Alps Southern France, August 2015 − Travels − Captain Tom

Alps Southern France, August 2015

I do a repeat of the Southern France tour Alpenglühn with Extreme-Tours, which I have done last year . It goes on 6 days over more than 100 passes in Switzerland, France and Italy.

The weather was great and I enjoyed brillant roads, views and good food with my co-riders.

In total I did 2881 miles of which 1234 miles belonged to the 6 days of riding the Alps (yes, I have a long journey to/from the Alps). In total we climbed 39 miles.

Find here an overview of the roads we have taken

Map 2015_08_alpen

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Co-riders were aside me (Tom) Beat, Tomo, Marcellus, Claudia and Klaus.
1 Day #1

I go from Berlin to Champery in Switzerland. It is quite a distance and very exhausting.

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Map 2015_08_29

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In the evening I can see a paraglider ...
... and Alpenglühn (glowing of the mountains during sunset)
2 Day #2

We go over small passes to France and to Aix-Les-Bains. Highlight will be Le Revard at Lake Lac du Bourget

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The morning in Champery promises a great day
Tomo gets ready
The Schoki box is always with us
Le Revard with view over Lac du Bourget
Claudia and Marcellus look for the best view point
3 Day #3

We go towards South. But first we have to climb Mont du Chat on the other side of Lac du Bourget. Later we have some brilliant views on Col Gaudissart and Col Rousset.

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Beat arrives at Mont du Chat
The group is complete
Mont du Chat
Morning coffe is as mandatory ...
... as a lunch with good French food
Gorges du Nan
Col de la Machine
Col de la Machine
Col Gaudissart
Claudia spots another group ...
... and we have to follow quickly
Later we arrive at Col de Rousset
Col de Menée
4 Day #4

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We start with a birthday breakfast before we go futher south to Lake Lac de Serre-Ponçon (Tom, Claudia, Beat, Marcellus, Klaus, Tomo)
Silence on Col du Banchet
Col de Grimone
Morning coffee
Break in between
The group rides Col du Noyer
Lake Lac de Serre-Ponçon
I will climb these little roads
View from the summit
and this it what it looks like along the banks of the lake
5 Day #5

Today we do sightseeing at Gorges du Verdon, a very impressive canyon

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The sun shines in the morning but there is still some fog around
First stop is Col d'Allos
Marcellus has to explain where the German Wings flight went down
Gorges du Verdon - breathtaking scenery
Beat and Claudia
Lake Lac de Sainte-Croix
Good lunch
Vultures in the gorge
Marcellus
Col des Champs in the evening
The group rides down Col des Champs
... and a tire gets changed in Barcelonette
6 Day #6

Today we have the high passes like La Bonette, Col de Lombarde, Colle dell'Agnello, Col d'Izoard and Col du Galibier. And we will be on my favorite pass view-wise: Colle dei Morti

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Group picture at Cime de la Bonette Tom, Beat, Tomo, Marcellus, Claudia, Klaus
La Bonette
Col de la Lombarde
The group arrives at the bottom of Col de la Lombarde
Colle dei Morti - brilliant views
The Pantani memorial
We go into the valley via Colle d'Esischie ...
... where the good Italian food is waiting for us
There are clouds rising on Colle di Sampéyre
It is cold and wet on Colle dell'Agnello
I escape down into the valley
Galibier in the clouds
7 Day #7

We return to the starting point in Champery. But first we have beautiful views son Col de la Croix de Fer and Col du Pre. And I have an incident on Col du Glandon. I crash in a turn due to a gravel patch. Fortunately me and the bike got scratches only.

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Col de la Croix de Fer
We go uphill towards the pass
On top of the pass
Col du Glandon in the morning
I crash on a gravel patch. French road workers help me
This is how it happened
An this is the ride on Col du Glandon
Col du Pre is magnificent. I go ahead of the group in order just to sit there enjoying scenery and silence.
The group arrives
I arrive at Roselend Reservoir (Barrage de Roselend)
One can see Mont Blanc in the distance
On Col du Petit Saint Bernard there is a Statue of Holy Bernhard of Menthon
I go towads Mont Blanc
The I ride through the Mont Blanc Tunnel back to Champery
The evening and the tour finish with a original Swiss cheese fondue
8 Day #8

I have to go home.

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At the end the onboard computer shows some very optimistic kilometer readings.