French alps cycle touring help – stuck in Bourg St Maurice!

Bit of a strange one but I’m currently doing a cycling trip with a mate very loosely based around GR5 from Geneva to Nice and we’ve made it to Bourg St Maurice, we had been planning to do col du iseran to avoid the national park where you can’t cycle in, only to find that the col is shut.

The whole situation isn’t helped by the fact that the weather is pretty cold and snow is falling at about 2400m and above making walking the park route and any other alternative high altitude routes likely to be impassable by bike and if not they are going to be pretty unpleasant with lightweight kit!

We’re really wondering if anyone has any local knowledge on a way we can get us and our bikes to Modane, or maybe even Gap (other locations can be suggested) as that would allow us to cut out the highest altitude sections. Trains seem to be a bit of a no-go as carrying bikes looks to be restrictive, and the grenoble to gap train is currently a bus so bikes are a no go!

Google up White Room Chalet and give Stevo / Iiona a call – they are just up the hill from you.

I’ve never had problems taking a bike on the train abroad. What’s the problem?

140k from bourg to modane via albertville. no big hill. 1 more days riding.
crack on

Luckily we’ve got somewhere to stay (mates gf has a share in a house so we’re fine here for a night or two) but if we are still stuck in a few days then we may just do that!

OK, maybe we’re overreading the whole train booking process while tired I guess it’s turn up and get on with your bike or is it more than that?

We haven’t ruled out riding around…

We’re going to head to the tourist office tomorrow to see if they know why the pass is shut and if it’s still cycleable, or if the trains are a good option.

All Stevo, really. French mobile on the site

Rode over that exact same route 6 weeks ago on the same off road route. Col Iseran is 2700. There was snow there then on Bastille day. It’s a good road. Is it not worth riding up the road to the snow then leg it up the last 300m. Do it at 2pm when it’s at its best.

There’s no easy alternative. The St Bernard is just as high then going west is 4 days ride.

C

The Radio Val d’Isere site seems down at the moment (it’s a good source of local news), but when I looked earlier they had planned to re-open it in the morning (5cm of snow or something). Might be worth checking that you can’t just do what you planned (albeit a couple of days later, but tbh, mid sept on the Iseran, you maybe could have planned for this, it’s not rare – I used to live there 🙂 )

You could get to Modane via Albertville, but I’d hate to do it on a bike (lorries, lorries, lorries), and I’m not even sure you can do it avoiding tunnels that you’re not allowed in on a bike.

We’ve rocked up on spec as a group of 12 to get the train with no hassle before. Masses of space on the trains, bike racks, the works. It’s not like home.

The Radio Val d’Isere site seems down at the moment (it’s a good source of local news), but when I looked earlier they had planned to re-open it in the morning (5cm of snow or something).

Yeah just found that and another article from a few days ago saying similar things, I think we’ll play it by ear and see what the news is tomorrow or the day after but train is looking more and more likely.

Might not be the last of your snow troubles before Nice. Bonette is even higher, and izoard is high too, although further south.
Would be a shame to miss out on the Iseran, as its a lovely climb after the tunnels, but tbh its not somewhere i’d want to be on a road/touring bike in the snow.

Forecast is for a reasonable snowfall on Saturday and no real thaw at 2700 till Tuesday / Wednesday. Unlucky timing it seems.

Snow Forecast Val d’I

But that doesn’t mean the col will be closed all day, it does mean it’ll be wet and cold, though 😐

Yeah, been keeping an eye on the forecast over the past few days hence the possibility of catching a train to Gap or somewhere further south to avoid the highest altitude stuff but still be able to ride some nice trials. The aim of this trip was always to find good riding rather than to ride a set route so we are happy to skip change bits as we go. Don’t particularly mind riding on the snow as we’re both on full suss mtbs with proper knobly tyres, but I’ve had the experience of walking around the corner into the path of a snowplough on a closed road before – not an experience I wish to repeat!

Road bikes or mountain bikes?

The col being “shut” means shut to cars/motor vehicles. If a few cm of snow doesn’t bother you, then just do it! There won’t be an army roadblock turning people back / shooting anyone trying to get through. The amount of snow currently on the ground up at the Iseran will be pretty minute. This is all assuming that you are reasonably well-equipped with cold/wet weather gear.

Or, go back down to Moutiers (take the train if need be) and go over the Col de la Madeleine. This maxes out at just under 2000m, so shouldn’t be affected by snow. Gets you down into the Maurienne and you can make your way to Modane. Or, as above, go around via Albertville.
The detailed mountain forecast is currently saying:

Tonight:
Mostly dry, light rain later (snow above 2200m).

Saturday:
Overcast all day. Light rain (snow above 2200m) throughout the region, with temporary breaks around mid-day. Colder, with snow lying above 2200-2400m. Max temps 15°C at 1000m, 5 at 2000m and -1 at 3000m.

Sunday:
Much the same.

Monday:
Improving, still cloudy but becoming drier with clear spells and rising temperatures.

Crossed posts, OK, mountain bikes!

So yeah, with good clothing, I might just go for it over the Iseran.

Otherwise, it’s possible to go around the other side of the park border, across La Plagne and the 3 Valleys (e.g. classic Mont Jovet ride from La Plagne to Bozel / Brides les Bains then into 3 Valleys or Valmorel/Madeleine) but it’s a **** long way and would mean getting up pretty high. Better than the road though…

On MTB’s with correct clothing i’d probably give it a crack too. Damn long climb on full knobbies though!

Surely there is a bus up from BSM to Val ? Bikes on back or in the luggage compartment ? Then it’s “just” another 900m ?

Surely there is a bus up from BSM to Val ?

Nope. Public transport in the valley is essentially zero outside of the winter season.

Yeah, I’d already looked into that, looking more and more likely that we’re going to stick around the area today and catch a train to Gap tomorrow so we are ahead of schedule and able to enjoy the remaining riding rather than the potential slog that it would be to attempt the col du iseran and the high sections of the GR5. Looks like we may even be able to do a few day loops without having to carry kit if we’re lucky!

If you’re in bourg just go and get a lift pass, see trail addiction and enjoy! theres enough riding round there to last you a week!

Bonette and Izoard were open earlier this week fwiw. Head toward the Briancon area and into haute provence and you should be snow free. PM me if you need some route ideas or gpx.
If you’re aiming to cover ground on road and high altitude dirt tracks the recent torino-nice rally route went down well, will be snow free now and you could pick up the southern half of that from where you are. The route file is on Pannier.cc. When we rode a gr5 based ride we went over the Iseran and onto local vtt trails towards mont thabor and the claree valley to Briancon – great riding there.

There must be a gpx of Transvesuvienne on Velovert.com.

I would just go for it. We went over there on Bastille Day, 14 July this year. We were doing a Transalp from Aigle in Switzerland to Nice mostly offroad, and had been through the Vanoise Nat Park to Tignes then Val d’Isere up over the Iseran then down the GR5 to Modane and up over the Col Etroite near Val Frejus. The road’s a bit of a slog up but it’s no problem and should be very quiet if the top is blocked. If you have to push the top 300m then surely that’s no problem? if it all goes tits up then you can just freewheel back down to Val d’Isere.

This was me there on 14 July while the rest of the area was bathed in sunshine!

Oliver,

Did you manage to get over the col?

C

Hope it goes well. We’ve got loads of space if you’re anywhere between Grenoble and Lyon (5km from Grenoble airport).

For trains: bikes should go on the TER services, sometimes you need to book a space. For the TGV bikes need to be ‘packaged’ into I think 120cm x90cm x something. Details are on the websites. We just did aforementioned Torino Nice ride using train transport there and back: Buy wheelie bin sized bin bags and parcel tape, ride to station, wheels off, place either side of frame to protect chainset and tape together, twist/ take bars off. Stick in bin bags, tape copiously. Get on train. Smile, chat, be friendly.

If you need any help please please get in touch: danjheywoodATgmailDOTcom and I’ll pass you my mobile number. Sadly I can’t drive at the moment. But if you have good sensible alpine adaptable clothing you should be fine getting over the cols.

Just seen the Galibier is ‘closed’ but Croix de Fer and Glandon are open to give you an indication of the spread of the weather. Although to be fair the Galibier is a smaller road and closes earlier than them anyway.

Here at ours it is like autumn has suddenly hit. 35 degrees one day, cold, wet and foggy the next. It is supposed to improve though.

So…. We wimped out in the end and caught a train to Gap so we can take the next 9 days far more leisurely and actually explore what we’re riding rather than just aiming for a place each night. Looks like it’s been the right decision so far, weathers drier and maybe marginally warmer.
We had a great ride from Gap to Lac de Serre-Ponçon following some random gr, tomorrow we will cross the lake and head towards barcelonnette via some unfinished train tunnels we’ve heard about.

That sounds good.