Circuit over the Col de la Colombiere 3rd September

Now with a vehicle, the circuit from the town of Flumet over the Col de la Colombiere and the Col des Aravis made the list. It meant driving back over the Cormet de Roselend and Col des Saises that I’d ridden a couple of days before, which due to the narrow and windy roads ended up taking nearly an hour and a half to drive the 72 km one way journey!

Though none of the cols came close to 2000 metres, they did pack a mean punch.

From Flumet, the main road followed the valley towards Chamonix with Mont Blanc standing high overhead till the road split and I took the left fork to Cluses. This section of the loop was nothing but a way of getting to the business and was mostly flat and straight for much of it.

Though flat, still stunning views - waterfall by the road to Cluses 

It was from Cluses where the action started and did it start with a bang! Rather than head up the main road through to the village of Le Reposoir which marks the start of the hardest section to the Col de la Colombiere 1618m, I was recommended to take a hard left at the start and head over the Col de Romme 1300m first. This 9.3km climb was included in the 2009 TDF and hits hard from the beginning with a wall over 10%. It does ease up after a kilometre, but just as you start to recover hits repeatedly with more sections over 10% including 500m at 12.5%! Fortunately the road is shaded, and having got the 29 cog working again I was able to keep a reasonable cadence and got to the col and village of Romme.

Looking back down the road to Romme on the lower slopes

Here the road descended to Le Reposoir and would have been a brilliant descent if it wasn’t for the gravel on most corners forcing me to take the corners close to walking pace. The village was quite pretty nestled in the valley below the bare surrounding peaks, but also signified the start of the final 7 brutal kilometres to the main col of the day.

Le Reposoir and the col above

The next kilometres continued to get progressively steeper with the final kilometre averaging 10.2%  and the col in view for these last kilometres taunting you.

So close yet still so far

The descent from the col continued down through the town Le Grand-Bornand with a few hairpins but mainly long straight sections where a tight tuck kept the speed high. Soon enough the road started to rise again and soon we slipped over the Col de St Jean de Sixt 956m not realising it was a signed col!

Looking back with Le Reposoir below and the Col de Romme behind and above

The last climb for the day was the col des Aravis 1487m. None of the kilometres to the col were terribly steep, the accumulated fatigue from the previous days meant it wasn’t easy either. It was here that the clouds finally started to make good their threat. Initially it was only a few drops, but soon it became heavier and it was a very wet cyclist who made Flumet and the waiting car.

Chapelle Saint Anne - Col des Aravis

Considering at some points the visibility was down to just metres, the drive back over to Bourg St Maurice was uneventful. I was very relieved though to have gotten over those narrow roads, the French optimistically paint middle marks on the roads even when only one car wide!

This ride marked the last ride in Bourg St Maurice. The tally for this week’s riding is 715 km and 24483m elevation gain.

Ride details:
Distance 100.07km
2653m elevation