2012 Day 15 - Bonjour, France

Flowers this morning along the road out of Le Rivier d'Ornan.  It's hard to believe there is snow on the peaks.

Today was my last full day at the King of the Mountain Lodge.  I had to return CarGo my rental van this morning, so I put my bike in the van and planned to have lunch in town and then have one last bike ride up Le Col d'Ornan after I had returned CarGo.

One last ride up Le Col d'Ornan.

Eight kilometers up the climb my French hometown, Le Rivier d'Ornan comes into view.  I decided to ride the last three kilometers to the top of the col.

 

 

Almost all of the cols and climbs to small towns or ski stations having timing markers at the summit.  You can rent timing chips if you are competitive about that sort of thing.  I am not all that competitive, mainly because my timing instrument of choice would be a calendar, not a stop watch.  If I was faster I am guessing I would be all over the timing chip rental, but for me it would be to depressing.  I am more tortoise than hare.

The view back down le Col d'Ornan from near the top.

Lilacs (I think) and butterflies at the top of the upper road back into Le Rivier d'Ornan 

In case you are wondering the entire Col d'Ornan is about a 2,000 foot climb from the Bourg d'Oisans side.  This was my last ride in the Alps this year, but I will be back for sure, God willing.

Tomorrow I travel to San Sebastian, Spain, and the next day I begin a sea-to-sea traverse of the Pyrenees from the Bay of Biscay to the Mediterranean.  As I wrote in my last post, I will blog it if I can.

Thanks, again!  Chris