Driving to Alp D'Huez in July to watch the Tour for a couple of days.
Also hoping to do some mtb'n whilst out there.
So is there enough for 5/6 days mtb'n in Alp D'Huez or should we stop off en-route.
If the latter, where would you suggest? Looking for uplift and marked trails.
Cheers.
2 alpes is just round the corner.
Get a look at rowen sorrells europe book has a few 1 or 2 day spots on the way
Has 2 alpes got much riding?
Ordered book. Thanks.
Yep its quality
Rode a little in Aple D'Huez last year, lots of DH but not sure there's a huge amount of Singletrack. I'm too old and scared to hit DH fast these days so I found it quite hard going, especially after I watched a mate get airlifted off the mountain 😳
There is plenty as long as you don't want to ride xc. Other parks closer to Grenoble are les7 laux, chamrousse and Villard de lans. The last place looked pretty good for xc, there are marked trails and the terrain is less " big mountain".
Cheers for heads up on Les Deux Alps. I'll look into that.
Should have said looking for lift assisted singletrack rather than DH.
Would be nice to avoid any helicopter rides!
Have a look on [url= http://www.worldbikeparks.com/locator ]HERE[/url] for a bikepark map.
I rode at D'huez last year and also 2alpes. Not too far over the border into Italy you have Sauze D'oulx which is just fantastic. The trails seem to have a very different feel to them, especially to alp d'huez. It's gorgeous wooded singletrack and old school feeling downhill. Brilliant place. They hold big enduro events out there. Dan Atherton was competing there when we were out.
Highly recommended...
There was a brilliant website called Gravitymountainbike which was fantastic for planning euro roadtrips to bikeparks but it seems to have gone offline sadly...
Thanks for the link. I think that website was setup by someone i used to work with.
That place in Italy sounds great.
http://www.26in.fr/bike-parks/
http://www.bigbike-magazine.com/station-vtt (pretty complete list)
I see there's a Bike Park in Belgium on that web site. Belgium?????
Les deux alpes isn't full-on DH
I see there's a Bike Park in Belgium on that web site. Belgium?????
It actually looks pretty cool from their website. 10 euros for 15 uplifts, 3 hrs from calais, 4 x 600m tracks and a 4x. Not much vertical though (100m)
Cheers for all the suggestions and links.
Sauze D'Oulx sounds great.
A little bit of Sauze bikepark from Dan Atherton at 7:30 in this video. Kinda gives you a taste of it's lovely singletrack.
Sauze D'Oulx sounds great.
You can probably add another half day (each way) driving to your trip though.
As toons said, most runs at places like deux alpes are not super difficult. Jumps can be rolled and any gaps can be ridden around.
You can probably add another half day (each way) driving to your trip though.
Thanks for the heads up, but shouldn't be an issue as we will be heading towards Alp D'Huez from the direction of Tignes/Val D'isere, so just a slight detour.
Don't forget that the Megavalanche is on the weekend before Le Tour hits Alpe d'Huez, don't know if that impacts your plans.
We're driving down for the Mega via Sauze d'Oulx and Montgenevre (leaving the UK on the Sat to get to Alpe d'Huez by the Tuesday night)
We were at Alp D'Huez for the Mega last Summer and had a day at 2 Alpes bikepark for a change of scenery.
I reckon there's enough at Huez to keep you interested for at least 3 days and none of it is what you'd class as "downhill". A 140-160mm trail bike is ideal.
Deux Alpes was very good and we only felt we'd scratched the surface in one (short) day, so I'd guess you could easily spend 2-3 days there before you get bored.
Again there's nothing that's "downhill" or technical, 90% of it is fast swoopy, bermy fun. Think of it as a trail centre on an incline with the luxury of plenty of easy altitude to use.
Had planned to get to Sauze D'Oulx for a day but didn't make it. Have heard good things about it though.
Don't forget that the Megavalanche is on the weekend before Le Tour hits Alpe d'Huez
Thanks for the heads up but we won't be arriving in Alp D'Huez until the Tues/Wed, so will miss any discruption due to that.
Our current plan is to ride Deux Alpes ahead of the Tdf and Alp D'Huez after the tour has left town, so hopefully it will be less manic.
If you want to stop and ride without losing a day travelling have a look at Lac Blanc in the Alsace. Its a 6 hr drive from Calais so you can time tunnel/ferry to get you there in good time to ride and then drive to alpe d'huez after so you dont lose a day. You can miss a fair few tolls out too/go through Switzerland also.
Riding wise, its a 300m hill with lift and trail centre like feel but damn technical, a lot more so than the alps DH tracks. Its like a UK downhill but the blues and reds are good fun.
The two black tracks are called le roots and le rocks, which basically describes them. Cafe, bike hire/shop, showers there and you can camp in teh car park. Loads of germans ride there too.
Good option for a free day on the way out/back if you have the energy to ride and drive a long way!
Bland, many thanks for that. I'll take a look.
Definitely an option and thanks for the tip on going via Switzerland.
Your post has got me thinking....
A couple of my friends are going to Alpe d'huez, but road riding up from Nice which doesn't appeal. Going to L2A does.
Does anyone know if there is a more "interesting" route to Bourg d'Oisans from L2A than going down the road. I drove this last saturday and doing it on a bike in either direction doesn't appeal either
Just been checking the L2A website and they have an event called Crankworx on from 6 to 14th (or possibly 15th) of July. Alpe d'Huez stage is 18th.
Pardon my ignorance, but anybody know what Crankworx is and how would it affect things ?
Crankworx is basically a big freestyle/slopestyle contest. Big wooden and dirt jumps etc. Like the one in whistler but on a smaller scale.
They had lots of the ramps set up when I was riding there. It doesn't really affect most of the tracks I don't think but obviously may be busier.
Couple of points:
If you are in tigne, the best way to get to sauze d'oulx is: col d'iserain then down the valley on the other side to pick up the motorway through the frejus tunnel. Nice drive, shorter but the tunnel is quite expensive (the 5 day return is the same price as a single though if you intend to go back the same way)
Lac blanc is not open all week, even during the summer ( Sat-tues I think). It also gets very busy, I have never seen queues like it and that includes the pds week at les gets. Pretty good though and as said, pretty techy.
Les 2 alpes to Bourg: red down to Venosc and then the xc trail along the river. Also thallas (red) down to the road and along the road to the Venosc junction and pick up the xc route.
Crankworks will mean more people but the only trail that gets used for the event is the new black, Satan. The rest of the action is near the town, around the slopestyle area.