Switzerland – Gav's Cycling Adventures

From Sardinia to the USA (Part Three)

Apr 25, 2022Jan 22, 2023gavscyclingadventures

Once In A Lifetime (remastered) – revisiting some of our favourite places, but finding new routes to explore. Part Three also includes trips in the UK as we prepared for our USA adventure. The following lines summarise some of the questions I’ve asked myself at various times on my cycling adventures to date;

You may ask yourself “Where does that highway go to?”

And you may ask yourself “Am I right? Am I wrong?”

And you may say to yourself “My God! What have I done?”

The final chapter of my journey from clueless cyclist to American Adventurer focuses on my later trips to Europe, as well as my self-supported UK trips during Covid times.

As well as our annual Spring trip to Mallorca in 2016, we returned to Switzerland in the summer. This time we based ourselves in Martigny & explored the quiet roads up to the numerous hydro-electric dams in the Swiss Alps.

Remote road on the way to Barrage du Sanetsch

Mallorca again kicked off my 2017 adventures, followed by a first summer foray into the Italian Dolomites. The mountains are unlike anywhere else I’ve visited, with enormous grey crags & alpine lakes in every direction – I really struggled to limit myself to just a few photos from our week in Cortina d’Ampezzo!

Descending Passo Giau towards Selva di Cadore

We also managed to fit in a week of late summer riding in the French Pyrenees – we were based in Lourdes for our first visit. The mountains were steeper, more remote & wilder than their Alpine cousins! This is somewhere we want to explore further in the future.

A rapid descent of Col du Soulor on perfect tarmac

Our 2018 adventures kicked off again with a Spring break to Mallorca, however, I had a low speed crash on the first day which resulted in me spending the remainder of the trip sun bathing (which rather ruined my sharp tan lines!), instead of cycling.

My Mallorcan injury kept me off the bike throughout May & early June, so I had a few concerns about my cycling fitness ahead of our 11 day summer trip to Lake Annecy & St Jean de Maurienne. Our luxurious base in Talloires was the perfect launchpad for 5 days exploring quiet mountain passes as I built up some fitness for the huge climbs to come. Hopefully the photos below will show why I love visiting the big mountains – they also show my left elbow being held together with kinesiotape from my crash in April.

A field of sunflowers on the way to Col du Frene

The transfer to St Jean de Maurienne took less than 2 hours so we were able to fit in an extra ride on our transfer day up to the ski station of Karellis. This was one of a few lesser known climbs we explored, others included Les Lacets de Montvernier / Col du Pre & Col de la Beaune. We also returned to Col de la Madeleine & Col de la Croix de Fer, regular guests on the Tour de France & favourites of ours.

The iconic climb of the Col de la Croix de Fer

I went to Ibiza in September for Stevie W’s birthday & managed to hire a bike & sneak in a day of riding – this is another place well worth returning to for further exploration. I also won a competition to spend a day in the Neutral Service Car at the OVO Energy Tour of Britain, which helped me appreciate the difference between cycling athletes & novices like myself!

We returned to Mallorca in 2019. I managed to stay in my bike for the whole trip & we enjoyed visiting a few well known climbs, as well as getting off the beaten track – sadly I haven’t been back since this trip, but I’m looking forward to getting back in 2023.

Our summer adventure took us to Austria for the first time, with 5 days of riding the remote mountains around Innsbruck. Each day offered a different experience, as we mixed routes that looped over the mountains with valley riding along the way, with high mountain roads up to glaciers. While the climbs were challenging, pretty much every day we had the roads pretty much to ourselves.

We then crossed the border into Italy as we returned to Bormio for a further 5 days of adventures in the huge mountains . In addition to the legendary climbs made famous by the Giro d’Italia, we also found a few unknown climbs well off the beaten track.

It appears I must have used all my 2019 holiday allowance on cycling trips, as we also returned to Barcelonnette in September for a week of cycling! Again, we had the roads to ourselves as we combined some Tour de France favourites like the Col de Vars & Col de la Bonette, unknown climbs like Col des Fillys & Col St Jean & an away day to tackle the wickedly steep Col de la Lombarde from both the Italian & French sides.

Descent of Col du Vars towards Guillestre

The world changed in 2020 & foreign travel was off the agenda & the early months of the year involved lots of solo rides to comply with Government Lockdowns & Guidance. Luckily by July we were able to meet up again & although we couldn’t get away to Europe as planned we still managed to do plenty of day trips in July.

Week one saw us exploring the North Wessex Downs, the Cotswolds, the Mendips, the Malverns, Cranborne Area of Natural Beauty & the South Downs. This was a great reminder that there are plenty of places within an hour’s drive that are well worth exploring!

Quiet country lanes of the North Wessex Downs

Week Two involved more trips to explore new tarmac. We began with a Tour of the Cotswolds around Bourton-on-the-Water, followed it up with Tour of The Tumble in South Wales, headed out to horse country on a Lambourn Loop, returned to the Cotswolds to explore all around Chipping Norton & then finished with a trip out to Symonds Yat. A glorious couple of weeks that showed there is plenty of scenery to see in the UK.

Exploring the back roads of Bourton-on-the-Water

By the end of 2020 I’d had an application for redundancy agreed at work & had decided that I was going to use it as an opportunity to take on a challenge I’d been thinking of for a few years – riding coast to coast across the USA. Fortunately, this adventure also appealed to Sean, so we started making plans to turn it into reality.

I bought a new touring bike in January 2021 & started training on it in May. I started loading up the panniers to prepare me for what a trip on a touring bike might be like. However, the only way to truly know is go on a tour & find out! In July 2021 Sean & myself embarked on a 5 day Tour de South Wales, taking in Brecon, the Elan Valley, Aberystwyth & Carmarthen via National Cycle Routes 8 & 42. We then returned to Bristol via NCR’s 82, 47 & 4. The scenery was stunning & we were fortunate with the weather – we enjoyed ourselves so much!

We gambled on having an Indian Summer in September & planned a 2nd Tour de South Wales – this time we’d be going in a clockwise direction, following NCR 4 via Pontypridd & Carmarthen, then returning via NCR’s 47 & 43. We were loaded with 20kg of kit which gave us a really good taste of what touring in the USA might feel like. Once again, the scenery was amazing!

As I write this, we’re waiting for our “Fit To Fly” results, sat in the Hilton Garden Inn -we’ve completed 4,500 training miles on our touring bikes & thoroughly enjoyed 2 separate tours to South Wales. The waiting is finally over & technically, the adventure has begun – we fly to Seattle tomorrow (26th April) to start our Tour de USA!!!

Tour de Suisse Summits – Barrage du Mauvoisin – July 2016

Apr 15, 2022Sep 1, 2022gavscyclingadventures

Dam Busting Stage 2 – Day Four

Another Epic day in the saddle up to Barrage du Mauvoisin – another hydro-electric dam, however, today the road was either climbing or descending (so no flat miles to pad out the distance) once we left town. In addition to the main climb of the day (4,850 feet of climbing in 25 miles), I’d also identified a couple of bonus climbs in case our legs felt strong….

The first 12 miles followed Sunday’s route to Le Chable, at which point we turned off the main roads & headed towards the snow covered mountains way off in the distance. The views continued to get ever more impressive as we climbed higher & deeper into the mountains – physically as well as metaphorically, as we passed through a couple of tunnels! For the first time this trip we got to see a marmot, rather than just hear them squeaking as we approached.

We made a quick stop for Tarte Tartin with ice cream & a cappuccino in the middle of nowhere, before the final push.

As we rounded the very next corner after our stop we saw our target for the day – the Barrage du Mauvoisin, as it towered 250 metres above us! It’s the 11th tallest dam in the world, took 6 years to build & spans 520 metres from side to side.

After taking in the majesty of the dam, lake & surrounding area (Mont Blanc was visible in the distance), we descended back towards Lourtier, taking in a cliff road detour on the way to view the valley below.

We still felt good, so took the decision to climb a back road (including a 3km gravel section along the summit balcony) towards Verbier. The climb was always ‘comfortable’ & as we gained height the views widened until we again got to see paragliders as they soared on the thermals above us.

We took the same descent as on Sunday until Le Chable, where we stopped for lunch. Our legs still weren’t totally cooked (although well on their way!), so we threw in yet another bonus climb – the Col des Planches. This was on a deserted road that took us high above the main road we cycled this morning, with stunning views towards Col de Grand Saint Bernard in one direction & Mont Blanc in the other. The climb ascended 2,100 feet in 5 miles, so averaged about 8%, but with a couple of short stretches up over 13%.

As we started the descent towards Martigny this was all forgotten, as incredible views up & down the Rhone valley showed themselves.

We popped into town to celebrate another awesome day in the saddle & to take in some of the Tour de France reminders & to top up the calories ahead of tomorrow’s adventure!

Tour de Suisse Summits – Barrage de la Grande Dixence – July 2016

Apr 14, 2022Sep 1, 2022gavscyclingadventures

Dam Busting – Day Three

Today’s adventure was a monster climb up to the world’s fifth tallest dam (it was 2nd tallest until 2010), the Barrage de la Grande Dixence.

The day started in a similar fashion to yesterday, the first 20 miles or so followed the River Rhone through fruit orchards (apples, pears & apricots to name a few), vineyards & fields of vegetables. For once I had a bit of a nightmare getting us to the start of the climb, but luckily we were still in high spirits, so it didn’t matter, plus it added to the adventure!

The early part of the climb is on a relatively busy road, but this only affected us for the first four miles until we reached our coffee stop of Vex. After an invigorating slice of apricot tart & a cappuccino, we turned onto an almost deserted road, as we continued to climb towards Dixence – everything was hunky dory, my training had prepared me for just this sort of challenge…..

At which point we turned a corner & there some 5 miles in the distance was the Barrage de la Grande Dixence & it was still several thousand feet above us! I can only assume that the engineers that planned & built the road were sadists, as the gradient never dipped below 10% from this point on & the majority of it was between 11% & 13% – my training hadn’t prepared me for this.

It was even more challenging than the hardest bit of the Sanetsch yesterday, so it was time to look in the suitcase of courage – sadly I’d only packed a rucksack of despair!! After a quick energy bar it was time to man-up & get on with it & a mere hour of pain later we’d reached the car park at the foot of the dam.

A few statistics for you;

At 285 metres, the Barrage is 9 metres higher than the top platform of the Eiffel Tower.

The dam took 14 years to complete & was finished in 1964.

This is part of the Cleuson-Dixence complex, which provides hydro-electric power to 400,000 Swiss households per year.

At peak capacity the reservoir can hold 400 million cubic metres of water.

The top part of the descent required total concentration, as the steep road we’d previously climbed now dropped in a series of tight hairpins & the price of getting it wrong was too severe to consider. Once we’d negotiated this tricky start, the remainder of the descent back into Vex was easy. After a quick baguette for lunch we continued to descend on a fast, open road back to Sion – look away now if you’re family…. I maxed out at 45 mph as you got such a great view of what lay ahead, which included a posse of horse riders crossing the road!

From Sion, we reversed the route along the cycle path into a tough head/side wind, but we made really good time as it was also very slightly downhill. All in all, another day that was fully worthy of being called an Alpine Adventure & deserved to be celebrated in style with a slap up meal in town!!

Tour de Suisse Summits – July 2016

Apr 11, 2022Sep 1, 2022gavscyclingadventures

Verbier & Back – Day One.

A 3.30am alarm call means it’s time for another Alpine Adventure to commence – this time a 7 day expedition to Martigny in Switzerland. The flight to Geneva to us over Lac de Leman with huge views across to Mont Blanc which dominated the horizon. Having landed on time, we were ready to pick up the Ford Mondeo estate from Thrifty at 11am local time. Unfortunately, our car wasn’t ready & wouldn’t be for at least another hour – initial disappointment was quickly turned to happiness however, as the Reps friend at Hertz was able to rustle up a BMW 216 Estate instead. I hope our luck holds for the rest of the trip too!

We reached our hotel by 1.30pm, so we were able to check in immediately, having the bikes re-assembled & ready to ride by 2.30. Martigny is a major town in the Rhone Valley, so there are mountains everywhere – as a result, I had planned more rides than we had days available & this seemed like the perfect opportunity to use one of them! I’d read about the climb from Martigny up to Verbier, as it regularly features in the Tour de Suisse & is also where Alberto Contador blew the 2009 Tour de France wide open. This was the perfect opportunity to go & try it for myself!

The early couple of miles took us out of town & past several temperature gauges, which confirmed we were in for a warm afternoon – 31 degrees centigrade & blue sky everywhere. The road from Martigny to Sembracher is the start of the Grand St Bernard Pass (the main route into Italy from the Valais valley), so is relatively busy. However, once we got off the main road, the fun really started – while the serious part of the climb is only 5 miles long, it regularly ramped up to 9 & 10% as it twisted & turned up the sheer face of the valley. The heat & severity of the gradient meant it was a real challenge, even if it wasn’t particularly long – just under 2 hours to ride 18 miles & climb 3,750 feet from the base to summit.

The views from Verbier were stunning – views across the valley to snow covered peaks were made even more spectacular by paragliders, as they flew the thermals.

Like many ‘out of season’ ski resorts, most of the cafes & bars were shut & those that were open didn’t have any cake! We stopped long enough to grab a quick espresso & a few photos, before what should have been a fast & lazy descent back to Martigny.

The wind had other ideas, as Ed Wind blew so hard, we had to pedal on some of the downhill stretches, otherwise we would have ground to a stop! An unexpected bonus was that we got to see all the scenery, as we were travelling so slowly!