Originally Posted by
merlinextraligh
I've ridden there and the tunnels are friggin scary. Narrow, dark, and ther can be a lot of traffic. Lights would really be a good idea.
As you descend down from the Galibier to Bourg d'Oisans, you go in and out of a bunch of tunnels; your going downhill, so your moving at a good clip, andin and out of daylight, making it very hard to see.
Of course, with a team car guarding your rear, and their headlight illuminating your path, its a different story.
+1
I was in that area for days last year, and I remember it clearly. A friend had warned me about the lights and cops, so I brought some clip on blinkers for my jersey. The cops are around frequently in that area for safety reasons. Unlike in the US where they are mostly there to harass you to death with their ignorance and hatred for cyclists, they are in that area to protect cyclists from traffic that may not see them. And BTW, traffic in France and their attitude towards cyclists is several thousand years ahead of the US. I can't say that enough.
The problem is that even with a car coming behind you lighting the way in the tunnel, oncoming traffic won't see. Shouldn't matter if cars stay in their lane, but there is also a couple of the tunnels that in the middle narrow to one lane only. Those are scary. Picture going 45-50 MPH in sunlight with glasses on coming into a dark tunnel all of the sudden with dim lights inside (no lights in some), you hardly see potholes or cracks in the road before you are on top of them, some are wet from melting snow and run off, sand and dirt in the road, and just when you think your eyes have mildly adjusted to the sudden darkness and car lights of oncoming traffic, you shoot out the other end into very sunny open road getting blinded. Some were fun and some were very scary! You get good at taking the glasses off and putting them back on quickly though.