thinking of something like a late afternoon Friday, jump on the tunnel and head ‘south’ into France…

get head down in hotel fri night, then up early Sat to tackle a mountain (preferably 2) then repeat on sunday….

the problem is, I have no idea what’s viable logistically. I’d like a bit of an idea if possible like
“so, in the morning you climb XYZ, then descend into ABC, you then climb ZXY which when you decend that takes you back to your first starting location”

Or, “you do this and this, then get train/bus back to ….”

Sorry for being vague, but whilst I sit and watch mountain stages, I have little knowledge of the overall layout etc.

I’d say it’s a bit of an ask to leave the UK late afternoon Friday, and arrive anywhere near the Alps for the late evening, if you’re driving. Even if you take the train it might be difficult. You could aim from somewhere like Annecy and do some nice climbs/passes in the area, but they’re not the iconic ones – but still tough and very beautiful – Col de Aravis for example.

Driving that far will make you feel knackered the next day too.

If you want to do l’Alpe d’Huez and the like, you’ll need more time!

You won’t get to the alps on Friday if you leave Friday afternoon unless you fly.

La Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges?

you could do some road mountains in the lakes but the altitude won’t be anywhere near what they would be on the continent.

There’s a number of loops in the Vosges with some good climbing, taking in TdF climbs. It’s 6 hours from the tunnel

Stay in Bedoin and do the cingles 3 different ascents of Mt. Ventoux (or the even more bonkers variants).

Ideally on a boris bike or chopper.

I left le bourg d’oisans at 7am saturday, got back to cardiff at 11pm. The tunnel was jammed so lost 2hrs there, if you lived in the S/E it might be doable, but more like Saturday afternoon ride.

the hours could realistically be extended a bit.. but wouldn’t want to leave before 9am on the Friday and would ideally get back before tea on Monday…

We’re doing a trip this week. Leaving Thurs after work. Overnight near Reims and then to Bourg D’Oisans on Friday morning. Short ride Fri arvo/evening. Long one Sat, Sun, Mon and then back on Tuesday. Might do a short ride on Monday and do half the journey back with another overnight in mid France to make Tuesday less of a mission.
I think you’ll be hard pushed to go that far south on a conventional weekend unless you fly.

It’s easily doable to the Alps, loads of time pressed alpinists do these quick-hit trips. I knew one bloke who used to drive all the way down on his motorbike overnight on Friday and then park, climb and drive all the way back on sunday night then go into work having had one night’s sleep in three days.

He was a nutjob though. You’d have a better time going to the Vosges.

edit: He was going from London I think, it would obviously be a lot harder from the North. Flying would be very doable though.

bspoked – Member
La Planche des Belles Filles in the Vosges?

My prefered option if I’m pushed for time. I know some great Gites and Hotels that love bikes, I drive though.. Not too sure about trains, mebbies into Paris then out to the Vosges.. if by car it’s dead easy, but boring..

I think that if I only had the weekend, i’d sooner drive to Wales and do some long routes in the Brecon Beacons and save the expense of the Alps for a longer trip.
Weeksy, I guess from your “new road bike” thread that you’re pretty new to road riding? In my opinion, you don’t have to go all the way to the Alps to ride good roads. The UK has some great riding with some really good, long steady climbs which you’ll love (hate!) on a road bike. Admittedly, they’re not as long as the alpine ones but they don’t take a full day of driving either.

Train to the Vosges is pretty hard to do as the main stations aren’t as close to the “fun stuff” as you’d hope. Colmar is probably the closest useful town but it’s still 6 hours of train ride from Calais more or less.

Or go to Belgium and ride some Muurs. 😀

Yeah ^^ hmm Belgium..

Or as said, why not the Lakes or Wales.. Or North Yorkshire (Tour Routes/Raphas routes/make yer own?)

Or as said, why not the Lakes or Wales.. Or North Yorkshire (Tour Routes/Raphas routes/make yer own?)

Or the North Pennines. Plenty of hills round Weardale, Tynedale, Teesdale, Derwentdale.

Or The Moors – if you like things offensively steep.

1) buy a copy of 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs
2) buy a biro
3) ride climbs
4) tick them off

That guy did Alp d’Huez on a Boris bike and back in a day but he had drivers. You need a driver for this to be viable and remotely enjoyable weekend.

What’s wrong with the Surrey Hills or even just riding up Applepie 13 times 😉 😀

1) buy a copy of 100 Greatest Cycling Climbs
2) buy a biro
3) ride climbs
4) tick them off

That’s quite a weekend…

In my opinion, you don’t have to go all the way to the Alps to ride good roads.

The UK is rammed full of brilliant road rides, but the Alps (or in fact any large mountains) offer something you just cannot get here.

However you should try (in addition to the Alps) some of the Valleys classics. One of my favourite most Alpine-esque climbs is funnily enough the one that goes past Afan. Start in Cwmafon or there is a giant loop that brings you down the Vale of Neath and over from there via Cimla.

A mate did this quite a bit by flying out to Girona, hiring a bike out there from some local bike shop he knew (really nice bikes, not just cheap rubbish) and then spending a weekend riding the hills out of Girona. Fly out Friday lunchtime, pick up bike Friday evening or first thing Saturday morning. Return bike last thing Sunday or first thing Monday. Fly home.

He just stayed in the Spanish equivalent of a Premier Inn.

Looked for all the cheap deals on budget airlines.

depending on where you live I’d be looking at a flight to Geneva. Unless you can face the climber style up all night to travel thing

This website has lots of Cols listed

New Home

Too late to edit but I was wrong- it was Mont Ventoux that guy did on a Boris bike whoops…
Loads via google.

Weeksy, I guess from your “new road bike” thread that you’re pretty new to road riding? In my opinion, you don’t have to go all the way to the Alps to ride good roads. The UK has some great riding with some really good, long steady climbs which you’ll love (hate!) on a road bike. Admittedly, they’re not as long as the alpine ones but they don’t take a full day of driving either.

Good points and good call… but in some ways doesn’t fill the WOW factor really of the Alps I guess, not really giving the same sensation of achievement etc.

Good points and good call… but in some ways doesn’t fill the WOW factor really of the Alps I guess, not really giving the same sensation of achievement etc.

Yeah, you’re right – but then everything is a compromise, especially given the timescale of a weekend.
If I were you, i’d save France for when you have time to really appreciate it and can give it your all, rather than cramming in what you can in a short weekend, particularly after a long drive.
I’ve spent the last 12 months planning a trip with my mates. Although i’ve ridden in the Alps before, we usually spend weekends riding in the UK so as a group it will be a new experience, but it’s taken a fair amount of effort to arrange everything and is costing 3 times what we normally spend on a weekend away.
We do a trip every year to the Brecon Beacons, camp in Talybont on Usk and then spend 2-3 days riding the mountain roads. They’re a fraction of the elevation of the French cols but you never hear anyone say that they wish they were in the Alps!
If you want some route ideas, I can email you some links. I can also email you some details of our Alps trip for when you decide to go, give you an idea on stopovers, camping, routes etc.

If I were you, i’d save France for when you have time to really appreciate it and can give it your all, rather than cramming in what you can in a short weekend, particularly after a long drive.

I know I live much closer to France (as in I can cycle to the border in under an hour) but I think sometimes it’s nice to get a completely different riding experience in. I can easily ride my road bike here in Luxembourg and do some long days in the saddle with a lot of climbing but I do still like to get down into France, Germany, Belgium or even Italy (once) for a day or two every now and then, even if I spend nearly as long driving as I do riding. When I was in the UK, I’d happily drive to Wales for a day of riding and what weeksy is proposing is basically just a bigger version of that; several days riding after a longer drive.

@weeksy yes flying gets you there quicker and with 1/2 days off work on Friday you can do two full days riding. Driving back on Sunday evening after a weekend climbing the Alps seems like a recipe for an accident.

You can look at Annecy (Grand Bournand, Semnoz) or Vosges or Haute Jura or around Samoens/Morzine.

The North and Central France is very flat so you have to get past there.

go to the lakes and ride the Fred Witton route…..more climbs that the average stw’er can handle.

http://www.fredwhittonchallenge.co.uk/the-route/

I’d say you are better of flying to Annecy area – there are some great climbs there. For example, if you based yourself in Annecy you could do Semnoz/Forclaz one day, then the next day there are a million other options.

Specifically regarding the lure of the alps as opposed to climbing here, they are a different challenge. There is nowhere in the Uk where you can relatively gently climb for an hour. Most (especially the penines) are short and sharp, often too steep to be much fun unless 20% is your kind of thing. Semnoz is steep in parts, but there are big long sections of 6%.

Driving back on Sunday evening after a weekend climbing the Alps seems like a recipe for an accident.

I did a weekend in the mountains starting on a Saturday last summer. 2 hours drive, 4 hour ride, food, sleep, 4 hour ride, late lunch then driving home. I was ruined on the way back and needed to stop for a nap as I was getting a bit wobbly even on a relatively short drive.

I’m in annecy at this very moment with the road bike and I’m also quite new to road cycling (<1year).

I was the only driver an It was a long drive down here. I’m splitting the journey up on the way home. However I have ridden Semnoz, Col de Lechaux, Col du Telegraphe and Col de Galabier whilst out here. They are quite big hills actually and my legs are taking a few days to recover from each climb.

I did Galabier day before yesterday and even doing a 2hr drive to chamonix was painful. I would not want to do 4 climbs and 16+hours of driving in the one weekend. That is a recipe to at best cripple yourself, otherwise have a serious accident.

Make a week of it or fly.

Ton has the answer.

Of course, there is no reason a beginner can’t just head off and nail a few classic Cols (each to their own an all that),but I would suggest you cut your teeth on a few at home first, then you will enjoy the big hills more. Trying to fit it all in to a short weekend is never going to be as much fun, and to do it just so you can say “That’s such and such off the list” ,well that’s a whole different thread altogether .

Thinking about this a bit more, if your looking for one sunshine, good roads, bigish climbs and considerate drivers for a weekend, I’d suggest Mallorca instead of the alps.