climb by bike: Les Lacets de Monvernier / Le Col du Chaussy / Le Col de la Madeleine

Yesterday was for Hank. Last June on the next to the last riding day we had in France, Hank and I tried to find and then ride what we (or I) had heard described as the Lacets (laces) of the Col du Chaussy. Our attempt was unsuccessful because we went up the main route up the col - D77. We missed the lacets because they are on a side route - D77B - that joins the main route in a meadow just above the Lacets. Hank and I were very close to the Lacets, but we missed.

The other day Hank sent me a text over Facebook asking me if I was going to try and ride the Lacets this year. I wrote to him I would, and yesterday was my last chance, so I rented a van and drove over the Col du Glandon to Pontamafrey in the Maurienne Valley. It took me a while to find them, but I finally did.

The Lacets are in the center of the photo

I parked the van and started what is actually a fairly mellow climb up the stacked laces. I will let the pictures speak for themselves.

After the Lacets I came to the junction with the main route in the meadow I mentioned before.

Looking south I could the road Hank and I had come up. I recognized the tower on the hill.

Hank and I had asked people we had seen on the way up from the valley floor if we were on 'la bonne route' - 'the right road' up the Col du Chaussy. They assured us that we were, and of course they were right, we were on 'la bonne route.' Thinking back on it I am pretty sure that the locals avoid the Lacets the same way San Franciscans probably avoid Lombard Street. And the Lacets are only a small alternate way up to the main road on a pretty big col.

I decided to ride to the top of the col again, just as Hank and I had, with Hank's wife Ki driving and scouting ahead our little SUV. Ki came back down to tell us that at the top of the col the rideable pavement ended and the road turned to unridable dirt and gravel. Still it was a beautiful climb.

The view down from the climb up the Col du Chaussy

And finally I reached the top, a year and two days after I had been there with Hank and Ki.

Last year at the top of the col we put our bikes in the SUV and began a demented 'jeep' trip on the dirt backroads to the summit of the Col de Madeleine. We actually dropped down to the Madeleine from the ski are above it. But I am a learner. So this year I descended back down the Col du Chaussy and then the Lacets, hoped in my rental van, and drove to the base of the Col de la Madeleine. I rode the twenty kilometers up to the summit from there.

The Col de la Madeleine is famous. It is often featured in the Tour de France, and rightly so. It is a classic big climb. The Col du Chaussy will never be featured in the TDF. The road is too small. I enjoyed riding the big cols, but the truth is I liked the small, back road cols even better. There is less traffic. They are often steeper. They are amazingly well maintained even when they are single paved lanes. They are peaceful.

But to be fair the Col de la Madeleine was pretty quiet yesterday, and it was a beautiful climb, mostly in the trees for the first fifteen or so kilometers, which was appreciated by me because it was another hot day.

About ten kilometers up you come into the lower parts of the ski stations.

The avalanche danger was fairly low today (unless the French use a scale from one to three)

Above the ski town the terrain is wide open alpine all the way to the summit of the col.

Yesterday was my thirteenth day in France and my thirteenth day of riding in a row. I got lucky with the weather. Yesterday was a big climb day, over 8,600 feet of it in 50 miles of riding. Today is my last day in France. I am writing this from the Lyon Airport hotel. Tomorrow I fly on to Italy and some new climbing adventures. I will blog about them whenever it is possible.

The only riding I did today was back up the Col d'Ornan after I had dropped off my rental van, but still, it was a ride and a climb, so I rode every day I was here in France, fourteen days total. It was a great trip.