We did not get our drained of gasoline and properly fueled with diesel Renault Kangoo back until 11:30 this morning and with that in mind we elected to ride close to our lodge. The choices for riding around here are endless. There are a million options. Bourg d'Oisans lays just to the north of the Parc National des Ecrins and the area is a Mecca for 'rando' (hiking, short for 'la randonée') as well as cycling. Even the Bourg d'Oisans valley which lies out of the actual National Park des Ecrins has a Yosemite like feel with incredible cliffs and waterfalls everywhere you look.
So we decided to have lunch at our favorite pizzeria in Bourg d'Oisans then ride 20 miles up the Venoen Valley through Saint Christophe to Bérarde where the road comes to an end. This was a beautiful climb up a back country valley in the heart of the Ecrins Park. An incredibly wild river runs down the valley and here again there are many Yosemite like cascades of water coming off of high cliffs.
We thought it would be a pretty mellow day, but there are some steep climbs with switch backs in the park. It was a much stiffer ride than we had anticipated, but it was just beautiful. We are constantly being surprised by the options for riding we are finding here (although pretty much everything involves climbing) and we are already talking about when we might be able to come back. All and all we had about about 3,800 feet of climbing in the park and about 50 miles of riding going here and there. We did some shopping in Bourg d'Oisans on the way back to the lodge and skipped the ride up the Col d'Ornan electing to sag back up the hill in the Renault. We have a big day planned for tomorrow! We have two days of riding left as our tine here is sadly coming to an end. It has been a great trip!
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