2019 was another great year in the mountains. It was a real mix of different rides and experiences. From training rides, to point to point trips, to large scale sportives, it really did have it all. We started off with a Velo Club Traverse weekend in May. This was a great way to get the legs back and explore new routes. Venturing out into the Bauges, which is the other side of Lake Annecy to us, we got ourselves all the way over to Mont Revard, with it’s stunning views over Lac du Bourget. An inspiring way to kick off the summer.
Stunning views from the top of Mont Revard
Shortly after, it was time to greet the Ripcor gang for another new route. This was a blinder. Treve, the bossman, asked me if we could do a Geneva to the sea route but miss out a lot of the mountains, others in the club wanted to do mountains, so a compromise was needed. The Cote du Rhone was born. This route loosely followed the Rhone to it’s end in the Mediterranean. In the mix, were a few optional add-on climbs, the Grand Colombier and Mont Ventoux. The former being in next year’s Tour de France route. The best thing about this trip was to see the group arriving in Geneva and heading straight out on their bikes from the airport on the excellent Swiss bike paths. It was a interesting twist to the way we normally start our rides.
Mixed weather going from Geneva to the sea, but they (almost) always wore a smile!
A few weeks later saw the return of the machine, Ivan, with his Bigfoot cycling buddies. These were quick uphill, and competitive. I decided to ride within myself to avoid the dark, dark place that their pace would have taken me. Joined as well by Richard, we did a long route up Semnoz, around Lake Annecy and back up and over the Croix Fry. They were all trying to get one over each other and it was rather amusing to see the state of the whole group when I wandered into the cafe at the top of the Croix Fry (a good 5 minutes behind them all). They looked like they had been to hell and back. White with all the salt and cramping. Bill had an uncontrollable twitching cheek and Ivan’s leg had a life of his own. Very amusing.
The Bigfoot Boys enjoing a well deserved dinner, aren’t we lucky with where we are?!
Richard stayed out another week and was met by his friend, Rudy and we also had Rob out. Richard paid for the earlier exertions and struggled to match Rudy as they were trying to prepare for the Grand Fondo Maratona. Rob and I cycled out to Beaufort and back, a route with zero metres of flat. It gave Rob the confidence that he could master the Maratona. As became customary over this summer, we all refuelled with pasta at the new Lucia’s restaurant in Saint Jean.
Richard enjoying the views from the Saleve back across to Annecy
Next was our Velo Club Traverse’s trip to the Maratona, in the Italian Dolomites. 20 of us went over to Alta Badia to join the 4000 participants from all across the globe. Nearly 140km and over 4000m of climbing meant that this was a long day in the saddle, but the stunning scenery and fantastic atmosphere helped everyone around. VCT is turning into such a nice group, with everybody getting along. It felt like a real team effort. Need to work out our next target event now!
Some of the Maratona Team preparing for the sportive!
Nerves or Excitement?
After the Maratona, we had an August of visits of small groups and individuals, which was a great excuse to do more cycling. We also managed to get a team of 4 to enter the Belier in La Clusaz, a trail run throughout the mountains. We did the relay version of the marathon, which meant 21km each, it again, was a great atmosphere and one that we will certainly repeat next year.
August was spent on our local roads - Matt is enjoying his new kit and views of Mont Blanc on the Aravis
September saw our “electric bike take” on our Cheese Classic route - the Cheese eClassic. The first time that we have done a point to point with eBikes. As a lot of you know, it is a super route and leant itself well to eBikes. Spare batteries meant that the distances could be covered throughout the day and there was no range anxiety, which has been a problem in the past. eBikes are just fantastic at opening up the mountains to people that would not normally be able to do it. If you are a cyclist, and have friends and family who want to join you, then get them an eBike. I cycled up the Cormet de Roseland with the group, I went full gas and was only just keeping up, it was great to be paced though (a little bit like the guys in the Kirin on the track!).
eBikes can get you to some rather stunning places
A Cheese eClassic lunch spot - fantastic September sun
We were soon packing again for a trip to Italy, this time to Como for the Gran Fondo Il Lombardia. A group of 8 of us. The weekend consisted of pizza, pasta, watching the pro race and then doing the event. Our hotel in Como was perfectly positioned for the finish, we could see the last climb, stroll to see the finish and then look around all the team buses seeing the riders and trying to blag a water bottle or two. Then it was our turn. The route was a short (ish), punchy affair. It was fast too, being swept along by groups of Italians. 110km and 2000m of climbing does not sound too much, but then there is the Muro di Sormano - 1.5km with gradients up to 25%, wall by name, wall by nature! I am sure that we will go back next year!
Mixing it with the pros in Como during the Lombardi weekend
It was straight back and out the door again to drive north to our final weekend of the year. All the way up in Flanders, Belgium. There were 23 of us for our Belgium Classic. Oudenaarde is a town steeped in cycling history and we based ourselves out of the cycling museum there. A change from our usual Alpine routes but as they say, a change is as good as a rest… anyways, it was ace! The cobbled climbs are short but intense, you can see why the classics are so popular. It is certainly advisable to tighten up all the screws on your bike! I have to say the the Mur de Geraardsbergen was very special! The Paterburg climb was just insane. But all these climbs are relatively short so the pain does not last that long!
Olly, who has been of great help during the summer, giving it to the cobbles
Getting ready to leave Oudenaarde and hit the iconic cylcing landmarks of Flanders
Thank you to everyone who has come out to visit us this summer, it truly has been a blast, as I look out the window at the snow falling on all of the cols here in the Alps, I realise that the bike will be in hibernation for a while. Oh well, at least we can ski!