Day 2: Samoens to Saint Gervais

Day 2: Samoens to Saint Gervais via Cluses - Le Col de Colombiere - La Clusaz - Col des Aravais - Flumet - Megeve - Sallanches - St Gervais

After a fun night in Samoens where we had nice meal out it had been an early night in anticipation of a big day to tackle the famous Col de la Colombiere. There was a mix of apprehension and excitement at breakfast for those of us doing this ride for the first time. After what had been my biggest day on a bike the day before I was particularly wary of what lay ahead.

As we prepared to leave the hotel at 8:30 I had the dubious task of attaching our new found friend - Mon Amie the Marmot to my stem so he could accompany me for the day. I was able to situate him just nicely so that he could watch my speed and the gradient on the Garmin for the duration of the day. His presence must have helped as I'm pleased to say that I managed to complete the various descents of the day with out over cooking any corners or taking any undue risks.

We hit the road at 8:30 and travelled through the valley before descending into Cluses where the climbing began. From here we worked our way up the Col de la Colombiere climb - 19.5 km of climbing with a vertical gain of 1120 m. The roadside markers countdown the climb - telling you how far to go to the top, the gradient for the next km, and the elevation. These are great motivation to keep going and keep you focused. The individual sections varied from average gradients of 6% to 10% but at times the gradient exceeded 12% but fortunately not for too long.

We stopped at the top for coffee and a small snack. It was busy up there as not only were their a lot of other cyclists, motorcyclists, and tourists, but the route was part of a Ironman race that had started at Lac Montriond early that morning and involved the competitors doing a cycle leg that include the Joux Plane, the Col de la Colombiere, Col des Aravais, and Les Hauches to Chamonix. They were to follow that up with a marathon run through the mountains that included 2000 m of climbing.

After coffee and the photo of proof we took off down the descent to wind our way down to La Clusaz for lunch. After that it was straight on to the Col des Aravais which was a lesser climb of just 10 km in length and 570m of climbing.

From there we descended down to Flumet and then along the valley to Megeve and along to Sallanches so we could make it to the bike shop before they closed. A quick top up of protein bars and protein powder and we were back on the bike to St Gervais where we are spending the night as guests of the wonderful Agnes who is our fabulous driver for this trip.

Unfortunately we caught a passing shower for the last 20 mins of our ride but after a long hot day that wasn't all bad.

We had a wonderful home cooked meal and a chance to reflect on the day. My companion for the day - Mon Amie the Marmot - was ceremoniously passed on to Chris for his efforts at lunch time where his eyes were bigger than his stomach.

All in all, another great day where we completed 112 km of riding with 2450 m of climbing. It's an early night as tomorrow's we have a number of good climbs including the Cornet de Roseland.

John