Clik here to view.
Etape du Tour, Act Two: Unemployed Cyclist – Have Campy, Will Travel.
Thanks to some of you very readers, I ‘chose’ to do an Etape Double this year (you might remember the poll I took last year) – two stages of this year’s Tour de France; the first being the Alps and …...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Climbing Ventoux Without Breaking a Sweat
A long while ago I was contacted by an Australian named Mark for an assisted assault on Mont Ventoux with his friends Greg, Wayne and Yasha. Last week, I picked up the 4 from the center of Uzès and...
View ArticleClik here to view.
The 18th Ascension of Mt. Aigoual: Back to Reality
As a cycling athlete I have a natural tendency to check out men (and women, you’ll be glad to know) in tight shorts when I see them. It was thanks to this habit that it slowly dawned on me yesterday …...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Briançon Climbing Weekend – Day One
Possibly motivated by the beautiful photos of Steepclimbs’ recent Rockies climbing extravaganza, or more probably encouraged by the fact I have my good friend Clément’s car for the month, Shoko and I...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Briançon Climbing Weekend: Day Two
For our first full day in the high Alps I planned a ride that Shoko and I could do together. She is disadvantaged by the fact that I go a bit faster these days and, more importantly, her equipment...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Briançon Climbing Weekend: Day Three
Sunday, our last day in the Alps, was long, so stay focussed. This could take a while! IZOARD The only thing I really knew I had to do this day was climb the Col d’Izoard, the highest, most famous...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barcelonnette Climbing Weekend: Cime de la Bonette
No, John and I didn’t go to Spain for the weekend. We went to the Alps. Barcelonnette is one of several ‘cycling meccas’ to be found in the French part of the Alps and we were there to do some …...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barcelonnette Climbing Weekend: The 3 Cols
The sign below illustrates our Saturday conundrum nicely, I think. We really had two choices for our day: 1) Climb one of the cols you see in the signs, descend the same side, then do the same for the...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Barcelonnette Climbing Weekend: A Cheeky Morning Col
Forgive me. I’ve been busy (more on that later) and haven’t gotten around to posting our Day 3 till now. And I also realize I need to talk about Barcelonnette, since I promised to a couple of posts...
View ArticleClik here to view.
Mr. Patterson, Col Collector
The list below, a record of the climbs (that have names recognized by Google) I did this year, started to impress me after hitting 15 or so. I had no idea I had climbed so many mountains this season....
View Article