French Alps: cycling holidays and sportives

badgerbeaver

I've been to Morzine and the Vercors with the excellent Velo Vercors and in years gone by, the very good "EndlessRide".

Searching on google these days brings up a lot of results if you fancy looking at spending some time int he French Alps and maybe taking in a sportive.

I'd be interested to know from people who have done this recently who either recommend

a) a company
b) an itinerary

the reason I ask is that I recently had a great experience with Velo Vercors and can heartily recommend them. I went for a long weekend, which if I am honest did not work for us because it was a lot of travelling, at relatively high cost given the amount of cycling, so I not sure I would recommend that, but would be interested to hear from people who think differently and have other suggestions.

thanks!

cougie

Cant you do it yourself ? I've always done this - plenty of rides to do and a lot cheaper.

badgerbeaver

Yes, Cougie, I can, and in the past I have done - for myself and others.

I've found though, I prefer someone else to take responsibility for the logistics. This is because I have way more money than sense.

It's also because I am lazy.

durhamwasp

Ive been to various places, and still think Le Grand Bornand is the best, with a good base to stay and plenty of cycling to be done (something like 100 cols within 100km of it). They also have a sportive out of there called "Le Grand Bo" held mid-August.

badgerbeaver

Thanks durhamwasp

looks good and reasonably close to Geneva and motorways.

did you do the Grand Bo?

durhamwasp

No I didn't, we were there in July and it had already happened (just checked and its actually held the last weekend of June).

The place really is fantastic, with some great campsites, lots of chalets for hire or also hotels and B&B's. I got a cycling map from the campsite and there was just a crazy amount of cycling to be done. We ended up doing the Colombiere, Aravis and Croix Fry on different days, with our 2yr old on the back of my bike. Lots of nice places around, and worth a day trip to Annecy too.

bernithebiker

Annecy is an excellent base for a week in the Alps.

It's my 2nd choice of where to live in France.

phreak

I've done this a few times and it's a nice event.

http://bike-oisans.com/en/events-cyclin ... es-2-alpes

alanjay

www.alpcycles.com - can't recommend them highly enough. Superb attention to detail, great food just a cyclists dream - they look after everything and you just live eat and breathe cycling.

millster

another recommendation for Alpcycles.

Travelled alone to do the Marmotte last year and got chatting with them and a few guests. Consequently booked my Marmotte trip with them this year (along with a number of returning guests).

The guides are great to ride with, the food is great and their experience riding in the area sets them apart. They recently done a week with ex pro Mark Lovatt and the rides are on Strava somewhere if you'd like to get an idea.

badgerbeaver

great feedback guys, really appreciate it, thank you

crapaudthepitbull

I worked for 2 seasons for Alpcycles and can say they are a cracking little operation. Great location in Courchevel,3 vallees,great food and support but more importantly passionate owners and guides with a wealth of experience of cycling and the roads they are riding on.

thegreatdivide

durhamwasp wrote:

No I didn't, we were there in July and it had already happened (just checked and its actually held the last weekend of June).

The place really is fantastic, with some great campsites, lots of chalets for hire or also hotels and B&B's. I got a cycling map from the campsite and there was just a crazy amount of cycling to be done. We ended up doing the Colombiere, Aravis and Croix Fry on different days, with our 2yr old on the back of my bike. Lots of nice places around, and worth a day trip to Annecy too.

We stayed just over the top of the Aravis in Le Giettaz and can confirm that Le Grand Bo is lovely. The biggest sportive in the area is the Time Megève Mont Blanc every June. We didn't do it this year but the guy who ran our chalet does it every year and we're going back in 2014 for a crack at it.

mididoctors

crapaudthepitbull wrote:

I worked for 2 seasons for Alpcycles and can say they are a cracking little operation. Great location in Courchevel,3 vallees,great food and support but more importantly passionate owners and guides with a wealth of experience of cycling and the roads they are riding on.

in what capacity did you work for them?

term1te

A few years back I spent a week with Cyclomundo http://www.cyclomundo.com/ cycling from Geneva to Alp d'Huez, followed by the Marmotte, and would thoroughly recommend them.

I've also spent a week with John at the Duck http://duckstore-productions.com/ cycling from Annecy to Nice, again can't recommend him enough. We didn't do a sportive on that trip, but they do packages that include them.

Photos from both trips in the links below.

Also spent a week camping in Vizille, not far from "the Alpe" and a number of famous cols. I'd recommend the Col d'Morte and the ride from Sechilienne to the lac Luitel as two less well known, but equally as challenging/satisfying, climbs to the Alpe d'Huez. There should be enough riding around there to keep you happy for at least a week.

cougie

bernithebiker wrote:

Annecy is an excellent base for a week in the Alps.

It's my 2nd choice of where to live in France.

Berni - any reccomendations for hotels in the area ? Cheers.

crapaudthepitbull

mididoctors wrote:

crapaudthepitbull wrote:

I worked for 2 seasons for Alpcycles and can say they are a cracking little operation. Great location in Courchevel,3 vallees,great food and support but more importantly passionate owners and guides with a wealth of experience of cycling and the roads they are riding on.

in what capacity did you work for them?

I worked as a bike guide and did support vehicle.

bernithebiker

cougie wrote:

bernithebiker wrote:

Annecy is an excellent base for a week in the Alps.

It's my 2nd choice of where to live in France.

Berni - any reccomendations for hotels in the area ? Cheers.

This place is fantastic; I used them for the Etape this year;

http://www.maison-hotes-annecy.com/

(But ssshhhh!! don't want everyone to know!)

cougie

Cheers !

I won't tell a soul !

badgerbeaver

great advice guys, thank you very much

anyone been with Alpine Cadence recently - came up on google and seemed interesting

FatTed

Alpine Cadence superb outfit, many return customers, check them out on Face Book, I have done one tour with them
am going back next year.

badgerbeaver

...nice one thanks FatTed

Following the advice here I've done some more research (unusually for me, as I said, I am bone idle).

it seems a lot of these outfits seem to be targetting a time poor cash rich MAMIL. To be clear I have no problem with this as I could safely fit into that category of rider. I therefore expect it's going to a "be blokes on tour" episode, but with less drinking...

nunowoolmez

A quick thread resurrection re the Marmotte next year. I am looking at booking a package for a week which has some guided rides before the Marmotte itself. I've not ridden the Marmotte before but did 2 weeks pretty heavy riding in the Alps this year & although the big cols were challenging I always felt fairly comfortable, despite riding quite hard. Anyway, I realise the Marmotte is a real beast & a proper test!

So my question is this. What is the ideal approach in the week leading up to the ride. I know everyone is different with this. I guess I am after some opinion from anyone who has been on the kind of week long packages I am looking at. The itinery has 3 days riding followed by a rest day & then a gentle spin before the Saturday. Has anyone done a package with Akp Cycles which includes the riding days? How did you find it & did you feel burnt out by the time of the big day?

Thanks all.

Tom Butcher

I've not done a package but I've been over there for a week and then done the Marmotte. We did a fair amount of riding - Deux Alps, Sarenne, Ornon, Alpe D'huez, Croix de Fer and a few other rides - as well as the Marmotte. You can ride these mountains without going into the red if you take it easy and don't do too much in one ride.

bernithebiker

nunowoolmez wrote:

A quick thread resurrection re the Marmotte next year. I am looking at booking a package for a week which has some guided rides before the Marmotte itself. I've not ridden the Marmotte before but did 2 weeks pretty heavy riding in the Alps this year & although the big cols were challenging I always felt fairly comfortable, despite riding quite hard. Anyway, I realise the Marmotte is a real beast & a proper test!

So my question is this. What is the ideal approach in the week leading up to the ride. I know everyone is different with this. I guess I am after some opinion from anyone who has been on the kind of week long packages I am looking at. The itinery has 3 days riding followed by a rest day & then a gentle spin before the Saturday. Has anyone done a package with Akp Cycles which includes the riding days? How did you find it & did you feel burnt out by the time of the big day?

Thanks all.

Personally, I was proper tired after a weeks' riding with Alpcycles and needed a rest. Leading up to this year's Etape, I kept the week before very quiet, just some short, sharp rides, nothing tough.

I would think far better to do a week with them earlier on, to build fitness, then do the Marmotte.

term1te

I spent 5 days cycling from Geneva to Alpe d'Huez, took a day off, then rode the Marmotte. The general consensus in the group was that we'd "ridden into form". You can judge better than the rest of us how you respond to a week's hard riding, and how much rest you need to recover. But if you eat and sleep well, you'll be surprised by the restorative effects of adrenalin on the big day.

phreak

I've generally done a week of riding before most European sportives. I tend to rest well before the trip, then use the week before to ride into some form in time for the event.

Very much worth doing as on event day it's often hard to really take things in, so spending some time 'sightseeing' makes the trip a bit nicer imo.

knedlicky

My lead up in the week before the Marmotte was: the weekend before, a two-day event comprising 220 km/4200 m climbing (about half the total each day), then on the Tuesday in the evening after work 60 km/600 m and on the Thursday after work 30 km/300 m. I thought the weekend before helped a lot, the other days were just a case of doing something. I only went to France the day before the Marmotte.

I have been on weeklong trips to the Alps and Pyrenees where we’ve ridden 80-100 km/1700-2100 m every day, leading to a slightly bigger day on about day 5 (like 120 km/3500 m) and then one does ride into form. But for something as big as the Marmotte, I wouldn’t ride so hard right up to the day before.
Your package (3 days riding, rest day, gentle spin) sounds about right to me.

nunowoolmez

Thanks for all your replies, it is interesting & insightful to get other peoples experience s & opinions, so all good really. I think I will go for the 9 day (8 night) package which will have 3, 4 max days riding which will include local climbs pribably invluding the Alpe & Glandon themselves. Obviously these rides won't be ridden hard but like others have said, be designed to get our climbing legs & lungs in & build on whatever training we have already done to really get our form bang on. A vouple of proper rest days followed by a quick spin will be just right I think.

I I will have done 6 months training leading up to the event, including a 2 week camp in Majorca, so plan to be in pretty strong & in good shape anyway, but I like the idea of the package thing, besides it gives me more time riding in the Alps, which is ace. I am encouraged by my riding there this year, & I think this sort of deal will work out fine for me. I like the idea of everything being looked after for me & not having to stress or worry about anything, travelling, food, bike maintenance, all being taken cared of.

Can't wait now, roll on next year!

ransos1

nunowoolmez wrote:

A quick thread resurrection re the Marmotte next year. I am looking at booking a package for a week which has some guided rides before the Marmotte itself. I've not ridden the Marmotte before but did 2 weeks pretty heavy riding in the Alps this year & although the big cols were challenging I always felt fairly comfortable, despite riding quite hard. Anyway, I realise the Marmotte is a real beast & a proper test!

So my question is this. What is the ideal approach in the week leading up to the ride. I know everyone is different with this. I guess I am after some opinion from anyone who has been on the kind of week long packages I am looking at. The itinery has 3 days riding followed by a rest day & then a gentle spin before the Saturday. Has anyone done a package with Akp Cycles which includes the riding days? How did you find it & did you feel burnt out by the time of the big day?

Thanks all.

Because of other commitments, I arrived in AdH on the Friday after driving overnight, and did La Marmotte the next day. Not ideal! Now, I was pretty fit by UK standards (gold times in sportives etc) but this was a different beast altogether. I would strongly recommend you try and bag a col or three before the big day, making sure you have 2 days' rest or light exercise.

I took 2 days off after the event, and then rode AdH again. It didn't seem half as daunting the second time around, and I felt much stronger all the way to the top.

remedy_7

The Tour du Mont Blanc is a great trip. Only bad bit is the tunnels on the Swiss side. 320km. +7500m climbing.