TDF: course change. Galibier out.

http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2015/fr/avant-course/actus/ahc/etape-20-modane-l-alpe-d-huez-par-la-croix-de-fer.html

Doing the Croix de Fer twice in two days (in each direction though) instead because the tunnel du Chambon is not going to be open in time after the landslide earlier this year.

Anyone going down? I’m driving down over a few days over the course of the week and might try and catch something of stage 19 as we can’t make the Saturday.

Cette histoire est vraiment le merde pour tous et pas pour que le tour. Ce n’est pas encore fini!

La plume de ma tante est dans l’arbre avec le singe

La plume de ma tante est dans le jardin

avez vous un sandwich avec Fromage et Jambon sit vous plait?

DOES ANYONE HERE SPEAK ENGLISH!!!

Bloody foreigners

le singe est dans l’arbre

Le singe est dans l’arbe

We’re on holiday there in 4 weeks time, current plans to ride the Galibier and the Col d’Izoard slightly scuppered!

They’re talking about checking the integrity of the dam because it is very likely that a significant amount of mountain is going to be in the reservoir very shortly… All this after all the money they are spending further down the road at Sechillienne, where Mont Sec has been falling for years and risks to dam the entire valley.

You can still ride the Galibier, just not from Bourg. Lauteret to Galiber is open as is Telegraph to Galibier.

Changes to the Marmotte route also for anyone doing it…

Blazin-saddles, yeah, we had looked at other routes from Bourg, just don’t think anyone was up for the distance/ascent required, although I haven’t actually figured it out myself, will be using the Fred Whitton as a benchmark! 8)

Edit: 200km and approx 4000m of ascent if you take the easiest possible route from Bourg-la Chambre-Galibier, so only slightly worse than the Fred 🙄

Edit edit: 4660m of ascent…

13thfloormonk

Izoard from anywhere other than Briancon would be awful, the Lautaret is souless from Briancon side and busy as hell climbing the other side (best only in decent from Galiber to Bourg)

Changes to the Marmotte route also for anyone doing it…

It looks pretty tough now, Glandon, Lachette de Vernier, Col Du Mollard, Croix de Fer and the Alpe at the end *shudder*

Je ne regret rien.

Ni le bien qu’on m’a fait, Ni le mal tout ça m’est bien égal

Izoard from anywhere other than Briancon would be awful

Climbed from the South and descended into Briancon, worst day ever on a bike…

Climbed from the South and descended into Briancon, worst day ever on a bike…

Yep, as I say, **** awful, majestic scenery, crap road, must be about 20 mile of uphill crazy caravan, lorry, french driver dodging hell…….

If you have a car drive to Briancon and do the classic Izoard route from there, you will thank me in the end.

About 800 0000m3 of rock is going into the reservoir this weekend ‘they’ predict. On Marmotte weekend as well. Sooo tempted to go and watch it happen as I work in Geohazards…