Montvernier-Col du Chaussy-Col du Mollard-Col de la Croix De Fer 09/07/2015

 

I loved this route.  We got started late again--10 instead of 9.  We took a long lunch in St Jean de Maurienne, and Linda got a little lost coming back down Croix de Fer, so we ended up with a couple of hours of downtime.  We didn't cut it as close to darkness as we did on Grand Colombier a few days earlier, but it was still an issue that was bugging me until we were in fact finished. 

I got looking at the route possibilities after I saw the Tour de France this year took its way up the Lacets de Montvernier (lacets = laces, as in shoelaces), as pictured above--that was from a table decoration at the restaurant in St Jean de Maurienne where we had lunch.  It doesn't look quite so interesting from ground level:

It's not a long climb, not very steep--but it just looked so cool.  It had to be done.  It was the first climb of the day after departing from La Chambre--me on the bike, Linda in the car.  "Yates you can" painted on the road was for the Tour, and is cheering on the Yates brothers, Simon and Adam Yates from Great Britain. 

Linda's view of my tail end. 

Linda looking up to me.  It was a cool experience.  Awesome road.

Topping out at Montvernier (above) and headed forward, just turning left to pick up the Col du Chaussy climb, also featured in the 2015 Tour.  After topping out the Col du Chaussy, the descent takes you back to La Chambre and we doubled back again south past Montvernier to St Jean de Maurienne where we picked up the Col du Mollard followed by the last 10-15 kms of the Croix de Fer.  Once over the top of the Croix de Fer, you take a right on D927 and that takes you back to La Chambre.

This was where Linda headed the wrong way for a little bit.  She missed the right turn on to D927 and kept going on D926 for a while before she flipped on the Garmin and realized she was going the wrong way.  I knew something was up because, despite going much faster downhill than I had been going uphill, she still should have been able to catch up to me, or at the very least I should have been able to see her not far behind me.

I took the long descent down Glandon slowly as it was not the Tour and the roads were not closed--there was the threat of oncoming traffic and cross-streets and driveways to be concerned about.

A look into the valley from the Lacets de Montvernier--this may have actually been a little further up on the Col du Chaussy.  I can't remember for sure.  It looks to have been taken from a little higher elevation than seems would have been possible from the Lacets de Montvernier.  Whatever the case, I love the Alpine valleys.

Going up Col du Chaussy the same day we were was a British club of antique cars having some kind of a competition. 

The Brits going through a timed stage, this was the start of the next stage.

The pic above is from Linda's point-of-view, here is mine:

GoPro is weird--I have hours of video similar to the above--how long can you possibly watch it?  Certainly it's sleep inducing.  Anyway, that clip was short enough to where I thought it was OK to include here. 

Top of Col du Chaussy, above, in case you couldn't guess.  Below, en route to the Col du Mollard summit.  There was an alternate to Col du Mollard that I would have liked to have taken.  Not knowing about it, and due to time worries, we took the known, more direct route.

Quiet road, beautiful day, someone following me. . . .  Fantastic.

We took D110 out of the heart of St Jean de Maurienne.  D80 would have been a cool alternative--I love the look of a twisty road:

See that little noodly line right in the middle?  That's D80 and it looks awesome. 

I shouldn't have chickened out.  It looks awesome.  Of course I don't know the condition of the road, if it's paved all the way up, etc.  It was likely no problem.  The late start made me timid, though.  I guess we'll just have to go back.

Atop Col du Mollard. Good guess. 

Except for the feeling of time pressure, the route was outstanding and highly recommended.  It ended up about 71 miles and just shy of 11,000 feet of climbing over 4 named climbs.  A solid day, quality stuff.

There were no major problems outside of those already mentioned.  It was a blissfully quiet day.  No dreaded motorcycles.  Very few cars.  Fewer cyclists.  The toughest part of the Croix de Fer was the few miles going through Saint Sorlin d'Arves.  The last few switchbacks after leaving town are pretty mild.

Adding some warmth before the long descent back to La Chambre

I was a big baby when we first got to La Chambre because I forgot my headsweat gear (ask Linda--it's not pretty if something ticks me off).  I sweat profusely and I wasn't looking forward to having sweat in my eyes, my glasses (the worst) and all over everything.  The weather was perfect, however, and the lack of the headsock was not a big deal.  I noticed it most, in fact, in the cold of the descent off the Glandon.

After getting to the bottom of the Glandon I waited for Linda for about 20 minutes, only then finding out that she'd missed the turn at the top of the mountain.  We disagree over how that happened.  I claim I told her clearly to turn right at the signs to Glandon onto D927.  She says she heard me say D926--so that's where she went--straight on D926 towards Bourg d'Oisans and l'Alpe d'Huez.

How cool would it be to be able to choose among the dozens and dozens of outstanding climbs every day.  I love the Alps.  It was fun to have Linda along in the car and great to have food, drink, and alternate clothing as needed.  It's the only way to ride.  She was wonderful.  I think she had fun looking around and taking literally 100's of snapshots.