Amazing Alpine Adventures – Day Ten, St Jean de Maurienne.
Our final day of this year’s Alpine Adventure, so we decided to mix another secret climb with a real Tour de France legend. This morning we took a short drive to St Michel de Maurienne & parked up – from here we would be enjoying two separate rides.
The Col de Beau Plan loop isn’t one of the well-known climbs in Maurienne valley, but it’s a treat of a 16 mile loop. As we reached the right turn for the Telegraphe & Galibier, we turned left & almost immediately the road started rising. The first ½ mile or so is through residential housing, but in almost no time the buildings are replaced by fields & open grassland.
Going upwards & out of town, it became obvious we were heading to some fairly remote countryside & it was unlikely that we’d see much in the way of traffic – cycling heaven in other words! As we continued to climb, we could make out Les Karellis & L’Albanne ski resorts from our day out on Saturday. To begin with, they were up above us on the opposite side of the valley, but as we continued climbing the difference in height steadily reduced. In addition, we also had amazing views of the Fort du Telegraph & beyond, towards the mythical Col du Galibier.
We took a slight detour on the recommendation of someone staying at the hotel – it was with the disclaimer that the views would be amazing, but the road had been recently resurfaced. As we were climbing, the loose chippings were a mere inconvenience & didn’t detract from the detour in any way.
Having left town, it took more than an hour for us to see our first car, the roads really are remote & wild! The detour took us to over 2,500 feet above the valley floor below & also opened up views to the Orelle mountains some 3,000 feet above us. We were well & truly above the tree line, with the main crop appearing to be hay – the perfect opportunity to do some hay bale surfing (of sorts!).
As we reached the Col de Beau Plan, there was a side road off to the right & it would have been rude not to explore – it was a wide two lane, which wouldn’t have looked out of place as an access road to a ski resort, but after about 2 miles, the road simply stopped – we hadn’t passed a single building, so it’s a mystery as to why the road was built!
We descended back to the Col & continued over the summit & had a fairly sketchy descent for a mile or so, as there was gravel on pretty much every corner. We were still in the back country, although every now & then we rode through tiny hamlets as we continued losing altitude. Somehow we managed to bag our 2nd Col of the day as we descended towards St Martin La Porte, the Col de Beaune.
By now, the single track had become a proper road & for the last 3 miles we zig-zagged our way to the outer edges of town & back into the main street.
It was almost 1pm, so time for lunch – we found a great place where the Plat du Jour was roast chicken, chips & salad. Needless to say we filled our boots & inside 30 minutes were ready to start our final climb of the trip.
All that remained was to visit the Col du Telegraphe, as we’d seen it during Saturday & Wednesday morning’s rides. This is the first part of the legendary Tour de France double act of Col du Telegraphe & Col du Galibier which, when combined together is the biggest ‘bottom to top’ climb in France.
We headed back to the traffic lights in the centre of town & this time headed right & immediately crossed the River Arc, which marks the start of the climb. From here we would ascend 3,200 feet in a little under 7.5 miles. The first 1.5 miles are through quiet villages until the forest takes over – for the next 6 miles the road would twist & turn through the birch & pine forest, however as the sun was directly overhead, there wasn’t much in the way of protection available.
The climb is a consistent 7% to 8% & is a favourite training climb for the professional teams – today we saw the Fortuneo-Samsic team going through their paces – their star riders (including last year’s Polka Dot Jersey winner, Warren Barguil) are currently taking part in the Tour de France. The guys we saw training absolutely powered up the climb in their ‘Big Rings’ while chatting & laughing!
Every now & then the Telegraphe allows you views to the opposite side of the valley & we could clearly make out where we’d been riding only a few hours earlier! One of the neat things about Col du Telegraphe & the nearby town of Valloire, is that they make a different straw man every year – when I last visited he had a wood cutters axe, however this year the theme is skiing, so I stopped at the summit of the col to get a photo. We also made time to enjoy a final espresso & fruit tart stop – I chose apple, Sean appears addicted to Myrtille (blueberry)!
All that remained was to turn around & then descend the 7.5 miles of twists & turns back to the valley floor below. I feel so very fortunate to have enjoyed 10 consecutive days of cycling, as I’d accepted that my injuries & lack of fitness would likely limit me to shortish rides every other day. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading about my adventures as much as I’ve enjoyed having them, Salut!!
Gav's Cycling Adventures 