Here’s a recap of a bicycle tour Debbie and I took with Trek Travel this past August. It was a six-day, five night tour through some breathtaking scenery in the French Alps. This was our third trip with Trek Travel. Previous trips were through Southwest Utah National Parks and California Wine Country.

Day One 35 miles, 1600 ft gain

Trek Travel met us at the train station in Annecy at 9:30 a.m. After a stroll through the heart of Annecy and the farmers market, we took a ferryboat across the lake to the Abbaye de Talloires, our home for the next two nights. After lunch and getting fit to our Trek Madone 5.2 bikes, we were off on our first ride. It was a 35 mile loop incorporating a small pass over the Le Tour de la Tournette. Though it was lightly raining most of the way, we still enjoyed some beautiful scenery of Lake Annecy below and warmed up our legs for all the climbing to come later in the week. We concluded the day with a welcome reception, overview of tomorrow’s ride and a delicious five-course dinner at our luxurious hotel.

Day Two 50 miles, 5000 ft gain

Today’s ride took us around Lake Annecy and after our first climb of the day, a ten-mile ascent, we stopped for lunch in Annecy. Annecy is a beautiful city in the foothills of the Alps and is considered the Venice of France. After lunch we rode up the Col de Forclaz which was a category 2 climb in the 2004 Tour de France. We had spectacular views of Lake Annecy all the way up. About three kilometers from the top we started seeing our breath as the road got steeper and the air got colder. It started sleeting at the top so we grabbed our jackets for the ride down the mountain. After our cold decent back to our hotel, we found the hot tub to warm up. A wine tasting of regional French wines preceded another delicious dinner.

Day Three 80 miles, 8400 ft gain

Today was the hardest ride day and also the most rewarding. We rode the first 50 miles winding through small villages in the foothills of the Alps. After a break to fuel up for the climb ahead, we started a 25-mile climb up the Col de Galibier (a HC beyond category climb in the Tour). We had spectacular scenery all the way up to one of the high peaks in the Alps. We continued to climb and climb and climb. We now understood what a beyond category climb is for the Tour pros. We didn’t stay at the top long as the temperature was in the low 40s and it started to sleet. We had a 5 mile fast and sometimes tricky decent down the other side to our hotel for the next three nights, Hotel Bonnabel on the Col du Lautaret located at 7000 feet elevation. Another hot tub visit and we were ready for the dinner they had prepared for us. After discussing the day’s events with the group, it was off to bed to get some needed rest to be ready for tomorrow’s ride. A great day that we won’t forget!

Day Four 45 miles, 4000 ft gain

We started the day a little later to help let the weather clear and give our bodies a few extra hours to recover from yesterday’s strenuous climb. We started by descending 25 miles down the mountain. All the elevation gain we worked to climb yesterday was now gone. However, we started to see some great waterfalls and flowing rivers cut into the mountains. One waterfall is said to be higher than Niagara Falls. We turned on a back road and we started our climb back up through the mountains to where the road ended at La Berarde. Along the way, we passed through small villages on the edge of the mountains that overlooked the valley below and snow capped peaks on the other side. We enjoyed a gourmet picnic lunch at La Berarde and soaked up the scenery. The road to this remote village is only open about three months of the year because of snowfall and narrow roads (no room for guardrails) on the edge of the mountains. We opted to shuttle back down in the van to view more of the scenery rather than descend around the tricky corners. Back at the hotel we enjoyed a three-course meal and went to bed knowing that tomorrow would be a cyclist’s dream to climb Alpe d’Huez. It was a great day for sightseeing in some of the wildest and most remote country in France accessible by road.

Day Five 40 miles, 5000 ft gain

Alpe d’Huez has become the most famous climb on the Tour. After our decent from our hotel, we started our ascent up the 21 switchbacks to this small ski village in the Alps. The road was marked from start to finish with pro cyclists’ names that fans had painted to encourage their heroes to the top. Hard to believe that 500,000 fans could be on this mountain at one time. The average grade on this mountain is 8.0% for the 9-mile climb. We lingered at the top with lunch at an outdoor café and soaked in the reward that we had just conquered one of the Tour’s most difficult climbs. That night, we toasted our last day of epic ascents and enjoyed another outstanding French dinner that included fondue, raclette and tartiflette, all cheese dishes unique to the region.

Day Six

We decided to have a leisurely morning with a good breakfast and prepare for our bus ride to the Grenoble train station at 10:00 a.m. We said our goodbyes to new friends from the States and Canada and started our trip home.

The trip was everything we hoped it would be. The 3000 miles of riding we did preparing for the trip was well worth it. We were able to enjoy the scenery on every climb rather than having our heads down gasping for breath. We have an even greater appreciation for the pro cyclists knowing that they race over these mountains and many more each day for three weeks straight during the Tour de France. We ended the week riding 250 miles and climbing approximately 24,000 feet of elevation. Along the way, we saw some of the most beautiful scenery you’ll ever experience from the seat of a bicycle. We already started plans for our next trip.

Happy cycling and slow down to smell and view the roses and mountains. There’s a beautiful world out there.

Ken Gamache