Midland Cyclist: In the French Alps Again - Day 1 - Ornon, Oulles and a stab at Villard de Notre Dame

Monday 27 June 2016

In the French Alps Again - Day 1 - Ornon, Oulles and a stab at Villard de Notre Dame

Like last year, I rode Col d'Ornon again as a starter. It's long enough to be a challenge but not a monster - it takes me about 45-50 minutes from top to bottom. I did it twice in 2015.

I'd picked up a booklet for road cycling routes from the campsite office we're staying at (again the same as last year - the La Cascade at the foot of Alpe d'Huez)

This booklet identified the climb to the village of Oulles as worth doing. The road to Oulles is about 2km from the foot of the climb of Col d'Ornon so not out of the way.

Unlike last year I rode from the campsite on the road to Grenoble and at the turn to Allemont did a U turn and headed back for the Ornon climb - this I hoped would get me properly warmed up. We rode straight to the climb last year and I almost blew up on the 1st km. This year by the time I was on the climb I felt pretty good and was able to ride comfortably in the 34-26 gear for several km before needing the 34-28. Given that I was no where near as fit this year compared to last year this was good. However at the shorter steeper section at Le Rivier I dropped into my old man gear of 34-32 as I felt myself getting tired. This section was more10-12% compared to the 8-10% up to that point. I was able to drop back to the 34-28 after a km or so and get to the summit in progressively higher gears. I felt quite strong at the top given where I was fitness wise and decided to do the Oulles climb. So after a reasonable later I took the turning to the village

Right from the word go it was steep and challenging. It was a very narrow road with minimal safety barriers. The gradient seemed a consistent 10% (sometimes a little lower but often 11-12% for some time. Here I needed the 34-32 and ground up slowly. For a long time it was difficult to see where the road would end up as it twisted back and forth frequently. Eventually I could see the village and a more straight piece of road that led to it. The village was nothing more than a few houses in reality, and at the end of the road I turned round and descended carefully back to the Ornon road. It was a tough climb

I used my Virb to record the climb:

Once I'd uploaded the ride to Strava I found that I'd bagged a KOM somewhere on the road. However this was down to poor a GPS signal rather than any decent pace, so apologies to the true owner of the KOM.

Once back down on the main road to Bourg I decided that I still felt OK and would climb to Villard de Notre Dame. I'd become aware of this climb from a Bikeradar forum post and it looked magnificent. I had plotted this on my Garmin as it climbed from the back of Bourg somewhere, but in reality it was well sign posted and easy to follow. I was aware of the tunnels and had fitted my (be seen) lights in anticipation. As I rode up a sign warned people of the tunnels and I thought I was OK. The first tunnel appeared and was all of 20-30m so no problem I thought, As I emerged the road was stunning with the overhanging rock. 2-300m further on came the 2nd tunnel - 350m in length.

As I roe in so did a load of motorcyclists so there was lots of light. The road surface was poor. Unfortunately as the last of them turned a corner I was left in complete and utter pitch blackness and could not see a thing. My front light was hopelessly inadequate. I briefly thought about walking further on (I'd seen 2 cyclists walking the other way) but decided discretion was the better part of valour, turned round and headed for the light slowly and back to the camp site. However the road was stunning - I can only imagine that it looks the same further on. Here are some pictures (from my Garmin Virb):