Annecy – Embrun in 2 days by road bike

D-1 – Preparing the track (spoiler: the passes are closed!)

In preparation for the RAF 300 (article to come on my 1st ultra), I’m going to have to cut back a little and add a bit of elevation gain to the program. My sister lives in Embrun, I live in Annecy. The route has been found, and it’s Annecy-Embrun in two days with a cycling friend. I’ll tell you all about it!

The idea was to take the mythical Route des Grandes Alpes (RGA) and climb the highest road passes (Iseran (2764 m), Galibier (2642 m), … and the most prestigious ones such as L’Alpe d’Huez, the Montvernier lacets… There are many variations on this superb RGA.

One thing we hadn’t taken into account in our route planning, however, was the opening date of the passes. We naively thought that by Whitsun weekend, the roads would be clear of all traces of snow.

The day before we set off, we spend a few hours redefining our route, making a few phone calls to the various tourist offices to find out the exact dates when the passes open. It turns out that the two ideal periods for setting off on the Route des Grandes Alpes are the “wings of the season”: mid-June (opening of the major cols) to mid-July and late August to mid-October.

The departure date was set for Thursday May 16, but the extremely wet weather didn’t encourage us to get on our bikes. We decided to postpone our pannier adventure for a day , to take advantage of milder weather and take the time to analyze our route for the umpteenth time.

After a few doubts & uncertainties, we finalize our route: 325km, D+ 6090m via Col du Mont Cenis, Col de Montgenèvre and Col d’Izoard.

Day 1 – Annecy – Susa

Friday May 17, meet at Le Pâquier at 8:30am with Manon, theday’s objective: arrive for the aperitif in Italy! Today’s menu includes: Annecy – Susa via Col de Tamié & Col du Mont Cenis.

First we skirt Lake Annecy , with that feeling of freedom on the little queen with her saddlebags attached. After a few kilometers on the bike path to Faverges, we set off for our 1st pass of the day (only two real passes today): Col de Tamié. A fairly rolling pass with an average gradient of 4%, giving us plenty of time to appreciate the remarkable scenery of the Massif des Bauges.

A beautiful descent, a section on a cycle path, scenic roads without cars: a bucolic interlude on our mounts, before reaching the Maurienne valley , which will be a little less magical with busy roads in industrial zones.

After 110km, a bakery stopover in Saint Michel de Maurienne is necessary to regain strength before the day’s major difficulty, which begins at kilometer 150 of our outing: Col du Mont Cenis (9.9km at 7% average gradient).

What an honor to be the first to tackle the 6 laces of this pass, which opened on the same day. There are still a few snowdrifts along the way, making this a mystical climb.

We don’t linger too long at the top of the pass, as the cold grips us; we feed quickly, put on layers and set off again in the direction of the sumptuous Mont Cenis lake before a long and pleasant descent to Italy.

We arrived at 7pm, just in time for the pizza! After a few trips up and down the steep village streets to find our guest house for the night!

Day 2 – Susa – Embrun

After a much-appreciated breakfast in our guest house, we set off for a few kilometers of descent before starting the first climb of the day, a long ascent to Cesanne which marks the start of the Col de Montgenèvre (a 43km climb from Susa for almost 1500m of D+).

In itself, the Col de Montgenèvre is almost gentle, with an average gradient of 5.6% over the 9km from Cesanne. Unfortunately, we’ll take the wrong route through the Cesanne tunnel, which is exclusively reserved for cars, whereas a much more pleasant route for cyclists was to be found at the entrance to this 2km long tunnel from hell.

Once we arrive in Montgenèvre, we’ll need to stop for a meal of French fries and fried potatoes before heading full throttle down to Briançon. With the potatoes more or less digested, we set off for the day’s big difficulty: the Col d’Izoard (which opened just for us the day before!).

The challenge of this climb lies in the length of the pass: 19.1km with a positive vertical drop of 1,174 metres, and an average gradient of 6.1%, with the steepest sections in the final kilometers! The added challenge of this climb will be the hail that arrives during the ascent. Fortunately, the higher we climb, the more breathtaking the scenery: the immense privilege of riding between snowdrifts over three metres high.

I have to admit that I shed a few tears on reaching the summit; a mixture of pride and relief at having completed the long climb. With an energy bar in our throats, windbreaker, neck warmer and gloves on, we set off for the descent, rather chilled from the cold.

At the halfway point, a coffee break to warm up is more than essential, and turns into a burger break to try and regain some strength for the remaining forty kilometers to our final destination. Luckily, our bodies are invigorated and the scenery makes us forget our fatigue, as we cross the magnificent Gorges du Guil .

A less pleasant stretch of main road takes us to the charming village of Saint Clément sur Durance. A few last kilometers to finish our journey at the Embrun lake and celebrate our adventure with a ginger beer at theOutdoor Mix festival! (Bonus: enjoy a massage session the next day, quadriceps be damned).