bike up Cime de la Bonette 2802m / 9,193' from Jausiers 1195m / 3,921'
- 2nd highest paved road in the Alps - 1607m vertical, 23.8km uphill
France wins the World Cup!
Some fine clowns had lit fireworks sporadically between 3am and 4am...
I was not too
pleased.
Forecast for today shows only a 20% chance of rain!
What could go wrong? :)
06:11 Europe time 21:11 California time
I apparently had missed quite a National Day party last night...
Took me about an hour to drive over Col de Vars to Jausiers.
Jausiers has a parking lot right in the center of town, so I parked
there and started cycling...
08:14 Europe time 23:14 California time
Looking north to Jausiers 1195m / 3,921' from about 1740m / 5,700'
I noticed the storm clouds gathering to the northwest but wasn't
concerned because the forecast said there was only a 20%
chance of rain.
08:23 Europe time 23:23 California time
08:35 Europe time 23:35 California time
08:39 Europe time 23:39 California time
08:49 Europe time 23:49 California time
08:50 Europe time 23:50 California time
Within the span of 30 minutes the small clouds that had appeared to be
10-20 miles away were now a substantial storm front quickly catching up
to me as I made my way up hill.
My faith in meteorology starting to waiver.
I still failed to acknowedge how serious those clouds looked.
I kept pedaling uphill.
It started to sprinkle a little once or twice, not enough to worry
about, but the conditions were getting worse.
Finally the moment I feared arrived, it started to rain, and I knew it
was going to rain really, really hard.
It was all I could do to get my rain gear on before the downpour
started in earnest.
I had ziplocks for my electronics so I didn't worry about them.
I figured my canon would be fine without being in a ziplock since it
was buried deep inside my backpack, and it was in a nylon case.
My faith in meteorology was now shattered.
Over the next 30 minutes or so it rained.
For perhaps 10 of those minutes it poured like it seems to only pour in
the mountains - an absolute deluge.
My cycling gear did an excellent job of keeping me dry.
My hands quickly got soaking wet and cold, and one of my feet felt
slightly damp, but overall my core and legs were dry, I could pedal
easily, and I was still headed uphill.
I did not consider turning back, I was going to get up this mountain no
matter what.
I was worried about coming down back downhill in a downpour as braking
would be a real problem.
10:04 Europe time 01:04 California time
Col de la Bonette and Cime de la Bonette from Faux Col de Restefond,
looking southeast
10:04 Europe time 01:04 California time
Col de la Bonette and Cime de la Bonette from Faux Col de Restefond,
looking southeast
Finally the rain stopped, but it was now cold and windy as hell.
I dug my canon out of my backpack since I figured it was more
waterproof than my iphone to take a few pictures as I approached the
Col.
The camera case was drenched!
I had screwed up big time!
However the camera inside it was only slightly damp and still worked,
the nylon case absorbed nearly all the rain.
I took a few pictures of the Col.
My road is the thin line just below the top of the ridge.
The road headed down the south side was not the road I came up, but
of course Will has ridden this one too..
These pictures were taken from Faux Col de Restefond.
Col de la Bonette 2715m is named by wikipedia as the 7th highest paved
road in the Alps.
Cime de la Bonette 2802m is named by wikipedia as the 2nd highest paved
road in the Alps.
The Cime is a loop road built for the sole purpose of being higher than
Col d'Iseren.
It is possible but very unlikely that anyone would bike up the Col
without also biking up the Cime.
Will at cycling-challenge.com doesn't bother listing the Col on his top
20 list, and neither do I.
From these pictures, the Col appears as a very small gap in the maybe
1/4 mile before the Cime.
The road loops around both sides of the Cime.
Once I got to Col de la Bonette I saw the wind was whipping past Cime
de la Bonette, and the clouds breaking
over the Cime - an amazing site.
I knew I should get a picture as the scene would not last, but I was
getting blasted with wind and I was tired and cold.
I wanted to get to the top, and forward progress seemed slow at this
point.
I kept going and told myself I'd get the picture on the way back down
if it was still there,
while also knowing there was no way the clouds would still be there...
I decided to go clockwise around the Cime to get out of the wind as
much as possible.
The road was fairly steep and not in great shape.
Finally I was on top!
Wind was blasting us at the top, and also creating clouds as the damp
air condensed as it was blown over the passes.
Watching clouds form in fast motion was amazing, the pictures don't
begin to do justice to what I saw...
Mother nature was paying us back for the rain by giving us a gorgeous
show
10:41 Europe time 01:41 California time
PANO - scroll right
Cime de la Bonette, looking southeast to southwest.
10:41 Europe time 01:41 California time
Wind creating clouds as the damp air is forced through the pass
10:42 Europe time 01:42 California time
Wind creating clouds as the damp air is forced through the pass
10:42 Europe time 01:42 California time
Clouds formed right in front of me, I almost felt like I could reach
out and touch them...
10:42 Europe time 01:42 California time
Wind creating clouds as the damp air is forced through the pass
10:56 Europe time 01:56 California time
After a few short minutes the cloudformation stopped, but I kept taking
pictures.
Finally I realized that there was no way I could match the pictures I
had taken ealier and I was basically wasting my time now.
About 5 cyclists passed me on the way up.
After it started raining, I saw a couple of them headed down with rain
jackets on, but none of them had long pants, and a couple of them
didn't even have rain jackets.
They all looked soaked and freezing.
We hid behind the monument since it was warmer out of the wind.
My hands were wet and cold, and it was windy as hell, but I wasn't
freezing like nearly all the other cyclists.
There were a few motorcyclists, they were all dressed much more
appropriately than most of the cyclists.
There were also a few cars.
Finally I started back down.
11:07 Europe time 02:07 California time
PANO - scroll right
Cime de la Bonette from Col de la Bonette, looking east and south.
I heard a curious sound for quite a while before determining what it
was - a fellow cyclist was trying to dry out his shirt and rubbing his
hands
to keep warm in the relative shelter of a roadside altar just out of
sight to the left.
11:10 Europe time 02:10 California time
Looking east from Col de la Bonette on the road south to Nice and the
Italian border - the border is on the ridgeline.
This is not the way I came up, this is the other side.
11:10 Europe time 02:10 California time
Cime de la Bonette from Col de la Bonette, looking south
11:09 Europe time 02:09 California time
PANO - scroll right
View from Col de la Bonette, looking southwest to north
11:10 Europe time 02:10 California time
View from Col de la Bonette, looking north, headed back downhill.
11:10 Europe time 02:10 California time
View from Col de la Bonette, looking northwest
Faux Col de Restefond, where I took the last pictures after the
rainstorm coming up, is slightly right of center
11:10 Europe time 02:10 California time
View from Col de la Bonette, looking west
11:10 Europe time 02:10 California time
View from Col de la Bonette, looking southwest.
Finally I started back down the mountain.
I stopped frequently to take pictures in gorgeous sunlight, since I'd
been poured on while pedaling up...
11:22 Europe time 02:22 California time
Looking west
11:22 Europe time 02:22 California time
Looking north
Ouvrage Col de Restefond - turrets installed in 1938 to keep out the
Italians as part of the Alpine line.
It didn't work.
11:23 Europe time 02:23 California time
PANO - scroll right
11:32 Europe time 02:32 California time
Looking uphill / south.
11:41 Europe time 02:41 California time
PANO - scroll right
Lac des Eissaupres
Looking uphill / south.
11:41 Europe time 02:41 California time
11:41 Europe time 02:41 California time
Lac des Eissaupres
11:47 Europe time 02:47 California time
PANO - scroll right
11:50 Europe time 02:50 California time
11:52 Europe time 02:52 California time
A few nice hairpins - looking north from about 2260m / 7,420'
11:53 Europe time 02:53 California time
PANO - scroll right
12:02 Europe time 03:02 California time
12:02 Europe time 03:02 California time
Overlooking Halte 2000 Chalet Bar Restaurant, which is actually around
1960m not 2000m
12:03 Europe time 03:03 California time
PANO - scroll right
12:21 Europe time 03:21 California time
The menu was entirely in French of course and I didn't understand much
of any of it.
I ordered the special without any knowing what I was ordering
I was delighted with ox tail!
There were also two small meaty chunks... no idea what they were, could
have been some sort of small animal heart or testicle - I don't think
they were snails but it is possible.
They weren't too chewy and were tasty.
A wonderful meal in a wonderful setting.
12:21 Europe time 03:21 California time
12:50 Europe time 03:50 California time
12:50 Europe time 03:50 California time
12:54 Europe time 03:54 California time
12:56 Europe time 03:56 California time
13:03 Europe time 04:03 California time
13:13 Europe time 04:13 California time
The roads all over the south of France were covered in signs for a
circus.
They would recycle the signs, placing the time and date and location of
the upcoming performance at the bottom of the sign.
The circus apparently travelled every day (or perhaps every other day)
to a new small village.
I had a hard time imagining how these folks made a living.
13:15 Europe time 04:15 California time
13:21 Europe time 04:21 California time
I made it!
Back at the parking lot in Jausiers, an hour drive and one col (Col de
Vars) from my hotel in Guillestre.
I felt much better than yesterday.
Yesterday's climb left me worn out and sore, today I was tired but not
very sore, I felt reasonably strong, considering I was simultaneously
kind of exhausted.
I couldn't believe I was 2 for 2, in two days I'd ridden two huge
climbs and survived an epic rainstorm.
Eventually I bought a coke to keep me awake for the drive home, then
started back.
13:33 Europe time 04:33 California time
13:36 Europe time 04:36 California time
Fort de
Tournoux, site of fortifications and battles since the 7th century.
This area changed hands frequently between France and Italy over the
years, often due to which Col (Col de Vars to the north, or Col de
Larche to the south) was passable first in the spring.
The Fort saw action for 3 days in WWII as Italy invaded, though the
battle ended when France surrendered.
13:40 Europe time 04:40 California time
13:40 Europe time 04:40 California time
Redoute de Berwick
13:53 Europe time 04:53 California time
South side of the Col de Vars was gorgeous - looking northwest, headed
uphill.
13:54 Europe time 04:54 California time
Looking southeast from the Col de Vars
13:59 Europe time 04:59 California time
Col de Vars looking south.
Way too much traffic and way too many motorcycles and ski lifts for me
to want to bike up the north side of Col de Vars.
14:02 Europe time 05:02 California time
Col de Vars looking north.
14:10 Europe time 05:10 California time
I saw dozens of these signs advertising the new adventures of Guignol
the marionnette, the most celebrated marionnette in France.
I really, really could not imagine anyone making a living putting on a
travelling marionnette show.
14:17 Europe time 05:17 California time
14:22 Europe time 05:22 California time
Looking north toward Guillestre, which is in the center of the picture.
Just past Guillestre is farmland, then a canyon formed by the Guil
river.
You can see the cliff on the far side of the Guil river before it meets
the Durance on the far left.
The valley headed northeast leads to Briancon.
The valley headed east leads to Col d'Izoard and Col Agnel
16:28 Europe time 07:28 California time
Walking into town to see the World Cup finals
16:28 Europe time 07:28 California time
The bar across the street clearly had the largest tv showing the game.
Dozens if not hundreds of kids lined outside to watch.
I managed to get a seat at the pizza place on my right.
14:00 Europe time 05:00 California time
Ray: Made it! Thanks, Paul
Ray: Very easy to just buy tix before departure
16:18 Europe time 07:18 California time
Paul: How was the museum? I understand that Dali supervised absolutely
everything about that place and I've heard it described as almost
performance art? Curious
16:25 Europe time 07:25 California time
Paul: And Dusty, let's see pictures of the setting you have carefully
chosen to watch the World Cup Final
Paul: Important stuff!
16:31 Europe time 07:31 California time
Paul: Though I suspect Dusty has no service or something since we've
seen nothing of him since he was at the top of a col
Meanwhile in Barcelona
Ray's pic
Ray's pic
Ray's pic
Ray's pic
Ray's pic
Ray's pic
Ray's pic
16:39 Europe time 07:39 California time
Ray: The museum was a trip
Ray: It's a piece of art in itself
Ray: Very well worth it, tho Figueres doesn't have much else
Ray: We went to the small toy museum beforehand
Ray: The 1st photo I posted is from a viewing thru a magnifier mounted
under a statue of a camel, and brings together all these elements to
depict Mae West.
16:54 Europe time 07:54 California time
Dusty: Just sat down at outside pizzaria ok main square
Dusty: Sh&t is getting noisy and real
Dusty: Since my French is nonexistent it took like 5m to get a
menu then 30m to order...
Dusty: but at least that's out of the way...i got a seat in the sun but
at least i got a seat, place is full now
Dusty: Fireworks, singing, small town excitement
16:56 Europe time 07:56 California time
Dusty: Cime de la Bonette 2802m from Jausiers 1195m 23km 2nd highest
paved road in the alps
Dusty: (All the signs here call it the tallest road in Europe, it
isn't, a ski resort road in Austria is the highest paved road in the
Alps...
Dusty: I'm planning to go next year)
Dusty: 20% chance of rain when I checked the forecast this morning
Dusty: Starting w around 8km left it rained for at least half an
hour, perhaps 5-10m of Alps deluge plus lots of less epic but still wet
and cold rain
Dusty: I managed to barely get new rain gear on before it really
opened up
Dusty: Hands were wet and cold, one shoe felt like it was
starting to get wet but it never really did
Dusty: Core was covered effectively by new rain gear and it was
warmish and comfortable to wear
Dusty: New rain gear passed first test with flying colors
Dusty: I never considered turning back
Dusty: About 5 people passed me on the way up, when i saw them
all later none of them had rain gear and all were soaked to the bone
and musta been hypothermic..to the east is Italy, the next pass east
goes to Italy at 1995m iirc
Dusty: This is the road between the middle of nowhere and Nice
Dusty: Lotsa ancient fortresses in the valleys on the way up to
keep those pesky Italians out.
17:00 Europe time 08:00 California time
Ray: Shoulda studied up on your French! All you really need to know is
food
17:14 Europe time 08:14 California time
Paul: We came to a bar for beers and Croatian Donuts!
17:14 Europe time 08:14 California time
Kent: Nice! The weather looks to be thunderstorms for weeks to
come
Kent: I have a bad feeling
17:17 Europe time 08:17 California time
Ray: That's disappointing
Ray: But you've gotten lucky in past years on weather - I'll bet you
get some great days on your trip
Ray: Just in case, maybe Dusty can send you his booties?
17:19 Europe time 08:19 California time
Dusty: And suddenly millions of people all around me were instantly
ecstatic
17:27 Europe time 08:27 California time
Dusty: Fun fact - football (soccer) is even slower when you watch it in
the sun
Dusty: It goes backwards.
17:32 Europe time 08:32 California time
Ray: We're at the hotel where the Luries are - they got here 2 days ago
and we're finally getting around to seeing them
Ray: Amy's parents also here now
Ray: Disney trip approaches! Lots of people watching tv here - lots of
cheers as France scored Few Croatians here, I guess
17:36 Europe time 08:36 California time
Ray: I can't believe that in a country of 320M we can't field a world
cup team that can compete with big boys
17:59 Europe time 08:59 California time
Dusty: Forecast for me looked like crap a week out then just kept
changing to different shades of crappy
Dusty: Its the mountains, rain happens, but usually less then the
forecast says
18:02 Europe time 09:02 California time
Dusty: Other than the rain, today's climb was easier than yesterday
Dusty: Grade never seemed to get crazy until last 900m instead of
last 5km
18:04 Europe time 09:04 California time
Dusty: I missed a chance to get the peak shrouded in excellent clouds
in the wind, it was too windy for me to want to stop to get the
shot...wanted to get to the top, cold and tired...
18:16 Europe time 09:16 California time
Kent: beautiful Dusty!
I know the mountain cycle, but I'm in shape and all I can do is fret
Kent: I may bring my rain pants though...
18:23 Europe time 09:23 California time
Dusty: Lunch at 2000m at the picnic place was interesting
Dusty: I ordered the special without any idea what i was getting
Dusty: Ox tail, potatoes, mushrooms, salad, and two small meat
spheres that I suspect were testicles
Dusty: They were tasty whatever they were
Dusty: I forgot to take a picture of the menu to tranlate later,
it may remain a mystery.
18:24 Europe time 09:24 California time
Dusty: The other bar across the street has a tv feed 2 seconds faster
than everyone else's, there's minor scream before the while town erupts
2s later when they see the goal
18:26 Europe time 09:26 California time
Dusty: Proper rain gear saved my day and perhaps my trip
Dusty: Can't believe I've risked it for so long
18:28 Europe time 09:28 California time
Dusty: Whole town was singing the French anthem when ... Croatia scored
again..
Dusty: that stopped quickly
18:53 Europe time 09:53 California time
Dusty: Whole town started singing again finally...
18:45 Europe time 09:45 California time
18:56 Europe time 09:56 California time
18:56 Europe time 09:56 California time
19:17 Europe time 10:17 California time
Dusty: And cops all over France are suddenly trying to keep things
slightly under control
19:21 Europe time 10:21 California time
Kent: Paris is going off right now
19:33 Europe time 10:33 California time
Dusty: All of France I'm sure
19:35 Europe time 10:35 California time
Dusty: Some fine person decided to light off fireworks between 330am
and 4am
Dusty: I am hoping there is not a repeat performance
19:35 Europe time 10:35 California time
Dusty: 90% chance of thunderstorms tomorrow here
19:37 Europe time 10:37 California time
Dusty: I must confess i missed whatever happened last night here.
Dusty: passed out after dinner, or at least tried to
Dusty: There were still bubbles in the town square this
morning when I drove to Jausiers
19:10 Europe time 10:10 California time
19:15 Europe time 10:15 California time
19:43 Europe time 10:43 California time
19:44 Europe time 10:44 California time
After watching the celebration for about an hour I wandered back to my
hotel and crashed....
21:40 Europe time 12:40 California time
Ray: Just had dinner with Luries
Ray: Going to bed early so we're fresh for Sitges in morn
Ray: Thanks again for suggesting that, Paul
Ray: Fam very psyched about it
21:58 Europe time 12:58 California time
Dusty: Amazing how many channels are covering the World Cup win..
Dusty: or not
21:58 Europe time 12:58 California time
Ray: "Sitges suffered in the 17th and 18th centuries as a result of the
conflict between France and Spain
Ray: First in 1640 when 600 Napoleonic soldiers from Felipe IV of
Spain's army overran Sitges and ransacked it."
23:51 Europe time 14:51 California time
Paul: Not been to Sitges, but hear good things and the museum right on
the sea is supposed to be great
Previous
Saturday July 14, 2018
la Fête nationale
Col Agnel
Sunday July 15, 2018
bike up Cime de la Bonette
France wins World Cup!
