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Published: March 19th 2018
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leaving-annecy
Once we got through town there was a delightful path along the scenic lakefront. Welcome to another beautiful day in France. Following a fitful night (recall yesterday's rooming arrangement) I awoke feeling less than refreshed, and thought it might be prudent not to go looking for any extra adventures today. The plan had been to leave Annecy en masse since the directions appeared somewhat involved, and when the gang (or most of it) eventually left (my thought while waiting for everyone: this is time I could have spent sleeping!), I settled in the rear/midpack so I could have some people to photograph. Early on, however, I caught an incorrect turn made by the lead person (who was relying on GPS) and decided I would be better off being up front, so I led us through town to the lake - hence no photos until we got there.
It turns out Annecy has a really nice section which is much different from the suburbs we were in. I stayed with a group until the road tilted upwards to our first col of the day, and then (as the parrot sketch goes) voom! The climb to the Col de Bluffy was neither long nor steep, but the day was already hot and when I
got to the top it was unremarkable. Fortunately I had found a British couple (who didn't seem to understand any French) a little earlier who could record a more scenic accomplishment.
There then followed a minor descent that led to a road by a river that afforded typical alpine scenery as it climbed. You knew by the state of the river that things would soon tilt upwards and they did, so I found a place in Les Villards sur Thone to take a self-portrait. It was only when I had climbed past St. Jean de Sixt that I realized I had left my tripod attached to a pole there, so I coasted back to retrieve it and got to enjoy the climb a second time. But hey - we were now officially on the Route des Grandes Alpes so naturally the climb to Col des Aravis was pretty grand, even if the Col itself was less than spectacular. The descent, though, was great fun - except where the usually good road degenerated into some vicious holes. Still, I did manage to pass a car (and several of our group's cyclists) on the way down, and also avoided
not-yet
Not the Col but Almost the clueless tourists who decided to dawdle across the road without looking as I blazed through some small town. The road continued its descent through a scenic gorge but I was not about to stop and record its appearance so you'll have to check it our yourselves. All in all I managed a maximum speed of only 54.5kph, less than I achieve riding in the Gats (albeit with considerably more thrill).
Once on the climb to Les Saisies, informative markers started appearing, so I always knew what lay ahead - except for road conditions. The first surprise was that the route had some occasional downhill sections in it (had I known this beforehand I mightn't have removed my helmet for the hot climb). The second surprise was that some sections of the road had been scarified in preparation for paving. The third surprise was somewhat of a combination of the first two: there was a really long downhill section where the rough road had extended patches of loose gravel/sand that made things pretty interesting (especially without a helmet). The road then tilted up to regain the elevation that had been lost and there I was at the
Col/town, where most shops are closed and the temperature was 32!!
The hotel here is marvelous, although having learned from last night's experience there was a slight adjustment that I needed to make.
And we have rebooked accommodation and changed our planned route for tomorrow's ride, since the road to Val d'Isere is still under several metres of snow!
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