Col de Petit Saint Bernard on a hustler and draggy tyres. Had been hoping to do Alpe D’Huez later this year but looks like we are going else where instead.

Just the Col de la Ramaz and the Joux Plane. Tough going never mind the heat. My Scottish body doesnt know what to do when it gets above 30 degrees!

Col de Petit St Bernard on a moped that had run out of petrol so had to pedal the whole way. Slow puncture on the back but no supertackies 😐

Forgot my packed lunch so had to ride back down & up again, too

I did Alpe D’Heuz on my Rockhopper. That beer at the top was the most satisfying ever. I’d recommend it to anyone, make sure you take your MTB, the VTT trails are ace.

I did Alpe D’Huez many years ago on a mountain bike. It took most of the day and it nearly killed me. I’m not fit enough for that kind of thing.

Alpe D’Heuz, and Ventoux twice.
When we went up Ventoux in the car the brakes were cooking so much on the descent had to p*** over the wheels to keep them cool! Wife was not impressed, best descent on a bike ever though.

Done the Col D’Izoard. Twice. In winter. At night.

Ok, I was on a skidoo. It was cool!

Col de Petit St Bernard on a full sus.

took the road bike this year on our tour of france.

didn’t ride alp d’huez as the rain was immense and i had no jacket.
didn’t ride ventoux as after riding out 30km the hill was shut for a car rally! very angry after that one!

Just out of interest what gear ratios did people use up Alpe d’Huez?

The only time I did it was when I was about 14 on a £100 Raleigh road bike. I was struggling to turn the pedals but passing lots of people on decent road bikes spinning away.

Did you use 42 at the front or 39? and what rear block?

Tourmalet, Aubisque + Souler, Aspin, Peyresourde, Portet d’Aspet, Marie Blanque, la Core, Jau, Portillon, Port, Pailheres, Mente.

All a couple of weeks ago, 8 day trip in the Pyrenees.

I can confirm I was using a 22 at the front and something equal or larger at the back when I went up Alpe D’Huez. Like I said, I’m not built for climbing!

Soulor
Aubisque

Tourmalet

Hautacam
Luz Ardiden.

From the West, Souler is barely a bump in the road on the descent off of Aubisque. From the East, it’s a bit more real. We did it from the West…

I’d like to do Hautacam and Luz Ardiden – they were the two main ones we missed out.

Done a fair few of them by motorbike on touring hols. For a change of pace sometimes hire a bike for a day so have done Alp d’Huez on a road bike and the Stelvio (sometimes part of the Giro) on a full suss, deffo the wrong tool for an 1800m road climb 🙄

I’d like to do Hautacam and Luz Ardiden – they were the two main ones we missed out.

They were magnificent 😀 Did them both in the same (hot) afternoon. Stunning, stunning climbs. And descents (Le Tour never rides down them cos they’re both dead-ends) 😀

Not enough, but a few…

Just the Port, Portet d’Aspet, Menté and Bales in the Pyrennees (I have unfinished business with the Peyresourde).

And Ey, Fontaube, Notre Dame des Abeilles and Ventoux in Haute Provence.

Farthing Common. In Kent.

Galibier and Alp D’huez on a stag do!

Our quickest time for the Alp D’Heuz hairpins was around 55mins whereas I think Pantani holds the record at about 37mins.

Obviously Pantani did it at the end of a hard TdF stage whereas for us we did it after breakfast in a cafe at the bottom! Mind you he probably had more than coissants in his system!

Mind you he probably had more than coissants in his system!

Oh yeah, that explains the discrapancy then 🙄

Did the one up to Deux Alp from Grenoble. I was on a fully loaded Kona mtb (front and rear) panniers.
Oh, and fat knobbly tyres!!
Got some looks from the roadies.

Quite impressed by some of the times here – roady elite level stuff and then I am going to assume the riders are not fully charged on EPO

(Ventoux, Alpe, croix de Fer, the one next to Croix de Fer, alpes maritimes climbs eg Vence Eze etc)

Someone asked about ratios – I did an event up Alpe last year was completely owned by a load of U23 whippets – they all had 34:27/28/29 – there’s nothing macho about using a big rear sprocket now people are not riding loaded with drugs and extra blood

I’ve just put a 29 on the back of mine for this Summer – it will be a life saver on that horrible relentless bit in the middle of Ventoux

Ratio wise 39:23. Traditional road setup.

Ridden a few, hope to do more this summer.

Done the Col de la Joux Plan from Samoens several times – never gets easier. Last time combined it with Morzine – Avoriaz and the Encrinaz. That was a big day by my standards.

Also ridden Cormet de Roselend from Bourg St Maurice, and been up Mont Ventoux in 2009 (Bedoin side). All hard, but not as hard as some offroad climbs I’ve done, but then I am not racing on them. All on a road bike with a triple.

Joux Plan is probably the worst – steep but uneven so hard to get any rhythm going, and the end is steep and straight so you can see where you’re heading for a long time. Pretty brutal really.

I wonder… Of those who’ve done it, how many don’t really want to do any more? For us it was a means to an end and quite a nice thing to be able to say “I did a TDF climb on my 6″ bike” but the actual experience was just crap- doing something unpleasant and tedious, for a very long time. The descending was possibly worth it. But probably not.

Doing them on a road bike is sufficiently stupid – why would you want to make it dumber by doing them on a 6″ MTB – and the descents are way more fun on a roady too

winterfold – Member

Doing them on a road bike is sufficiently stupid – why would you want to make it dumber by doing them on a 6″ MTB – and the descents are way more fun on a roady too

Um, why do you think I’d ride up a mountain on a mountain bike? Descent wouldn’t have been much fun carrying a road bike down it…

Alpe D’Huez cooked the clutch of my car on the way up, the brakes on the way down, exhaust cooked on the drive back to Calais. Sold the car a month after getting back. Didn’t actually ride it as I as there for the Mega and was camping in Bourg D’Oisan in the valley.

Did ride the Col delle Fenestre (Giro) on a really crappy Scott hire bike (I’d knackered mine by getting the front wheel stuck between two big rocks).That cooked the V brakes too.

Really should take my road bike out.

Tourmalet from Bareges, but carrid on to Pic de Midi du Bigorre (2,800). That was on a rigid MTB

Also done the Col de Aspin

Without a shadow of a doubt some of my fondest cycling memories involve road riding in the high mountains in France.

5 years ago I went to the Pyrennes and, riding alone, covered the Col d’Aubisque (I seriously overheated, shaking, the lot), Col du Soulor, Col de Perysoude, Col de Tourmelat (nice glass of red at the top), Col de Port d’Aspet (a minutes silence at Fabio Casatelli’s memorial), Col du Port (lovely quiet climb but not after two huge bowls of cassoulet for lunch!). Rode a Crosscheck and did none of the descents (I had the fear for descending so bike went in the back of my mates car).

2 summers I headed to the Alps with my 7-11 Eddy Merckx Corsa Extra, fear for descending at bay but not fully tamed. What followed was 7 days of joy with over 12km of vertical ascent. Among others managed Alpe d’Huez, Col du Galibier (in a HUGE thunderstorm, visibility about 10 feet at the top), Col du Glandon, Col de la Coix de Fer, Les Deux Alpes, Col du Telegraphe etc. The quiet ‘back way’ up Alpe d’Huez was wonderful if less iconic than the Tour route). The descent off the Col du Glandon was particularly memorable as, in a moment of fancy, I latched on to some French guys and went with them all the way down. And the quieter side routes are almost better than the famous climbs, no cars, just tree lined climbs, rhythmical breathing and then glorious relaxing descents. Magical.

Happy, happy days, makes me want to book a holiday immediately!

Actually, anyone have experience of the Giro climbs, particularly the Stelvio and Gavia? Any recommendations?

Alpe d’huez, Galibier, Ventoux and the three in Kent!

TBH I didn’t find the Alpine climbs that hard as whilst they are long they are often not more than 10% so just pick a gear a spin up them (obviously very different to racing!).

However the road over the Lecht and Hardknott and Wrynose passes were in a totally different league for me – MUCH harder. They may be shorter, but just getting up a 33% climb nearly killed me!

I’ve ridden the Ramaz as well thinking about it.

Wot boris said – UK climbs are very different, shorter and steeper. Alps more even and to a large extent you just try to keep a rythym going for a long time.

Constitution Hill.

What? It was in the 2007 Prologue so shut up!

Big Ted

Rode the Gavia from the less famous side (Bormio) and it was fantastic. From memory it was 24k long but I think it was my favourite ever ride, I’d do it once a week for the rest of my life if I could.

However, I’ve done the Mortirolo once and never again. Described as a “tree lined tunnel of pain”, despite being half the length of the Gavia it’s a sheer unrelenting grind. The only time you will ever welcome a stretch of road which is “only” 10%.