Today did not start out looking at all promising weather-wise. It rained hard off and on through the night and all through the morning. And it was cold outside. We could see the snow-line from the lodge.
Another down day with no biking? It was looking that way. There is a big Dutch group at the lodge and in the morning they drove up Alpe d'Huez and came back to report that it was snowing on the top three virages. But towards the end of the day the weather broke and the sun came out and it seemed to me that there was just enough time to ride over the top of the Col d'Ornan, drop down the other side, and then do the short, stiff, seven kilometers climb to the top of the Col de Parquetout.
The Parquetout is one of my favorite climbs in the area - short, but stupid steep.
The weather was still beautiful when I reached the bottom of the Parquetout, about 12 miles from the KOM Lodge.
The climb starts out mellow enough. The picture below is the beginning of the climb and it corresponds to the yellow part on the chart above.
But then things get steeper. The local race club has thoughtfully painted the gradient in places on the road.
This was my third time up the Parquetout in three years. It was still steep, but it is no where near 18% for any real distance. As I climbed it started to rain a bit off and on, but it stayed sunny. The road is as narrow as a driveway, one lane all the way up, but I only met one vehicle coming down, a small truck loaded with firewood. The road still had moss growing on it in places, just as I remembered it.
I felt great and it was a fun climb. Soon I was at the top (below).
It is not the funnest of descents on the way down. You have to ride the brakes, because it is so steep and curvy. You cannot let the bike go. Below is the small church in the hamlet at the bottom of the climb.
From the bottom it was the same 12 mile ride up the south side of the Col d'Ornan and back to the KOM Lodge that I had descended to get to the Parquetout. I had to fight a fierce headwind all the way back up the col. It is a good thing that I love to suffer on the bike. The weather started to look threatening, but it did not start to rain until after I got back to the lodge.
The road home.
What started out looking like it might be a lost day turned into a 33 mile ride with about a vertical mile worth of climbing. I really caught a break with the weather. Judging from the forecast there will be more weather issues in the days ahead.
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