I'm a bit confused, are you riding from Stockholm to Alpe d'Huez? Just getting there in 10 days will be challenging! It's 2300km (~1500 miles).

Yes I’m cycling down, but from what ive seen it’s under 2000km to Huez from Stockholm. I was planning on 200-250k/day on the way down, but maybe that’s optimistic.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Quite a trip you have planned. Amazing.

I did more or less Route des Grandes Alps from Martigny to Menton in 4 days, but I didnt have your warm-up down from Stockholm and I had my lovely wife driving a support vehicle (meaning I didnt have to carry any overnight stuff, she took it to the next hotel). It was something like 670km and 16k climbing so a bit ~170/4k per day. Quite hard, definitely happy after reaching the Mediterranean and not having to climb anymore.

September can be perfect weather, but at the passes it can be anything from snow to heat so at least take some warmer stuff with you. From tourist point of view, it is probably already quite nice, in summer navigating the more famous passes among motorcycles, sport cars and RV's can be horrific.

Don't find a stranger in the Alps, because this is what happens

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Oh and some nice passes in Switzerland that could suit your route are Nufenen (also Furka is nice), Gotthard up from south-side, you dont want to do the cobbles going down. You could then do Oberalp and ride down to Chur and then take Albula or Flüela to Engadin from where you can then head up Stelvio from Swiss side. Alternatively take Bernina, Livigno and Foscagno down to Bormio and then do STelvio from there.

Swiss roads are nice, water fountain at every village and typically relatively nicely behaving traffic.

Yeah it's not less than 2000k:

https://www.google.com/...Sweden/Huez,+France/

Why not get the train through Germany, maybe Hamburg to Basel, then enjoy some great riding in the alps!
I also think 10 straight days of 200-250km is pretty hardcore, but if you are a very experienced rider, it should be doable. I hope you have a tail wind!

Weird the map I used had it at way less. Most comments I've gotten from friends and family is to just fly down and then bike around the alps, but it just doesn't seem as fun. I'm moderately experienced, but not remotely used to 1000+km weeks

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

oscaro wrote:

Yes I’m cycling down, but from what ive seen it’s under 2000km to Huez from Stockholm. I was planning on 200-250k/day on the way down, but maybe that’s optimistic.

200K per day is totally doable from Stockholm to Grenoble. Just ride at 25-30 kph and stop for lots of meals and plan to spend 10 hours per day on the road+ stops. I have done plenty of bike Tours like that.

If I were you, once I am through Sestriere and Finestre, head "down" towards Torino and from there I would suggest 2 options. You go up north part Milano to Como. From Como there are awesome rides, but you can head right over the St. Gotthard pass and down to St. Moritz. From St. Moritz, you can then meander through Switzerland and come up either the Ubrellpass (sp?) down to Bormio, or you can take Stelvio North Side to Bormio. Once in Bormio, you can go nuts doing Stelvio North and South side repeats till you are blue in the face and of course Gavia and Mortirolo.

Before you leave the Bourg D'Oisans area, I would suggest you hit up all of the following. You can do 3-4 of these per day from Bourg D'Oisans.

1. Alpe d'Huez
2. Les Deux Alpes
3. Col de Sarennes
4. Glandon
5. Croix de Fer
6. Telegraphe
7. Galibier South Side from Telegraphe/Valloire
8. Galibier North Side from Lauteret Briancon
9. Lauteret west side from Bour d'Oisans
10. Oisans Valley Balcony Route East side of Alpe d'Huez
11. Oisans Valley Balcony Route West side of Alpe d'Huez
12. Lauteret east side from Briancon
13. Villard Raymond village climb off Col d'Ornon
14. Vaujany climb off road to Croix de Fer

4 days should cover it and you will be fried so then hang out for a day in Briancon before taking on Sestriere/Finistre and then head down to Torino for recovery riding to Como.


What I covered for you, is basically what I want to do again next year, covering 'base camps' in Bourg D'Oisans and Bormio. with a rental car transfer in between assuming I am recovered and OK from recent health issues.

Except the question why you would not want to save some days, cross Germany by train and spend more days in the mountains, I would also ask: Why Zoncolan? It is steep, yes. But not a beauty. From my pov not comparable to Bernadino, Sella/Pordoi, Stelvio, Galibier, Iseran, Nufen...

But anyway, if you easily can do 200~250km/d in the flat, you should be fine doing 150km/d in the mountains. August is typically pretty much crowded with tourists, September would be far more quite for sure, with typically fine weather. And, as listed above, if you should be around, I would recommend to go from Trento towards Sella Ronda (-> Trento - Moena - Canazei) and then Zoncolan. However, this deroutes you from Monte Grappa.

And, even though I cannot tell from my own experience, I know people who crossed the Alps and enjoyed very much making the "last mile" to the Mediterran Sea. So, from Zoncolan to e.g. Bibione...

i'd add, if you've made it over Croix de Fer/Glandon, or down the Madeleine into the Maurienne valley, look at the Lacets de Montvernier, which is that crazy little back and forth climb in the Dauphine/Tour a couple of years ago.
Id also agree that the balcony roads off Alpe d'Huez and les deux Alpes are definitely worth exploring (way nicer than alpe d'huez itself)

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'to give anything less than the best is to sacrifice the gift'...Pre

Your Swiss geography is bit off, Gotthard is nowhere near St. Moritz.

Closest what I can think you'e actually meaning is Como - San Bernardino - Maloja - St. Moritz after which you can do (as I said before) Stelvio from North or do Bernina- Livigno - Foscagno - Bormio

That's an epic trip! Assume you've done some big mountain riding previously so have some idea what to expect. If not, don't underestimate just what those big climbs can do to your average speed (and hence time in the saddle). It's not just the climbs, it's technical descents as well. For context a friend just did the Maratona in Italy (~140km and ~4000m elevation), he's a pretty strong rider putting out ~4.5W/kg and is a confident descender, he averaged just over 20kph for the ride and that was going hard at it.

In terms of the climbs themselves, personally I was fairly underwhelmed by Alpe d'Huez. It's iconic because it's had so many big TdF finishes, and the reason for that is that it's a great climb to TT up - steady gradient all the way, regular switchbacks and fairly open view so you know exactly where you are, and it's in the 40-60 minute range for a good cyclist which is perfect for pacing yourself off FTP. Great for testing yourself and setting a time up, but it's not a very interesting or spectacular climb. In that area I enjoyed Col de la Croix de Fer a lot more, it's much more varied and interesting. Also in that area it's worth looking at Les Lacets de Montvernier (Lacets=shoelaces i.e. lots of switchbacks!). Telegraphe and Galibier are also pretty iconic, and since you invariably end up doing them pretty much back to back (with a bit of descent in between) there's a hell of a sense of achievement when you get to the top of Galibier and can see the road you came up winding all the way back down the mountain, through the valley and into the distance.

Definitely get yourself down to Italy. Have just done a weekend down there and it's amazing, truly spectacular scenery (more so than the French Alps IMO), awesome food at good prices as well. Stelvio is a must do climb, really lovely roads, just watch out for the motorbikes. Have a look at the Gavia and the Mortirolo in that area as well. Armstrong said the Mortirolo was the hardest climb he ever rode, it's got a fair amount of steep stuff over 15%, lovely quiet climb with very little traffic as well. As somebody above said, definitely have a look at going over to Switzerland, there are some beautiful roads from St Moritz to Bormio (or vice versa) via Livigno.

Weather wise in September you'll definitely need a variety of gear. The big climbs like Stelvio you can get temperature drops of 15C or more from the valley to the peaks, there's still patches of snow up there even at this time of year, and when you're descending for 20-30 minutes at a time you can get very cold. Pretty normal to set out in the valley sweating in short sleeves with your pockets bulging with gilet, arm warmers and raincoat, and by the time you're descending with all your kit on you still wish you'd found room to pack another layer! That said, you're highly unlikely to get weather bad enough to stop you from riding.

Have a good ride! Maybe we will see you out there. We had non-refundable plane tickets after getting kicked out of Rwanda that we "had" to use so we are doing something similar trip through the alps. This is what we had planned out thus far. I've just been making routes on Strava at this point but 140-170 km is what we are trying to keep out riding days limited to, while taking on as many of the mythical climbs as possible.


https://docs.google.com/...0/edit#gid=320745190

 
Hey Ohio Roadie,

Another Ohio Roadie here. If you're going be in the Grenoble area, my I suggest the Vercors Massif over Chartruese. Last year we did both and will be returning to the Vercors as soon as we finish Etape du Tour this weekend. It features big climbs and spectacular balcony roads with little to no traffic. https://www.bikeradar.com/...topic.php?t=13036963

Hey! I will have to check it out. I think that is the route that we are scheduled to do on 9/8. My significant other's former coach is going to join us for the week through France. He knows those roads pretty well, and she spent some time in the alps a few years back, so those rides are up to them. I'm sure I'll be begging for a rest day (or week) after that block. After France, we are on our own for Italy so I get the freedom to play with the routes there.

Sorry, clearly the copy/paste from google docs didn't work so well. Here's a link if you want to check it out. https://docs.google.com/...PP0/edit?usp=sharing

Crazy plan! Next year RAAM?

https://www.mapmyride.com/routes/view/1567919734

l was in the Bourg-d'Oisan & Briancon areas last summer for a bit. Personally, I found that there were other climbs more enjoyable than Alpe d'Huez which had lots of traffic & lots of other bikes. The traffic in particular was annoying. But it is kind of a "bucket list" climb.

The Izoard to me was a more spectacular climb.

Riding from Le Bourg to Briancon on the main road (if you are trying to get to Sestriere) would be really unpleasant in summer I think. Lots of impatient drivers trying to get around cyclists esp. on the uphills.

Don't have much experience from big mountain cycling, but I don't mind suffering.
I've heard a lot of people saying that Huez is underwhelming, might have to reassess my starting point, but at the same time it is such an iconic climb that I would like to do at some point anyway. Telegraphe and Galibier do look good, and I will definitively add Mortirolo, it's pretty close to where I was planning on finishing up anyway.
Thanks for the tip re the weather, I was thinking that a long sleeved gabba is prob a good bet for many days, as well as a additional jacket and arm warmers.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Sounds like we both have our work cut out for us then! Can't open your doc as I seem to need permission.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

It's not the ability to suffer (though that comes in very handy!) more just a logistical thing in terms of having a realistic plan about how long you're going to be out on the roads. I'm used to rolling hills where even an easy social ride will average >25kph, so find it pretty hard to adjust to just how slow mountain riding can be. In Italy in particular if you want to have a proper lunch then a lot of places shut the kitchen at 2pm and that's it, so

I was glad I ticked Alpe d'Huez off, and I think it was the only mountain where I actually went hard from the bottom and tried to set a good time up (or as good as I could with 2 days of mountain riding already in my legs), I just don't think I'd bother doing it again.

Thanks for all the replies, so far I have made these changes/adjustments:
Day 1-9 Stockholm- Alpe d-Huez
Then Huez-Col de la Croix de Fer - Lacet de monetier - Izoard - sestriere - Como - St Gotthard - Stelvio - Mortirola - Gavia - Moena - Canazei - Zoncolan - Grado
That would be about 1500km so counting on it taking about 10 days. After that I will assess whether I will ride home or fly, would be awesome to ride homes as well, but guessing my legs will be fried after 20 days of 10h/day. Do you have to prebook rooms in all the places or can I just show up assuming there is vacancy?

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

Gotcha, yeah it seems the only way to make 150k days in the alps viable is to be out by 9 at the latest, so you get 4-5h of riding before lunch. If on average im going for 150k, seems I should count on being on my bike for at least 8h per day then.

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Terrible Tuesday’s Triathlon

I'd definitely prebook, you might be OK in September but a lot of those places get pretty busy not just with cyclists but also motorcyclists, hikers, etc. Last thing you want to be doing after 8 hours in the saddle is going door to door trying to find somewhere to sleep. Also worth looking out for places which are bike-friendly as they'll typically have bike rooms, and if you're lucky things like track pumps, stands if you need to work on the bike, etc.