Cyclopaat, an alter ego with a twist
Forgive me minions, for I have slacked…
After celebrating my (54th) birthday yesterday, I realized that it has been 18 days since I last wrote a post.
Which means that my own “Tour de France 2014” ended nearly three weeks ago.
The hardship of getting back into my daily routine was eased a bit by teasing Wayne on Facebook, with a daily picture of some mountain I climbed.
Post stage reports of my Tour de France 2014 – part 3, with the “Brevet des 7 cols de l’Ubaye” and some amazing side events.
Our final stay this Tour de France 2014 was in Jausiers, located some 7 kilometers from Barcelonnette, were we had an apartment in La Mexicaine, right at the foot of the Bonette.
In fact, no less than three of the cols for the “Brevet des 7 cols de l’Ubaye” are starting here: besides the Bonette, the Vars and the ‘Montée de Sant-Anne’ start around the corner.
Plus, the Larche is nearby, but that is no longer part of the brevet.
However, I planned on climbing that anyway, perhaps combined with the Fauniera.
In the end, I climbed both, but I made the Fauniera a stage of its own and I’m glad I did.
It was the most memorable stage of this Tour de France 2014…
Two more climbs for the “Brevet des 7 cols de l’Ubaye” – the Cayolle and the Allos – are starting from Barcelonnette and the final two – Saint-Jean1 and Pontis – are a bit further away, starting from Le Lauzet.
You can also rent a B&B room with Heidi and Kristof – if you ever consider going to the area, I highly recommend this place!
Since it was scrapped from the list for the brevet and it looked like an easy climb, the Col de Larche was used as a recovery ride.
Officially, cyclists are not allowed between La Condamine and Meyronnes, but – as confirmed by the tourist office – this ban is basically neglected by everyone.
While the length of 23 kilometers from Jausiers may look impressive, the first 6 kilometers are near flat, up to the split with the Vars.
But even the remaining 17 kilometers offer no more than 675 meters of elevation (4%) and only in the final 5, from Larche, the grade is a consistent 5%…
An excellent recovery ride, although the road was quite a bit busier with traffic than I would have liked and I arrived at the summit well within the hour.
But, I had seen both sides of this col when transferring back and forth to the Fauniera and I wanted to cycle the Italian section with the hairpins too.
Besides, the col is named Maddalena coming from the other end and that makes it even more irresistible 🙂
So, I descended the 6+ kilometers to Argentera from where I returned back to the summit, after which we had a coffee break at the ‘Ristorante del Lago’.
Paula then bought some cheese and other stuff from a local farmer holding shop at the summit and after a fast descend to Jausiers, my Tour de France 2014 was officially over.
Trip: 62.8 kilometers / 1,072 meters elevation gain (Garmin).
Despite the fatigue, I wanted to go up – at least – the Agnel.
With 2,744 meters, this one is ranked third in Europe as far as paved, true passes go.
I.e. it’s not a dead end and it has no artificial loop around the top to make it higher, like the Bonette – only the Iseran (check) and the Stelvio (check) are higher passes…
As I did not really feel the need to cycle the Vars again, we transferred to Guillestre by car.
I could have started my ride there, but I saved myself the time and didn’t do so before Château-Queyras.
Stage 10 involved a side trip to Italy: after a car transfer over the Larche to get to the start of the Colle Fauniera, I got on my bike in Demonte.
Why this col is more aptly referred to as “Colle dei Morti”, I found out very quickly.
With a length of nearly 25 kilometers and an elevation gain of some 1,700 meters, the average is a healthy 7%.
The start is irregular, with frequent ups and downs, where the “ups” are basically close to and over 10% – there is no easing into this one…
