Training Log Archive: LOST_Richard

Very nice ride around Lake Annecy, busy and I mean realy busy, bike path on the southern side of the lake. Families, roadies, skaters (including a couple who were traveling fast and in step with each other and looked like they should have been speed ice skaters) and very few pedestrians.

Rounded the end of the lake and mixture of bike path and road, but as ever no road rage, but still lots of bikes and plenty of cars. Would be nice to think that you could ride 1,300km in WA without anyone shouting abuse at from a car or trying to cut you off!

Stopped at a beach with a small cafe, had swims, coffee, beer, frittes and generally watched the world go by for a couple of hours.

Last part of the ride was a short steady climb and then a nice long downhill, and back to the busy waterfront in Annecy. The beach was even more crowded than the Mediterranean ones.

Nearly rode into one of the many barriers across the path designed to slow the bikes where pedestrians could cross, as I was too busy looking at the water and boat hire places. Nicole managed to call out just before a I did a Chris Froome / Riche Porte but not quite at their speed!

C • Two years... 2

Drove to Nevache on the recommendation of James Lithgow, lovely valley but quite busy with bike riders along the road which "seemed" flatish and we thought maybe we should have ridden out from Briancon. It was not as flat as it seemed when we drove back down the valley so likely a good call.

Had a bit of a wander around the village and coffee and then thought lets get the bikes out of th car and ride on up the valley. Details on the 1:100,000 map did not show just how steep it was, average around 7% for the first couple of kms with some pitches beyond that. Flattened out a bit from there and I went on to a large camp site with lots of hikers and picnickers and turned around.

Nice cruise back down the valley for a lunch at a farm restaurant overlooking the valley. Shared a very nice local lamb with the fly population which makes Perth flies seem quite modest.

Up the cable car from Briancon and then wandered around looking at glorious mountains with a few glaciers and patches of snow. Also so very pretty alpine flowers to photograph. Ascended Mt Prorel, steep climb but great views into the next valley. Had our sandwiches outside a little mountain chapel perched high up and overlooking the town, while watching the para-gliders going back and forth sometimes below us and other times high above. I think it would take bit of courage to take off the first time!

GPS includes the cable car down and walk back up to the citadel but not the walk down.

Felt the need to put a few contours under my feet, looked out of the window of the apartment and could see the cliff up to Croix de Toulouse and thought how hard can that be?

Very steady but graded walk trail to the summit, passed a few people coming down including about 6 MTB riders, would have been quite the slog to get to the top and some tricky steep switch back single track on the way down.

I decided to make a loop of the walk, it was longer down, especially after I decide the steep way down @ 4.5km on my trace was way too steep and fine loose gravel, plus it looked like it was going around some major crags so I kept on the road. Another cutoff track @ around 7km was overgrown so stuck to the road and then a gravel road and jogged most of the way from 7km

Nice to get 620m up in 3.7km at a strong and steady pace.

last morning in Corbiers so did a short run out of the village and back before a longish drive.

Wethaer changed and just missed the rain which started as I got back.