Col de la Cayolle - Sept 17, 2023

 

 

 

Good weather returns, so we planned to climb the remainder of Col d'Allos, then descend into Barcelonnette and drop gear at our lodging, then do an out and back on Col de la Cayolle. I had found a campground with various huts and such on airbnb and thought it looked pretty cool. The forecast for the following day looked dire, so we were thinking we might have an honest to goodness rest day in Barcelonnette. 

Our adorable lodging. Shame about the bed.

We had done about half of the first climb already, so it didn't seem to bad. As has become standard, we had rally cars! We also saw lots of cyclists. There is is a popular loop from Barcelonnette that takes in Col d'Allos, Col des Champs and Col de la Cayolle. Some of the folks we saw were just out for as short out and back of one pass, but others may have been doing the full loop. It is these three passes, plus the Bonnette that had us so far west of the Torino Nice route. It has been a worthy detour. 

The views were amazing on both the climb and descent of the Cayolle and so different that it really didn't seem like an out and back, except for the lighter weight of the unladen bicycles. Sadly John was starting the feel under the weather. It can be really tricky for me to know if he's behind because he's taking a million photos or something is up. And he is so understated about feeling bad, that I just don't know. Plus he's so strong that even when he's sick, he rides like a demon!

When we got back to town and officially checked in, I asked if we could stay two nights, since the forecast was so grim for the next day. I should have waited til morning to extend. The unit we stayed in was adorable, but the bed was wrapped in a stiff plastic that made horrible noise if I moved at all. Actually I think even just breathing caused the load crinkly noise. But more on that in tomorrow's post. 

Lots more photos. Click below 

Col des Champs - Sept 16, 2023

 

 

 

Forecast called for rain, so we decided to play things by ear today. Our BnB host had recommended that we go through the Gorges de Daluis. It was in the opposite direction, but we decided to take a little detour. With rain in the forecast, views wouldn't be great. But I've got it marked as a return destination. Then we headed back toward Col des Champs. We got to the base of the climb before the rain started in earnest, but the rest of our ride was pretty wet. We found a lunch spot in Colmars before continuing on to Allos. We found a nice little hotel in the ski village just before the climb and decided to call it a day.

Lots more photos. Click below

Col de Couillole - Sept 15, 2023

 

 

The day started with a climb, naturally. John loves climbing so much that he decided to do it twice. At some point, he remembered leaving his shorts drying on the balcony of the hotel the night before. Not willing to do a two week trip with a single pair of shorts, he turned back in hopes of retrieving them. I said I'd wait at the top of the first pass. I found a lovely cafe where I could bide my time. 

Our second big climb of the day was The Col de Couillole. I mentioned that John ad a few climbs he wanted to fit in before we headed east to the gravel part of our trip. It is a popular climb. We saw almost as many cyclists as rally cars on this particular day. We noticed one group with a sag wagon providing lunch or snacks at the top. As I lugged my loaded bike up the climbs, I began to fantasize about a supported trip in the future. 

We passed through a couple of ski villages. We kept hearing that this was the off season, so we had pre-booked a place to stay for the night. The advantage of that is you have a place to stay. The disadvantage is you might have to pass by other attractive spots. Valberg was one of those. But the descent that followed was worth the price of admission. And better down in dry conditions after warming up on the climb. 

We rolled down in Guillames and then out the far side of town to find our BnB. Luckily for John, the host agreed to provide dinner!

Lots more photos. Click below

Col de la Turini - Sept 14, 2023

 

 

 

The day started out warm and sunny. We soon came across what would be the theme for this trip: rally cars. What makes this area great for cycling, also makes it great for driving high performance rally cars. You will see it repeatedly in the video, lots of tight hairpin turns! I think we saw more fancy rally cars than any other type of vehicle. What was more impressive to me was the care the drivers showed whenever we were close. 

It was lovely and sunny at the start of the day and while not as hot as the previous day, I was not expecting the cold shower that greeted us at the summit of the Turini. We enjoyed coffee there, before bundling up for the long descent. We rolled into the town where John had booked a hotel for the night, but then got to climb a bit to reach the accomodation on the far side of town. Luckily it had a restaurant, so we didn't have to head back into town in the rain for dinner.  

Lots more photos. Click below

Nice to Luceram - Sept 13, 2023

The plan for this trip was to fly into Nice, cycle up into the mountains and intercept the Torino Nice rally route about halfway and follow it back to Nice.  But John also had several passes he wanted to hit west of the route, which (spoiler) turned out to be quite ambitious for the time we had.

Before the trip, John had pulled up some videos from Torino Nice that convinced me I would need lower gears! The bike now has at 11-50 cassette, with a 38T chainring. While we were at it, I ended ups also changing the bike to wireless electronic shifting with blips (like my road bike). This is a great setup for a travel bike. No derailleur wires makes things much easier. I use a cable splitter for the rear brake, and simply take the front brake off the fork. The handlebars just have a cable and the front brake attached. With no wires, I can pop the rear derailleur off. The puzzle gores into the S&S case much easier.  With SRAM wireless, I just carry a tiny spare battery for the derailleur. 

We spent the first day recovering from jet lag, assembling bikes and walking around the city, I had bookended the trip with the same airbnb, hoping to be able to store the cases there, but they had no storage. I found an online storage service, where various businesses in the area would store luggage, so I booked that. We hauled our cases off to a coffee shop, where they stayed for 10 days. 

After enjoying breakfast at this coffee shop, we began the long climb out of Nice. I was already happy for those lower gears. I was also happy I'd packed lots of sunscreen and a lightweight jersey as it was quite warm and sunny!

Lots more photos. Click below