Tour de France, Day 1 – Col du Lautaret
Day 1: La Grave to Col du Lautaret with Briancon Return. 30 miles. Total ascent: 5,643 ft
Today we met our guides and fellow riders in Grenoble. There are roughly 15 people in our group. There are 5 women, 3 of whom are riding, and except for me they are all with their husbands. Thanks to that fortunate circumstance, I have no roommate. Our guides are all women, roughly my age, and beautiful.
Grenoble was raining and cold when we awoke. Our first step was a 90-minute bus ride to La Grave. As soon as we left the city, the sun broke through and the French Alps came into view. They did not disappoint. It is hard to describe them without using cliches. They remind me of the Swiss mountains, but much closer, and daunting when you know that you will be climbing them soon. The images on Versus do not do them justice.
We had lunch in a creperie in La Grave; I had a galette (non-sweet crepe) with ham, cheese, mushrooms, and egg. It was a tasty meal. Then we went to get our bikes fit. I am pleased with the bike they gave me. I ride a 6.5 Madone at home, and having access to one here was a motivation for choosing this tour company. It had a compact double, the same as mine.
My tour bike, a Trek Madone 6.5 with compact double.
The ride started immediately with a 10-mile climb up Col du Lautaret, at grades that were generally between 7-9%. The guides warned us not to get distracted by the view; it was easy to do! The mountains surrounded us, and there were stunning vistas at every turn. Not just at the top of a hill or at certain moments…the views were there throughout the ride. If America looked like this everyone would ride a bike.
Cimbing Col du Lauteret.
We reached our hotel at the top of Col du Lautaret, but continued past it down the other side. This was a glorious descent. The roads are fairly well maintained here, although guardrails are missing and one had better enjoy heights! You could ride down as far as you wanted, then turn around and go back to the hotel. I took the longest cued route, for a total of 30 miles, because it was just too much fun. I later learned that almost everyone else had turned around early, at Le Monetier-les-Bains. It was rather a long way back! But my legs were fresh and the view inspirational, I enjoyed it tremendously.
The Tour de France will come through here tomorrow, and the RVs are already lining the roads. There were also a great number of cyclists on the road, though not so many women. Cars were accomodating and I received various words of encouragement and calls of “allez, allez”. I’m told that Alpe d’Huez will be a real experience with crowds, with people spontaneously pushing you up the hill as you ride.
The view from my hotel window: RVs ready for Tour de France
The police have closed various roads in preparation for the Tour and they are rather capricious in their decision making at times. This has forced some changes to our itinerary. Tomorrow we were supposed to do 50 miles. However, we must get back to the hotel by noon before the road closes. So our route will be a different one, and only 20 miles long. It must be said that the profile looks quite steep, but still, that seems awfully short. The following two days will be much longer, though, so taking it easy before climbing Alpe d’Huez may be a good idea. The focus of tomorrow will be the passage of the Tour through here on their way up Galibier.
We had dinner at a brasserie next to the hotel, with fondue, mushroom soup, cold cuts, chicken, and blueberry pie. It’s almost impossible to mess up fondue and the cold cuts were decent, but the rest of the meal was very disappointing. The hotel has its quirks, with no chest of drawers and no internet access. This is minor though if the riding is good. I’m looking forward to the next two days.