Today we set out to tackle the Col du Izoard, another popular Tour de France climb. It was about a 1500m elevation gain to the top over about 22 km – shorter compared to some of the other ascents we've done. With some steep sections of around 14% thrown into the mix, it made for quite a challenging climb. We set out from our campsite in Briançon and headed up a road around the base of the old town that led us towards the Col. It was uphill for the first third of the ride, then there was a few kms where we dropped down into a valley again, and then uphill the remainder of the way. It was warm out and I was working really hard on this ride (read: sweating profusely). Fortunately, the scenery was pretty beautiful the whole way along and this helped to distract me from the effort required. The last ten kilometers or so to the top were definitely the toughest, with a number of steep switcbacks. Megs was out in the van again, taking pictures of us along the way. Within 2-3 hrs, we were all up at the pass and I was glad that it was done because my legs were hurting that day. I had thought the rest of the loop back to the campsite was downhill and therefore easy, but I was mistaken. As I mentioned earlier, the ascent was only about 22 km so we still had another 60 km back to the campsite. Please don’t mistake the brevity of this paragraph to be proportional to the difficulty of the ride as that was definitely not the case!

When I reached the pass and had some time to catch my breath and gulp down lots of water, I looked across the road and saw Tanya and Mägge happily shopping at a roadside stand. It turns out that it was a candy stand and it was the vendor’s last day up at the top! Tanya was absolutely thrilled as she loves candy and so we came away with a good haul of candy to munch on over the next few days. We decided it was too windy to have lunch at the top so we descended a few kms on the other side and pulled over at a picnic table. Megs got out a whole spread for lunch – salads, breads, cheeses and we even had dessert this time! When she had been shopping earlier this morning, after we had set out on our ride, she had spotted pre-cooked crêpes that just needed to be heated before serving. So when she brought out the first crêpe for Hille, he was over the moon! Just imagine getting served hot crêpes after a tough bike ride. This was five-star service and Megs was really setting the bar high. So we devoured a crêpe each with some jam/maple syrup/honey. We then cleaned up and were headed on our way once again. We are a lot faster on the bikes on a descent than the van so we went on ahead and Megs was going to make her own way back to the campsite. 

Once we got to the valley floor, we came out alongside a fast-flowing river that was almost turquoise in color. We rode alongside it for a bit and then once again started climbing our way out of the valley. The river was soon several hundred meters below us and we were litterally cycling on a tiny road that was carved into the side of a cliff face. It was a sheer drop on one side and there were no railings so I stayed nearly in the middle of the road. The views were amazing and Megs managed to get a photo of all of us riding under an impressive rock overhang.

We then began another descent till we hit the main road leading towards Briançon. We were soon at a long stretch of flat road. There was a lot of traffic alongside us and a bit of a headwind so I was introduced to a technique used by road cyclicsts – staying in a pack and drafting. When you draft, you have to keep your front tire only a few inches away from the rear tire of the cycle in front of you, while the lead cyclist sets the pace. The idea is that the lead cyclicst is exerting the most effort by cycling into the wind while the others are kind of in a slipstream. Personally, I was happy to just exert more effort and go at my own pace as I knew I would have difficulty keeping up with the others on the flats over a long distance. I knew this because I had tried it once before on a stretch back from Col d’Iseran and I only lasted a minute or two before they were way ahead of me. They insisted that they would keep a reasonable pace and Hille said he would take the rear of the pack so he could give the leader warning if I was falling behind.

So off we went: Tanya in the lead, Mägge next, Rod, yours truly, and then Hille bringing up the rear. Tanya switched off the lead position with Rod and Mägge at several points during the ride. It wasn’t too bad for the first fifteen minutes or so but after that we started going uphill slightly and they were still maintaining the same pace. That’s when I started to fall behind so Tan slowed down a bit so I could catch up. It was quite difficult riding at speeds of approx 25-35 km/h and staying within a few inches of the person in front of you. I was constantly speeding up and slowing down to make sure I stayed in the pack. That’s when Hille yelled some advice from behind suggesting that I match the gear ratio of the person in front of me and that would help me keep a more constant pace. For example, if the person in front of me was on the second ring in the front, fourth in the back, I should match that. I took the suggestion and it definitely helped me maintain a more consistent pace. Just as I was getting the hang of it, we hit a steep uphill for about 300 meters and they kept going at the same pace as on the flats at which point I could no longer keep up. I started falling further behind but they had decided to stop at the top for a drink break so a few seconds later, I was back with them. I was breathing really hard by then and was definitely in my anaerobic zone. We sat down at a restaurant right on a lakeside and I ordered a fruit punch which was tasty but had some real pucker power. I was a bit hungry, too, so I had a belgian waffle with whipped cream. It was the perfect little snack because we still had a ways to go.

We left about twenty minutes later having used the washrooms and refilled water bottles. It’s a good thing I had eaten that waffle because I needed the energy to get up another mini-hill climb! When I saw the hill that we had to climb in order to begin our final descent down into Briançon, I just shook my head and hoped it was shorter than it looked. It felt especially tough after a major hill climb and 70 km of riding till that point. We were at the top in about twenty minutes or so and then it was finally a real descent into the campsite!  

Since this was Mägge and Hile’s last night camping with us before they headed back home to Switzerland, we decided we should go out for dinner. We didn’t want to take both cars into town so we all piled into our van. We techincally only have four seat belts, including the driver, and there were six of us. The problem was quickly rectified when Mägge got out his two camping chairs and placed them facing the back seats and him and Hille sat down. It’s a good thing it was only a few kilometers into town and we have tinted windows. We parked in the large lot outsided the fortified town and walked in. The town is roughly split down the centre by the main street which is angled steeply down from the main gates. There’s a shallow gutter that runs down the middle of this main street (which in the old days I surmise would have been used to wash away the refuse) so you have to watch where you’re walking, especially in the dusk as it was now.

We browsed a number of menus down the main strip, but nothing was appealing. Megs and I are always keen on browsing a number of menus and finding one that calls out to us before sitting down. So we went off the main street to explore a few of the side alleys and streets. Eventually, we found one that appealed to most of us and I was keen to try the menu "Vauban", which is the regional menu. I asked the waitress if the Vauban menu was available and after checking with the chef, she confirmed that it was. The interior ambience was one that was very cozy and yet slightly eccentric at the same time - low ceilings with wooden crossbeams and white walls with old weapons and knives. It kind of felt like you were eating at a tavern.

Everyone except Megs started off the meal with pastis, a strong liquorice flavoured liqueur. Rod and I got the menu Vauban while Megs and Tan got the Menu Citadelle. Our appetizers were followed by a hearty, thick and creamy chicken and snail soup with bread. The main consisted of a stuffed pigeon with a cream sauce, accompanied by fenouils gratinée (fennel covered in baked cheese). On to our third course, the cheese course, we were greeted with some bread and a large ceramic pot. I curiously opened up the pot and put a large scoop of cheese onto my plate and Rod’s. The cheese was a home made cheese that was really pungent and definitely required an acquired taste. Thankfully, it was made of cow’s milk otherwise I don’t know if I would have been eating it. It was not one that I was going to return to anytime soon. As soon as we were done with the cheese, which didn’t take too long, we were onto dessert. We were handed a slice of Vauban cake with a runny vanilla custard. Vauban cake is a dense cake that was invented in the medieval days and one that’s well suited for travelling (doesn’t go bad quickly and keeps together). It’s made without flour and consists dried figs, walnuts, almonds, sugar and egg white. The whole meal (cheese course excluded) was very delicious and we left extremely stuffed, but thoroughly satisfied! Megs’ meal consisted of an appetizer of a cabbage roll salad with a mustard-type dressing. The main course was a local trout covered in a blueberry sauce served with rice and vegetables. Her dessert was a tarte tatin with ice cream. She too found all the food delectable. One thing is for sure, I could definitely get used to eating like they did in the 17th century...