Not the Vars You're Used To (102 km)

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I had noticed last night that Briancon is surrounded by mountains: there was a summit to look at no matter which direction you faced. This morning that meant starting the day with a 20 km climb to the Col d'Izoard; fortunately there was a block-and-a-half stretch in which we could warm up first.

OK, it really wasn't all bad - only a 5-6% grade to start. But after 5km we gave back any elevation we had gained (descending into a slight gorge) before resuming the climb upwards, this time at a slightly steeper pitch. The route eased up a bit just before the summit but the col was absolutely infested with motorcyclists. We see them all the time on the road but still don't get why they high-five themselves for having summited.

The initial descent was quite twisty and then demanded a rather stiff climb to reach the Casse Deserte - stiff enough that I felt the effects of altitude on my effort. There then followed an incredibly long, cold, windy, finger-numbing ride down and outrun along the Combe du Queyras gorge (a storyline that has proven typical: descend the switchbacks to the valley then follow the river downstream).

In contrast to Izoard's, the climb to the Col de Vars started off with some heavy hauling at 9.6% before settling down to a more modest 7-8%. The kilometer marker even went negative at one point (something no cyclists likes to see) as the road dipped down into town before picking up again; it also started to get windy. In fact once at the summit the weather really started to pour over the mountains so I strove to get through the bumpy 10% descent on the other side in hopes of outrunning anything that might be coming in; fortunately nothing materialized.

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Photos

leaving-briancon
Starting the day with a climb.

approaching-the-serious-bit
When you see snow you know it's probably going to get steeper

near-the-top
Look at the cyclist in the picture to get a sense of scale.

not-your-average-col-sign
Surrounded by about 35 motorcyclists not in the picture.

the-dry-backside-of-the-col
The Casse Deserte

another-gorgeous-runout
"Gorge-ous"

col-de-vars
Note the 10% grade on the way down.

a-good-reason-to-leave
Potential weather spilling over the top

the-fort-de-tournoux
Rather than climb for a first-hand view I just looked at the promotional placards and decided that was sufficient.

french-postcard
On the road to Barcelonnette