Alpe d'Huez, Lautaret, Galibier, Izoard, Agnel, Stelvio could be a decent ride out!http://www.snookcycling.wordpress.com - Reports on Cingles du Mont Ventoux, Alpe D'Huez, Galibier, Izoard, Tourmalet, Paris-Roubaix Sportive & Tour of Flanders Sportive, Amstel Gold Xperience, Vosges, C2C, WOTR routes....0
