Riding Alps

secretsam

Hiya all

It's a big birthday next year, and would like to do some nice rides, maybe try some mountains - anyone got any recommendations for where to stay for the Alps, or good companies to go with? There's only me for now (Billy no mates)

ugo.santalucia

Depends what you want... the famous climbs of the Tour? The famous climbs of the Giro? The not so famous but possibly more scenic and quieter alpine passes?
Flying? Driving? How long? With family or without?

secretsam

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Depends what you want... the famous climbs of the Tour? The famous climbs of the Giro? The not so famous but possibly more scenic and quieter alpine passes?
Flying? Driving? How long? With family or without?

Famous climbs - I'm a tart
Flying/Driving don't know
How long - couple of weeks
Just me - kids not interested and too young, no significant other

kingstongraham

And do you want to be supported or solo - budget obviously important in this choice. I've gone with a company fully supported in the past and loved it. All you have to do is ride, eat and sleep.

rdt

KingstonGraham wrote:

And do you want to be supported or solo - budget obviously important in this choice. I've gone with a company fully supported in the past and loved it. All you have to do is ride, eat and sleep.

We're all different and have different tastes, but my guess is that the OP might well have a better time if in a group on an organised trip, where someone else takes care of much of the logistics and there's a bunch to interact with (race, eat and drink with!).

Quite some time ago I did a Vercors & Alps trip with CTC holidays, taking in at the Alps end Croix de Fer, Télégraphe, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Sarenne, plus many other lesser known stuff en route. Fantastic trip.

KingstonGraham: who was your trip with/ how recent? Cheers.

secretsam

rdt wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

And do you want to be supported or solo - budget obviously important in this choice. I've gone with a company fully supported in the past and loved it. All you have to do is ride, eat and sleep.

We're all different and have different tastes, but my guess is that the OP might well have a better time if in a group on an organised trip, where someone else takes care of much of the logistics and there's a bunch to interact with (race, eat and drink with!).

Quite some time ago I did a Vercors & Alps trip with CTC holidays, taking in at the Alps end Croix de Fer, Télégraphe, Galibier, Alpe d'Huez, Sarenne, plus many other lesser known stuff en route. Fantastic trip.

KingstonGraham: who was your trip with/ how recent? Cheers.

^^This sounds fun, although am comfy in my own company and can speak a bit of French

ugo.santalucia

OK... here is my view. If you are there on your own with no kids, you might as well go somewhere where you can have decent food when you are off the bike. That rules out the French Alps, unless you are happy with boot sole-type steak, cheese and potatoes.

Dolomites in Italy is where you want to go, where the famous climbs of the Giro are. You can pin-point Bormio as your fulcrum and look at accomodation around it.
Make no mistake, if you struggle to go up Box hill, the Dolomites are out of your league, in which case you might want to look around the great lakes... north of Lake Garda and lake Como could be an option, for beautiful climbs that don't go on for 10 miles

phil485

I have just finished the Stelvio Weekender run by Sportive Breaks. It is one of their harder weekenders but I found it to be amazing value for money and the customer service from Phil was second to none.
4 Nights in Italy with Halfboard. Guided rides each day with a support van and car.

Might be worth having a quick look through their website. They have a range of organised trips and might be exactly what you need. No links at all to the company just a very satisfied customer. Thinking of Ventoux next year

kingstongraham

I've been on two trips with Pyrenees Multisport (one Pyrenees, one Alps) most recently a few years ago, and one with Alpine Cadence (Dolomites & Stelvio area) last year. I'd recommend both. Alpine Cadence especially wasn't a gentle pootle around, but suited me fine.

secretsam

ugo.santalucia wrote:

OK... here is my view. If you are there on your own with no kids, you might as well go somewhere where you can have decent food when you are off the bike. That rules out the French Alps, unless you are happy with boot sole-type steak, cheese and potatoes.

Not that you're biased...

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Dolomites in Italy is where you want to go, where the famous climbs of the Giro are. You can pin-point Bormio as your fulcrum and look at accomodation around it.

I have thought about Italy

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Make no mistake, if you struggle to go up Box hill, the Dolomites are out of your league, in which case you might want to look around the great lakes... north of Lake Garda and lake Como could be an option, for beautiful climbs that don't go on for 10 miles

Dunno about Box Hill, did that on the Ride 100 a while back, but my locals are the Chilterns, nothing there's beaten me but 10 mile climbs are a bit hard to find!

poweredbyidris

Had a week camping on my own in La Chambre in the Maurienne valley last year, and that was great fun. Rode my bike every day, and spent the afternoon/evening relaxing in the sun with a bottle of cotes du Rhone and some camembert. The climbs round there are tough, but they're the big name cols: Madeleine / Glandon / Croix de Fer / Telegraphe & Galibier. That said, the best 2 rides I did were over the Col du Chaussey via the Lacets de Montvernier (~40km loop from La Chambre), and the gazillion hairpins on a quiet road up the Col du Mollard.

If you want slightly better accommodation than canvas, you can stay in St Jean de Maurienne. It's not the prettiest town (the Maurienne valley is rather industrial), but it's a good base.

secretsam

PoweredByIdris wrote:

Had a week camping on my own in La Chambre in the Maurienne valley last year, and that was great fun. Rode my bike every day, and spent the afternoon/evening relaxing in the sun with a bottle of cotes du Rhone and some camembert. The climbs round there are tough, but they're the big name cols: Madeleine / Glandon / Croix de Fer / Telegraphe & Galibier. That said, the best 2 rides I did were over the Col du Chaussey via the Lacets de Montvernier (~40km loop from La Chambre), and the gazillion hairpins on a quiet road up the Col du Mollard.

If you want slightly better accommodation than canvas, you can stay in St Jean de Maurienne. It's not the prettiest town (the Maurienne valley is rather industrial), but it's a good base.

Sounds epic. How did you get down there, drive?

kingstongraham

ugo.santalucia wrote:

Dolomites in Italy is where you want to go, where the famous climbs of the Giro are. You can pin-point Bormio as your fulcrum and look at accomodation around it.

Bormio is ideal for Stelvio, Gavia, Mortirolo, but you'd want to have another base for the Dolomites wouldn't you.

But they are a step up in difficulty from the famous climbs of the Alps - I'd say go to the Alps for a first trip. Agree on the food being a step up in Italy too. Even on the top of Stelvio, I ate well.

poweredbyidris

SecretSam wrote:

PoweredByIdris wrote:

Had a week camping on my own in La Chambre in the Maurienne valley last year, and that was great fun. Rode my bike every day, and spent the afternoon/evening relaxing in the sun with a bottle of cotes du Rhone and some camembert. The climbs round there are tough, but they're the big name cols: Madeleine / Glandon / Croix de Fer / Telegraphe & Galibier. That said, the best 2 rides I did were over the Col du Chaussey via the Lacets de Montvernier (~40km loop from La Chambre), and the gazillion hairpins on a quiet road up the Col du Mollard.

If you want slightly better accommodation than canvas, you can stay in St Jean de Maurienne. It's not the prettiest town (the Maurienne valley is rather industrial), but it's a good base.

Sounds epic. How did you get down there, drive?

Yep - dove down with a stopover in Dijon. Could be done in a day, but it's a long slog on your own.

Ugo's right about the food, but camping and thus cooking for myself helped there (guaranteed cyclists portions!)

Think I did the Lacets de Montvernier 3 times in that week - good fun and close by

indyp

Sounds a great trip. I'm in the middle of planning something similar going next month and have picked up some good advice from here. I'll be driving down from Calais, probably through Belgium as I want to ride some of Tour of Flanders course. Then go back across the border to try some Pave sections of Roubaix before heading down to Annecy. Plan is to stay there for a week or so then on to Bourg D'Oisans or Le Grand Bornand to climb the famous cols. Then hopefully down to the med/sea to relax and swim before driving to the Pyrennes staying around Pau. I will be camping along the way so it's going to be difficult at times but probably stay the odd night or two in hotels, but funds are limited so will see.

dodgy

I've always been happy with the food in Haute Savoie, surprised to hear such scathing reviews of food in the alps. I guess we're all different. I do start to fancy a good curry after 10 days or so out there, though, so we take our own spices to do just that part way through the two weeks we spend out there

mercia_man

I've done cycle camping tours and fixed base road bike holidays in most of the French Alps over the last 25 years. I would recommend the northern and southern Alps more than the central area around the industrialized and busy Maurienne Valley, even though it has the superb climbs of Croix de Fer and Galibier. There's much more to the French Alps than Alpe d'Huez.

The northern Alps has some wonderful passes often seen in the Tour de France such as the Semnoz (Cret de Chatillon) above Annecy, the Croix Fry, the Aravis, the Colombiere and the really tough and partly gravelled Glieres, as seen in the Tour this year. Annecy, Thones and La Clusaz would all make suitable bases, whether camping, hiring a chalet on a campsite or staying in a hotel. A bit south of them is Beaufort, a lovely little town with a nice municipal campsite. From there you can climb the fantastic Cormet de Roselend and Col du Pre, as seen in this year's TDF, plus the Cols of Saisies and Joly (wonderful view of Mont Blanc at the top where the tarmac ends in a gravel road).

The southern Alps has some really high passes and more chance of hotter and drier weather. The three huge 2,000 metre-plus cols of Allos, Cayolle and Bonette (highest surfaced road in the Alps) are as challenging and scenic as it gets. And there is scope for good round routes using interlinking passes of Valberg and Champs. Barcelonette is a nice town and a good base for those passes as well as the Vars to the north. The roads are much more quiet and suitable for pleasurable cycling than the central Alps. Further south, you could base yourself at St Sauveur-s-Tinee or St Martin Vesubie, near the Italian border, with fabulous climbs into the Mercantour national park up to L'Authion and the Turini as well as scope for a round route taking in the spectacular Gorges du Cians.

As for food, I've mostly enjoyed cooking on campsite with great local ingredients and wine but have had some excellent meals at restaurants or Logis de France and other reasonably priced hotels - no tough steaks, cheese and spuds for me.

ugo.santalucia

Foodwise I am not biased...

I have travelled France extensively, and if you exclude the Mediteranean coast and some expensive restaurants in the main cities, food in France is generally dire... they offer a wide range of meats that they can't cook properly and everything else is covered in dairy fat. I can't remember the last time I left a positive review on Tripadvisor... :-)
It is a problem... for comparison, I quite like eating in the UK, pretty much anywhere, including remote parts of Wales.

In Italy it is difficult to go wrong if you stick to carbs, generally even the worst tourist traps treat you quite well.

thegreatdivide

Mercia Man wrote:

The northern Alps has some wonderful passes often seen in the Tour de France such as the Semnoz (Cret de Chatillon) above Annecy, the Croix Fry, the Aravis, the Colombiere and the really tough and partly gravelled Glieres, as seen in the Tour this year. Annecy, Thones and La Clusaz would all make suitable bases, whether camping, hiring a chalet on a campsite or staying in a hotel. A bit south of them is Beaufort, a lovely little town with a nice municipal campsite. From there you can climb the fantastic Cormet de Roselend and Col du Pre, as seen in this year's TDF, plus the Cols of Saisies and Joly (wonderful view of Mont Blanc at the top where the tarmac ends in a gravel road).

I'll second the Northern Alps. Countless loops that take in some classic Cols and lesser know but much more rewarding climbs. I'm making an effort to go at least once a year now. It's a stunning bit of France.

I can highly recommend Chalet la Giettaz in the village La Giettaz, half way up the Col des Aravis. It's run by sometime frequenter of this forum cc78 and his wife and it's just bloody superb. It's in a prime location for many great loops, or if you want to strike out to the Madeleine, Glandon, Croix de Fer, Chris can do a supported ride, meeting you at certain points along the route and then taking you and the bike home e.g we ride form the chalet, taking in the Madeleine, Lacets du Montvernier and Chaussy, then back down to La Chambre for a beer and a lift home.

The prices are great and so is the home cooked food and cold beer in the chalets own private Bar L’Escale.

http://www.chalet-la-giettaz.com/summer ... -holidays/
http://www.chalet-la-giettaz.com/blog/t ... a-giettaz/
https://ridewithgps.com/users/185323/routes

stueys

If you’re riding solo then check out col collective tours, they are based in the Pyrenees and the setup is great (a group of us went last year). You would get to ride with a supported group of like minded souls. For classic climbs then Bourg (base of alpe d’huez) is a good base, there is every type of accommodation available and you are surronded by the great climbs.

Bormio is a great base for Stelvio and Gavia, both bucket list climbs.

Most picturesque cycling is Dolomites, Cortina makes a good base. Absolutely stunning climbs and shorter than the alps versions.

If you had one trip I would probably do the alps, it’s the climbs everyone knows.

Matthewfalle

curved ball....

how about strade bianche in Tuscany the Giro climbs in Abruzzo then the TT roads out of Pescara and the surrounding.

best scenery, riding, women, food, wine possible.

secretsam

Thanks for all the advice and recommendations, folks - really great

Am quite keen to do Alpe d'Huez - the ex used to work in one of the chalets, so it's kind of a weird thing I need to do.

Like I said, weird...

Matthewfalle

serious question

why do you want to do that?

dodgy

I'd say the Alpe isn't even in the top 10 alpine places to visit. Maybe not even top 20

kingstongraham

dodgy wrote:

I'd say the Alpe isn't even in the top 10 alpine places to visit. Maybe not even top 20

Don't listen to this - it's a great experience riding it. Not the most scenic, not the hardest, not the highest, not the longest - but needs to be done once, doesn't it?

dodgy

KingstonGraham wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I'd say the Alpe isn't even in the top 10 alpine places to visit. Maybe not even top 20

Don't listen to this - it's a great experience riding it. Not the most scenic, not the hardest, not the highest, not the longest - but needs to be done once, doesn't it?

Why, because it's famous and even non-cyclists have heard of it?

kingstongraham

dodgy wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I'd say the Alpe isn't even in the top 10 alpine places to visit. Maybe not even top 20

Don't listen to this - it's a great experience riding it. Not the most scenic, not the hardest, not the highest, not the longest - but needs to be done once, doesn't it?

Why, because it's famous and even non-cyclists have heard of it?

Even you called it "the Alpe".

dodgy

KingstonGraham wrote:

dodgy wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I'd say the Alpe isn't even in the top 10 alpine places to visit. Maybe not even top 20

Don't listen to this - it's a great experience riding it. Not the most scenic, not the hardest, not the highest, not the longest - but needs to be done once, doesn't it?

Why, because it's famous and even non-cyclists have heard of it?

Even you called it "the Alpe".

That's because it's a cycling form and I find writing d'Huez tiresome

OK, recommend someone rides the Alpe, even though there are more beautiful climbs elsewhere, at least when he gets back he'll be able to bore his non cycling buddies with his stories of riding up the hairpins

Matthewfalle

not "why" as in "why ride up it" its there: of course you have to ride up it.

"why" as in "why are you stalking your ex".

secretsam

Matthewfalle wrote:

"why" as in "why are you stalking your ex".

I'm not stalking her - we're on perfectly good terms. It's just something I've wanted to do since I first found out about it.

And I know it's not the most interesting, challenging or scenic. That's why other climbs appeal, e.g. one of the Lacets.

kingstongraham

dodgy wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

dodgy wrote:

KingstonGraham wrote:

dodgy wrote:

I'd say the Alpe isn't even in the top 10 alpine places to visit. Maybe not even top 20

Don't listen to this - it's a great experience riding it. Not the most scenic, not the hardest, not the highest, not the longest - but needs to be done once, doesn't it?

Why, because it's famous and even non-cyclists have heard of it?

Even you called it "the Alpe".

That's because it's a cycling form and I find writing d'Huez tiresome

OK, recommend someone rides the Alpe, even though there are more beautiful climbs elsewhere, at least when he gets back he'll be able to bore his non cycling buddies with his stories of riding up the hairpins

I enjoyed the experience, and remember it more fondly (and vividly) than a lot of more scenic climbs. After watching the pros ride up it for 30 years, riding it is thrilling. It's one of the great arenas of our sport - you'd only avoid it if you aren't interested in pro cycling.