Grenoble to La Grave

Monday I rode from Grenoble to La Grave, completing my transition into the Alps.

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Yesterday's ride from Lyon was certainly a transition day, and this was another one. After the traditional French breakfast, the day started with... waiting. I thought I could charge my camera with its USB cable, but that wasn't working. So I decided to wait until the (very close-by) FNAC opened at 10:00 so I could buy a charger. I found one that would work, but was expensive. Maybe it was a bargain, though, since the TSA apparently changed the rules in the previous couple of days, and if my camera couldn't be turned on I risked having to leave it behind.

So it was that despite being up quite early I didn't get moving until around 11.

Hot Springs at Uriage-Les-Bains

A side road off D524

I knew I wanted to revisit the old town of Vizille, which I had passed through in 2012, but since there was a lot of climbing today I decided to avoid D5, the direct route, in favor of the flatter D524. D524 turns out to be a very pretty road, passing through some picturesque mountain villages before entering Vizille next to the chateau.

Entering Vizille

I would have preferred to spend a little time in Vizille, but daylight was burning so I passed through and began the long slog up D1091. As you can see from the elevation profile below, this road just goes up, gradually increasing in grade, until it hits the plain that contains Bourg d'Oisans at about 700 meters.

At the second hairpin on D211

All along the way it was threatening rain. I thought about stopping in Bourg d'Oisans for lunch, but since it was still sunny I instead just bought two packaged sandwiches at the Casino supermarket (one of the few open on Sunday), and started up the Alpe d'Huez climb.

When I rode through this area in 2012, I chose an odd hotel nominally in La Garde, a micro-village on the Alpe d'Huez climb, but actually across a gorge and 2000 feet of climbing away. That was inconvenient, but the positive side was that it introduced me to D211a, a little road scratched into the side of the mountain, offering stunning views of the valley below. I wanted to revisit that road on the way to La Grave, which meant climbing up the bottom third of the Alpe d'Huez climb to La Garde, then taking D211a as it peels off.

Looking east, near the base of the Alpe d'Huez climb. You can just barely see D211a about 2/3 of the way up the mountain.

The climb felt pretty good, despite my full pack. I was definitely slow, and it rained a bit, but I felt OK. I turned off on D211a, then began its long climb. In 2012 this always ended at the road up to the Maronne, so I hadn't realized that in this direction the road just keeps climbing, right up to 1200+ meters. Ugh.

Looking back toward Bourg d'Oisans from D211a

When I got to the relatively level part of the road, the part with shear drops to the valley below and consequently great photo opportunities, fog was falling down the valley and it was getting much colder. I stopped to eat one of the packaged sandwiches. At one point I noticed wisps the fog rising above the road, which I thought would make a good picture. By the time I fished my phone out of the bag I was already in pea soup. Ugh. No more good pictures today.

Riding that spindly little road in practically no visibility was a little worrisome. There's barely room for a car, and the guard walls are pretty low. Overcook a corner, and you're Wile E. Coyote. But my real concern was the weather; if it got much colder I didn't know what I could do. The weather certainly rolled down the valley quickly.

I continued on, and at a four-way intersection I took the wrong turn, entering D211g and the tiny village of... maybe Les Cours? A little lesson in French road numbering: A letter suffix already indicates that the road is a glorified track, and once they get to G, the road is just an afterthought. Accordingly, D211g is tiny, not so much a road as a series of connected driveways. OK, this was obviously wrong. I climbed the steep ramp out of the village to the main road... and made a wrong turn. In fact, it wasn't even the main, minor road -- it was D211e. As it turns out, I did about half the climb up to the ski station at Auris d'Oisans before I decided that surely I would have remembered this from 2012. I should have finished it off, but I was worried about the time, and besides the fog precluded views once I was up there.

So I turned around, following D211a back down toward D1091, the main road through this valley. I knew the hotel was at an elevation of about 1450m, so I was disappointed to rejoin D1091 below 1000 meters. Lots of climbing ahead.

The view from the hotel in La Grave

From this point, the ride was a slow cold slog up the hill. I managed to reach the hotel at about 18:30, with plenty of daylight (for what little that was worth) and in time for dinner. So not too bad.

Elevation Profile

Monday was a little over 58 miles, with 6600 feet of climbing. The most difficult kilometer was at the start of the Alpe d'Huez climb... but of course that doesn't take temperature into account.

Lyon to Grenoble

Yesterday I started my cycling tour by riding from Lyon to Grenoble.

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On paper, this first ride was long but relatively flat, and would serve as a shakedown ride for the rented bike.

Being unable to sleep, largely due to the time change, I got a pretty early start and was on the road by 8:15. After adjusting the bike's saddle height (a few times), I headed south-east out of Lyon. I think I missed the nice parts of the city. My path took me through generally industrial areas (including a giant Renault truck factory) and poorer neighborhoods. The built-up area seemed to go on for ages; it was past Heyrieux before I was finally in an open space.

Downtown Heyrieux

The countryside was lovely, as usual, but this ride was longer than I expected. As it turns out, it was the second-longest ride I've done in months, and had plenty of climbing. Plus it was a little warmer than I'm used to; still quite pleasant, but I went through plenty of water. It's not bad, but slightly worrying as this was meant to be an easy day.

Which brings up the point that everything is closed in France on Sundays, including grocery markets. But gas stations are open, so I stopped at a combination gas station/bar to buy water and a much-needed tea in La Frette. Almost immediately afterward, I got my first glimpse of the Alps, standing huge and snow-covered on the horizon.

Signs on D1085 note that it was be closed for Stage 13 of the Tour de France, which heads into Grenoble before finishing in the nearby Ski resort of Chamrousse. I took D1085 until dropping off onto the side road into Moirans, and from there down to a trail next to the Isere river. The trail was lovely, but there must have been violent storms recently, since it was covered with broken branches. In fact, in about four places it was completely blocked -- you had to climb over or ride around.

L'Isere river from the bike path

The trail follows the north side of the river right into the city. At one stage it hugs the graffiti-covered retaining wall of the A48 highway, which as I passed was being redecorated by five separate painters. My hotel, and the refreshing shower it represented, were just across the river.

Elevation profile

This first ride was just over 72 miles, with 2000 feet of climbing. It was a bit of a sobering introduction to this tour. We'll see what tomorrow holds.

Back in the Alps

I'm taking my second cycling tour of the Alps. I did a similar thing two years ago as part of a family vacation, but this time I'm here alone so cycling has taken center stage.

The giant Airbus 380 flying from SFO to CDG

On the previous trip I started in Grenoble, and took a clockwise tour over the Col du Galibier. This time I started in Lyon, because it has an airport, and I'll be taking a counter-clockwise trip over much of the same terrain before extending the tour up to Annecy.

With a more demanding work schedule I wasn't really able to train properly for this trip. Two years ago I was routinely taking long rides to Santa Cruz, but this time most of my training was in the form of my commute. That's not too bad; it's 27 miles, and included either Mt. Eden and Pierce, or more recently Redwood Gulch, all with a loaded bag weighing me down. So that's something.

Waiting in CDG for the flight to LYS

I realized early on that I wasn't going to be able to put in the miles, so I decided I would need to lose weight. Last time, despite putting in lots of miles, I never lost meaningful weight. This time I actually focused on that, and was able to drop enough weight so that my body plus my fully-loaded bag actually weighs less than just my body did two years ago. I hope it helps.

The packing list from the previous trip is only slightly updated for this one. I'm using literally the same Topeak bag, the one I used two years ago and on my everyday commute. I don't think they sell it anymore, which is a shame -- it's very flexible. I'm typing this on the same notebook computer I brought two years ago, which has seen little use since then. A Chromebook might have been a good alternative, but I want to run a little software I've written, so a Linux machine is a must.

Two years ago I packed one pair of pants and one polo-style shirt for dinner. I found that constraining, so this time I packed one long pair of pants, a pair of shorts, and a button-down shirt. I bought all these special for the trip, looking for clothes that were physically light and resistant to wrinkles. It turns out the secret word is: Golf pants. Looks arguably acceptable, completely unnatural fibers, perfect for my purpose.

My view from the hotel restaurant's patio.

The main difference in my packing is something I left out: my bike. My wife managed to track down a place from which to rent a road bike, in July in the Alps. Amazing. And while I was a little worried about it, it has turned out to be amazingly convenient (I'm writing this on day two of the trip). In fact, the bike was waiting for me at the hotel when I checked in. That saved me from having to lug a bike around the airport (and in fact saved me from having any checked bags at all), and a two-week rental cost less than the airline's bike fee.

The start of the trip has been nearly perfect. The flights, while long, were on time. As it turns out the Lyon airport isn't all that close to Lyon, as my taxi bill attests. It's only slightly farther to Grenoble, so I could have started and finished there. But no complaints so far.

The first dinner was Guinea Fowl on a bed of mashed potatoes, eaten outside overlooking the Saone.

Hamilton and Livermore

Today I finally did something I've been meaning to do for a long time -- I cycled the Mount Hamilton/Livermore loop.

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I've done this ride once before, but lately every time I get to the top of Mount Hamilton I find some reason to turn around. This time I got to my Berryessa parking spot at about 8:30, on a day clear and warm but not hot. I managed to climb to the top of Hamilton in good order, and once at the top I felt good, with no excuse to cut the ride short. So after filling my bottles and having a couple welcome cans of juice, I started the descent on the backside of Hamilton.

Joseph D. Grant Park, green despite our dry spring

47 miles to Livermore

At some point along this descent, I think I broke a front spoke. I mean, I know I broke a spoke; I think it was in this section.

I rode through the valleys behind Hamilton in the enjoyable company of a fellow rider. We split up at the Junction when I stopped for a tuna sandwich and he continued on. The road after the junction starts climbing, and at this point the wind started to make itself known, too. The wind would be the dominant feature of the rest of the ride along Mines Road, always managing to be in my face despite the turns in the road.

Mines Road, heading off into the wind

When I got to Livermore I continued toward the center of town, where the Livermore Wine Country Festival had closed down the main streets. Looked pretty popular. I continued toward Pleasanton on Stanley Boulevard, again directly against the wind on this exposed road. I've never been to Pleasanton before, and since I stayed on Stanley as it turned into First and later Sunol Road, I guess I still haven't really seen it. The road appears to pass near, but not through, downtown.

Calaveras Reservoir

Sunol Road turns out to be a very pretty little road, and since it parallels 680 it appears to be little used. It led from Pleasanton down to Sunol. Is that little store the totality of Sunol, incidentally? I continued down Calaveras Road, saw the seemingly relatively healthy Calaveras reservoir, and then dropped back down into town, and the end of the ride.

Today's little jaunt was a satisfying 103 miles, with 7700 feet of climbing. All the climbs are gentle, so the most difficult kilometer was near the top of Hamilton, at just 6.5%. I'm pretty happy to have finally completed the loop again, but now I'm wondering just how long it's going to take before I can climb the stairs normally.

Aztec Ridge

Last Sunday, being short of time, I rode my bike around some neighborhood roads that were new to me. At the risk of sounding dramatic, I think I rediscovered what I like so much about cycling.

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We were planning a family thing in the afternoon, so I only had until about noon for a ride. It was going to have to be short. Meanwhile, there are a bunch of nearby roads that I've long been intending to explore. In particular, every evening on my commute across Kennedy Road I pass by Teresita Way. On the map, it looks like you can get to Teresita via Cypress Way, so I decided to try that out.

To add a little spice, I decided to ride up Harwood, over the hill to Santa Rosa Drive, which I've also never seen. I had ridden up and over Harwood once before, on a mountain bike, but on that occasion I took the Rocky Ridge trail down to Shannon.

Hardwood is quite steep near it's top, but it's not very long -- all told, I recorded a one mile climb of about 8.5%, but that included part of Santa Rosa Drive. At the top of Harwood there's a short gated section, with a walkway. I'm not clear on the legal status of that section of road, but no one yelled at me while I was on it. Santa Rosa Drive is a series of steep little ramps winding among fabulous homes, ending with a dive down to Shannon.

The view from Cypress

At the end of Shannon I went down the road to pick up Loma Alta Avenue, on my way to Cypress. I've been on this stretch of road before, but turned down Phillips Avenue toward home. This time I continued up Cypress, which turned into a lovely, shaded, isolated little road. I had intended to take Blackberry Hill Road over to Teresita, but in the event I missed the turn; it looked more like a driveway. Cypress just climbed and climbed, to my continuing surprise, reaching Aztec Ridge at an elevation of 1,400 feet. It was also quite steep -- the most difficult kilometer of the ride was in this section, at 13%.

A one-lane road in the hills

The map says that Aztec Ridge links up with Teresita via Blackberry Hill. It doesn't; there's a gate. So after consulting the map again, it was down Cypress to the missed intersection, and over to Teresita. In the middle of that stretch, there's a little one-lane private road, possibly Mireval Road, that's awfully pretty.

After the steep drop down Teresita, I followed my normal route home over the remainder of Kennedy.

Virtually all of the riding I've been doing lately has been commuting, and far too much of that has been repeating routes, exactly. When you do that, you tend to mentally note the time for each ride, and an enjoyable ride becomes some sort of training exercise. That's no fun. This ride reminded me of how great cycling can be, even on short rides near home, when you are exploring new places and seeing new things.

This ride was just 15.7 miles of concentrated fun, with 2200 feet of climbing. Cypress turned out to be the big climb of the day, very nearly 2 miles at 9.5%, including that last kilometer at 13%. And there was still time to have lots of fun with the family in the afternoon.

Boulder Creek

For the first time in ages, I went for a long ride on the weekend.

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I've been riding, I swear. In fact I've been riding quite a lot, but it's all commuting, and not really interesting to write about. But as I'm planning another little cycling tour in France this summer, I need to find a way to fit in some longer rides.

So it was that this morning, after monitoring the Tour of Flanders bike race and watching the thrilling Formula 1 Bahrain GP all the way through the driver interviews, I headed out.

A railroad bridge on Zayante

The ride itself was nothing special -- I took Bear Creek Road to Boulder Creek, then rode down to Felton and took Zayante back home. It was lovely finishing a ride when it's still light outside.

Alma, where the Lexington Reservoir used to be.

Today's ride was just over 58 miles, with over 5100 feet of climbing. That's pretty good for me at this stage, but it'll have to get better.

Lunch at the Summit Store

Hm, long time without a post, and this won't be much of one. Basically I rode up to the Summit Store for a nice lunch.

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While I haven't posted anything in months, I've been riding quite a bit. Since the time changed I've been riding home from work fairly regularly. In the last few weeks I've extended the ride a little by heading over Mt. Eden Road, Pierce Road and Kennedy, for a total of about 1800 feet of climbing. Not bad for a weekday, but at the same time not much to write about.

Morrill Road

Nothing much new on this ride, just getting reacquainted with the old route from Los Gatos up Old Santa Cruz Highway. I spun the wheels on the steep bit of the Los Gatos Creek trail and had to walk up; maybe that was due to its dustiness this late in the season, or maybe just being out of practice. Other than that, not much has changed over the summer.

After enjoying half a Full House at the Summit Store, I took the Morrell cut-off back up to Summit, then just headed home. While climbing up Kennedy I took South Kennedy for a change, and decided to follow Phillips Road to see where that took me. Otherwise, just back home.

Elevation profile

Today's ride was about 41 miles, with 3400 feet of climbing. The hardest kilometer was climbing up the Morrell Cut-off. I very much enjoyed a ride without the constraints of the commute, but these may continue to be very rare while that's going on. We'll see what happens when the time changes.