Contributor: Barry Ridout
Day 1 We left Milan after a nice macchiato and croissant for breakfast, Ria was going on her organized trip, and I headed for the station to catch the train to Turin for the start of my solo cycling adventure. Arrived in Turin and had to hunt down a local bike shop to buy some new pedals/cleats, as my old ones were literally worn out. I found a trendy little bike shop in the middle of the old town, not only did old mate Italian bike mechanic, have some suitable pedals and cleats in stock, but he worked through his siesta to fit them to the bike so I could head off… or maybe he just wanted to get rid of me from his peaceful workshop??? Went for a short explore ride locally around Turin, set up the bike with all the bikepacking gear and everything for the trip. The bike is my 15-year-old Merida Scultura with Ultegra road bike with Zipp wheels (aka the travel bike), which I left in a local bike shop in Lecco, Italy, after my 2023 cycle trip. It’s had service before I arrived in Italy, so I hope it provides me with a reliable, hassle-free ride again for this trip. Time will tell??? I’m feeling slightly underdone fitness-wise, probably at about 80% of the level as in previous adventures. Cycling in Europe again, I recall my motto of “Keep right – Keep it upright – Keep your eyes open” every time I get on the bike, to avoid………well, minimise the times you end up on the wrong side of the road. 😊I stayed at a nice BnB in the middle of this lovely town, and a market was set up in my street that night, with all the locals out and about. To die for pepperoni pizza for tea, with a few local brews washing it down… now we’re talking Italy… perfect preparation for the 1st of the major climbs tomorrow.
Day 2 Woke early, heading up the Susa valley, just beautiful, lush scenery riding gradually uphill for the First 60 km, welcome to the Alps again!! After leaving the town of Susa, you start the Cat HC climb up Col Mont Cenis, which takes you to the Italian/French Alps border. According to some history buffs, it’s where Hannibal’s crossing of the Alps in 218 BC occurred during the 2nd Punic War!! What a killer climb, 20 km long at 7.5%…. Welcome back to bike packing again with an extra 12kgs of weight to carry along. 🤣🤣 It’s also about 35 degrees, with quite a lot of traffic as it’s a popular tourist pass into the Alps, but there are lots of safe places to pull over, admire the view, and refill the water bottles from my favourite Italian water fountains located all over Northern Italy. Finally, late in the afternoon, I arrived at the Italy/France border, and my destination that night was the Hôtel Gran Scala at the top of the pass, Col Mont Cenis. Turned out, it was the only place up there for food, drink, and accommodation, so I was lucky to get the second last room. There was another abandoned building up there on the pass, but it looked like an old, condemned hotel, and what a shocker of a place that was, hadn’t seen human action for years. I had a few beers on a seat in the picturesque garden of my hotel, once checked in, admiring the stunning views over the snow peaked Alps, the nearby alpine lake, and the lush, forested valley I just spent the day riding through. As exhausted as I was….it reminded me again why I punish my poor old body for these moments, views, peacefulness, now devouring local red wine in the restaurant, eating amazing Italian food, refuelling to do it all again tomorrow…..and loving it!!!!
Day 3 Early start at the top of the Alps, I had to be off the French side of the Alps pass by 8.30am as the Criterium Da Aphaunie race stage 8, was finishing there today. Now it’s generally an 80 km gradual downhill start to the ride, which makes up for yesterday’s climbing, and generally a fast, beautiful road. Along the way, I saw 2 of the big world teams in the CDA race at their base hotel and stopped for a close-up sticky beak at the teams – UAE and Bora Hansgrohe, their bikes, riders, motorhomes, etc. What a thrill to see the “Pog” and the vast array of immaculate racing bikes. Later in the day, I was stopped by the local coppers in a small village for an hour to watch them hammer through in the last stage of the event. This area of France is known as Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, just a stunning area of valley surrounded by the Alps. Nasty uphill after 160 km today, coming into Chambery for the night….but once there, checked in, showered, etc, did I eat…boy, I couldn’t get enough food and drinks into my body, obviously I must need it (well that’s my excuse….. 🤣🤣)
Day 4 Quite tired in the morning, had a fruit breakfast and coffee before heading off to the nearby lake, Lac du Bourget, for an explore of this stunning valley. I need an easy day, so just explored around the local area, villages, etc, and it’s still quite hot….Garmin tells me it was low 30’s degrees today. Bourgneuf was my destination, which was about 80 km to cover today. That night, I had my first experience this trip with a local family as Warmshowers hosts. Wow…..what an experience, In short, Isabelle the mother, 21 yo son and 19 yo daughter reminded me of an Aussie hippy family, living in regional France, growing their own vegetables, produce, and providing me with an experience of their interesting life. (The father wasn’t there; he’s in a local theatre play that night) Anyway, they turned out to be lovely, kind people, also provided me a cold beer, homemade wine, beautiful dinner and fascinating travel stories, and a true insight into living with some of the regional French locals!!
Day 5 I made it out safely for an early start in the morning. Bourgneuf to Grenoble was my route today, around 80 km again today, so I can prepare for tomorrow’s massive climbs and freshen the legs after an average night’s sleep. My normal routine when I leave in the morning is to ride for about an hour, stop at the nearest small town, buy some local fruit, yoghurt, croissants, and eat in the town square, which usually has, apart from a church, a water fountain and a toilet. It’s nice to watch and talk to the locals, who are always friendly and interesting, especially in the smaller towns and villages. Then it’s a visit to the café for an espresso or 2 and head off for the day. It’s a beautiful valley by the river all day, shrouded by the French Alps with grapes and apple tree orchards in abundance, tiny villages always with a café and the best espressos. Grenoble sits at the foot of mountains between the Drac and Isère rivers. Arrived there with plans to check in midafternoon for a well-needed rest and recovery. I booked a small ENTIRE apartment on Booking.com and arrived at a shonky-looking apartment building; it looked nice on the website’s dodgy photos. I was greeted by a sleazy-looking guy with extreme body odour, all friendly and advising me that it was his place, that I’d be staying with him and his flatmate that night. WTF… I quite pleasantly advised the shifty landlord that not only was I not staying, but you’ll also be providing me a full refund immediately, and I’ll be reporting him to B.Com if not….he did, time to move on, and thanks for wasting my time. Quickly had to rustle up some last-minute digs for the night, I found a little place in the industrial area on the outskirts of town, middle of nowhere… but at least it was next to a tram stop. After checking into the sterile room, it was only a short tram ride with some strange characters to the middle of the city with restaurants, bars, and life!!!
Day 6 After the fun experience of last night, I had a good sleep, although not feeling super strong, was very excited about probably the toughest ride of the adventure. Ascending the famous Alpe Du Huez, which is a famous climb they do in one of the stages of the TDF each year. It was a gradual uphill grade for the first 50 odd km just to the start, then faced the 14 km climb at 7.6% average. What an epic…physically and mentally very challenging, but so rewarding when I got to the summit. Amongst a lot of other cyclists I’ve met along the way, I rode with this Canadian guy for a while today, a bit younger than I, swapping stories etc….but he has been riding around Europe for a year, averaging about 6 days per week…I thought I was mad 🤣🤣then again, he couldn’t believe I was doing this climb with all the gear loaded on my bike. It was also very hot and busy with traffic/bikes, etc. After a well-deserved late lunch, 1 can of Coke, 2 espressos, and 2 omelettes for lunch…I was refuelled. Rolling away for a spectacular descent, I stopped at a town around 5.00pm, my planned overnight stay, but there was no accommodation available, so I had to head to the next place on the map called Lafferty. The only problem was that there was a climb between me and the town, it was a category 2 climb, 8.2 km at an average 6.8 % called Laffrey from Sechilienne… it just about broke me, after such a massive day, having to finish on that. Arrived at Lafferty after 1.5 hours, 120 km with 2500m climbing, found the lakeside restaurant at about 7pm (12 hours since I left that morning). Problem, there are only 2 accommodation venues by the lake and no town nearby, yes, both of them are fully booked for the night. Oh well, as they say, shit happens, and I need calories now!! Dinner, wine, beers, talking to the French locals with the barman and a local farmer (in French🤣) called Bruno. He offered his spare bedroom and said that I could stay at his place for the night. That was fine by me, by that stage I had no choice, and it was 10.00pm, the odds weren’t in my favour, was he an axe murderer, rapist, cat lover, or maybe just a good guy……who knows??? I was still in my riding gear, now cold, half pissed, desperate for a shower and a place to sleep…yes, I didn’t have many options left!! 🤣🤣
Day 7 I woke, I’m alive, where the hell am I….. in a comfortable bedroom….alone! Turns out, Bruno was just a good guy. I showered in a beautiful plush bathroom, got myself dressed, seemed like I was in my own wing of a house?? Got the bike ready, packed for the day’s trip, and went outside. Bruno and his French brother were propped up at the outdoor table in the courtyard of this large Manor house/Chateau, with breakfast and coffee on the table in the shade of a pergola shrouded in a grapevine… you get the picture, just stunning and so French. Turns out the property is a famous Equestrian centre, they lived in…and I was in one of the visitors’ cottages. I offered them 50 Euros for the pleasure, but they refused to take my money…….obviously they weren’t short of a dollar…but just great guys! Steady, easy day with still 10 plus bottles of water per day in this high 30’s heat consistently with lots of coffee, food, and sugar stops. It was a struggle today, and the legs felt like chicken legs, but the scenery is a great distraction and helps keep your mind off the aches. Also, the heat is at its worst mid-afternoon when you’re smashed, even an easy day turns into a hard day with the additional weight on the 
bike/backpack. Got to Veynes after 90 km with 1300m climbing today, what a contrast from yesterday. Had a dodgy Airbnb apartment out of town, where old mate met me there and was still cleaning from the last guest. I thought he had left, so I unpacked, got in the shower, luckily when I got out of the shower, I had the towel around me…. he was back in the apartment cleaning again??….what the….……?
Day 8 Beautiful breakfast and coffee in town, perfect way to start my last cycling day of the adventure. Aiming to get to Sisteron in Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur, southeastern France. This is one of the most geographically beautiful places I have seen in France, just stunning, and it is situated on the banks of the river Durance. Physically, I struggled to turn the pedals over today. The last 8 days of continuous cycling have depleted me, and I have nothing left. Getting to Sisteron tonight, I’m happy to finish my 8-day cycling adventure having seen and done some incredible cycling climbs, met some fantastic and interesting people, and discovered more spectacular scenery of the Italian/ French Alps area. Tonight, the local draft beer tastes just that bit nicer, the red wine just as smooth as ever, and I can devour vast quantities of French food, sleep in tomorrow, and enjoy 2 days in this beautiful town. The next day I took my bike to the local bike shop in the middle of the old city…” Bicycool – Sisteron” where the friendly chap is going to keep it in his shop and sell it on consignment for me 🤣🤣I’ve heard that before….sounds like Lecco again. Hopefully, he’s a poor salesman, and it’s still there when I next venture to this part of the world for another cycling adventure!!
Ride details from Strava:
– Approximately 750 km’s
– 9,500 metres of climbing elevation
– 12 kg of gear on the bike/backpack.
– Ultegra, Road Bike, Semi-Compact Gearing
