I found it difficult to sleep last night with the thought of what was going to be coming in the next several days. I was reasonably confident that I would be able to do the first day, but what of the next days. Today my climb was through a pass called Col de la Colombiere with an average grade of 6%, a climb of 1100 meters, over a distance of 16km. My whole ride today from start to finish was to be 102km to our final destination near Albertville. After a typical European breakfast of cereal, meats, cheeses and bread, I got everything ready and departed by 9:30am. Connie planned to leave an hour or two later and meet me at the top. My first 25km was back up the hill we came down to get to our hotel, 3km of 5% grade followed by a nice downhill into the town of Cluses. On my way through town I noticed a vegetable and fruit stand so I stopped to pick up a couple of bananas. A short distance later I commenced my climb. I noticed that there were markers at every kilometer to tell you how many km were left, how high you were, and the grade over the next km. At first these were informative, but it didn't take long for them to become annoying. I mean really, do I need to know that I’ve only gone 5km and I’m facing a 10% grade and I’m already feeling like this was a bad idea? Half way into the climb I reached the town of Le Reposoir. The grade here was only 2-3%, but by now that felt flat and my speed picked up. It didn’t last long. The last 7km ended up being between 7 and 11%, with all of the last 3km being 10%. It was absolutely grueling in the 28 degree heat.
By the time I reached the summit it was noon and Connie had not passed me yet
. I sent her a text to let her know I was there already, which was a surprise to her. She had stopped in town to pick up some water and fruit for me and was just starting her way up. I stayed around to snap a few pics and then started my way down. Once at the bottom I passed through a nice ski village and then realized that in planning my route I had inadvertently added another pass, the Col de la Aravis, which was 10km long and averaged 5%. After Colombiere this was childs play, except that the wind picked up and was in my face the whole way. Nonetheless I put that climb to bed fairly quickly and was at the top by 2pm. Still there was no sign of Connie. At this point I realized a fatal flaw in my planning. You see, coming into this trip I kept telling people that my main motivation in climbing quickly was that she had the VISA and would be ahead waiting for me in the next town…shopping. I had to get there quickly to limit the damage. What I didn’t take into account was the many shopping opportunities on the way to the tops of the climbs
. Connie came trundling along an hour later.
We had a bite to eat in one of the restaurants on Aravis and I loaded up on water for the rest of the ride. Some of you may recall that on our last trip to Europe on motorcycles, our stops revolved around me having a local beer and Connie a strong coffee. This time around it seems to be me getting a liter of water and Connie having a Crepe. I left Connie behind to do some souvenir hunting and made my way down the mountain. It was to be a steep decent followed by a gradual down slope all the way through Albertville to our hotel just a few kilometers beyond the city…or not. A damned detour half way down took me gradually along the side of the mountain for 15km. Unfortunately it started with 5km of climbing again. By now my legs were feeling pooched. Finally the climbing came to an end and I blasted through 15km pretty quickly. Total distance ended up being 5km more than planned and I had done 2325m of climbing overall. Not the start I had planned for the trip.
I got to the hotel and to my surprise…no Connie again. This was becoming an unwelcome scene. I checked into the hotel but was unable to have a shower and get cleaned up as all my clothes were in the car…with Connie. I sent her a text but didn’t get a reply. I called, but nothing. Half an hour later I got a call from an unknown number…it was Connie on a cell phone she had borrowed from someone at a restaurant on the top of Aravis because her cell was in the car…with the keys
. Seems she had not unlocked the car but just used the key to open the trunk lid and a gust of wind had slammed the lid shut with her keys inside. She called Sixt who took an hour to figure out where she was because the pass wasn’t listed anywhere they looked. Nonetheless, they had someone there an hour later and got her unlocked. Great work on Sixt’s part indeed. Connie made friends with some of the locals in the restaurant while she was waiting for help. They were very helpful with lending her their cell phones and the bartender kept her coffee full.
Meanwhile for me the restaurant at the hotel was closed, but luckily the bar was open and the Germany-France game was on to keep me amused, although it was difficult to cheer my team on with all the Frenchies around. The proprietor was also the owner of the hotel which, although showing its age, was very clean and well kept. The hospitality was excellent. By the time Connie reached the hotel it was 7:30pm, two and a half hours after I’d arrived. We got our stuff up into the room and I quickly had a shower so we could find a place to eat as I was famished. We found a great restaurant not too far away and had a good pasta meal. By 11pm we were back in the room and fast asleep.
Connie not the support I'd hoped for
Friday, July 04, 2014
Albertville, Rhône-Alpes, France
Other Entries
-
1The packing begins!
Jun 304 days priorNewmarket, Canadaphoto_camera3videocam 0comment 6 -
2Welcome to Deutschland!
Jul 013 days priorStuttgart, Germanyphoto_camera6videocam 0comment 3 -
3Rest day...sort of...
Jul 022 days priorStuttgart, Germanyphoto_camera8videocam 0comment 8 -
4Drive to France
Jul 031 day priorCluses, Francephoto_camera9videocam 0comment 8 -
5Connie not the support I'd hoped for
Jul 04Albertville, Francephoto_camera14videocam 0comment 5 -
6I've named my bike
Jul 051 day laterSaint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Francephoto_camera21videocam 0comment 1 -
7Mmmm...rest day
Jul 062 days laterSaint-Jean-de-Maurienne, Francephoto_camera11videocam 0comment 2 -
8Mother nature gives me an ass-whoopin!
Jul 073 days laterLa Grave, Francephoto_camera28videocam 0comment 6 -
9Alpe D'Huez here I come!
Jul 084 days laterAlpe d'Huez, Francephoto_camera18videocam 0comment 1 -
10Nice drive in the French countryside
Jul 095 days laterMazan, Francephoto_camera15videocam 0comment 2 -
11Ceci est était incroyable journée
Jul 106 days laterMont Ventoux, Francephoto_camera19videocam 0comment 3 -
12The drive to Paris
Jul 117 days laterParis, Francephoto_camera9videocam 0comment 4 -
13Great day to stand in line
Jul 128 days laterParis, Francephoto_camera45videocam 0comment 5 -
14Paris siteseeing, part deux
Jul 139 days laterParis, Francephoto_camera35videocam 0comment 3 -
15Bye bye Paris, hello Stuttgart
Jul 1410 days laterÉpernay, Francephoto_camera27videocam 0comment 1 -
16Uh oh...Connie has another turn of bad luck
Jul 1511 days laterStuttgart, Germanyphoto_camera0videocam 0comment 3 -
17A day spent at the consulate
Jul 1612 days laterStuttgart, Germanyphoto_camera2videocam 0comment 4 -
18Making do with some extra days in Stuttgart
Jul 1814 days laterStuttgart, Germanyphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 1 -
19A drive to the Black Forest and a Disco party!
Jul 1915 days laterBaiersbronn, Germanyphoto_camera16videocam 0comment 4 -
20The Day After Big Tom…
Jul 2016 days laterStuttgart, Germanyphoto_camera12videocam 0comment 1 -
21Coming home :-) :-(
Jul 2117 days laterFrankfurt, Germanyphoto_camera4videocam 0comment 4
Comments

2025-02-16
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Johndot
2014-07-06
After reading about the first big climb, I'd have to say that I'm with Connie. As much as shopping can suck the life force out of me, I can generally recover once removed from the environment. Climbing those grades in anything but a BMW 328i Sport Wagon would be killer.
Brian
2014-07-06
Hope you have the energy to keep writing bud... as far as Connie's exploits, I'm not surprised :)
Have fun you two!
wanda mcclure
2014-07-06
What a start to your big adventure!! Good Luck with the rest..and tell Connie to enjoy the shopping!
Denise Exler
2014-07-06
Can't trust those French wind gusts! Hope the rest of the trip goes smoother. Thanks so much for sharing:)