Return to Villard Reymond

It is still the same day here in France as it was when I made my last post (Tower of Babel) and guess what, around 3:00 PM:

'Dissipation de nuages'  - The clouds started to clear

And so I was able to squeeze in another late afternoon ride.  I decided to ride half way down the Col d'Ornan from my base at the KOM Lodge in Le Rivier d'Ornan, turn right at La Palud, and head back up toward Villard Reymond and the top of the Col du Soulor.  This is the reverse of the end of the ride I did on day two.  Click on the map below and hopefully it will enlarge and you will get a view of the route.

I wrote postcards until about 3:30 PM while waiting for the road to dry then I hopped on my bike for what turned out to be a beautiful ride.  What had been a fun ten kilometer descent on Monday turned into a fantastic 10 kilometer climb on a single lane with multiple switchbacks up to a shelf road that ran along a shale cliff face.  Once again there were helpful kilometer markers that tell you how many kilometers it is to Villard Reymond and how steep the next kilometer would be.

It was a fun climb, not as steep as the climb up the Col de Parquetout, so I could just sit and spin up it. The pavement was great for a small road to a remote village.  Along the shale cliff there was some small rock fall on the roadway.  I saw a small pine tree growing right out of the rock face that I quite liked.

On my way up I was listening to my ipod and for my friends that share my love of Spanish rock I recommend Jarabe de Palo's new CD (or album or download or whatever term they are now using to designate a new collection of music) '¿Y Ahora Que Hacemos?'.  It's really good.

The weather was mixed, I had some sun and some fog, but no rain.  Near the top of the Col I came out of some mist and into Villard Reymond.


The old school house has been turned into a cafe.

I stopped in and had a delicious blueberry tart with some carmel ice cream.  Then I finished the ride up to the top of the Col du Soulor.  The clouds had broken up and I could see the town of Huez and Alpe d'Huez across the way.

And just off the top of the col above Villard Reymond was one of the shortest rope tows I had ever seen, especially giventhe fact  I was near the top of the French Alps.

From the top of the col I descended all the way back down to the road up the Col d'Ornan and I was enjoying the ride so much I decided to drop on down into Bourg d'Oisans to buy some more postcards.  Then I road back up the Col d'Ornan just in time for a shower and dinner.  All told I rode about 27 miles and climbed about 4.300 feet.  Another rain day saved by a change in the weather.