planning a Alps cycle tour, advice needed.

[ton]

looking for some advice regarding planning and completing a Alps tour.

we tour regularly both home and abroad. been to norway, portugal, france a few times, belgium, holland, and all or the scottish islands and highlands.
but we now fancy the french alps. i have been on the mtb a couple of times but never on the road.

we will be travelling lightly, no camping gear. staying in hotels or hostels or what is available. we dont do big miles. 50 mile a day is the max. like to explore, quieter roads the better.
we want do some big climbs. so looking for a circuit for a couple or 3 weeks starting in the annecy area.

and advice greatly appreciated.

[MrsHJ]

I saw this recently and thought it looked interesting. I know nothing else about it so google is required. Looking at it I’ve done a small amount of the route but it’s France so I’m sure it’s fine even if it’s not fully developed yet- it certainly won’t be like one of the fairly busy eurovelo routes along the Loire I shouldn’t think. P’tites Routes du Soleil - it goes through Annecy and french trains are fine with bikes with a little planning so you’ll be fine to get back there.

Edit- my error, it goes very close to Annecy but not through although I’m sure you can tweak- it starts in Thonon Les Bains and finishes in Nice. A couple of the V routes definitely do go through Annecy though- eg the V62.
https://cycle.travel/route/summary/306647

https://cycle.travel/map/journey/306647

You need to push the turn by turn directions button to get accurate climbing- it’s “only” 16,500 metres not 22,600!

The France vélo touring website is quite useful but I find the maps not very clear but they may have some ideas too- the pic on the front of the website is La voie bleue which I did last September - definitely not mountainous although it goes through the Vosges.
https://en.francevelotourisme.com/

A map helpful for ideas and an overview of french cycle routes is IGN 924 - I’d check to see what the latest version is as they are good at adding to the list. https://www.amazon.co.uk/924-FR-Voies-V ... C65&sr=1-4

[Paulc]

I have done a few tours in and through that area. Heading off on another one later in year. What is it you would like advice on?

[roubaixtuesday]

As Paulc says, it's not really clear what advice you're after - routes, accomodation, kit...?

With 2-3 weeks from Annecy the alps are your oyster! I think perhaps you need to decide if you want to do the really big climbs, or as suggested above, something which takes you through the landscape but without the huge ascents. Either would be brilliant.

The classic climbs of the tour are well within reach in that time if you hanker after an ascent of the Galibier et a but are a real challenge with luggage, even light.

[pal]

There's a Cicerone guide to 'Cycling in the French Alps': it's out of print at the moment, but there are second hand copies knocking around in the usual (online) places. It has half a dozen or so suggested multi-day tours, including the big/famous climbs as well as more gentle stuff; I found it a good way to get ideas for tours in that bit of the world...

[TrevA]

We did a tour of the Alps a few years ago. Flew to Geneva and rode along the north shore of Lake Geneva, ending up in Aigle, then over to Chamonix, then headed south taking in the Col de Saiises, Cormet de Roseland Col d’Iseran, briefly into Italy (Souza) via the Col de Mount Cenis, then back into France to Briancon. Then we started to head back north again. We did the Lauteret, Galibier, Telegraphe, watched the Tour over the Col du Glandon/Croix de Fer, then did the Col de Madeline, Cormet de Roseland and Col de Saiises again, then the Cols d’Aravis and Columbiere (watched the Tour here again) as we made our way north towards Morzine, Thonon Les Bains and back to Geneva.

We didn’t book any accommodation in advance, just visited the local Tourist Information Centre in the town where we wished to stay and always managed get something, even in July when the Tour was on, though we never stayed in or near a start or finish town.

We traveled very light - just a bar bag and saddlebag each, with 2 sets of cycling clothes, underwear, a couple of t shirts and a pair of trousers, for evenings.

[pwa]

You will need gears than are low enough for you to be able to sustain a climb for a long time, and few bikes come with low enough gears for that. You will also need to be able to carry enough water because it can get hot, and you will work up a sweat within the first mile of a climb. I'd be starting with three bottles, refilling at villages along the way.

[MrsHJ]

You will need gears than are low enough for you to be able to sustain a climb for a long time, and few bikes come with low enough gears for that. You will also need to be able to carry enough water because it can get hot, and you will work up a sweat within the first mile of a climb. I'd be starting with three bottles, refilling at villages along the way.

What would you recommend pwa? I put on 44, 34, 22 this year with 11-34.

I watched GCN+ today with David millar and Connor doing the Agliru. They did it in compact doubles (no luggage). I think Millar had 34-34 as his « granny » if I understood his summary correctly.

[pwa]

You will need gears than are low enough for you to be able to sustain a climb for a long time, and few bikes come with low enough gears for that. You will also need to be able to carry enough water because it can get hot, and you will work up a sweat within the first mile of a climb. I'd be starting with three bottles, refilling at villages along the way.

What would you recommend pwa? I put on 44, 34, 22 this year with 11-34.

That sounds about right. How you tackle a long alpine climb depends on you. When younger and fitter I could bag some without stopping along the way. But loaded with camping gear I would stop for a rest several times on a long climb, making time to take a photo of have a drink.

[ton]

thanks for all the input so far.

TrevA, just plotted your route on ridewithgps. some route that, but it looks fantastic, with lots of place to stop along the route.

MrsHJ, your route suggestion that goes south to the french coast also looks fantastic.
good options to get back to the starting points.

re the gearing, i run mtb gears on my tourer, 22/32/42 with a 11/36 cassette, and my wife has a 22/32 with a 12/42 cassette.

i have ridden in the alps in the past on the mtb.
rode from Brides les bain up to the altiport above Courcheval, on a 2.5 tyred mtb. managed it ok but slowly.
600m up to 2000m.

[foxyrider]

Not done any French alpine riding but i've done a chunk in Austria/Switzerland in various levels from empty CF road bike (52/34 x 11-27) to fully laden for camping (54/40/26 x 11-29 - bike has 24" wheels!) as well as load points in between. Some climbs, even fully loaded, you can purr along in a relatively high gear for km after km, others you'll be grinding away in bottom gear, struggling to maintain forward motion. My general rule of thumb when comparing bare bike to laden gear requirements is to allow the equivalent of a drop in chainring so a climb on 34 x 27 on a CF race bike will need (for me) something like 26 x 27 on the laden tourer.

I do try not to use bottom gear - that really is for dire emergencies, the stupid long 25% climb out of Bertchesgaden to the Austrian border springs to mind! Most of the longer climbs are much less steep.

Oh and anywhere over 1000m will get cold overnight even in summer!

[gregoryoftours]

You will need gears than are low enough for you to be able to sustain a climb for a long time, and few bikes come with low enough gears for that. You will also need to be able to carry enough water because it can get hot, and you will work up a sweat within the first mile of a climb. I'd be starting with three bottles, refilling at villages along the way.

What would you recommend pwa? I put on 44, 34, 22 this year with 11-34

That's low enough for fully loaded touring up steep hills, let alone lightweight touring. Much lower and you'd probably have problems balancing while spinning at such a slow speed. 44/11 is a decent clip also as a high gear unless you want racing speed. You'll have no problems with those gears

[TrevA]

I’d add that we found the heat to be really draining. Like riding in the blast of hot air that you get when you open the oven door. You need as much water as you can carry and regular top ups throughout the day. I remember climbing the Cormet de Roseland, we kept criss-crossing a mountain stream. Every time we did, I’d get off and soak myself in the cool stream water to cool down.

If we had a big climb to do, we would try to stay near the bottom of it the night before, so that we could climb it first thing in the morning before it got too hot. Not always possible and sometimes you are doing 2 or 3 big climbs in a day.

[MarcusT]

I do try not to use bottom gear - that really is for dire emergencies, the stupid long 25% climb out of Bertchesgaden to the Austrian border springs to mind! Most of the longer climbs are much less steep.

You rode a 25% climb with a loaded bike???
We applaud you!!

[Thehairs1970]

Went to the french alps a few years ago - as a family of four- camping, so fully loaded.

The thing that struck us, and another big roadie from our local Devon spot was that the roads are designed to be claimable to a large degree. We found a lot more long 5 to 8% grades rather than shorter high % hills.

Heat was hard so bear in mind.