Half a Marmotte

I originally planned this trip to follow the route of the Marmotte, but then changed my mind and plotted a ‘shortcut’ down the Croix de Fer towards the Télégraphe / Galibier.

After all, the passage from the foot of the Glandon in Saint-Étienne-de-Cuines, through the valley to Saint-Jean-de-Maurienne and onwards to Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne, is basically just adding (a lot of) miles to the trip.

In the end, I changed this stage to not include the downhill and / or side trip over the Mollard, and I transferred from the top of the Croix de Fer to Saint-Michel-de-Maurienne by car because it would save us (valuable) time.

Besides, arriving at the summit of the Croix de Fer, I was already tired, with the Galibier still to come and the triple on the Ventoux planned for tomorrow…

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Madeleine and Glandon

As expected, despite the fatigue, the ride up the Madeleine from La Léchère was easier than the one from La Chambre on Monday.

The altitude gain is about the same, but you have some 5 kilometers more to conquer that.

Too bad the weather was not really cooperating – it would frequently drizzle just enough to soak all clothes, but the temperature was not unpleasant…

This time, both restaurants at the summit were open and I had a good omelette at ‘Les Deux Mazots’.

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Iseran, Mont Cenis and Madeleine

Silly me. When I plotted this – originally 185 kilometer long – course, I was like ‘Oh, that’s 60 to 70 kilometers downhill after the Iseran – easy, peasy’…

So, I was confident I would bring this ‘Queen’s Stage’ to a good end – I guess I more or less did, but once again, my mildly disturbing optimism regarding my abilities, almost got the better of me.

Anyway, the Iseran itself was not all that interesting up to Val d’Isère, although the views passing the Lac du Chevril were already much better.

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Cormet de Roselend and Col des Saisies

(Including a close encounter with the pros)

The climb up the Cormet de Roselend is also starting from Bourg Saint-Maurice and it’s definitely more challenging than the Bernard.

And it’s more traveled too, as it is the shortest route to Beaufort (I guess).

It offers some spectacular views while ascending and even more spectacular while descending from the summit towards Beaufort, past the lake.

However, it was quite cold and windy and the descent was not easy, or at least it wasn’t for me.

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